OKAY! The fifth chapter is corrected, and up! The next one will separate the 'prologue' chaps from the canon. Once again, I felt like I needed to establish what happened behind the scenes of the Labreche household, and I promise I'll make a good chapter 6, okay? Enjoy~
Dinner X Talk X More Embarrassment
|~|~|~| No One's P.O.V |~|~|~|
"Yes, and so we decided to have all of the Zoldyck family members attend this gathering, just like every year, Misaki. Killua was training at Heaven's Arena, and remembered the occasion; so he phoned us. He sounded like he really wanted to come here, so I talked to Silva, and he agreed to let Killua come with us to visit. He is almost finished his training, and so once again we decided to let him come here with us." Kikyo babbled. Misaki was nodding every once in a while, smiling at how energetic her old friend sounded. While this was happening, Silva was telling Byron what actually happened.
"Killua had already eliminated himself from the 200th floor, because he was bored. He was already home, and hadn't phoned, Kikyo had just wanted him to see Alexandra more than anything." Silva whispered to Byron. Byron nodded, that was typical of Kikyo. She had wanted Killua and Alexandra to be engaged once they were older. So, with them seeing each other more, they would get used to the idea of always being together.
Meanwhile, all of the kids were talking in their preferred groups like Darian, Yuki, Kasumi, and Illumi. Makoto, Katsu, Natsu, and Milluki were having their own conversation, same as Aaron and Allison. The three youngest of the whole group, Amu, Kisaki, and Kalluto, were listening to their Mothers talk. Everyone was talking fairly loud, everyone except Killua and Alex. They were sitting in their spots beside each other (courtesy of their Mothers), and were eating quietly. They actually had wanted to talk to each other, but separately decided it was best to wait until after dinner. Alex had contemplated using her mind to talk to Killua, but decided against it, just in case she were to do something wrong; and hurt him. Now Killua, well he was a bit mad at his Mother for saying that he phoned his family, almost as if he were begging them to take him to the Labrèche estate.
1. He did not beg.
2. He hadn't been in Heaven's Arena since the start of November.
3. He would never phone his family for such a reason (no matter how much he had wanted to go), or for anything at all.
|~|~|~| Killua's P.O.V |~|~|~|
'Why was Mother lying? I didn't do any of those things. Was it because of how she had hoped that our family, and the Labrèches would come to the decision of making Alex and I engaged? We're only eight, why is she thinking of that now? Oh, right. She's just crazy, I guess it's natural for her to think like this. First dressing Kalluto as a girl, and now this? Why couldn't I have a normal Mother?'
I was tired of staring at my food, and so I looked around the table. My brothers were talking with Alex's siblings, they were in their own groups. Naturally, our Mothers were talking with each other, and our Fathers were making small talk. Maids, and Butlers were on standby, just in case any of the room's occupants needed anything. The ceiling was white in colour, matching the crowning on the walls. The floor was- Ugh. What am I doing? God, I'm so bored. I looked over at Alex, and she was staring at her empty plate, blankly. I smirked.
I nudged Alex, she didn't respond; then I nudged her roughly on her left side, in her ribs. She hissed, and looked at me; almost as if saying 'What was that for?'I simply grinned, and winked; it was fun bothering her. She shook her head, and looked back at her plate. Her eye brows furrowed; she was trying to figure out what I was up to. That was about the time when I caught the amused looks from our parents, minus Alex's dad; he was glaring at our Mothers. She looked back at me after a few minutes, uncertain about something, though within a few seconds; I knew what she was thinking about.
'Killua, can you hear me?' I heard her, she was trying to speak to me with her mind.
'Yeah, I can Alex. Are you bored?'
'Yes, a bit, but we can't leave; our families aren't finished dinner.' I frowned, I wish we'd be dismissed. We usually are, but this is a special occasion. Tch.
'Alex, you're such a goody-two shoes; let's just sneak out.' I said, looking over at Alex. She pouted; and glared at me.
'Oh yes…' she said sarcastically. 'Like we can sneak away from a group of assassins without getting caught…'
I snickered, then Illumi's eyes turned in my direction; I froze. I looked away stiffly; and something took a hold of my right hand. I looked to find Alex holding it, while starting to talk to Aaron and Alli.
|~|~|~|Alex's P.O.V|~|~|~|
'I'm bored, so bored. Both of our families were taking their time eating, and were just talking. I had finished my dinner at least 15 minutes ago, and was just poking my plate with my fork. This had earned me a disapproving look from my family's head maid, Mei.' I stopped, and mustered the best puppy eyes I could and telepathically said to her,
'Mei, please. I'm so bored. My time with Killua is being wasted.' She just raised an eye brow, and replied,
'Oh? Is scratching your Mother's favorite china a price for being bored?'I sighed and looked down. 'I didn't think so, Mistress.'
