A/n 1: Yess! I finished this chapter before Monday! (It's 10.30pm on Sunday where I am right now) The new school term starts tomorrow and I've already got a biology test first period. Which I haven't even started studying for yet. Oops.
A/n 2: Speaking of school, the school system in Singapore is really different from those in other countries, so I tried basing this AU's school system off a bit of Google researching I did on European/American schools. Did I fail? Ahaha… *hides*
A/n 3: A lot of you guys seem to like Stalker! Gon! Ahaha, he won't be too stalkerish though, that'd be scary!
A/n 4: Spot the reference in this chapter! It's pretty obvious, though. Replies to anons and another short A/n at the end of this chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hunter x Hunter, and never will. Togashi Yoshihiro does.
You Read Me Like An Open Book
Chapter 2: Math Tests
Aren't libraries meant for reading books in? Or doing homework, or I don't know, studying, at least. Stuff like that.
Libraries, however, are not meant for eating stuff in.
Yeah, I know some libraries have areas set aside for restaurants or cafés, where they serve sandwiches and herb pasta and chocolate-chip smoothies with whipped cream and candied cherries, (It's good. Seriously. Go try it.) but even if the library you go to does in fact have said eateries you shouldn't be eating in the rest of the library, and 90% of the time I'm pretty sure you're there for the books or the quietness.
Unless you're there for the desserts.
They've got good desserts.
Like the ones with chocolate in them.
That's what I tell the little girl with a long piece of licorice in her mouth as soon as I've got her attention directed at me and not her colourfully illustrated book of fairy tales about staircase-tripping princesses and voice-sacrificing mermaids.
Her dark green eyes light up at the mention of chocolate, and at her silent enrolment into the Chocolate Appreciation Association I decide that she's going to grow up to be an honourable member of society.
''Go ask your mom or dad to get you one of those, okay, kid?'' I say dutifully, ''then you'll never have to go back to eating icky licorice in libraries again!''
The girl nods cheerfully and runs off, ditching her princess book. Once I see her disappear into the stairway, presumably to go pester her parents for a smoothie, I grin triumphantly and return the book to its original place, silently praying that her parents don't come looking for me.
Oh well.
I sigh and turn around, only to be met face-to-face with an overly excited teenage boy. His honey eyes are wide and his grin is even wider, which from a distance would probably look rather cute but from just inches away, plain creepy.
''Hi, Gon,'' I greet, awkwardly backing up. ''You look happy. Did something happen?''
It's been nearly two months since the day I found him sleeping, and the boy has never failed to greet me with a smile. He's always happy, or so it seems, about one thing or another. One day it's because he's made friends with a stray cat; another day it's because he's escaped having to go for detention by just a couple of seconds.
I haven't confronted him about him knowing my name, because really, it's no big deal, the way I see it. He's probably seen me around before, since I'm at the library a lot. He's probably heard or seen me get chided by Bisuke.
… which is a lot, by the way.
See, thing is, you can't exactly ride a skateboard into the library, zoom past startled readers, swerve in between high, book-filled bookshelves (all while doing kickass tricks, just so you know) and not expect to get screamed at for hours on end.
Or so I learned the hard way.
Sheesh.
''Yeah!'' Gon laughs, fishing for something inside his bag. He pulls out a thin stack of papers and holds it up with both hands to show me with a triumphant look. ''I got an A on my Math test!"
''Ooh,'' I praise, softly applauding. ''Congrats! You did great, Gon. '' I offer him a smile and a light pat on the back to let him know I'm proud of him.
I know it hasn't been long since I've known the guy, but I do know that Math is not exactly his forte, so this is a big thing for him. During the past one and a half weeks, nearly every time I saw him, he'd be racking his brain over some Math problem. Most times I'd stop by to help him for a question or two, but we'd always end up getting side-tracked and talk for a while.
Which, of course, led to even more angry glares and suggestive waggles of eyebrows from the one and only Biscuit Krueger.
