Author: Empirical_Pursuit
Title: The principle of peeping Tom and glass bowls
Anime/manga: HunterXHunter
Genre: General with a tad bit of Humor and maybe some Romance if I can get it right.
Pairing/characters: Leorio X Kurapika mild Killua X Gon
Warning/spoilers: Contains Shonen ai. Don't like don't read!
Rating: Teen
Time: July 12th 2009 – January 8th 2010
Dedication: Dedicated to my dear friend Elin: Your clumsiness and inability to keep time is just a part of your charm and it makes you kinda cute (No! I'm not in love with you!)
If we were part of the hunter crew you would be Leorio who's the kinda clumsy one that means well but doesn't always get it right. Comic relief guy (You understand much more then your letting people believe you do)
I would be Kurapika who's the emotionally scarred intelligent one that has no family but will no less protect that family name until death. (You know I'm the intelligent one, you admitted it! I did tell you that those free bus-tickets you tried to use would get you to the wrong city... not that that has anything to do with being intelligent it just means I can read.)
…If you're reading this please feel free to ignore my pointless rambling.
Disclaimer: If I owned HunterXHunter it probably wouldn't have existed, I would never have been able to make it up.
A/N: Maybe someone out there will see that there's a deeper meaning in this.
Summary: Playing peeping Tom is dangerous, you may break precious glass bowls. LeoPika. Mild KilGon.
Gon was out somewhere buying snacks for their movie night so Killua was left to entertain himself. The now 16-year-old boy peeked around the kitchen corner, a cat like smirk playing his lips.
He was fast, graceful and flawless. With cat like reflexes he moved from shadow to shadow as he made his way into the living room area, his unsuspecting pray casually sitting there in the sofa reading the newspaper.., it was going to be a close call, the older man was used to sneak attacks and he was a lot faster then he pretended to be.
The unsuspecting pray turned a page in the newspaper looking for the sports section. Leorio sighed it wasn't as if he didn't know about the ex assassin sneaking up on him he just pretended he didn't, it was his way of entertaining the boy... ignoring him.
Kurapika would be mad at him if he let the boy raid the refrigerator, so even if it made him seem weak he'd let Killua have his fun.
Besides he still found wrestling matches with either Gon or Killua to be beneficent, they were a real work out. The two boys had grown stronger over the past four years, especially Gon, the broom head had always been strong but now he easily overpowered both him and Killua. Leorio didn't know about Kurapika since the blond didn't participate in wrestling games but he was quite sure that Gon would win that one too.
In a flash Leorio saw two pale arms snake around his throat before his head was roughly pulled backwards as Killua made his attack.
The white haired boy screamed in victory as he dashed from the room to hide in the hallway preparing for his next attack.
The man was getting annoyed it was like having a blood sucking mosquito buzzing around the room knowing that it would strike any minute, but he wasn't allowed to fold any of Killuas plans as long as Gon wasn't there,
He remembered Kurapikas words from earlier, the blond had been in the kitchen cooking stew for dinner as Leorio complained about what he undoubtedly knew would occur later that evening, it was Friday and Friday meant rental-movie night, which meant that either Gon or Killua would go out to get snacks and a movie and it was Gons turn this week.
Kurapika always took a bath while one of the boys went for snacks and that left Leorio alone with a bored 16-year-old ex assassin.
The Kuruta had smiled and said: He looks up to you Leorio.., and if he raids the fridge I'm charging everything on you. Leorio had taken Kurapika up on his threat after all the blond most likely meant every word spoken and unspoken.
But he had to find Killua something else to do the kid was giving him whiplash injuries, but what? He didn't believe he and the white-haired-menace had anything in common.
Then it hit him like lightning from a clear sky: Killua was a sixteen year old boy and if there was anything he knew about sixteen year old boys it was that they were perverted.
Leorio might be a doctor and 23 years old but perversion is strong in men no matter what generation they're from, except for Kurapika but on the other hand Leorio wasn't entirely sure that the blond was a guy... maybe just 97 percent sure...
The doctor dug through the pile of magazines hidden under his bed to find just the edition he was looking for; his one and only original first edition of Play-Hunter.
The magazine was safely tucked away under some crappy volumes of Metro-Med-Scientific-Journal.
He pulled it out and held it in his hands as if was a long lost lover. "Killua will love this!"
