A/N: Nyaaa~ askdjkdsk! Thanks so much to the people who reviewed, followed, and fave-d the story! You all are so awesome I want to give you trucks of chocolate right now. ^_^ I do hope you'd stay with me on this until the end. I have faith in you guys. No pressure. Lol. Thank you again! Here's the second chapter. Update will be weekly; in the least. Because I am a college student. That practically explains it all, right? Haha! Yeah, too much talking. Here goes...

Doki = sound of a heartbeat

DISCLAIMER: Gon and Killua are Togashi's children.

I love cheese. And corn. Do you like cheesy and corny stuff too? Kkk~


TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE

CHAPTER TWO
Palpitation Is Not A Freaking Joke

I am dead. I am so, so, so dead!

It did not take even a millisecond for Yuhi to realize her incredibly dreadful situation. When she heard the words from her ever so awfully scholarly seatmate, it instantly clicked–the fact that she was going to be dead soon, sooner than a man about to be shot by a fast bullet. Her head and insides were a complete chaos, at war.

She forgot to do her science homework.

An expression of pure panic and agitation covered her then pale face. She was sweating really hard. Ms. Irisa is going to bury me alive and put all sorts of names she could think of on my gravestone! No, science was a piece of sweet cake to our protagonist back then, but now, and with the brain-melting Chemistry, she's doomed. However, the precious period of time at that moment was the most absolute hope.

It was lunch break.

Yuhi immediately looked at the wall clock hanging at the very top-center of the chalkboard. It was 12:32PM. Classes resume at 1PM, the subject was to be Chemistry. Yes, I can do this! She held her left arm in a tight fist before hoisting her pen, notebook, Chemistry book, and papers on her desk and started scribbling through all of them–the book for reference, the notebook for the given problems, and the papers for the solutions and final answers.

"Uh… Do you need help?" Sejin asked silently, looking indifferent. She had told Yuhi about all the possible things that could happen had she not done her homework, but the latter's brain seemed to have fried immediately after she reminded her of the science assignment.

The auburn-haired girl heard her seatmate. She shook her head instantly. "No, thanks. I can do this! My record's fast!"

The raven-haired sighed. Well, good luck with that. She took a swift glance at the clock before going back to reading her book for advanced lessons.

Yuhi's eyes were sparkling with determination and grit–irises shifting to and fro the four things on her desk, hands moving and writing in a speed of light. She was confident and very positive that she would finish the incredibly complicated problem-solving chemical elements… stuff; because she knew she remember them all–and with the help of the book and the formulas too. Yuhi nodded her head after finishing the first given. You are done in less than ten minutes!

. . .


"Ah, man…" A squeal of pure aggravation escaped Yuhi's throat silently. Her face had a twisted expression of despair and frustration and vexation and hopelessness as she straightened her body and raised both of her arms up as straight as a parallel line for the 5th time. She made the sound again and could only look down while the most embarrassing thing that happened 20 minutes before ran painful humiliating laps in her mind…

XxxflashbackxxX

"Is someone named Yuhi in this class!?"

Every student from class 2-B was cut away from their lunch-break endeavours and shot their heads directly at the door, where a black-haired boy suddenly appeared and shouted his question at the top of his lungs. Everyone blinked. But the boy was seriously anticipating for an answer with his innocent expression.

Crickets cried thrice before a syllable was emitted.

"Eh?"

And everyone turned their gazes towards the girl sitting on her desk by the window in the fourth row, her eyes were wide with curiosity, looking around and finding the person who mentioned her name. Apparently, since it was the lunch break and everyone was practically standing inside the room, she couldn't see a thing other than those pillar humans.

"She's here? Uwaa! I knew it!" the black-haired boy exclaimed, sounding glad–like glad about the fact that he found his long lost precious shirt that he's been looking for forever.

Everyone turned their surprised and astonished faces towards the boy at the door again, blinking, and wondering what on earth was happening.

"Geez, Gon, you don't need to shout, you know."

And as if it was practiced, the people inside the classroom leaned more to the right in unison to look at the person who then spoke without warning behind the black-haired boy.

The girl sitting in the far end of the fourth row blinked and clicked her pen. Gon…? And the instant the name recoiled in her head, a different face came in. She stood up, tiptoeing to catch a sight of the person who was with Gon. But of course that's just an instant reflex; she was completely flabbergasted about Gon coming to see her. Confusion and glee filled her brain. I mean, of course she'd feel confused as to why the raven-haired boy looked for her, but the mere fact that the raven-haired boy was looking for her is totally awesome beyond words. Yuhi loved making friends. And Gon seemed to be a kind of person she would love to share fun times with–sometimes, probably; seldom times? Yeah, she needed to know why he was there first before happily thinking about making friends.

