Ten Flames

A Lost child, A Shopkeeper And How Tsuna got another Magic Book

It was a particularly nice sunny day today so Tsuna decided to go to the park nearby. Picking up his little notebook and his favorite orange pencil he set off without a word to the other people in the house.

A few greetings were given by the more friendly locals on the street in which the boy replied politely with cute grunts and "Hewwos". After crossing a few streets the boy decided to take a break from his journey, sitting on the curb he began to watch the people walk past and observe. Over his many outings he noticed a few individuals in the crowd of others that were... Special. He couldn't really explain how he knew but it was that tugging feeling that he always had and after that incident he knew better than to ignore it.

The brunette liked to write down things about those people that he was drawn too, it helped him remember everything plus he thought he looked kind of smart like those spies or detectives he saw on his picture books. He first wrote their appearances, the clothes they liked and the colors they usually wore. It was interesting, kind of like writing your own book and creating your own characters. Yes. Tsuna liked the sound of that.

He wanted to know more about these people, their tastes in food, where they like to hang out, their personality, their name; it made the boy feel like he had a connection with somebody no matter how weak or fake it was. Some of the people he watched walked alone so the brunette couldn't gather any information through dialogue, only through careful observation with how they interacted with the strangers around them was he able to pick up the subtle hints of their identities and though he would never know their names he made up for that by just giving them nicknames based on their appearance or personality. It took much patience but slowly he built up pages worth of information on his 'characters'.

As he was about to start writing he paused hearing a frantic screech. Looking up his big caramel eyes caught sight of a frazzled, panic-stricken looking woman who he recognized to be called Ryouko Chisake, she usually goes by this street with her daughter Meiko to buy groceries if the toddler remembered correctly. Unlike her usual stylish appearance and snobbish air she seemed ruffled, her perfectly styled hair and always well pressed clothes were messy and creased. "Meiko?! Has anyone seen my Meiko?!" Any bystanders present either ignored her or watched with faces of sympathy, Tsuna immediately felt the need to help the lady- he hated how people seem to be unwilling to help and despite how bad her attitude was toward him before-looking at him with disgust and disdain- he couldn't just sit back and watch as she broke down.

The boy knew that the stylish lady and her six-year old daughter were not on the best terms, he'd watched them fight, he saw when the young girl would grow tired of her mother's snobbish attitude, he saw that sometimes she would just go to the swing set at the park to clear her mind and think. He didn't like the idea of such a fractured family because of miscommunication- it reminded Tsuna too much of his own situation, sometimes for fun he would write a few notes at the end of his little investigations like these about possible solutions to solve such issues. The brunette liked to bitterly reminisce about his own lack of communication and writing down these little bits of advice was his own little form of fantasizing. He didn't really intend to show it to other people, he already had a fear of rejection as it was- but looking at such a distraught expression he could feel his resolve strengthen.

Timidly he crawled up to the emotional woman and tugged gently at the hem of Ryouko's pants. The woman responded instantly by kicking whatever street trash that even dated touch her away from her being. "What the hell do you want street brat?!" She snapped causing the other to shrink smaller in size if that was possible. The sudden harsh voice made the boy flinch in fear however quickly he recovered, eyes determined to help her despite the overall rejection. He crawled back to her and tugged harder until she finally gave the decency to look him in the eyes. For a split second the woman hitched in her breath. For a split second she saw a flash of maturity and wisdom in those large eyes that shouldn't be there for one his age yet at the same time still withheld a pure innocence stronger than any child she had seen. Then the eyes were blocked out of view, rudely pushed away by the sight of a certain page in the boy's small notebook he held in his equally petite hands.