It took Leorios brain a couple of seconds to register that the keyhole Killua was peeping through was the bathroom doors' and a couple of more seconds to remember that Kurapika was in the bathroom taking a bath.
Comically flapping his arms the man hissed "Killua!" in a hushed voice knowing that it was best to keep it down more so because he didn't want to alert Kurapika that something fishy was going on.
"Wow" the white haired boy said using his most 'perverted-old-man' voice "you can see everything" Leorio blushed hotly at the implication of the teens words. But some part of him wanted to toss Killua away and take his place.
"Looks like Kurapika has kept a huge secret from us" the boy continued on with a smirk. If possible the man blushed even hotter before the ex assassins words made contact with the exhausted over-used neurons of Leorios doctors brain "... What! Let me see!" the doctor pushed the boy away from the door and Killua, not expecting the man to be so forceful, lost his footing and crashed into the small table they had put in the hallway to have their keys on.
The glass bowl that held the keys fell to the floor and shattered into hundreds of pieces at the boy's feet. Leorio winced and Killua bit his lower lip, the bowl had been a gift from Senritsu and the Kuruta cherished it.
The bathroom door opened and said Kuruta stepped out wearing only a towel wrapped around his chest and hips "Leorio, Killua what was that?"
Kurapika stared at the scene in the hallway; Killua was sitting on the floor and the glass bowl Senritsu had given him when he departed from Nostrads mansion laid shattered in pieces at his feet. The blonds eyes narrowed. Leorio stepped in "Kurapika it was an accident..." he started.
"It wasn't my fault!" Killua said "He pushed me." he continued pointing at Leorio. The Kuruta turned to the older, eyes blazing.
"Can't I leave you people alone for two seconds without something getting destroyed?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.
Neither of the two in front of him answered. "Last week you and Gon exploded the vacuum cleaner." he said one finger in Leorios chest "The week prior to that you two manage the task of strangling a milk carton, the entire kitchen reeked of milk for three days... and..." the blond sighed and turned around going back into the bathroom "...I should change Gon will be back soon. Could you please clean that up...?"
A few seconds passed without neither the doctor nor the assassin moving then Killua elegantly jumped back onto his feet. Correcting his clothes, he looked at the older man "This is bad."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you see his eyes? He hid it well but he was hurt. That bowl was important to him."
"I know, I know" Leorio said moving to pick up the pieces "I saw the sadness in his eyes too... I'm not completely blind you know."
The boy leaned down to help him but the man held out an arm to stop him "No, I'll do it. You can go and call Gon, ask him what's taking him so long."
Killua stood there behind him looking at him then he put out an arm and patted the doctors shoulder in a knowing kind of way "... I'm sorry."
"It is as much my fault as it is yours.., and it's not me you should be apologizing to."
"I know." the white haired boy smiled, it was a kind smile, unusual for him around anyone else then Gon. "But I don't want Kurapika to be mad at me."
"None of us do." the man said as Killua disappeared into the living room to call Gon.
Gon fidgeted from his seat in the sofa, he knew something must have happened while he was out, the tension between the other three occupants of the apartment was obvious.
Killua was calm, and that was always a bad sign.
Kurapika hadn't even greeted him as he arrived back, in fact the blond hadn't said a word since before he left to buy snacks.
And Leorio had been in his room for about half an hour now and they still hadn't heard any explosions, which was what always happened if the doctor staid in his room for longer then 15 minutes. There had also been no attempts from Kurapikas side to get him out there.
"Killua?" Gon turned to his best friend whom sat next to him on the sofa "What happened?"
Killua looked at the blank TV-screen "What makes you think something happened?"
Gon leaned forward, seeking eye contact, then raised his eyebrows in a you-can't-hide-it-from-me-forever kinda way.
Killua sighed then took a deep breath "Leorio and I kinda brook Kurapikas bowl." at this Gon frowned "Poor Kurapika."
"'Poor Kurapika'! Poor us!" the other hissed "He's not talking to us, do you know what that means!"
Gon swallowed hard "The... The silent treatment."
"Yes!" Killua threw his arms in the air exasperatingly "The bloody silent treatment! Normally it wouldn't bother me but it's Kurapika" he said calming down considerably "You know, if it was Leorio I'd just tell him to suck it up and stop whining but It's Kurapika" The white haired boy emphasized the last part.
