Chapter Text
Tap, tap, tap.
There was a small pause. Then a very loud CRASH.
Gon winced and withdrew his knuckles from the glass. Ouch. That sounded like it hurt—
The curtains flew open and Gon blinked rapidly in the bright light. He was welcomed to the sight of Killua standing in the window, his silver hair a damp mess of knots and oversized pajamas hap-hazardously shoved on. Had he just gotten out of the shower?
Killua glared murderously but Gon didn’t let that phase him. Killua was always grumpy at night, anyway. It wasn’t anything personal. So he waved a spandex-covered hand cheerfully at the Zoldyck, who glowered in response.
Gon just grinned back and dared to tap on the glass again. A slew of conflicting emotions flickered through Killua’s blue eyes at the action. Each passed by too quickly for Gon to identify, but it was enough to make Gon’s confidence falter. Was this a bad time? Would Killua not let him in? He thought Killua considered Ladybug his friend by now but maybe he was wrong.
But then, just before Gon's worry swelled to an uncontainable size, his friend reached out and quickly began to undo the window latch. Moments later Gon heard a click and then Killua was pushing the glass planes out and into the night air.
“Ladybug! What are you doing here?” Killua hissed and Gon beamed again.
“Hello to you too, Killua! Mind if I come in? It kind of hurts holding onto the yo-yo string like this.”
He tugged the string that was currently wrapped around the above roof ledge and suspending him mid-air next to the Zoldyck’s bedroom window. Killua bit his lip, brow furrowed.
“You won’t regret it,” Gon said in a sing-song tone and Killua’s blue eyes flickered to Gon once more. “I pinky promise!”
“...okay,” Killua finally said with a sigh and excitement coursed through Gon. “Okay, fine. But only for a little—whoa!”
Killua scrambled out of the way as Gon started to climb into his bedroom. He braced his feet on the window ledge before releasing his yo-yo. Then he inches forward and jumped nimbly down onto the hardwood floor.
Not as graceful as Chat surely would have been, but, oh well. Gon was Ladybug for a reason.
“Jeez, give me a warning next time,” Killua grumbled and pushed Gon aside to relock the door. Gon paid him no mind, taking a moment to look around.
Gon could count on one hand the number of times he had been in Killua’s room. It was mostly how he remembered—empty shelves void of any pictures or books, a lone desk with a pile of neatly stacked paperwork at the end, a perfectly made but hard looking bed. Nothing about this place said Killua. Nothing, except the pile of school clothes tossed lazily in the corner.
“Just got out of the shower?” Gon asked with a nod towards the clothes.
“Yeah.” Killua moved past Gon to grab the towel draped over his dresser. “Some of us have school the next day, you know.”
He rubbed the towel over his hair, making it puff out in every direction. He looked like a dandelion, Gon thought and bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. Killua looked so cute right now, but if Killua saw him smiling he would definitely think Ladybug was making fun of him.
“How do you know I don’t have school tomorrow too?” Gon asked, taking a step closer, and Killua shrugged.
“You’d be pretty bad at school if you spent half your nights talking away with me, Ladybug.”
“Hey!”
But Gon couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face at the tease. Some people might know the difference between Killua’s taunts and jokes, but Gon could tell the two apart with ease. Killua smiled back and something warm—something that ached, that yearned—fluttered in Gon’s chest.
“Seriously, though.” Killua put the towel down again and faced Gon with crossed arms. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Chat?”
Gon frowned. “No. Why would something have happened to him?”
“Because you only show up to my house when Chat isn’t around.”
“Oh. Right.” Gon laughed awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair. Killua simply quirked an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation that Gon wasn’t sure he was ready to give.
Because there really wasn’t any reason for Ladybug, hero of York New, to be knocking on Killua Zoldyck’s door this late at night. He and Chat had actually agreed to take one night off a week at random to give their bodies some time to recover from all their superhero work.
But even though their breaks were important, something in Gon had ached for something else—for some one else.
Gon saw Killua every day at school. But it was different when Killua saw him as Ladybug. Killua was open with Gon’s hero persona in a way he never was with Gon Freecss, freely expressing his worries and stress that he normally kept locked deep inside him. Seeing this new, vulnerable side of his best friend had opened Gon’s eyes, helped him see Killua in a new light and appreciate him more than ever.
And with that appreciation came a mix of feelings, confusion, and a strange yearning. A yearning that only seemed to quiet down when Gon was at Killua’s side. It didn't matter if he was Ladybug or Gon or anyone else—as long as he was with Killua, Gon felt whole.
So, he had acted on that instinct tonight. He’d come as Ladybug, because that was the fastest way to get to the Zoldyck mansion, and now here he was.
But Killua was still waiting for an explanation, wasn’t he? And there was no way Gon could say all of that...
So Gon took a deep breath and went for the simplest, most honest answer: “I wanted to see you.”
Killua blinked owlishly before turning a funny shade of red. “Wh-What?”
“I wanted to see you,” Gon repeated bluntly. “That’s it. I don’t have any other reason.”
Killua gaped wordlessly at Gon. His eyes were blown wide, so large that it almost looked as though they were popping out of his head.
“You okay, Ki-llu-a?” Gon asked, smirking. It was nice to know he could make Killua flustered no matter who he was dressed as.
“F-Fine, you just—um.” Killua glanced away, biting down on his bottom lip. “You just...you remind me of someone I know, sometimes.”
