The boys discuss their fight with Genthru.

Killua grinned, "We dealt with the bomber. But first… to quickly summarise what happened while Daniel was knocked out… at least for context… We obtained #2 Plot of Beach. Hisoka revealed that he knew about Magnetic Force and what it did, even though none of us had mentioned it prior. To make matters worse… Genthru called us to congratulate us on obtaining the card… and the reason he knew about us going for it, is because he killed the members of the group, we previously joined to obtain the card. Gon didn't like that one bit… threatening to fight the man, even though half of us were wounded. Tsezgerra and Bisky told him off for that."

Daniel crossed his arms, "Talk about missing out while being knocked out…"

Killua pointed a thumb at Daniel, "It took him three days to recover from the knockout… three days wasted."

"Says the guy who watched over me…"

Killua cheeks tinted red, "Just tell them what you did when you woke up. It's what Clarisa has been waiting for the whole time!" He stated it out of defiance, however, the reason he said it is because Clarisa had been hounding them for that piece of information for a while.

She wants to know how their confession went…

"If you say so…" Daniel turned to face Clarisa, pretending for a moment it was only the two of them in that room. Madelyn wasn't important… Killua's reaction didn't matter… "I asked Killua to come closer and close his eyes… What I want to do more than anything… was to confess my feelings. I had survived that Dodgeball death match… I wanted Killua to know how I felt about him… what I wanted more than to be stronger in the world… Using one of the training methods Bisky gave us, I tried to make letters spell out my confession."

He snorted at the idea, how miserably he failed back then to convey his feelings through words, "I was trying to do it with one hand. Killua was getting annoyed at having to wait, to find out what my surprise was… but the moment I had spelt out the words I love you… the moment I turned to Killua to reveal those words, he was fuming… pouting from having to wait. It was at that moment, I thought he was the most beautiful person in the world… I wanted to kiss him. When Killua's eyes were closed… I…"

The guilt was evident on the boy's face, "If I knew what I knew then… I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have pretty much forced myself on him… I kissed him… I stole Killua's first kiss when his eyes were closed. AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE… I HAD NO FUCKEN IDEA WHAT TO DO WHEN KISSING SOMEONE!"

Killua burst into laughter from Daniel's frustrations being let loose. They had shared their first kiss, with each other, and his partner was more frustrated at himself for kissing without being prepared for how he was supposed to be kissing anyone.

"Don't laugh… I was going through a serious, crisis. I didn't know how or what I should be doing during the said kiss. And you weren't helping. You didn't push me away… you didn't yell at me… you were as frozen as me."

"Well yeah, you kissed me out of nowhere. How should one normally react when their best friend kisses them on the lips. Anywhere else, and I would have said something. But on the lips… my mind short-circuited. It was rebooting… trying to figure out why you were kissing me."

"Considering your next reaction when I pulled away, what you said afterwards… I don't think so…"

"The moment you started to pull away, my mind wasn't ready to let go of the connection. It wanted more of that… call it for what it was… lust… a need for physical intimacy I craved… something I never received at home… It doesn't matter how I put it into words. When your lips left mind, I didn't care who was on the other end… I wanted it."

Daniel pouted, "You're right… I can't get upset at you for your reaction… not when I started it without confessing why I kissed you in the first place. I tried to mimic Killua's movements, to learn from what he was doing when he brought me back in for a kiss. But then… As though I had been smitten by reality, Killua uttered a name other than mine…"

"Yikes…" Clarisa casually admitted. To have your crush say someone else's name while you're kissing them… "That must have hurt."

"It was soul-crushing…" Daniel argued with a deadpanned attitude, "but to be fair… neither of us had planned for that moment. We talked about it, after, I struggled to realise that the signs for those feelings had been there for a long time."

Killua frowned, "It's time for me to be a little honest. I promised I'd never say this… but… something changed." He gestured to the connection, "the moment I saw the sadness in your eyes, I felt bad for uttering Gon's name… CONSIDERING, I also felt warm and fuzzy feelings at the time… I felt a connection with you. Whether it was my conflicting feelings for Gon… Illumi's pin in my head… or this string of aura for a split second overshadowing the teachings of my family… A part of me liked you… regardless of you probing me for the reason why I had feelings for Gon."

