A/N: Thirteenth chapter is uuuup! I think I won't go by the Sat-Sun-Mon update sched every week. I might update every week without a specified day. It's getting ready for the busy days ahead. *fist in the air* Second semester has officially started this week. And I'm having a problem with this fic, to be honest. I'm lacking cheese and corn. What can you advise? XD

Doki/Ba-dump/Thump = sound of a heartbeat

Disclaimer: If I were Togashi I would have killed a character already.


TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In Need Of Salvation… Or Not

"So, you're Yuhina, huh? Gon told me so much about you! Come, sit here. Make yourself at home!"

The auburn-haired girl nodded and sat on a sofa in the living room of Gon's home, staring at the slim, orange-haired woman with a unique looking dress and a pretty metal-like necklace that secured her neck. The woman had a warm, thoughtful smile on her gentle face as she talked and moved and it made Yuhi feel comfortable inside the house. Gon introduced she was Mito, Mito-san. Yuhi was a little surprised at that though, because she was expecting someone a little older than the young woman who welcomed her. She looked at her with amazement, thinking of how pretty she was. Her smile was small and true. "Yes! Thank you!" she said politely, bowing her head a little. "Gon told me so much about you too!"

Mito smiled while she fixed the coffee table and looked at her nephew sitting next to Yuhi who only grinned widely. "Really? Well, I do hope they're about nice things." She looked at Yuhi who chuckled then back at Gon. "And I dearly hope Gon would always call me before bringing a friend over, ne!" A laugh paved its way out of the woman's throat as she eyed her nephew again, a playful expression painting her face suddenly. "Especially a girl friend."

Yuhi's eyes grew wide when she met Mito's teasing gaze, and chuckled a little. Even Gon's aunt…? She pursed her lips together to suppress the hysterical laugh she wanted to give out as she turned her gaze at Gon.

The latter only smiled sheepishly and rubbed his nape. "Sorry, Mito-san…" he said silently.

The auburn-haired girl snickered for a second.

Mito shook her head, smiling. "I'm so sorry, Yuhina, I've not prepared for an arrival of a guest."

Yuhi immediately shook her head and waved her hands frantically. "N-No, don't worry about it! It's totally fine. I also apologize for coming unannounced." She smiled sheepishly, rubbing her nape like what Gon was doing. The two pre-teens looked at each other and chuckled before returning to Mito.

The latter waved her hand. "It's okay." Turning around, Mito walked towards the kitchen while she talked. "The house is just a little messy since we're all busy attending to Killua. It's quite panicking, you see, 'cause we haven't seen him get sick before. I'm really glad you came over today. I guess it would cheer him up somehow since you brought all the candy he wanted." Mito chuckled as she stepped out of the kitchen, two glasses of orange juice and homemade cupcakes placed on a tray at hand.

Yuhi could not help but ask. "How is he?"

Gon instantly stood up to help her aunt with it. He placed the tray on the coffee table and ushered Yuhi to help herself. "I think Killua's a little fine now, right, Mito-san?"

Mito laughed. "I guess so. Him insisting you buy him something sweet is normal enough so he's probably fine. His temperature dropped earlier as well."

Gon turned to Yuhi and grinned widely. "Do you want to go up Killua's room to check on him?"

Doki.

What…! Yuhi could not believe Gon's questions. She was inwardly laughing hysterically at them. They literally made her want to fly to Switzerland because she just could not state whether she would do it or not. It was a neutral thing and she had no idea how to tell Gon about it. The best solution was to laugh, in all honesty, laugh it all off. She could not give an answer.

Mito chuckled.

Gon's quizzical eyebrows were starting to make Yuhi feel tensed though. They told her that she had to answer the question abruptly or suffer mentally. Yuhi prayed that something would spare her, save her from the unruly conflict she was having within herself. She smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her left ear as she looked down. "I-Is it really nec—"

"Gon? Is that you? I heard you from up—"

All three people in the living heard the call from one corner of the house adjacent to the kitchen, leading to the stairs. All turned their heads to look and smile, all—except for that one blushing auburn-haired girl. Yuhi froze the instant she heard that voice from behind her, heart racing in a gleeful fashion.

"Killua!" Gon exclaimed.

The utterance of his name made the girl's heart skip even more beats. Yuhi was precise about her prediction: she would definitely have a heart attack. It was already a great deal with only the sound of his voice. What more with the view of his face—his pretty, pretty face? The girl inwardly sighed of delight when she pictured him crookedly smiling in her head. But that was a mental thought. She was absolutely tensing for real.

"Are you fine now?" Gon asked, but he received no answer. However, he immediately announced his news with an excited tone. "By the way, Yuhi came over to see you!"

