A/N: My school days have been so, so long and I want to sleep and sleep and sleep like a boss! Anyway, Christmas is near and yaaaayyy! *throws a new bunch of chocolate confetti in the air* Hello guys! Hope you're doing fine. It's 14 days before Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Advanced happy holidays!

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

Disclaimer: All things written in the chapters are planned and thought through. Well, the major stuff.


TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cupid's Arrows Hit Guts Not Hearts

It takes a good amount of courage for one to be able to utter a single word sometimes. What, in a sea of people fighting for one common rotten cause, the chances of one person standing up against all odds for the righteous are one in a billion. And if that one person did so, it probably took a precious amount of time to gain all his courage and speak his mind. The same goes with innocent understanding. Courage perhaps is not the easiest item to gain in the world of teenage cosmos where infatuation and fancies stand to reign. Yuhi knew that, and hearing her heart pound hard against her ribcage, she knew she needed courage. She needed guts.

The auburn-haired girl did not know how long she had been staring into the wide blue eyes of Killua, because the tension came in and she felt as though everything went into slow motion. Her head spun, plainly because of the nerves. The boy had not uttered a single word as well. Yuhi felt that she needed to talk first, and explain why she was in their room. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Killua had not moved from his position. He only stared back at the girl, surprised, curious.

Yuhi swallowed hard. When Killua blinked, her fingers twitched and she straightened up. "I…" She looked down, silently clearing the invisible block in her throat. Her eyes were wide, unstable, heart racing. She glimpsed at her broom from the corner of her eye and instantly held it up to show to Killua. She smiled a little, forcing it out. Her temples were beating hard.

The boy shifted his gaze from the girl's face to the thing she held in her hands. His eyebrows creased, and returning his eyes at the girl his lips parted.

"I'm c-cleaning!" she exclaimed, voice so high it was obvious that her nerves had taken over. However again she cleared her throat and decided to redeem herself. "I'm cleaning," she said with a smile, pulling her broom back down.

Killua raised his eyebrows in understanding. He looked away, looked around.

Silence.

"So, uh…"

Yuhi felt her heart skipping a beat after hearing his voice. She looked at him, waiting, gripping her hands tight together to keep them from shaking too much.

The white-haired boy looked at her. Then his eyes shifted downwards, looking at the girl's broom. "You're doing it now or…?" Killua's voice trailed off as he returned his gaze back at Yuhi.

The girl felt her chest swelling severely. It took seconds for her to catch Killua's words. When she did, it was almost as though she jolted from where she was standing. "Oh!" She finally moved, looking around and figuring out where she was to start. Her eyes paused at the farthest corner of the room and she walked fast towards it. Yuhi glanced at Killua before proceeding to sweep the floor.

The boy walked to his desk while he unwrapped a lollipop from his pocket.

Yuhi then started doing her work before he caught her looking at him again. She did her job silently, equaling the silence inside the room. It was then about after ten seconds that she heard her angel talk.

"What the heck?" Killua mumbled silently. His tone was overflowing with disbelief, annoyed.

Yuhi could not help but look up and see the object of his sudden expression.

The white-haired boy stared at the desk next to his, hands on hips, face twisted, frustrated. He groaned under his throat.

Yuhi stood straight, her eyes widening with curiosity.

Killua then turned his gaze at her. "Have you seen Gon around when you came in? His bag's missing." he asked sharply.

The girl blinked and shook her head immediately.

Perhaps Killua wanted to ask another question, but something stopped him. He took his phone out from his pants' pocket, made a face as he looked at the screen, dialed a number, and slammed the object to his ear with such force.

Yuhi only watched him look out the window—perhaps waiting for a response. She pursed her lips. He's angry?

"Oi Gon!" Killua exclaimed over the phone. "Where are y— H-hey, why are you two together!? Seriously, Gon, you left without me! Why didn't y— Hey, wait, who's th—" A load groan. Killua then pulled a piece of paper from below his desk. He read it, and slammed it on his desk, a nerve popping in his temple. "What the heck are you on to? Give the phone back to Gon now. I have nothing to say to you!" A pause. "Oh yeah? Sure! Why the heck not!? You're screwed tomorrow, I tell ya! Now give the freaking phone back to Gon, you witch! Geez!" Another groan. "Why did you go with her!? Ugh, whatever, but I am going home and good luck explaining things to Mito-san, you twerp! No, I'm not bailing you out. What's that? Gon, I'm not hearing things! What is this? I think the signal's messed up. Gon, I can't hear you! Oh no, you're disappearing!" Killua slowly pulled the phone away from his face and clicked the end-button with brute strength.

Yuhi still had not turned her gaze away from the boy—not until he snapped his head towards her and she returned to sweeping the floor. She heard a sigh from her angel and glancing at him from the corner of her eyes, she saw him fixing his things fast, perhaps ready to leave. Yuhi then absent-mindedly released a pout. Yes, Yuhi, expect him to be gone in less than three seconds. You wouldn't be able to notice. A sigh.

"Yo, ramen girl."

Doki.

The girl instantly looked up. She felt a tad happy about her angel calling her that again. It had been a while.

Killua took his bag and looked at the auburn-haired girl. His face still read the aftermath of a bad, annoying conversation over the phone. "I'll go on ahead. You—" He paused and looked around. "Are you gonna clean everything?" he asked, gesturing towards the rest of the room.

Yuhi nodded and cleared her throat to ready her vocal chords for a speech. "Yes." A smile spread across her face to indirectly reassure the boy that she'll be okay alone. But inside she somehow she wanted him to stay a little longer.

The boy nodded slowly and shrugged. "'Kay." He walked to the door.

