Drawbacks of a mind that remembers

Reborn! Since when?

Hayato stared at the older boy with scepticism. Tsuna returned with a pot of tea and some biscuits to go with it. Shinichi returned Hayato's favour with a deadpanned look.

"Uh... tea?" Tsuna tried.

"Yes please!" Hayato answered, but Shinichi declined. "Thank you for the offer, I'll just have the biscuits."

Tsuna eyed the older person. "You prefer coffee, right?"

"Correct."

Tsuna could not understand coffee lovers. He prefered tea over coffee as the latter tended to be more bitter. He did not mind caffe latte though. He sits between Hayato and Shinichi, being the only person who knew them both. "All right, maybe you could share a bit more about yourself, Kudo-san."

"You may drop the suffix, Tsunayoshi-kun.  And I'm not that much older than you," Shinichi said, smiling at his cousin's formality and attempt.

"You might have seen me on the news before. Like you've said, I'm Kudo Shinichi, a student detective. My residence is in Tokyo, and I now study in Beika University."

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, a third-year student at Namimori Junior High. Everyone calls me Tsuna, so feel free to call me that too, Shinichi-san. This is G-Gokudera Hayato, my schoolmate and best friend. Um... I like to draw, but I'm not the best at it. Hayato-kun is a genius, and he likes aliens and stuff!"

"So... Unidentified flying objects and the likes? You believe aliens exist?"

Hayato's stare turned into a glare instantly. "You got a problem with that?"

Shinichi quickly raised his arms in defence. "No, not at all. The idea of living in Mars was considered impossible until recently. I don't think aliens are that far off."

Hayato looked pleased with the older boy's answer.

Shinichi looked at the boy and started to access him. Hayato smelt like gunpowder. For a young adult to smell like gunpowder, he must have been working with guns or explosives for a very long time. That, or he is likely to be carrying some at the moment. However, he did not seem to have any intention of harming him, or else, he would have been sent straight to the hospital at sight earlier. He also had a very unique hair colour that did not look quite normal, yet, it fitted him to the T.

A delinquent?

Hayato sensed the amount of attention Shinichi was giving him but paid him no mind. If the latter was not lying about his occupation, it was likely that he was making his own judgement about him.

It kinda irks him though.

"Do you have anything you want to do while you're here, Kudo-kun?" Tsuna asked.

Shinichi's lips twisted to the side while he thought about it.

"I won't be staying here for long actually," he replied. He paused for a moment to rearrange his next line. "I have a condition that doesn't allow me to stay out of Beika for long."

Tsuna grew concerned. His head throbbed slightly too. That means whatever Shinichi was suffering from might actually be dangerous.

He had to know.

"Do you have any medication for it?" He asked.

Shinichi shook his head. "No, it's a rare case, so there are no suppressants or anything to help. I have an in-house doctor who's currently creating a cure for my illness."

"How many doctors are working on your case?"

"Just my in-house doctor. It's a very private case after all."

Hayato narrowed his eyes. Shinichi is just like a UMA*. The latter is suffering from an unknown disease that requires experimentation and further studies, yet, only one doctor is working on his case.

Could his doctor be an underground doctor?

"So, after spending a day with you and Nana-obaa-san, I'll be leaving for home. Hopefully, mother and father would arrive before I leave."

Shinichi smiled in a way that told Tsuna he did not want to talk about it anymore. The brunet sighed mentally but grinned at his cousin.

"Then let's spend our time well together! Mom would be coming home soon, and I guess she would prepare a feast. Is there anything you're interested in?"

The two cousins started to engage in friendly conversations, with Hayato pitching in his thoughts here and there. They shared about themselves, the demands of others, what their goals were and their future aspirations. Overall, time passed so quickly, a single door knock was not able to snap them out as quickly as the unannounced guest would have thought.

Reborn tapped his foot impatiently at the door.

Has Sawada Tsunayoshi deemed him safe? So safe to the point that his bloodlust was not ringing any bells at him?

Said brunet shivered as soon as he felt the familiar bloodlust.

"Hayato, did Reborn mention about coming? I swear I could feel his bloodlust from the door."

Shinichi resisted the urge to comment on the name, but Tsuna caught on quickly. He adverted his eyes and stared guiltily at the floor.

"Should I open the door, Tsunayoshi?" Hayato suggested. Tsuna shook his head and stood up, his intuition kindly reminding him that it would be better for everyone if he opened it instead.

"I'll be back in a bit. You guys can keep talking."

Tsuna quickly hurried downstairs to open the door.

"What took you so long?" Was the first thing Reborn said immediately after the door was opened.

The hitman then looked down and noticed a new pair of shoes.

"A guest?"

Tsuna scratched his head nervously. "Yeah. My cousin and his family are visiting today, and would be staying over today."

For a second, Tsuna saw a twinkle in Reborn's eyes. His blood grew cold immediately.

"Don't you pull any schemes, Reborn. My family is not for recruitment." Tsuna warned, even though he knew nothing could persuade Reborn once he fixed his mind on something.

The hitman stared. 

"Unfortunately, I have business with you. Regarding family."

Tsuna swallowed his saliva, sending an indiscreet glance to his room, before nodding his head.

"My room's occupied by Hayato and my cousin," Tsuna said, consciously avoiding Shinichi's name. "It'll be best if we discuss in the living room."

Reborn agreed, watching Tsuna's eyes go from brown to orange. It was no longer just Tsuna speaking, Primo will be speaking as well.

Reborn breathed slowly.

"Did you know about the guardians of the night sky?"

A/N: I'm back! Not entirely for good, but for a while at least. I'll try to update this weekly from this week on.
UMA - Unidentified Mysterious Animals