"But I've been looking for her all noon!" the energetic voice of the black-haired boy returned to the frame. The crowd shot their gazes back at him–faces dumbfounded, unfaltering. "Can I come in?" His voice was ecstatic.

The crowd blinked and just like it was practiced they nodded their heads to answer.

Gon's pure bright smile sent too much light inside the room–it was contagious. Everyone else returned it. "Thank you!" he sincerely exclaimed, bowing and looking for the Yuhi he was seeking. He was marching fast; his path was leading him towards where he heard the response from earlier.

Wide-eyed gazes followed his movements.

Yuhi stretched her neck and narrowed her eyes to spot the person–no, two persons who were walking, apparently, towards her direction. Her rather short height didn't help at all. But alas, the moment she let her heels fall flat on the floor, the black-haired boy appeared in front of her with a huge amazed smile on his face, his eyes shining with the rays of the sun. Yuhi couldn't help but return a bright smile of her own–though confused. She looked around and found everyone waiting for their conversation. Yuhi doesn't really show it but she did not like a crowd's attention at all, ever. She needed to take this outside. But when I come in they'll all look at me wondering what we talked about, huh–

"Yuhi!"

Her thoughts were cut off by the boy's jump. She stood straight and stuttered. "Y-Yes!" Her answer was more like a military salutation.

"Do you remember me? I'm Gon!"

Yuhi nodded frantically. Ohh, talking with a rather well-known guy in school sure was making her all nervous and stuff, especially because she did not know why he was there. She had not prepared herself for Gon's speech and for her classmates… questions. Am I in trouble? "Yes! Gon; I remember you!" Ha! Being nervous takes a hell lot of control over her pitch.

It's a good thing the raven-haired boy took it as a sign of enthusiasm. He beamed. "Great!"

The auburn-haired girl was amazed. Her lips voluntarily made a huge convex curve. Her eyes were bright wide. I guess I'm not in trouble!

"Ano… About yesterday–"

Wait, what? Yesterday? Yuhi retracted inside her mind, recalling whatever it was that happened yesterday. Yesterday… yesterday… She silently gasped, and suddenly remembered that Gon had company a little while earlier. She freaked and looked around to find something white. What about yesterday? Did he find out about me…? His best friend… Did he see it in my eyes? Oh, geez, what to do?

"–afternoon. After class, when you were standing at the door of our classroom–"

Yuhi was sure she would explode if ever Gon mentioned anything about the way she looked the day before while looking at his best friend. And Yuhi was sure she would be on the verge of fainting if ever Killua was the person who's with Gon today. Reason is because not a soul on earth, aside from Sejin, knew about her crushing on the white-haired boy. Yuhi nodded slowly and decided to focus on Gon, but she swore her chest was galloping of extreme thrill and tension at that moment. It doubled when she heard footsteps coming at them.

"Hey, Gon, it's almost time."

Yuhi gasped and turned her wide-eyed gaze towards the person who spoke.

"–I bumped into you. I'm sorry!"

The girl blinked while staring at another black-haired boy behind Gon. He had big ash eyes and a calmed, nice, bright face–but not as bright as Gon's. She returned her gaze towards the latter. Yuhi felt blood rushing through her cheeks. T-That was embarrassing… –for her to expect it was something and someone else, that is. She then realized her position and smiled while shaking her head and waving her frantic shaking hands in front of Gon's waiting face. "N-No, that's fine! I'm totally fine! You didn't have to come here to apologize!" A sheepish laugh escaped her throat.

A sheepish laugh was returned by Gon, scratching his nape. "Yeah, well, I was worried because we met that way. I was kinda hoping for a proper introduction, you know."

"Oh…" Yuhi felt completely awed by the black-haired boy's words. Yay, he's nice! She laughed and stretched out her hand. "Hi, I'm Yuhi!"

Gon beamed again and reached for a friendly shake. "I'm Gon! Nice to meet you!"

They both laughed at each other. Snickers and small giggles from the crowd echoed in the room. Then the bell rang. Gon waved his hand. "See you around!" He and his black-haired friend ran to the door while shooting each person in the room a look of acknowledgement.