This sentence made the girl turn her gaze towards the spiky-haired boy who was already looking at her, and eyeing her with an ushering look on his face, as though he was telling her to turn around and greet his best friend. Yuhi knew that was the case, and she had no other options but to turn around or sprint off. She chose the former, and took a deep breath as she nodded a little. Turning around, she instantly smiled and waved a hand, trying to disregard the bewildered look on Killua's face.


Silence.

The entire room was overflowing with the deafening scream of silence, only broken by the sound of a tall glass of orange juice clanking against the wooden table.

Even with the exuberant voice of the spiky-haired boy, the quizzical gaze of those sharp blue eyes of the boy sitting adjacent to the auburn-haired girl brought pressure to her ears, and to her whole system. She knew she was being watched though she did her best in delighting her eyes with the sight of her hands on her lap. Yuhi knew, because whenever Gon paused to receive his friends' reactions to the stories he was telling, she could not help but glance at the white-haired boy. And knowingly, he was looking at her, with a questioning expression on his face. Even when Gon told him why Yuhi was there, the intent gaze remained stagnant, planted on Yuhi's eyes.

Killua had not said a sentence longer than three words in the first 10 minutes of their conversation. It was obvious how he wanted to avoid a conversation with the guest when he turned a heel to walk away right after Yuhi greeted him. Mito however pressed that he should stay, with a firm but gentle tone in her voice, since apparently she knew how rude Killua could be.

The following minutes after that though he spoke a complete one, only to leave the room. "I'll just go to the bathroom". He came back however, but when he did his longest sentence was composed of only two words. "Oh really?" he asked when Yuhi confidently backed Gon up when he assured his friend about Mitan, and he ceased looking at the girl after the whole story of the supposed date. However his gaze returned to her when Gon started blabbering about how the white-haired boy got sick again, and he never removed his eyes from her face since.

Twenty minutes have passed and a sudden silence enveloped the room.

Yuhi's face was extremely hot already. It was starting to make her sweat cold. Killua's quizzical gaze was pressing her deep into the ground. She felt that he was reading her, contemplating the real reason why she was there. It must be a sudden unusual event for the boy. After all, they were not as close as Yuhi and Gon, right? They do not even talk to each other, and to think that Yuhi was partly to blame for his being sick, Killua must be wondering why she even had the nerve to show her face in his house.

The girl looked at the spiky-haired boy who seemed to cease talking for almost 2 minutes that time. Gon was looking out the window while chewing on some cookies, watching two huge dragonflies roaming by the windowpane. Yuhi took a deep breath to gain the courage to glance at the white-haired boy before returning her gaze to her hands. But instead of only glancing, her eyes got locked onto the boy's blue ones. Yuhi's heart raced. Killua's expression was not that of an annoyed, furious one. His face was calm and gentle, just simply questioning. Yuhi figured it was because of his fever.

A sharp invisible arrow hit her gut then. He's sick. Conscience stroke. A small concerned smile subconsciously spread across her face, as a reflex gesture to show her comfort. But the boy looked away just as instantly. For a second she thought she saw his cheeks colouring. Still, it made her want to pull her hair out. Yuhi took her glass of juice and chunked the content to the last drop as she listened to silence. Maybe it was because her loud racing heartbeat was all there was to listen to?

No, she could not seem to calm it down. Every movement made her nervous.

Especially when Gon suddenly stood up and looked at her.

Yuhi looked back and blinked. Uh-oh. No, Gon, please don't leave.

The deafening scream of silence was broken by the sound of Yuhi placing her empty glassware on top of the wooden coffee table, and apparently, the sharp ears of Gon instantly heard it. He grabbed the empty tumblers and plates. "I'm gonna go get you more! And I'll also see if Mito-san's done with the pasta!"

What… Yuhi blinked, and dynamites started exploding in her chest. No, no, no, no, no, no, Gon, don't leave just yet! She wanted to scream but she could not make herself do so. Gon was her only salvation whenever Killua was around, and Yuhi needed him more than anything else in the world at that moment.

"Killua, talk to Yuhi, okay?" Receiving nothing but a sharp look from his best friend, Gon's unshaken sunny face turned to the auburn-haired girl. "Told ya he's all grumpy." Gon whispered. Then he laughed and said, "Sorry, but I'll be right back," before sprinting towards the kitchen.

Both were left to wait for someone who will utter even a single letter first.


The cool, afternoon wind howled as the sound of crackling dried leaves resonated along the empty, narrow street in Tomo with every step of a thoughtful auburn-haired girl, shrugging and hugging the paper bag of groceries in her arms whenever the chilly breeze danced around the exposed skin of her nape. A sigh once again escaped from her mouth, regretting ever tying her locks up a little while ago. She had an excuse for that though, for when a little while ago her skin felt hot. She figured it was because of the peppery spaghetti Mito served.

Or maybe it was blood rush.

A severe case of sweet, teenage blood rush.

