Chapter 13

Gon and Killua sat in Principal Nezu's office in the morning before homeroom started. This was the first time both of them were sitting in his office at the same time, and they were wondering what they had done this time to be called.

"Good morning, Gon and Killua," Nezu greeted the boys. Killua nodded in acknowledgement, while Gon said his own cheerful good morning. "I called you both here today because I have a few things to tell you. Detective Tsukauchi called a meeting with me a couple days ago after he spoke with both of you." Nezu purposely left out that All Might was there as well – the boys did not know All Might knew their secret. The principal looked directly at Killua. "Tsukauchi relayed everything you said in your conversation with him. How the villain you killed at U.S.J. was not an accident as well as the threat you made if anyone gets in your way. While I do not agree with your methods, I do believe that you are more powerful than you show us. I am not going to stop you from attempting to go home with force. I just have a quick question, however."

Killua nodded so that he could hear the question, so Nezu continued. "Do you know anything about the leader of the League of Villains? Anything you may not have told Tsukauchi about? I am referring to the voice from the TV screen."

The silver haired teen took a few seconds to think about his response. He could say he did not know anything, he could say the villain's name, or he could say the villain's Quirk, what he looked like… Why should I help them? I don't know if he's done anything to help me. He hasn't told me or Gon anything about his efforts to find a Quirk that can help us. I'll just say the what the guy's Quirk is. See what happens from there. It's unlikely to backfire, I hope. "Yeah, he said his Quirk is something that allows him to keep and use multiple Quirks."

Nezu's eyes widened, and Killua's heartbeat raced. Did I give away his identity? Are they going to try and take All For One down soon?

"It is as I feared," Nezu whispered while looking down at his desk. He turned his head back up to the teen in front of him with a look that was pleading something from him. "Killua. Please, do not help him. He is…the worst villain. Instead of helping him, how about I help you? I do not want to admit that I have not done anything to find a Quirk that can help you, but I am guaranteeing you that I am putting effort into that. Over this past weekend, I told Tsukauchi to look into it, and I will begin my own research the moment classes start for you two. But, please, do not help All For One."

Killua glared at the principal, and Gon glanced at his friend's face to see his reaction. It was not good. "You haven't done anything yet," Killua spat. "And for your information, I met with All For One after my talk with the detective. He does have a Quirk that can send me back home, so all I have to do now is finish some tasks for him, and he can send Gon and I back home. We have a clear solution to our problem. What can you offer?"

"I can offer U.A.'s resources, as well as other heroes' resources, to find someone with a similar Quirk, but hopefully someone less villainous," Nezu said simply, but he knew it was unlikely to convince the silver haired boy. Killua narrowed his eyes at the offer that did not provide a solution.

"Tough luck," the teen practically rejected the offer. "It's not your fault, Principal Nezu. If there was somebody else with such a Quirk, I wouldn't mind that. You can do all the research you want. If you find someone that meets your standards, let me know. But in the meantime, I'm going down this path. If you try to interfere with me, or with All For One, I'll cut down all those people." He faced his friend sitting next to him. "Do you not have anything to say?"

Gon hesitated with his mouth open. He hesitated some more before saying, "I don't want you to mess up this world. I have friends here, and I would rather not disappoint them." Killua glared at his friend as if to say, 'We'll talk about this later'.

Nezu was happy Gon felt the same way as him, but he refocused his attention where it mattered. "Killua, I do want to stop you from going down this villainous path," he repeated. "So I will do as you said and try my best to find someone else with a Quirk that can send you and Gon back home." He checked the clock on the wall across from him, behind the teenagers. "Homeroom is about to start. I will end this here so you two can get to class."

Gon and Killua walked out of the office and headed towards their respective classes. "What was your face just now when I talked?" the green haired teen asked.

"We'll talk about it in our room. We don't have enough time for that right now," his friend muttered. "See you at lunch, or whatever."

In homeroom, Aizawa started out with some compliments for the class. "Everyone, good job at the Sports Festival. You showed the Pros what you're all capable of, and I'm sure they took notice. All of you made it to the second round, which is good, and it was what I expected. None of you won, however," he said while looking at Killua, who Aizawa thought allowed Gon to win the whole competition. "But that's fine. You'll have plenty of time to improve your skills before you become pros yourselves."