Gon looked at his hands "I know."
"He's making me feel so guilty Gon, and I don't like feeling guilty! It was an accident damn it! I feel like I've done something wrong, not even my parents can make me feel that way ...No one else makes me feel like this!"
"Killua." The broom haired boy took one of Killuas hands in his effectively cutting his rant of "You and me and Leorio we all feel the same way, and I wasn't even here, we all feel like we have to protect Kurapika in some way. Even though he's like seriously strong, we feel like we have to protect him, emotionally, so when he's sad we all feel it..."
Killua locked fingers with Gon, the characteristic smirk moving back in "Protectiveness huh? ...I guess you're right, Leorio doesn't want him to go out alone, and after what happened in Shin York I don't want him to go after the Spiders anymore I feel like.., like the pain it causes him is not worth it" He said as if he just realized his own emotions.
Gon nodded "That's it" a slight smile playing at his lips "Now, tell me what happened."
The ex-assassin leaned back into the sofa "Well, it really was an accident. I guess I broke the bowl but it wouldn't have happened if Leorio hadn't shoved me in the first place."
"Then you don't need to worry at all." This time an all out grin displayed it self on Gons face "Leorio reckons it was his fault so he'll fix it, somehow..."
"You mean we have to wait for Leorio to fix it! Good God, Gon it's bothering me now!"
"I know, lets just watch the movie then go to bed and wait and see how things are tomorrow."
"All right. What are we watching?" Killua asked secretly praying that is wasn't another teen movie Gon had a habit of picking those, Kurapika almost always picked a chic flick, Killua himself was one for Horror movies that gave Gon nightmares and had Kurapika shaking uncontrollably, hugging a pillow, until Leorio put an arm around his shoulders and let the blond hide in his chest every time an unusually bloody scene came up, The ones Leorio picked were either slow moving detective stories or something Killua was quite sure should be 18+ rated, in case of the later it always ended in the ever so entertaining scene of Kurapika scolding Leorio.
Gon proudly showed his choice. "The Lies of Locke Lamora." The white haired boy read "Congratulations Gon you've chosen something I can actually watch."
The broom headed boy pouted "Killua are you saying you didn't want to see any of my other choices?"
"They were Teen movies Gon, Teen movies!" He sighed and took the DVD from him "Lets just watch it, I don't think those two will be joining us tonight..."
Several hours later, long after the movie had ended and Gon and Killua had gone to bed, Kurapika sat at the kitchen table reading.
"Kurapika." Leorio said resolute, he stood in the doorway gazing at the blond. The Kuruta moved to stand from his seat, closed the book and prepared to walk away. He tried to squeeze past Leorio in the doorway without looking the older man in the eyes, but just as he was about to he felt a couple of strong fingers close around his wrist.
"It was an accident Kurapika! If you have to blame anyone then blame me! I know that you're hurt and all that but don't let it out on Killua and Gon it's not their fault!"
The blond tugged at his wrist but the doctor wouldn't release him, if anything his grip tightened. "I want you to look at me Kurapika." Leorio was getting annoyed he wanted the other to at least look at him but the Kuruta wouldn't even give him that.
"... I've been thinking Leorio..." Kurapika gave up the futile attempt at getting back his wrist and instead began establishing a new relationship between his eyes and Leorios shoes. "...What were you two doing outside the bathroom? You were not wrestling, I would have heard that, and you are too old for peeping Tom..."
"You're never too old for peeping Tom!" the doctor caught himself just a fraction too late. Kurapika raised his head and meet the older mans eyes, Leorio swallowed, somewhere within those marvelous green orbs flashed the terrifying shade of crimson.
The blond rested his hands on his hips "So you were spying on me in the bathroom?" voice dangerous "Good God, you perverted old man. Is sex the only thing on you mind?"
"No it's not! I'm a very deep person really. Wait this is not about me spying on you, it's about the bowl we broke I'm trying to make up for it, okay!"
"It's not about the bowl Leorio it's about the principle: you didn't have to tell me that the bowl broke by accident, that was pretty much obvious... I trust you and Killua and Gon with my possessions because I know that none of you would break them on purpose. When you break something you don't just tell someone 'it was an accident' they can figure that one their own, take responsibility for what you did instead... all I want is an apology."
