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The first time it happened, Killua sat bolt upright, face burning, and stared incredulously at Gon. Gon, who seemed unaffected, looked up at him with big brown eyes.
Before Killua could ask, Gon smiled and said, "It was a goodnight kiss, Killua. Goodnight." Gon eyes sparkled in the darkness and his honey-sweet smile turned a little softer before he turned around and fell asleep.
. . .
The second time, Killua sputtered, tripped, and fell flat on his face.
"What is it this time?" he asked, trying to glare at Gon from the ground.
Gon shrugged. "I just felt like it." Killua felt something short-circuit in his brain. Gon giggled and started running.
"Come on, Killua! We're going to be late!"
. . .
The third, fourth, and fifth times Killua couldn't stop to wonder about. They happened lightening fast in the middle of battles, running away, and yelling at Gon because did he even think sometimes?!
. . .
Eventually Killua got used it. He didn't even bat an eyelash when Gon would lean across the table to steal maple syrup from his lips, or kiss him every night because that's just what you do, Killua!. He didn't bat an eyelash, but his heart pounded just as hard as it did the first time. This, Killua supposed, was just another thing he'd have to get used to about Gon.
. . .
It wasn't until three years later, at sixteen, when Killua realized that it wasn't something that best friends normally did. At this point, however, Gon’s random kisses had blended into Killua’s days. They were as easy as breathing. Soft, butterfly kisses that Gon would press into his lips. There and gone before Killua could so much as close his eyes.
. . .
Leorio had stopped chewing, his fork hanging between his fingers. He was staring across the table at Gon and Killua. At Gon who had just turned to Killua and kissed the edge of his mouth, smiling at his disgruntled expression. Killua who hadn’t even moved, but to turn his head for Gon, while still giving the potatoes on his plate a nasty look. Leorio watched Gon’s smile get a little bit wider before he settled back in his seat. Neither of them noticed, until they heard sniffling coming from the other side of the table. Leorio’s eyes were huge and glassy. He let his fork clatter out of his hand and used it to cover his trembling mouth. Gon and Killua looked at each other in surprise.
“Ne, Leorio, are you o--?”
“You guys are finally together, I’m so happy~” His voice sounded choked up and nose wet. “Come here,” Leorio waved his hands toward them.
Killua leaned away from him. “We’re...not?” he said. He snorted into his hand. “What made you think that, old man?”
Leorio looked non-plussed. “Eh? You’re not? But--” he pointed back and forth between them. “You’re not but--you--you kissed? Isn’t that--? I thought--” Leorio rambled into silence, face starting to turn beet red.
Killua laughed loudly. “Leorio, your mind really is going.” Leorio’s red face now started to look red out of annoyance and he opened his mouth to hotly contest, but Killua beat him to it. “I know, I know, but Gon just does it, you know, it doesn’t mean anything. He does it to everyone...right?” Killua had started off confidently, but at the look of increasing shock on Leorio’s face and the heavy silence that suddenly muted Gon’s presence beside him had him ending uncertainly.
Leorio’s eyes flicked awkwardly from Gon to Killua and back to Gon. After a split second of silence, he began to laugh loudly. “I’m jealous now!” he said. “Gon doesn’t kiss me! After all these years too,” he shook his head.
Killua felt a sinking feeling. Gon didn’t? He didn’t? Then? Years of repressed feelings crashed into Killua at the same time and his mind made connections so rapidly it felt like lightning had struck.
“Oh my god.”
Leorio’s eyes widened and he began laughing, in earnest this time. He looked at Gon, who was smiling, albeit somewhat wryly. Leorio stood up from the table. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said. “I think I’m full.” After Leorio left the dining room, silence fell over the room like a blanket. Killua felt light-headed. His entire body was sparking, almost literally, and he couldn’t tell if he was sitting, standing, or floating.
After some time, Gon’s chair squeaked across the linoleum and Killua jerked at the noise.
“It’s late. Should we get to bed?” Gon asked in a soft voice. Killua started up at him for a second, at a loss for words. Gon’s eyes were dark, too much for Killua to decipher. He cleared his throat, “Uh, sure.”
Before Killua could even send the message to his limbs to move, Gon had already cleared the table and put the dishes in the sink. When Gon reappeared, all Killua could do was look at his face in disbelief as Gon gently pulled him out of his seat and up the stairs to their room.
Killua’s face, of course, chose to blush horrendously as Gon pulled him across the threshold to their room. But Gon only went about his business as usual. He was slipping into bed when he looked back Killua frozen in the doorway. Gon’s face lit up with a smile then and he got back up to pull Killua with him to the bed. Killua held his hand tightly.
“Really?” Killua asked, his voice cracking. Gon hummed in response.
“Really.”
Killua felt his face split into a smile and Gon’s did the same.
Killua easily followed Gon in bed, allowing Gon to slip his arms around his waist like usual. And like usual, Gon moved into press his lips to Killua’s. This time Killua wound his fingers into Gon’s hair, like he’d been wanting to for so long, and pulled him flush to him, fitting their lips together perfectly. He kissed him softly, with the same care and fondness that Gon had been pouring into him all these years.
Killua pulled back slowly. He opened his eyes and found Gon’s warm brown ones looking back at him, shimmering with happiness.
“What was that?” Gon asked softly.
“A goodnight kiss.”