A/N: I started the first drabbles that grew into this fic well over a year ago, but only finished and put it all together for the Hunter x Hunter Big Bang 2017 over on tumblr. Plus, through the HxHBB, I received some wonderful art for this fic which y'all can find by heading on over to the tumblr hxhbb17. My username there is justablossom.

The fic will be about 8 chapters in total, all of which are finished. I'm just planning to do a final edit before posting, so expect updates every few days. Enjoy!

Prelude

Kurapika sipped at his morning glass of orange juice and looked across the table at no one. He flipped open a newspaper with one hand, skimmed over the crime section and then pushed it away with a sigh. His gaze fell on the hairline cracks tracing the wall across from him, then shifted to the matching scars that covered the tabletop like webs.

Spiderwebs.

A moment passed. Eventually, he managed to relax his clenched fist and inhale deeply. The room was too silent— there was too much space to think… and Kurapika hated to be left alone with only his treacherous thoughts for company.

He pushed away from the table, snatched his book bag from the kitchenette's counter, and was out the door and inside the apartment building's dank and dim staircase within moments.

The apartment had seemed like a good idea when he'd first moved— a decent price, lots of room for one occupant (even if said room could use some tidying), and an excellent location (a mere twenty minute's walk to the university campus). However, it was on mornings like these that he had second thoughts.

Mornings when he had only the wall to stare at across the table, and everywhere he looked there was something to remind him of them.

The only solution was to get out and get his mind going on some other thread— his usual routine was a trip to the campus library, where he could study and read and fill up his brain with lots of colourful, loud, distracting thoughts— and watch the other students chat, and get coffee together, and smile at each other the way he couldn't anymore.

When he reached the library it was just past six in the morning. He claimed a table and sat down, prepared for a long morning with only himself and his books for company.

It wasn't that Gon didn't like school… well, okay, maybe it was that after all. But first things first, school didn't like Gon. School gave him headaches and melted brain cells and smoke pouring out of his ears. So it was only natural that he'd have some unpleasant feelings towards it, too.

But this school was different. For one thing, everyone here was much older than him— scarf-wearing twenty-somethings holding a coffee in one hand and a textbook in the other. For another, they didn't have to wear uniforms— and there was no hall monitor glaring at them from the corners, no Aunt Mito breathing down their necks to get their homework done on time— there was basically no supervision, and Gon had found that as long as he didn't stay in one person's line of sight for too long, no one tried to kick him out. He had free rein of the place. Even though he wasn't a student…

The real reason this school was special, the real reason he was here— it wasn't for the experience or the atmosphere. Gon had a mission: find Ging Freecss. And what better place to start than his father's old university?

He'd been here ten days now, but still hadn't found a single clue. Not that such a thing would in any way weaken his resolve— he knew there must be something, and he'd find it eventually. Today, he planned to talk to all the professors; surely one of them would remember teaching Ging. But the first classes didn't even start until 8:00 am, and— Gon looked at the clock mounted outside the library: 6:05 am. He shouldered his backpack.

In the meantime, he'd make a new friend.

Gon was sure he'd be able to, even if he hadn't had much experience with it. Back on Whale Island, he'd been friends with pretty much everybody. There weren't any other kids his age, so he'd settled for listening to the older crowd's stories and playing games with the little ones— he'd never set out to make friends but it just happened, as fast as blinking. Somehow through the talking and tussling and laughing and listening he and the others had just… clicked.

There were times when he wished for a friend his own age, who possessed both the energy of a young person (so they could keep up with him), and an older person's intelligence, so they wouldn't be stuck playing kiddy games all the time.

So when he saw the blond-haired youth bent over a book at an otherwise empty library table, he seized the chance.

