A/N: Alright! How long was I out? Anyway, how are you guys? I don't know why but I feel like I'm not interacting much with people on the internet lately, like I've been talking to myself all the time. Haha yeah this is just me saying that not much is happening about this fanfic and it makes me sad but heck I still have readers so let's finish this thing together. It's not ending soon though. I think. But here you go!
Warning: Grab your snacks. Long chapter.
Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction no matter how much I wish the characters are alive and in my house being children and noisy and cute.
TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
The Leap Of Faith
Killua was happy; there was no doubting that. He knew he was. He immediately accepted the feeling of ease and guilt-free as soon as it dashed towards him. Finally, it was over and done with. Everything's okay now, making him think less of the things concerning the ramen girl. It was true—at least that part of his theory was—that when he would talk to the ramen girl, everything would come to appease, and he would be himself again. It happened, only this time, he was happier.
The boy figured his hyped up nerves were caused only by the aftermath of a renewed acquaintance and self-satisfaction. It should all die down eventually, although he did not wish them away unlike how he cursed the negative senses off of him three days before. He thought they should stay where they were, until they got tired of making his spirit cheeky and lively again.
The past two days had been a definition of relief and improvement—on his part and on the part of his relationship with his friends. His mood had become unshakably good, he heard nor saw no annoying thing about anything he loathed in the previous week, he and Gon had never been so close, Mito always commented on how handsomely he looked since Wednesday morning, and he was, in general, nice to everything and everyone.
To cut the long story short, everything was in place again, normal—as what he wished. He would wake up cursing the sun, but would recover and smile looking forward to a day with Gon, his other friends, of food, of video games, and of sweets. He would eat delicious breakfast and race with Gon to the campus, walk along the school grounds laughing, sit in class realizing that he forgot to do an assignment, get scolded in Math, fix things mumbling and whining about the load teachers gave, and walk to the gates racing with Gon again—or maybe even stop by his favorite candy store for some sweets.
All was well. He was not thinking much now, not dwelling onto the incredulous thoughts he couldn't believe his mind to even be thinking. He was Killua again. And he was glad of that—aside from the fact that he had figured out what was bugging him in the very first place. He couldn't be more right! It truly was guilt, and the guilt had vanished from the face of his world. There was no more, and it totally fixed his way of talking of and to the ramen girl.
Oh, they were talking, all right. Killua was surprised though, at how he could feel comfortable and not vexed whenever the ramen girl was there and smiling at them. He expected her to shun away somehow, and expected himself to shut her out, because that was how it was supposed to be. But no, she was there, he would see her, she would see him, she would smile, and he would return it. Killua, in spite of himself, never doubted his way of interacting about this. He considered it to be of something that should come naturally, though very unexpected of him. Still, he couldn't care less of that. The important thing was, everything was back to normal.
Although one day Gon reminded him of that Mitan girl and how he should apologize to her if he had no plans of returning her gestures. For the sake of it all, he told Gon that, sure, he would admit that he was sorry—though inwardly he was thinking that she had more to apologize for—but on a condition that Gon should be the one to say that to her. Killua thoroughly explained how he didn't want to get involved in that Mitan girl's life.
"The last thing I'd want right now is to be mean to someone."
Gon frowned at that, and hesitated a bit, before he nodded and agreed to do the job, saying that he would forward it to Yuhi, to which Killua shrugged and released a smug smile as he nodded Gon to run along.
It was a good thing, however, that Gon reminded Killua of Mitan. He almost forgot. No, scratch that, he absolutely forgot about it. At least then, when he told Gon that he was sorry about not being able to return her feelings, he was saying the truth, and it was again another sensation of relief. It was hitting two birds with one stone in one week, getting two problems fixed and solved at once.
After that, the description of normality should be in narration again. Council duties resumed without a single fling of uncharacteristic anxiousness from the boy. There was, he noted, an inner seizure he was so sure would disappear after a while. But he didn't mind. Everyone was advised to help do the table work and cease bringing in supplies because the booth designs only needed polishing as the festival was coming nearer.
It was a pointless thing to learn. He doesn't even know why people actually learn to do stuff such as paper folding. He was there, at his station, staring at a blue paper on his hand, not knowing what to do with it although the ramen girl already taught him how. He forgot—rather, in the first place, never remembered—to do it. And Yuhi was laughing at him.
Silently groaning then, Killua put the paper down, grabbed the scissors and other colored papers on the table, and resumed to cutting what was necessary and needed. When he shifted his gaze to the ramen girl to his left, she was smiling, an aftermath of a hearty laughter, at the paper in her hand, and Killua couldn't help but stare and begin to wonder again how people like her, like Gon, could be so… weird.
