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Gon closed the door to the antic store behind him and leaned against it's cool, comforting surface.

Of course, he knew that Killua would probably follow him at some point. But why, why, had he entered into that arena?

Gon shook his head. It had been apparent that Killua hadn't wanted to fight. Not a serious one, at least.

But their was a speck of doubt that clung to him, like a survivor from a shipwreck clinging on to a jagged stone of knowledge a midst a roaring sea of his friendship.

And he hated it. That doubt was poison in his veins. It clung and clung and clung...

Gon threw it out the window like it was nothing.

Killua would never hurt him. What was he even thinking? That was just something stupid, something that Killua himself had rubbed onto him: suspicion. Gon bowed his head and let out a long breath. Something Killua himself had rubbed off on him, huh? Well than it must not be that bad.

Gon looked up and stared out at the abandoned street swallowed by a thousand shadows. It was getting cold, and a bitter wind bit at his wounded legs. The breeze made his nostrils flare, taking in the scents of trash and asphalt and...

Fear.

Gon froze as he was about to walk down the sidewalk.

Fear.

His eyes widened. His heartbeat skipped and leaped inside his chest, pounding. He could barely hear the whispers of a plastic bag being blown down the road, thrown up and down by the air.

Fear.

It wasn't just any fear. It was the smell of fear that he recognized from only a few moments in his life, but moments he would never forget. He would never forget that smell either.

The fear of a friend.

And it was one friend in particular.

One that not moment's ago he had been thinking about.

Killua.

And less than a second he was running, nose to the sky, following the scent on the wavering air. Fresh and lucid, like a pathway leading to his friend.

A pathway to Killua.

Gon felt himself running so fast his bandages where starting to just slightly peel off. He grimaced, but did not slow down. Not when his friend was in danger.

Not when Killua as afraid.

It was then that he felt a vibration in his pocket. It was his cellphone. Skidding to a halt, Gon took it out. The caller was from Killua's cellphone.

Answer the phone with fumbling speed, because of course he was nervous, Gon slapped the device to his ear, listening with trained ears for any sound on the other end.

Nothing.

No noise at all.

Complete silence.

And then came the laughter.

It was cold and humorless, crafty and untrustworthy. Dead sounding. It didn't even sound like laughter. Gon could just barely tell the difference between the unamused chuckling and a hoarse cough not easily gotten rid of. The noise was like the scrapping of claws on a chalkboard to Gon, and he winced.

"Well, well, well. Killua's friend has decided to answer. Tell me, did you enjoy your nightmare?"

Gon seethed, but somehow managed to control his voice for about two seconds to be calm. That's when he erupted.

"You..YOU TOOK KILLUA! GIVE HIM BACK! HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG! WHERE IS HE? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?! GIVE HIM BACK!"

Then came the unamused chuckling, the lifeless laughter.

"Well, if I tell you where we are, it would be pointless because you can already find us. And yes, he has done many things wrong. And as to what I'm doing to him...let's just say he was begging me to stop almost a few moments ago."

Gon stood, silent. Trembling. With rage? With fear? With worry?

He was probably trembling because of all of them.

His voice dropped down, low and cold. Gon didn't even recognize his own voice. He breathed in, out, in...

"What have you done to Killua?"

Gon was given his reply in the form of silence.

The phone line went dead.

Gon roared, and then thrust the phone into his pocket wishing that he could instead through it as hard as he could into the dark night.

Sprinting, Gon ran after the twisting scent of fear.

He would not let his nightmare become a reality.


Killua's eyes fluttered open.

It was still dark, and when he took a deep breath in, he tasted the tangy gnawing of poison gas.

This gas was of no concern to him. Countless hours of torture had assured to that.

Killua looked around him. His arms where chained by large, iron bands encircled with powerful nen. Killua couldn't even budge. The same was true for his legs. He couldn't move very much at all.

Killua blinked. In front of him spread out a huge field, plain and dusty. It wasn't terribly long, maybe the length of a football field. The large dusty plain was flanked by large, stony walls. A white strip of paint crossed the plain about ten feet away from him. Killua was reminded of a finish line.

It was like sitting at the head of a table where no one sat and no food wafted tempting and delicious smells.

It was then that Killua was jerked roughly into reality. He had been kidnapped by that man with slimy, dark hair and glistening green eyes. That man...

That man could control nightmares. He had done awful things to Gon, made him go through so much pain, both mentally and physically...

Killua silently seethed for a few moments, before he began to think more about Gon.

Why was he fighting in an underground battle arena? What could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing? And without telling his best friend to boot!

Killua sighed, and then realized he wasn't alone.

The person was behind him, out of sight. But the presence stepped forward and whispered into his ear.

