The afternoon air was stuffed hot and sticky. Humidity choked the wind. The city seemed dead. Only a few brave souls bustled through the heat swamped streets.
The one store that was having business that day was the ice cream shop.
People crowded the small store, fighting for a chance to lick that cold sweetness from a fresh cone. A brawl was sure to start. That tension always relished by Killua wavered in the air.
But Killua didn't want to get into a fight today.
Walking away from the ice cream shop, a double chocolate ice cream melting in his hand, a boy with silver-white hair and blue eyes strode confidently. Licking at his ice cream, it was gone in mere moments. If there was one thing he loved, it was chocolate.
He was beginning to wish he had gotten two ice cream cones.
Of course, all he would have to do was walk back into the store and say his name. That was enough.
He could even just buy the store.
Because the truth was, Killua was rich.
Really rich.
Seriously, he could by thousands of those little chocolate shops and still have money left over for a couple hundred ferraris.
He was really REALLY rich.
So when he felt somebody bump into him and his wallet quickly snatched from his pocket, Killua didn't know he found himself running after the man responsible.
Breathing heavily, the stuffy air throttled him. Rounding a corner, he sprinted after the man who was sliding away into an alley.
Why was he running?
There was only a few hundred dollar bills in there. Nothing he couldn't replace. Nothing to him.
But there was something, something very important to him.
A picture of his family, when they had all gotten together once. His proud father and worrying mother. His brothers and sister. All of them together.
Killua didn't even love his family. If anything, he hated them. They worried over him and nagged at him. When they left him alone, which they did all the time, he felt mixed emotions. He was happy and sad.
Happy that he was alone. Sad that he was alone.
The thief ducked into another alleyway, this one darker than the first. Killua increased his pace.
Killua should have guessed that he might be targeted. After all, he was wearing a designer shirt.
Said shirt was immediately ruined when he tripped over a sudden jutting foot that materialized out of the shadows.
Killua fell forward, stunned, and landed in a pile of dirt and garbage. Peeling his scratched face from the ground, he stared after the retreating figure who brandished his wallet triumphantly. Damn it, he thought.
A hard kick to his ribs brought him away from the thief, and it was then that he realized that he had bigger problems on his hands than his stolen wallet.
Five gangsters surrounded him. They all had wicked, black tattoos that seemed to wave over their overdone muscles in the sweltering heat. Ear piercings, lips piercings, chins piercings…they all flashed in the darkness. Rotting teeth smirked, mocking his small form.
"Hey punk! Why ya runnin'? Scared?" came the taunting voice, loud, boisterous, and confident. Killua looked up at the glaring eyes of the mobsters towering over him. The same tension from before- the tension of an oncoming fight- returned to grasp the air. This time, however, Killua gulped.
Killua could probably easily take these men out. He could've even bribed them with money. Maybe all he had to say was his name and they would back away, faces pale, and they would never lay a finger on him again.
Maybe it was the hot, humid day. Maybe it was the sadness that the one picture he had of his family was gone. Maybe he was just tired of always being stuck in this situation, and having to save himself.
Whatever the reason, he couldn't fight just then.
Another kick to the stomach knocked out all of the air he had left.
"Hey! Ya listen' ya little brat?"
Another kick this time, but to the head. Killua's vision swam for a moment, and he raised his hands feebly to protect himself.
And suddenly, he was airborn.
It took him a moment to realize that somebody was carrying him like a sack of potatoes. Killua rammed his fist into his saviors back. He didn't want to be carried like this.
The other boy, because Killua assumed he was one because of his green t shirt and shorts, didn't even flinch from Killua's blow. In fact, the only thing he did was speed up, as if a new sense of urgency was apparent.
Killua gave up quickly and instead looked at the world around him. The roof tops of the city blurred around him. They were actually going pretty fast.
This boy was probably one of his family's men, come to save him again, because of course that's how it always played out.
But when the boy stopped and set him down, Killua instantly knew that this boy was not sent by his family.