"Roses are pretty, don't you think?" Yuhi would interject after a long pause, looking at a finished product at hand.
Here one must understand that the ramen girl had been talking so casually and out-of-the-blue to the white-haired boy since they started to be okay. Killua found it confusing and amusing at the same time. He had always heard the girl talk like that—like how she was talking to him now—to his best friend and to Taro whenever they walked together, but never to him. And now that she had been doing so, it gave Killua a taste of gratification. "I think roses are overrated," so he would reply in his normal tone.
"Really? Why?"
"Don't you notice? There are tons of other flowers in the world but people always choose roses for some reason. It's weird and completely, I don't know, unfair." He would know, for Gon talked and taught him about plants and flowers while they were in Whale Island.
"Well, that's true but—"
"But they haven't seen any of those others, yeah."
"Yes, but… I was going to say some prefer roses more maybe because of personal reasons."
"Like what?"
"Hmm… Maybe, you know, for example, when there's someone to give flowers to, roses would be the first to come to mind because maybe that's how they like it."
"That's how who like it?"
"You know, old people like roses, for example."
"How can you tell?"
"I talk to old people a lot!"
"Okay? And what, do they, like… How can you stand old people?"
"Old people are real nice, ne."
"What? Well, nice doesn't really happen when they talk to me."
"Mr. Chango is nice."
"Okay, are we gonna name names now? Does History even ring a bell?"
"History… Mrs. Malu?"
"Define nice now."
"…She can be nice sometimes."
"Sometimes is not nice enough."
"…"
"…"
"Okay! She's not that nice!"
Killua would then suppress his laughter.
"But old people in general are nice!"
"…Fine, jeez, point taken."
"…"
"…"
"Anyway, daffodils are prettier than roses, in my opinion."
And thus began another set of strange topics on and on throughout council work. The ramen girl talked about that Mitan and how she said she was sorry. Killua was satisfied with that, though he hoped that the Mitan girl said it to his face than pass it again through the ramen girl. They talked long, and it seemed perfectly normal, as if it had been like that all along.
The following day he woke up totally pumped for the day. His good mood helped him get in the game that Friday. They kicked butts and won over the team that were his previous teammates in P.E. He was incredibly satisfied about the win, because he was playing with Gon, and playing in the underdog card had always been fun—although whispers about how much better the other team was annoyed him a little. The ramen girl was there at the game, and Killua found her funny with that silly, serious face she made while she watched them play. There were tons of other faces he saw who strangely knew his name as well. But those didn't matter much. The important thing was to win, and they did. He was glad that Gon did the ending the spike with the play he set.
But of course Gon never kept silent about embarrassing him in front of everybody. He kept telling each individual that he was the one who played well, Gon only spiked, and he was saying it like it was the most amazing thing in the world the white-haired boy had no idea how to hide his face. Also, Lykira kept pestering him about it so it was extra annoying and embarrassing.
"Of course everyone did well but Killua's really amazing!" Gon would say.
"W-Will you cut that out already? You're embarrassing me," Killua would sharply whisper.
"The only thing's missing is a huge fancy banner with blinking lights that says 'Killua is the best person in the world wide world!' and Gon's fan-boy life is complete," Lykira would add, laughing hard.
In any case, that should be completely customary. Gon was like that ever since, and although he still found it hard to get used to that kind of personality of his best friend, it was excusable. If only he could seriously say that Gon was the amazing one. And Lykira, well, whatever. She could say all she wanted but she should never cross the line. She almost did though, when they saw the ramen girl. Killua had no idea why but he was inwardly focusing on Lykira's words—as if she would be spurting anything about he had no idea what, because she was giving him the annoying look. But he felt stupid when the ash blonde girl left. What was he even worried about? It baffled him, and Gon and Yuhi baffled him, and the student council baffled him.
That was when he started questioning his sanity again. The student council called on Gon and Yuhi for an urgent meeting. He tagged along—although he knew he had got nothing to do inside the council office. It's better than to stay inside the classroom and eternally get pestered and interrogated by Lykira for something he couldn't comprehend what anyway. But after the meeting, he reckoned it did worse than what he thought staying in the classroom would do.
It was weird. Sure, the spirit of the festival wouldn't be felt if his face were in the poster. They could stick with that pathetic reasoning, for all he cared. But the meeting gave him a funny feeling. There was an inner seizure completely different from before. He couldn't shake it off. It was as though he was suddenly anxious of something that was yet to be known. Karina's words bothered him. He wondered about the truth in what she said. He looked at Gon and felt that he was thinking the same thing. But he sort of knew that Gon was only trying to decipher what Karina said. Killua, he was trying to figure things out in his head, while thinking of what Karina said. He looked at the ramen girl and felt something churning in his stomach. He didn't like how it was making him feel—because there was no guilt or unexpected accidental-ish event to blame anymore. It was just him. All him.
