Unexpected
A Hunter X Hunter one shot
by Ongaku no Usagi
Disclaimer: Hunter X Hunter belongs to Togashi Yoshihiro.
Rated M for a little language and...well, what you'd expect. What exactly constitutes "explicit" anyway? I hope this isn't too graphic for the rules of the site...
It was a door.
Just an innocuous door, like any other; it was cheap wood, painted long enough ago that the green was chipping at the corners. It had a small brass handle, perfectly round but a little dented, and a small glass peep hole a little lower than eye level. Inscribed in faded gold-painted brass figures was the number "404".
Leorio hesitated before that door. It was too innocent. It stood there in its frame, on its worn hinges, laughing at him, and he was afraid to ring the doorbell to the right.
Goodness, how long had it been, already? Two years? Three years? Suppose he was different. Suppose he didn't want to see him. Suppose he hadn't yet let the years mellow the idiocy that he must remember of him, because, quite bluntly, he had always been an idiot around him. He had no choice; he had always muddled up the insides of his otherwise-perfectly-capable brain so that he couldn't think, couldn't hardly say intelligible things, let alone intelligent things.
Suppose...here Leorio swallowed nervously...suppose he had a girlfriend?
No, no, no, Leorio, you can't think that way. After all, you're supposed to be straight, remember? 100%, completely, totally, straight.
But he knew the signs, had always known them. After all, he'd been in love before he'd met him, though he hadn't fallen for anyone else since. He was definitely attracted to him, whether or not he was able to accept that fact.
But this time he would come as a friend, no more. He would laugh and joke around, and be generally stupid like he always was around him, and they would order pizza and maybe watch a movie, or even just talk until they ran out of things to talk about and Leorio would listlessly flip through the channels while he read.
His mind thus made up, Leorio lifted his hand and knocked, forgetting about the doorbell in his nervousness. Then he waited. Maybe he's not home, he thought, surprised that the thought hadn't yet entered his mind. But he knocked again.
This time, he was rewarded by a small scuffling sound inside. He counted the seconds. 1...2...3... 20...21...22...
Footsteps became apparent and then increased in volume, and finally the door opened, just enough so that the chain on the inside tautened slightly, and a blond head appeared through the sliver on the other side.
"Who is it?" Kurapika asked, before it actually registered to Leorio that all his friend could see was the shoulder pads of his suit.
Leorio leaned over with a grin so that he could be identified. "Yo."
He saw Kurapika's eyes widen perceptibly, and then a surprised smile broke out.
"Leorio!" He opened the door completely, actually going so far as to tear the chain off the wall without thinking due to the sudden use of Reinforcement skills. He laughed a little, embarrassed, and then gestured his friend inside.
"Come in! It's great to see you! I'm sorry...if I'd known you were coming, I would have cleaned up..."
Leorio took an appraising look around the room. Really? If he'd tidied up anymore, the room would've been completely bare. There was a solitary table with a solitary chair; a tiny sofa was shoved into one corner, and the rest of the furniture consisted entirely of bookshelves, primly arranged into perfect Dewey Decimal rows that even the sternest librarian would be proud of.
"I'll get some tea," came Kurapika's voice as he hurried into the kitchen. Leorio grinned and pulled up the chair at the table, picking up one of the books which his friend had evidently been comparing and taking copious notes on before his abrupt arrival.
"Geography and...music, huh?" he called out, hoping his voice would carry. Evidently it did, because Kurapika's voice came back, "Yes, I'm helping Senritsu pin down the location of the Yami no Sonata. We haven't had much luck yet, but..."
Ah, so she's not back to her real form yet, Leorio thought, with a little relief, though he couldn't quite tell why. "That's nice of you."
"Not really. I'm just so bloody bored, I thought it might be fun." Kurapika emerged from the kitchen, carrying a teapot and two cups, which he set down on the table and began pouring. Leorio raised an eyebrow.
"That was fast."
"I've got a hot-pot in the kitchen." He handed a cup to Leorio. When their fingers brushed, Leorio gasped lightly, though it might have been because Kurapika's hands were shaking enough that some of the hot liquid dribbled over the side of the cup. They ignored each other's reactions, trying to gauge how the other was feeling about the brief physical contact.
"How very...domestic of you."
Kurapika laughed a little nervously and stood on the other side of the table, leaning against it slightly as he sipped the tea. "I will have you know I am a decent cook."
Leorio gave him a rakish grin. "I expected as much. Anything else I should know?"
