Chapter 51: Leaving
Rocks.
They were... breaking... rocks. On other rocks.
Aliara didn't understand the point of the exercise until she got to one hundred. They had to use some of the different nen forms they'd learned about to prevent the rock they were using from breaking, but it got tiring and repetitive.
"One hundred forty one," Aliara said with a sigh as the rock crumbled to pieces.
"Darn it," Gon said as his rock shattered. "I was only at one hundred fifty."
Killua was still going, but it wasn't long before his rock broke apart too. "One hundred eighty nine! I suck!"
"You suck?" Aliara scoffed, crossing her arms. "You beat me by fifty!"
"Forty eight," he corrected.
"Same difference!"
Bisky laughed at them before telling them that even over one hundred was incredible on their first try. When she held up a finger and the trio called out "six!" in unison, Gon thought it would be a great idea to play rock-paper-scissors, so the loser would do five hundred push ups and sit ups. Aliara won, surprisingly, and the boys were rapidly doing their punishment when the blonde girl explained a bit about the rock-paper-scissors game, like its history. Honestly, Aliara wasn't exactly listening, but she did laugh when Killua made a crack about Bisky's age and she sent him flying.
Gon was frowning at his fist, a look of pure concentration on his face. "You okay, Gon?" Aliara called.
"Yes!" the dark-haired boy said enthusiastically, turning to a larger rock and shifting into a fighting stance. With a mighty cry, Gon thrust his fist at the rock and the boulder broke easily, cracking as if it was glass.
Killua and Aliara shared a surprised look as Gon shook out his hand, turning to Bisky.
So this is Gon's nen, Aliara mused to herself as Gon tried to explain how he wanted to use rock paper scissors as his nen ability. It's so straightforward, just like him. And Gon was a reinforcement type, so it would work especially well. Bisky started talking about what kind of training he should do when Killua cleared his throat. "Ahem."
They all turned to Killua. There was a tiny smile on his face as he pushed his hands out in front of him. With a spark, little bolts of electricity started to dart from Killua's hands. "That's all I have for now," he said with a grin, "but the electric power increases when I charge it."
"That's so cool!" Aliara blurted out as the electricity vanished. She'd known that Killua was immune to electricity, so he put it to good use... Just like she had done with her fire. "Wow." Her cheeks went red, but she forced the heat down. Killua grinned cheekily at her.
"You're like an electric eel!" Gon piped up.
"What?!"
The two boys started bickering as Aliara laughed, sliding her backpack off her shoulder. Bisky had a troubled look on her face that changed to content after a few seconds. Aliara exhaled slowly.
"I think I've got mine too," she said quickly, which drew all eyes to her. Trying not to squirm, Aliara clenched her hands into fists and concentrated. With a crack, her hands erupted in flame that was much brighter and hotter than before- all the nen training much be doing something for her.
She enjoyed the surprise in their eyes before she added, "I'm trying to figure out what else I can do with it. I've got an idea, but when I tried it before, I wasn't strong enough. I'll try again soon."
"Fire," Killua said, "that's why your hands are so burned!"
Aliara nodded vigorously. "Yep!" Killua looked like he was about to interrupt again but she already knew what he was going to say. "And I know I can't... well, feel the heat, but it can still burn my skin and such. So!"
She extinguished the flames, shaking out her hands. Aliara reached into her bag and tugged out her gloves, sliding them on quickly. Bisky's expression was one of sadness and pity and Aliara didn't appreciate that.
Concentrating again, Aliara's hand ignited- but only around her palms. The beautiful flames danced in her palms, above the large circle that used to be a sticky pad.
"Rubber," she said proudly. "I've lined as much as I can with rubber, because rubber can't carry the heat. It's a thin layer, but it works and I can still use my gloves, and the laser, just fine."
"Wow!" Gon was the first to voice his opinion, throwing his hands in the air. "You're a human torch!"
"I'm a what now?!"
"That's amazing," Killua said, grabbing her hands (after she had made the flames vanish, of course). "You even accounted for the gloves and everything."
