More Than a Killer
-PART TWO-
Chapter 11
Corruption is a Two Way Street
There wasn't a Wiki How article online titled "How to Act when you Find Out the Guy You Like is a Professional Assassin and was Seriously Considering Murdering You on Your First Date with Him". Hannah checked.
Instead the internet was packed with ordinary relationship blogs and advice columns that didn't quite encompass the complexity of Hannah's situation. After hours of killing time on her laptop, she was an expert on how to break up with a clingy boyfriend and salvage a failing relationship, but she still had no clue what to do about Killua.
Originally, she had made up her mind to get as far away from him as possible. That was the sensible solution, right? The moment she was able to walk again after her injury, she planned to be out the door quicker than you could say "please don't kill me I'm too young to die". But as the days passed and her injury healed, she had become more and more reluctant to leave her spot in Killua's bed. And it wasn't just because the bed was ridiculously soft and located in the penthouse suite of the famously fancy Emerald hotel. It also wasn't because her pillow sort of smelled like him. Minty and fresh. Cool and masculine. No, no, those were contributing factors, but the real reason she didn't want to leave was Killua himself.
He had been… different ever since she found out the truth. He wasn't so cold anymore. He was less likely to make a scathing remark and more likely to bring her a cheeseburger and fries from a fast food joint to eat in bed with the TV on. Seriously. Life wasn't all that bad in the Killua Zoldyck assassin hangout hotel.
For the most part Killua left her alone and gave her some space, but he would frequently stop by to check on her injury. Turns out he had a private doctor come in and heal her in the first place and made sure that the same man kept dropping by to check on the wound. Since Hannah was prescribed a lot of medication and bedrest, Killua would pretty much give her anything she asked for. And he'd do it without the ordinary one worded answers and blunt sarcasm. Water? He'd go and get her a glass with her requested number of ice cubes. Too cold? He'd go grab her a blanket. Stressed about school? He'd help her with her homework.
That had probably been one of the things to surprise her most. It happened a couple of days ago when Hannah was trying to finish a homework assignment for Genetics. It was to be completed and submitted online, so she could do her work from the comfort of a King-sized mattress. However, the problem was that she had missed a couple lectures due to her confinement. Apparently, she had been making a lot of loud noises- presumably groans of frustration and over exaggerated sighs. Killua had heard and was in the room a few seconds later to check on her.
"You okay?" He had asked.
"I hate Genetics! I hate it! It was all good fun back in freshman Bio when all we had to do was Punnet squares, but now it's just ridiculous! I have no idea what this problem is talking about-"
"You're this upset over one stupid homework problem?"
"Yes." Hannah was breathing hard after her rant, still so frustrated that she was unable to feel embarrassed.
"Why can't you just skip it? Get one wrong. Save yourself the stress."
"What? That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. I can't do that. I have a GPA to maintain."
Killua rolled his eyes. He walked over and sat on the foot of the bed. "Show me the problem."
Hannah let out a snort of laughter. "Don't tell me you're a master of Molecular Genetics."
"Not yet." He murmured, reading the question off of her laptop screen. Next he grabbed the open text book lying next to her and scanned his eyes along its pages. About five minutes later a satisfied smirk lit up his face and he typed in an answer on the online homework. A little green check mark popped up onto the screen. He had gotten the problem right. Hannah's mouth dropped open in amazement.
"H-how did you..?"
He shrugged and then got up. "If you need any more help just ask."
He closed the door behind him, leaving her flabbergasted and just a little bit irritated. Since that moment she added "frustratingly intelligent" to the list of all the new things she was learning about Killua.
Also on that list was the fact that Killua had a younger sister who had left the Zoldyck family as well. She dropped by over the weekend like a flurry of energy, fussing over a flustered Killua and insisting on meeting Hannah. Much to her brother's protest, she burst through the doors of the bedroom and instantly rushed to Hannah's side, kind dark eyes filled with a mixture of concern and… gratitude?
"You must be Hannah!" She said, hands clasped over her chest. She was a pretty teenage girl with silky black hair and a purple kimono just as shiny. She was probably only about a year younger than her. "Killua's told me so much about you!"
"He has?"
"Well, not exactly, but he did mention you! And these days that means a lot with Killua. I sort of filled in the blanks myself. I can tell he really cares about you! No one knows my brother better than me- you're really good for him, you know? I don't know where he'd be right now without you-"
"Alright that's enough." Killua said abruptly. Hannah almost hadn't noticed that he had been listening to the whole conversation. Alluka had been such a bundle of energy that she didn't notice the pale boy lingering by the door.
