Daniel continues from where Killua left off, but Madelyn has some questions first.
A\N: Sorry for the delay, forgot to post before work. Also, because I've worked so many shifts, I have been unable to work on my story. It might be a while before I can post chapter 136, but 135 will still be fine.
Madelyn cut in as soon as Killua had explained what he did to Johness. The fact he was a serial killer, changed the context of the kill. The lives that man had taken, would have been considered retribution, after his demise.
The thing she wanted to understand wasn't why Killua turned to the other to get him into a fight… It was why the boy was so willing to take a life, in front of someone he most likely wanted to be friends with "Why were you so eager to take another's life… in front of people you wanted to be friends with? Sure, he was a serial killer… sure, he deserved to die… but it sounds to me like you took pleasure from the kill."
Killua frowned, "I didn't take pleasure from the kill… if anything, he had it coming, talking about how much pleasure he was going to get from ripping chunks of flesh off my body… no matter how much I scream… no matter how much I beg for him to let me go… I deprived him of that pleasure. As for the other dude, it was to scare him. He was acting high and mighty over his win, saying things like he was so disappointed in his fight…"
Daniel frowned, "Looking back on this… I think you felt a little bored, and you wanted to have some more fun."
Killua turned to his partner, mouth widening in surprise, "I didn't… It was…" The boy bit his lip. Choosing to remain silent. He was bored at that time, but he wasn't seeking fun, by hoping to kill another…
No, the bloodlust at that time hadn't fully satiated. It was hard breaking that habit. It was hard to not sink into that feeling… "I think I needed those fifty hours to cool off, because… now looking back on it, the shenanigans Gon and myself got into… I felt… normal, for once… you know? For once, I knew what it was like to be a normal teen… I wanted more time to be like that."
Daniel brought his arms around his partner, hugging him close "I'm sorry…" Seeing his partner's expression shift; the confusion… anger… internal struggle to deny those feelings… Killua had felt like he needed to get another kill at that time because his training told him so. He shouldn't have picked on his boyfriend like that… not while he was vulnerable about his feelings at that time, "You didn't deserve that comment."
Killua's frame stilled, "It's ok… I did feel like that at the time. I did want to snap another's life out of existence… but being friends with you guys taught me one thing… it didn't have to be that way. The only times I had threatened someone's life after then… was because they threatened Gon's… Alluka's… Yours…"
"You don't need to defend your actions with me… you've changed, for the better. Sure, your jealousy can sometimes leak a fraction of your bloodlust at times, but I know you'd never take a life… unless others' lives were being threatened…."
Killua gave a nod. Rather than letting Madelyn press Killua for more details, Daniel gave his partner a break. He shook his head at the girl, letting her know she shouldn't press for anything else, "This is where I come in. While the others were going down, I was doing the same with my sister. I accidentally triggered traps, traps which my sister saved me from… We were chased by a boulder, for, give or take eight hours. I got arrows shot at me, which she caught, going as far to break one as she chastised me for the danger, I put myself into… Then we fought twins, who fought in unison. We beat them, however… right after them was the finish line. So, after escaping, I was hoping to see Killua and the rest of the gang, but they weren't there yet…"
"And this is where I come in…" Killua flashed a smirk. With all things to be considered, Daniel had an easier time than he did. He had Tonpa on his team, and the man wasn't that helpful. He was not only useless but also antagonising the group… mainly Leorio, "During those fifty hours, we had to deal with Tonpa and absolute boredom. We ran into the usual traps afterwards, right until the last door. We had two choices. The first option, which was to lock two people to the wall, which is effectively sacrificing two people, so from five, down to three and we get to take the shortcut… which was a three-minute slide down. Gon didn't like that choice… so the other option was a long and tedious route that will take us to the exit within a minimum of forty-five hours…"
The boy pouted, "We had less than an hour remaining. Tensions were high, especially with Tonpa egging us on. If it resulted in a fight, provided, Gon and I were a part of those three… I didn't care who the third was."
"You were willing to kill one of your friends?" Madelyn was curious at the boy's answer. Given the fact that he was willing to kill a serial killer, no questions asked… what if it were someone closer to him, like a friend?
