"I'm so happy to be fighting again!" Gon cheered as the group approached the 199th floor. Gon and Killua's fights were back to back today, and Kurapika and Leorio's had already taken place. The blonde had suggested scheduling their fights so that himself and the Goblin went first to get them out of the way, and then Gon and Killua's directly in succession so that they could hurry and get through all the necessary hoops to be placed off-site.

Kurapika had advanced to the 189th floor and had been awarded 7,000 in gold.

Leorio had advanced to the 101st floor and had gotten 12,000 in silver.

The Goblin was still chattering incoherently about how he was now being paid in silver instead of bronze. He was very pleased with himself.

Killua's fight was first, which meant that he would be dictating how far himself and Gon advanced this fight. Last time he had been forced into sticking with the 199th floor, but today it was time to see just how good Gon was at accessing fights and holding back. Killua wanted to give him a bit of a challenge, just to be a shitface.

He wouldn't make it too hard though, because he really had a soft spot for Gon.

And he didn't want him to have to struggle too much.

I'm so happy I didn't dream last night.

It had been such a relief to wake up in the morning without steamy images of Gon swirling about in his mind. So it really had been a one time thing! Good! It was for the best… and Killua would NOT allow himself to be disappointed. It didn't matter if dreams were the only way he could be as close to Gon as he longed to be. Because he shouldn't be thinking that way and he didn't need anything like that!

Yeah…

Sapphire eyes slowly edged in Gon's direction. The hybrid was skipping about in his usual hyper fashion. It was an overcast day, and even though it set the world into a dull pallor, his eyes stuck out all the more. With the darkened lighting from the windows, those amber depths and their ethereal glow stuck out, sending light dancing across the planes of his face.

His soft lips reflected the orange light from his eyes… and sharp little teeth poked out from hiding.

I just want to–

Stop.

Killua averted his gaze.

"And our silver haired figher's opponent will be… Synthia!"

The crowd roared in excitement, this was a perfect distraction. He couldn't be stuck in his head about Gon if he was busy fighting. Killua stretched his neck out a bit, rolling it from side to side. He released the dampers on his strength, but only a little bit. His opponent was a Humanoid-Titan, just like that Uvogin guy.

She was muscular as hell, with olive skin and wild white hair. Her eyes were red and piercing, and her face was alight in a wicked grin. She towered over Killua, and was clearly a lot stronger than he was without tapping into his Dragonite strength.

The Titan wore a metallic white tube top and pair of spandex shorts, showing off her muscles and expanse of smooth skin. If Killua were straight, he might have been a little distracted at the moment.

But women didn't work on him.

Just like poisons didn't work on him.

"A bag of bones like you, doesn't stand a chance against me!" the woman gloated.

Killua rolled his eyes, not in the mood for pre-fight banter.

Well, Gon. I guess you were right. I do look like a bag of bones.

The Valkyrie smirked and flipped his switch on.

"We'll see about that, old lady."

Gon punched clean through his opponent's chest, and blood splattered all over the arena floor. The Selkie-Pixie hybrid choked, coughing up blood, before collapsing onto the ground. The horned boy sighed as the creature slid off of his arm, staining it in purple colored Selkie blood. The audience roared in applause, ravenous over the immense amount of blood that had been shed.

Both Gon's and his opponent's.

Pixies were particularly brutal, and that fight had gotten a little more heated than Gon would have liked. He hadn't wanted to kill anyone while fighting in the Arena, but it looked like that wasn't an option. He shrugged it off. Death was death.

The hybrid glanced around the messy arena. His neurotoxin was laying in puddles all over the place. That Pixie-hybrid had been very quick, and had dodged the deadly goop with ease. It seemed like Gon needed some more practice with actually using his toxin in combat.

Gon walked off towards the winner's tunnel, leaving a dripping trail of blood.

"Gon!"

The hybrid turned his gaze up towards the stands above the tunnel. Killua was standing there, leaning up against the railing. He must have run from wherever he had been sitting.

"Are you okay!?" the Valkyrie frantically asked.

