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"Does everyone have their belongings?" Kurapika asked, and smiled when Gon, Killua, and Leorio nodded in unison. "We'll be back in six months." He said to the dentist's office receptionist as he ushered the others out of the door. "Remember, you can't eat or drink for thirty minutes. And Gon, please be careful not to bite your numb lip, okay?"
The group had just finished their first "family dentist appointment". Gon had six cavities and got fillings for three of them, but half of his lip and tongue was numb from the procedure. Gon gave Kurapika a lopsided smile with the functioning side of his mouth. "It feelsh so weird!" He commented, and poked at his lip with his finger as he stepped into the car. "Killua, poke it! I don't feel anyfing!"
Just as Killua was about to touch Gon's numb lip, Kurapika interjected, "Killua, leave Gon's lip alone." He walked around to get into the passenger seat of the car, and sighed when he got in. "Six cavities... We're definitely cutting down on the candy then." He muttered to himself, and he turned in his seat to look at his two adopted sons. "Gon! What did I say about biting your lip?!"
Gon didn't pay Kurapika any mind as he gently gnawed at his swollen lip, and Kurapika turned back around with a sigh. He glared at Leorio, who was chuckling to himself.
Leorio's laughter morphed into a nervous cough when he felt Kurapika's deadly glare burning into the side of his face, and he started the car. "Everybody have their seatbelts on?" He asked. After hearing a chorus of clicking noises, he put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking lot. "So, what color toothbrushes did everyone get?"
"I got a green one!" Gon announced, and pulled his toothbrush out of his little bag.
Killua frowned. "I got a green one too." He said, and retrieved his also green toothbrush from inside his own bag.
Kurapika let out a light laugh. "Have fun trying to figure out which one is which." He quipped, and looked inside his bag. The smile on his face quickly faded when he had a shocking realization. "Mine is also green..." He muttered.
Leorio burst into laughter. "What a coincidence!! That sucks for you guys!" He cackled. "Hey Pika, what color is mine?"
Kurapika looked into Leorio's bag that sat in the messy car console. He started laughing like crazy, and Leorio looked at him with concern when they approached a red light. "What's so funny?" He asked with a twinge of worry.
"Y-your toothbrush is green too!" Kurapika said between laughs. "How could this even happen?"
Leorio couldn't contain his laughter. "This is going to be interesting."
The next morning, Kurapika was awoken by someone aggressively pounding on his bedroom door. "Kurapika~," Killua whined from the other side of the door, and started knocking again.
Kurapika groaned, and rolled over in bed. "Babe, can you deal with it?" He mumbled to a Leorio who wasn't there. When there was no response, he opened his eyes to find that he was alone in bed. "Oh jeez." He muttered to himself.
Killua was fed up with Kurapika not responding, and decided to barge into the room. "Kurapika, Gon used my toothbrush." He said as soon as he walked in and stood next to Kurapika's bed. Gon wasn't far behind, and he was still brushing his teeth with the wrong toothbrush.
Kurapika rolled over in bed to look at Killua. "How do you know it's your toothbrush?" He asked, his voice groggy. "That could just be Gon's, and you forgot which one was yours."
"That's what I said!" Gon interrupted, and spat foamy toothpaste as he did so.
"Gon, go finish brushing your teeth in the bathroom and then come back." Kurapika said as he sat up.
Gon nodded, and walked out of the room. Killua stayed in place, his hands on his hips. "I remember what my toothbrush looks like! It had little scratchy things on the back for your tongue." He began whining again. "The other toothbrush in there doesn't have that so I know the one Gon's using is actually mine."
"Why can't you guys just switch toothbrushes?" Kurapika asked, exhausted by this ridiculous feud.
"Gon already used his toothbrush last night. And I want the tongue scratcher thingie!" Killua protested.
"Tongue scratcher thingie... " Kurapika repeated with a small chuckle. "How about we just go out and buy you a toothbrush with a tongue scratcher? Then you can choose the color you want. Is that okay?"
Killua was silent for a moment as he pondered his options. After a few seconds, he nodded. "That works." He said calmly, his fury completely dissipated.
Kurapika clapped once. "Alright then! Problem solved. Let me put some clothes on so we can go." He said, and shooed the boys out of his room, closing the door behind them. He let out another deep sigh. "Those two, I swear..." He muttered to himself, then went to put something on.