"But Hannah and I are just starting to get to know each other." Alluka complained, letting her childish side come through. "I can already tell we are going to be such good friends."
"You need to be getting back to school. It's a long trip. You shouldn't have come in the first place."
"It's good to see you too, big brother." Alluka spat her tongue out at him.
Presently, Hannah smiled at the memory. It was simply adorable to see how Killua treated his younger sister. He was gentle and kind. It was a side of him that she wasn't used to seeing. She had experienced it a few times before she found out that he was a Zoldyck, but she had brushed that off as an act. But if he could act that way with his younger sibling, then maybe what kindness he did show her was genuine as well? It seemed like wishful thinking, but Hannah was known for her wishfulness…
All in all, it had been a week and a half since the mind-slave shot her (Killua tried explaining the whole Illumi needle thing to her, but the concept of nen didn't quite resonate with her understanding of the world). The wound still stung a little, but there was hardly any pain anymore. She could even roll over on her side without screaming in agony.
She lifted up her T-Shirt and poked at her injury. It was actually feeling really good today. Maybe she could try standing up.
Slowly and carefully, Hannah pulled the covers off of her and placed her feet on the floor. With equal care she shifted her weight from the bed onto her feet, standing up. A shot of pain hit her like a truck, but it wasn't too bad. She took a couple steps forward. She was doing it! She was walking.
It wasn't until then that she noticed the voices coming from the living area on the other side of the bedroom door.
What perfect timing. I wonder what's going on out there. She thought as she slowly lumbered towards the door. What she found in the living room surprised her.
Killua was being held in a tight embrace by a much taller man in a suit. The sight actually made Hannah giggle a little because the snowy haired assassin was definitely not enjoying the hug. His face was irritated and his arms were pinned down to his sides.
Off to the side stood another man, appearing to be somewhere in his early to mid-twenties. He was also wearing a suite, but was much more serious looking with stern brown eyes and sleek blonde hair down to his shoulders.
When Killua saw her standing in the doorway, he quickly pushed away the taller man and looked at her in surprise. "Hazel? What are you doing out of bed? Is your side-"
"It's okay." She replied, ignoring the twinge in her heart upon hearing Killua use his nickname for her. "Really good actually. It doesn't hurt too much. Who-?"
Killua cut her off and was suddenly at her side, wrapping an arm around her waist to help her move towards the couch. She hardly had enough time to be embarrassed or flustered by the fact that he was holding her so close because she couldn't help but stare at the new visitors. Who were they? Were they Killua's friends? It looked like it, but didn't he say he didn't have any friends? Or was that some sort of secret assassin code she didn't know about?
"Thanks." She said as he helped her take her seat on the velvety green couch. She let out a soft sigh of relief as the pain beneath her ribcage subsided, feeling a wave of exhaustion crash over her. Man, that little walk took a lot out of her. Kneeling in front of her, Killua looked at her carefully with only the slightest touch of condescension.
"That wasn't very smart, you know. You could have accidentally reopened the wound."
The tall man in the suit wasted no more time being silent.
"Well how about we get straight down to business. Killua, I feel betrayed. How dare you call a different doctor to heal your girlfriend instead of me?!"
Killua said "She's not my girlfriend" at the same time Hannah said "I'm not his girlfriend". They shared a look but instantly turned away.
"Still, there is no excuse!" The man said, although his tone softened a little bit and his face was pure smirk. "From now on, I'm her doctor. I didn't spend four years in medical school for nothing, you know. Now let me check out this injury. Gunshot wound, you said Killua?"
"Yes." He replied. "And I apologize for not contacting you first, Leorio, but I didn't want you two to get involved in this."
"Involved in what?" The blonde had been standing silently in the corner before voicing the question. He gave Hannah the chills. She liked this Leorio guy much better. It was never a bad thing when someone put Killua in his place.
"It's none of your concern." Killua replied. Leorio scowled.
"Like hell it isn't. I'll deal with you in a second, punk."
Leorio turned away from the teen and knelt down on the floor in front of Hannah with a smile. He was wearing glasses with small circular frames and had short, spiky black hair.
"Hey. I'm Leorio." He put out a hand for her to shake.
"Hannah Hazel." She replied, shaking his hand. "But if you are a doctor, shouldn't you be introducing yourself as Dr. Leorio, or something like that?"
