"This is no good. If we stay any longer…"
"Yeah."
Waking with with start, the young man sits up in bed, in a room he doesn't recognize. Catching his breath, his memory comes back to him. He's in a hotel in the small town he stopped for the night. Wiping the sweat off of his face he reaches over and turns the lamp on. On the table sits a single framed picture. The young man picks up the picture of a younger version of himself, and a fair haired boy and his dark haired sister. Staring at the picture,the boy sighs deeply.
"That dream again. Why do I keep revisiting that day? It's been almost 4 years, and it still haunts me, why?" he said his baritone voice rippling through the silence of the room. He sighs again setting the picture carefully back on the bedside table, and picks up his beetle phone that was charging beside him. He flips the phone open, and the phone reads "4:37AM, 0 messages, 0 Missed Calls". The young man throws the phone on the bedside table in frustration
"Well, I might as well get an early start, since I'm already up." He says, as he throws his legs over the side of his bed, and stretches his arms above his head. He stands up and pads over to the bathroom. Turning on another light, he turns on the shower and turns to look at his face in the mirror. He raked his fingers through his mess of thick black locks, which he could never quite manage to control. His amber eyes examined his his body for the first time in months. Scars, and bruises peppered the boys toned chest and stomach. He turns to examine a relatively new gash on his shoulder. The red irritated skin around the wound sticks out from the golden skin of his back. He crouches, and reaches under the sink to grab Alcohol. Standing up and looking into the mirror, the young man pours a generous amount into the wound. His handsome features wincing slightly from the pain.
"If Killua was here, he'd yell at me like 'What the heck Gon, that's totally infected! Did you even clean it properly, you're such an idiot!' " He smiles, rubbing the back of his head and stuck his tongue out at his reflection, at the thought. Quickly that nostalgic smile falls into sad frown, his eyebrows knitted together.
"I can't believe he hasn't contacted me. We promised we would keep in touch. I've sent him hundreds of messages, I've called him dozens of times. And nothing." He whispers to himself with tears in his eyes. He takes a deep breath in, as he wipes the tears out of his eyes. He exhales as he turns to the shower, willing the tears away. He can't get negative like that, he loves Killua more than anyone, and he knows that Killua would never ignore him like this without a good reason.
He steps into the shower letting the hot water cascade down his broad shoulders, losing himself in thought. Why do these words keep haunting him? That's what Killua wanted, he was happy when he left him with Alluka, right? He smiled at him and joked that he was now second priority. Maybe he's really busy honing his and Alluka's Nen. Or he could be somewhere where he doesn't get signal, or he could have lost his phone and hasn't been able to get a new one. These hypothetical reasons temporarily calming him. But that feeling still eats away at him. Why does his stomach drop every time he remembers that day? Why does a part of him feel like it's dying every time he wakes up to find that his best friend isn't sleeping soundlessly next to him.
Why can't I get over this? He thinks to himself as he finishes his shower. Stepping out into the steam filled room, he grabs a towel wrapping it around his waist, and walks back into the small hotel room. Walking over to the bedside table he picks back up the beetle phone that was discarded there, flipping it open, the screen reads "5:26AM, 0 Messages, 0 Missed Calls". Nothing's changed, not that he was expecting it to.
Flopping back onto the lumpy mattress, he stares at the screen for a while before he decides that he should message the young man that has been occupying his attention all morning.
Going to his messages he opens the thread the is labeled Killua. Taking a deep breath he types out a message, careful not to let the insecurity and despair that fills his heart show. He writes, "Hey Killua! You would not believe where I am right now! I was contracted by these rich guys to travel to the Dark Continent. I'm hoping that this will be a good for honing my Nen. Since I've gotten it back, my power has been a little unpredictable. Don't worry though, I'll be with a bunch of other really strong Nen users. I wish you could come with me! I bet your Nen is amazing! It was so cool when we were in the NGL, I can only imagine what it's like now. I hope wherever you are that you're having fun with Alluka, and having all the adventures you wanted. Well I should be going, I have to meet my new bosses soon. I miss you, and hope your able to talk soon." He stares at the screen for a while, reading and re-reading the message, before he takes a deep breath and hits the send button. Sitting up, tears he didn't realise were in his eyes, flow down his face.
