"Miss Gleason's son came by again." The doctor recounted, laughing softly to himself as he opened another can of soda, setting it down in front of him for his friend. "I've told you about him before, I think. Lanky kid, not the brightest. He thought he was pregnant."
Leorio had just laughed, both in disbelief and because the kid was so serious. That was the issue with health classes out in these parts, he figured. Either the father tells you how it all works or some teenage boy has a pregnancy scare. Good thing he chose to settle down here for now. After explaining the birds and the bees to the kid, he sent the teen on his way, face burning red from the explanation and the embarrassment of his panic.
"Then Killua and his sister came by. They're just there for a bit, hiding out. Little punk keeps complaining that my place is too warm. Excuse me for liking my place to be cozy!"
And Killua would snap back with some snarky comments, grinning. It was a familiar routine, one they both loved. They'd bicker like brothers often do and then Leorio would give Alluka some candy. She liked the red lollipops best unless they had a cute animal design or shape. It was sweet how childish and innocent she was and how being around her brought out both the child and the responsible brother in the white haired boy. There was that made him happier than seeing him being, well, a kid.
The little jerk liked to hang out while Leorio was seeing patients; he had to keep apologizing for his "little brother" making kids cry because Killua didn't understand what was and wasn't a kid's story. But Alluka liked hearing the stories so it's not like he could be too harsh on the brat...
"And then Gon, the old hag, and I took on the bombers!" He'd told a seven year old today. "Genthru could set a count down on anyone he touched while saying a code word." The kid leaned it as Killua steadily lowered his voice. Alluka did as well, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "And when your time was up...BAM! Your guts are all over the walls!"
The kid stated to wail, Leorio guessed, in fear. The doctor rolled his eyes, apologized to the kid's mom while handing over his prescription, and glared at the unapologetic, cat-faced assassin. Same as usual.
"But there's this bug going around town, the flu. You know, it's that time of year" And it was terrible trying to convince some overly concerned parents that a flu shot was totally safe. And Gon didn't help things, cheerfully adding to the conversation the fact that he'd never gotten sick before because he played outside so much with animals.
Leorio had a different theory altogether about why he's never caught a cold but it was a bit mean to say it to the cheerful little kid. Anyway, he spend the next half hour explaining to then that Gon was a freak of nature and should be, in no way, imitated.
But of course he spend the rest of the day treating the scrapes and cuts of kids who got hurt in the woods.
"A normal day, I guess." Leorio laughed, taking a sip from his own can. "Until Kurapika came over of course."
And he looked like a ghost, not quite a part of the living world. Hell, the look in his eyes, it was like he was seeing ghosts. Delirious from a high fever, he kept moaning and groaning about how they wouldn't stop screaming. Honestly, Leorio wasn't sure if he meant his family or the two people he killed. It broke his heart.
But he treated him the same as anyone regardless. He watched over him as wails and cries turned to soft, steady breathing. Maybe it was his Kuruta blood but he seemed to recover quickly. Quickly enough to sneak off in the middle of the night when he thought Leorio was sleeping. He took the pack of provisions and medicine the doctor left at the backdoor for him and didn't look back. Leorio just stared out the window at the blond's slowly retreating back. They were his family too? Didn't he see that?
Leorio kept watching, waiting for Kurapika to come back. He could sleep easy if he did. But he knew he wouldn't. He didn't rest at all that night.
"And that was just yesterday. So I guess you could say today's my lazy day." He laughed a bit half-heartedly. "So I wanted to see you and tell you about it. Can you believe it? I'm finally a doctor. It took long enough."
He reached out to touch the headstone, fingers lightly tracing the letters. "Sorry it took me so long. But I swear I won't let anyone else die like you did, Pietro."