There was no use in arguing with Mei, she always won; and I didn't want to get lectured later. I then just stared at my plate. Then I had felt something sharp jab my wound, I hissed; and turned in the same direction. The only thing that I had found was a smirking Killua. He winked at me, and I honestly didn't know what was going on. Did the cooks put something weird in his food? Nope, he can withstand poison. I shook my head, and stared at my plate, once again. Was he as bored as I was? Was he trying to entertain himself by bothering me? Did he not believe in cooties anymore? Pfft... No. I chuckled inwardly at the thought, and maybe a bit outwardly; because Allison gave me a weird look. I smiled, reassuring her with my mind that I hadn't gone insane from boredom. She raised an eye brow, and shook her head, turning her attention back to Aaron. I wonder what Killua is thinking. Hmm, maybe I should try talking to him with my mind, he should be fine.
'Killua, can you hear me?' I waited, he blinked and replied,
'Yeah, I can Alex. Are you bored?'Yes I am, I might die of boredom.
'Yes, a bit, but we can't leave; our families aren't finished dinner.' I said almost automatically. Allison would've just sneaked out, but I just stayed and waited for permission. I might have white hair when I get it. Oh well, Killua already has white hair, he'd still be the same.
'Alex, you're such a goody-two shoes; let's just sneak out.' Gosh,I've already thought of that, and really? I. Am. Not. A. Goody-two. Shoes. I pouted, and glared at him while saying,
'Oh yes… Like we can sneak away from a group of assassins without getting caught…'
That earned a snicker from Killua. But, then he froze, I looked around the table to find Illumi staring at him. I narrowed my eyes, and once he looked away; I grabbed Killua's hand. He relaxed, and I then started to talk to Aaron, and Alli. At least 15 more minutes went by, and we were finally excused. Aaron, Alli, Killua, and I almost ran from the table. As soon as we entered the hallways, we split up. My brother and sister going to the study, and Killua and I going back to my room.
Once Killua, and I got back to my room, we had started to talk non-stop. It came to a point that we didn't know what to talk about. So, we just stared at the ceiling, resting in a comfortable silence. That was until we heard a crash, and loud guffawing. I almost jumped off my bed, and then looked at Killua, bewildered; he just shrugged. So, I got up to check, and low and behold it was Allison and Aaron.
"Allison? Aaron? What happened?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know. When I had found Allison, she was face-first on the floor, with half of her dress torn. Aaron was kneeling on the floor laughing his head off, he looked up, grinned and said;
"You should've seen the look-" Though he was interrupted by Allison.
"Alexandra Marie Labrèche. Do not listen to him." I winced, I hate it when people use my full name.
"I know I'm not the one to get mad easily, because that's you." She said while pointing at me, my eye twitched; and she smirked. "But, he crossed a line." Allison finished as she pointed at Aaron. I raised an eye brow.
"Well, just what did hedo?" I asked. Allison turned red, and said,
"He made fun of how I looked in this stupid dress, even when I told him not to!"
"Then how do you explain the ripped dress?" I asked.
"I started to chase after him, and he ran faster, so I started to run, too. My foot got caught in my dress, and I stepped on it; then it ripped."
"Hey, I have a name. It's not 'he'." Aaron huffed while rolling his eyes. Allison pointed at Aaron, and said,
"Hey! Don't give me another reason to be mad at you, Aaron Guy Labrèche!" I burst out laughing, heck, I almost started crying. Allison always used full names when she was mad, just like an old lady. Aaron glared at me and Allison; his eyes comically and slowly shifting between us. I wiped a tear, and looked at my siblings. They were staring at each other, and Aaron sighed, and finally spoke;
"Hey, uh, Alli. I'm sorrythatImadefunofyou." Allison raised an eye brow, and said,
"What? Stop mumbling. What did you say?" Aaron sighed and said,
"I said, I'm sorry that I made fun of you. Um, you should probably change too, your dress is ripped." Allison looked at her dress, and growled,
"I KNOW! See! This is why I don't like wearing dresses!" I smiled, and chuckled.
"You guys are getting along, I'm awesome at reconciling people!" I pumped my fist in the air, and looked at Aaron and Allison. They stared at me blankly, and Allison said,
"But, you didn't even do anything." Aaron nodded vigorously. I huffed, and glared.
"So? I provided support!" They both scoffed at me, and started walking up the hallway.
