I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

"Hey, Killua."

He had almost been asleep. Damn Gon for waking him; it was difficult for Killua to relax enough get to that point, especially when the other boy usually had such an easy time of it.

"What is it?" His voice was gruff, perhaps a little snarky as he rolled over to face his companion.

"I can't sleep…"

Eyes having already adjusted to the dark, Killua could see that Gon looked exhausted. The boy was completely tense, his eyes were wide open, and there were bags forming under his eyes that Killua would've sworn hadn't been there before they went to sleep.

"G-Gon…"

He swallowed back the harsh response he had almost delivered. He could understand why— Gon had been so eager to finally see Kite after searching for so long, only to find a shell of a man, if even that. Immediately after Kite had stumbled out of Nen cage, Killua had been reminded of Omokage's puppets by the body's movements and the thought was only confirmed when he saw the strings, but he suppressed the comment. He was sure that Gon was already aware.

The moment Gon looked up after being punched, Killua could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. He knew that there was no saving the man. He kept coming back for more, punch after punch… Killua knew that Gon was punishing himself. That the physical pain was nothing to how he felt.

The scars littering his torso and arms, the lifeless eyes, his movements, the way he completely disregarded Gon's presence and his words- he had to know. Consciously, Gon couldn't admit it to himself. The boy had promised himself that he would bring Kite back and failing in that would completely destroy him. Killua knew that for a fact.

And Killua was willing to do anything to help Gon, as long as it meant his friend could live on at the end of it all.

And right now, his friend was hurting.

Killua wished he could do something to help, but had no idea what to do.

"Killua, do you know any songs?"

But that was completely out of the question.

"If you think I'm going to sing you a lullaby, think again, idiot." He huffed, turning his nose up as he rolled over onto his back. The little, pathetic laugh that was Gon's response, however, made Killua regret his words, thinking that he probably should've been less rude about it. But still.

"You're right; that was silly of me to ask. Um… could you scratch my back, then?"

Killua hesitated. It was a better option than singing, of course, but it still made the assassin feel uneasy. He had ever scratched anyones back before- well, not in the way that Gon wanted- and was unsure of how to go about it.

Gon must've taken the silence as a yes because he sat up, removed his shirt, and rolled over onto his stomach, his back bared and vulnerable to the world.

Killua swallowed, looking down at his dearest friend. He brought a hand up, wondering if his nails were too sharp, wondering if it was even a good thing for nails to not be sharp, wondering if he should make them sharper—at the thought, the assassin's nails pointed, veins crawling across his fingers and the boy sucked at his teeth, feeling ridiculous that he even thought to do that.

Gon wanted to relax, not have a bloody, scarred back.

"Killua?" Gon turned his head to the side, his cheek squished to the grass that they had picked to sleep on.

He instantly retracted his nails before offering his friend a weak smile, obviously unsure of what to do.

"Hey, Killua… heh, that would hurt… Here! Let me show you how." And Gon sat up before Killua had a chance to protest, pulling at the other's shirt before coaxing him onto his stomach.

The moment Gon's fingers touched Killua's back, the boy shivered, feeling goose bumps prickle at his arms and neck. It felt weird and Killua was uncomfortable at first—not because it felt bad, but because he just wasn't used to being touched so gently.

"Mito-san always did this to help me fall asleep," Gon said as he continued. "Can you see why?"

And Killua could. After getting himself to relax into Gon's touch, he could feel how soothing the soft scratches were. They had a certain rhythm and Gon would sometimes switch it up, going from his shoulders to the small of his back, to scratching at more concentrated areas. Killua could feel his tenseness fading and was even starting to nod off again.

"Uh-huh…" he nodded drowsily before reaching back to push Gon's hand off and sitting back up. "Cut it out before I'm the one that ends up falling asleep. Let me try! It doesn't look that hard."

Gon, with his beaten face and the bags under his tired eyes, gave Killua a blinding smile and nodded, "Okay!"

Even though the other had already rolled over and couldn't see, Killua felt his face heating up and looked away, scrunching up his nose. He had no idea how something so stupid like a smile warmed him up like that, only that it was ridiculous and that Gon was ridiculous.

He took a deep sigh before looking down at Gon's presented back again and placing a hand on it, palm down and fingers splayed. Slowly, he curled his fingers down under his hand and moved his hand down from its place below Gon's shoulder blades, down to a few inches before his shorts. He paused, noting how soft Gon's skin was before softly dragging his nails back up his friend's back, reaching his shoulders. He realized that he had been holding his breath and slowly exhaled, trying to relax as he tried to find a rhythm like Gon had done with him.

"A little harder?"

Killua felt the heat return to his face. That sounded so wrong. But he complied, putting only a little bit more pressure on Gon's back as he scratched it.

"Mmm… that feels so good, Killua," the boy beneath his nails groaned.

Killua full out blushed and sputtered out, "S-stop that! Don't say things like that. It's embarrassing."

"But it does feel good!" Gon wiggled, teasing Killua.

"Shut up!"

Killua could practically feel the cheeky grin Gon was probably sporting and he gave his friend a light punch in the shoulder for being such a brat.

Gon began giggling which only confirmed Killua's suspicions. But it was a change from his friend's earlier sad laugh so Killua couldn't really be mad.

The boy's laughter slowly quieted down and Killua could feel Gon's breathing start to draw out as he watched the tenseness finally leave his friend's body. He was pretty sure Gon had fallen asleep, but continued to scratch his back regardless until Gon spoke, nearly scaring the wits out of him.

"Thank you, Killua."

"Go to sleep, stupid."