Killua wiggled a dismissive finger, "No… What you need to understand is back then I wasn't close to anyone… but Gon, and maybe Daniel. Our friendship hadn't developed back then. So, I didn't care much about them… The room was filled with weapons, so the trial of the room was pushing us more towards killing each other. During a heated argument, Tonpa swung one of the weapons supplied to us… Gon discovered that between the heavy blade and building structure… we could cheat."
Flashing the girls, a smile, he chuckled at the situation "We decided to take the longer route, only so that we could hack away at the thinnest part of the wall with the weapons supplied to us. We barely had any time to use the slide, but all of us managed to cross the finishing line with less than minute to spare. I believe it was five seconds at the time."
"Around forty seconds." Daniel corrected with a pout, "You were pulling it close there… Killua." The boy then crossed his arms as he thought about that moment. Back then, if his partner hadn't passed, he wouldn't have gotten to experience that adventure. He cherished every moment. The good… and the bad.
"Close one or not, I don't think you would've been able to pass the next phase without my help."
"By help… do you mean me being magnetised to your presence?"
"No…"
Daniel flashed his partner a knowing smile, "You sure…?"
"Nothing was going on between us at that time!"
"Yet… As I was walking in a single direction," Daniel held out a finger, pretending as he was tapping an invisible glass panel as his smile grew "I was drawn not only you, but my target as well."
"It was a mere coincidence at that time…"
"Or…" Daniel paused his motion, instead opting to allow their connection to become more prominent. Even though Clarisa and Madelyn couldn't see the line of aura connecting them, Killua could. And his flushed cheeks were proof that his words and actions were leaving an impact on him "You can't see it, YET… but we've had this connection of aura since we were young. I'd argue that it's something like a soulmate red-string theory… The thing is, neither of us had known at the time of its existence…"
"Not until Wing-San pointed it out."
"Who?"
"Our first Nen teacher, more on him later. Anyways…" Killua dismissed this part of the exam with a simple explanation, "Like a dumbass… this idiot dropped into a three-way fight, by disarming my target- Oh…"
The boy paused, "I forgot to explain what we had to do. Simply, we were given a target, well… a number belonging to our target, the same was said for our targets… three points if we take our target's badge, another three if we keep ours. We need six points to pass. One of the triplets, had me as a target… and I had one of the brothers. Daniel had another of the brothers' badges. We took all three of them out, leaving us with two extra useless points… as well as our six points."
"Wait…" Clarisa looked confused, "There were three brothers and yours… meaning you should have only five numbers."
Daniel flashed a smile, "There was another guy in the area, using Killua to get his easy three points. Using the badge, I had acquired earlier from the guy who I was the target of, I switched the two, throwing his badge instead. When we saw him chase after that one, I then got rid of his target's number by throwing it in the opposite direction. He was forced to collect another two points, while Killua and I were already done… Cue the embarrassing bit."
When Daniel pointed at his partner, he hoped the boy would continue the conversation. Instead, he was met with silence and crossed arms "I'm not telling them what you did."
"Oh…?" Clarisa smiled widely, "Now you have to tell us!"
"Nope…"
Daniel pouted, "I fell asleep on Killua's lap… I may or may not have drooled on him the whole time."
"Wierdo…" Killua and Madelyn admitted in unison. Even though for once, the two of them agreed with each other; neither Daniel nor Clarisa was impressed with the situation. While it's true that during that time Daniel was embarrassed for being caught in such a compromising situation, looking at it from his current perspective, Killua, even though he hardly knew the boy at the time… the boy was willing to sit there and look after him.
He could've left him for dead…
But he didn't…
He cared for him at one of his weakest moments.
Clarisa addressed her friend's and Killua's comment, "I find it more on the endearing side, frankly… he looked after you." Saying anything to Killua would be a different kettle of fish to address. She doesn't know the boys' relationship as well as they do.
"Something about Killua must have made me feel safe… I think it was that connection."
"Y-Yeah…" The boy looked away, dealing with cheesy comments will always be hard. Raunchy, he had no~ problem with… but, sweet and endearing, it was something he's still getting used to. "Let's move along, and try to skip those moments, okay?"
"Why…?" Clarisa crossed her arms.