Yuhi gulped, thinking of what she was going to say next. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. Killua then paused in his tracks and turned to the girl. "Ja." "Take care!" They said in unison. Both paused and stared at each other.

The white-haired boy broke the gaze first. He looked away and rubbed his nape with his palm.

Yuhi heard sirens crying inside her head while she watched the boy. Why… must you act so… cool? She took a deep breath and gave a small smile. "Take care on the way home, ne!"

Killua then glanced at her and waved a hand, muttering another "Ja" under his breath before he exited the door and disappeared from the hallway.

Yuhi stared at where her angel receded into and sighed. She looked around, reckoning that silence once again engulfed her world. Things came and went so easily, but Yuhi still could not get rid of the rude thoughts invading her brain. She wanted to melt when she thought about it again. Now how can you tell him, Yuhi? Tell meeeee!

Another sigh escaped her throat as she turned her gaze back at the white-haired boy's desk. There she saw a paper laid crumpled a little. She then recalled the conversation her angel had over the phone. It was Gon, definitely Gon. Gon left the school without him that's why he was so mad about it. But… Gon leaving Killua behind? It seemed almost impossible. Maybe someone dragged him somewhere. That's right. That might explain why Killua called someone over the phone a witch. Yuhi wanted to see what was on the paper, and the wind from the windows hurling helped. The paper flew to her, landing on the floor. She picked it up and read the message.

'Sorry, Killua! We're taking Gon to see the basketball game tonight. Too bad you couldn't come. Aww, don't cry, baby. Yes, revenge is sweet, my friend. Thank me tomorrow. Toodles! Mwahahahahaha!'

Yuhi smiled a little as she read the note. It must be some kind of prank they pulled to fool the white-haired boy. Yuhi found it cute that he was fooled—perhaps. There was even a doodle of a face sticking a tongue out to annoy him. However, she pouted and felt awed because they left him alone. Yuhi smiled a little. And now you're both left alone. She chuckled lightly at herself and absent-mindedly flipped the paper around. There, as she read the hand-written print on it, her eyes grew wide.

To the cute little Killu-chan.

From your love lady Kira.

Killu-chan… Lovely lady Kira…

Ba-dump-dump-dump.

There it was again—that unexplained feeling. It twisted her heart in a painful way. She pressed her lips together and took two deep breaths to heal the burning sensation. The girl folded the paper and put it in her skirt's pocket immediately after reading the note. Killua might just look for it. Yuhi then continued to sweep the floor and fix the shelves, trying to ignore the feeling that rampaged against her chest.

But it was then after about five minutes of silence that something from the door got the girl looking up to inquire what it was.

Doki.

It was Killua.

Yuhi blinked, feeling her body numbing with the roar of her raging heart. He came back…?

The boy looked at the girl, still chewing on a lollipop, then looked away as he walked silently to his chair. He put his bag down. "I think I'll stay here for a while," he silently said, turning a heel to walk towards the teacher's table.

Yuhi watched his every movement and thought she needed to reply. "Is Gon coming back?"

Killua stood in front, leaning his back against the teacher's table and planting his palms on it for support. "No."

The note! "Did you… leave something behind?"

Killua shook his head.

Yuhi gulped and looked down. She knew Killua then had a 360-degree view of her, making her feel a little conscious in her position. She needed to hide her obvious expressions about what was in her thoughts. Is… Lykira coming back? You'll be waiting for her? "Are you… gonna hang around here… until later?"

The boy shrugged. "Probably."

Ack. Had her theory been proven true, oh it would absolutely be a major heartache. Thus Yuhi gathered all her courage and asked "Why?" as she turned her gaze to the boy, preparing herself for a terrible flood.

Killua pulled himself up and sat on the table that stood behind him. He grunted under his breath. "C'mon! I'm alone. You're alone." He shrugged again. "Why not?"

Heh…! Sirens, sirens started screaming inside the auburn-haired girl's mind. The cry was accompanied by a gazillion army of exclamation points grinding her chest fast, tearing her life muscle to bits, inwardly bleeding, with the blood strangely rushing to her face. Yuhi could not, she could not, she would never, not ever believe herself to be awake at that time. It must be a dream—a freakishly wonderful dream that seemed so realistic yet so unbelievable at the same time. Time seemed to have stopped in the girl's inner universe as the words from the boy echoed in her head over and over and over again.

I'm alone.

You're alone.

Why not?

…Why not?

Then as though her soul was starting to come back to her frozen body, she gradually felt like she was awakening again, opening her eyes to the view of the white-haired boy sitting on the teacher's table a few feet away from her. Reality swallowed her in an instant. She gasped and leaned back a little, opting to cup her face with her palms and turn around. She was aware of how hot her cheeks were at that time.

Killua's eyebrows creased of confusion when he saw the girl's reaction. Then slowly his eyebrows flexed, eyes growing wide, face colouring a little. "H-Hey, It's not what you think!" he exclaimed, tone a little high, trying to speak out his point with conviction.

Yuhi blinked, heart pounding loud against her chest. It was hammering her ribs. N-Not what I think? Yuhi blinked again as she tried to force her brain to think straight to get the meaning of the boy's exclaimed sentence. Oh, not a thing was in her mind when he said the most heart-pounding thing but the thought of it sounding so mushy and pretty it made her want to melt into Killua's arms.

The latter parted gazes with the girl—looking down, to the right, out the window, and down again twice before he formulated what he wanted to say. "I meant— Ugh! Well, 'cause I'm alone. Gon left, right? So I thought I'll come back and stay for a bit 'cause, you know, since you're here doing some stupid punishment thing again, why not hang around with someone to kill time? That sorta stuff." He stated his sentence fast, not allowing the girl to even question him while he "explained" things. "I don't want to head home yet. Gon won't be there either. It'll be boring." The second sentence he spoke with his normal tone, only mumbling the words annoyingly as he rubbed his nape and closed his eyes frustratingly.