"Nah. A friend of Killua's is a friend of mine. That means you get the first name."
"I didn't know Killua had any other friends." Hannah said, throwing a sideways glance at Killua, remembering their conversation on the canoe. He just rolled his eyes.
"He likes to pretend like he doesn't. But Kurapika and I have known him since he was twelve."
That number ringed a bell in her head. "That's how old Killua was when he took the hunter exam. Is that, by chance, where you met?"
"Smart girl." Leorio said, examining the wound. He also went through a brief process of checking Hannah's blood pressure, heart rate and a whole bunch of other doctor things. "Yep, that's where we met. Kurapika and I passed the exam that year, but poor Killua failed."
"He did?!" Hannah's eyes lit up at the idea that Killua wasn't always perfect.
"And then I went back the next year and defeated all 1,488 applicants by myself."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"But why did you fail the first time?" Hannah was just teasing him, prodding for some weakness in his armor, but what she got was anything but that.
"I killed somebody. It got me disqualified."
"Oh." Hannah said again. The temperature in the room dropped about ten million degrees.
Leorio cleared his throat. "In any case you're healing nicely, Hannah. I'd say it's about time to start some physical therapy to get you back moving around freely again. I'll write up a list of exercises that'll help build up those abdominal muscles again."
"Sweet. Thank you."
Leorio smiled at her kindly before standing up and staring down Killua once more. It was like he had a mental switch that turned on his anger.
"And for the last time Killua, we are your friends." Leorio growled at the assassin. "Whether you like it or not it's the goddamn truth. Nothing you say or do will change that. So now, tell us what the hell is going on so we can help you out."
"Sure." Killua said, surprising everyone in the room. He sat down on the couch next to Hannah and gestured for Leorio and Kurapika to do the same.
"Oh, uh alright then. Good."
Killua jumped right into the story with a business-like briskness. "I came to York New on an assassination mission from my family. Our client asked us to kill a certain person, however he didn't know the exact identity of the person. Through some research I identified the target as Hannah."
Leorio gasped in shock. "What?! What she got to do with anything?"
Killua ignored him. "As you can see I didn't complete the mission. Instead I attempted to kill the client instead. I used a fake body to convince the client to show himself. We fought. I lost."
"You did?" The disbelief in Leorio's voice was palpable. Even the always cool and collected Kurapika showed signs of surprise. Hannah had gotten the vibe that Killua was a powerful hunter, but just how strong was he to prompt such disbelief that he would lose a single fight?
"Yeah. The client is powerful. He wears a metal mask to conceal his identity."
"So like an evil Iron Man then." Hannah commented. She was met with blank stares. "Never mind." She mumbled, deciding it was best that she remain quiet.
"This man." Kurapika said. "The one in the Metal Mask. He killed Gon, didn't he?"
The shadows on Killua's face became darker. He nodded once. Hannah's heart stopped. Leorio gulped.
Hannah remembered her conversation with Killua by the river. Gon was his best friend who died. To think that the man who killed him also wanted to kill her… Things were beginning to make even less sense than before…
Killua continued talking. "He spared my life and returned to my family to get another Zoldyck to complete the mission. Illumi tracked me down to this hotel room and heard a voice mail from my sister that led him to believe Hannah was the target and where our location would be. He attempted to kill her. That was when one of his mind-slaves shot her. I defeated him but didn't kill him. He'll know that I'll be protecting Hannah 24/7. I'm guessing he'll return home and inform the rest of my family about the situation. I wouldn't be surprised if my father or grandfather show up to kill Hannah soon. Zoldycks always complete the mission. They won't stop until she's dead."
That sent another chill down Hannah's spine. Her mind was a flurry of thought, but the underlying message was somewhere along the lines of Why me? Why does this have to happen to me? They were talking about killing and death as if it were common in everyday life, a normal occurrence that was expected, not feared. It was so strange. Suddenly Hannah wondered if Leorio and Kurapika had killed people too in the past. Maybe killing was normal for Hunters. Maybe she had overreacted about Killua being an assassin? Leorio and Kurapika obviously knew and didn't care.
Kurapika nodded, taking all of this in. "So what are you going to do?"
"Go home." Killua answered. "Hopefully I put Illumi out of commission long enough so that I get there before him. I'll talk to my family. Try to convince them to drop the mission."
"You really think that they will?" Leorio asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No." Killua admitted. "But I'll give it a shot anyway."
"And if they refuse?" Kurapika nodded.
"I'll use other means to convince them."