Once he had changed and the boys were ready, Kurapika herded Killua and Gon into the car. He sat in the driver seat and started the car, and looked at Killua and Gon in his rear mirror. "We're going to the store to get toothbrushes and toothbrushes only ." He declared, and saw the two boys nod in understanding. Kurapika put the car in drive, and drove out of their driveway to the supermarket nearby.
When they arrived at the supermarket, Killua and Gon immediately began begging for everything they came across in the store. They attempted to sneak bags of candy and little odd toys into the cart while Kurapika searched for the toothbrushes but were caught almost instantaneously, and the duo were told to go and put everything back where they found it.
Eventually, they found the toothbrushes, and Killua pointed to a pack that had Disney princess toothbrushes in it. "I want that one!" He declared, pointing to the toothbrush with Aurora on it. Kurapika looked at Killua incredulously, but Killua seemed dead-set on that Aurora one, so he put the pack in the cart. After they grabbed a few more things that Kurapika needed, the trio made their way to the self-checkout.
"I wanna do it!" Gon announced, and started pulling the groceries out of the cart.
Kurapika grabbed Gon's arm and chuckled. "Hold on, let me show you how to do it, okay?" He said, and took the pack of toothbrushes from Gon's small hands. He flashed the barcode under the scanner and gently put it in a bag.
"My turn!" Gon said with a smile, and picked up a box of crackers. He placed the box under the scanner and moved it back and forth quickly. When nothing happened, Gon frowned, and starting moving the box more vigorously.
"Sweetie, you have to find the barcode first." Kurapika said, and took the box from an upset Gon. He moved the box around to find the barcode, and showed it to Gon. "You take this thing here and run it on the red line." He said as he demonstrated slowly. "Then you put it in the bag and leave it alone so the scale doesn't get mad at you."
Gon nodded in understanding, and took another box out of the cart. He took his time finding the barcode, and showed it to Kurapika. "I found it!" He announced with glee, and ran it under the scanner. He gasped when it beeped, and he quickly put the box in the bag. He looked up at Kurapika with the biggest smile on his face. "Look Mom, I did it!" He declared.
Kurapika laughed nervously at Gon calling him 'Mom', but he was proud of his son. "Good job! Killua, do you wanna try?" He asked, and looked over at Killua.
Killua was absorbed in reading the covers of tabloid magazines, and jumped when he heard his name called. "What?" He looked at Kurapika with a bewildered expression.
Kurapika laughed. "Do you want to try scanning something?" He asked again.
Killua walked over next to the cart, and picked up a can. He slid it under the scanner, and it read the barcode without fail. He put the can in the grocery bag without a word.
Gon's jaw dropped with astonishment. "You got it on the first try! You're so cool!" He showered Killua with compliments as usual, and Killua made a face of disapproval.
"I bet I can scan more items than you!" Gon challenged.
A smirk spread across Killua's lips. "You're on!" He said, and picked up another box. It scanned on the first try again, and he put it in an empty bag that Kurapika had prepared.
Kurapika left the two to scan all the items, only stepping in when the machine was bugging out or they were getting too rough. All the items were scanned in no time, and Kurapika paid for the groceries. Gon and Killua went to pick up as many bags as they could. Kurapika laughed as they struggled to stay upright, and took some of the bags from them to lessen the weight.
As the three walked back to the car, Killua and Gon began to debate who scanned the most items. "I totally scanned more things. You were being all slow trying to find the barcode." Killua said with a confident smirk.
"That's not true!" Gon protested with a pout. "You were just lucky that the lines ended up under the scanner!"
When they arrived to the car, Kurapika opened the trunk and began putting the bags in the back. The two continued to bicker, not bothering to help Kurapika. He sent Killua to return the cart, and got into the car with Gon.
"Kurapika, who do you think scanned more items?" Gon asked, and looked at Kurapika expectantly.
"Um..." Kurapika hesitated, and Killua returned to the car before he could respond.
"Kurapika said I definitely scanned more things!" Gon bragged as Killua got in.
"I didn't--" Kurapika attempted to explain, but cut him off.
"No way! Kurapika obviously missed something." Killua retorted, and looked at Kurapika.
"I actually wasn't paying attention..." Kurapika admitted.
Killua and Gon groaned in unison. Their frustration only made Kurapika laugh, and he drove out of the parking lot to head home.