Yuhi was still laughing with pure awe. She couldn't believe a person would be that good-natured. No, she didn't doubt Gon's friendly countenance at all. He's soooo nice! He didn't have to come here but… he's so nice! Yuhi's chest was filled with absolute glee. Then she looked around, finding everyone looking at her–waiting, and giving her goofy smiles. She completely reddened and nervous reflexes got triggered. "I-It's not what you think!" she shouted. She could feel hot smoke come out of her ears because of extreme agitation. Not that she was giving meaning to Gon's visit, but because she knew her classmates were the ones doing that.

"What's not what we think?"

Suddenly, the air inside the classroom became intense. Everyone returned to their respective seats and fixed their uniforms and cleared their desks. Yuhi was left to stand erect and think of an answer to the slim middle-aged brown-haired lady who was walking towards the teacher's desk with graceful but solid strides.

"Uh…" Yuhi panicked. Her chest was galloping. She never was good in making up silly excuses for her actions. Nervous, she moved her hands to her back and fiddled with her fingers, not knowing where to look.

"Gon from class 2-A came to the class looking for Yuhi, Ms. Irisa. It was a friendly conversation, but of course it is only natural for everyone here to think otherwise for jests–that's the reason why you heard Yuhi say that it's not what we all think." Sejin was the one who answered.

Yuhi looked at her and smiled and mouthed a 'thank you'. But Sejin only cleared her throat and pushed the bridge of her glasses. A sweat dropped from Yuhi's forehead. I'm screwed…

Ms. Irisa nodded her head carefully and looked at Yuhi who nodded with a sheepish smile. The former sighed and sat down. Yuhi did the same. "Alright, Ms. Nagame, since you… captured my special attention in the start of this afternoon, why don't you delight us with the fruit of your hard work I have given you all yesterday?" Her tone was gentle but it was completely sarcastic.

Yuhi then blinked. What is she talking about? It's just then when everyone else in the room was hoisting their notes and books inside their bags that Yuhi came to recall the work she left. She instantly looked at her notes on her desk. Number two isn't finished yet! Oh how crushed were her pride and ego at that time! She turned her gaze towards Ms. Irisa who was waiting for her to start with her deadly purple cat eyes. She dared not to look at her classmates for she knew they were looking at her too. She gulped. "I…"

"Ms. Nagame, please." Ms. Irisa gestured for her to go on.

Yuhi fought with her thoughts and finally decided that excuses won't ever work with this person. "I… didn't do my homework," she silently stated, looking down. Everyone shared silent gasps and whispers because of surprise. Honesty was new to them when it came to unfinished homework and forgotten projects.

"Oh?" the tone in the teacher's voice was a mix of curiosity and amusement. "Would you mind coming here, Yuhina, and telling me everything?"

The latter obeyed, avoiding eye contact with everyone else inside the room. She stood askew in front of her teacher, delighting herself with her shoes.

"Well?"

Yuhi took a deep breath and whispered; "I… I forgot to do my homework, Ms. Irisa. I'm sorry."

The latter nodded and crossed her arms against her chest, leaning her back on her chair. "Oh, you forgot?" she asked aloud, as if purposely letting the whole class hear her reason.

Yuhi nodded and just wished the torture would end already. Oh, how badly she wanted to run off to the sea and let her forgetful brain be washed away by the tides at that moment.

Ms. Irisa leaned more to her right to call the attention of everyone in the class. "Did any of you also forget to do the homework?" Some went stiff, looking from left to right and waiting for someone to answer. However some only sighed and shook their heads disbelievingly. She narrowed her eyes towards the group of delinquent boys and girls. "No?" They looked at each other before frantically shaking their heads. "Okay," the purple-eyed woman noted before turning her gaze back at the girl in front of her. She stood up and motioned Yuhi towards the door. "Come with me, Ms. Nagame."

The auburn-haired bit her lip and followed. Ah, man…

Xxxflashback-endxxX

Puffed cheeks covered Yuhi's face as she continued to look down, letting the sane and rational part of her brain scold her lazy and forgetful ones. She had a feeling that those lazy and forgetful parts of her brain looked like her face at that time. She was honestly repenting and had accepted her mistake with all her heart. But repenting wasn't enough to escape from the punishment her teacher reasonably gave her.

Yuhi was to stand on the far end of the hallway, with both of her arms raised up until the period ends–the usual and normal punishment teachers practice in the school for tardy students.