Aizawa turned on the screen behind him and displayed a bar graph. "This graph shows how many offers you received if you received any offers at all. You know that the week-long internships are coming. If you received any offers, you have to pick from the list of heroes who sent one to you. Don't worry if you didn't get any offers. There is a list of 40 heroes who are willing to take first year students for the week, so you can pick from that list."

The 20 students stared at the screen in shock. The first bar belonged to Killua, and his bar towered over everyone else. The total nominations he received was over 4,000. In second was Todoroki with significantly less, but still in the thousands. He received nearly 3,000 offers. Bakugo was a dip below him, likely because he had to be restrained on the podium. He had a bit over 2,000 nominations. After that, the offers dipped into the hundreds, with Tokoyami having 360. In total, only the 12 Class A students who made it to the third round got any offers at all.

"You'll have until tomorrow, end of the school day, to finalize your decision," Aizawa informed his class. "Do your research for heroes that do similar things to what you're interested in. I can guarantee you'll learn something no matter where you go. For those who have a lot of offers, I would recommend searching for any names you already recognize. It's tedious going through hundreds or thousands of names." He handed out papers – or stacks of papers for those who had that many offers – to the students who received any. Then, Aizawa distributed the list of 40 heroes to the remaining students.

At lunch, Killua sat with Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido. Killua ate his food with a blank expression while his classmates discussed who they wanted to intern with as they had all received offers.

"Hey, Killua, did you get any top heroes nominating you?" Kaminari interrupted his own conversation and included the boy who was not talking.

"Hm? Yeah, I did," he replied nonchalantly.

"Really?! Like who? Tell us!" Ashido begged.

"Pretty much all of the top 10 I think, besides All Might," Killua responded. The jaws of his friends dropped, all four going wide-eyed.

"If you got all of them, I wonder if Gon got an offer from All Might…" Sero muttered with a joking tone right before he took another bite from his lunch.

"Haha, let's be real. Even Gon would probably be a hindrance for All Might," Kirishima commented, thinking about how All Might would not need any help. "All Might wouldn't take interns. They'd slow him down."

Maybe Gon wouldn't, Killua thought, although he was not entirely sure if he or Kirishima were right with their statements. The table was interrupted by a green haired boy who dropped by for a few seconds.

"Are you all talking about the internships?" Midoriya asked them while Uraraka and Iida stood at his side. Their class representative, who had left early from the Sports Festival, was back in class, although it was clear to his two closest friends that something was off.

"Yeah! Midoriya, you got offers, didn't you?" Kaminari asked. The curly haired boy nodded. "You figure out where you're going?"

"I think so. I just want to finalize it for sure," he replied. He looked to his sides to Uraraka and Iida who had both received offers as well. The three were standing awkwardly and holding their food trays. "Well, see you in class!" Midoriya ended their quick chat.

Classes were a blur after lunch, and Killua found himself outside with Gon about to go to their room at the hotel. "Killua! Hold up a sec!" the two boys heard a third voice call from behind them. They turned around and saw Kaminari running towards them. "Killua. I wanted to say…at the Sports Festival, when I said you should help me with my Quirk…I meant it. You're so awesome with your control. Do you mind helping me out with controlling mine? We can ask Mr. Aizawa for permission," he finished with a tiny smile and his eyebrows raised slightly.

Killua glanced between Kaminari and Gon. His green haired friend smiled wide open at the idea and nodded. Killua turned his head back to the blond. "Sorry, I don't think today works." Kaminari's anxious face turned into a tiny frown. He was expecting Killua to say yes since Gon was so excited. "I still have to pick the hero I want to intern with."

The blond raised his head in understanding. "Oh yeah I see," he smirked. "You got so many offers. Must be hard going through all of them, huh?" he chuckled.

Killua cracked a smile, and Gon laughed out himself. "Yeah, that's right." He began turning around, but Kaminari interrupted right before.

"How about tomorrow, then?" he asked casually. "It's our last day. We head out on our internships the day after, so would tomorrow after class work?"