Subconsciously, the girl tried to force her jelly-like head to nod, not averting her eyes from the white-haired boy in front. She did not catch a single thing from what he said aside from "to kill time" and the boy's latter statement. Yep, the "You're alone. I'm alone. Why not?" testimony still echoed in her head. Yuhi felt numb on her knees. She felt so very much incredibly infatuated again and she knew she would not be able to get tired of everything about Killua.

The boy heaved a deep sigh and opened his eyes, looking at the girl who stood at the fourth row of the seats. He bowed his head down a little as he creased his eyebrows, mumbling a "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Snap.

Yuhi awoke as though a magician snapped his fingers in front of her face after being hypnotized. She blinked a couple of times, and when Killua's question sank in her brain, she silently gasped and absent-mindedly cupped her burning face. "S-Sorry!" she exclaimed nervously, turning around.

Ten seconds of silence.

Thump. Ba-dump. Ba-thu-dump. Ba-thu-du-dump.

Yuhi swallowed a good amount of liquid as she tried to busy herself with sweeping the floor. Part of her wondered why cleaning 2-A's room felt so, so time-consuming, another part of her thought of how she should move about inside her zone, tensed nerves triggering whenever she pulled a chair too hard, making a sound that broke the ice, but the remaining part of her wanted it all to happen.

Another five seconds of silence.

Ba-da-da-dump. Thump.

Normally, in a quiet stillness of the day, where she and her angel happened to be together—just together saying nothing and doing nothing at all—the girl would embrace and savour the tranquility. She loved the peaceful intimacy she felt whenever Killua was around. But at that time, her nerves were jumping all over the place. She was anxious, very jittery, shaky. Yuhi wanted a conversation, at least, that afternoon. She wanted to hear noise. She wanted to hear Killua talk. Because in all honesty the silence was making her nervous, so incredibly nervous she was feeling as though the earth was speaking to her, telling her something she should be doing—or saying—while everything was motionless, while she and the love of her life were alone together. It was as though her subconscious was telling her that the silence was accounted for something, compelling her to speak that one thing—that one thing she had been thinking about all day long.

But I don't know if I should.

With heart beating fast, the girl glanced at the white-haired boy who remained seated on the teacher's table, gaze and position towards the window, as she moved to the third row to clear that part. Yuhi still saw the sandy-coloured sky dancing on his irises as the sun was closing in the horizon though the boy was turned sideways. She tightened her grip on the broom and carried on with her work. A silent, frustrated sigh. I couldn't do it!

The clock ticked a minute.

"Ah! This is boring!" Killua suddenly exclaimed, stretching his back and letting it lie on the table. Yuhi jumped of surprise. Killua let out a silent groan and muttered "Stupid Gon" under his breath as he played with his lollipop stick—throwing it in the air and catching it with one hand again and again.

Yuhi breathed out, trying to calm her suddenly jolted nerves. However in the process, her eyes were still at the white-haired boy, and he noticed it. Killua turned her eyes at the girl, eyebrows creased of his own dilemma. Yuhi's pulses raised, and she could not understand why Killua was so, so good-looking. She blushed and returned to her task.

The boy heaved another deep, impatient sigh.

It coerced the girl. For a moment she thought that perhaps Killua was waiting for her to reply to his complaint. She needed to release a word. The boy had already started speaking. Say something, Yuhi! She huffed silently, and as though some unknown entity was pulling her vocal chords out of her throat, she released a sound. And there was no turning back, for it grabbed the boy's attention. Yuhi glanced at Killua as the latter looked away just as instantly. You can do this! A sharp exhale. "Wh…" It disappeared. Her voice disappeared. She tried again. "Where's Gon?" Finally. But it was a soft as a whisper.

But Killua heard her nonetheless. "The witch took him away," he annoyingly answered after an obvious sneer.

From your lovely lady Kira.

Yuhi thought of the note she hid in her pocket. Witch?

"Yeah."

Yuhi did not know she asked that aloud.

"I guess you saw the paper on my desk since it's gone so you prob'ly know who the witch is."

Yuhi's eyes grew wide. Killua knew she took the note. Will I give it back? Her right hand then brushed her skirt where the note was. She pursed her lips. "Lykira?" she silently asked, feeling her chest twist a bit. She held her breath for Killua's answer, anticipating what his reaction may be.

He snapped his fingers and turned his gaze at the girl, smiling a little. "That's the one." Turning his gaze back at the ceiling he sneered. "The witch."

Here Yuhi swallowed hard. "W-Why do you call her that?" Her tone was careful, trying to not sound too offensive.

"You've read the note?" Killua looked at her.

Yuhi blinked and nodded reluctantly, instilling in her brain that she should apologize right after.

"That practically explains it all. I mean, she could just mess on my homework or write some annoying thing on my desk, right? She didn't have to go that far. And the most annoying thing is that Gon went with her! He's unbelievable." The boy snorted, closing his eyes frustratingly and throwing his arms behind his head, face at the ceiling.

The auburn-haired girl paused in her position as several pictures she saw of Gon and Killua with Lykira ran laps in her head. Most of the time she saw the white-haired boy laughing playfully while she talked, and most of the time she saw Lykira pinching the boy's cheeks, and he would blush and look away in return. Now Killua sounded so annoyed about her. But Yuhi reckoned it was the first time the boy ever talked to her like that. That was perhaps the longest speech Killua ever gave her, and it was about Lykira and about how she took Gon away for the day, and perhaps about how he felt upset about it, even maybe about how bored he was inside the room with her. The thought pushed her to say something interesting—at least, just so Killua would not feel irked around her. "M-Maybe Lykira meant to do that as a friendly joke," she choked out. Yuhi waited for Killua's response with a small nervous smile on her face.