This guy looked pretty young, at least for university. Still several years older than Gon, but he wasn't picky. Plus, the guy looked lonely, if Gon's sharp eyes judged him correctly. There were bags under his eyes, and even though his hair was brushed straight and his shirt tucked in neatly he looked disarrayed somehow— in a way that reminded Gon of Aunt Mito when he'd gone out for a week long camping trip by himself when Granny was off visiting relatives on the mainland. When he'd returned, she looked prim and proper and greeted him with a smile but the small details of her expression were off, the creases in the corners of her eyes were crooked— and he knew she'd been lonely in the house by herself.

He plopped down across the table with an exuberant, "Hi, I'm Gon Freecss! What's your name?"

Kurapika wasn't sure how exactly he'd started to hate the black-haired, glasses-wearing man who stood opposite him.

After all, how can you hate someone you barely know?

They had one class together— one— and even then they sat on opposite sides of the lecture hall. They'd never even had a conversation before— well, aside from this one, which was rapidly increasing the already unpleasant emotions Kurapika was feeling towards his classmate with every word spoken.

It had started as an innocent discussion with their chemistry professor.

"I'd like to commend both of you for your excellent results in my class so far," Professor Hitchens said, deep voice mellow, finger and thumb tracing his silvering mustache.

The black-haired man had looked a bit overly pleased with himself, but Kurapika withheld judgement— until Professor Hitchens inquired as to why they'd enrolled in their programs of choice.

"I'll be raking in the cash as a doctor," the man said. "It's as simple as that."

Yes, you really are simple, thought Kurapika, forgetting his earlier determination to withhold judgement. Sometimes he really could not comprehend the base motivations of other people— or perhaps he just did not want to comprehend them. Because if you really thought about it, wasn't his motivation just as depraved? Sure, greed was despicable… but the extreme desire for vengeance was just as contemptible, by anyone's ruling.

He was so wrapped up in this conundrum of personal ethics that he forgot to gloss over his own reason for taking the program, and blurted it out in Professor Hitchens and the black-haired man's faces. Hitchens eyes widened momentarily— then he coughed, slight and faked. He muttered some nonsense ("Ah, I see… Very understandable, very, indeed") before hurrying off to his next class, leaving behind a Kurapika who wished he could pluck the damning words out of the air and wipe the dubious look right off of the black-haired man's face.

"Let me get this straight… your dream is to become a criminology specialist so you can track down these mafia dudes who killed your family?" He snorted. "Is that a joke? 'Cause it sounds like this lame B-movie that my—"

"Shut your mouth." Kurapika remained completely still, but his eyes spoke more violent intent than any body language. The man flinched backward reflexively, then seemed to gather himself.

"Is that how you normally treat people you've just met?"

"Only the imbecilic ones."

A beat. The man raised an eyebrow. The look on his face screamed "I'm-so-superior-to-you-and-I-know-it". Kurapika struggled to keep his hands relaxed at his sides.

"I didn't set out to offend you—" the man began.

"Then take it back."

"What?"

"Take back what you said about my family. About me. Comparing it to some stupid movie—" Now his fists really did clench, and his jaw too. "You really are an obnoxious loudmouth."

There was another pause, during which Kurapika swore a vein in the man's forehead bulged.

"Why you little— try showing some respect to an upperclassman!"

"I'll only respect those who deserve it." Kurapika crossed his arms and turned his back on the man, who was now quivering with irritation.

It was too late now to regret his rudeness— the moment he'd spilled his real reasons for being here, the moment that man had scoffed at them— well, it was settled. Whatever that guy's name was, he was a miserable, loathsome cretin and Kurapika did not need anything more to do with him. Ever.

So it was more than a little awkward when they found themselves face to face by the south side balcony the very next day.

They stood there. Stared. The man looked like he was about to say something— so Kurapika figured he'd better leave before it came to that. He had just spun around on his heel when something small and green came barrelling into his stomach.

"Uff—" He blinked, and found himself staring down into the smiling, round-eyed face of a young boy— the same boy he'd met hanging around the library while he studied during the early morning a few days ago.