Her throat once again released a silent whining sound. She had been standing there for over 20 minutes now, so that means… 40 minutes more? Yuhi sighed in defeat and nodded to herself, eyes starting to return to its usual brightness. This is nothing. I deserved this. Then after a minute of concentration and self-motivation, she sighed, and looked disheartened again. It was not in Yuhi's nature to complain about things. But darn, raising your arms up for one whole hour was seriously not a joke. It is painful, and Yuhi's shoulders were starting to hurt. She even faced the window to find something distracting from outside. Though it helped, it helped only a little. Sleeping in class is so much better than forgetting to do my homework. At least the punishment's…

Her train of thoughts trailed off after a pair of somnolent cerulean eyes appeared in her mind, and magically followed by that distinct white fluffy hair and pale ivory skin to make up a face. A smile spread across her face. Yuhi closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, battling with her brain on what curve his lips should make. The usual? Yuhi mentally drew a single small line under the face's nose for lips. She shrugged in delight and felt like giggling. Yuhi loved seeing Killua with his normal doesn't-care-a-thing-in-the-world expression. How about a smile? She replaced the small line with a semi convex curve and mentally stared at the picture. She sighed of complete bedazzlement. Yuhi also loved to see Killua smile too. Sure she had seen the boy grin and laugh with Gon or with other friends at sometime, but she'd give anything for a glance of Killua's pure smile.

For minutes she delighted herself with the boy's face and her precious encounter with his best friend, Gon, earlier. Because though she was completely embarrassed by what had happened, she was happy she gained an awesome friend that day. It didn't matter if he was the best friend of the love of her life–well, maybe it mattered a little, but nonetheless Gon was still a nice person so it was a great feeling being able to talk to him and in that kind of situation too! Yuhi laughed silently after remembering their acquaintance a little while earlier. He sure is a weird one, in a good kind of way. Yuhi started humming to herself while flexing her shoulders. Not thinking about her arms gave her comfort. She turned away from the window to look at the time. It has been 30 minutes then. Another wide goofy smile spread across her face. Progress~ she sang.

And just then she started hearing footsteps from behind her. Cocking her head to the side, she turned around to see who it was. But she immediately gasped and turned towards the window again after naming the person.

Her homeroom teacher; it was Mr. Yama, coming out of room 2-A.

Yuhi prayed Mr. Yama would spare her a lecture at that time. Her four-eyed homeroom teacher seeing her walking through the hallway alone with Ms. Irisa from class 2-A room was worse enough. She was sure Mr. Yama had told every single being about her impeccable habit of sleeping in class and probably added his theories about why Ms. Irisa monopolized her 30 minutes ago. My pride's completely ruined. Yuhi listened and waited.

A step. Four sequence of steps. Door sliding shut. Mr. Yama mumbling something about school rules. A series of footsteps towards her direction. There were two people. Footsteps getting closer. Her own pulse beating faster. Footsteps getting closer and closer. Footsteps directly about 6 feet from where she was standing. Footsteps halting.

"Stay here until the period ends. Don't do anything unruly. This is for students, who do not do their school requirement, to think about what they did. I sure hope you'd learn after this."

Yuhi blinked and fought with her thoughts about whether or not she should look at the person who Mr. Yama was talking stuff Ms. Irisa talked to her about earlier–to know who she shared the same sentiments with at that time. Curiosity prevailed, and she decided to turn around. However a hand stopped her from moving.

"You're free to chat with my star student here if you wish." Mr. Yama's tone was calmly sarcastic, just like Ms. Irisa's. He laughed. "But of course don't talk about becoming partners in indolent crime, alright?" The students were silent. Mr. Yama ended his pointless speech by clearing his throat. "I'll come back in 30 minutes."

Yuhi released the air from her puffed cheeks and sighed. Mr. Yama never fails to introduce me as his star student to every being in the world. She slightly smiled, a sweat dropping from her temple. I might get famous if he does that often, ne. Teachers were sure shaking her mood for the day, but she threw the bad thoughts off the window. At least now she has company! Yuhi smiled her brightest and turned her excited gaze to the right, ready to start a conversation. "H–"

But there was no one there. She blinked.

"This is stupid," a tired voice mumbled.

There! Yuhi's giddiness never left her countenance all the while turning her gaze fast to her left with that smile on her face. "H–" But again, she paused; because she couldn't believe who she was seeing. Her heart started racing in abnormal beats, her chest felt like it was about to explode, her pulses sounded like drums behind her ears, and her lungs felt like they were drowning, choking.

Ah, it could have been some annoying bully who'd tease and threaten her, right? She could have just been nervous and scared, right? Do you agree?