Aliara stared at him, a genuine smile stretching across her face. He meant it, his compliment. They both did- she could see it in their eyes. "Thank you," she said meaningfully, turning to Gon. "Thank you!"
"Well, should we rest for the day?" Bisky put in, turning to the three of them. "It's a bit early, but shall we have a party?"
The trio stared at her in confusion.
Aliara suddenly realized- Killua was still holding her hands, and she was enjoying it. Kill me now-
"You were so concentrated on your training, you didn't even realize," Bisky said, chuckling. "Time passes the same in here as it does in the real world. It'll be New Year's soon."
"The Hunter Exam!" Gon cried out, which made Killua drop Aliara's hands. "Wait- what's the date?"
"December 29th," Bisky said helpfully.
"Registration finishes on the 31st!" Gon said, waving his arms above his head in an exaggerated panic. "We have to figure out how to leave the game."
"...What?" the black-haired girl said slowly.
Killua shrugged. "We can go get our Hunter's licenses now."
They began to discuss transport, timing, and dates, but Aliara had them all tuned out. Her Hunter's license? The sole reason she had taken the exam in the first place was so she could manage without her mother's money after she ran away. And that had been crushed when she'd been disqualified... Truly, she was a lot more upset than she let Killua realize- he was already feeling guilty about it enough.
She could actually get her license. That was something they'd only dreamed about at home, her and Ano- getting something that, in their eyes, was the key to their freedom. Ano would be proud. The only ones in their family who had their licenses were Kuro, Yuno, and Iyami. Fukinoro was set to go get his in two years- this was when she had decided to run away, so only a year now- and Aliara and Ano were going to go two years after him. But that was far too long.
She almost started grinning. I can't wait until Ano finds out.
"Ali?"
The black-haired girl blinked herself out of her thoughts and looked up. "Yeah?"
"You good to go?" Gon asked, smiling brightly.
She nodded. "Always."
They arrived at Masadora, where they were told to go fifty kilometers west to find a unique port with an incredibly unreasonable and grumpy man who would demand a crazy price for their departure. Their second option was a spell card.
Naturally, they picked the more difficult option, the port (the risk with purchasing a spell card was that it could've reached its maximum number of transformations, and could be a crazy amount of money on top of that), and they were running again. For a fourth time (was it actually the fourth? Aliara couldn't remember), they were leaving Masadora without actually getting anything.
They fought monsters on the way- a personal highlight for Aliara was the werewolves. She'd always been a fan of wolves; they were deadly but gorgeous creatures that hunted their prey efficiently. Even when she took down a smaller werewolf and it transformed into a card, Aliara couldn't help but admire the elegance in their violent fighting style.
They reached the port, where she and Killua beat up the man that was there with no difficulty. With a 'passing ticket' card clenched in her hand, Aliara stood next to Killua in the middle of the plaza in the tiny town. "So, we're good to go?"
Killua nodded, then turned to Gon and Bisky. The dark-haired boy said brightly, "Near the port of Dore, in a mountain with a solitary cryptomeria tree, a weird magic monster lives. If you tell him you're one of my friends, he should bring you to the meeting place."
"And don't forget to keep training!" Bisky added.
They both nodded. Gon jumped over to Aliara and hugged her enthusiastically. "Good luck!"
Beaming, Aliara hugged him back. "Have fun with Bisky."
Gon leaped at Killua next, surprising the poor boy so much that Killua was almost knocked off his feet. "Bye, Killua! I'll be stronger when you guys get back!"
"Counting on it," Killua said with a laugh as Gon detached himself. Before he got far, Gon leaned in and whispered something to Killua that Aliara couldn't catch, and judging by the way Killua's face went red, it was about her.
"Hey, secrets don't make friends," she complained, crossing her arms.
Killua's face went even redder as Gon chimed, "don't worry! It won't stay a secret for long!" The white-haired boy smacked Gon as the boy danced away, grinning.