"Wow. Bye guys. It was nice talking to you." I said sarcastically. Aaron put his hand up to wave at me half-heartedly, I raised an eyebrow. I yawned, and walked back into my room. I was waiting to hear a complaint of taking too long, but I was met with the sight of a sleeping Killua. I blinked, he was lying on the left side of my queen-sized bed, and he wasn't even snoring; just sleeping with a peaceful expression. I walked over to the closest side of my bed (which was the left, Killua's side), and smiled. I never got to see him like this. He'd always look stone-faced, or if I was lucky; he'd smile. I yawned again, 'Maybe I should go for a nap.' I looked at my bed, then at Killua. I decided that it was best to just sit on the floor, and rest my head on the edge of the bed; to avoid anything embarrassing. So, I did, it wasn't comfortable at first; but I got used to it and drifted off to sleep.
|~|~|~|Katsu's P.O.V|~|~|~|
'Thank god. We were finally leaving the dining room, those boys kept saying 'No, this is a good place to talk.' blah blah blah. It was getting boring, now I know why the brats left so eagerly. What are those brats up to now? I looked at the boys. I think I'll go check.'
"Guys, I'm going to check up on the brats, see you later." I said while walking away.
"I'll come with you, I'm getting bored." Makoto said blankly. I looked back at them, Natsu nodded, and motioned for Milluki to follow us. So, we started walking down the main hallway (where most of the Labrèche kids' rooms were), I was listening to each and every sound. I stopped in front of Alex and Alli's bedroom door.
"Hey. Let's check if any of them are in here." I said quietly. I counted to three, and pushed the door open. We all walked inside, and I couldn't believe what we saw.
"It was bound to happen." Natsu said as his eye twitched.
"…what..." Makoto said as he blinked. I started chuckling, and asked,
"Hey, would any of you have a camera handy?" Milluki nodded, figures, he was a tech geek.
I took the camera, and walked right in front of Alex's bed. I tried finding the right angle, but what the hell. It doesn't have to be perfect, it's for blackmail. I took 3 pictures, and sped walk out of the room, while dragging 3 reluctant teenagers.
"Milluki, we can go to town right now, and get these developed." I said to Milluki.
"Well, it better not take long, I have things to do." He huffed, and I snorted.
"Like what? Read manga?" I asked, and chuckled after he glared at me.
"Let's not waste any time, you idiot. Let's go." He grumbled, and I agreed. We both started to walk towards the end of the hallway, and I waved at my brothers,
"We'll be back in half an hour, and we're taking my car, okay? Look out for the other brats." I said as I looked at the first picture that I took. In the picture was Killua laying down on the bed, he was on the left side of the bed, and one of his hands had been lying off the bed, resting on top of Alex's head. Killua had a small smile on his face, he looked peaceful; and Alex looked the same. I smiled to myself, it was a cute picture. I'll definitely make copies for Mrs. Zoldyck, maybe I'll make a few copies for Alex, too. Screw blackmailing, I just want to see the look on her face when she sees this. I chuckled darkly, I can't wait.
|~|~|~|Killua P.O.V|~|~|~|
"Ughh..." I opened my eyes, and blinked. I sat up in bed, and stretched. Alex wasn't here, and it was already 2:30 pm. I tried getting off of the bed, but I ended up stepping on something…squishy? I looked down, and my foot was on Alex's chest. WHAT? I jumped off the bed (away from Alex), and stared. How long had she been there? More importantly, why was she on the floor? I stopped looking at her, and shrugged. 'She's weird like that.'
I looked back at her, and saw she was lying in a bad position. I ruffled my hair, and finally walked over to her. I picked her up bridle-style, and set her on her bed. I was just about to walk away, but I heard her groan, I froze. I looked back at her, and she shivered. I sighed, and pulled the covers over her, I was about to walk away again when my shirt was tugged. I frowned and looked down. Alex was looking at me, she was half-asleep, and was rubbing her eyes. Cute... I felt my cheeks heat up, and shook my head. No, I c-can't think lik-
"Killua… Is t-that you?"I heard her ask. I raised an eyebrow and replied,
"Yes..?"What'd she want? I saw her rub her eyes, and shiver.
"K-Kil, I'm c-cold, could you take a nap with m-me?" My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. What? I sucked in a breath, and started coughing. This made Alex sit up, she rubbed her eyes again, and looked at me with concern. I looked away, but soon felt myself being pulled to sit on the bed.
"Jeez, are you okay, Killua?" Alex asked as she patted my back, looking as if she was wide awake. But I knew she was still half-asleep, she was squinting. I looked at her, and nodded weakly, embarrassed of what just happened. She smiled softly, and then dragged me into the middle of the bed.