"I'll think about it and let you know tomorrow in class," the silver haired boy responded. Kaminari nodded and gave a smile.

"See you tomorrow, then. Later Gon!" He waved at the green haired boy who waved back at him.

At that moment, Bakugo was trudging along in the same direction with his hands in his pockets. He eyed the other two teens who had beaten him in the Sports Festival without turning his head and grunted. "Tch, can't believe the public doesn't know the real truth about you," he snarled to Killua but kept taking slow steps forward.

Killua rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I thought everyone got over that. It was an accident, so people in our class don't seem to care. Except for you."

Bakugo huffed and started moving faster to get away from Gon and Killua. The two friends looked at each other and shrugged. They hurried over to their room, and Gon had something to say to his friend.

"Killua, why did you deny Kaminari?" he asked with a frown. "You could've helped him. You're not doing anything here, are you?"

The silver haired teen narrowed his eyes and sat on the single bed. "What are you trying to get at?"

"You changed a lot since you talked to Detective Tsukauchi," Gon told him bluntly. He turned the chair in the room to Killua and took a seat. "I noticed it. Your whole mood has changed so much."

"Yeah, because I think it's about time we go home," he retorted with a frown of his own. "Don't you agree?"

Killua's friend nodded. "I want to go home too, but…wait, before that. Did you mean what you said to Tsukauchi on Friday? About killing heroes if they get in your way?"

"Empty threat," Killua muttered and stared down at the bed, thinking back to his thought process a few days ago during his talk with the detective.

Gon widened his eyes, but they quickly returned to their regular size. He scrunched his face up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The ex-assassin rolled his eyes and deadpanned at his friend. "Come on, Gon. You know me well. You really think I would kill just like that?" he asked rhetorically and stared into Gon's eyes. The other boy hesitated and did not know if he would answer yes or no to that question. "That's not what the Zoldyck family is like. We don't kill for fun."

"So…you wouldn't kill heroes? If they came after you?" Gon clarified with a budding smile.

Killua closed his eyes and shook his head. He opened them and watched Gon piercingly. "On second thought, if they annoy me again, then yeah I might. But otherwise, I don't really want to kill for such a petty reason…unless, like I just said, they annoy me a second time."

"Why did you even say that to Tsukauchi, then?"

Killua rolled his eyes again. "Idiot, I had to scare them! If I didn't say all that stuff, they would've kept annoying me and telling me not to meet with the League. What I said discouraged Tsukauchi, so now they probably won't try anything on us. He already had a meeting with Nezu before today about our conversation with him." He paused for a moment and recollected his thoughts. In a more optimistic tone, he continued, "But now, we have our way home. All I have to do now is what the villains say, and they'll send us back. Things are looking up for us," he finished on a happy note.

It's good that he's happy, but… "Aren't you…" Gon cut himself off in his thoughts and words. He knew the topic was an important one for Killua, so he did not know how to phrase it neutrally. My usual self would work here, he reasoned. "You really changed after that talk," he rephrased what he was going to say to make it more of a blunt observation rather than a question. "You're so set on getting back home now, and you weren't before. Or at least, you didn't act like you were," he corrected. "You spent all weekend researching about villains." Gon frowned and continued his eye contact with his friend. "And you just denied Kaminari something that could've taken your mind off this. I think you should've helped him. He seemed to really look forward to it."

His friend frowned back at him and furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't care. I'll tell him no again tomorrow. And yeah, I am trying to go back home now. It's my only focus here. Must be easy for you because you don't seem to care all that much. You can disappear from your aunt at any time and they wouldn't even care. Alluka is waiting for me at the family mansion. Probably locked up again. I actually have a goal when I get back. You don't, so I'm not surprised you don't care as much."

"I do have a goal when I get back," Gon countered indignantly.

"What's that?" Killua challenged. "Go fishing on Whale Island?"

"No," he answered firmly and stomped his right foot on the floor. "I'm going to help you get Alluka back."

The silver haired boy froze up with widening eyes. Gon continued when Killua did not say anything. "I don't want you to be consumed by your goal," he said softly. "I know, you might not be right now, since you said you wouldn't kill a hero if they came after you…but I'm not sure how much I believe that. I want to believe you, but I don't know if you'll hold that up if it ever comes up here. It might depend on how badly you want to go home, but…you said in the morning you were going to search for villains today right?" he seemingly diverted the topic.