Bisky even gave Aliara a quick hug ("Kick his ass if he acts like an idiot!") and then they walked away, Gon walking backwards so he could wave frantically. She waved back, grinning. Aliara couldn't remember the last time she'd had such a happy good bye... Maybe when Leorio left. Anytime before that? Not really.
As they turned away, Aliara threw one last glance over her shoulder to confirm that this was really happening.
"You good to go?" Killua asked, glancing at her briefly, the red that had originally been on his cheeks absent.
She nodded, smiling. "Let's go get our licenses."
In a flash of light, Aliara left the world of cards behind her.
After conversing with a small girl who looked similar (but not identical) to the girl from the beginning, and selecting her starting place as the port of Dore, she landed on a small sidewalk in a what looked to be like any other town she'd ever been in. Frowning, Aliara murmured, "Book!" but nothing happened. She really was out of the game. A second later, there was a flash of light as Killua landed next to her. "We're out of the game?" he asked, studying his ring.
She nodded. "Yeah, I tried 'book' but nothing happened."
He nodded, having expected that outcome, and then started walking past her. "Let's go. We can find some place to register."
"Right," she agreed, walking after him.
They navigated through the town easily, staying silent, until Aliara's curiosity couldn't be contained any longer. "Killua, what did Gon whisper to you before you left?"
"Uh..." Killua rubbed the back of his head, "Well..."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine then. Don't tell me."
"No, I have to tell you," Killua argued. "I just can't figure out how. And not right now."
"What's so bad that you can't tell me right away?" Aliara complained, smacking Killua lightly across his shoulder.
He smirked. "You're not being very patient."
"My mother used to tell me patience is a virtue," the black-haired girl said with a laugh, recalling the many snarky comebacks she'd used when she was younger. "And I used to respond by saying, 'a virtue that I'm in desperate need of'."
"You're kidding," Killua said with a short laugh, jamming his hands in his pockets.
"Nope. I-" Aliara stopped short. "Oh, we're here."
Registration was simple; they only had to go online on the computers in the small cafe. People kept shooting them weird looks, but neither of them really cared. Once they both had registered, they each got a sheet of paper with the necessary information on the front. "Biisukafumaro?" Aliara read aloud, turning to Killua. "Where's that?"
"No clue," he replied with a shrug. "But first, we should probably have a shower and get changed."
Aliara raised an eyebrows before she studied Killua and herself. They were both covered in dust and grime. "Is that why everyone keeps giving us weird looks?" she mused.
"You realize that only now?"
"Oh, shut up."
After folding the papers and tucking them in Aliara's bag and ignoring the growing number of strange glances, they set off again. "Where're we going to go?" she asked.
Killua frowned. "I didn't really think of that."
"Idiot," she scolded with a smirk, shaking her head.
"Okay then, what do you think we should do, if you're so smart?"
"Bisky said the exam didn't start until the seventh," Aliara said without missing a beat, smirking, "so we have a little over a week. I suggest we get a hotel room for the night, because then we have access- legal access- to showers and a decently safe spot for the night. We can leave tomorrow to find the monster thingy that Gon was talking about." She smiled at Killua, who looked like he'd just tasted something sour. "Is that fine?"
"What do you mean, legal access?" he said, glaring at her. "You think I'd break into someone's house just to shower?"
Aliara grinned. "You said it, not me."
Killua scowled, but his scowl morphed into a small smile. "Fine. Let's find a hotel room."
It didn't take them long to find a hotel. The building was decently sized and wasn't very fancy, but it was kind of cozy and Aliara liked that. On top of that, the man at the front desk didn't even question her when she said she wanted a room for two (maybe it was because she handed him a considerable sum of money...) and he happily gave her a key to a room with two single beds.
"It's nice room," Aliara remarked when they reached room 509. It was an average-sized room with a rather large bathroom and two beds with an armchair in one corner.
Killua shrugged. "Yeah, it's fine. You want to shower first?"
She nodded. "I'm going to go out and get food afterwards."
