[A/N] I have to reacquaint myself with FFNet after so many years. It doesn't let me say it in tags, so I'll mention here that this is absolutely not Hisogon. Hisoka and Gon go on an adventure, get into shenanigans, learn some things about themselves, and accidentally become the strangest pair of friends.

Background Leorio/Kurapika and Gon/Killua.

Picks up after the events of ch. 345 of the manga; compliant with Hisoka's side story.


I'm fine with it ending… right here.

Fallen leaves scattered before his boots, tumbling in the grass as he kicked at them.

If you want more, there will be a price to pay.

Mito taught him not to be greedy, but he'd always been a selfish person. Killua told him that all the time.

You should be happy.

He couldn't be happy when he was so restless. His fists tightened at his sides. He was allowed to be selfish, wasn't he?

You're alive. Isn't that enough?

He was suddenly very certain that a sedentary lifestyle would never be enough. Not when there was still so much left to do.

He unclenched a fist just enough to reach into his coat pocket and pull out his Hunter license, flipping it over in his hand absently. The card still marked him as a Pro Hunter, even though he was now far removed from one, and he gritted his teeth in frustration before shoving the license back into his pocket.

This is a great chance for you to figure out what you want to do.

He knew what he wanted to do: he wanted to live life freely; he wanted to go exploring with Killua, help Kurapika track down the Phantom Troupe, travel with Kite. He'd promised to protect them all. Nenless… he could do nothing.

If he'd been stronger, he could've gone on the expedition with Ging - now, he couldn't even detect the presence of his father's once-dazzling aura.

The trees around him grew taller and denser as he continued diving through the forest, wading through lush thickets and protruding roots, and his thoughts became just as invasive.

I don't need you, Killua! This has nothing to do with you!

Gon clutched at his temples and shook his head. This had been resolved already, they'd been over this.

As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be in second place.

He came to a full stop, staring blankly ahead with wide eyes, feeling an ache bloom deep in his chest. Second place… of course he was in second place. Killua had Alluka to look after now, to keep him company, and Gon could hardly pretend that he could protect either of them anymore. He wasn't needed. Especially not now, especially now that Gon constantly felt empty, unfulfilled, and cold.

"Damn it," he swore, feeling the familiar prickling of tears, and he reared back to slam his fist into the nearest tree trunk to quell the anxious quivering of his muscles. He half expected the tree to splinter and keel over from the force of his impact, but it did nothing except shudder slightly, more of its leaves fluttering to the ground. "Damn it," he repeated in a low mumble, and the icy coil of helplessness settled low in his gut.

He'd never presume to be anything but second place.

But then why did it hurt so much?


Gon had deftly avoided doing homework for the past two days, and while he had an idea that it'd catch up to him later, he couldn't bring himself to regret feeling the gentle breeze card through his hair and the warm sun on his skin. Whenever he could, he would busy his hands with gathering food from the market, passing over his fresh catches to trade for some article or the other, or, on days like today, gripping the worn handle of his fishing rod. Anything to mollify the itch that festered beneath his skin in his need to do something.

He'd already recaptured the Lord of the Swamp twice since he'd been home, which had been for perhaps a month. This day he planned for it to be his third. It was far more tedious and simple than anything he had done as a Hunter, or even as an applicant, but with it he honed the fishing skills that he had neglected for so long. He preferred to think of it as one of Bisky's training methods.

He sat idly on his leafy outcropping, bouncing his leg up and down as he scoured the waters below. From the corner of his eye he spotted the telltale shadow roving the murky depths, and he gripped the pole tighter in anticipation, jiggling the bright pink lure to make it more appetizing. The Lord darted back and forth tauntingly, considering the bait, and then launched at it. The float bobbed tentatively, then harsher as the Lord became more daring, and Gon jerked the pole upwards mightily to expertly hook the creature's lip. The strength of Gon's heave was enough to propel the beast into the air with a loud splash, the water that dripped from its scales creating a curtain of spray that doused Gon rather thoroughly. Its fish-like body flapped wetly as it fell until Gon caught it with a grunt, upside-down, the anthropoid legs straining as it kicked out at the air. "He seems smaller this time," Gon observed privately, watching the Lord's whiskers wiggle as it struggled against him. Then he shrugged, unhooking his lure from its mouth and tossing the creature back into the water with ease. It hit the water, temporarily paralyzed, before swimming away hurriedly.

Gon picked up his rod and began to put it away, jumping down from his vantage point to stand again on the muddy marshland terrain, expecting a commotion like that to be met with what it often was: by swamp sounds, and silence.

Today, though, there followed an abrupt round of polite clapping and a familiar lilting voice praising him, "Excellent show, Gon! Not bad at all~"

He whirled to find the voice, eyes wide with wariness. He took a quick step back when he zeroed in on the owner, immediately on the defensive. "H-Hisoka!"

Narrow golden eyes gleamed at him from where Hisoka sat perched on a tree branch, matching his cheshire grin, and as he fluidly leapt down to the ground Gon was abruptly reminded of an exotic jungle cat - all languid, graceful limbs and the unmistakable air of a predator.