He sets the phone back on the bedside table, standing and walking over to his bag, pulling out a fresh pair of boxers and a pair of homemade jean shorts in his signature green. Throwing a white t shirt, he folds the towel that was around his waist neatly and hangs it back up in the bathroom. He grabs the photo and gently places it into his bag. Picking up his phone and sticking it into his back pocket, he does one last scan around the small room, and walks out into the breaking dawn. The young man sighs softly to himself as he walks to the location given to him by his new employer. Watching the sky turn from light blue to a brilliant pinks and reds, he sings "Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say. I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday."
After walking for about an hour, the young man finds himself in front of what looks like an abandoned warehouse. He looks at the piece of paper that the agency gave him, triple checking he had the address correct. When he's positive that he's in the right place, he shrugs his shoulders, and proceeds to go check to see if anyone is there. He uses Zetsu to make sure that he doesn't attract any unwanted attention, just in case he isn't alone. He quickly and quietly walks to the windows on the front side of the building. Peeking inside he didn't see anyone. All he could make out was discarded equipment and trash. Walking over to the door that is hanging off of it's hinges, he quietly slips through the gap left in between the frame and the door. When he looks around the room he just entered, he sees nothing but a large open room with a random assortment of crap. He starts to wonder if this is some type of test, when he suddenly hears voices from the other side of the room.
He almost sighed aloud from the relief of knowing he wasn't the only one here, but he kept his guard up just in case they turned out not who he was expect. Creeping towards the voices, he sees a staircase hidden by some large scraps of metal. As he examines the stairwell that the voices are emitting from, he taken aback by what he sees. It is in complete contrast to the rest of the warehouse. Made of what looks to be a solid piece of mahogany, it spirals down to what looks like a white marble floor. He slowly descends the staircase making sure not to alert anyone of his presence. Was he rounds the first twist of the staircase he can start to see the room more clearly. It's a small room, used as what looks to be a reception area. There's a large desk with an attractive young woman sitting behind it, with an annoyed frown distorting her features. In front of the desk is 3 very large men who seem to be arguing with the young lady.
"Come on cupcake, we're more than qualified to a handle anything these schmucks can throw at us." says what seems to be the leader of the men.
"Sorry...Gentlemen," she says with sarcasm dripping off the word gentleman. "But I'm afraid the law states you need clearance from the Hunter's Association to go to the Dark Continent. As was clearly stated in the information that was given to you. If you weren't able to acquire the appropriate documents, then I'm going to have to, regrettably, deny you employment on this expedition," she finished tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder for emphasis. A condescending smile plastered on her face.
"That's bullshit!" the man yelled a vein popping out of his forehead in frustration. "Everyone know's it's impossible to get that clearance!"
"Really? Cause I didn't have any trouble getting my paper." The boy commented, cocking his head to the side pondering the statement. Was is really impossible, and if so how did he get his so easily?
The building silence get the boy to look back at the room. Everyone was frozen just staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost. He started to wonder if something was behind him when he remembered that he was supposed to be sneaking around. Oops... Chuckling at himself for his slip up. Yet another thing that Killua would yell at him for if he was here, with that thought his smile falls. Someone clears their throat, pulling him once again from his thoughts.
"Um young man, I'm sorry but who are you and what are you doing here?" The young lady asked breaking the silence, a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Oh I'm sorry!" He apologizes, with a huge smile on his face. He rubs the back of his head and sticks out his tongue as he drops his Zetsu. Just as he was about to introduce himself a door he didn't notice slams open, and static electricity fills the air. As he turns to see what just happened, amber eyes lock onto lavender. Both pairs of eyes widen, and his voice gets lost in his throat.
"Gon?" the new voice says. Gon stands there for what seems like an eternity before he responds.
"Killua."