But Yuhi pictured colourful fireworks dancing in the background at that time. Her joints grew weak as well. She wanted to faint or melt, but she couldn't. She couldn't shun away from the hypnotizing blue eyes that stared back at her. Her fast flowing blood gave tingling chills on every tiny nerve she had in her body. It all was like slow motion, and a freaking girl's dream come true, for crying out loud.

It was Killua. The precious angelic white-haired boy with intense tantalizing deep-blue eyes cool-aired Killua. Killua Zoldyck, for Pete's sake, it was Killua.

Subconscious, Yuhi smiled purely wide and mentally thanked the heavens for the golden moment. It could've been anyone else, but Yuhi swore it was divine intervention. It could've picked a different setting as well, but the bright empty hallway where only the two of them were present, with the sunlight illuminating Killua's whole being perfectly and making him look even more like an angel, and with him staring at her and her staring back, with an instrumental music playing inside her head, was absolutely precious. Yuhi wanted to savour the moment.

But the moment was cut short by the white-haired boy who looked away and closed his eyes, stretching his arms and crossing them comfortably behind his head. He vaulted on the window seat and rested his back on the glass.

After a few seconds Yuhi got back on earth. She realized her aching jaws and released her smile instantly, blood rushing to her cheeks fast. She gulped, and pressed her lips together, and looked down, and looked around, and looked out the window, and glanced at Killua, and sighed, and smiled. Yuhi just didn't know what to do with her life at that moment. She didn't know what position she should make, what posture she should stand in, how to control her fast beating pulse, how to breathe properly; because in all honestly the punishment was taking its toll on her by the minute and everything just felt awkward. Here Killua was sitting comfortably on the window pane and her, standing erect with raised arms–it was… weird.

Yuhi then decided to fix herself one by one. First she needed to calm her freaking self. She needed to think that Killua was just like any other boy in school, like those people who she could easily talk to without palpitating and blushing. Yuhi concentrated. But no, Killua wasn't like any of them. She dropped the thought and just focused on calming down. The auburn-haired closed her eyes and took deep breaths through her mouth. She smiled after. It surprisingly worked!

"Is that guy your homeroom teacher?"

–but only for a millisecond. Yuhi's heartbeat galloped like a gazillion horses were running inside her chest. She instantly turned her gaze up the white-haired boy but found him too dazzling. She removed her eyes from his face, not knowing where to look. But she needed to give an answer, so without much preparation she released a sound; "Y–" but her dry throat cut her short. She swallowed liquid and immediately answered; "Ye–s" but her pounding chest made her choke on her own saliva. She coughed then cleared her throat. Her cheeks were scorching hot. Yuhi took a deep breath and looked outside the window. "Yes."

Finally.

Killua only winced and returned back to acting like he was napping again. "He's no fun," he mumbled under his breath.

Yuhi giggled, and silently laughed and nodded. "Yeah," she replied, not knowing that she did. Then by realization she turned her gaze towards the white-haired boy again to see his facial response. But she ended up shutting her mouth and silently coughing.

The white-haired boy had his left eye open, looking at Yuhi. He observed with indifference, how she reacted. Then after seconds of staring, he opened both of his jaded looking eyes and silently muttered, "No one's watching."

Huh? Yuhi blinked, and stared with wide eyes directly at Killua's blue ones. The latter's words hit her like a bolt of lightning and it made all of her veins throb frantically like fast beating drums were implanted inside her body.

"Your arms. Aren't they numbing already?"

Swallowing a chunk of liquid was necessary. Yuhi's cheeks were so hot she could fry eggs in them and they'd cook fast. It just felt like every little thing she did and thought was being taped and aired for the whole universe to see. She mentally cursed her brain. Controlling her breathing, she realized their topic, felt her shoulders and flexed them a little. They were slightly painful. "…Not much," she muttered, taking up the courage to smile at him to try and look convincing.

But all Killua did was stare at her nonchalantly.

Yuhi pressed her lips together and led her eyes from his face. Killua made her feel so uncomfortable and nervous and happy and whatever at that time. She didn't know. This made her heart race even more. It's just then when she was feeling the intensity of the known gaze that she decided to break it. "W-Why?" She stuttered!

"No one's even watching," he noted again, shrugging. His eyes never left hers.

Another blush crashed her cheeks. Yuhi looked away to hide her face. She was so nervous. She hadn't talked to him like this before, you see, and Killua wasn't just an ordinary person in Yuhi's life–Killua was the angel Killua for her. So there you go. "I… uh–" She turned her gaze up to her own arms. "It's my punishment."