Throughout the day he tried shaking off the weird thing crawling against his skin. When it still made him feel funny, after school, he dragged Gon to a candy store and bought all the supply he needed. His best friend wouldn't be around the next day so he at least needed to think of a way to kill the boredom. He thought of video games and chocolate. Right, a whole Saturday alone with nothing and no one but himself, his candies, and good games. That ought to shake the creepy feeling off of him.
The moment they got home, Gon announced the news to Mito and his grandmother. There were lots of smiles and hugs and sparkly eyes from the aunt—especially because Gon added that they won the volleyball game he was talking about for two weeks. She couldn't be more proud and happy of the boys she immediately enclosed them in a tight embrace.
They went to bed early, on Mito's strict order, to get ready earnestly the next day. Killua told Gon that he was not going to go with him to the "photo-shoot" for the poster, and although a little bummed, Gon agreed somehow. But he could not put it off for the next fifteen minutes.
"Are you really sure you don't want to go?" Gon asked for the seventh time that night while they were playing a game on the computer in his room. "There might be free food."
"I've got all I need in this house for tomorrow, Gon. Plus I'm gonna finish off the master of the tower and beat the game. I've got something to do," Killua answered after a sigh, eyes at the computer screen.
There was a pause. "But you just bought the game. You said there are 100 levels."
Killua sighed, paused the computer game and looked at his best friend. "Look, I'll go if I get bored. If I get bored. Satisfied?"
Gon blinked, and blinked. Then he looked down. "Are you sure you don't want to do the poster?"
And that was how blood ran up Killua's head he thought his face would burst. What! Again!? He stood up, looked at Gon, and when he saw him laughing a little he just bounced, walking out. "No," he muttered sharply, slamming the door behind him when he reached his room.
"See you tomorrow, Killua!" Gon shouted after him.
Groaning, the white-haired boy just flopped onto his bed and tried dozing off. What is wrong with people! He couldn't sleep that night and he insisted it was absolutely not because he was thinking of what Karina said and what Gon said and that he did not suddenly wonder why and how the ramen girl could act normally with him around. Killua was glad about it, but that night while he lingered about the day that had passed, he just got a little confused as to why the ramen girl seemed so comfortable in talking to him about random things. Because though they had reconciled, it still remained in the history of the planet earth that he had asked her whether she liked him. Anyone who had been asked such a question would feel offended or shamed. But not the ramen girl, Killua reckoned, and he started to wonder why. He figured that maybe he was wrong in the very first place—that she really had nothing for him, and he was only thinking too much. That made him question himself again.
Was his query really meant for her to answer, or for him to feel a sort of relief? To fill up his expectations?
Wait, what would I even expect?
The next day made a difference. Sleep refreshed his mind and the boy woke up feeling fair. Gon was preparing to go when he got out of the room. It was a shame though, because he was totally expecting that he'd wake up a little late than he had.
"Are you sure you want to stay at home, Killua?" It was Mito who asked that time when Killua went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and for breakfast, as the aunt insisted.
"I'm good," Killua replied, smiling at the plate of pancakes and bacon in front of him.
Mito chuckled. "Alright, then. I'll make sure we have unlimited supply of food down here so you won't starve yourself."
Killua smiled at Gon's aunt. "Thanks, Mito-san." Then he went back to his food.
Gon came in the kitchen while Killua ate to talk to him about anything. He still insisted Killua to do the job, but the latter was firm in his words, reassuring Gon that he would do much better than him in that kind of thing anyway, explaining how the council wanted to sell the spirit of the festival, and they felt that they would if the people in the poster were full of spirits. After a few more minutes, Gon left with a huge smile on his face and Killua retreated to his room. It was 9:30 in the morning at that time.
Killua lingered at his ceiling for fifteen minutes eating chocolates. He thought he ought to do so before going to the computer and starting his 100-leveled game. When he got up, it was 9:45AM—fifteen minutes till their meet-up time. Killua shrugged and threw a box of chocolate balls on his bed and grabbed his game. He went in Gon's room, set it up in front of the computer, and started playing. He didn't bother caring for the time. He played continuously, never pausing. That should have been a lengthy period. He was exasperated, but he found the thing easy as cake.
When he reached the 20th level, he leaned back, threw the controls in front of him and inhaled. He feared the game was starting to bore him. But he was confident that Gon might be around in a few minutes so it should be fine. Killua stretched and looked at the time, and he couldn't believe his eyes.