Hag.
Gon smiles back, clutching the paper tightly. '' Thanks, Killua,'' he chuckles, ''I feel like I wouldn't have gotten an A if it weren't for you…''
I can feel my cheeks growing warm and I'm about to respond when the cheeky brat continues.
''… and your constant nagging. Really, Killua! You scold me a lot. And you always hit me on the head when I don't get it, such a mean person…''
Almost instantly, the blush on my pale face disappears.
Ahahaha…
If looks could kill, Gon Freecss would be long gone by now.
Brutally mauled by fierce, untamed grizzly bears with razor-sharp teeth, tossed into the Amazon River and bitten by crocodiles, then brutally shot to death by an El Diablo.
Burned afterwards in a 25th century incinerator.
Yeah, 25th century. You never know. They might have really cool incinerators.
No, I don't care if all they do in the end is burn things. They might have bloody wicked incinerators in the 25th century that can do lots of awesome stuff besides burning. Like making frozen yogurt, for example.
Don't question my logic. Have you been to the 25th century? Do you have a time machine? Or a TARDIS, perhaps?
No? Then sshhh.
I inform Gon of my plans for his not-so-graceful parting from this world, to which he just smiles, calls me weird and says, ''but I like bears.''
I stare at him incredulously and flick his forehead, causing him to wince slightly.
''Bears. Really.''
''Why not?'' Gon retorts, amused. ''Bears are cute.''
I sigh and turn to leave, but turn back a second later to flick his forehead a second time just for good measure, and for the fact that he's an idiot for calling what might just be his most feared adversary one day 'cute'. After watching him wince again, I chuckle triumphantly and begin walking away.
''What am I going to do with you, Gon?'' I say almost inaudibly, but I think Gon, who's started following me, hears me, because I'm almost sure he answers something back.
''Anything, really. I'd have fun doing anything, if it's with Killua.''
XxX
The next day of school proves to be boring as hell for me.
Nothing interesting happens. My clumsy homeroom teacher, Wing, comes into class looking untidy and like he just got out of bed as usual and starts discussing class matters right away. He doesn't have any news for us this time, like someone getting an award, maybe getting into a fight or something. He doesn't even mention a word about last night's 9 o'clock news. This is to be expected, actually, but with Wing you never really know. Maybe he did have something to tell us, but didn't write it down and forgot.
The classes that follow aren't particularly exciting, either – just tests, more assignments, a little homework.
It's so boring that by the last class of the day, I'm lying on my desk and not even bothering to listen to the teacher anymore.
The guy who sits next to me, a brown-haired kid with thick eyebrows named Zushi, pokes me with a pen and asks if I'm alright, to which I just shrug and mouth the words 'I'm bored'. He smiles slightly, nods and turns back to listen to the teacher who's probably rambling on about the history of Padokea.
If you really wanted to know about our town, you'd go to old man Netero, the friendly (albeit a bit eccentric) old geezer who runs the town. He's older than the town itself and would gladly tell you everything you want to know about it.
But I don't want to know, not right now at least, so I tune out the teacher's voice and count down the minutes till school ends.
When it finally does end, I'm the first to escape the building.
But then I realize, I've got nothing to do. A bunch of my friends have club activites or other things going on, so I don't have anything planned for the afternoon.
That is, until I hear my phone vibrate.
I pull the slightly bulky blue smartphone out of my pocket and grin at what's on my screen.
1 New Message
FROM: Idiot
I open the message.
Idiot: Killua! You free this afternoon?
Leave it to Gon to brighten up my mundane Monday.
…
Geddit?
…
It's Tuesday, actually, but I just wanted to use that phrase.
I'm not even sorry.
Tapping the on-screen keyboard, I type out a short message in reply.
Me: Yeah. Did u just get out of school?
Almost immediately, another message from Gon pops up.
Idiot: yup! So, what do ya wanna do?