XxxflashbackxxX

There seemed to be an unseen entity swarming around the living room of Mito's house in the afternoon when Yuhi came over for the first time. It was something like pressure and steam—a feeling that made the girl imagine she was inside a sauna, a closed, boiling room, togethr with the person who have had ever made her heart race like she was riding a roller coaster. Yuhi loved the comfortable silence whenever she was with her white-haired angel, but at that moment, no, she knew that at the back of her mind her subconscious was telling her something she should do, or talk about, or ask. It made her fidget immensely in her seat.

The air was becoming awkward and suffocating as the clock ticked.

When is Gon coming back?

Yuhi, in her fidgeting, impatiently looked around only to focus her eyes for a second to the kitchen, waiting for someone who would show up. There seemed to be no one coming out soon at that time. It made Yuhi sigh and return to eyeing the small spot on the coffee table. She dared not glance at the white-haired boy in front of her for if she did she was afraid it would trigger a start to a conversation. And she was yet to comprehend what she ought to say to the boy in her head.

One option was to make a run for it.

However, she decided to remain still and calm, keeping in mind that it was a friendly visit and a friendly visit only. That thought, and a couple of silent deep breaths made her think straight. She knew what she wanted to talk about first. She wanted to ask how Killua was feeling. She was concerned after all. After a bat of the eyelids, she turned her gaze softly at the boy. But to her dismay he was turned 100 degrees away from her sight and towards the window where his best friend was looking at before he left. Seeming not to gain the voice to call out for him, she sighed and pouted. It was the perfect time to examine the interior of the house.

Gon and Killua's home was a simple yet clean one with such structure similar to any other houses in the centre of town. But Yuhi felt that it was the first time she had gone inside a home with so much warmth and fuming with the smell of motherly care. The place looked and smelled homey, comfortable. It was a nice place to live in, although the colours seemed to compliment a woman's taste more than a man's. When one enters the door, the first thing he would see was a small hallway and a sliding door made of wood and pineapple fibre shading. The furniture were small but pleasant looking. The walls in the living room were painted with a very light shade of lavender, covered with small colourful paintings of abstract flowers and vases. The windows were low and wide, each covered with yellow curtains that were tied to the rims of the window still in the morning and afternoon. The floor was made with thick planks of dark oak wood that stretched throughout the entire house, shining whenever the sunrays hit the varnished palette.

It was a pretty place to live in, and for a moment, Yuhi thought of how their living room would look to be if there ever was a mother-like lady who would design it. Then she thought of how lucky the two boys were for having a person such as Mito in their lives. She sighed in awe and absent-mindedly turned her gaze towards the boy in front of her. To her surprise his gaze was already shot through her the moment she did so. Yuhi blinked, and shook her brain for that particular question she practiced asking in her head.

"…Why?" the boy mumbled ahead of her.

Yuhi went blank. She did not know what the question was for.

However the boy saved her from further confusion. "Why're you smiling?" he mumbled again. "You look weird."

The look on Killua's face gave the girl a chilling feeling through her spine. Though he looked calm and gentle, his voice sounded so dry and nonchalant—like when the first time she ever spoke to him. Yuhi gave a small faint smile as a reply, remembering that time when she did not have to think too much of how and what Killua would think of her with her words. "Y-Your place looks nice. It must be nice to have a lady in the house, ne?" She stuttered but her tone was precise, normal. She cheered herself inwardly for that.

After blinking twice, Killua smirked a little, and shrugging he replied with another mumble. "Yeah, guess so." Then he returned to gazing at the window.

Yuhi's smile slowly faded as she nodded slowly to acknowledge Killua's reply. She stared at him looking at a distance for a second, and remembered the story Gon told her about him. That's right, he left home… I wonder how his mother treats him inside their house. There was a look of sympathy in her eyes, and subconsciously the words she was meaning to speak out escaped her lips softly. "How are you feeling?" she asked with so much tenderness.

For a second Yuhi thought she saw Killua's eyes grow wide when she asked her question. Her subconscious screamed that Killua felt her concern, but she did not want to think that much. She was concerned, but she did not want Killua to say he feels that or something like it.

"Fine," Killua answered, not averting his gaze from the window.

A smile. "Great," Yuhi said. Her tone had a silent enthusiasm. As she looked down she realized the many questions she wanted to ask the boy. But when she assessed them all, she thought she would sound as though she was lecturing him. It was about the rain event the night before, and the date he was supposed to have with Mitan that day. Because though Gon had repeatedly mentioned Mitan's name in the course of their conversations, it would still not expose the reason behind it all—on why he had not told her he had a planned date with her friend the day after. She wanted to begin with that and carry on to the incident between the two of them the night before. She truly wanted to initiate a conversation, and with that a faint "I'm…" escaped her lips without warning. Yuhi freaked out for a second, for she did not know what to say next. She hesitated, and after a moment she finally said, "I'm... sorry," as she turned her gaze at the boy.

