"Ah! I'm full! My dad is probably going to receive a fat bill on his credit card tonight… But he said he doesn't care."
"Yeah! The food is really good though." Killua agrees.
The two boys have just finished their dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. They're the only ones left in the restaurant.
"Excuse me, Sir. Here's your receipt." Says the waiter.
"I don't want to see it. It's going to make me feel worse if I know the actual price. Just charge that into our hotel room."
"Alright. You two are good to go." The waiter waves them goodbye. Gon and Killua depart for their room.
Five minutes later, the two are on the fourth floor, in their room. The size of the room is around twenty yards by twenty yards. There are two queen-size beds. A table, two chairs, a TV, and of course, a bathroom.
"Killua, you wanna shower first?" Gon asks.
"Nah, I'll sit in my bed and watch TV. Oh Gon, what bed do you want?"
"I don't care, you pick." Gon closes the bathroom door. And Killua turns on the TV.
"Man! Look at this view! We're at the perfect height to see above the trees. Ah this is perfect!"
Killua snuggles in his bed. "Hmmm, let's see what are some of the TV channels….Gungi tournament, Boring!...Go tournament, Boring...What? You have to pay money to unlock the Anime channel! Pfft….what is this garbage!" Killua tosses the remote across the room.
Suddenly, his phone rings.
"Huh? Who could've possibly called at midnight?" He takes his phone out of his pocket.
"Illumi? My older brother? What does he want again!?" Killua groans, but he answers anyway.
"Yeah?"
"Ah Kil, how are you?" Illumi asks.
"Umm….I'm fine...What made you ask?"
"Nothing. Anyway, I have a job for you. Well, technically Dad has a job for you."
"Is it to murder people again?" Killua asks, annoyed.
"What else could it be? But listen, he said if you are able to complete this task, he'll never ask anything of you again. He promised."
"I do believe in his promises. But who does he want me to kill?"
"If what they said is true. I'll only have to kill one more time, then I can finally leave murdering behind and live a normal life with Gon. In the long run, it's definitely worth it!"
"Before I get to that, do you remember Gon? The kid that you met in the Hunter's Exam. Wasn't he your best friend or something?" Illumi asks.
"Yeah, that's right. They don't know that I met up with Gon on this trip! I play this one out and see how it goes."
Killua answers, "Yeah, I remember him."
"Well, the target of your job is exactly him, Gon Freecss."
"-hk!"
Killua cannot believe his ears. His head starts to spin.
"Is this really happening? Do I have to kill my best friend? The person who I sacrificed everything for. I have to kill him? No way...no way…..no way."
"Kil, are you there?" Illumi asks.
"Y-yeah" Killua answers feebly. With barely enough strength to make his mouth move."W-who, placed the order to kill Gon?"
"His own father, Ging Freecss."
That last sentence pushes Killua's limit over the edge. He's starting to feel dizzy.
"What happens if I don't kill him?" Killua asks.
"Then you will be expelled from the Zoldyck family."
"I certainly need more time to think about this. Gon should be finishing up his shower any minute now, I'll have to get some more information out of Illumi and go from there."
"Illumi, when do you want me to kill him by?" Killua asks.
"Dad didn't mention a deadline, but probably the sooner, the better. Why do you ask? How long do you need?"
"Two to three weeks."
Gon turns the shower off inside the bathroom, Killua knows his time is up.
"Alright, Illumi. I gotta go. But I'll certainly call you if I need some more information."
"Oh and by the way, it turns out that I was right about you betraying your friend." Says Illumi.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Killua asks.
"Even though you guys haven't met in over a year, he's still your friend, right? And you're going to betray him by murdering him…Anyway, good luck!" Illumi hangs up the call.
"Who said I'm going to kill him? I did swear to never betray my friend, but I never said I won't betray my family."
"Killua! I'm done! You can shower now!" Gon yells in the bathroom.
"Oh! Okay!" Killua gets up from his bed, "We don't even have our pajamas! What are we supposed to wear when we sleep?"
"I just wore my regular clothes. It's only for one night." Gon walks toward Killua, when the two boys pass each other Killua stops and looks at Gon with a long, meaningful gaze.
"Gon, give me reasons to believe that spending my life with you is better than spending life as a 'Zoldyck Assassin."
"Killua, what's wrong?" Gon asks, concerned.
Killua fakes a smile in return, "Oh, nothing… I'm going to shower now."
"MMm, okay."
Killua walks over to the bathroom and closes the door.
"Sigh…..do I tell Gon about this?
-No, definitely not. I don't want to give any reason that can potentially destroy our friendship."
He steps into the shower and turns the water on.
"Am I going to do it?" Killua asks himself. Tsk! What am I thinking? There's no way I'll kill Gon. I just can't do it...So does that mean I'm not a Zoldyck anymore?..But right now, that's the least of my worries."
" Do I want a happy and peaceful life with Gon, and never see my family again. Or do I want a life with my family, a life full of murder and blood-shed?
"Let's leave that topic aside for a second. Why would Gon's own father want his son to die though? Ging did set up a lot of difficult tasks that Gon and I had to complete before finding him. But isn't ordering Gon's death a little bit excessive?"
….
"Killua! Are you done? You're taking a really long time." Gon yells at him.
Killua quickly steps out of the shower, dries himself, and puts his clothes back on.
He opens the bathroom door and gets back into his bed, which is the one on the left-hand side.
Meanwhile, Gon is watching a chess tournament on TV.
"Gon, I have a question. Please answer me sincerely."
"Okay." Gon turns around and looks at Killlua. However, Killua's serious yet painful expression makes Gon worry.
"If you have to choose between your family or me, what would you choose?" Killua asks, "Well, it's probably different in your case because your Dad actually cares about you."
"No, it wouldn't matter. Killua, I'd choose you in a heartbeat." Gon says with an incredible amount of determination.
Tears begin to slip out of Killua's eyes. "W-why? How? Why would you choose me over your family? How are you able to answer with such little difficulty?"
Gon turns off the TV and turns around to face Killua. "Killua, I don't know what happened to you, but you've changed. I know it would be mean and insincere of me to say 'I understand everything', so I'm not going to… But I do know, that the Killua I used to know would also choose me over his family. Would always place me before everything else. And wanting to sacrifice himself to save his friend." Gon hesitates, but then speaks up again, "Killua, that's what you've been doing, isn't it?"
"Gon…" Killua becomes speechless, all he can do right now is to mutter the name of the boy sitting in front of him.
"Killua, think about it, have you ever wanted to sacrifice yourself for your mother?" Gon asks.
"No.."
"How about your father?"
"No."
"Your siblings?"
"No."
"Killua, you've been doing it the whole time, you just haven't said it yet."
"Gon, you're a beacon in my life. Always pointing out the right path for me." The two boys get into their beds and prepare for the night. While lying on his bed, Killua thinks," Yes, that's the reason. Gon was there every time I needed help. He's my watchtower. But my family never did that. That's why... I'm going to choose my friend over my family."