After a few seconds Killua let out a sound of sanction from his throat. He returned to closing his eyes and sitting comfortably on the window pane.

A sigh of relief escaped Yuhi's lips. It was a good thing Killua closed his eyes. At least then she didn't have to be all nervous and conscious about her every word and movement. But Killua's words shook her tenacity. She hadn't resisted to any punishment before, ever–let alone violate any by not finishing or doing them. It just doesn't feel right. Yet for a moment she thought of giving up and letting her arms fall. Maybe she was just waiting for someone to tell her to do what she was forcing her mind not to think about.

No, she firmly thought. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she clenched her hands into tight fists. But instantly she removed them, feeling the pressure from the veins of her palms run through her arms and swollen shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked at the white-haired boy sitting on the window seat. She sighed in both awe and slight bitterness. How could he just sit there looking like the most perfect person in the world and not feel guilty about not doing what he's been told to?

And just then Killua slightly opened his left eye that was directly shot at Yuhi.

The latter's breathing suddenly became fast. She instantly looked away, blushing hard. Please don't talk. Please don't talk.

The clocked ticked for another minute. And the auburn-haired girl took this chance to look at the time–both to glance at her white-haired companion and to see how many more minutes she had to endure the pain. Yuhi again sighed of relief. Killua was back to his napping mode. But her face immediately had a twisted disbelieving expression when she glanced at the time. Only 10 minutes had passed since Mr. Yama left! 20 minutes more! Yuhi took a deep breath and nodded to swallow everything in. Her arms were failing. She tried raising them high again but her muscles couldn't do it anymore. She frowned, and turned her gaze towards her companion.

Temptation; that was it.

She was so tempted, so tempted to drop her arms and relax like what Killua was doing. Her brain started showing pictures of herself curling in a bed and not caring about a thing in the world. She sighed, looked down and closed her eyes in dismay.

Slightly opening his eyes again to peek at the girl standing quite askew at his left, Killua raised an eyebrow, waiting for the strange auburn-haired girl to drop her arms already. He knew she was going to give up soon, but he wondered how on earth she could do that for a span of more than 30 minutes. The white-haired boy saw the girl walk past their classroom at the very start of the afternoon class. He didn't care much, though, but an ordinary girl couldn't have done such task that required concentration and strong stamina. Killua waited.

The girl's arms were slowly lowering down–slowly, slowly–until they fell sluggishly to her sides.

The former grimaced and started setting his head comfortably against his palms. He closed his eyes once more, but opened one again when he wasn't feeling any movement from his auburn-haired companion. The girl was just standing there like her soul had been cashed out of her body. Again curiosity filled the white-haired boy's brain. He waited.

The girl's body started swaying like a piece of cloth hanging in the air. A slight jolt ran through his fingertips. He had a feeling she was going to faint on the spot, but Killua, unshaken from his position, waited again.

The girl stopped swaying. Killua let air out through his nose. His curiosity grew. What are you gonna do now? And just then he noticed her change of posture. She was standing straight, bringing her palms to her cheeks and taking a deep breath. This time Killua had opened both of his eyes. Strangely enough, the girl tucked her hair behind her ears and started squeezing her earlobes. Killua stared in disbelief. What the hell is she doing?

Yuhi flexed her shoulders and stared out the window with a sigh. She had done it. She had violated the punishment. Guilt filled her chest but she knew she couldn't do anything. Her own body gave up on her. But thank heavens she forced herself to stay awake. She wouldn't want Killua to come to her rescue again and think of her as some unknown damsel in distress. Yuhi blinked and adjusted her eyes to its usual brightness. Then she felt eyes on her. Skipping a heartbeat she turned her gaze towards the white haired boy, and her senses all shot wide awake. He was looking at her, but with a quizzical, disbelieved look on his face. This made blood rush back to Yuhi's cheeks. She gaped inwardly. Why does everything I do look embarrassing!? Reflexes dictated her action. She gave him a sheepish smile.

But Killua only looked away, closing his eyes.

Yuhi wanted to cry. Could this day get any more awkward? With a pout Yuhi stepped forward and turned around, leaning her back on the wall and fiddling with her fingers.