"Because we'll be here for weeks, that's why."
"Oh, so Daniel is a klutz…?" Madelyn smirked at the boys.
"No… he isn't one of those stereotypes. No… he's…" Killua rolled his hand as he tried to come up with a better term.
"I'm just very comfortable around Killua."
"Yeah… we'll stick with that." The boy rested his hand on his hip after his partner's words. Daniel was indeed comfortable around him back then. Even now, he is adjusting to things he normally wouldn't be comfortable doing with him.
Killua continued to talk, bringing the earlier conversation into the mix. How Tonpa got his ass handed to him by Kurapika, Gon being not only being the one to hold his breath, but to pull everyone out of a cave full of snakes.
Gon helped Leorio pass the exam.
"So, after that round… there were eleven of us that had passed. Myself, Daniel, and the gang. Making it five… then there was Zaikaria, Hisoka… the guy that gives clowns a bad name… but is also extremely strong. Pokkle the hunter with a bow and arrow, Hanzo the ninja, Bodoro the martial artist… and my older brother. I didn't recognise him at the time, because he was wearing a disguise."
Daniel crossed his arms, "The final part was kind of… like a battle Royal system. Some people got more chances than others, but you only had to secure one win to pass. Loser continues. Killua had three chances to win… I also had three chances. But Gon, our friend and my sister got five. Illumi, Killua's brother, also got three. It sounds unfair… but to be fair… the process to why it was set up that way was unfair."
Killua pouted, "Basically, they used a method they felt was right… they judged us based on our skills… friend's opinion and what they felt was hunter material."
"So, it was an arbitrary method?" Madelyn tried to clarify the scenario. With all things to be considered, she hadn't seen everything Zaikaria and Gon did in person, at least the stuff they did that was different from what Daniel, Killua and even Illumi had done during the exam.
But what she does know however, is Gon and Zaikaria were helping others pass. Zaikaria with her brother, and Gon with Leorio. Gon probably helped others, but Killua and Daniel didn't include everything.
Given that they weren't there in person, it'd make sense.
However, being 'Hunter material' is an objective argument. There had to be all kinds of Hunters, especially if Vastorie, Nathaniel, Killua and Daniel were Hunters. As of now, she doesn't know who else who passed that exam… and who failed. Considering Killua was a Hunter, someone else must have failed, "So, who failed?"
"Nobody…" Daniel stated calmly.
"But last one standing had nobody else to fight, if, you only needed one win."
"Let state this clearly… one person died…" Daniel turned to look at his partner, "So everyone else passed that day."
"Wait…? Who died?"
"Bodoro… Killua killed him. But the circumstances to how that occurred was bullshit. Here's what happened. I won't say what happened during the less important people, but, during the first fight… Gon and Hanzo… it was brutal. Hanzo was torturing Gon, using methods to try to get the boy to give up which was one of the conditions to win. But the boy's…"
"Stubbornness…" Killua clarified, "is what made Hanzo lose in the end. Gon didn't want to lose, so he refused to give up. He wanted Hanzo to come up with a way they can figure out who wins, without Gon losing…"
"Sounds one-sided…"
"It was… but it was Gon's method. So, if Hanzo said rock-paper-scissors, for an example. Until Gon won the majority, he'll keep saying best out of whatever number they reached. So, the man knocked Gon out and took a loss. In order of wins, Kurapika got a win, then Hanzo, then Hisoka, after Zaikaria complained of his creepiness… more on that later. Zaikaria won, then it was Killua VS Illumi… or at the time, Gittarackur…"
Killua looked down, sighing from his loss at that time. If he knew the things he did now, he wouldn't have given up so easily after seeing his older brother's face. He wouldn't have been so scared of him… "It was an emotional battle, more than a physical one. Illumi stuck these needles in my head so he could control me. He made me believe that those who were stronger than me… I had to run from them… Illumi, was one of those people. He made me feel… so weak… useless at the time. I hated how easily I gave up. He manipulated me… he implanted this idea that unless I won, Gon and Daniel would die. Daniel was safe… he had his sister by his side… But Gon wasn't… he was alone, and knocked out."