"Kurapika, hi!" Gon said excitedly. His eyebrows contracted briefly as he registered the fact that he'd just run into someone. "Oh, sorry!" He didn't wait for his apology to be accepted, just tugged on Kurapika's arm and pulled him back around, towards the black-haired man and the balcony's edge.

"Come on, look over here, I wanna show you something!" Just as he'd successfully dragged Kurapika to the railing, he glanced over at the black-haired man— and his eyes lit up.

"Leorio!" he exclaimed, and Kurapika felt like he'd swallowed lead.

So that was the man's name— and apparently Gon had befriended him, too? How was that possible— for such a jerk—

While he seethed inside, Gon led Leorio to Kurapika's side, seemingly oblivious to the simmering tension between the two of them. His attention was captured by the maple tree standing tall just past the edge of the balcony. A few long-reaching branches brushed against the railing, and the way Gon was looking at them had Kurapika beginning to worry; he had heard the story of a stupid freshman who'd tried climbing down this very tree and ended up with a broken arm and academic probation for his trouble. Could Gon be planning something of that foolish nature?

"Gon—" he began, but the boy interrupted.

"Look at that! Isn't it cool?"

It took him a moment to figure out what exactly Gon was referring to, but then he saw it— or rather, them. Three baby birds and a blue-shelled egg cooped together in a makeshift nest. They were nestled in the crook of a branch about two metres out from the railing.

"What species of bird are they?" Leorio asked, adjusting his glasses and leaning forward.

"Robins," chirped Gon, before Kurapika could provide a scathing answer. "They're prob'ly about a week old— you can tell 'cause they haven't fledged yet."

Leorio opened his mouth— probably to ask what fledging was— when Gon cried out. In the next second, faster than you could blink, the small boy had heaved himself on top of the railing and pushed off into the open air.

Kurapika wasn't sure who reacted first, or whether they'd both lunged forward at the same time— the next thing he was aware of was clutching Gon's left ankle, heart stuttering frantically in his chest, and noticing, from the corner of his eye, Leorio at his side, holding on to the kid's other leg.

They didn't speak, just hauled him back over the balcony railing and deposited him on solid ground. There was a moment where the three of them just stood there, staring at each other, and then Kurapika gave up on trying to maintain his calm and exploded.

"What on earth did you think you were doing— were you trying to get yourself killed?"

To his surprise, Leorio was right behind him. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen anyone do, kid. If we hadn't caught you—"

Gon seemed strangely unperturbed. He smiled and raised cupped hands up for their inspection. "But you did catch me... and I caught him, too." The little robin perched on his palms gave a small chirp— perhaps in agreement.

It was hard to stay furious when you were being looked at like that by two wide and blinking pairs of baby-eyes. Kurapika's anger melted away into relief and then to a touch of humour. He nearly began to chuckle— but Leorio interrupted.

"You risked your life for a bird?!" the man demanded, aghast.

"Well, he was falling," Gon protested.

"Birds can fly!"

"Not when they haven't fledged yet!"

"Whatever this fletching thing is, I don't care. As a med student I can tell you for certain that humans can't fly, and that's—"

Gon was beaming so brightly and Leorio's expression narrowed almost comically in scolding anger that Kurapika couldn't contain his laugh any longer. When Leorio shot him a look, he kept the smile.

"Leorio…" he said. "I'd like to apologize for my rudeness earlier."

Leorio looked momentarily startled, then rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment. "No need. What I said was… out of line. I'm sorry too."

"It's fine."

Gon was looking back and forth at them with an ever-widening grin. "I'm glad," he said simply. "We're all friends now!"

It seemed a little sudden— it had been so long since Kurapika had even thought about that word, "friend", much less heard it out loud. But— just for a moment— he could forget the feeling of sitting alone, isolated, spiderwebs lurking in the back of his mind.

"Yes," he said, and the smile didn't leave his face.