Gon’s smile fell off his face. Oh, no. He really hoped Killua wasn’t thinking of—
Knock, knock, knock.
Gon’s gaze darted to the door, heart leaping into his throat, before looking back to Killua. His best friend had gone pale as the moon and genuine fear rose in Gon. There were only a few select people who could make Killua look like that.
“Killua—?” he began.
“Master Killua?” came the call of a resigned voice and Gon quickly shut his mouth. “Are you decent, sir?”
“No!” Killua yelled and Gon winced at the shrillness of his voice. “G-Give me one second!”
Killua lunged towards him and Gon yelped as the other teen spun him around. He pushed Gon away from the door with surprising strength, momentarily stunning Gon enough that he forgot to resist. Since when did Killua get the muscle to move Gon around like this?
“Get inside!” Killua hissed as they reached the walk-in closet. “Keep hidden. And for the love of god—stay quiet.”
He slammed the door shut and Gon was left gaping at the closet door.
“Master Killua,” Gon distantly heard the voice say. “You mother is growing quite—”
“Okay, okay, I’m almost there!”
Gon edged closer to the closet door and peeked through the spaces between the nods. He was just in time to see Killua’s fluff of white hair disappear down the hallway that lead towards his bedroom door. Muffled shouting soon started, along with a distant wailing.
Gon grimaced. Was that Killua’s mother? He’d only met her once and that was a long, long time ago...she didn’t seem too happy back then, either. But Killua’s family never seemed to like Gon that much. He had a feeling he was the real reason why Killua’s family wanted Killua to move away for college.
SLAM.
Gon started at the loud noise. He squinted through the closet door and saw Killua stomping back into the room, heading in his direction.
He scrambled back just in time for Killua to throw open the doors. His best friend had a sour look on his face, his scowl deep enough to look like it had been permanently chiseled on.
Gon’s heart skipped nervously as Killua’s narrowed eyes landed on him. Uh-oh. Was he mad—?
But then Killua’s expression softened, his anger melting away like ocean waves on the shore. “Hey. Sorry about that, you can come out now.”
He turned away, shoulders still hunched and stiff, and Gon hesitantly followed. He asked, “Was that your parents?”
Killua shrugged. “My butler and my mom, yeah.” He huffed, reaching down to snatch up the pile of clothes that had been dumped on the floor. “Gotoh is fine, but my mom is always a major pain. She wants to control every millisecond of life, ugh.”
Gon laughed quietly, following Killua’s path across the room. He raked his gaze up and down Killua’s form as Killua talked, listening just enough to know what the Zoldyck was saying.
Killua looked sort of nice like this—wearing his wrinkled and oversized sweats, silver hair a ruffled mess and his large t-shirt hanging off one shoulder. Gon’s gaze seemed to be drawn to that sliver of pale skin along Killua’s collar and Gon felt his cheeks warm. He forced himself to look away, stomach churning.
He’d seen Killua a million times before. He’d seen Killua half naked as he threw on one of Gon’s spare shirts, in both tank tops and shorts, wearing bulky coats and fluffy earmuffs alike. So why was it that seeing Killua now, here in his bedroom late at night as Ladybug, that it felt so different?
Gon bit down on his bottom lip. He knew why. Everything was different, now that his feelings for Killua had changed and morphed into something new yet familiar all at the same time. He shouldn’t be surprised that his yearning for Killua intensified the closer they were to each other.
“So.” Gon looked up as Killua threw his clothes in a hamper against the wall. Killua faced him, hands on his hips. “Are you just gonna stand there or do you want to do something?”
“Do something?” Gon echoed.
“Yeah. You’re a superhero, you got to know some fun places to go in the city.” Killua paused, then lifted an eyebrow. “Unless you want to be cooped up in my bedroom all night?”
Excitement caused Gon’s heart to race. Yes. “But, what about your mom?” he asked before his emotions ran wild. “Won’t you get in trouble if you’re not here when she checks on you?”
Killua waved his hand. “Don’t worry about her. I might get grounded again, but I’ve snuck out enough times that she won’t worry about me dying or anything.”
Gon stared at Killua, a million different thoughts and hopes warring inside him. He didn’t like the idea of Killua getting grounded again. Being grounded meant going home right after school, no sleepovers, phone revoked and less of, well, Killua. And no Killua was something Gon very much wanted to avoid.
And yet the idea of going someplace private—experiencing the indescribable thrill of racing through York New with the stars glittering above and the city lights below—the thought of doing that with his best and closest friend was—
“You said you wanted to see me right?” Killua asked sharply.
Gon felt himself turn red. Why did it sound so personal when Killua repeated the phrase back to him? Still, he stood his ground as he confirmed, “Yes. I did—I do want to see you, Killua.”
“Right, so—” Killua stepped up to Gon, until they were nose to nose and all Gon could see was that incredible and piercing blue, “—let’s do something. Together, just the two of us. I don’t care where or what we do, I just want to get away.”
Gon’s mouth turned dry, tongue fat in his mouth. The combination of Killua’s words and strangely intense stare was making his brain scramble. How could he possibly think when Killua was this close to him?
Killua had just said he wanted him. Well, wanted Ladybug. He wanted them to spend time together—alone. This was a step beyond their rooftop talks, a leap of faith, a plea for help.
And Gon couldn’t say no.
Gon grinned, heart swelling. “Let’s go then, Mister Zoldyck.” He held out his hand as he gave his best friend a slight bow.
Killua smiled back, sliding his hand into Gon’s, and Gon led him to the window.