The boy shot her a sharp look.

Yuhi held her breath in. Wrong! It's wrong! She needed to redeem herself. "I'm sure Gon wanted you to be there too." Another small, shy smile.

Killua laughed mockingly aloud as he sat up. He rested his left elbow on the knee of his raised left leg and looked at the girl with a rather grave grin on his face. "Well, he shouldn't have left without me if that's the case, right?"

The girl pursed her lips as she stared back into the grim eyes of the boy and thought that he may be a little too upset about it. Cheer him up! Heart racing faster and faster, Yuhi gained all the courage she could muster as she thought of what she was going to say next. A sunny smile spread widely across her face, cocking her head to the left. "Let me be your Gon for today, then!"

. . .

While the girl kept her smile, the white-haired boy froze in his seat, eyes wide of surprise, as he looked at Yuhi in the face, taking in what she had said. Both only looked at each other with opposite expressions, and for a moment Yuhi thought she saw the boy's cheeks colouring. Killua blinked again, face not crumpling from its original stance. By and by, Yuhi's heart hammered her chest—a mix of shyness and mushiness. It may look as though she was inside a cheesy romantic flick where the cool, introvert boy would pause and blush when the bubbly heroine said something really tender and adoring. Killua then swallowed. Yuhi saw his baby Adam's apple move. Her heart raced faster. She smiled even more.

. . .

"Pfffffttttttt!" And just then, Killua made a 180-degree turn, covering his mouth with both of his palms as he suppressed a rather huge laughter.

Hm…? For a second, Yuhi wondered what Killua was doing. But it all came to her when she realized his shuddering shoulders and heard his snickers from where she stood. Blood slowly rushed from her toes, fingertips, and spine to her head, painting her face red, cheeks boiling, hot. Eh!? Killua was laughing. Killua was laughing at her. Killua was laughing at what she said. Absent-mindedly dropping her broom she held onto her cheeks, trying to cover her shamelessly humiliating face from the whole world. She wanted to run away, but she could not seem to get a grip on her muscles. Yuhi stood frozen in the middle of the room, face red, eyes wide, heart pounding loud, brain numb. Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That was embarrassingggggggg!

"Oh, maaaan," Killua sang between his snickers. He then sat straight, looking at the window and taking a deep breath before turning his gaze back at Yuhi with a smile on his face, the upshot of his hilarity.

The girl's system froze—and not only because the boy who laughed at her sentence finally turned his gaze at her, but because his smile was not the smile she had saw him give her. It was a different one—genuine, pure, unpretentious. It was the smile she saw him give his best friend when they were inside the Roroturo's ramen shop. It was the smile she had seen him give her in her dreams—a smile only for her. Sparks outrageously flew everywhere at that moment. Maybe even the prettiest of fireworks sparkled all over the room when the boy's smile grew wider.

"You're funny, ramen girl."

Thump.

Yuhi looked down, avoiding the boy's tantalizing gaze while she contemplate things in her head.

I am…

Thump.

Killua then jumped off the teacher's table, throwing the lollipop stick in the trash bin and turning a heel towards the girl.

You're…

Thump.

Is this…?

Thump.

He paused in front of her, took the broom that slid out of her hands from the floor and waved it in front of the girl's face. "Oi, oi, It's getting darker by the minute. You should finish this soon. I'll go clear the board."

Blinking slowly, the girl absent-mindedly took the broom, reluctantly turning her eyes towards the boy. She was trying so hard to hide her coloured face but she wanted so bad to show the white-haired boy her gleeful fast-beating heart.

Meeting her eyes, Killua then suddenly looked away and put his hands inside his pockets. "I was assigned to clear the chalkboard after Pironst asked me to carry some papers to his desk, anyway."

Yuhi could not understand why but it felt as though the faint sound of church bells were gloriously resonating throughout the room. Her heart was not in its normal state, but the skipping beats made her want to soar—like she could do anything that minute, even with her short breaths and aspic knees. Her heart swelled in a good way, making her lips curve to a convex, feeling hot blood warming her skin fast, like hot ramen soup, or a comfortable thick blanket on a cold winter night. Yuhi smiled, tasting the sappy air in her mouth.

Killua glanced at her and turned towards the aisle. "You're weird," he mumbled under his breath.

The girl then smiled even more, biting her lower lip as she proceeded to her task, praying that time would tick slowly. She wanted to stay longer—stay with Killua. Telling him about letting her be his Gon for the day somehow helped in releasing some of her uncontrollable emotions. It was as though a huge lump was pulled right out of her chest. She felt lighter, more comfortable. Yuhi then reaffirmed that it takes a good amount of courage to speak her heart. Cupid sure should not hit his arrows at people's hearts. He should hit them in the gut. It takes strong guts to gain courage, and in gaining courage, the existence of Cupid's imagery and his purpose might be felt. At that time, she felt it. It was in the air, and she wondered if the boy could feel it too. She hoped that he felt it too. Yuhi sighed in awe as she glanced at the white-haired boy, thinking of what she and Killua could be.

Well, not a thing will happen if you won't tell him a thing, ne?

Moving on to the second row, Yuhi took a deep breath and looked up.

Killua was walking out of the room bringing the erasers, perhaps to get rid of the chalk dust before using it to clear the board.

Yuhi exhaled and returned to her work, puffing her cheeks. Alright, Yuhi, you'll tell him today? Did you prepare for this? You didn't even tell Sejin yet. Roroturo has no idea about it. You can wait. You can think about it until later. The girl nodded to herself. Just go with the flow. Don't overthink things. Stay calm! Go, Yuhi, fight-oooooo!

