Chapter 7
Gon kept glancing back, trying to catch a glimpse of his old house whenever he thought I wasn't looking. It annoyed me slightly, because there was nothing back there for us. Without his aunt, he had no one to go back to. And the only reason I hadn't left my own home earlier was because I was afraid of my own family coming after me. So it annoyed me, for these reasons.
But it was okay, because I understood.
"Nae, Killua, did you remember to bring food?"
I stiffened slightly, lowering my head in guilt. "Ah, well, I sort of..." I trailed off to a mumble, quickening my legs. Gon was alert instantly, his reluctant steps becoming less dragged as we continued.
"Killua, where's the food?" He questioned again, suspicious gaze burning guilty holes into my skull. I grimaced, fingering the edge of the make-shift bandage around my hands.
"I sort of...dropped it. When I jumped the fence. It didn't fit in my bag, so it was in a plastic..."
He gave a long, drawn out sigh. I waited for an uncharacteristic scolding, because ever since Aunt Mito's death he'd been acting odd. I bit my lip at the thought. Her death was still...setting in for me. Still too fresh for the words to be tossed together so easily in my head.
There was no scolding, though. Gon leaned against my arm and grumbled, "I brought the emergency fund so it's ok."
I could tell he was upset, because he'd figured out that if he hadn't asked me to bring the food then I probably wouldn't have cut up my hands trying to keep it from falling. And all for nothing, because with Mike the guard dog chasing me down, I couldn't spare more than one attempt at catching the falling bag.
From the corner of my eye, I could see the deep expression on his face. His thinking expression, with lips puffed in a pout, nose slightly scrunched and eyebrows drawn together. With a smirk, I nudged him hard enough to make the unsuspecting boy fall over.
Gon screeched as snow poured into his jacket, arms and legs flailing until he managed to sit up. I laughed at the bewildered red face that emerged from the endless white.
"Killua!"
I stopped walking, only a few steps ahead and waited patiently for him to say more. He didn't, only continued to stare at me with surprised chocolate eyes. It took a few minutes, but eventually he got over the shock and got to his feet.
"Ah, now I'm all wet! Nae, Killua, it's cold!" Gon randomly shook his legs as he came towards me, trying to dislodge the trapped snow. I opened my arms as he approached, wiggling my eyebrows as he made a face.
Another snicker made it past my lips as he marched right on past me, only turning slightly to stick his tongue out with a soft, "Bully!"
I followed him, of course, and we continued to walk in silence with the snow smoothing over the small impressions our feet made. It was pretty, and with the developments fading into the distance behind us, it almost seemed as if the whole world was made of endless white. The dim light of the moon managed to peek through the clouds, giving everything a pretty shine.
After a few minutes of shivering helplessly, Gon roughly latched onto my arm, pressing close and quickly soaking my side. I didn't mind, since it was my fault anyway. I smiled at the small satisfied twist of his mouth.
It continued to snow, keeping our surroundings in a pretty haze. In this world, there was just the two of us. Just me and Gon.
There would be no one to protect us if they came after me. My father's disapproving gaze came to mind then.
The moment was shattered, for me at least. Gon continued to look content. But I felt suddenly too isolated, and couldn't help but imagine my father's eyes watching from the blurs hidden in the snow.
XXX
"Ugh...how much longer do we have to wait?" I whined, tracing circles on the pattern of the desk. I watched little dark patches appear on the bandages over my hand as dust collected. Gon sat happily beside me, swaying his upper body side to side with some song he was humming quite off-tune.
Kurapika was busy organizing some papers, occasionally reaching up to push back the hat that was too big for him. He spared me a quick smile, "He'll show up soon. Leorio tries to use as much of the visiting hours as possible, so it won't be too long until he gets here."
I felt my eyes droop as I puffed out my cheeks. There it was again, that overly happy tone when he said that name. If this Leorio guy wasn't some sort of god-looking idol when he walked in I was going to have to seriously rethink Kurapika's sanity.
"Dance~ whoohoo~!" Gon giggled, kicking his legs as he added some words to his humming. Still very much off-pitch, but somehow comforting as I pressed my cheek to the desk. "I wanna dance dance~ dance~ da-dance~ fantastic baby~!"
Vaise, the main desk lady, looked over with an amused grin.
The doors suddenly swung open, and in strutted the most ridiculous thing ever. An old man (okay so maybe he wasn't that old) wearing a suit with every other button unbuttoned and a tie around his forehead wobbled into the hospital with about a dozen bouquets of flowers in his arms.
And gone was all the respect I had for Kurapika.
"This is Leorio?" I didn't lift my head from the desk, barely turned my face at all before I decided I didn't want to see anymore. Reluctantly, I looked towards the only blond occupant of the room. Kurapika was pushing aside his papers, quickly going over to grab some of the flowers before the old man completely lost his balance. He was no longer smiling, instead there was a disapproving frown on his face as he scolded Leorio for not properly buttoning his shirt. His eyes were still doing that weird sparkle thing, though, totally ruining the effect.
"It's Mr. Sunglasses!" Gon chirped, hopping to his feet. I banged my head on the desk as he went through the whole process of returning the sunglasses. Vaise was snickering from her place nearby, mumbling something under her breath and then snickering just a bit harder.
Leorio set down one of the bouquets on the receptionist desk, abruptly cutting off Vaise's laughing.