Ohoho.
So you wanna play the fast-typing game, do you, Gon?
Fine.
Within the next few minutes, several more messages are sent back and forth, continuing the conversation.
Me: You're the one that invited me!
Idiot: Mmm, but I figured you'd know what to do.
Me: So u just assumed I'd say yes to going out w u?!
Idiot: Pretty much. But it turned out alright in the end, didn't it? Ahaha…
Me: I ought to kill u when I see u, Gon.
Idiot: I guess I'd better start walking away, then?
I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. What's the guy talking about now?
Idiot: I can see u confused from here, Killua! Haha, you look kinda cute like that.
I can feel my face heat up almost instantly at Gon's comment, and silently swear to murder him later. I already came up with a plan for that, remember? With the bears and all.
The bears Gon called c…
C-cute.
Dammit.
Smooth asshole.
I'm about to send a reply when a new message appears on my screen.
Idiot: D'aww, you're blushing! Anyway, look up from your phone for one second, kay? You've been staring at it for a while now.
So I look up and see the spiky-haired boy waving at me with the ever-happy expression on his face.
I walk towards him.
''Bloody hell, Gon!'' I say, folding my arms crossly. ''It takes twenty minutes to get here from your school. You said you just ended!''
''Yeah, well, I lied,'' my friend laughs, tilting his head to the side slightly. ''Anyway, I was already halfway on the way here when I messaged you.''
If that was supposed to be a good explanation, it sure as hell failed as one, because all it did was make me even more confused.
''So you assumed I'd say yes even before you messaged me? I could've had plans, you know.''
But all Gon does is shrug and tell me that he passes by Padokea High on his way home every day anyway. I'm literally a split second away from questioning his choice of school when he simply smiles and tells me he's got his reasons.
Our conversation takes a turn from there and we slowly switch topics. We talk about how different our day at school was while walking to town, where we'll stop and actually think about what the hell we want to do from there.
I go first, because there's absolutely nothing to talk about, unless you count some kid running into the classroom late during 5th period, realizing he's come to the wrong classroom and running out again, embarrassed, ten seconds later. Gon laughs at that and proceeds to tell me about his own day at school, which was evidently a lot more interesting than mine.
To celebrate the fact that nobody failed the Math test for once (Gon usually being the sole criminal for failing), their Math teacher gave them a free period and handed out snacks and lollipops. Gon felt really bad about that because his class would've gotten this sooner if not for him, but his classmates told him that it was okay, saying that they wouldn't have had the little celebration if he hadn't been failing all the way to begin with, and to help them thank whoever helped him pass this time.
''You mean me,'' I say proudly, puffing out my chest and standing a little taller.
''Yes, you,'' Gon laughs, handing me a lollipop he'd saved for me. ''The arrogant, prideful teacher who hits poor students like me.''
I stick out my tongue, rip open the plastic covering the lollipop and stick it in my mouth, savouring the sweet and slightly sour taste of grape and wildberry.
''Still the most amazing teacher you could ever have, though,'' I wink, as we enter the town.
Haha, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
REPLIES TO ANONS:
Chani: something like that, yeah! You'll see ;) Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked this chapter too!
SpyroReader: Haha, thank you! Here's the update! *grins*
A/N 1: In school, I've got a ''wife'', who's one of the people who might read this. (If anyone wants to read her fics, go check my profile! *cackles* They're cute. She's done Sherlock and Hetalia fics so far.) She's also why I put that little reference in this chapter.
A/N 2:My wife's my 'Killua', and I'm her 'Gon', though in reality she's the one who didn't exactly do well in Maths last year. So guess who had to help her? *flips hair*
Okay, in all honesty we had to have our seats switched cos all we did was talk during class. XDDD;
A/N 3: Next chapter might take a while to be posted! Sorry for the delays, but I'm really grateful for all the support you guys have been giving this story so far.
Till next time!
-Al
