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Illumi watches Killu carefully during the Hunter Exam.
Killua is, of course, always a top priority of his. Even if Mother hadn’t requested he chase after their heir, even if this new job hadn’t demanded he receive his own Hunter license...Killu must be watched for his own safety. The fate of their entire family rests on his shoulders and his talent has proved to be far superior to any others'—even to Illumi, himself.
And yet, Killu is irrational. He lashes out at any sign of control, resists when it would be easier to submit. It’s not at all surprising that he took the opportunity to run away from the mansion at the soonest opportunity.
What is surprising, however, is how Killua acts after. Illumi watches with growing concern as the single heir to his great family latches onto the side of another young boy his age—Gon Freecss, the son of a notable Hunter that Illumi didn’t deem necessary to remember until now. Gon is young and bright-eyed, innocent where Killua is blood-stained, his potential rough and wild compared to Killua’s carefully trained skill.
It’s...concerning. Because the Zoldycks have never needed friends, never wanted them. An assassin is a poor choice for such a thing, and Illumi had attempted numerous times to help Killua learn such a fact.
Oh, well, Illumi thinks as he steps forward as Gittarackur to face Killu in the final stage of the Exam. Maybe his younger brother just needs another reminder to drive the point home.
Silva listens to his son talk about his friends—one friend, mostly, a boy his age with the sun trapped in his teeth if Killua’s stories have any element of truth to it—and he things maybe, just this once, he might have misjudged.
It had never been his intent to let Killua run free. But run he had, and when he came home he did so with a head full of fantasies and dreams that had nothing to do with being an assassin. It makes Silva wonder if this one boy had more impact on Killua than twelve long years of strict teaching and careful guidance.
It doesn’t much matter, in the end. If Killua wishes to run, to fly with this boy halfway around the globe, Silva will let him. But only because he knows Killua will come back to them in due time.
No boy, friend or otherwise, will keep Killua from his destiny.
The thing is…Zushi knows he is no match for Gon and Killua. Killua had showed him that the first day he met, smacking Zushi to the floor with enough force to make a bruise bloom across the bridge of his nose. If he didn’t have his Nen, Zushi is sure he would be out for good.
But even though he knows he will never pose a threat to them—not now, at least—he can’t help but be in awe of everything they are. They’re nearly his age but at least ten times as strong, as brave, as tough as the best fighters on the top floor of Heavens Arena. And they seem to have a connection that goes deeper than words. They’re friends, but also training partners and equals and a perfect match of strength. They’re on the same wavelength, no matter who or what they take on.
It makes Zushi a little jealous, sometimes. He wishes he knew what it was like to have someone that inspires and matches him the way Gon and Killua match each other. Seeing them together makes his chest ache in a strange way.
But they really are incredible. And Zushi doesn’t mind chasing after Gon and Killua’s blinding light, even if all he sees is that light vanishing across the horizon.
Gon is a normally happy child.
He had always been that way. He smiled when helping her with chores, beamed as he washed the dishes, laughed at the simplest of things…the only time he hadn’t been particularly happy was when dealing with homework. But she could forgive him for that.
Yes, Gon had been and is a happy child. But Mito can’t quite remember ever seeing her son like this.
Killua is the friend Mito wishes Gon had grown up with. He’s incredibly smart and strong, he has a strong sense of adventurous and is full of boundless energy. He matches Gon with every step and he never once complains no matter where Gon drags him off to that day. And Gon…
Well. Gon is just as excited to show Killua everything and anything that has to do with Whale Island. He spends half his time looking over at his friend with bright eyes and flushed freckled cheeks. He seems to thrill in introducing Killua to fishing and Mito’s cooking and life in general, if only to see the way Killua reacts to it all. Gon is constantly grinning around Killua. He—he glows.
It’s heartwarming in the best possible way. To see her son this truly, wonderfully happy…it makes Mito hope Killua stays with Gon for a long, long time. Gon deserves this. Gon deserves Killua, and their friendship, and every big and little thing in between.
Chrollo knows few things about the boys standing defiantly in front of him.
They know the chain-user, of course (Machi’s instincts are rarely wrong and Chrollo trusts her with this). The boys are also very young, maybe even younger than he was when he first learned Nen. And not only are they young, but they are skilled enough to not only find the Phantom Troupe’s hideout, but also track its leader through a downpour.
It’s impressive. And stupidly brave. He does not know why these boys would put their lives on the line like they have. Even if the first boy had gotten caught, there was no need for the white-haired one to step out. He could have run away (though he would not have gotten far), and yet, he did not. He stepped out into the rain and let himself be taken with his friend with little to no regard of his own-well being.
That, at least, Chrollo understands. What would Nobunaga, or any of the Troupe members for that matter, do to save Uvo?
And there’s something else. Something strange. There’s a familiarity about the silver-haired boy…
But then the lights go out and Chrollo’s world flips on its head.