"Sorry I took so long, but I lost track of time when I was studying then I wanted to buy everyone flowers..." He laughed sheepishly, taking the flowers from Kurapika to distribute them among the desks and even handing some to the few patients who were in the lobby. He still had quite a few left when he decided he was done, and turned to Gon with a smile. "Hey, thanks for giving me back my sunglasses."
Gon beamed happily, rocking back on his heals as his habit often led him to do. "You're welcome!"
I scowled as he was handed some white roses, slowly sitting up. My mind went back to a book my mother had given me. I was supposed to memorize the different types of flowers that could be used as poisons, and she never told me why, but in the back of the book had been a chart. I silently counted the number of flowers in Gon's hand.
10: you are pretty.
White: pure intentions
"Killua?" Gon was giving me a confused look, tilting his head when he noticed my glare directed at the flowers. I couldn't help the grimace on my lips, so I turned my head away to keep him from seeing.
XXX
Tape 008
D: We're going to talk you through the memories okay. You have to try today, we're running out of time.
K: You're really different lately, old man.
D: You and Gon Freeces decided to run away after the death of his aunt because he was going to be taken away. No family member appeared to take him in, so he was being sent to an orphanage. Continue on from there.
K: I never told you that part. About his family members. You seem to know more about this than I do.
D: Just continue the story.
K: Hmm...So I was supposed to show up at his house, but I was late because of Illumi, my older brother. He found me at the door, and then just left so I thought 'oh, this is too easy'. But then I found out he let Mike loose. Mike chased me and I ended up having to climb over the fence. It's a brick fence, with barbed wire all along it like overgrown bushes and vines. I sort of tripped, so I lost the food and cut my hands...
D: Yes, and then what?
K: It kind of...scared me...that Mike was actually out for blood, and that meant Illumi had ordered him to...I mean, we never had the best relationship but I never thought my own brother would try to kill me. And I didn't even notice until Gon mentioned it, but I had been crying. And that was weird, because I never cried. He was talking about the cuts on my hands, but I knew that he wasn't really. Because he was good at telling when it was about my family...
D: What's wrong? You're making a strange face.
K: What...what was that pill you guys gave me...It's making me dizzy and...my lips feel loose...I should stop talking but I can't...
D: Just continue, it'll be fine.
K: Ugh, no, I'm going to be sick...
D: Guard, quickly fetch the doctors. The subject it suffering bouts of nausea, don't just stand there!
End Tape
XXX
I let my head drop back to the desk as finally, finally, Leorio left the lobby to go visit his sick friend. He had arrived a few minutes before visiting hours, so he had paced around aimlessly, chatting with Kurapika and Vaise. He had taken only one of those roses with him, leaving the rest for the patients to have if they wanted any.
1: devotion to a single person
"Gon, I'm bored." I nudged his leg with my foot. "Let's go somewhere."
"We said we were gonna help Kurapika though."
"But you're just sitting there."
"I'm cheering for him!"
"We can cheer for him somewhere else."
He decided to ignore me, instead going back to humming his song. I groaned at the thought of sitting in an uncomfortable chair for the next five hours. Why did the shift have to be so long? The boredom was getting to me real badly, because I couldn't stop thinking about those stupid flowers.
There were fifteen of the yellow roses now on Kurapika's little space of a desk. The blond had already dug around to find a vase and would pet them every now and then. Pet them. I almost wanted to tell him about the flower book.
15: I'm really sorry
Yellow: Friendship
But I didn't, since I'd rather not have him moping around in a bad mood. We had decided to stay with him for a few days. Maybe a week. Maybe two. I'll just let things happen as they happen.
There was something bothering me about these flowers, though. With a sigh, I pushed back my chair and got up. Gon gave me a curious blink as I circled the desk. "Killua, where are you going?"
I didn't answer, simply grabbed his bouquet and tossed four roses to the ground. Gon gave a little yell of protest as I pressed them into the tile with my foot, leaving only crushed fragments of stem and petals. He reached over to save the rest of the flowers, but he didn't need to because I had already stuffed the six that remained into his arms.
6: I love you, I miss you
Because he was my best friend, and somewhere in the deep corners of my mind, I knew that none of this was real. Not anymore.
Gon, why did you have to leave me?
TBC...
Yuuki: About the flower thing, my friend is currently obsessed with all these meanings so I couldn't help myself lol~ Quick note: I don't ship KilluGon. Well, not technically. Because I do, but only as friends that are so much closer than a couple. They're just too innocent~ Though you guys can take their love whichever way you want.
And I decided that I should explain the italics and stuff to get rid of at least some of the confusion. Might be a spoiler, if you look really into it, but at the same time not really...Anywho.
Italics that are centered are Killua's real memories. So it's like a flashback that isn't happening to Killua, but is just being told to the readers. Ugh, how do I explain this lulz
Normal Italics are the tapes (recordings), which are in the present. It takes place in the...facility...where our dear Alluka appeared a few chapters ago.
The normal, non-italicized font is whatever Killua is seeing at the moment. So just like you or me walking around, whatever we see or think. Here's your mini-spoiler (just read into it a little) Killua doesn't necessarily have to be awake, because the brain doesn't stop thinking when we sleep.
I feel like I didn't explain it well enough, but still said too much haha it probably just seems that way because I know what's going on~
Gon: review please~