The boy had hazel, brown eyes that gleamed in the blazing sun. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face, and his raven colored hair spiked. Killua stared.
"Are you alright?"
His voice was puerile and sincere all at once. Killua nodded, words losing him. This boy…he had saved him…for absolutely no reason. Nobody had ever, ever done that for him. Never.
"Wh-why did you help me?" Killua blinked. He never stuttered.
"Oh, well I saw this guy steal your wallet, and I decided to…you know…get it back…but then when I was about to give it to you…there were those gangsters…so…"
The boy scratched the back of his head, smiling his sheepishly. Killua blinked. The boy than hit his head with his hand, muttering something about almost forgetting.
Pulling Killua's wallet from his back pocket, the boy handed it to him.
Killua took it. He opened it, and found everything still there, including the several hundred dollars and the picture of his family. He glanced back up at the boy who was smiling.
He could tell that the boy was poor, probably really poor judging from his thin limbs and the dirty, ragged condition of his clothes. His boots were worn from use, and he smelled faintly of sewer. This boy needed this money much more than Killua did. Hell, you could shred all the money in his pocket at that very moment and he wouldn't even blink.
But still this boy had given it back to him. In fact, Killua was pretty sure that the boy hadn't even looked inside.
'Well…bye then!"
The boy jumped back up on the roof tops, leaving Killua in the scorching heat, grabbing at air, yelling, asking what his name was.
And Killua was completely ignored.
Because the boy could hear him, his hearing was actually very good. Killua could tell. That boy was a professional, a trained specialist. Killua knew because he was one himself, and he recognized others that were talented.
And the boy had left him.
The boy had helped him.
The boy had shown him kindness for no other reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do.
Killua had been treated well all his life. He was a spoiled, rich boy. People were nice to him only because they had to be, or because they wanted something from him.
But not this boy.
This boy had had no clue who he was, no clue.
Killua returned to his hotel room. It was the most expensive hotel in town, with the best security in the world. It was so famous and well set up that it was rumored that it was safer to stay there than inside a police station.
There was a specific reason why Killua had decided to stay at this hotel. He had just purchased a group of rare diamonds as a representative for his family. He hated carrying out transactions like this, but he had to, and he did.
The diamonds were in a currently in front of him, incased beneath several layers of safes. Killua sighed. He was forbidden from looking at the glinting trophies, but he really wanted to admire their beauty. Nobody would notice, right?
Killua decided not to at the last second in favor of eating a slice of chocolate pie. He really did love chocolate.
It was night time now, and he was sure it was absolutely awful outside. The humidity had only increased over the course of the day. Inside the hotel room, however, Killua sat in the comfortable temperatures of air conditioning.
The cold air massaged his nerves. He had taken a shower and changed into a new designer shirt, throwing the torn one away without a second thought.
He bathed in the moonlight that streamed from the large windows. He downed the chocolate pie in seconds until all that was left was the forlorn sound of his fork clanking against an empty plate.
He stared out across the city, thinking of the boy that had saved him. Absent mindedly, he picked up the newspaper next to the couch he was sprawled out on. Reading the headline, he became increasingly curious and his mind was pulled further away from thoughts of the poor boy and at the printed words that challenged him.
"This thief has struck cities across the nation, popping up at random points in time to steal huge sums of both money and precious items. The Reluctant Thief, so named because of his trade mark of apologizing to the people from whom he steals, is rumored to strike in our city next…"
Killua mumbled, reading the poorly written article out loud. He stared at the blurry picture that accompanied it, supposedly that of the thief. The picture was almost just a smudge of ink. You couldn't tell any defining features except for the faint outline of a short man.
Killua sighed. Well, if this "Reluctant Thief" was going to try to steal his diamonds, they were in for a surprise.
Nobody could even make it past the security in this hotel. And even if they had, they wouldn't be able to get past him or the safe. This "Reluctant Thief" was obviously just another product of exaggerated news. After all, it did make a good story.