The white-haired boy re-entered the room, glancing at the girl.

Hearing him walk in Yuhi glanced at Killua as well, locking gazes with him for a second before he continued to stride towards the chalkboard. Her heart raced at that. She wanted to melt. Everything was making her knees feel so jelly-like. Instead she swallowed hard and tried to act normal. I'm making myself feel nervous!

Killua then cleared his throat. "So…"

Doki.

Yuhi looked up then down again, calmly moving her broom as she transferred to the first row, working closer to the white-haired boy. But inside her heart was fluttering. Killua spoke first after all.

"You do this a lot?" he asked as he cleared the board. "Cleaning, I mean."

The auburn-haired girl pursed her lips, thinking of how to tell Killua about her lethargic attitude. She chuckled sheepishly. "Only when I fall asleep in class."

The boy turned around and gave the girl a look of confusion. He stared at her for a while. "You don't look like someone who sleeps in class," he mused, turning to the door to purge chalk dust from the erasers again. He was done clearing the board.

Yuhi blinked. She cocked her head to the side and waited for Killua to return before she asked her question. "Really?" she asked, following the boy with her eyes as he walked towards the teacher's table. He sat on it again after placing the erasers back to where they belonged.

He shrugged. "Yeah. Well, unless you do that on purpose."

Here the girl stood straight and defended her pride, waving her hands in front of the boy. "Oh no, I don't do it on purpose!" Then she lowered her head when she thought of her next sentence. "I have no idea why but ever since I started school I tend to sleep in class, especially when the teacher's voice sounds so quiet and relaxing." Another sheepish laugh escaped her throat before returning to her task, moving towards the teacher's table.

Killua snorted. "More like old and boring!"

Yuhi laughed a little. The way her angel said it sounded so funny.

"Lemme guess. You sleep in Pironst's class," he said, tone sounding a little higher than when he talked to the girl before. Leaning his back lightly, the white-haired boy turned his gaze to his right where the girl was sweeping off chalk dust that fell when he cleared the board.

Yuhi smiled, glancing at Killua. She shook her head. "Mr. Pironst's our first period. I haven't slept in his class before." She heaved a deep breath. Everything was making her heart race.

"Really?" Killua asked disbelievingly. "But his lectures are super boring!"

"Mr. Pironst's really nice!" Yuhi exclaimed. She smiled as she looked up, meeting Killua's blue eyes that were only a feet away from hers.

Doki.

The boy blinked and looked away, closing his eyes and stretching his arms behind his head.

Yuhi pursed her lips and giggled inwardly as she swept the floor past Killua.

"I'll bet in Malu's class you doze off often."

Here the girl could not help but let out the mushy feeling. She laughed a little and nodded. "Yes, too often." Grabbing the dustpan near, she scooped the dirt. "In Mrs. Akimiro's class too," she added, smiling sheepishly.

"And you don't do that on purpose?"

Again, the girl shook her head. "I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it." She smiled at Killua before going out of the room to toss the dirt in a near trash bin. Yuhi could not, in fact, believe that she was having a normal conversation with her angel without having to result to extreme heart-pounding and nervousness. She thanked the heavens as she walked back towards 2-A's room, suddenly realizing that she was done for the day. A sigh of awe. Why does the day feel so short now?

Will you tell him?

Thump.

Standing on the doorway, Yuhi cleared her throat and took a deep breath to ooze the call out of her throat. "K-Killua?"

The boy sitting on the teacher's table turned his head to her. He raised his eyebrows in question.

I… I really… I l… l… I like… you. Yuhi jabbed her thumb towards the left side of the hallway. "I'm done for the day." She smiled at him, feeling her heart race when she inwardly thought of what she wanted to say to the boy. She stood there waiting for the boy's response before getting her things and going home sighing and regretting the chance given to her by her stars. Perhaps on the way home she could think of everything. By then, her being alone might help a lot. Then just as though something snapped her awake again, a thought suddenly came into mind. Wait a sec…

"Okay," Killua noted. Jumping off the table and walking to his desk.

Yuhi heart started dancing in a fast music while she watched the boy grab his bag and hung it over his shoulder.

Turning a heel towards the door, Killua paused when he saw Yuhi just standing there. His eyes grew wide. "What?"

The girl then blinked and shook her head off the thoughts—and to answer Killua. "Y-You'll be heading home now too?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Let's… go…

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. BA-DUMP.

Yuhi nodded immediately and ran to their classroom, frantically placing the cleaning materials back to their rightful abode. The feeling was different, incredibly different from before. It was as if she was opened up to an even beautiful option—something she never knew she would think of ever happening. A gleeful smile crept across her face as she stood in front of her desk to calm her nerves down. She and Killua would walk home together, and it was not something forced or dealt by nature. That was perhaps the chance. Or was it? Yuhi just had to go there to find it out herself.

Hanging her messenger bag over her shoulder and taking her book in her arms, she took a deep breath before turning around. There she found the love of her life standing by the door waiting for her, hands inside his pockets, face serene, air vivid and spellbinding. Yuhi took a deep breath to hide her awed sighs and smiles, and nodded firmly before striding towards him.

They walked along the hallway and down the stairs in silence, with Yuhi only breaking the ice when they reached the grounds, remembering that she should inform Mr. Yama about her duty. Killua then nodded when the girl asked if it was okay for him to wait for a while. Yuhi then hopped to the faculty smiling to herself.

After a rather long lecture about the penalties she would receive—again—for her lethargic attitude, her adviser sent her off to head home, reminding her for the nth time that she should never again sleep in class or at least get caught sleeping on her desk. Yuhi, however, heard only half of what her teacher said, because the words he would utter were those she was accustomed to hearing since she was a five-year-old baby, and because her mind flew somewhere outside of the office. The girl immediately rushed to the door the moment she heard the word "go" from her adviser, not letting him finish his sentence even.