"Your friend believes everything you tell him. How convenient, am I right?"

That voice, smooth and silky, laced with danger. Killua didn't know why, but it reminded him of Illumni's voice. A sudden image of Illumni plunging a needle into Gon's chest flashed in his mind. Daggers sprouting from Gon. Blood, everywhere.

Shaking the image from his head, Killua took a deep breath in as the nightmare nen user slipped into his vision.

Those same, glimmering eyes, twinkling. That slick hair. That angular, hawk like face.

It hit home to Killua that this man was a killer. Someone who didn't hesitate from taking a life. Someone like the person he had been before he met Gon.

"What did you tell him?" Killua whispered, voice thinly controlling the rage that bubbled up inside of him. The man smiled, accept that it lacked every characteristic of a smile. It was dead and lifeless. Just like his laugh and words.

Dead.

Lifeless.

The words drove through Killua, cold and true, like black spears.

"I told him you were begging for me to stop what I was doing to you. You haven't yet, but you will."

Killua said nothing. He had endured many tortures before from his family. This would be no different.

"Well, now for the torture to begin."

The man with green eyes slid to Killua's side, staring into his pale blue eyes.

"I trust you've already realized the poison gas drifting through here. You maybe immune to it, but your friend is not. I know he can hold his breath for a long time, up to about ten minutes as I'm to believe, so this entire set up should work out nicely. You see, this plain before you is actually an obstacle course. He'll be forced to do it, in front of your eyes. And he'll die, right there in front of you, from either the course or the gas, and you'll lose him."

Killua remained silent.

"After you lose him, you'll be so mad that you'll revert to your assassin self. And with Gon lost forever, you will see no choice but to return home to the Zoldyck Estate."

Killua's eyes widened.

"You see, I can't just control nightmares, I can see them inside of people. Your worst fears are the ones I just said. You fear loosing Gon, you fear of becoming an assassin again, you fear returning home. All these things you fear, deep in your heart. I can see them."

Killua blinked in shock. No, this couldn't possibly be happening. Gon was coming. Of course he was.

He was coming to his death.


Gon knew it was a trap.

He knew it before he had finished his phone call from Killua's kidnapper.

He knew it only too well.

When he smelled poisonous gas up ahead, he decided to wait to the last minute to begin holding his breath. And suddenly, Gon saw him, hanging there, across a dusty plain and a white painted line.

"Gon. My name is Jenkins. I think you should listen to me if you want to get your friend back."

Gon recognized the dull, bland tone from before and tensed, smoothly sliding into a fighting stance.

Killua was staring straight at him. There was a bloody slash on his cheek, although he was ignoring it. Gon breathed in deeply at the sight of him.

A man with dark, shiny hair and bright, gleaming green eyes blocked his view. So this was Killua's kidnapper. He's the one who started this whole thing.

"Get across this white line and you can have him back. But first, you have to go..."

Jenkins circled around Killua, taking out aknife and slashing his other cheek. Gon growled and started run towards him, but immediatly jumped back as he felt the ground vibrate. Suddenly, a huge, black spike shot up out the ground where he had been not milliseconds before.

"...you have to pass through this entire obstacle course. Since you can only hold your breath for so long, you do have your own time limit. If you skip any of the obstacles, I kill him. If you hesitate, I cut him. Those are the rules. Have fun."

Gon nodded. His legs burned, and blood slithered out from under his bandages and down his shaking legs. Trembling slightly, he closed his eyes for a few moments to keep his breath in check. He couldn't breath or he'd take in the poisonous gas that whirled through the air.

"Gon. Get out of here. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You need to get out of here. Right now. Leave."

Gon could hear his friend from across the plain. Gon looked at him. Killua stared straight back. Gon, so honest, his eyes...though Killua. His eyes so bright and brown, yet so far away...He needs to leave.

Gon broke his gaze and stared down at the ground, trembling even more pronounced.

And for a moment Killua thought that he would listen to him. That he would actually turn around and walk away.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?! YOU THINK I'D LEAVE MY BEST FRIEND! OF COURSE I'M SAVING YOU KILLUA!"

The scream was loud, hoarse, edged in pain and determination. Killua stared at his friend, slightly shocked, then feeling stupid. Of course Gon wasn't leaving him. Of course Gon was going to try and save him, even though it was obvious that he was in pain.

Of course Gon wouldn't listen to him.

Gon jumped forward, sprinting as fast as he could to Killua. He sensed the spikes coming, and dodged them before they jutted up from the ground. They came at a predictable rhythm, and Gon weaved skillfully through the maze of spikes.

Suddenly, a spike sprouted behind him. It was out of the rhythm, and Gon had to twist his body. It cut his bicep, blood streaming down and dripping off his elbow.