"Don't tell me that all of this was because you were trying to teach us a lesson in manners!"
"Don't you dare try to blame your own lack of attentiveness on me!"
"My lack of attentiveness? I'm not the one playing fucking mind games with everyone!" Leorio roared.
"You guys broke my bowl, you don't apologize, you just yell at me instead." By now tears where streaming down Kurapikas cheeks "You twist it so that somehow I am the one who did something wrong."
The doctor took a deep breath, seeing the tears stream down the blonds face made him feel like a complete asshole 'Shit! Nice work Leorio. You were supposed to make everything better and instead you made it worse.' he berated himself.
The man decided on another strategy, he slapped his forehead "Oh, for crying out loud! For being so intelligent you really are just a dumb blond."
Kurapika stopped crying instead he narrowed his eyes "Leorio, you're such a Jerk!"
The doctor breathed out in exasperation "This is exactly what I'm talking about, this is what makes you a stupid blond." He grabbed the Kuratas wrist firmly "I'll show you."
"What are you doing!" Kurapika shrieked in a rather high pitched girly voice. Leorio gave his wrist a forceful pull and the blond gasped "Don't be so rough!"
"I'm not being rough."
"Yes you are, it's going to bruise."
"You're just overly sensitive, like a girl." Leorio grinned mischievously.
"What If I Am!" the other shrieked indignantly.
"Shhh, keep it down, you don't want to wake the kids do you?" the doctor reprimanded in a mock voice.
Kurapika slapped a hand over his mouth and Leorio couldn't help but laugh out loud, the blond could be such a mother sometimes. Well maybe it was to be expected after all Kurapika kinda had the role of 'mother' in their little group, he cooked, cleaned, washed.., nagged.
Leorio pulled the blond into his room once there he let go of the others wrist. Kurapika rubbed his abused wrist with an indignant pout "What's all this about Leorio?"
The doctor grinned at him and pointed "Look." The Kuruta followed his line of sight, the room was dark only the lamp over the desk was lit and on the desk stood... Kurapika gaped, and he must have looked rather funny because Leorio chuckled.
On the desk stood Kurapikas bowl and it was whole, some pieces were missing here and there and it was obvious that it had been glued back together but it didn't matter to the blond, the only thing he cared about was that it was whole.
He walked over and took it into his hands turning it over, inspecting it. Leorio cleared his throat behind him.
"Leorio..." Kurapika said his voice thick "You fixed it?"
The doctor walked up to him "Yeah it's not like before and I don't think it will ever be but..."
The Kuruta shook his head, interrupting the older man, still looking at the bowl "No, it's better."
Leorio blinked "Huh? Are you sure!"
The man didn't get an answer, the blond kept staring at the bowl with tears in his eyes, Leorio sighed "...Umm, and you know I'm sorry, about breaking it."
The blond nodded then put the bowl down. He turned to the doctor and placed his hands on the mans chest, Leorio froze he hadn't had Kurapika this close that many times before, and they had never gotten beyond hugging.
"... Leorio, this was one of the nicest things anyone's ever done to me." The blond said without making eye contact with the man instead he fiddled with one of the buttons on Leorios suit.
The doctor chuckled but encircled his arms around younger man embracing him in a tight hug. Then something he'd never expected to happen occurred; a light kiss was timidly placed on his lips.
Leorios mind was wiped clean as Kurapika put his lips next to the mans ear and whispered a tentative "Thank you." while blushing slightly.
-THE END-
A/N:
1: The lies of Locke Lamora is not a movie it's a book written by Scott Lynch all credits to him. I hope they'll make a movie out of it though, I loved it!
"'Kurapika kinda had the role of 'mother' in their little group, he cooked, cleaned, washed.., nagged.'" Wow, that's kind of a sexist view..., well not all mothers do this, mine don't. (Yes, I'm quoting my own story!)
EP: I can't decide whatever Kurapika is male or female, but he's male in the manga, isn't he...?
Wolfram (Kyo kara Maou): Bugger!
EP: I want him to be a sort of gender bender.
Souji (Peace Maker Kurogane): Like a Drag King?
EP: Yeah, like binding his/her breasts... or possibly someone who can change gender at will, you know someone who can be both male and female!
Kurama (Yu Yu Hakusho): Like a clam?
EP: ...Yeah -_-' (Let's end this stupid discussion right here!)