So when Killua glanced over at the safe and saw that it was open, he could only blink and stare.
The safe.
It was open.
OH MY GOD THE SAFE IS OPEN.
It finally sunk in.
The diamonds had just been stolen.
Impossible! Killua was right there. As he stood up and ran over to the now empty box, Killua couldn't believe it.
He has been right there.
The entire time.
And as he was searching frantically inside the safe for the diamonds that were not there, that was when he heard it.
It was an honest voice, one that whispered. Killua thought is sounded oddly familiar.
"I'm sorry, but I have to take these…I really am sorry…"
The voice, it was so sincere. Killua jumped into the shadows to avoid being seen. Killua was trained after all, and though he hadn't sense the intruder approach, he could tell that he had yet to see Killua's face from the position he was now in. Killua could follow him now, unknown.
But before Killua could catch his own glimpse of the thief's face, he disappeared.
Following the well hidden presence of the thief, Killua focused with all of his strength. Just tracking the burglar was a challenge, but keeping up with him was almost impossible. Weaving in through and away from security, Killua marveled at the thief's skill and movement.
Soon Killua was leaping over roof tops once more, but this time he wasn't being carried by that spikey hair, hazel eyed boy. This time he was on his own feet, chasing the criminal that made away with his family's diamonds.
Killua couldn't have cared less about the diamonds. He was more curious with that honest voice. Why would a thief apologize anyway?
Anyway, the voice reminded him of the boy from before. Maybe that's the real reason why he hid in the shadows, concealed by the darkness above a small shack at the edge of the city.
The ramshackle building looked like it was about to crumble if he just breathed on it. This was the famous Reluctant Thief's liar? No way! Killua almost looked around to make sure he hadn't slipped into some alley way.
The thief slipped silently into the shack. Killua deftly followed, caution riddling his every step.
In the middle of the floor, surrounding by cushions of hay and old, worn thin blankets lay a woman. She coughed weakly. Sickness tugged at her face and hunger shrunk her limbs.
The thief approached her, whispering.
"It's alright Aunt Mito. I got some new money! We'll be able to pay for your operation!"
The woman peeled open her eyes, fatigued.
"Gon…did you steal again?"
"Yes, Aunt Mito."
"I told you not to do that…"
"I said I was sorry! And plus that man doesn't need the money! You could shred several hundred dollars bills in front of his face and he wouldn't blink! And plus it's to help you!"
Killua stared in shock. A hole in the shack shed moonlight on the thief for the first time.
It was the boy.
The boy who had saved him.
The boy was the Reluctant Thief.
What had that woman called him?
Gon.
Killua took a deep breath in and suddenly Gon was on him pinning him to the ground in a flash.
Killua twisted, trying to evade the young boy's grasp, but found he couldn't. The boy glared at him with intense brown eyes, full of weariness and full of…
Full of surprise.
Killua blinked.
The thief released him, and instead jumped protectively in front of Aunt Mito. Killua stood up, shakily, pointing a finger at him.
"Yu-you saved me." Killua didn't know why he was bringing this up now.
The boy in front of him nodded.
Killua wasn't getting out of here alive, was he? He had just seen the infamous Reluctant Thief. He knew what was going on behind the scenes. He knew.
The right thing to do in Gon's position was to kill him.
"My name is Gon. What's yours?"
Again. That same sincere yet childish voice. Killua took a deep breath.
"I'm Killua Zoldyck."
The boy in front of him seemed surprised, but not for the reasons that Killua's was expecting.
"Wow! I thought I lost you right before I came into here! You're really good at tracking, you know that? I didn't notice you sneaked in here!"
Killua nodded, dumbfounded. This boy was treating him like he was nothing. Like he was normal.
"I guess you heard our conversation."
Killua looked away from Gon and down at the woman on the floor. Gon shushed her.
"Don't talk Mito-san. Save your strength."