"Yeah!" Gon cheered, giving him a thumbs up. "That fight was so fun!"

Sapphire eyes narrowed, not convinced. "You're bleeding all over the place! You just about gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh," Gon commented, looking down at his arms and chest, which were indeed lacerated and bleeding. He also had a gushing wound on his head and a stab wound in his stomach. It really hurt! "I am pretty beat up, aren't I?"

Killua choked over his words. "Pretty beat up?! That's such an understatement, you idiot!" he yelled, pointing at Gon over the railing.

"I'm okay, really!" the tan skinned boy protested, waving his hands about in the air… and flinging blood all over the floors, which was probably not helping his case.

"Yeah, yeah," Killua glared. "If you weren't covered in that damned poison then I'd march down there and beat you up!"

Gon blinked and smiled sheepishly, for once glad he didn't have an antidote for his toxin. "I can heal! It's perfectly fine!" he assured his suddenly nagging friend. He didn't realize Killua could get so protective when he got hurt! Well, he had sat by his side the entire time he was unconscious after fighting the final serpent. But he hadn't realized that Killua was this big of a nanny about it!

"You damned well better be able to heal! You ruined those clothes I picked out for you too! Human blood is hard to get out, ya know!"

Gon stuck his tongue out.

Killua flicked his tail in displeasure. "Just go down your winner tunnel, you jackass."

Gon made a heart motion with his fingers and scampered down the winners tunnel, well aware that Killua was flipping him off. He giggled as he ran towards the sign-off desk. Killua was really funny when he got all grumpy and protective!

The hybrid activated his biochemical, focusing on his many wounds. The skin started to lace together, and his bones started to ache as more blood was produced to compensate for all that he had spilled. The burns from the raw selkie blood also started to heal up, and his body gave off a bit of a steam as his body temperature shot up during its healing process.

He thought back to his fight. Gon was relatively certain that he had held back the proper amount to keep in stride with Killua… but he was actually a little worried that he hadn't fought hard enough! Killua's fight had been really violent. That Titan lady was a total beast!

Killua had ripped her head off and held it up like a trophy!

It had given Gon chills. The silver haired Valkyrie always looked like some sort of death god whenever he drank the blood of his defeated opponents.

Then again, he had also fought without using any special Valkyrie powers. Except for his claws though. It was clear that Killua was trying to see if Gon could use his head. And he could! Maybe he sucked at math, but he was super good with fighting and fight analysis!

Gon hadn't used any of his biochemical during the fight, and had fought with his bare hands and used the neurotoxin to try and paralyze his speedy opponent. Since none of his toxin had actually landed, that's what worried him. Hopefully punching through the Pixie-hybrid's chest had been enough to compensate?

Well, only time would tell!

Killua had been advanced to floor 218 and had gotten 170,000 in gold. It was about time to see how Gon had done!

"What?! Only 150,000?!"

Killua laughed out loud, and Gon glared over at him. It wasn't funny! He had moved to the 218th floor just like Killua, so why did he always get less money?!

"There is no point being displeased with the award you are given. Your fight has already taken place and there is no going back," the purple skinned alien lady said grumpily. Gon sweatdropped when he realized what he had just said and how it had sounded.

It seemed like he was complaining about not getting enough money for his liking!

She didn't know that he was annoyed at Killua beating him..

Oh gods, this was so awkward.

"Uh–" Gon started not knowing what to say.

"Here's your card back, I've updated your account balance," she said, tossing the card back into Gon's hands. He caught it with an awkward scramble. "If you want more money, then make a bigger effort in your next battle. Next!"

Gon walked off, feeling like a dog with his tail between his legs. Even the other contestants in line were looking at him funny! Dang ittttttt.

Leorio and Killua were amused to no end, of course. Gon hid his face in his arms as they shoved him around and laughed their heads off. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that!" Gon whined.

"Too late now!" Leorio said in a sing-song voice.

"Now that hag thinks you're an ungrateful asshole!" Killua snickered while shoving Gon's head down.

"Don't remind me! I feel so bad."