She then anticipated that Killua had already left, because judging by how long the lecture was, she reckoned she was held in for about seven minutes inside the office, and that span of time was long—especially for a person who was waiting, and perhaps for a person like the white-haired boy. But there he stood leaning his back on one of the pillars in the façade of school, busying himself with his phone while he waited for the auburn-haired girl to appear. The view of him with the gold and orange holy lights from the sunset in the background took the girl's breath away. She approached him with a fast beating heartbeat—excited, anxious, and giddy all at the same time.

When Killua raised his eyes to spot the girl, he stood straight, checked his phone again, and annoyingly placed it back in his pocket. He commented on how stupid his best friend was for not thinking an ounce about everything before agreeing to go to the basketball game a bus ride away from home when Yuhi met him and they started walking. Yuhi requested him to tell her the story behind it, asking about it hesitantly, her tone eager but cautious. Killua told her, said because he mocked Lykira earlier that day about how no one would ever go with her to the basketball game she wanted so bad to watch live that day. The team she wanted to lose would be playing, and Killua said that Lykira wanted to see them "burn in hell". He had no idea why the ash-blonde girl was like that, and he said she was always like that—the reason he called her "witch". The boy even made a twisted face to mimic Medusa to describe Lykira.

Yuhi defended for the girl's pride, though—saying that if it were her true personality then Lykira would sound so incredibly cool. She also commented on how nice Lykira seemed to be. Killua then made another face, insisting that she was nice to everybody but him. He said she always teased him about nonsense things, ending his speech with a silent irritated growl.

It was then that Yuhi reckoned the pinches Lykira gave the boy were meant as teases.

But she wanted to know what made him blush all the time.

Yuhi was silent thinking about it until she suddenly jolted when she realized that they were already past the gates of campus. She snapped her head to her right and found Killua still walking beside her. It surprised her, because their home was on the opposite side, a turn to the right from school. They should have parted ways when they reached the gates. She asked him where he would go, deeming in the back of her mind that the boy was there to escort her to the bus stop.

"It's still early," he reckoned, stretching his arms behind his head.

When Yuhi turned to the sky to inquire the time, she found the sun was near the horizon. It was not fit to be called early. She then only nodded in response, opening a topic about Gon again. She figured it was what made Killua speak a lot more than anything else. At least then she would not be so nervous whenever the air was quiet between them, and so as she would not hear her heart hammering her ribs with every tick of the clock. It always made her feel as though the situation was fostering her to release her infatuation. And it was not yet time. She needed a perfect amount of self-encouragement and concentration before she could start an "I" to the boy. She enthusiastically mused how high-spirited and helpful the spiky-haired boy could be when she recalled him endlessly attending to people in an activity back at camp trip.

Killua agreed and added a small grin as a response. His eyes were forward, as though he was recognizing his best friend's amazing personality inwardly. He had not said a word after.

After a few seconds, when Yuhi thought her chest would explode and release rainbows, Killua breathed in, and asked the girl how long she had been living in Tomo. Yuhi told him with her eyes wide of innate surprise. Killua followed up the question if she was born there. Yuhi said she did not know. Killua then remembered she had no parents. Yuhi told him she was born in Tomo according to her birth certificate, but she also told him that she was quite unsure of that, explaining her logic.

"They may have put Tomo in there because it's where Roroturo-san lives," she mused, tone slightly high.

"Then why don't you go ask Roroturo-san about it?" Killua inquired, turning his gaze at her.

The girl then nodded and smiled at him, saying that she had not thought about it before, but she would, thanks to his response.

Looking away, the white-haired boy released a deep exhale. "Well, Tomo or not you're still surrounded with normal people," he commented, eyes far ahead.

The smile on Yuhi's face slowly faded when she stared at the boy's face. She remembered Gon's story about how he and Killua met. Yuhi swore to the moon that she would not ever forget about how she pictured a 12-year old Killua standing outside the door, full of bruises, scratches, and scars, as if he just came from a battleground, as what Gon had described it. At that time, she wondered again where he came from, what his background was, who his parents were, if he ever had any siblings, in what kind of home he grew up into. She suddenly wanted to know everything, readying herself to awful things his childhood may offer. However, if that was really the case, if Killua had really been a subject of insane punishment in his home, Yuhi felt that she would absolutely want to hold the boy in her arms and tell him that she got her.

But when Killua turned his gaze at the girl, she suddenly tensed, blushed, and chickened out.

Yuhi was grateful that the bus stop was only a few feet away by that time.

They walked in silence again until they reached the stop. Yuhi tiptoed on the sidewalk to see if there was a bus coming around. The road was silent as well. She sighed, and turning her gaze at Killua she smiled sheepishly, saying that she reckoned she would wait for a while.

Killua waited with her, repeating his words from a while ago, "It's still so early anyway," as he walked to the bench situated under the metal shed.

Yuhi then inwardly punched her heart for beating so loud. It was expecting again something that seemed almost improbable but so, so reachable. She took a deep breath before turning a heel to take a seat next to the white-haired boy. Well, five feet away from the boy.

Both sat still as the flood of yesterday's memories splashed through their minds. Twilight, rain, cupcake. Yuhi's heart pounded loud as the vivid memory played like a sappy original DVD flick in her head. It was so clear she still remembered the boy's reaction when she handed him the cupcake and how she felt all throughout the excursion. Yuhi wondered if Killua was thinking about it too.

"At least now it's not raining," Killua commented aloud, turning his eyes at the sky.

Yuhi sat straight and looked at the boy with amusement. She then knew what he meant, and with that, an urge of laughter escaped her throat. She chuckled merrily and agreed with him.