Killua nodded, and Gon continued speaking. "If you're that willing to go back. That you would spend your whole weekend researching villains and then spend the weekdays looking for them. You do want to go home, badly, and you would stop anyone in your way. I just…don't want you becoming like Kurapika…or me," he added with a small and sad voice, thinking about what he had done in the past, and what their friend had done as well.

Killua mulled over what Gon just said. "I don't think you need to worry so much, Gon," he said after several seconds. "I'm not consumed by it. I am desperate to go back, but I'm not consumed. It is my only goal, yes, but I can see that there are differences between me and Kurapika and you when Pitou killed Kite. And plus, I'm not after revenge. I just want to go where I belong."

For now, you can see the differences, the green haired boy thought while nodding. If things don't go how you want them to, then I can see that changing, and there will be a lot of similarities. If the villains use you for longer than you think they should, I can see it getting bad, and you will be consumed by your goal. "So, then, how about you help Kaminari tomorrow after school?"

The silver haired teen puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. "Fine," he said and rolled his eyes, and Gon chuckled at his friend's childish antics. He stood up from the bed. "But today, I'm going to go look for some villains." He headed for the door, and he knew where to go.


Is this really the right decision for me to take? Nezu thought to himself. He had scheduled a meeting with someone for the purpose of tracking Killua. Killua said he would kill anyone who gets in his way. I may be jeopardizing this person's life by sending them after Killua. Do I really believe him, though? Could he be lying? I cannot be sure. My brain says it is a possibility, but I do not want to endanger someone. I would never live that down. Well, I will explain what the situation is – briefly, and see what they say.

His guest knocked on his office door, and the principal opened it and lead them inside. "I called you here today for a very specific reason," Nezu began after getting past the formalities and sitting at their respective seats. "I had to get permission from the government to be allow to do this because this job is illegal without government permission."

The person raised their eyebrows in surprise. "I am quite curious to know how you were able to convince the government to let you do something that is otherwise illegal."

"I told them the truth, but only what they asked and what was necessary for them to know," Nezu responded easily. Before more questions could be asked, the principal continued, "Now, let us get into it." Nezu showed the person a picture of a certain silver haired boy with blue eyes that was only taken a few days ago. "This is Killua Zoldyck, as you may recognize. He came second in the first year stage of the Sports Festival last week. I need you to track him without getting caught," the principal said seriously and cut straight to the point.

His listener raised their eyebrows again. "You want me to follow a child? That really is illegal, but if you have government permission…do you have proof of that? I can't imagine what would happen if the media found out this was a lie and leaked it."

The principal nodded. "Yes, certainly. I have written permission from the Prime Minister's office." He scoured around the drawers in his desk and placed an open envelope in front of his guest. "Here, read this if you would like." The person took it and opened the letter that was inside and skimmed through it. They nodded at the validity, and Nezu gave a small smile. "But yes, I do need you to follow Killua. I have my reasons, and I suppose I could tell you one or two of them. I doubt you would even accept this job if I gave you no reason to." The person nodded again, affirming that Nezu was correct.

"Well, I will say that Killua is working with villains for a reward, while he is a hero student here at U.A. He also threatened the police force to resist arrest on any crimes he may commit with the villains." The guest's face was very questioning, and they wondered where this would go. "I know what you are thinking. It does not sound like anything a hero student would do. He has very unique circumstances, and I cannot tell you everything. I just hope you trust me, the principal of U.A., enough to believe what I am saying. After the attack the League of Villains sprung on us a few weeks ago, and a student of ours killed a villain there, I have increased security measures and want to keep high potential students on the heroes' side. I take the safety of my students very seriously."

"The way you said that makes me wonder if you are you saying Zoldyck is the one who killed the villain," the person remarked with a curious glint in their eyes.

Nezu shook his head. "I am not saying anything about that. The villain was killed by accident, after all. Killua is working with villains for a personal benefit, but I would rather he not. I would greatly appreciate it if you could track him without being noticed. If you accept, I highly emphasize the part about not being noticed."