Seconds of silence commenced. And seconds became minutes in a nick of time. The air seemed stiff and so dry. It choked our dear protagonist. A lot of things were in her mind at that time; the door of their classroom, her agility, the clock, the things that might happen had she been caught. All of the negative things were making her dizzy, but the serene silent moment between her and the white-haired boy somehow calmed her nerves down. Though it made her pulse throb hard against her skin, she liked the feeling of Killua's presence on her right side–it was warm… yet cold at the same time. Yuhi couldn't tell. She didn't want to get caught by anyone sitting next to Killua in an empty hallway, but she didn't want the time to end so quickly.

Then all of a sudden, the sound of a door being slammed shut echoed in the room.

Yuhi straightened up, not knowing what to do. Uh-oh, I was too comfortable. Her gaze instantly shot ahead, staring with horror at Mr. Yama's angry-figure. She panicked, so she couldn't move a single muscle. The former stood in front of her with his arms crossed against his chest, narrowing his eyes to and fro Yuhi and Killua.

Silence.

"…What did I tell you about not becoming partners in indolent crime?" the teacher carefully asked with a sharp piercing voice.

Yuhi gulped. She was so sure Mr. Yama was looking at her while saying that. Her heart beat fast–but it was the bad kind. She decided to speak. "I–"

"We aren't partners," Killua retorted calmly, jumping off the window pane and placing his hands inside his pockets. He stepped forward and stood alongside Yuhi, facing Mr. Yama.

The latter nodded his head slowly to fake an understanding. Again he looked at Yuhi and Killua simultaneously before raising a finger. "I assume you had a pleasant time resting here, didn't you, Mr. Zoldyck?"

For a second the addressed stiffened. He looked at Mr. Yama with a glare. He wanted to beat the crap out of the annoying four-eyed teacher. But instead he looked away, accepting his defeat. "Yeah…" he confessed.

"Really now?" Mr. Yama nodded again and stared at Killua, reading him, before turning his gaze towards Yuhi who instantly looked down. "And as for you, young miss, as your homeroom teacher, I may be able to give a hand to Ms. Irisa about this. This is surprising. You were always so obedient."

Yuhi's eyebrow twitched. She didn't know if that was a compliment or not. But her position was nerve-racking. She wanted so badly for Mr. Yama to scoot back into the room, but she didn't want to think that. It was her fault after all for giving up so fast. The auburn-haired girl nodded her head slowly.

After a set of disbelieved glares, Mr. Yama turned to walk towards his homeroom, class 2-B. From a distance the two students watched him–one looking annoyed and the other looking worried. There then came out the slim purple-eyed lady, looking at the students' direction while discussing something with the male teacher.

The auburn-haired girl looked down.

Killua turned his gaze at her.

"Ten minutes children."

Both turned their eyes towards the raven-haired teacher in front of them.

Mr. Yama pushed back the bridge of his glasses. "Raise your arms for ten minutes more, and after that, you're spared. It's only fair, right?"

Blood ran up the white-haired boy's head. No, it isn't fair. He decided to retort. "B–"

"Yes, sir!" Yuhi answered, looking firm on her word.

Killua looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

The teacher nodded and raised a finger. "Don't slack around this time. I'm watching you." His eyes were directly shot at Killua.

The boy resisted the urge to roll his eyes by closing them and looking away.

"Well? Go," Mr. Yama ordered silently, not moving from his spot.

Yuhi immediately raised her arms in the air. Killua did the same after releasing a tired sigh.

It took about 20 seconds before Yama left for his class, leaving the two students in the hallway.

The first 3 minutes commenced in silence. Again the white-haired boy had a cool and calmed air. His eyes were closed and he was standing normally though his arms were raised.

However, on the other side, the auburn-haired girl was struggling. Her shoulders started to ache and her arms started to fail. Yuhi hadn't recovered yet. Her arms were lowering by themselves by the minute and her muscles couldn't seem to raise them back up anymore. She started to concentrate. I can do this. It's only 10 minutes. I've done more than that. "Ah…" A silent sound escaped her throat. Her arms lowered another inch again and the pressure hurt her tendons. She closed her eyes with a twisted expression, praying she could last for 6 more minutes.

The clock ticked. Her arms lowered again.

Another minute and another inch lost. It came to the point where Yuhi's hands were at level with her head. Her muscles were giving up and there's still time left on the clock. All she could do was bow her head and close her eyes. Her spine doesn't look good as well. She sighed.

And just then, warm slim fingers wrapped tight around her right wrist and started lifting her arm up. With wide eyes Yuhi turned her gaze towards the right, finding out that the hand belonged to the serious looking Killua. She couldn't contemplate her emotions.