A few seconds later, the bus arrived. They parted ways with another enthusiastic "Take care of the way home" and a silent "Ja" accompanied with a wave of the hand.

Yuhi went home smiling.


It was not until the heavy hand of her guardian slapping the part of the table near her that Yuhi woke from her inner thoughts. She jolted straight, eyes focusing at a certain point, lids blinking, as though she was just released from hypnotism, or a terrible spell. Her gaze fell to the blanched asparagus, rice, carrots, and deliciously spiced beef strips on a plate she barely touched before looking up to meet the small keen gray eyes of Roroturo. At that instant, she already knew what was coming at her.

"You've been quite inattentive lately. Something's bothering you, baby?" the man asked, voice half-filled with angst and half-filled with concern.

Yuhi pursed her lips, feeling her heart raking her lungs because of her thoughts. She had been meaning to tell her guardian about her secret love life. She wanted to. She just did not know how to tell him about it, and how he would react when she told him. She blinked. The last thing she would want to show Roroturo was her, playing with her food, and acting like she had taken in all the problems of the universe. Her guardian would absolutely go berserk if he saw Yuhi that way. So she remained still, trying to act calm, although she knew that Roroturo felt that something was wrong.

"Come on, sweetie, you can tell me." He ushered her calmly.

She had been thinking about it ten minutes after the bus roared her home, when it was time for her brain to recollect the things that happened that day and weigh how it would contemplate them all. At that time, she had recoiled everything and went back to thinking about confessing. But she thought of what would cost the both of them had she opened up her heart to the white-haired boy. They were only about to start a comfortable camaraderie with each other, and her telling the boy what she felt about him might turn the tables a gazillion times around. That was what kept her busy until she got home.

Roroturo was not the type who would give logical arguments about something. As far as Yuhi knew of him, he was always the one who gave his full trust on his instincts. Yuhi reckoned she was just like him. Sometimes she wondered if Roroturo really was only a guardian, or her true father who did not want to talk about his past life and introduced himself to her as her parents' closest friend. But Yuhi took Roroturo's advises seriously. She appreciates his every effort to act like a dad, even though at times he would completely mess up especially with Yuhi as a growing young lady. The latter knew her guardian well, and with his tone of voice and mode of speaking, his "baby" and "sweetie" meant that he wanted her to share pieces of her life with him expressly because she was already a teenager. Yuhi somehow felt that Roroturo feared her child shunning away from him as she grew up—as what he would watch in TV dramas and movies. The girl, on the other hand, did not want to deprive him of her teenage experiences. Yuhi vowed to tell Roroturo everything. She grew up as such after all.

But she just couldn't.

Roroturo-san would either laugh at me or tease me forever.

She did not want to say it. It was too embarrassing.

"Yuhi, remember what I said? If you have a tiny problem, you can tell me. Don't keep it to yourself." He said that with a gentle smile that Yuhi was not used to seeing on his muscled face.

She laughed.

Roroturo frowned. "I'm serious."

Yuhi gulped. No use turning back now. She cleared her throat. "It's… it's kinda not big of a deal anyway." Her voice was silent, shy.

That was the most unnatural thing Roroturo had ever seen. His face gave a grave disbelieved reaction. But in clearing his throat, he immediately shifted back to "dad" mode. "Go on."

How? How? Howhowhowhow? Another gulp. "It's my…" A deep breath. "It's my… friend…" Here Yuhi's voice dropped to a whisper. She lied, biting her tongue inside her mouth.

Roroturo was suspicious, but he looked curious as well. "What about your friend?"

"S…" Yuhi took a deep breath, nodding to herself to carry on with what she was thinking of saying. "She has this huge crush on a boy in our school." Her words were careful, cautious.

Roroturo's eyes grew wide and he turned away, coughing to hide his laughter. Yuhi inwardly pouted at that. The man cleared his throat. "Sorry. Continue."

The pout was visible on Yuhi's lips this time. She mumbled the next words out of her mouth. "She thinks of telling him how she feels. She…" Taking a deep breath, she exhaled the next phrase. "She wants to confess."

Roroturo cleared his throat again. He looked at the girl with a rather refreshed look on his face—an obvious aftermath of suppressed laughter. "How did that became your problem then?"

Yuhi's heart jumped. She needed to think of something good to answer. "She… asks for our advice. And she looks like she really, really likes him, Roroturo-san. She's always thinking about him and gets sad when he's not around." She explained briefly, stopping to not get too carried away with her emotions as she spoke. Roroturo might notice something.

"Hmm. Really?" The man stroked his chin with his fingers, thinking. Then he grinned playfully. "Next topic, please?"

"Roroturo-san!" Yuhi cried.

"Alright! Alright! I guess this is the part where I tell you things about what I learned while growing up, ain't it?" Roroturo laughed, looking as though it was meant for himself. Yuhi pursed her lips. The man took a deep breath, leaned his elbows on the table and raised his right hand in the air. "You see, Yuhi, when you're caught with your friends' problems, it's best to comfort them first, or scold them if you want, and then you tell them to solve their own problems. I'm not being a…what do you call that, a bad person? I'm not being rude or something like that. It's just that, the things that'll make a difference in their lives are all based on their own decisions. They should choose for themselves. Now, you, the groups of friends, your advices would only be options to her subconscious mind—whether she or he will let your "guidance" influence the decision-making." He shrugged, leaning back on his chair.

Yuhi blinked continuously, word by word trying to understand what her respected guardian was saying.

"So basically what I'm trying to say here is that, if you give your friend an advice about something as complicated as her love life, do it in an intelligent way. You can give her an option, and set things in balance for her. Give her something to think about. For example, you can say that she should absolutely confess, but you can also say that she should consider things that might come after her confession. Do you get me?" He paused.

