Chapter Text
It’d been months, maybe even over a year now, since Gon had heard from any of his old crew. He couldn’t remember the last time he spoke to any of them except for Killua, who promised him that if he ever needed him, he’d be there. But that was the only thing he could recall from their last conversation in person together— the last thing that Killua texted him was an emoticon, “:P,” captioning a selfie of he and Alluka fishing together. Even if they were finding their own paths in life, neither of them could stay out of contact with each other completely. Of course they would text every day.
Gon stared up at the wooden boards above his head, entranced by his own thoughts. He subconsciously listened as waves crashed against the sides of the boat he was on. He had been traveling with Kite’s friends ever since he parted with Killua. He was having the time of his life, enjoying fruity drinks and exploring forests and jungles, but—yes, there is a but— he missed his friends and his aunt more than ever. And that’s who he was thinking of as he dozed off. Yummy food and cool scenery could never compare to listening to Killua’s belly laugh in person or feeling Leorio’s strong arms around him, embracing him in the fatherly love he never received.
Before he knew it, Gon had a tear rolling down the side of his face and snot coming out of his nose. He sat up, sniffling as he reached over for his phone desperately. As his hand landed on it, he felt it already buzzing under his fingers. His eyebrows crinkled together as he brought it to his face.
The light from the screen illuminated his features as he realized it was Killua calling him. He pressed ‘accept’ immediately and brought the phone to his ear as he wiped his eyes off.
“Hey, Gon, I know it’s late—
“Killua! I was just about to call—
Gon laughed, sounding congested, and spoke first after Killua didn’t say anything else, “I was about to call you when you called me! That’s so crazy, isn’t it?” Killua hummed on the other line and Gon smiled from ear to ear. It went quiet for a moment.
“Why were you gonna call me?” Killua asked. He sounded tired.
“I wanted to tell you how much I miss you,” Gon said with a saddened grin.
He listened as Killua groaned and pulled the phone away from his ear. He didn’t know for sure that Killua actually did that, but he’d bet a lot of money that he did. “What?!” Gon protested, “Isn’t that why you were calling me?”
Killua avoided the question entirely. “Were you crying just now?”
Gon hesitated. “..No!” When he heard Killua giggle, Gon sighed in defeat. He laid down, holding the phone close to him. “Okay, fine, I was crying. Don’t make fun of me, okay?”
“I wasn’t gonna ’til you said that, weirdo.” Killua paused.
The white-haired teen (now 16) was sitting on his sweat-drenched sofa. He finally managed to fall asleep after three nights of staring at a ceiling, waiting for it to burst into flames or something interesting. It wasn’t like anything special was going on for him besides Alluka, sometimes Nanika, argued with him over something asinine or simply wanted to have a conversation with him.
The highlight of his days were when he could sense one of his siblings or, God forbid, his parents near. Depending on who the object of his attention was, he acted on it. It was never his mother or his father, though. Illumi would come looking for Alluka every once in a while, to which Killua would immediately migrate to a new place in order to keep his sister alive and well.
It wasn’t like he was afraid of Illumi or anything, he just didn’t feel like dealing with him. He’d been manipulated enough to know that Illumi was capable of things much greater than Killua could safely assume about him. Plus— one more sentence about Illumi and the talk about him is over— he has Hisoka with him. So that just adds something way bigger (and creepier) to the thought of Illumi coming to steal Alluka back and have her locked up again.
Now, the reason why Killua called Gon in the first place. In short, he missed him (though he’d never admit it). In long terms, he had a nightmare about somebody hurting Gon. It was of Kurapika ripping Gon’s eyes out. His veins- oh, God,-his veins were popping out of his bloody eye sockets. You could see the whites of Gon’s eyes, except it wasn’t his eye. It was the skull behind his eye. The dream was much too vivid to allow Killua to fall back asleep. Blood and gore didn’t bother him a bit unless it was someone he loved being torn apart.
“Wanna meet up?” Killua asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. It’s not like he missed Gon or anything. No, no- Never!
“Mhm!” Gon smiled and it was evident in his voice.
“Cool. Yorknew City?”
Gon rolled over onto his stomach, pressing his chin into the softness of his pillow. He closed his eyes slightly. “Yorknew City it is,” he said.
And so, they met again at Yorknew City the very next week. Holding Alluka’s hand, Killua made his way through the crowds of people. It was a good thing he was already in the United States of Saherta. He was only a couple of hours away from the city, so he was there at 12p.m. on the following Monday and, of course, Gon was there too. Using his Gon ways, he got there a few days before Killua and his sister and met up with Leorio. He stayed in Leorio’s apartment with him for those few days, talking the poor man’s head off. Yes, a man. He was 22 now, so a real man and not just a teenager anymore. Killua would have an extra fun time with the old man jokes.