It was the wrong question, finally. Kurapika turned red and thwacked him across the top of his head as he leaned across the table. Leorio winced, rubbing the abused area gingerly. It felt like a combination between a punch, a slap, and a noogie. He knew enough about the latter from two teenage boys he occasionally hung out with.
Kurapika seemed to forgive him, just this once, having carried out his revenge, and settled back over at his side of the table. Leorio felt a little guilty, suddenly, having taken his chair, after all. He pushed it back slightly and half-stood. "Um...do you want...?"
"No, no, it's fine. It's my fault, after all; when Senritsu and I hang out, I usually go over to her place, so I haven't bothered to get another chair. I guess it tells you how social I am..."
He gave a little wistful grin as Leorio hesitated, then sat back down. "What have you been up to, anyway?"
"Ah, me?" Leorio laughed a little sheepishly. "Well, about what you'd expect, I guess: slaving away over mountains of medical books, trying to master Nen, trying to avoid the numerous women throwing themselves at me..."
He gave a little sideways glance at his friend as he said the last, and was ameliorated to see the vague hint of jealousy which his friend emitted. Haughtily, Kurapika answered, "Anyone particularly good?"
"Not really," Leorio replied. "I kind of met someone a couple of years ago, but nothing ever came of it, and ever since then, all the girls seem a little stale..."
Kurapika caught the subtle inflection as Leorio said "the girls", and colored heavily, though, it seemed to Leorio, surprised and pleased. "I...I see..." he said awkwardly, and regarded his tea sternly.
"Too strong," he said, a little loudly, at the unoffensive tea, and marched over to the kitchen to pour it out. When he came back, Leorio was smiling, and a heavy silence descended in which they measured the other's responses and weighed the possible meanings thereof.
Leorio broke it at last. "So...the Spiders? And the eyes of your people?"
"Ah, that." Kurapika gave a satisfied smile. "The eyes weren't hard to collect, actually, thanks to my connections with the Nostrads. Though I kind of wonder how they are financially, now, since the last I heard Neon still hasn't gotten back her Prophecy Nen..." He trailed off for a moment, and Leorio cocked his head at him inquisitively.
"So you're not with the Nostrads anymore?"
"Nope."
"So what about the Spiders?"
Kurapika shrugged uncaringly. "What about the Spiders? If they come and find me, I'll beat them up, but I'm not going to go trudging around the world looking for them. I like to think I've at least matured a bit, enough to let go of the past, even if not all of my acquaintances have." He gave Leorio a smirk, but Leorio returned it. After all, Kurapika had to be, what, 18 already? And certainly no sign of starting to shave yet...
"Anyway."
"Anyway."
Another quiet moment settled, not because they'd run out of topics to talk about, but because they were still suffering in those stages of "I haven't seen you forever and I don't know where to begin with asking questions, but I don't have any context to comment on either so..."
Leorio took advantage of the time to run his gaze over the blond's physique. Only a tiny bit taller; the hair was slightly longer; his clothing was bulky and almost shapeless, hiding the slenderness of his frame. In short, all that had really changed about him was his expression; he looked happier, and Leorio was glad of that. Perhaps he was also a bit more attractive...
Kurapika came up with the most obvious topic under such circumstances, trying to ignore the fact that Leorio was looking him up and down in what seemed to be a rather...approving...manner. "So, where are you staying tonight? Not here, I hope..."
"Um...I was hoping I could stay here, actually."
Kurapika gave him a murderous look. "I only have one bed."
"So? We've slept together before."
He blushed furiously. "Don't say it like that, so..." He didn't really want to say it, so he looked away.
Leorio was grinning. "What, you still a virgin, after all?"
His friend's eyes whirled up to meet his, flickering scarlet. "Leorio!"
"I'll take that as a no..."
Kurapika gritted his teeth as he stormed over to the other side of the table and pulled the snickering Leorio up by his collar. "That. Is none of your business." Abruptly, he dumped him back in the chair and looked away. "You can stay here, but you're sleeping on the floor," he said brusquely.
"What, your bed really isn't big enough for two? Let's go see..." Leorio stood up and sauntered over to the bedroom, Kurapika collecting himself and indignantly following with sputtering complaints.
Leorio switched on the light and strode to the middle of the room, where he halted suddenly. "See? It's plenty big enough..."
He was cut off as Kurapika plowed into him from behind at the sudden stop. Something in him twisted as he felt his friend run into him, and he turned around to face him.
Kurapika's eyes were very big, going back and forth between red and blue as Leorio stood in close proximity to him, yet he did not make any effort to move, and neither did the other. They just stood there, breathing a little more heavily than usual, wanting to touch, quivering on the rim of indecision...