"I just saved your life, Kil, you owe me."She said as she pulled the blankets over the both of us. I felt her snuggle into my side, and fall asleep. Then I blinked, saved my life, how?I sighed, Alex and her logic.
"Weirdo."I mumbled as I looked at her and smiled, only she could make me like this. All happy, and… nice.
|~|~|~|Time Skip: 2 hours (4:30)|~|~|~|
|~|~|~|Alex's P.O.V|~|~|~|
I frowned, it was time for the Zoldycks to leave. I heard another sigh towards my right, and looked. It was my Mother, she felt the same as I did. She caught my stare, and looked towards me, smiled softly. I smiled half-heartedly, but soon frowned. I was going to miss Killua. Killua… I grimaced at the name, and felt my face heat up. What had happened this afternoon? I remember waking up snuggled into Killua's side, in my bed. We probably took a nap, but how'd we get to that? I have the worst memory now.
I thought hard enough, and things were starting to clear up. I had finished talking to Aaron and Alli, and came back to my room, but Killua was sleeping. 'He looked really cute too...' I turned red, and shook my head. 'No, no, just think.' Okay, I felt tired, and went to sleep on the floor beside my bed, on Killua's side. But, then for some reason, I woke up on my bed, covered with a blanket. Killua was in front of me, his back was turned. I tugged on his shirt, and asked him to take a nap with m-me? 'W-What? Oh, seriously.' He choked on air, then I had pulled him down to sit on my bed. I patted his back, while he recovered. 'Seems normal enough.' Then, I pulled him into the middle of my bed, and snuggled into him, falling asleep. I paled.
'Why does this stuff always happen to me?' I whimpered inwardly as I slapped my forehead. I heard snickering, and turned my head to see Katsu holding pictures.
'What are they of?' I slowly crept up behind her, and looked. My eyes widened, and I yelped, causing Katsu to look at me. She grinned, and said,
"I'm good at taking pictures, hm?" I glared at her.
"Why did you take those?" I growled. She smirked, and then said,
"Felt like it, got a problem?" I narrowed my eyes at her, and made a grab for the pictures. Katsu dodged easily, and held them over her head.
"Hah! Short stack, stop embarrassing yourself." She said as she put her hand on my forehead, stopping me from getting closer. This only went on for a few seconds, until the pictures were swiped from Katsu by my dad.
"What the?" My Dad's composure slipped away as he stared soullessly at the pictures. My eyes widened, as I helplessly said,
"F-Father! I-" Though my Mother and Mrs. Zoldyck were already at his side.
"Honey, what's wrong?" My Mom asked as she took the photos out of my Dad's hands. She looked at them, with Mrs. Zoldyck looking over her shoulder. Within seconds they were both squealing, which (for my Mother) was unusual. They had dropped the pictures, and high- fived each other, which threw most of us off. Mr. Zoldyck had bent down to pick up one, and just as he saw it, he smirked. He turned to Killua (who had been behind him), and said,
"Well, I guess we know where you've been all afternoon." Killua frowned in confusion, and looked at the picture. He paled, then turned a bright red. His mouth was opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something, but then just sealed shut.
"KATSUUUU! I've got to have a copy, can I have one?" Mrs. Zoldyck asked. Katsu grinned, and said,
"Why sure, Mrs. Zoldyck, have as many as you like."
"One would be plenty, I'll treasure it as much as one of my sons." Mrs. Zoldyck replied back, and Mr. Zoldyck rolled his eyes at the comparison.
"Cute…" I turned my head just to have my cheeks pinched by my Mother. I shook my head, releasing my face of the pinches, and turned towards the rest of our families. They were either smirking, raising an eyebrow, or staring blankly at the scene. I didn't blame them, this was too weird. I looked again, and Allison was nowhere to be found. 'I don't blame her.'
"Mrs. Zoldyck, wouldn't you want to go back to Kukuru Mountain now? You'll still make it before dark." My older sister Kasumi said, probably in hopes of getting some peace and quiet.
Mrs. Zoldyck's face fell, and she regretfully nodded her head, before stomping over to my Mother to give her a bear hug.
"I'll only be a call away, Misaki, call me anytime." Mrs. Zoldyck pulled away, and smiled. My Mom smiled back, and nodded. I made my way over to Killua with my head down, and tapped his foot with mine. He looked up, and I smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"Uh, hey… I hope you have a safe trip, Kil." He smiled, and laughed at me.
"Thanks, Al." I chuckled, and pulled him in for a hug. He shook his head, and said,
"My Mother will never let me live this down." I laughed, and said,
"Believe it or not, mine won't either," I pulled away, and frowned. "Father probably won't, too." Killua just smiled, and ruffled my hair. I let go of him, and he then started to leave with his family.