The magician tilted his head as he smiled brightly. "Yo, Gon," he greeted amicably, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

Possibly nothing was so out-of-place as a candy-coated clown in the middle of the tranquil swamps of Gon's home island.

Birds circled and called overhead as they continued to watch each other in silence - Gon with trepidation, tightly gripping the handle of his fishing rod, and Hisoka in relaxed amusement, folding his arms as he approached an increasingly apprehensive Gon only to lean up against the tree trunk nearest to the boy.

"Why are you here?" Gon eventually demanded, eyeing him with little measure of trust.

Hisoka tutted at him. "And here I thought you'd be more welcoming to an old friend," he chastised, which did nothing but make Gon bristle in a way that the magician seemed to find highly entertaining. "Really, I'm just here to visit," he insisted innocently, before sighing in defeat as Gon continued to stare at him doubtfully. "It seems you've worn me down," he dramatically declared, and then shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Very well - I might have run into Kurapika while on some business, and he might have told me why you'd been hospitalized."

Gon was momentarily stunned. "Kurapika's okay!" he shouted once his brain caught up with him, unthinkingly grinning up at Hisoka, who was watching him curiously. He let his smile fall. "He is okay, isn't he?"

The man hummed thoughtfully in response. "He seemed mostly stable, in any case," he remarked, and Gon swiftly lost most of his hope for Kurapika's condition. It must be bad, if he had been deemed mildly unstable by possibly the most unstable person Gon knew of. "Either way," Hisoka recommenced, decidedly calling attention back to himself, "I eventually persuaded him to inform me that you had been hospitalized due to Nen overuse." He bent at his waist, jostling his earrings as he looked down on Gon with clinical fascination. "Now isn't that interesting? To be placed on death row by your own Nen… and then to have survived. What kind of covenant had you made?"

His eyes bore into the boy, who partially wilted in response to Hisoka's question, picking at a nonexistent fray on his sleeve. The reminder of his broken covenant only made his guilt over his dissatisfaction with life all the more pronounced. But Hisoka's gaze was persistent, and he showed no evidence of backing away any time soon, so Gon relented. "I told it I was willing to die," he murmured so softly that he was amazed Hisoka had heard it at all.

Hisoka looked impressed rather than scandalized. "And yet you still stand," he commented, more to himself, and stood up straight again. "I wonder," he said, louder, with a ruminative finger to his chin, "what kind of creature forced you to resort to that." He seemed positively inflamed by the idea of the existence of such a creature, his eyes averted to the side and tongue slowly caressing his upper lip, and Gon felt himself grimacing. He also found himself suddenly worried for the sakes of his Ant friends, should Hisoka ever realize what they were and choose to seek them out.

"Chimera Ants," he said, by way of explanation, and refused to expand further. "And I killed it. All of the Ants that were a threat are dead now." He and the entire Hunter team had paid steep sacrifices in order to be doubly sure of that.

"Yes, Illumi had said as much." He gazed at Gon almost ardently, gold eyes wide and hungry. A fearful chill ran down Gon's spine. "To imagine," Hisoka breathed, "that I had been absent to witness the moment of your fruition… Well, no matter. I'm sure you have been ripening quite nicely…" He took a step back, planting his foot firmly into the ground, his fingers twitching sporadically. "Gon!" he cried challengingly. "I want you to fight me!"

Gon stared at him unblinkingly, with dread settling in his chest. Hisoka was unpredictable enough to be extremely dangerous when Gon told him- "I lost my Nen," he said, as straightforward as he could.

"...What."

"It's gone. I used too much. I can't fight you."

There was a moment when Hisoka looked absolutely rabid, with shadowed eyes and a severe downward angle to his lips - and then it passed, and the magician was chuckling. "Of course," he mused, still laughing. "The covenant must have stolen away your Nen in order to barely spare your life. Of course you lost your Nen, too."

Gon ignored his odd comments and averted his attention, turning his head to the side with furrowed brows. "Before you ask, I've already tried reinitiation with the Nen users that come through the port sometimes. I meditate and train every day. It's just… gone."

Hisoka's penetrating scrutiny was at odds with his ostentatious color scheme, and those two things conflicted further when he eventually nodded sagely and assured, "There are always loopholes when it comes to Nen."

Gon's breath caught, and Hisoka's grin stretched so broadly that his facepaint cracked, and faint jagged lines of peachy skin were visible around his mouth. "Tell me," Gon demanded.