"Quit bothering him," Kurapika sighed. "Like she said when she updated Killua's floor status, we have a scheduled meeting with an official to arrange our off-site move."

"She told me but not you, I wonder why that is," Killua taunted directly into Gon's ear.

The hybrid squirmed out of Killua's grip and whined dramatically as he shoved him away. "Stopppp ittttt, I'm already embarrassed there's no need to make it worse!"

The silver haired trouble maker laughed out loud. And even though that laughter was at Gon's expense, he still found it beautiful.

The four of them sat in a dreary looking office. The walls were a washed out pale blue, and the floors were made of some tacky brown office carpet. The man at the desk was a Serpentine Cryptid with boring gray scales crawling up his neck and urine yellow eyes. He was very unattractive, with thin and balding brown hair and waxy skin.

Usually the Heavan's Arena workers are so diverse, young, and attractive. What's with this gasbag of a dude?

Killua was zoning out, finding the pattern on the ceiling tiles far more interesting than this dude's droning. Gon was in a similar state, but he had a sense of class that Killua lacked. At least Gon managed to look at the family pictures and half-dead plants on the desk. Then it seemed like he was slightly paying attention. The Valkyrie, however, was clearly not listening in the slightest.

Maybe if he were gay I'd pay more attention to him.

But he's definitely straight.

Tacky family portraits just scream "overbearing wife."

"-Killua."

"Huh?" the Valkyrie said, awaking from his half-sleep trance with a snort.

Kurapika gave him an annoyed look. "We were just saying that since you were the first one to move off-site, you get to select the apartment."

"Woah, we're getting apartment status? Not just dingy hotel rooms?" Killua asked.

Kurapika's eyebrow twitched.

"That's what we've been discussing for the past 45 minutes!" Leorio all but yelled.

"And our hotel room is a far cry from 'dingy,' child," the blonde added.

Gon was sucking his lips into his mouth to suffocate his laughter, and the boring straight guy was making some stupid false face of undersanding.

I swear, this place makes me wanna either jump off a bridge or fuck a girl.

Neither option was something Killua found pleasant.

"Whatever, just know that leaving the final decision up to me is a mistake that you will regret," the silver haired boy yawned with a dismissive flap of his hand.

"That's why we've manipulated the options," Kurapika retorted.

"Uh! Offended!" Killua fake-gasped with a hand slapped against his chest. "But also, that was the correct decision."

Leorio pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Alright, old man, show me what we've got," Killua sighed at the straight man.

The boring-balding-man (the BBM) turned his computer monitor to face Killua. "We have various options available to us!" he started. "I'll just recap our parameters, 'kay?"

Killua grunted in response.

"We cannot select an apartment unless we are able to pay for it up front. Which means that the apartment you select must be one that the four of you can pool your winnings to pay the down payment for. The apartment does not pay for itself, so keep in mind that money will be extracted from your future winnings based on which apartment you select. The nicer the apartment, the more money subtracted from your winnings to pay for the lodgings."

Killua quirked an eyebrow. This was clearly how the Phantom Troupe made so much money. It was obvious that they had way more money that they knew what to do with, so they way overpaid their fighters. They benefited, however, from this little mess here.

They had either built or constructed these way nice hotels, though Killua suspected that they had actually purchased run down hotels and renovated them to save money. Since it was required that all fighters move off-site after floor 200, that meant that there was no way not to stay in one of the Phantom Troupe run hotels.

And with every contestant's hands tied like that, they had a flawless monopoly on the housing market within the Arena. It was not mentioned how much money they would be charging for the apartment, you wouldn't even be able to see your winnings before the amount was subtracted! And because the second you move to the 200th floor you start having to pay, you never know how much money is normal for the off-site floors without having to pay for housing.

The Phantom Troupe could charge outrageous amounts of money for lodging, and there was no getting out of it, or even realizing that you were being scammed in the first place.

Smart.

Devious, but smart.

For a band of thieves, these guys sure have a refined style of thievery.