Killua, however, already had his eyes on her the moment she looked. But he shunned his gaze away hesitantly when he met the light auburn eyes of the girl. He looked down and out the window again. "What for?" he asked fast. It was still a mumble.

Yuhi's eyebrows creased as a pout was slowly paving its way across her face. Recalling the events that happened the in the rain, she thought hard if it was real or just a dream. Why had no one reminded her of that precious thing? Why, even the boy who she was with, questioned her apology she thought he knew what for already? Was it only a dream? Did she fell asleep in class again and just woke up inside her room because Roroturo carried her home from school? The feelings seemed clear, but the events that happened throughout seemed blurry. Yuhi wondered if she had just been dreaming all this time. She pinched her palm hard because of that, showing a sour face when she felt pain. She was still inside Gon's house and Killua was still in front of her. "The rain… last night?" she said.

The short sentence made the boy's head snap towards the girl. His eyes were wide as he stretched his neck out to glance at the kitchen way. When he returned to Yuhi he pressed an index finger on his lips, gesturing her to hush.

The girl pursed her lips and mouthed 'Why?'

"He'll freak," Killua answered, shrugging.

"Oh." Yuhi nodded slowly. That's why Gon didn't know.

The boy then suddenly chuckled with all the force of his hoarse voice. "Gon'll freak. Gon freaks. Funny."

Yuhi blinked and thought about why her angel found that funny. Then she remembered that Gon's surname was Freecss. Gon Freecss. Yuhi silently snickered, looking down and covering her mouth. Killua's joke made her heart flutter. She never heard him say one before. When the laughter died down, Yuhi was in deep thought. How the spiky-haired boy would freak out, she wanted to ask, but she assumed that was the end of the line for her on that certain topic. She was correct: it should be a still memory in her head, not to be mentioned, not to be told to anyone. It made her smile a little.

"Hallway girl," the boy called silently.

The addressed looked up. She was getting used to the name.

Killua blinked. "Why are you here?"

After a skip of a heartbeat, Yuhi told him. Everything—minus the personal reason, however. But she felt that Killua would ask for that soon.

"No, I mean… why'd you have to come?"

Yuhi sighed sharply. I knew it. The question slashed her for a second but she needed to think of a reasonable excuse for not declining Gon. Because I want to see you…? "I just… couldn't say no to Gon, I guess." She smiled sheepishly after stating that. It was true.

Killua nodded slowly as his eyebrows creased. "How about Roroturo-san? I thought you said he was just asking you to go grocery shopping for him?"

"I called," the girl answered, getting curious and confused about Killua's questions.

"Why didn't you just say you can't go? That meant you really wanted to go. Why'd you want to go?"

Huh…? Yuhi processed the words first in her head before freaking and thinking of an answer. I wanted to see you…! "I was…" She hesitated, feeling her face colouring with an extreme shade of pink. No, Yuhi could not hide the truth from the boy. It's only a friendly visit anyway, right? "I wanted to know… how you're feeling." She inwardly smiled after that. The words were from her heart.

Fortunately, Killua ceased asking. He replied with nothing but a faint nod and a silent "Oh" after a sudden pause expressed by his wide eyes. However, unfortunately, the silence made Yuhi feel nervous and anxious. Does he want me to leave? What if he feels that I… Inwardly she shook her head. The last thing that Killua ought to know about her was her secretly crushing on him, and being such an expectant about it. She needed to redeem herself.

So abruptly, the girl forced the words out of her mouth, answering with persuasion—with all the force her tiny voice could afford. "It's for Mitan!" Here she caught the boy's attention, and meeting his eyes she immediately froze and blinked, shunning away from his gaze. "Sh… She wanted to know why you couldn't come."

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Killua turned away, mumbling, "You know why anyway" as he creased his eyebrows at a distance.

Yuhi took a deep breath and nodded slowly, thinking of whether she should start the topic she truly wanted to talk about or not, because the subject had been unofficially opened anyway.

Instead she swallowed the words that ought to come out of her system and waited for the right time—or whether she should ask it or never again.

There was another 2 minutes of good awkward silence until the girl moved her legs and made a sound that resonated throughout the closed room. It grabbed the attention of the boy, for he looked at her for a second before returning to the window. It was a good thing. Yuhi opted to speak anyway. Pursing her lips, the girl glanced around to check if Gon would be coming back any sooner. After about 10 seconds she inhaled and exhaled with the sound of her voice flowing through with her breath. It was just like before; Yuhi just could not keep up with an awkward air suffocating her. She needed to communicate, add that she wanted to get an answer from her subconscious questions.

And no, she could not just end the topic just because Killua hushed her about it a little while ago. "I didn't know that… y-you have a commitment today. I should've just insisted you, you know, go back instead of r-running in the rain to accompany me last night…" She trailed off, pausing for a response. There was none. Yuhi decided to continue after clearing a block in the throat. "You wouldn't have caught a cold if it weren't for me so… I'm sor—"

"Gon." Nonchalantly, Killua cut the girl's sentence. He looked at her.

