Drawbacks of a mind that remembers

Time's up

Dinner was unexpectedly lively. Shinichi had never experienced such a din during a meal before.

Reborn kept snatching Tsuna's food from his plate. Said victim had been trying to get his revenge but the perpetrator was too fast. More children came in later and what was supposed to be dinner became ammo for a food war.

The commotion died down only after Lambo called Yukiko "obaa-san," and the lady turned into a demon in a split second.

Thus, dinner came to an end peacefully. Reborn left the house and went to his hotel for the night. The children went to their own rooms and the Kudo couple retired to their sleeping quarters.

Shinichi and Tsuna were in their room. The former was sitting against the wall to read, while the latter agonized over his assignment. After nearly an hour of silence, Shinichi broke the ice.

"So... which syndicate is Reborn from?"

Tsuna froze.

"What do you mean by 'syndicate'? Are you suggesting that Reborn is a criminal?"

"Not just him," Shinichi replied coolly. "Gokudera-san also carried a heavy scent of gunpowder. With how they constantly kept their hands in their pockets, their suspecting demeanour at every second, I have thoughts that those two are part of a syndicate of sorts."

Tsuna gulped. Suddenly, instead of Shinichi sitting in front of him, a dark blue silhouette of someone else was there.

Did you know that vigilantism is illegal?

"And with you hanging so familiarly with them, Tsunayoshi-kun," Shinichi started again, bringing Tsuna back from his thoughts. Tsuna could feel a drop of sweat roll down his back. The way his cousin stared at him was as if he was looking right through him, into his soul and digging at his secrets, made the brunet uncomfortable and extremely cautious.

(Considering Shinichi is a detective, what he felt wasn't that far off either.)

"While it's true that there are other occupations that requires the use of gunpowder, I hold my suspicions over your two friends' occupation. In fact, I won't even be surprised if they were assassins or hitmen," Shinichi continued, drawling his words slightly to gouge answers out of the nervous boy in front of him.

Tsuna's intuition rang, thumping loudly in his head. He cannot allow Shinichi to continue his interrogation, but something about what the older one said bugged him. It sounded like he had his fair share of assassins and hitmen as well.

What kind of life is Kudo Shinichi living?

Did solving crimes left and right rake a ton of enemies for him? Shouldn't his enemies all should be in prison?

However, his intuition seemed to be ringing for another reason entirely.

Tsuna laughed nervously in front of Shinichi. The detective was quite—quite is an understatement. Shinichi was spot on in pinpointing Hayato and Reborn's occupation. "I can't tell you about them, it's their privacy and their rights to reveal their occupations to you."

Shinichi smiled. 

"By the way," The detective said. He fanned himself with his right hand as he looked at the air conditioner. "Is your air-con down? It's really warm."

Tsuna frowned. "No, it's still cool. How is it warm?"

Tsuna's intuition rang louder when Shinichi widened his eyes and stood up abruptly.

"I'm going to talk to my parents."

His intuition was never warning him about Shinichi's prying. It was this!

The detective left his room for his parents, just opposite his room. Tsuna's intuition never ceased to whack his head, as if telling him to go after Shinichi-all the more because he was linked to the silhouette he saw, and because of what Reborn had told him earlier.

He could be the Star guardian, for all that he knows.

After Tsuna mentally prayed for forgiveness, he pressed his ears against the door to the guest room, listening intently to what was happening inside.

He could hear light, flustered pacing of a lady's, and a low baritone voice whispering something to the others.

And suddenly, a choking sound from his cousin.

Tsuna gasped in horror. Could Shinichi's parents be abusing him? But they looked like good folks, and his intuition was not ringing when he met them.

Unable to take it anymore, the brunet slammed the door open, shocking the Kudo family. He glanced at them, then towards Shinichi with shock.

The detective was grabbing at his chest, twisting his shirt into a bunch.

"Get... out," he managed, his voice edgy and defensive. Ignoring him, he stared at Yusaku expectantly.

"Yusaku-ojii-san, what's wrong with Kudo-kun?"

"His illness is acting up," The adult answered. "We have to bring him to his doctor now."

Yet, something tells him that this was no illness at all. However, he had no other explanation for it now. All Tsuna could do was bite his tongue and nod his head.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm sorry, but I doubt it. Thanks for offering."

"Yusaku, we have to start up the car," Yukiko whispered desperately. Nana then joined them in the living room, doing whatever she could to ease her nephew's pain, even though she did not know what was happening. The brunette lady panicking already calmed him somewhat.

Shinichi squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at his aunt as he waited for his parents to hasten their move. He was already shrinking. He did not need more people to know his secret, and he has a feeling Tsuna is on his tail.

Something about Tsuna quite literally shook his core, even though the boy did nothing.

Not to mention, Tsuna has really keen friends.

The brunet held his hand and released some flames* to reassure Shinichi that he would be all right. If he can do nothing about this, then perhaps, his presence could do something. His flames were not as calming as the rain flames, but this should be enough. Tsuna smiled as the detective visibly eased slightly.

But inside, he frowned.

"All right, we have to get going," Yusaku said as he lifted his son up. The adult's eyebrows creased as he felt a sudden, extreme weight difference.

Shinichi made one last glance at Tsuna and Nana. Both of them had concern written all over their faces. For a split second, a blond stood in the brunet boy's place and he wore a grieved look.

Everything else happened in a blur.

He felt his father put him in the car, get in the driver's seat and drove.

A few thousand miles from Japan, a chip of paint fell from the portrait.

*Flames aren't actually visible to naked eye. Only those trained could see it... I think. Shinichi can't see it at the moment.