The blue orbs of Killua shifted from the air to Yuhi's auburn ones. "Hang on. I don't want to put up with this stupid rough treatment again," he mumbled, and returned to his previous position; but without removing his grip on the girl's wrist.

Blood delighted its stay in Yuhi's cheeks. And as if hypnotized, she nodded slowly. Then slowly looked down when the white-haired boy removed his eyes from her. She couldn't help but smile. She bit her lower lip to avoid smiling too widely like a happy, happy puppy. Her pulses were beating fast. She wanted to vomit her heart out at that time because it pounded so fast and intense against her lungs. Oh how hard she prayed that Killua wouldn't feel her emotions through the racing pulse in her wrist at that time. But that didn't matter much. Yuhi knew she could last until this thing ends.

But she felt a pang of embarrassment. Of all circumstances why did she have to appear weak now? Though she appreciates the action, Yuhi didn't want to burden Killua. And the latter had not removed his hand around her wrist. The touch was starting to feel tensed–at least for her. She turned her gaze at the clock and had her jaws dropping. 5 more minutes? Well, it felt more than that. Five more minutes. Okay. It was a bittersweet feeling. Man, your wrist being held by someone you like is a completely remarkable thing! Yuhi should be rejoicing, right? But another part of her was thinking about what Killua might think of her; of course, because they only talked for the first time then. What if Killua would think that she's a pain he'd have to endure for 5 more minutes?

Yuhi decided to finally speak. "Uh…" No, her throat was blocked. She needed to clear it. "H-Hey…" she muttered so silently and turned her gaze to the white-haired boy, feeling uncharacteristically nervous and shy.

Killua heard her. He opened his jaded eyes to look.

The auburn haired instantly turned her eyes away when she met his gaze. She gulped and inhaled. "I'm fine. You don't need to do that…" she trailed off and thanked the heavens for the courage. She waited. But there was no immediate response. Yuhi looked at Killua then looked away again. He was looking back with his usual doesn't-care-a-thing-in-the-world expression. Her heart started skipping beats… again. After a few seconds of courage-building she returned her gaze at him. Then she felt her right arm dropping to her side. Yuhi inwardly gasped and eyed her sluggish right hand that hung from her shoulder as if it was some artificial thing that she couldn't control. She tried raising it but to no avail. She really couldn't move it.

"Like I said, I don't want to do this stupid punishment again so just stand still and don't say anything." It was a silent, tired, annoyed tone, but Killua followed his sentence with the same action he did earlier on. He grabbed Yuhi's wrist and raised her numb right arm again.

The latter was left stunned, and with a racing heartbeat. The auburn-haired looked down and muttered, "Sorry."

Killua looked away, closing his eyes. "I said don't say anything," he silently replied.

Silence then ensued and it continued until the time ended.

When it did, Killua lowered Yuhi's arm and placed it with such gentleness to her side–which earned another heart-racing and blushing moment for the auburn-haired girl. Mr. Yama appeared on the doorway of class 2-A, as well as Ms. Irisa from 2-B. The white-haired boy placed his hands inside his pockets, ready to leave.

But to Yuhi's surprise he wasn't stepping forward yet. She waited, with a rather hopeful feeling building up in her chest. A feeling she didn't know why was there in the first place.

"I guess you can walk to the clinic by yourself," the white-haired boy muttered the sentence like a question without turning his gaze towards the person he was talking to.

The auburn-haired girl was surprised and a slow nod and a silent "Yes…" was all she could answer. Yuhi didn't know what that meant, but it gave her a good feeling. A pure comfortable smile spread across her lips while staring with awe at the back of Killua who walked away without a word. Every bad thing that had happened just disappeared. And she had a feeling that she would bring the amazing feeling of that moment throughout the day. Or even throughout the weekend.

Everything was a wonderful slow motion, but it was all cut short when Mr. Yama and Ms. Irisa appeared in the frame–walking towards her direction. Yuhi then cleared her throat and stood straight. Her arms were numb but the clinic can wait. She resisted the urge to smile again when the word 'clinic' went past her thoughts. The teachers were nearing and she needed to redeem herself. Mr. Yama was their next teacher.

The subject was math.

-CHAPTER END-


Thanks to AKatsinTcups, Ms. Hatter, and Someone for reviewing! A review is not easy to gain especially in this kind of story concept so thank you so much, guys! Thanks also to the people who followed and that one person who fave-d. Hihi. I have been receiving alerts so don't you worry. I know who you guys are. Arigatou!

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