Huh!? The latter instantly sat up straight and looked around to and fro every pathway that lead to different parts of the house, waiting for a spiky-haired boy to appear from one of them. But there was no presence of a human being other than the two of them near. Where's Gon? She turned her gaze back at the white-haired boy to ask her question aloud when she paused and had her nerves calming back to normal. She furrowed her eyebrows though. Killua looked at her with gentle persuasion. Yuhi's heart raced and she knew she was blushing. Why… He looks like a… a… kitty. But with puppy blue eyes… So… cute… The girl figured it was because of his fever again. Everything that looked cute about Killua that afternoon must all be because of his fever.

Or not.

"Gon," Killua repeated, shrugging coolly. "He talked me through it."

Yuhi blinked. She stood straight, seeming as though she could not understand what that meant by cocking her head to the right. "What?"

Killua inhaled, coughing a little because of his itchy throat. He replied with a shake of the head, looking away.

Yuhi puffed her cheeks, digging her brain to look for a reason behind what Killua just said. It surely did not sound as though it was related to what she was saying before he cut her speech. She wanted to ask what it was, but she did not want to sound so annoyingly naïve in front of her crush by asking a lot of questions. Yuhi knew her space. Well, somehow, because she felt that coming to their house in the very first place was crossing the line already. And she knew Killua felt that as well. He looked and sounded irritated. In a way. Sort of. Maybe. Maybe not. Yuhi cocked her head to the right and looked at the boy, reading his face. He seemed… calm and okay with everything. What is he talking about?

Just then, Killua shot her a look. He blinked. "Why're you staring?" he mumbled, lips parting only a little.

Yuhi gasped, and held her breath in as she racked her head for words to say. She could not find one. She could not freaking find one. Her heart started racing of tense. Why was I staring!?

The boy raised an eyebrow. "You enjoy doing that too?"

A quick sequence of Killua staring at the girl earlier flashed inside her mind and thought, Why, look who's not staring! But the idea of saying it allowed dissolved just as instantly, for her thoughts were immediately flooded by nerves that do not know how to react. She was caught looking—staring—again, and with the latter question shaking her brain cells, Yuhi became tensed. Her heart raced as she blinked immensely, not averting her eyes from the waiting face of Killua. She knew she needed to answer. For a second she thought of laughing it all off and saying "Yes, I'm quite at leisure actually" to joke about everything. But it would not work. Yuhi knew that. Blood rushed to her face as a series of "I's" escaped her throat while she looked down.

Yuhi knew Killua would burn her to bits the moment she heard him inhaling for a speech. But luckily for her, before the white-haired boy could even utter a word, Gon suddenly barged in just like all of the perfect timings in every story, bringing with him a huge grin and the smell of sweet, sweet freshly cooked spaghetti. A massive amount of air, which seemed as though the girl held since Killua started his question, escaped Yuhi's mouth as she replied to Gon's enthusiastically excited announcement about the arrival of the pasta with a huge smile of her own. Mito and Gon's grandmother joined them that afternoon, bringing in two pitchers of lemonade and a platter of biscuits.

Questions from the elder women started towards the auburn-haired girl. Where do you live? Who are your parents? Did you grow up here? How's school? You take the bus? Wow, a Ramen shop? The girl answered them all with an equal optimism, adding compliments to the prettiness of the interior of the house and the delicious spaghetti. The conversation then led from school to the shops, with Mito asking Yuhi about hidden landmarks in town.

The latter could not help but glance at the two while Mito was talking about having a girl Gon's age inside the house for the first time since they left Whale Island. An awed smile crept across the auburn-haired girl's face as she watched Gon ask Killua how he was feeling, or if he wanted to rest upstairs for a bit, or if he wanted warm lemonade instead to aid his sore throat. Slurping a noodle from his pasta, Killua answered with a "I'm fine. Don't sweat" while shrugging. Yuhi grinned when Gon caught her gaze, and smiled when she turned her eyes at Killua. The white-haired boy gave nothing but a nonchalant look at the girl. Yuhi would take a deep breath and return to the conversation after that though, nodding and laughing whenever Mito said something funny about Gon and Killua.

Gon would sometimes protest and give a say on everything. But Killua remained silent. It baffled Yuhi, and made her heart race, because the white-haired boy always caught her looking before shrugging whenever Mito paused to wait for his response. The girl then would blush and look down and rub her hands together. They were cold, but she felt like she was sweating from her neck. It was the nerves.

A sigh.

She breathed in from her mouth and felt her lips burning a little because of the hot spaghetti, but her face felt even hotter from the inside. Yuhi was sure she never caught Killua's flu. It was something else. She pulled the rubber band that held half of her hair, completely tying it up to let air cool her rather hot skin.