"Ladies first," Killua said with an over dramatic gesture with his arms. Aliara rolled her eyes and set to go rid herself of the rather large amount of dirt she'd worked up. Her shower was brief but left her feeling refreshed afterwards. She changed into the spare black hoodie and navy blue jeans she'd packed and brushed her hair out.
Her hair was getting crazy long. Like, past-her-hips kind of long. She'd had it up for the past ... what, year? She couldn't seem to remember willingly leaving it down for a day. There was the one time, with her family dinner, and the other time when Killua came to apologize in her room at battle tower, and when they did the arm wrestling booth... she hadn't really noticed how long it was getting.
She ought to cut it.
"Hey, Killua?" she called out as she pushed the bathroom door open, grabbing a clean towel for Killua on her way out. Aliara nearly face-palmed as she realized he was doing push-ups in the middle of the floor. "How long have you been doing this?"
"Ever since you started your shower," he called back, dropping into another push-up easily. He popped back up to his feet. "Am I..."
"What?" she demanded, feeling self conscious.
He shook his head. "It's just... Your hair. It's getting really long."
"I think I might cut it soon," Aliara pondered, grabbing one side of her hair and pulling it down. Crap, it was getting crazy long.
"You never wear it down," he murmured. "You should."
Aliara tried to brush it off. "Yeah right," she snorted. "With how long it is, it always gets in the way, so I leave it up."
His hand moved to the top of her head. She looked up and tried to meet his eyes, but he wasn't really looking at her. He was studying her hair, running his fingers along her scalp. They were really really close, and Aliara could've sworn her heart was attempting to break out of her chest considering how close he was. "What?" she breathed, too nervous to say anything else.
"It's nice," he said finally, but his words carried much more volume than that. Then Aliara realized he was almost... leaning in?
"Shower!" she squeaked, nearly headbutting Killua as she threw a towel at him. "Shower, shower, shower! I'll grab go food! No- I'll go grab food!"
"R- Right!" Killua stammered, backing up and almost tripping over his own feet. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that."
He disappeared into the bathroom. Aliara threw herself out the door to the room faster than she could blink. She leaped down the stairs and out into the street, then finally paused and leaned against the building wall, sighing.
He looked like he was going to kiss her.
And suddenly, Aliara really wish he had.
xenocannan: Aaaaaah! I'm so glad you liked it! :)
YourHomeGirlJen: Ooo, I'm SO ready for the wicked battle scenes! Gotta get my way through some fluff first ;) I'm so glad you enjoy sly Gon, this boy is totally the reason that Killua and Aliara are where they are now. Thank you for your review! :D
Keep Calm and Be Ninja: THANK YOU! Thank you thank you thank you! Your reviews always make me smile, I'm so glad you're enjoying it. Thank you! :D
RedBurningDragon: Of course he is ;) Thanks for your review! :D
robertastarcris11: Thank you! Thank you so much! :) :)
kitsunelover3000: I'm so happy you enjoyed! Thank you! :) :D
Woofie-chan: First of all, thank you for your review! It makes me so happy to get reviews from people that say they don't review often, it's so nice :D Second, I'm so glad you enjoy it! I'm trying my best for regular updates, but (especially in this fandom!) many stories seem to be abandoned beyond return sometimes. Thanks again, I'm so happy you enjoy my story! :)
O: THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! :D
At Night We Rise: Eeeeeee thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying it! :D :)
Yozora531: You're the sweetest, honestly, thank you so much :) :) :) Thank you for your review! :D
Oof: These poor dorks needed a bit of a... push, you could say, and Gon was totally right there. Thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying it! :)
Ec: Thank you! Thank you so so much! :D :D
Night Owl: You're such a sweetheart, thank you so much! I'm so glad you like them! :D :)
Can I just say a quick thank you? Your response and enthusiasm to the last few chapters has been almost overwhelming, I've never been so happy, thank you :) :) :) And thank you for over 260 follows! The follower count just keeps climbing, which is rare considering how far into the story I am. I can't believe this, thank you :D
As for what Gon whispered to Killua?... See you next week ;)