The person thought about it for a moment. "I believe you, Principal Nezu. You are well respected in Japan. I don't understand why you are so scared of a kid, but clearly, I'm not getting the whole truth here. I am also a Pro Hero, so I would have to balance this between those duties as well. If it comes to it, my hero duties are more important than tracking this boy."

The principal of U.A. nodded. "Of course. Be a hero first and foremost. But when you can, particularly at night if you are available, please do watch over what he does. Make yourself impossible to spot and track."

"You're being very cautious. Makes me wonder who exactly Killua Zoldyck is, and what purpose he has to be working with villains," the person asked suspiciously. "I understand I'm not getting the full story here, but it would be great to reveal some of these mysteries so I know what I could be getting into."

Nezu sighed and folded his hands on his desk. He looked down at the table for a moment before raising it and offering a sympathetic smile. "I can tell you a bit more. When I said Killua threatened to resist arrest, he said he would kill anyone in his way. I do not know how true his declaration was. A part of me believes he is not lying, but a part of me also does. Most kids his age would recognize when they are in a tough spot and listen to authority. Killua did not. He responded with a retaliatory declaration to ensure he reaches his goal."

The person sat back in their chair and put their chin in their hand with the other arm crossed over their body. "This is a very unusual situation you put me in. I'm not sure what to think. A boy that is threatening to kill people who comes in his way? And you are scared of him? That is a threat, and this should be investigated further."

"Unfortunately, that is what he threatened us for. Interfering with him in any way." Nezu shook his head and waited a few seconds. "You do not have to accept," he gently reminded them. "It may be a dangerous task. I am not sure who else to ask. I believe you can do it, but if something bad were to happen to you, I could never forgive myself."

"Don't worry, Principal Nezu. It would be on me if something happens, though I question if anything can. It seems incredibly foreign for a 15 year-old student to threaten adults," they said with skepticism. "But I believe you. You would not ask me, or anyone, to do this if you didn't think it was important. I accept this request. However, if for any reason, I deem this to be too dangerous, then I am leaving it immediately. You certainly think Killua is dangerous, so I will be cautious. You did not explain his background, so I don't know why you consider him dangerous, but I will keep my distance and ensure he can't find me."

"Thank you very much," Nezu responded appreciatively with a smile. "I wish you all the best. Do let me know what happens. I will not tell you when to start; you may go at your own time."

They nodded in understanding. "I will see you soon, then, Mr. Principal."


The sun was setting, but the sky was clear, so it was still bright out. Killua had scoured Musutafu for villain hotspots, but he had not come across many. He had ran into a group of pathetic thieves that he barely paid attention to a little while back. He was now in an alley with busy streets ahead and behind him. Located between two buildings which stood on the busy streets was some space Killua heard was a fairly popular meeting spot for small-time villains. He stood around the corner, silently, listening to what they were talking about. It was nothing he was interested in, nor did he know about it. He peeked around the corner and studied the group of about a dozen small-time criminals.

They look like…I don't even know. But they're not really villains. They look more like petty criminals. Even Shigaraki has more of a villain feel to him, and that's saying something, Killua thought and turned his head away so he was out of their sight. Still, I'll try anyways. He took a deep breath and walked into the opening. The group of criminals paused their conversation and faced the newcomer with varied looks of confusion and curiosity.

Killua wore a black mask on his face to avoid recognition, so the group did not know who they were looking at. "What do you want?" someone asked with a confused voice. Killua glanced at the person. They did not look to be a leader, but the teen could not figure out who the leader was here, if they existed at all.

"I'm coming on behalf of the League of Villains. Is anyone here interested in joining them? They have been becoming popular very quickly ever since their attack on U.A.," Killua responded and got straight to the point. He changed his voice to make sure he did not sound like he was a kid.

"Uh, nah, if they're becoming popular, that means they'll be a bigger target," one person declined. He got a few nods of agreement before a different man spoke.

"Have to agree. We can't be getting caught so early," he said. "Are you a part of the League?"

These guys are surprisingly nice, the teen thought. I was prepared to use some bloodlust to scare them if they started acting up. I don't even need it. "Yeah, I am. Just trying to recruit more people."