Daniel stepped in for his lover, taking over for the boy, "Illumi suggested that Killua didn't need friends… all he needed was his family and… his bloodlust. All he needed to do was keep killing people to fill that void of loneliness."
"But what I wanted to have was a normal life… friends…"
"What about your sister?"
Killua shook his head, "Illumi robbed my memory of her, so at that time… she didn't exist. I surrendered… and while I was in this… controlled state I killed Bodoro, which meant Leorio and Daniel passed… and I failed. When I returned home due to Illumi's manipulation, I was put in isolation and tortured."
Daniel's fist tightened, "After the exam, Gon, Kurapika, Leorio and myself confronted Illumi… we demanded to know where Killua had gone. Once we knew where… we searched for the location then left on the earliest flight. A lot happened…" Daniel detailed everything that happened.
Meeting Zebro and Seaquant…
The fight with Canary…
Meeting Killua's mother and younger brother…
The Butler's mansion…
The trial… or their case… the fight for Gotoh's acceptance.
He went through every little detail, covering all the details Killua would've heard the first time he went over it. But this time, something was different. Killua's feelings on the matter were involved.
Shifting his posture, the boy spoke about his partner's words, "Looking back on it… I'm surprised about Canary's reactions. Although, now it makes sense why we were able to run away at that time so easily."
"Run-away…?"
"It's something that you'll have to wait and hear about, so we don't go back and forth between the present and future. Either way, I chastised Gotoh, then the five of us parted ways. Leorio left to study to be a doctor, Kurapika joined one of the mafia's families… The remaining three of us went to Heaven's Arena, because Gon wanted to punch Hisoka for going easy on him in phase three. I suggested the idea, so not only he could get stronger, we'd be earning easy cash on the side considering all of us were broke. Unfortunately… it was easy until floor two-hundred."
Daniel switched over for Killua, "We met Zushi, a young budding martial artist. He was on the floor… probably one-hundred before we left. Apparently, he's a floor master now."
"So, he's super strong?" Clarisa wanted to know the comparison. Exactly how strong was Zushi when compared to them? To be a floor master, one would assume you had to be extremely strong. Also, there was the question of why did they leave Heaven's arena? Did Gon get to punch Hisoka?
She was sure Killua and Daniel would get to that part.
"Hmm…" Killua pinched his chin, wondering about that himself. Neither of them had gotten weaker… they had to fight stronger enemies over time, much stronger than what Zushi probably had to deal with, "I would argue we're stronger, not because I'm biased… it's because of who we had to deal with on our adventures. But to be a Floor Master, you must beat ten people on floor two-hundred, without losing more than four times. Losing so many matches resulted in you being kicked off floor two-hundred. When you have people like Hisoka on floor two-hundred… that's no easy achievement."
Daniel crossed his arms, Hisoka may have been brought up as being strong, but first, they had to bring up why and how they discovered Nen, "But before that… when we reached floor two-hundred, there was something neither of us had predicted. I know about Ten, the whole time I had been with Killua and Gon… I was in theory, at that moment… stronger than them, only because what happened next. The moment we arrived… We were greeted by a receptionist. Then, from behind her… Hisoka appeared. He used Ren to force Killua and Gon out of the floor. Unless they could bypass his Ren, they weren't allowed to sign up. I could sign up… I hoped that I could sign up for them… but it wasn't allowed to, they signed in at the desk in-person."
"There was another issue…" Killua interjected with a finger, "When I was six, YES, my family expected me to reach floor two-hundred… when I was SIX! It took me TWO years to reach the final floor, so as soon as I had done so, I quit and went home. Because of this… I failed to sign up, which meant I had until MIDNIGHT, which was around eight o'clock at night at the time, for me to sign up. Failure to do so meant I would be barred from further combat. Suffice to say… we learned Ten in a single night."
"… What?!" Madelyn screamed out in surprise. She wasn't expecting that at all.