All this boring office business made perfect sense now. The Troupe needed a way to conceal this obvious scam, and they covered it up with really official-looking office business like this. It was boring and monotonous on purpose, to prevent contestants from paying too much attention to what they were getting into.

The Heavan's Arena was well known as a place to make insane amounts of money. However, if this business mess was any indication, they could be making a ton MORE money, but were prevented from doing so because of this little setup.

Sneaky. Very sneaky.

I can't even bring myself to be pissed off, it's just too impressive.

"Alright, I get it," Killua drawled, wondering if Kurapika had noticed as well (there was no way Leorio or Gon had noticed, they were far too dense). "So what apartments do I have to choose from?"

"Wonderful! I'm glad we're on the same page!" the BBM declared with a clap of his hands. "You're friends here have four options laid out. The first of which is an apartment right here in Heavan's Arena Square with a spectacular view of the glorious streets and architecture!"

He flipped through some pictures of a crazy-expensive looking apartment. It was decked out with modern furniture, and had clearly been designed by some sort of professional designer who had had way too much fun.

"Keep in mind that this is our most expensive option, and is on one of the middle floors."

"This one is my favorite!" Gon chirped, squirming in his seat.

Makes sense. He really likes Heaven's Arena Square.

"Our second option is an apartment complex in the city proper. It is on the other side of the bridge, and quite a ways from the Arena. However, it is a penthouse apartment right in the heat of the city! Your neighbors will be well known Arena celebrities, and the complex directly adjacent houses many movie stars and trillionaires! This is our least expensive option, with an incredible discount active for you to take advantage of!"

The BBM clicked through some pictures of an enormous penthouse apartment with sprawling rooms, high ceilings, and windows on every wall.

"That one's my favorite!" Leorio declared.

Killua rolled his eyes. The cheapest one? His favorite? Surprise surprise. It's also right in the heat of Yorknew City, we'd get the full urban experience if we moved all the way out there.

"Our third option is actually a condominium! It is in a newly constructed neighborhood, courtesy of the Heavan's Arena! On a quaint little street on the far edge of town lays your suburban dreamscape with the perks of city life! What we have available is one of the more spacious models, with five separate bedrooms, six baths, and even a fully finished basement! This is our second cheapest option."

Killua inspected the pictures depicting a light colored, cozy-yet-large home with plush carpets and warm hardwood flooring. The bedrooms were spacious, just as promised, and the square footage was impressive for the price.

"Our final option, and second most expensive, is on the farthest Western edge of Yorknew, and right on the water! Yes you heard correctly, water! Believe it or not, Yorknew City actually backs up directly to the Atlantia Ocean! Here we have an apartment on one of the highest floors! It is beach themed, with that vacation all the time feel about it! It is a rectangular layout, and every bedroom has an ocean view! So no need for bickering on that topic! Our building is also right on the water, with a private strip of beach alloted to each and every room!"

The balding Cryptid flipped through pictures of an indeed, beachy apartment with an ocean view and open floor plan.

"Now, which one are we selecting?" the BBM asked Killua.

The Valkyrie placed his hand on his chin and hummed.

"You need to pick the first one!" Gon exclaimed, hanging off of Killua's shoulder and shaking him about.

"No! The second one!" Leorio shrieked, pulling at Killua's other shoulder.

The silver haired troublemaker swished his tail mischievously, all this power was definitely going to his head!

"Kurapika, which one is your favorite?" he asked, ignoring the other two. Gon and Leorio gasped in horror, and fixed the Elf with expectant looks, knowing that since Kurapika was Killua's mother he would likely pick whichever one Kurapika liked the most.

"I do not have a preference," the blonde declared with his arms crossed and eyes shut.

Killua smirked. Liar.

He was trying to play the middle man, but Killua knew Kurapika, and he definitely liked the third option the most.

Leorio clearly noticed this also, but took the opportunity Kurapika left to plead his case. "You gotta choose the penthouse! It's a PENTHOUSE, and it's on the market for super cheap! We'll also be right up next to all those famous lovely ladies and gents! Don't you wanna meet some hotties and hook up?!"