Several heads nodded in understanding. "There's this guy you should talk to if you haven't already," a person who already spoke began. "His name is Giran. He gives out information to villains. He could be useful for you." The man then gave Killua the instructions on how to meet Giran, and Killua thanked him.

Are they not criminals? Did I misjudge? Nah, they definitely are, Killua concluded to himself and studied the group of men. They have to be. They know a lot. But still, they're nice guys. I thought they would get angry for my interruption. I don't get why they're helping me, if what they're saying is actually helpful. "I'm just wondering. Why are you helping me?"

"It was rumoured the League wants to take down All Might," the same man answered. "We would all appreciate that because it makes acting for us a little easier. But I personally can't see myself helping much with that."

Ah, so kind of a selfish reason. They can't, or don't want to, help, so they won't, Killua inferred. "Alright, well, I'll go find Giran. Thanks for your help." He spun around to start walking out, but another person spoke.

"Good luck in your search," a new person said. "I hope the League reaches their goal." Killua turned his head very slightly and dipped it a little to show he heard the man. He walked out of the alley and took his mask off and headed back out into the open of the city. He recalled the man's instructions to meet Giran and followed them to arrive where this broker was supposed to be.

He was in a more rundown part of the city where people still lived, but it was expected that villains would be here more often, and thus required more hero patrols. The buildings around him were not very tall. A few stories here and there for apartment buildings, but nothing taller than that. Giran was supposedly around the side door of one of these buildings which lead underground.

Killua's body suddenly tensed up. He knew this feeling. Someone's watching me. Not just some passerby, but actually watching me. Killua's first rule of being watched was to never make it seem obvious that he knew he was being tailed. His second rule was to never actively look for the person. I can't tell which direction they're in! It's obvious they have experience tracking people. Keep moving. Stopping for this long can be suspicious to them. He had only stopped for a few seconds, but he moved on and hoped he did not look like he noticed something.

They've hidden their presence, Killua concluded. It's like Gon during the first Hunter Exam when he was after Hisoka's tag. Didn't know Nen, but he managed to hide himself from Hisoka. This person's doing the same. If they mess up at any point, though, I'm sure they're stronger than the random people here, and that'll give their location away. Even through this relatively populated area, I should be able to pinpoint them. He knew he was getting close to the building Giran would be in. Each step he took felt like it was in slow motion, and he was actively paying attention to his tracker to check if they would give up their position.

At that moment, the condition was perfect. He entered a random side alley, one that was not where Giran would be located. Nobody was watching him. His tracker's position was revealed for a brief moment, likely to move for a better view, and they could not keep their presence hidden. Killua jumped on top of the building next to him to find the person. He sped across the tops of buildings to go where he had sensed his tracker's location for the brief moment. It was an odd choice; not the tallest building in the area, which would be the obvious place, but clearly, they had more brains than to pick the most obvious spot.

But on this three-story building stood nobody but Killua. He darted his eyes and twisted his body around for a full range of views. He could not see anyone getting away. His eyes widened at the turn of events. How?! I came here as fast as I could! Nobody should be able to react this quickly and get away! Unless, they were leaving anyway – but still, I can't see anyone! He calmed down by taking some deep breaths. Okay, it could be a Quirk too. I can't rule that out. Something that helps with espionage. Was it a villain, or did Nezu get someone to do this? If it's the latter, it's probably a hero. Maybe he doesn't actually believe that I'll kill anyone getting in my way, like a spy, or maybe he trusts this person's ability enough. Either way, Killua's lips curved up into an excited grin. "This is going to be interesting. Can you hold out, or will I get to you first? It's a game of cat and mouse, but both of us are the cat and the mouse."


Sorry for the wait. Hope you liked the one or two twists I threw in this chapter like Killua saying he might not immediately kill everyone that goes after him, and Nezu going ahead and trying to interfere with Killua's plans anyways. We'll see where this goes, and who the person Nezu was talking to is and who was actually tracking Killua at the end here.

I haven't decided on Gon and Killua's hero names yet. That might show up in the next chapter, but I'm not sure exactly where the next chapter will end. Thanks for all the support everyone! Till next time.