Hisoka watches the prodigy Zoldyck and young Freecss closely. Very closely.
They’re hardly a year older than the first time he met them, when Killua was nothing but a rebellious teenager with a skateboard and bored blue eyes. Gon was just as young, curiously looking around the dark cave of the First Phase and squirming with excitement.
They’ve changed, in the most subtle and sublime of ways. They’re stronger now, with their Nen curling around muscles built from weeks long training. Seeing how they handle themselves after a single year of relentless work and endless challenges…it’s so very thrilling.
How would they look in a year from now? Or five? Would Gon and Killua continue to grow and thrive together in new and expected ways?
There’s no telling the answers. And the mystery and boundless potential of them both leaves Hisoka just aching to learn more.
Bisky isn’t new to being a Hunter. She’s older than she cares to admit, stronger than she cares to show. She’s experienced. Very experienced. She knows the arrogance of new Hunters, especially those who only passed the Exam with the maximum amount of luck and barely a scrap of talent to their name.
But Gon and Killua aren’t like those new Hunters.
Emerald and sapphire. Silver and gold. The sun and the moon. These two boys are contrasts, talented beyond anything Bisky has seen in years, but in entirely different ways.
Killua is trained. He’s worked hard his entire life and is used to the brutal pace of Bisky’s training. And yet, all that experience chalked up to little when it had all been for a different career. Being a Hunter is new to Killua. This training is new to him. And for all his focus and precision, he still doesn’t come close to the potential Bisky knows is within him.
Gon is wild. He’s a ball of relentless energy, bouncing off the rocks and radiating determination strong enough to rival Bisky’s. The training is harder for him than Killua—Bisky doesn’t think he’s ever been disciplined as strictly as Bisky does. He struggles at the start of every task but manages to keep up with Killua out of sheer stubbornness. He might be the strongest Hunter Bisky has ever met.
Together...the two boys are a force to be reckoned with. They balance each other’s weaknesses, with Killua’s logistics balancing out Gon’s impulses and Gon’s drive encouraging Killua to take risks. They’re a formidable team, proven to take down any enemy time and time again—first Binolt, then Razor, and finally the Bomber.
When she sends them off, she does so with the trust that she’s trained them well.
Kite has not seen Gon since he was a boy.
He’s still a boy in many ways. He still has that wide-eyed wonder, that infectious smile and innocent ability to trust others. The grueling trials Ging has put him through hasn’t changed Gon’s core, and Kite vaguely wonders if anything will ever phase Ging’s blood-born son.
And then there’s the Zoldyck child.
Of all people, Kite would have never thought to pair Killua Zoldyck and Gon Freecss. Killua is trained, dangerous, and Gon is naive and spontaneous. Killua is fluid and smooth as the river flowing, Gon as bold as a rock-slide. When Gon stands tall, Killua slouches. They are opposites, and yet, compliments. They work together—and work well. Extremely well.
It is simple to see the devotion of their bond. Killua threw himself in front of Gon within seconds of meeting Kite, desperate to save Gon. And Gon…his feelings are more subtle, but they are there. The lingering of gold eyes on Killua’s face, the bright beam that grows larger when Killua looks his way, how Gon angles himself as if subconsciously trying to inch closer to the Zoldyck.
Yes, they compliment each other. But they are young, and strong. Many things can happen between now and the rest of their lives, and Kite can only hope they stay as faithful to each other as they are today.
It’s disheartening, saying goodbye to Gon and Killua at the entrance of NGL. It kills a part of Knuckle to do it, and he knows Shoot feels the same.
These kids are just...kids. It’s easy to see when they try to take Knuckle on, their Nen unformed and bubbling around their bodies without any kind of consistency. It’s easy to hear in the way Gon’s voice cracks as he begs Knuckle and Shoot to bring back his friend. It’s easy and equally painful to think about how these two boys got caught up in this nightmare and the way loss keeps them chained to it.
Knuckle doesn’t know what good it’ll do to keep them in the loop of the NGL situation. Teacher seems to think they have the potential to do great things, but Knuckle isn’t so sure. He knows he wouldn’t have been prepared to handle this kind of stress when he was their age. And he most definitely believes Gon isn’t mature enough to handle it, either. The kid is blinded and yet guided by his most basic gut instincts, ruled by his emotions rather than logic.
It’s a good thing Killua is there to keep Gon’s head on his shoulders. He’s the only one Gon seems to really listen to, after they bring Kite back. Gon is blinded, true, but Killua cuts through his rage with a single sentence, a pale hand shining in the moonlight as the Zoldyck reaches out to grasp Gon’s shoulder.
No. They’re not ready for this—whatever this is. Hell on earth isn’t a place for two boys just reaching adolescence and discovering the truth about Nen and the world and themselves. Knuckle can only hope they somehow get out of NGL in one piece.