Xxxflashback-endxxX

But it seemed as though the air had cooled it too much after only about five minutes of getting off the bus to walk to the ramen shop. A sigh was all she could afford to reply to her unanswered queries inside her head. Her thoughts were all mashed up again and she did not know where and how to begin asking them to herself. It was a good thing that Gon was there to walk her to the bus stop. At least then she would have to forget about it for a while. In the end it all came down to her thinking about Killua's final question to her: Why're you staring? You enjoy doing that too? It was embarrassing—even more because the boy said something about it.

Yuhi groaned and kicked the air lightly when she thought of how she reacted back at that time. I looked stupid. Why do I always look stupid in front of him? He must think I'm such a stupid person now, ne! She sighed again, and looked down as she approached the Ramen shop, shaking her head to rid of the thoughts. There were more important things to deal with at that time. Roroturo gave her curfew only about three in the afternoon. It was half past five o'clock.


Monday came and the things that needed done have to be done. Classes resumed like any other typical day in school. Yuhi told Mitan everything she needed to know, even when she bumped into Gon and when he invited her to their home. She told Mitan she went with him, with the hopes of confirming the reality in the spiky-haired boy's words. Mitan believed the auburn-haired girl, and said her thanks and words of concern for the white-haired boy.

They talked for a while about Killua, with Yuhi telling her that another set-date was possible if she still wanted to do it. Mitan said she would think it through and pass her a word about it. They parted ways when the bell rang, signalling the start of the afternoon session of classes. They both rushed up from the canteen to their room fast after hearing the bell. Mitan glanced at Yuhi and shrugged as she smiled when they passed by room 2-A. Yuhi poked her friend's ribs to tease her.

It was the first time she did not glance over the star section's classroom.

The cool winds of October howling through the windows of the classrooms made students' eyelids drop while the teacher was in class, and because perhaps they lacked sleep since the exams were only less than 24 hours away. Yuhi did her best to stay awake in Science, but she completely dozed off in the last period of the day, earning her another cleaning assignment from Mr. Yama.

The girl did her task as she hummed a tune while Sejin sat in one corner reading a book. Yuhi hummed a tune as she fixed the last batch of the shelves. They went home wishing each other luck for the exams.

There was no Killua in sight that day.

Tuesday and Wednesday came and it was time for the quarterly exams. For each day, the students ought to finish three subjects assigned. The students of class 2-B were a little worried about the results of their Tuesday exams. Economics was okay, but Science and History were a little difficult.

The second day was a little relieving—well, at least for our protagonist. P.E. was the hardest part of her day, but Math and Language were okay. The whole school's noise suddenly upped when the twelve o'clock bell began ringing. It was the signal to the end of the exams. The students dispersed after 45 minutes of chatting and asking about how they did on the tests. Yuhi conversed with some friends from different sections, expressing her support whenever they said they hoped to pass. Glancing around then as she walked with her friends out of the campus, she caught a swift glance of a certain white-haired boy walking a few meters ahead of them, one arm around his best friend while he talked and laughed with a girl classmate.

For a moment the auburn-haired girl's heart skipped a beat.

It did not feel good that time. But Yuhi shook the thoughts off her mind and smiled while shrugging, returning to the conversation of her group of friends about how cool and handsome Killua is. The girl could not help but sigh, smile and think 'How can I keep my feelings shut, huh?' She wanted to pull her hair out.

Thursday was evaluation day. The students were only given seatwork while the teachers busy themselves in checking the papers. Sleeping and chatting and eating were the best ways to spend a day as such in high school.

Yuhi was so sure she wanted to stay home that day, because Lorn's pregnant mother was rushed to the hospital that morning when her water broke and Roroturo needed a waiter—or a waitress. But her buff guardian insisted on her going anyway. The last thing Roroturo would want to do was to make Yuhi work for him on a school day and hour. The auburn-haired girl obeyed though, asking Roroturo over and over if he was sure. She prayed for her friend's mother and baby as she hopped towards the bus stop with a smile on her face.

Apparently, sleeping, chatting and eating inside the school that day did not apply to our auburn-haired protagonist. Yuhi, together with some selected students, were busy running errands for teachers. She was asked to help their kind principal, Mr. Chango, with the lists of the results submitted by teachers of each class—to which each had one student helping the adviser, the class presidents. Yuhi was ecstatic while she worked inside Mr. Chango's office. She enjoyed collecting the results of the second year curriculum with a 2-A student from the boys, who served as messengers and delivered them from the faculty to the principal's office. Mainly because Gon was one of them, with her male friends and classmates, and they were always so funny and random.