The woman ignored him and stared straight into Killua's blue eyes as if she was staring into his soul. Killua couldn't break the gaze. It held him in place, pinned him down, stronger than even Gon had done.
"Help Gon." She whispered, barely audible. Her eyes slowly slipped down, until she was fast asleep. Gon picked her up gently and then stared at Killua.
"Please, don't tell anyone. Please." Gon's voice was pleading, begging.
"Of course. Keep the diamonds too." Killua found himself saying. This was wrong. It should be Killua begging Gon. It should be Killua…
Gon disappeared into the night, leaving Killua studying the moonlight that glimmered pale in the darkness.
The next day, Killua visited the hospital.
Using some connections of his, he found out Mito-san alone in her hospital room, being treated.
As he walked in, he felt like he was intruding. No one was inside, only the silence that sat like an unmovable guardian and the woman herself, fast asleep.
Killua only sat down at the far corner of the room and stared at her.
His family had gotten extremely mad at him for losing the diamonds. He didn't know why. They didn't care about the diamonds at all.
The woman's face was dragged down by a tiredness that no sleep could replace. Killua studied her features, seemingly enchanted by the motherly feelings that warmed him. She seemed to invoke something his actual mother never had. Killua wondered at the feeling. It was new to him, and he had only just met he woman yesterday, and then only briefly.
"Help Gon."
Her voice had been so caring. Gon was probably all she had.
Killua shook his head.
And that's when he heard the small sobs.
They were faint. Killua barely noticed them.
Glancing away from the woman's face, he suddenly sensed another presence that had entered only a moment before.
"Gon?"
The sobbing stopped, and was replaced by a glistening hazel eyes.
"Killua?"
Gon looked over at him, that same surprised look in his eyes from before.
And it was then that Killua made his decision.
"You don't have to steal anymore. I'll pay for all of her operations. I'll make sure that you live a good life."
Gon stared at him.
And he smiled.
Killua loved seeing Gon smile.
And then Gon was tackling him in a big bear hug.
And then Killua was happy.
And then Gon was saying something that didn't make any sense.
"Thanks Killua! But I can't do that."
Killua pulled away from Gon.
"What do you mean?"
"I have to pay you back somehow! I can't just let you help us without giving you something back!"
Killua stared at Gon. He was dead serious. It seemed all he did was give for a living…but he was a thief…
"YOU MAKE NO SENSE!" Killua finally screamed, before covering his mouth in embarrassment. Silence swallowed the room.
Gon slowly started chuckling, until it was full blown laughter. Killua joined him. The room rang with that laughter, so pure, so beautiful, so loud.
So friendly.
When they finally stopped their laughter, they settled into a merry quietness. Killua fidgeted slightly.
"But you've already done so much for me…" Killua couldn't help but whisper.
The Reluctant Thief glanced over at him with those big, brown honest eyes. Killua met their gaze.
Gon smiled once more.
And that was more payment than Killua ever wanted in return.
Aunt Mito was on her feet again. Gon and Killua were best friends. They spent every waking hour together.
It was during the evening. The sun had bathed the park in warmth, but now it was descending, and the coldness of night was settling in. The hot, humid days that had once tormented the city now only reared their ugly faces when they had enough guts, which wasn't very often.
The park was quiet. Nobody else was there except for the two boys who walked side by side down the pathway.
Gon, for once, wasn't talking. Killua enjoyed the silence and being with his friend. He was excited. Gon said that he was going to show him a surprise.
When they came to the middle of the park, Killua spotted a fountain. It was new, he thought. The fountain was an image of two young bear cubs running slightly ahead of the mother bear.
Gon pointed.
"Do you like it?"
Killua nodded.
"Yeah. It's just like…"
Killua stared at Gon, realization hitting him.
Gon laughed.
And Killua couldn't help but laugh along with him.
I hope you liked this oneshot! Please review! If you have any ideas for something for me to write, just ask! PLEASE REVIEW!