Killua watches Gon.
It’s subtle, almost impossible to notice if you’re not paying attention enough. But Ikalgo is paying attention, because Killua saved his life when he had no reason to, and Killua—
Killua watches Gon. Constantly.
He watches Gon out of the corner of his vision, his head forward but blue eyes flickering back to the other boy every few minutes. When Killua sits, he angles himself towards Gon, as if ready to launch himself towards him at any possible second. Killua always checks to see where Gon is, what he’s doing, if he’s still functioning like a normal person.
If he were anyone else, Ikalgo would say Killua is paranoid. But he knows what lengths Killua went to help his friend, how he almost died in that cave with Gon’s name lingering on his lips. Killua went through all that pain and suffering just to save Gon from a horrible fate he’s sure to meet on the day of the infiltration anyway.
Killua is a good friend. That’s why he keeps an eye out for Gon, it’s why he’s always got half his attention focused on his best friend. He wants to protect Gon from doing anything stupid or reckless out of pure, unfiltered grief.
Ikalgo wants to be a good friend. Killua is his first, real friend. And Ikalgo will watch out for him, just as Killua watches out for Gon.
Killua’s never had friends before.
He’s never needed them. That’s what Mama says, at least. And Mama is always right—Killu is meant to be the heir, the head of their family and the future of their business as assassins. Mama and Papa have increasingly high hopes for him, Gramps spoils him and Illumi…well, who knows what’s going on beyond those pits for eyes.
But they aren’t the problem. Killua is the problem. He’s a smart-ass, ungrateful, impatient brat. Milluki tries teaching his younger brother a lesson, tries to show him what happens when he hurts Mama—
And then Killua turns on him, blue eyes cold and dead, lips stretched in a manic smile. Milluki’s blood turns to ice and he suddenly can’t breathe.
Millumi doesn’t know who these friends of Killua’s are. But Killua doesn’t go into full-blown assassin mode for just anyone, doesn’t trade a copy of Greed Island or returns to the mansion for Alluka for just anyone. And if Killua would go and do all those things for his friend…there’s no telling just how far he’ll go in the future.
It doesn’t sit right with Leorio, not telling Gon that Killua saved his life.
The kid has a right to know! Seeing the guilt-ridden, kicked-puppy-dog look on Gon’s face in the car is downright depressing. Leorio can’t even remember Gon looking so upset—except for maybe that time he confronted Illumi after the Hunter Exam. And it’s all because of Killua…but with Gon, it normally is.
Leorio knows how much Killua means to Gon, after all. Even more than that, he knows how much Gon means to Killua. No one can challenge Killua’s devotion to Gon after all of this. The brat challenged his entire family, risking his freedom and future and everything he fought for since escaping them just to bring Gon back. What’s the point in hiding that amount of care from the very person Killua saved?
Leorio doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand a single little fact about this whole situation, and he wishes he did. He wishes he had been there for the two teenagers he considers to be his best friends, because maybe they wouldn’t have been stuck in this position if he had been.
But he wasn’t. So all he can do now is wait, and hope that Gon and Killua get their act together before the distance between them grows too big to cross.
When Kurapika hears that Gon and Killua have split up, he’s more shocked than he has been since he heard from Hisoka that the Phantom Troupe were alive.
Because Gon and Killua are…well, they’re Gon and Killua. They’re a unit. Have been a unit since the start of the Hunter Exam. It’s hard to even think about one without the automatic thought of the other.
Kurapika still remembers the solemn look on Gon’s face the entire trip to the Zoldyck estate, how he had stubbornly tried to climb the gate even with a broken arm. Killua, too, had been determined to keep Gon out of the Troupe’s business in York New. And when he couldn’t, he’d thrown himself in front of their path just to be at Gon’s side when he was captured.
Yes, Gon and Killua had always been a pair. The care and worry they shared for each other had been obvious. And for them to have separated…what happened between them during NGL must have been something truly terrifying to behold.
Her brother seems different.
Which, of course, he has to be. It’s been years since they’ve last reunited, and he is taller and smarter and just as wonderful as she remembers. But he’s a little sadder too, a little older and wiser. His eyes go distant whenever they share a quiet moment and it’s in those moments Alluka knows Brother is far, far away.
And that’s okay. Because he’s changed, since she last laid eyes on him. Gon has changed him. It’s okay for him to miss the person he was when Gon was around. They were together for years when Killua came back for Alluka.
She knows Brothers misses Gon with a pain he can’t express. There’s a deeper meaning there, in the stretches of silence and the nightmares and the soft smiles he gets when Gon sends him a text. It’s so deep that she’s not even sure if Brother knows what it is. But it’s so clear to her, because she loves Brother so deeply, and Brother loves with his whole heart, too.
And that’s why she knows Brother will figure it out. He’s the smartest person she knows, he saved her, and he loves Gon even if he doesn’t know it yet.