Daniel's expression softened; one hand now being pressed to his hips. It looks like he has more to ask about now, "I did… I asked Killua how long he had those feelings for Gon. He wasn't sure at the time. I laughed, only because I felt the same for Killua, as he did for Gon…"

"Idiot…" Killua taunted with a soft smile, "If I look back on that now… like I said earlier when Gon confessed he trusted only me. Or… If I really, look back on it… maybe since the two of you came back for me after I went home… maybe then. Although, the fight with Razer on Greed Island felt like a better assumption."

"What about me…?"

Killua raised an eyebrow, "What about you?"

"Feelings for me…?"

Killua looked down, grasping his chin, deep in thought. When did his feelings for Daniel develop? He needed to be honest. Due to Illumi's needle and his feelings being locked away, he wasn't too sure. But he could make a safe assumption… one that would make sense for him, "Heaven's Arena. I believe when Yannick fought me for your affection. When I beat his ass… when I made him give up pursuing you… I guess that's when I started developing feelings for you."

"Are you saying that because of what happened the second time we encountered Yannick?"

"No, that had nothing to do with my guess. It was a combination of what happened before, and after the fight… mixed with the fact you tend to reach out while your unconscious. So, if I didn't have my emotions locked away and Illumi never stuck that needle in my head, I'd say it was at that moment I started to have feelings for you…"

Clarisa then pointed out something, "So you liked Daniel longer than Gon, but if he wasn't Polyamorous, you'd like him more than Daniel…?"

"No…" Killua turned to face the girl questioning his feelings. It wasn't as simple as that. Actually… now that he's forced to think about it, it wasn't so much as him choosing Gon over Daniel, it was a mixture of conditions he had been ticking off, "Personality-wise, I'd prefer Gon because he was an adventure that dragged the two of us along… We never stopped exploring, always doing something dangerous or exciting."

The boy then pointed at Daniel, "He was following Gon because he liked being more around me. Now, you may find that cute and endearing, and to a degree, I do too… but back then, I didn't feel that way. Dealing with the Chimera Ants, going through those experiences… it started to shift. Gon was worried about me when I went radio silent… which is considered me throwing out spoilers, but it's hard to explain the situation without a spoiler or two. I nearly died from blood loss. Due to our connection, Daniel came to my aid, and with a new friend's help, they saved me, together."

The boy looked at Daniel. Daniel sighed, "I felt weak and hopeless during those moments, considering I was relying on Ikalgo to help me save Killua. During the whole ordeal, I never felt like I was good enough. But when I take a step back and look at it from Killua's perspective, maybe it wasn't so much weakness… but rather, doing the right thing at the right time."

His boyfriend gave a nod, "Feelings aside… certain acts changed my thoughts on who was better. That moment Gon confessed it blinded me… If I could go back with my current thoughts and experiences now, I don't think it'll happen again… I'd instead let him know that regardless of whether Gon is Polyamorous or not… I'd choose Daniel. However, well, I'll leave that for later… Now, this conversation is about dealing with the Bombers. We had a back and forth about our feelings, but nothing like we're having now."

Daniel brought the conversation back to the original topic, "Killua had busted up hands and I had broken ribs, so we were forced to sidelines as Gon trained to beat Genthru. It was during this time we forced to train harder under Bisky's tutelage. So while Killua was thinking of a way to beat all three bombers, Gon was being forced to learn a level five Emitter ability, however, he was told it was a level two training. It was designed to help teach him to release his aura like a cannon blast. It would've been great for him to create distance between himself and the man. Considering Genthru's ability, that would come in handy. Now, the other problem with the situation, was me being moody about the others not allowing me to help them, the rejection… being pushed away."