Neither knew exactly who moved first, but the culmination was Leorio crushing Kurapika against the wall, closing the younger boy's lips with his, hungrily, desiringly. To his surprise, Kurapika did not resist, but kissed back with equal fervency, moving his hands up to touch Leorio's face, his chest, his arms, as if he wanted all of him at once and wasn't sure where to begin.
Leorio deepened the kiss, shifting so that their heads were tilted to the left, and hungrily began delving into the other's mouth with his tongue, probing at it with the tip, and shivering as the blond responded eagerly by stroking his tongue with his own. Leorio's hands slipped under Kurapika's shirt at the waist, feeling the unbearably soft skin beneath his fingers, tracing up his spine...
And then he froze as his fingers encountered something that should not be there.
He broke the kiss and stared with wide eyes at the other's face. Kurapika looked up at him guiltily.
Dizzily, Leorio stumbled back, leaving Kurapika panting against the wall. "Well."
"Well, what?"
"This...changes things..."
Kurapika shrugged. "Changes...what?"
Leorio looked over sideways. "Positions, for one."
The blonde blushed heavily. "Sorry."
Leorio found himself sitting on the bed with his elbows on his knees, all the nicely crossed wires in his head going haywire as they forced themselves to uncross. Hesitantly, Kurapika took a couple of steps forward, then quietly crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to him, about a foot apart, not touching, not looking at each other.
Leorio blinked blankly. "And all this time...I thought I was going crazy, that I wasn't actually straight after all, and you...you...!"
Kurapika sighed. "Exactly what did you expect? That the last survivor of the Kuruta clan is going to wander around, unprotected, a true sheep in the midst of wolves...as a girl?" At last, she raised her eyes to look into Leorio's, and he was astounded that he'd never noticed how obviously female she was before.
"I'm not questioning your intentions, but...you don't have to be alone, you know?"
A confused expression crossed her features. "What are you talking about?"
He reached out a hand and stroked her face gently, so that she closed her eyes under his touch. "You could have someone...stay with you...for your protection..."
"Oh, yes, purely for my protection." She snorted, looking up with daring eyes.
Suddenly, they both seemed to be wearing too much clothing. Their lips collided even more passionately than before, as he shed his jacket, and she began undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. They broke the kiss as he worked her shirt over her head, enjoying the object of the revelation before taking that off, too, and throwing it to the floor. He laid her across the bed and began to kiss her softly, noting that she moaned as he did so. After a couple of minutes, the pants came off too, and a suddenly frightened expression crossed her face.
He paused, though he didn't know how he was still able to, and asked her, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
She nodded eagerly, although the expression remained. She was nervous, he was nervous, and there was no going back afterward.
All uncertainty ended after that.
"Yup, definitely still a virgin."
"I'm not even going to ask how you know. God, that hurts."
"Well, I am a doctor, after all..."
Kurapika opened her eyes, which had been shut from the pain, and met Leorio's. "Is that really all?" she asked, a little sarcastically.
He bent forward and kissed her, saying seriously, "Yes. That's really all."
She smiled a little, still wincing. "Crap, I just bought these sheets."
"Sorry."
"No, you're not."
He collapsed on top of her afterward, still shaking a little from the exertion, sweat dripping down onto the already stained sheets. She gasped for breath underneath, yet enjoying his scent as she stroked the hair on the back of his head, snuggled in the crook of her neck, face down.
Eventually, he pushed himself up onto his forearms and looked down at her, both smiling, both content. He rolled over next to her, the sides of their arms still touching.
"Leorio."
"Hm?" His eyes were getting heavy, suddenly.
"Did you mean what you said?"
He rocked his head to look over at her. "About what?"
"About staying with me...for protection."
He smiled sleepily. "Yup."
She paused. "I'd like that."
He yawned. "Okay. We'll do that, then."
He began to drift off to sleep, aware that she was still watching him, lying on her side with her head propped up with her elbow, and the last thought that passed through his mind was that it wasn't quite the way he'd expected, but it had turned out much, much better anyway.
Fin
Author's Notes: Okay, I'm seriously going to regret posting this, for several reasons. 1. I don't approve of sex before marriage. Sorry. I just don't. 2. I don't like the idea of Kurapika being female. 3. I blushed a lot while writing this.
But, I've been writing far too much heavy Kurapika stuff recently, and this came to mind, so I'm posting it as a "I'm sorry 'Full Moon' has such an unlikeable Kura!". And also because there's not enough LeoPika out there that ends with her female and them happy. Here you go, LeoPika fans. Enjoy.