"Ew, no! Stop being a gross old man!" Killua retorted, pushing Leorio away by his face.

Gon took up the opening Leorio left, and all but crawled into Killua's lap. His personal space was completely destroyed, and Gon grabbed his face and pulled Killua so close that their noses almost touched. "Killua, I'm your best friend ever right?"

"Uh– What–" the Valkyrie sputtered, getting all flustered and hot because of how close Gon was. He could feel his breath on his lips. His knee was in between Killua's thighs and dangerously close to his crotch, and it was taking everything in him to keep his tail still and prevent any incriminating squirming from it.

"I'm your best friend in the whole world?" Gon prompted.

"Y-yeah–"

"I'm your favorite person?"

"WhAt, GON–"

"I'll take that as a yes!" Amber eyes sparkled with determination. "You have to pick the one in Heavan's Arena Square! Pleaseeeeeeeeeee? For me?"

Dammit, he was making that stupid puppy dog face—

"Hey! Don't hold your friendship over his head!" Leorio yelled, grabbing Gon under the shoulders and hauling him off Killua ("don't use Killua's gayness against him" is what he had wanted to say, but Kurapika was a buzzkill).

Gon stuck out his tongue, and Killua sat back up in his seat, never happier for the existence of Leorio.

"You manipulative little asshole!" Leorio accused, keeping Gon slung over his shoulder. "You knew exactly what you were doing!"

The hybrid giggled like the jackass he was. "As if you weren't doing the exact same thing!"

Killua glared at the two of them, and then at Kurapika who was chuckling into his hand.

"Can it, fudanshi," he muttered so that only the Elf could hear.

The blonde choked on air, and was appearing to have a little fit, caught between dissolving into hysterics and attacking Killua for such an accusation.

"All of you have sucky taste!" the Valkyrie spoke up, sick of having to be under the speculating eyes of this boring straight man.

"Why's that?" Gon asked from his imprisonment over Leorio's shoulder.

"First of all," Killua said, going off on a rant. "The apartment in Heavan's Arena Square may be in a really cool location and really well furnished, but it's on one of the lower floors and way overpriced for the amenities that it has! The decor is nice, but it's a tight space and the photography of the place is clearly manipulated to make it look nicer than it actually is. Not to mention the view isn't even that good. If we were gonna live in the Square, why would we settle for a crappy overpriced apartment like that one?"

Gon's jaw dropped, utterly obliterated.

"And with that penthouse apartment, we'd be miles away from the Arena, and with all this dumb-ass traffic it'd take hours in a taxi just to get here for our fights! It may be in the center of all the Yorknew City madness, but that's exactly the issue. There will be people around everywhere, and we won't be able to leave the penthouse without being swamped with fans and paparazzi. It may be a good deal and a beautiful location, but it's not worth it if we're trapped inside all the time."

Leorio sputtered, unable to find the words.

"And don't even get me started on that condo-shit-hole. Sure, maybe it's nice for boomers and boring child-popping hetero couples, but I want no part in some boring ass neighborhood. I can tell from the pictures alone that that is where all the lightweights at the Arena stay, and all they do is get to the 200th floor then freeze up and try to just chill it out. It'll be boring, and all the non-Arena neighbors will be cookie cutter families and retired old sacks of bones. There's nothing to do out there, and even if it seems cozy it'll get boring as hell. They're advertising it all over the place cause they know it's a sucky location compared to the other choices available."

Kurapika as well as the BBM seemed to deflate.

"If you ask ME the best option is the beach apartment. It's right next to the fucking beach, so that's an entire perk all on it's own. It's expensive, but for good reason, unlike the one in the Square. There's an indoor pool in the complex, as well as a gym, atrium, small aquarium, and a couple of restaurants. There's free breakfast every morning, and with it being right on the water the place is right up next to all these beach-vacation style places. There's tons of grocery and convenience stores, as well as all sorts of different attractions. There's an arcade, and even a 24-7 fair running on the seaside. We'll be staying in a nice as hell apartment surrounded by a kick-ass part of the city that'll be like Yorknew City proper but way more laid back and tame. There's another mall nearby, and did you fail to hear that we get our own personal strip of beach? We'd be all set, and the traffic going towards the far side of the city from here is nothing compared to the shit we'd have to swim through if we had to go back and forth between the penthouse or the hetero-house. So OBVIOUSLY, I'm choosing the fourth option."