"Gon! Leave!"'

Ignoring the concerned shouts of his friends, Gon grunted in pain as he realized what his mistake had caused him. He could still use his arm, but now the spikes had risen as a wall to block his path to Killua.

Leaping over the spikes, Gon sensed what was over them before he even cleared the their pointy tips.

Water.

Gon plunged into the freezing cold ice water. Suddenly a iron cage blocked his path up the surface. He broke it easily. Arrows from all directions suddenly shot towards him.

The water made it difficult to move out of the way in time. Gon felt pain in his calf and in his shoulder as he resurfaced. Looking down, he saw a pool of swirling blood below him.

Rising from the water, he dripped. Hundreds of blades flew towards him, slicing the air with sickening speed and deadly glitters. Dodging, leaping, evading.

It was then that Gon realized he had only made it about third of the way to his friend.

An arrow stuck out of his thigh and another one stuck out of his shoulder. The bandages that covered his wounds were now so bloody and soaking that they flew off from his fast movement. Raw wounds from before spewed blood everywhere.

Sprinting forward, Gon guessed that he had about five minutes left until he couldn't hold his breath anymore.

The ground gave beneath his feet. He leaped from crumbling chunk of earth to crumbling piece with cat like agility. Suddenly fire spat at him from all angles.

There was no avoiding.

So he made the most of it.

He ran straight through the licking flames. Blood sizzled. Heat burned. Gon kept his eyes firmly shut.

Burn.

Burn.

Burn.

At least now his wounds wouldn't bleed as much. His shirt had half burned off. He had lost one of his boots. White hot pain. Everywhere.

All around, heat.

Gon sprinted, eyes squinting. The hair on his legs had been singed off, but the hair on his head had somehow remained unscathed. Burns smeared across him.

Gon focused on the now struggling figure in front of him. Killua couldn't move from his bounds. Absently, Gon thought how powerful the restraints must be.

He was half way now. He could do this.

His vision was being invaded by black spots. It annoyed him. It made it harder to see the rotating knives and the devilish spear raging with scorching nen.

Running.

Jumping.

Dodging.

He guessed he had about a minute left until he couldn't hold his breath anymore. On the other hand, he was only about ten feet away from the white line.

The victory filled into his chest as he stumbled past another volley of arrows. He was covered in blood and burns. He had broken the arrow shafts that stuck out of his calf and his shoulder. He was losing to much blood, he knew. He was holding his breath for too long.

He needed to breath.

Five feet away from the finish line.

Black dots flew. His feet dragged, but he only had to glance up tiredly to see Killua's face.

Killua's face.

Three feet away from the finish line. One more step. Willing his feet to move, Gon took the step...

A fist flew out of no where and slammed into his cheek. Eyes widened. Blood flew.

Gon was launched off to the side until he hit the stone wall with a sickening crack. His ribs...

Gon crumpled to the ground, but at the last second, propelled himself with his leg forward so that he cross the finish line. He had done it. He had saved Killua. He had...

He had breathed.

In and out. In. Out. In...

Dazed and bleary his vision swam. Darn it, he thought.

Killua suddenly was above him, voice shouting, distant. Gon grabbed Killua's shirt, trying to pull him closer. He didn't want Killua to feel so far away.

"Killua..." he whispered.

"Gon! Gon don't breath! Gon-"

"Listen to me."

Killua immediately closed his mouth, staring attentive to his friend as he cradled him. Gon looked awful, blood soaked and dreary. Almost lifeless.

"...I went to the antic shop to get money, but I didn't know it was a fighting arena... until it was already... signed up. I wanted to earn money... so... that I could take you to that...chocolate...shop..." Gon's voice was so quiet, so fragile, so sincere. Killua felt a tear slide down his cheek.

"What the hell Gon? You were risking your life so that I could have chocolate. You idiot."

Killua choked on the last part, sobbing dispite himself.

Jenkins stood behind them, and when Killua heard his smooth voice, he stiffened and held Gon closer.

"This is all your fault, you know."

Gon coughed, barely focusing on Killua. His breathing was ragged, labored, fading. Gon was dying.

"A Zoldyck killed my best friend. Blame yourself for what's happening right now, Killua."

Gon shook his head. His eyes fluttered. Killua breathed in deeply, wishing that he could succumb to that same poison too. Anything but hear those last words fly from Jenkins' mouth.

"If you hadn't let yourself get kidnapped in the first place, Gon wouldn't be dying. Gon is dying because of you."

Killua shook his head, pulling Gon closer. Blood was all over his shirt. It was Gon's blood. Gon's blood.

"That's what you really fear the most, the worst nightmare of all. That Gon will die because of you."

As Gon was closing his eyes for the last time, Killua closed his eyes as well.