Hisoka angled his head back, making a sharp noise of pleasure in his throat as he closed his eyes into contented slits. His lips slowly curled upward into a gratified smirk, visibly deliberating something. Gon wasn't sure he wanted to know what exactly churned in the magician's mind. "I'll tell you what," he eventually purred, regarding Gon with a heavy-lidded stare that could only be described as ravenous, and the boy shuddered. Hisoka crouched so that they were at eye level. "I'm going to help you get your Nen back," he said, graciously, and halted any of Gon's protests with a spindly finger pressed to his lips. "On one condition," he continued. "When you get it back... you're going to fight me - no restrictions." Hisoka smiled, saccharine sweet, pleasantly ignoring the way Gon shoved his finger aside in irritation and drew himself up to his full 4-feet-10-inches.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Gon asserted, steadfastly meeting Hisoka's gaze and unconsciously puffing his cheeks out. "And I'm definitely not accepting any favors from you!"

Hisoka's grin fell, exaggerating the new pout of his lower lip. "That's too bad," he lamented, and pushed himself closer to Gon, their faces entirely too close. "What a lonely life you'll lead, stuck on this island, won't you?" The magician's eyes crinkled at the corners. "Powerless, friendless... And now that you've gotten a taste of the outside world, how will you stand it here? Hmm. Well..." He sighed melodramatically, sitting back on his haunches before standing. "It has been a pleasure to see you, Gon, as always..." He turned as if he planned on leaving Gon behind.

Gon clenched his fists, gritting his teeth and fighting back the sudden tears that were equal parts anger and frustration.

There was nothing in the world he needed more than to take a venture off of this island - a fact that caused him further guilt, because he had Aunt Mito, of course - but it still stood that it wasn't the same, and it would never be the same as what he'd left behind in the busy streets of Zaban.

Being Nenless meant he was practically useless - and who would want him when he'd been broken? Certainly not the Hunter Association - and not Killua, who didn't particularly have a need for him anymore.

He craved an adventure, an expedition, something so that he wasn't stuck, idle, on an island he'd already explored several times over and where everything reminded him of Killua or Kite or the thrill of being a Pro Hunter in the field.

Hisoka was, among other things, a direct link to that world of haphazard exploits. He would, at the very least, act as the elixir vitae to Gon's need for the rush of excitement, the temporary antidote to that infuriating itch that lingered beneath his skin - in not the most savory of ways, but beggars could hardly be choosers, after all.

He'd never imagined how frustrating true weakness could be, and no matter the method, he wasn't going to be weak any longer.

He bowed his head, shaking with the tension that constricted him. "Wait!" he called out to Hisoka, despite himself, and felt the pit of his stomach plummet with how helpless he sounded.

At that, Hisoka paused in his histrionic exit, and a wicked leer split his face. "Good boy," he lauded with mockery, swiftly returned to Gon's side and patting his head with a clawed hand. "After all, I did promise to protect you, didn't I?"

"Why would you do that? What do you gain?"

"Oh, Gon," Hisoka tutted, feigning hurtfulness. "You wound me with your doubt in my altruism. Did you forget our adventures in Greed Island already?" he added when Gon eyed him doubtfully. He chuckled once Gon had the cognizance to look mildly ashamed, and tucked a rogue lock of crimson hair back behind his ear as he smirked and continued, "Besides, I've already told you what I'll be getting from this… investment."

Gon's eyes roved over him, searching up and down for the physical manifestation of the magician's untrustworthiness. "And what if I refuse?"

Hisoka shrugged. "Well, that's your prerogative," he said offhandedly, before abruptly sobering. "But if you fail to get your Nen to return soon..." He teased Gon's cheek with the sharpened edge of a playing card, which had materialized in Hisoka's hand faster than Gon could have noticed. "I think you remember what it was that I had said," he murmured dangerously.

It takes a mere second for treasure to turn to trash.

They were both intimately aware of what happened to those Hisoka considered worthless.

There were several heartbeats of diagnostic silence between both of them before Gon batted Hisoka's card away from his face. "Fine," he agreed, through clenched teeth. "I'll…" He couldn't believe the words that were coming from his mouth. "I'll go with you."

"Oh, excellent!" the magician proclaimed delightedly, clapping his hands together, as if he hadn't just threatened Gon's life - and then Hisoka was smiling again, but softer this time.

Gon rolled his eyes, and caught himself thinking that this proposed enterprise couldn't possibly be worse than the ordeal in NGL - and once he recovered his Nen he'd be a Hunter again and able to protect his friends as he promised he'd would. He had to.

"But," Hisoka hastily added, immediately recapturing Gon's attention, "you have to prove that you mean it." His smile quirked up into sharp edges. "There's a ship leaving for Yorknew tomorrow at 3 o'clock. We'll start there - and if you don't catch it, I won't be returning for you. It's your choice, ultimately." He closed his eyes as he continued to grin for a small while, before spinning on his heel and retreating back into the density of the forest. "Ciao, Gon~"he said with a small wave, before leaping swiftly back into the treetops, and then he was gone.

If it weren't for the miniscule cut on his cheek, and the slight tremors of his hands in the aftermath, Gon wouldn't have been able to tell Hisoka had even been there at all. He sagged against the nearest tree and exhaled deeply.

Yorknew, 3 o'clock.


[A/N] I will be updating steadily for the first several chapters, but after chapter 9 it will be much more sporadic.

Thank you for reading!