"You had a crushed arm and ribs… I'm not going to put you in a fight with any of them. Feelings aside, I wanted you to be safe. Gon was able to fight, and with my Yo-Yos, I could still technically fight, even without my hands. You on the other hand… and Bisky said this, not just me… you were a liability. One, that Genthru and his team would defiantly, use to their advantage. Yes, in the end, you did manage to help me… but at the same time, I didn't want you to be following me…"

The boy frowned at the thought. No, it wasn't that he didn't want his partner to be following him at the time, he didn't want him in any danger, "I didn't want you to put yourself in danger at that time. When the Bombers came for us… we did what we prepared for in advance… we ran. We tried to outrun Genthru, but the stupid game mechanics allowed them to always teleport to one of us. After splitting up, Gon fought Genthru and won…"

"With serious injuries mind you…" Daniel interjected, "his hand was missing, as in, the man used his explosive ability to sever his hand. The man was only knocked out because of fear… he was locked in a tight spot where if he used his ability, he'd be buried alive… Gon used one of his Jajankens to knock him out cold… As for Bara, he got his face smashed in by Bisky…"

"I… unfortunately know how she did it, but I'm being held to secrecy. As in, if I tell anyone other than Daniel… due to our deal, she'd kill me."

"Which… I don't believe he has told me yet."

"I'll tell you later, but I'll give you a hint… I mentioned it when we were looking after the defeated assassin."

"Ah…"

At the inquiring eyes of the girls, Killua answered "The assassin was Knuckle, he came along when we were dealing with the Chimera Ants. Big softy, has two-hundred animals following him at all times."

"The max we saw was twenty, though…"

"It doesn't matter as of now, considering, we're not even up to that part yet… although, he might as well have two-hundred." As Daniel chuckled at the lame joke, the boy continued "One thing I figured out about Sub, the enemy I was facing off against… is when he kicked with his left leg, he throws up his right arm on impulse. He effectively blocks his sight of view from his right side. I almost had him…I feint my open guard because I figured out his weakness. I was going to get him to leave himself wide open. But then Daniel… had to interfere."

"To be fair… I didn't have a telepathic connection to your thoughts. All I saw was your yo-yo flying off your arm, and him running towards you."

"But you knew I had a second yo-yo…"

"I… I guess I did."

"So, you ruined my original plan." Killua crossed his arms, tapping one arm impatiently, "So, after Daniel's interfered, I had to come up with a new plan. We did a joint attack, he manipulated his shadows to interfere with the man's movements, to hold him in place while I maneuvered my yo-yo around, trying to knock him out. Daniel was eventually able to restrict his movements, which gave me more than enough time to knock him out. With all three wins under our belt, we could finally beat the game. Using Breath of Archangel, the card Genthru's team was hoarding, we healed all Gon's wounds. The card did wonders… restoring his body like their fight hadn't happened at all."

"We healed Bara next… considering he was in bad shape. Bisky rearranged his face. When we tried to clone the card for a second one, we found out Goreinu had cloned vouchers, meaning he now had two spares. We ended up arguing with him about semantics, why we thought it was okay to heal the remaining bombers, even though they had killed so many."

Lifting a finger, Killua offered the solution Bisky argued for, "What Bisky said was it doesn't matter, cause this game was about winning… and both sides, were fighting tooth and nail to win. So, we used the last card, the original on Genthru. Before we could continue with the game, Goreinu, after protesting, against handing the cards over to us because we were going to use them on Genthru's team… he decided, that he was going to hand over all their cards to us anyways… Daniel got upset, not because now he didn't need to continue suffering from the broken arm… it was…"

The boy in question interjected, "I wasn't upset about that. I was upset because he lied to us about refusing to hand the cards over if we healed Genthru's team. If he agreed to hand over the rest of the angels, I would've snatched the first one and healed you… not Genthru. Call me selfish, but… I just didn't want you to have to suffer a second longer."

"I got upset at him at the time because I was still yet to understand why he cared so much about me, even knowing my past… I now know why. His feelings ignored everything and instead focused on how I acting in the present… not what I did in the past."