Yuhi nodded slowly, looking with wide eyes at a certain spot on the table.

"Well, if you ask me, I'd totally see if there's something going on between the two of them before I could give an advice. Ya know—like looking at two sides of the story. 'Cause, sweetie, if the boy has not completely given her even an ounce of attention, then I'd tell her to get a hold of herself and stop fantasizing about things unless she wants her young heart broken. But if I see that there is a slightest chance, I might even do whatever it takes to force her to tell him. It depends on how people think, actually. What if she's someone who wants to wait on the boy to, like, say to her that he likes her? She'll wait, of course, and you can't do anything about that. But if she really likes this guy so much, considering all the positive circumstances, then why not go for it?" He smiled, then laughed afterward, leaning forward to lean his elbows on the table again. His big hand tapped the table with light force. "What do you think?"

The girl pursed her lips as she thought about the man's speech. Events between her and her angel continuously ran laps in her head, subconsciously screaming that they meant something.

"What's the situation you friend's in, anyway? Maybe we can weigh out whether or not it's worth giving an advice to or not."

Yuhi told him—from her point of view. However she did not disclose it in detail. She told him how she felt about the things that happened between Killua and her—or her friend and her crush.

Roroturo laughed, snapping his fingers in the air as he took a deep breath in. "Really? Then why not confess already?" Here the girl's eyes grew wide, heart skipping a beat. "We, men, can be really tough-hearted people, you see. We don't like being the first ones to initiate something sometimes. We wait for fans to go to us to ask for signatures. We wait for girls to talk to us first before we talk to them. Maybe the boy just needs an… ignition before he can start the engine, you know." He winked at the girl and the latter's breath fell short.

Even her guardian told her to speak her heart already.

"What do you think will happen if she tells him?" Yuhi asked silently, careful and shy.

The man stretched his arms behind his head as he leaned back on his chair. "Again, it depends. Positive or negative. They'd end up together or they'd end up like they never even met in the first place."

The latter option alarmed the girl. She would not want to walk past Killua in the hallway and act as though they did not know each other. "Can't they stay friends?" she inquired.

It made Roroturo pause to think. "Sure? But I'll bet it'll be so awkward. Maybe it depends on the both of them. Everything depends on the both of them, that's for sure, so don't you fret, honey, you're not to be blamed when everything turns out flopping. It's your friend's decision. If she wants to confess, then whatever the cost you and your advices should not be held responsible for anything." Here he released a small smile. Then he chuckled low and deep. "Or you can just tell her to stop thinking about it too much and do whatever her mind's telling her and continue to study hard," he joked.

Yuhi looked at her guardian's face that time, and ended up laughing at his latter sentence. The speech of wisdom from Roroturo was enough for her to put her cards on the table. She would confess, tell him everything, but not yet. She should take her time and consider a lot of things.

After finishing her meal, Roroturo sent her upstairs, not letting her work inside the ramen shop for the night, to attend to her schoolwork. She had mentioned the plenty of homework and reading their teachers had them do for the next day. Yuhi then sprinted off after kissing her guardian in the cheek and bidding the employees a good night to get to work fast.

At eight in the evening she sat in front of her desk, papers on Math and Economics scattered, workbooks opened on specific pages, Science and History books placed next to everything, as the fiber cloth of the miniature object of epistle brushed swiftly against her fingertips—the ashen space attracted her eyes as though it spoke to her.

"Write a name in me."

Perhaps it was the fifth time since her solitude that her mind played vividly her recent venture after school hours with the white-haired boy, and it convinced her that it was one of those something-going-on-between-the-two-of-them thing Roroturo talked about. She let it play in her head so that she could see if it was all worth it. But it only made her want to become biased. Maybe that was what Roroturo meant when he said that the person involved was the one who would make the decision. In giving advices, friends should present two sides of the story to consider. Yuhi tried so hard to compromise, but she could not seem to do it. There was only one party her system sided with: "follow your heart."

Her heart screamed Killua's name.

She smiled at that. It grew wider. Her heart swelled deeply and merrily. It felt so good to admit your soul into something true to your heart. At that time, she had decided. It was another final verdict.

Yuhi printed Killua's name on the empty space of her tiny lantern, thinking of giving it to the boy, together with her affection towards him.

I can do this.

Tomorrow, for sure, I'll do it.

-CHAPTER END-


You know, this chapter is long, absolutely long, but when you read it, it seems so short. What do you think? What do you think of this chapter? What can you squeeze in their conversation? Do you think there really is something going on between the two of them? What do you thinkkk? Punch those thoughts in the review box down theeere! And, thank you guys for the 121 reviews! ASdfghjkl I don't know what to say other than "Thank you". Yuhi is so happy she's bouncing. Thanks so muuuuuccchhh! I hope you can keep them coming ^_~

Guest review reply to 2102032: Upupu~ Thanks for you ever so awesome review! Aww, that's so cute. I'm glad Yuhi realized her true feelings too. It's like a whole new world (no, seriously, for me as the writer) XD Thank you again for the review! This chap too? :)

I love how you guys all say that Yuhi LOVES Killua when I clearly wrote in the previous chapter that she only really, really LIKES him. You're so cool. Haha! *brofists all of you*

NEXT CHAPTER: Will Yuhi be able to tell Killua how she feels about him the next day? She seems really pumped up about it. How will she do it?

The review box is waiting for someone amazing to fill it up with their thoughts. Please don't ever forget to leave a review. I swear, they are my fuel and I just looooove looooong reviews so muuuucccchhhhh. Yuhi is blushing with all of your feedback too. XD Thankyouallsomuchagainnyaaa~