Daniel switched with Killua to explain, "There are two methods to learn Nen. The way you and I learned, which is by meditating… the other, is through a Baptism. Baptism is how Gon and Killua learned. It's a dangerous and risky method. The person forces all your Micropyles open, which in turn, makes you instantly able to not only use Gyo, which is how Killua, unfortunately, learned about our connection of aura…"
"Embarrassment aside, Gon and I had to control our flow, or we could risk dying from our aura escaping from our body. We did… we walked through Hisoka's barrier; he got a little horny…" When his partner gave him a look, the boy corrected himself, "Alright, he got a raging boner, we signed up… and like the idiot Gon was, he also signed up for a match, which was the very next day. He got his ass handed to him, which resulted in SEVERAL broken bones from what we dubbed… the noob crushers."
"Can you back up a bit…" Clarisa rolled her hands, "Hisoka… got a raging boner… I'm sorry, what?"
"He gets horny during battles. When Gon first… punched him in the face, he looked like he had a mind-blowing orgasm. It was not fun… to be in Gon's position or ours… and it wasn't the only time he got excited down there."
"I feel like I'm gonna vomit…" Madelyn interjected.
"Don't worry… we felt the same way." Daniel gave the girls a weak smile, "Gon was forced to not learn about Nen for two months because of his idiotic move, and while Wing-San, our first Nen teacher was willing to help Killua and I train, Killua wanted to start at the same time as Gon. So, we also didn't practice Ten, until Gon was able to."
"However," Killua interjected, "We did watch one of Hisoka's matches. One thing Hisoka likes to do is play mind games… to this day, we still don't know how after his arms got severed, he re-attached not only one of them during the match… but the second later. However, if I had to guess considering his Nen has the properties of rubber and gum, he stuck it back to his arms. Although… we don't know how that in turn, would make it so he could reconnect the nervous system. Stopping the bleeding was one thing… but reconnecting those severed nerves… now that's the strangest thing about that fight."
"Is it possible that someone else reattached his arms?"
"Yeah… but during the fight, no one entered the ring, so we don't know how he reconnected his arm during the fight."
Daniel hummed about the situation. He couldn't satisfy his partner's question, that wasn't something he could even begin to explain away… but the initial reattachment and movement… maybe now he could explain, "Actually… now thinking about it, I could probably explain the initial reattachment."
His partner gave him an incredulous look. It's not that he didn't believe him, it's the fact that now of all times, he had concluded how Hisoka managed to reattach and move his hand without any problems "Seriously?"
"I can't solve the nervous system problem… but I can argue how he moved it."
"Okay…?"
"Using his ability, he assigned points along with his hand so it looked like it was moving naturally. As for covering up the scars… that I'm not too sure, I'd have to look at the video again. But he may have covered it with something, tight… something that clung to his arm like glad wrap. Getting it to replicate his skin colour… I dunno. Maybe it was a very similar colour. One you wouldn't take a second glance at unless you were closer…"
Killua mulled over his partner's words. The hand movement makes sense along with covering the wound… but what would replicate skin colour like that? It couldn't have been a cloth that matched his shade of skin… he only had a white handkerchief on him at the time, "It could also explain why he was playing mind games with Kastro so he could set all of that up."
"Who what now?"
"Ahh…" Killua felt shy suddenly. They were skipping ahead without the backstory that led to them discussing the situation again, "We're getting ahead of ourselves here. We started discussing this bit when we learnt Gyo. But I guess… we could talk about this since, at this time, it had already happened. The fight was between Kastro and Hisoka. I scored tickets to the fight, considering we were fighters. However, Gon couldn't watch it, due to the deal he made with Wing-San. Daniel and I got to watch it in person though. We were confused about how Hisoka was manoeuvring his severed limbs. But…" Killua pointed at his partner.
"I figured out why Hisoka was playing mind games. He wasn't the first I got to experience that tactic from… It was Vastorie. He employed mental games so you'd be distracted during the fight… considering Kastro's reaction during the fight, the mental game was getting to him, making sure he made mistakes he would otherwise not…"
"Kastro was what we later learned was an Enhancer… but the ability he was using against Hisoka, was a combination of both Manipulation and Conjuration. He created a Doppel of himself so that there were two of him always fighting Hisoka… He'd dismissed the Doppel right before his attack, so while Hisoka's attention was on the clone that was being discarded, he'd be free to attack whichever way he liked… there was one problem with this tactic…"
Killua took a deep breath, "Running out of memory. The further you go from your initial category, the harder you must train to perfect the ability. In this case, Tiger bite was his natural ability, which is an Enhancer style skill… but the Doppel creation was Conjuration and movement of the Doppel required Manipulation. Because most of his focus was on the movement and the creation of the Doppel, his capacity was pushed to the limit… Hisoka playing the mental game, meant his focus was split to the point he was unable to keep up a perfect image of the Doppel… so when it came to him attacking again… Hisoka knew who was the real one… and who was the fake."