Daniel wrapped his arms around Killua, flashing his partner a smirk in retaliation to his partner's blush. He didn't care about Madelyn getting upset at them for showing signs of affection. Right now, he just needed to hug his partner.

The boy realised the key component to why he was infatuated with him, was because he is a kind-hearted person. He was raised to never love anyone, but he ended up developing feelings for someone other than his need for bloodlust.

His family was wrong about him…

Daniel grip tightened around his partner, head resting in the crane of the boy's neck. He wasn't going to kiss him, or saying anything more about the matter. He just wanted to show through his hug, that he was not only accepted… he was loved.

The boy let their emotions linger before Daniel pulled back to touch his partner's face. Smiling at the boy's blushing features, he spoke in a soft tone, "We should continue…"

Killua gave a nod, his heated cheeks still dusty pink when he turned to face the girls. It was obvious how the girls would react, so he chose to ignore the atmosphere "As we spoke about this earlier, we don't need to expand on the topic…"

Taking a deep breath, the boy calmed his nerves before flashing the girls a smirk, "Now is about this game… how it ended. It ended when Gon filled up his binder with every card we needed, given to us. When card ninety-nine was placed in his book, there was an announcement made, a challenge for all of us. We had to answer a quiz about the game. Daniel had the highest score… eighty-eight out of one-hundred. He cheated though!"

"When I'm bored, I memorise things… besides, if I cheated, I would've gotten all the questions correct."

As Killua pouted, the boy wasn't finished, "You two set yourself up for failure though. You were now bound by contract to fulfil one of my requests. Actually… I'm pretty sure I used mine on you for that dance… it made me happy at the time when you accepted the deal, even at the time I felt like you had a right to object, considering you knew about my feelings for you."

"Yeah, I accepted the dance… but I had internal feelings about that situation at the time. I thought that… Maybe I could really enjoy this… I for a second, I thought that maybe I'd like to be with you. Now look what happened… minus all the danger, I don't think I could regret any of this."

Daniel was madly in love with his partner after that confession. He could kiss his partner right now… he wanted to so badly… It was here where he should've hugged his lover, to give him affection.

But, alas, he'd settle for let his emotions seep through his aura, hoping that their bond was strong enough for Killua to feel it resonate deep within himself. He couldn't wait for the moment where he could love his partner emotionally, physically and mentally, to surround him in affection twenty-four-seven, no matter how annoying his partner would one day find those absurd feeling flooding his emotions, drowning him in love like none other.

Killua went on to detail what they did with the end game rewards, smiling from the fact that now Daniel knew something about him. He knew more of his feelings, the ones he was keeping secret at the time. It was relieving to tell his partner some of those thoughts, now that he was put in a position to be more honest with himself.

There will be more opportunities for more embarrassing facts and stories, but right now… they were done with Greed Island. Now comes the harshest moment of their adventure…

The Chimera Ants…

It one thing dealing with Victor, but these creatures were the first time they felt true fear. That moment Pitou made their presence known, besides Gon's rage, the need to run was evident in their eyes. Recounting these nightmares would be the best way to show proof, that their adventure was anything, but, easy…

Taking a deep breath, Daniel started the discussion to what would later lead to their first experience of what a nightmare felt like. But to first he needed to set the scene… to bring up what happened, "We were rewarded, a box that allowed us to take three of the hundred slots outside of the game. Bisky took one slot, we took the other two. An Accompany card, which wasn't a part of one-hundred slots… we used a loophole with the second card, the Paladin's Necklace. With our new plan in motion, Gon once more had a chance at finding his father… and departing from Bisky, we headed for a person who was in Gon's book… Nigg, considering it might be his father, which is Ging."

Killua answered a question the girls were sure to bring up, "No… it wasn't Ging, but we got to meet someone just as cool as Bisky and even stronger than her. His name was Kite…"

Daniel spoke with a tender smile, "He's I guess what one would say is a mentor. He was the reason for Gon went out of his way to seek out Ging…"

"He's also the reason…" Killua bit his lip, "Gon was willing to die for Revenge…"