The busy errands halted only when the lunch bell rang. The noise upped throughout the campus and simultaneous amount of footsteps escaped each room of each floor. Yuhi was the last one to rush out of the principal's office at that time because she was waiting for one more note from Gon. When it had not arrived, she told Mr. Chango and sprinted out to have lunch inside their classroom, hoping to bump into the spiky-haired boy and tell him it was lunchtime already. On the way up the stairs she thought herself lucky of spotting spikes from a distance. Yuhi rushed up, climbing two steps at the time, but pausing when she saw that Gon was talking to their class president. She ought to greet them, but something told her to pause and hide her presence. She watched as they get up from the floor, with Sejin picking up papers she dropped and Gon doing the same. The girl figured Gon accidentally bumped into her raven-haired friend while rushing down to the principal's office. Yuhi covered her mouth to hide her snickers and waited for the two to part before she could make her presence known. She strangely found them interesting, especially Sejin, because she seemed sheepish and flushed. Then Yuhi realized that something was missing from Sejin's face.

"My eyeglasses…" the raven-haired girl muttered under her breath then, narrowing her eyes at the floor, trying to locate her thick-rimmed glasses with all the effort of her blurry vision.

Gon did the same and immediately hoisted it from the floor the second he saw it. He wiped the lenses with his uniform. "Here you go," he calmly said, voluntarily putting Sejin's eyeglasses back to where it belonged.

The latter blinked to adjust her eyes with the sudden clarity. The first thing she saw was Gon's huge sunny grin. She nodded, looking down at her papers to fix them. "Thank you." She bowed.

"You're welcome! Are you sure you're alright? I can go with you to the clinic so that the nurse can check up on you. See if there're any injuries." He then leaned closer and asked with his big curious eyes, "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

Sejin instantly stepped back and cleared her throat, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She stood with the right posture and elegance and she looked at Gon with the same authoritative look she gave to everyone. "No, I'm alright. Thank you again." She bowed… again. Then looked at Gon. "I should head along now." She turned around after giving the boy a gratified look.

Yuhi was ready to step forward and pretend as if she had not seen what happened. Her eyebrows were creased though. She wondered why Gon would advise Sejin to go to the clinic, wondering if it were that bad. Gon's voice halted her.

"Nee!" Gon called out.

Sejin turned around.

"Be careful next time, alright? Class 2-B can't afford to have their pres injured!" the boy exclaimed, smiling cheerily like saying that was the most normal thing in the world—especially for Sejin.

Yuhi was sure her friend would make a sour face and act all rude to Gon. Instead, Sejin looked down, and looked at Gon, and looked away, before turning to disappear into their classroom. Yuhi covered her mouth again to hide the sound of her snickers that time. She was so sure she saw her friend blush for a millisecond.

"Oh, hey Yuhi!"

The addressed then jumped of surprise, seeing the spiky-haired boy standing in front of her. She greeted him with a genuine smile, "Heey! The bell rang," and jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Mr. Chango said you could just leave the papers in his office."

Gon nodded and told Yuhi immediately about what happened to Sejin without her even asking for it.

Apparently, their class president tripped over a bump on the corridor. Gon said she was scanning through the papers in her arms then "tripped really, really hard". He said it was a good thing he was just about to run downstairs or Sejin's head would have crashed against the floor. Yuhi thanked the boy afterwards, mentally stating answers as to why Sejin seemed so nice and flushed at that time.

"Ja, I should be running ahead now. Killua's already complaining about his tummy," Gon said, laughing. Yuhi's heart fluttered. Killua's name rang a pretty bell in her chest. Gon lightened up. "Do you have packed lunch? You can eat with me and Killua! At the rooftop!" He grinned, unaware of the mental conflict he absent-mindedly brought the auburn-haired girl again.

The latter however thought about it fast, and so her decision was fast as well. "N-No, thank you. I think I might stay in the classroom today. Sejin might need me." Yuhi was thankful about the little accident of her friend and how Gon was witness to it, because it that did not happen, she would be dragged along to the rooftop by the irresistible puppy dog eyes of Gon to feast with her angelic crush. Yuhi did not want that to happen—sort of—because she thought she might look like some obsessed fan girl going where the white-haired boy went. Gon thought what Yuhi meant by 'Sejin might need me' was all because of her accident, and so Yuhi was spared.

They parted with Gon sprinting down the stairs and Yuhi walking to their classroom. Looking down was necessary when she walked past 2-A's classroom, especially because a group of students were going out just in time for her to reach the front of their door. She had her heart racing until he reached her desk and hoisted her lunchbox from her bag, whining in frustration when she remembered hearing someone close say "Oh? Ramen girl…"

Yep, there was a Killua that day.

Friday came and it was the results day. Students gathered round the bulletin board in the lobby to see if they passed or failed, or if they got into the top ranks or not, or if they even reached half of the ranking population of their year level. The unison shouts of "Yes!" and mutters of "Ah, man…" resonated throughout the ground floor of the building in the morning. The students were hyped, particularly because the second quarter of the school year was officially over, and that they survived it well and good, even though some usual delinquent students did not do much better.

