It's dark.
Too dark.
What was that? Is someone here? Why am I here? Why does this keep happening?
Killua's eyes snapped open, sucking a sharp gasp.
"Oh, you're awake…" A voice to his side mumbled as he snapped his head to the side.
"Who are you…?" Killua asked, his voice filled with nothing short of terror.
"Just a nurse. Nothing more. You might wanna check your roommate out. He's actin' funny."
"Gon…OH CRAP!" Killua shouted, bolting up. He remembered the unjustified attack on his new friend. He got out of the bed and ran throughout the maze of corridors, searching for his room number. Finally, he made it, panting and out of breath, he slowly opened the door.
The room was dimly lit. The blinds were hastily thrown shut. In his bed laid a lifeless lump of what was presumably Gon. The lump barely reacted to the light at all. It just squirmed a little bit.
"Gon, I…" Killua tried to find the right words to say. He stopped thinking when the thin white blanket was thrown off of the lump, revealing the green-clad boy. His eyes were puffy and red, much unlike the childlike shine that they had shown before the…incident.
"Killua…?" Got choked, "You're okay?"
Killua froze. After all that Killua had done to Gon, he still was this concerned for his well-being? With the world that Killua grew up in, he had never met someone with such selflessness. Little did he know, tears began streaming down his face at the thought.
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" He cried, watching the other boy run out of his bed to Killua.
Gon cried hysterically, and before long, so was Killua. They cried until it hurt too much to cry any longer. They eventually fell asleep, bothered by any tiny sliver of light from the outside world.
The next morning, Killua was woken up by the same nurse.
"Hey. Kid. You gotta get up. There's a new doctor waiting to see you. And don't flip your crap. He's not gonna make you try any more medicine."
Well, that was a relief. Killua groaned and sat up. He was a total mess. His hair was mangy and his eyes were pink.
"Hmm…does it really hafta be now…?"
The nurse rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it does. Get outta bed, and follow me."
Killua reluctantly stood up and followed her down the hall after writing a note to Gon saying he'd be right back. He arrived at a room that he'd never seen before. Who could blame him, though? He'd only been there for a few days and if he'd really passed it, the amount of mental stress he'd been putting up with recently made him forget.
Forcing his mind to put that aside, he opened the door, and winced at how much light the ginormous windows let in. Killua let his eyes adjust, and he sat in a chair adjacent to a man in the middle of the room with a navy suit and small glasses.
The door closed behind him, signifying the nurse had left.
"Hello, there, Killua." The man greeted calmly, "My name is Dr. Paladiknight, but you can call me Dr. Leorio." He smiled and reached out a hand for the boy to shake. Killua hesitantly took it and shook.
What's going on here? Killua thought, This guy seems way too calm. Is he patronizing me or something? He seems a bit…too calm. Nobody's been this calm with me before. Something has to be up.
"Okay, what's going on here?" Kill managed to articulate his thoughts, his face contorting into one of distrust and aggravation.
Leorio chuckled quietly, "There's nothing to be worried about. I'm just here to talk to you."
Killua sighed. Something had to be off if they were acting so normal. He sat there in silence for a few moments, looking at the floor, then he finally spoke.
"What's this about, anyway?"
"Well, I heard you had a little argument with your…"
"Please don't mention that." Killua interrupted in a tone as cold as ice.
"I'm sorry, but we have to. If you don't talk about it, it won't get better."
They call this guy a psychiatrist? He's an idiot! How is he a doctor? Killua let his angry thoughts swirl around in his head. However, he didn't speak. He didn't want to get off on a bad foot with another person. A friend would be a nice change. He almost had Gon, but he was too scared to let him in just yet.
"I…" Killua lowered his head, "…didn't want to hurt him…"
"So why did you attack him?"
"I was scared…" Though he hated to admit it, he was.
Leorio frowned and wrote something down in a notebook filled with illegible handwriting.
"So what were you scared of?"
"I really don't want to talk about this, okay? Just…can I leave?"
"Look. Killua." Leorio's voice turned serious and authorative. "You aren't going to get anywhere with this unless you tell me. It's not like I'll tell anyone."
Killua sighed. This guy really didn't get it, did he? He just wanted to be left alone! Was that too much to ask for?
"I just didn't want to be forced to try any medicine, okay? I'm sick and tired of having drugs constantly shoved down my throat! All I wanted was to go here, get better, and leave. Now, my roommate probably hates me, everyone thinks I'm crazy, and nothing is working!" Killua's voice broke at the end. He hadn't noticed, but tears started trailing down his face as he poured his heart out. Leorio's strict facial expression softened again at the state of the mess in front of him.
This'll be a tough one to get through, Leorio thought, but he still has hope. I promise on my future grave that I won't give up on him!
"Okay, Killua, you can leave if you want. Thank you for telling me what's on your mind."
Killua immediately bolted up and out of the room. A few moments after he left, the same nurse Killua saw when he woke up sauntered into the room.
"So?" She seemed half-interested, but then again, when didn't she?
"He's got a lot of trouble on his shoulders, but it's never too late to bring him back."
Killua ran and ran through the corridors, not caring where he went. He eventually collapsed into a ball outside the dining hall, crying quietly.
A hand suddenly fell onto his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find that standing in front of him was…
"Gon?! What are…what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to cheer you up," Gon smiled sweetly, but his eyes soon contorted to show sadness and concern. "But it looks like you don't want to be bothered." He turned around, trying to conceal something round from him.
"No, Gon! Please…don't leave."
Gon turned around, surprised to hear his cold roommate beg for him to come back. Not many people wanted him around since he definitely liked to talk a lot.
He sat down next to his friend, pulling out the round thing.
"A cake? When did you make that?"
"Not long ago," Gon smiled. In blue icing he wrote, "Let's be friends" on the center. Killua stared at the cake, then at Gon.
"I used to suck at cooking until my Aunt Mito taught me." He laughed softly, holding a slice out to his friend.
Killua smiled slightly for the first time in front of Gon, or in a while for that matter.
"Thanks, Gon." He tried not to let tears fall from his eyes in order to not get them on the cake. He took a small bite, his eyes widening a little bit.
"This is really good…" he smiled a bit more, looking up at a satisfied gon, who had already begun eating a slice.
"Thanks!" He beamed.
"Yeah, I think the cake is right…we should be friends…"
"But Killua!" Gon shouted, earning the nervous stare of a nearby janitor.
"Shh! You idiot, what's wrong with that?"
"I thought the cake was a lie!"
Killua looked down. Was it really a lie? Was this some cruel joke? Did Gon really-
"They're only using it to bribe you, no matter how delicious and moist it is!"
Oh. It's a reference. His pig of a brother had explained it to him a while ago. Killua laughed merrily at his new friend.
"You really are nuts, you know that?"
"Isn't that why I'm here?"
Killua and Gon laughed and ate their cake until a doctor yelled at them that it was past lights-out. The snickered to each other on the way to their hotel room. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