The way Killua said it made it clear what he meant. He would fight.
"Then let us come with you." Leorio said immediately. "We'll help you. Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes?"
"Of course. Just name what you need us to do."
"Good. I need you and Kurapika to stay here while I'm gone. Protect Hannah."
"What?! No, that's not what I meant!" Leorio immediately protested. "You little bastard! This is what you wanted all along. The only reason you called me to doctor up Hannah is because you also wanted us to babysit her while you go risk your life."
"I'm not risking my life." Killua rolled his eyes. "Zoldycks don't kill each other. It's one of our only rules."
"Then what exactly are you trying to accomplish? You can't convince them and you can't kill them! I don't get it!" Leorio was gesticulating wildly as he spoke and wore an equally humorous look of exasperation on his face.
"You're forgetting something. I'm not a Zoldyck anymore."
"So you are planning on killing all of them? Are you even capable of doing that?"
"How about you let me handle how I deal with my family and you focus on what I ask you to do." Killua told the older man sharply. It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order. He then turned to Kurapika. "Can I trust you to protect her while I'm gone?"
"Of course." He replied. "However there is still one thing that bothers me. If the client is so powerful and driven, then why rely on another to kill his target? Why not pursue Hannah directly?"
"Weren't you listening?" Leorio said, falling into a rotten mood. "He doesn't know her identity."
"And he outsourced the task to identify her. Why not pursue this knowledge himself?" Kurapika looked at Killua for the answer. The white haired teen shrugged.
"Don't know. That's been bothering me too." He admitted.
"When you return from your family, we'll help you deal with the Man in the Metal Mask." Kurapika said. "You don't have to carry this burden alone anymore."
Killua shook his head. "There is no dealing with him. Once I get my family to back down, it'll all be over. I can ensure that the Man in the Metal Mask will never find out that Hannah is the one he wants to kill."
Kurapika nodded, but still didn't look convinced. "You don't seek revenge?"
Killua looked at Hazel for a long moment and then back at the blonde. "Not anymore. Gon wouldn't want that. Especially not after seeing you go through your issues."
"Fair point."
"I'll be going then." Killua stood up.
"Um sorry to interrupt, but could I talk to you for a second before you go?" Hannah asked. Everyone looked at her and she suddenly got nervous. And for Hannah nervous meant stuttering and awkwardness. "Uh alone I mean. With Killua. N-not because I want to- or anything- I just u-um wanted to tell him something that I don't want anyone else to hear. Not because you shouldn't hear it! But because I rather-"
"They get it." Killua's voice was sharp but his eyes were kind. She could even see that she made him smile a little. "A moment, Kurapika, Leorio?"
"Sure thing." Leorio gave them a hearty wink and they gave them the room.
"What's up?" Killua asked. Hannah didn't fail to notice how his voice was softer now that it was just the two of them. It sent tingles all the way down to her toes.
"I just wanted to thank you, I guess." She spoke slowly so that her words wouldn't become a tangled up mess like they did when she was nervous. "For protecting me. For calling your friends to help us. For staying here while I was recovering. I know you probably would have wanted to go back to deal with your family immediately, but you waited for me to get better."
"It was nothing."
"No, I definitely think it was something." She said. She took a deep breath. "Look what I said earlier about not being able to get over the things that you've done…"
"I understand."
"No, no that wasn't what I was trying to say." Organizing her thoughts was so difficult. Partly because she was extraordinarily conflicted herself, but partly because Killua was sitting so close to her. "What I'm trying to say is… I don't understand your world. Hunters, assassins, missions, it's all so foreign to me. I grew up about as normal as you can get. And I was always taught that killing was wrong. But it appears to me that in your world, those things aren't so black and white. I- I can see you're a good person. Maybe you've done some bad things, but I know you're a good person. I'm not sure where that leaves us, but I just wanted you to know."
Killua considered her and her words softly. He was very cautious as he spoke.
"Even if… I have some good in me, I still have a whole lot of darkness." He told her. He reached out and put a cautious hand on her shoulder, sending a feeling of warmth through her body like wildfire. "You're about as good as it gets. I'd only corrupt you."
"Or maybe I'd corrupt you." She said with a sneaky smile. Killua laughed as he stood up to leave.
"You already have."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
There you have it, folks! The kick start to part two! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are excited for what's to come. Welp, that's about all I have to say, really. I am FAR more interested to hear what you have to say, so let me know in a review!
Until next time,
Ellie
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hunter x Hunter (obvi)