The other four males blinked at Killua.

"Well damn, if you put it that way," Leorio spoke up, Gon nodding in agreement.

Killua slid their new key into the new lock of their new apartment that Killua had chosen!

He'd had the other three kissing his ass ever since they'd left the BBM's office. The Valkyrie was clearly the only one with any realtor's sense whatsoever! They'd paid a fat sum of money for this place, but it was more than worth it. It was a newer building, and was cleaned regularly with enormous palm trees and tropical plants bordering the building and growing around every corner. The halls between the rooms were outdoor and exposed to the cool wind coming off of the ocean.

Leorio was pushing a metal suitcase rack holding all of their stuff, as well as Gon who was riding on it. Kurapika had his murse in one hand and the pool bag from the water park in the other, repurposed for car trips.

Killua was wearing those sick khaki cargo pants along with a tight black tank top and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. He had stolen Gon's leather and cork sandals, he really should have gotten some for himself! The salty air felt great in his fluffy hair, and even though he felt his main getting even poofier than usual in the humid atmosphere, he loved it nonetheless.

The Valkyrie swung the door open and led his friends into their new home.

"Look at where we're staying! Observe how my choice was better than yours and wallow in your incompetence!" Killua ordered as he danced around the apartment. The BBM didn't disappoint! This place was just as great as it had been in the pictures!

It was open, with high-ish ceilings and modern style light fixtures with a sort of beachy spin to them. The walls were in various shades of blue, with several accent walls and even one wall that was covered in a fishing net. There were sea-themed paintings along the walls, screaming "ocean" but not in a tacky way.

The kitchen was decked out, with sparkling stainless steel appliances and sparkling porcelain dishes and silvery cutlery. Branching out from the main space were two hallways that were too wide to be considered hallways, each with two bedrooms. The bedrooms had their own personal bathroom attached, as well as giant walk in closets.

Killua inspected his closet, accepting the obvious challenge to fill it to the brim.

Kurapika was seeing what light switches did what, and Leorio was still screaming about the gargantuan flat screen tv with an expensive-as-hell gaming system already attached.

Gon had opened all of the sliding french doors (there were four sets of them leading to a huge balcony that attached both the main space as well as the four bedrooms) and was leaning against the railing, drinking in the ocean breeze and setting sun.

Killua joined him, walking out the door connecting his bedroom to the outside and standing beside his friend. The orange light played against his dark skin, and his dark hair swayed in the salty breeze.

"You like it here?" the Valkyrie asked casually.

"Yeah, a lot. It reminds me of Whale Island!"

Killua smiled, chest gaining warmth. Gon's smile was so… bright. He was so happy, a new degree of happiness that the Valkyrie had never seen on him before. Gon really was at home at the beck and call of the sand and the sea.

It was so adorable watching him scent the air and follow the gulls with his sharp eyes.

Killua wanted to stand closer… he wanted to wrap Gon up in a loving hug and drink in this beautiful moment with him. But he couldn't do that. Sadness edged against Killua's vision, but he pushed it away. Now was not the time for his heartsick moping. Gon was right here, and that was all that mattered.

Sapphire eyes widened, however, and pale cheeks gathered a pink tint when Gon leaned against Killua's shoulder, pressing their sides flush together. He sighed happily, stepping in closer to his friend and keeping them in contact.

Suddenly the moment went from centered around the sunset against the ocean to centered around them, and Killua's heart melted in his chest. He found himself wishing… that more moments like this could happen. That he could share soft points in time, just about Gon and him.

He found himself thinking… that he really wished to be closer than platonically allowed with Gon.

His heart… ached for it.

Like his lungs ached for air.