Ten excuse-me's and coming-through's escaped the auburn-haired girl's throat as she passed through the sea of people in front of the bulletin board, trying to get closer to see her result. She ranked 31st out of the 67 population of second year students in Tomo Academy. Her average was fairly acceptable for a class 2-B student. Scanning upwards she searched for her friends' names. Small grins crept across her face when she saw them. They were just right where they belonged. Sejin was top in class, ranking 17th in all of the three sections. I knew you deserved to be in 2-A, Sejin! Yuhi thought as her gaze continued to rise. She could not help but search for two particular names. But strangely, they were not where she was expecting them. Narrowing her eyes Yuhi scanned the whole thing again and smiled when she found one. She must have missed it. Gon ranked 19th. And scanning downwards she found the other one. Killua was 22nd.

No, pretty boys who the girls in school admired were not always top-notched, unlike in most stories Yuhi read and watched. It was supposed to, but it did not spoil the fantasy. She actually found that fact kind of… cute. Surprising—because in the previous quarter Killua was ranked higher than his best friend—but cute. Yuhi shook her head as she leaned back, thinking of how weird she thought of things.

The day went by fast, with teachers returning the exams papers of students per subject. A lot flunked in Science, as usual, including our protagonist. But there are a lot more who failed and just about passed the Math exam.

Yuhi announced the news of the results to her guardian the moment she got home, showing all of her exam papers and giving side comments as to why she got the scores. Her greatest speech was when Roroturo was scanning through her Science test; especially because he had his eyebrows furrowed immensely. It would look at though he only had one long eyebrow. The girl tensed as she waited for the lecture but instead, Roroturo commented about how he could not understand the problems and questions in the exam. It made Yuhi laugh, nodding cheerily as Roroturo patted her head while telling her to study well in the subject next time.

At one in the morning, Yuhi was up in her room, ready for bed after a long busy week. She scanned through her exam papers again and noted the things she needed to remember next time. She finished thirty minutes later, fixing her things as she thought of the week that passed. Yuhi could not compress the things that happened in a nutshell. There was just a lot that went on, so many that thinking about them alone made her tired. Finally, I can rest! The realization came only when she heaved a heavy yawn out. Her eyelids fluttered. But as she was about to put the exam papers in a shelf, she noticed something on one of them. She took her Language test paper out and flipped it, eyes widening of amazement.

There was a pen sketch of her face smiling and winking cheerily on the second page of the exam paper. Yuhi did not notice it then because she did not pay much attention to the paper and it was on the second page, completely covered by the third and first. The portrait covered ¼ of the typewriting paper, at the upper left corner. A huge smile painted her face as she meticulously scanned the detailed art with her sparkly eyes. It looked just like her, only the drawing was a little bit of animated but it was 'pretty', as Yuhi would describe it. For a good two minutes she stared at it, repeating in her head how cool and amazing it looked. It was only after the said span of time did she question the art.

Wait, who would do this in my paper? Surely not Mrs. Akimiro, right?

Mrs. Akimiro was their Literature teacher, and she was 57 years old.

One person went past the girl's mind though. He had snow-white hair. But Yuhi immediately shook the thought away. She grimaced and smiled to herself as she looked at the drawing one last time before putting it to her shelf and getting in to bed. That's impossible.

-CHAPTER END-


Same question every footnote: what do you think of the chapter? What do you think of the cliffhanger? Do you have any idea who that person is? My writing style altered a bit in this because I went to a narrative style of storytelling. Don't worry, I only do this on particular parts necessary. Tell me what you think and what you think will happen or what you want to happen in the future! Reviewwww, people! They are my fuel. Yuhi and I will be extremely delighted. uwu

Replies guests~

To Mai: Thanks for the review again! And for the fanarts OMG I forgot to announce them here. I will by the end of this footnote. Haha! Phew, great! I thought it was losing light. Hihi ^^a

To 2102032: Yooo! Yes, I couldn't wait for November, I guess. Haha! The chapter was fast? Reaaaally? And I thought I've written more in that compared to the others. XD And about that... perhaps it was because when they were running through the rain, Yuhi was the one who was actually covered by the jacket. Also maybe it was because he went home all went and did not ask for anything that can prevent him from catching a cold. Hahaha! Chocorobos to you too from Yuhi and I! :)

To Helen: Hiiii! Thanks for the review! Wow, thank you. I hope you can review more chapters in the future. :D

NEXT CHAPTER: Remember the school trip they were talking about in the previous chapters? Well, that might happen soon. Mitan gives her answer to Yuhi. Yuhi shall be able to take it, right? Especially because other things are starting to occupy her mind... like the mystery behind the sketch of her on her exam paper.

By the way, people! Mai drew a Halloween special fanart of Yuhi and Killua! it is so freaking cute you gotta see itttt! Just click links of her art on my profile and browse her DeviantArt! She's awesome. You're awesome, Mai :D

I shall be waiting for your reviews, you precious human beings. 3