Killua knocked on the apartment door, rolling his eyes at the frilly welcome mat. Who puts carpet on top of carpet, anyway? First of all, it’s useless. Second of all, it’s ugly. But that’s beside the point—
Leorio opened the door, raising his eyebrows at the sight. “Hey,” He said, “Long time no see!”
“Let me in, old man.” Killua shoved past Leorio, dragging his poor sister along with him. He then set Alluka on the couch, not even glancing back at the man he passed up. He walked into one of the back rooms, searching for Gon.
“Hello to you too, Killua,” Leorio droned, looking at Alluka. He awkwardly waved at her. “Alluka, right?”
The girl smiled, her big blue eyes staring up at him intently. She didn’t respond.
Leorio bit his bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing. “Alrighty then…” He cringed inwardly, slowly walking over to the kitchen area. “Um.. Are you hungry? Thirsty?” He called out. He opened the refrigerator, pulling out a juice box (Gon’s idea) and a cheese stick.
When the little girl didn’t answer, Leorio turned around to talk to her directly. But as he turned, he was startled to see Alluka standing at his feet, looking up at him. She reached up for the juice and cheese stick.
Leorio chuckled, kneeling down as he handed her the food and drink. “Here ya go,” He said gently, patting her head.
“Thank you.” She reached for his hand, her fingers touching the golden band around his left ring finger. “Pretty!” And then, she walked back to the couch.
“Weird kid,” He muttered, glancing down at the ring.
Leorio walked to the guest room, hearing laughing from the other side of the door. He pushed it open, seeing Gon and Killua laying on the ground next to each other, playing some game on Gon’s phone.
“Hey, guys, whatcha playing?” He inquired.
Neither of the boys looked up, entranced by the screen in front of them.
“Just playing a game,” Killua replied, his eyes dead.
“Over there, Killua! Watch out!” Gon pointed to something on the screen.
“Oh, crap!” Killua laughed.
Leorio stood in the doorway for a good two minutes, watching them. It was just like old times. Except there was one thing missing…
He walked away, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He sat down on the other side of the couch in hopes of not disturbing Alluka, who was carefully peeling her cheese stick and holding her juice box in between her feet.
He pressed on Kurapika’s phone number, holding the phone to his ear in anticipation.
Instead of Kurapika, Leorio was met with a robotic woman’s voice: “Please leave your message at the beep.”
“Hey, Kurapika, the kids are here. At my place, I mean.” When he started talking, he noticed Alluka turned her body to face towards him. Apparently she wanted to know what he’d say. Again, Leorio thought she was really, really weird. “I, uh, I wanted to- I just wanted to update you on how things are going with me. Well, first of all, the kids are here. Oh, I already said that. Oops. By kids, I mean that Gon and Killua and Killua’s sister are here.” He gulped. “I’m engaged now! Exciting, right? She’s, um, wonderful.” Alluka’s mouth fell open with excitement and Leorio smiled at her. “Call me back and I’ll tell ya all about it, okay?” And then, he ended the phone call, sighing as he placed the phone on the coffee table in front of him.
“You’re getting married?!’ Gon shouted from behind him, causing Leorio to shoot up from his seat on the couch.
“Ew.” Killua sat next to Alluka, putting his arm around her as she sipped her juice. “I’m never gonna get married.”
“Killua!” Gon smacked the top of his head. “Don’t say that. Imagine what your future wife would say.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick…” Killua fake puked into his free hand, laughing hysterically afterwards.
Leorio smiled, crossing his arms. “Well, yes, I’m engaged now. Her name is Elise. Here, I’ll show you a picture.” He picked up his phone again and nearly dropped it as he read the notification on his phone. “Kurapika answered me!” He unlocked the phone, reading the message:
‘Leorio, I got your message. Thank you for informing me that Killua, Gon, and Alluka are at your apartment. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend. I am risking losing time just by writing to you. Are you still in Yorknew City? Also, congrats on the engagement. Please tell Gon and Killua that I said hello and hope they are doing well. Take care of yourself.’
“That’s so lame!” Gon complained, “I wanted to see him.” He frowned, sitting on the other side of Killua. “I miss Kurapika. I haven’t seen him in over a year. Have you guys seen him?” Gon didn’t allow anyone else to respond. Instead, he spoke again: “No offense, but I really hope he didn’t go to see you guys. That would mean he’s avoiding me, right?”
“Nope,” Killua said bluntly.
Leorio shrugged, staring at the message on his phone. “That was the first time I’ve heard from him in months.” His eyes were blank as they scanned the message over and over again. “You know, it’d be nice to hear his voice.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “He still manages to get under my skin and he isn’t even near me!” He exclaimed.
“Let’s go get dinner.” Killua stood up, pulling both Gon and Alluka with him. He began to walk to the door. “You too, old man.”
“I’m only six years older than you!”
“More like sixty.”