Daniel addressed the final bit, "Hisoka killed Kastro, by sending thirteen cards flying into the man's body. Because of Shu, it pierced his skin and ultimately, he bled out… Even if the doctors manage to patch his wounds, he wouldn't have recovered from Hisoka's other mind game… the one he stated on how the man would lose… You will die, in a frenzied dance… That was how we first learned about the true capacity of utilising one's Nen, while avoiding possible weaknesses."
"So…" Madelyn gestured a finger between the boys, "if you figured out how to come up with ways to cover your weakness… Why are you building up each other's strengths? I mean… if you cover your own asses, you wouldn't need to worry about the other being weaker. Couldn't Daniel come up with a successful way to reach Zetsu? And couldn't Killua come up with a way to boost his aura capacity?"
"While it's true we could come up with ways to cover this… but…" Daniel pointed a finger at Killua, "Me being weak with Zetsu, could serve as a distraction for Killua to take down the enemy without any issues. I believe playing on our weakness, could be a great mental game to be used on the enemy, as Hisoka did with Kastro… or Vastorie did with me…"
"But…" Madelyn crossed her arms, "It's still a weakness for yourself. You're not going to be with each other twenty-four seven… you aren't always connected at the hip… so why don't you practice harder, to improve on your weaknesses."
Killua raised an eyebrow, "The same reason why you wouldn't study a course you have no desire to be in. A person wouldn't study to be a veterinarian, just because they have a pet… a person making pottery wouldn't study Botany, just because they're making pots for plants… we tend to focus on our crafts, not our weaknesses or because it relates to our current work. Sure, the knowledge could help… but at the end of the day, you perfect your current skills… not what you're shit at."
The boy gave the girl a stern expression. Even if the girl is right about not being with each other twenty-four seven, this information is not up for debate. They're trying to build that connection… to reinforce it.
They needed to not only be comfortable with each other, to share everything… they also needed that unification, to be prepared to help each other grow.
Although, there was another point to be made, "That aside… in the case of Nen, studying your two side categories, will help push your current category up. However, developing skills using those categories, wouldn't always help. In my case, electricity… me being physically stronger, wouldn't automatically make my electricity hit harder. But in Daniel's case…"
"I utilise the Emitter category to create the object I wrap in my shadow with." Daniel created a quarterstaff, spinning it between his fingertips, "It's not perfect… but it works. Because I don't create solid objects…" he stopped spinning the staff for a moment, "most of the time… It makes it easier to do things like this…"
Holding out the staff, the boy made the object ripple and waver, moving like seaweed underwater, "I'm utilising my manipulation to the maximum capacity, while briefly touching on the Emitter category." Flicking his fingers out, the object dispersed, "It's about playing with the cards in your hand."
Madelyn pouted, "but that still doesn't change the fact you have a weakness…"
"It does…" Daniel objected with a smile, "It means we, as in Killua and I, wouldn't make a rookie mistake. If we're on a scouting mission, Killua is the best of the job. Yes, we'd be alone… but we have this connection we've been expanding on. Our end goal is to be aware of each other… whether we're in danger or not."
"And if that doesn't work?"
Daniel crossed his arms, "Four words… Earbuds with EMF resistance. Well, technically it's five, but who's arguing. My parents have some serious connections, finding someone who knows how to get one, wouldn't be an issue."
Madelyn fumed at the idea of the boys thinking this far ahead. They were willing to fight tooth and nail for each other, no matter what. It was infuriating how deeply connected they were with each other.
They even bounced off each other's sentences…
Would she ever find someone like that…? Someone she was able to hold a conversation without needing to be pressed for details?
She highly doubted that…
What they have is a unique connection, one that's not easily obtainable. They fought hard for it… and they'll fight even harder to keep it, "Fine… please continue."