10:07 AM.
What!
Slumping his back on his chair, the boy stared at the computer screen. Now he lost the willpower to play. He bought the game to kill time, but 20 levels and still it was ten o'clock! He expected that it would take him about an hour in the least. There would be a huge chance of Gon returning with that and it would be exciting again playing because Gon was such a lousy player and sometimes he needed a lousy player to play a videogame with. Killua hissed, thinking of continuing the game. Then he was just "…Noooo…" with face screaming what to do now.
After staring more at the monitor, Killua turned to the time again. It read 10:09 AM. He pressed his lips together, thinking. Then he sighed, winced, groaned, and finally stood up and shut the computer down. He went to his room, and the next thing he knew, he was taking a bath and preparing to head out.
There were a few minutes allotted for thinking twice. Having dressed for outside and all, Killua still tried to amuse himself with the wonders of the indoors. He tried watching TV, which ended up with him surfing the channels and yawning, finding nothing good. He tried sleeping, which ended up with him staring at his ceiling and wondering what Gon, the ramen girl and the council were doing at that very moment. He tried doing homework, which ended up with him not doing it. It was only half past 10 o'clock when he decided to go out, grabbing his skateboard and using it to stroll on a wintery day for a change.
So after letting Mito know that he was "just gonna go out and have a walk or something", he finally headed out.
Using his skateboard on a wet winter street is not at all a problem for the boy. He was used to it, and he was sure that his wheels would be okay. It had been a while since he used a skateboard to stroll, because he and Gon were always together and it was just not right if he were to use his skateboard while Gon walked. Anyway, Killua actually had no idea where he ought to go that morning. He thought that he might go to the campus if his skateboard led him there. But he knew he was rolling that way anyhow. So he stopped by a vending machine to buy a can of cola and sat by a nearby bench in the pavement for a while. The road was quiet and only bikes and kids fill the air up with noise when they happened to walk by. There were not much people at that part of town. He looked at the houses and thought of how solitary they looked. It seemed lonely down there, and it made him shiver. He shook it off by standing up and throwing his finished can in a trash bin. Then he rolled off, the campus appearing just around the corner when he made a turn.
He slowed down and looked around, finding something that could catch his attention other than their school building. There was nothing interesting to go to. So after a series of groans and self-scolding and "…No…What…Why did you even…Okay…Just hang around for a bit…For a bit…" he strolled right in the gates.
Saturdays inside campus were peaceful days. It's the only day besides Sunday that one could actually appreciate the wonders of going to school. There were students—athletes and organization members mostly—but the hallways and lobbies would remain quiet one would want to linger more on its cool, solitary walls and just sit on the floor feeling the silent air on one's skin and tasting it on one's tongue.
Killua felt that. He walked slowly through the corridors, carrying his skateboard in one arm with his free hand inside his pants' pocket. It wasn't every day that he could feel the quietness inside their noisy can of a school. He sort of missed walking in the people-less hallways of the building. Before he and Gon would stay after school hours and go home in the twilight just for the heck of it. But since school reached the busy days, they could not do it anymore. He walked carefully, sensing the small things, hearing only his footsteps as he strode up the stairs. It was nice—quiet, peaceful and nice.
He didn't even realize that he was walking up the student council office until he saw the sign that popped out the wall from where he stood. He stopped and blinked, noticing the rays of sunshine reflect on the floor from inside the room. The door was open, but he was hearing no noise. He shrugged and walked towards the office. Killua expected them to be noisily busy, or at least the door would be closed if they were out. But it was weird. They must have left it open or they were just working quietly—which was so unlikely. Slowly he made his way towards the room. The shades were open and the sun was bright behind the gray clouds, blinding the boy's eyes when he paused on the doorway and shifted his gaze towards the white walls. When he blinked, he looked around. There was no one there. He raised his eyebrows, sighed and shrugged. They must've left the door open. Grabbing the door handle, he started sliding it close, turning around for the staircase. Now where could they—
"Eh?"
What? Killua paused halfway from closing the door. He turned around, slid open back the wooden gate, and adjusted his eyes on the bright gleam of the room. Then he justkdfjjhjhdjfkjkjjhjdhsdjfdjhjhjkhj stopped. There, a few feet in front of him, was ramen girl's head peeping just above the level of the long table inside the office. She looked surprised for her eyes were wide and she was blinking. Killua's senses were suddenly awake when he saw her. He thought it was because he was surprised to see her there, noticing how the light-auburn color of her hair blazed into a yellow because of the rays of the sun from the window behind her, and how her eyes appeared almost glassy and transparent because of the reflection of the bright white walls. Her skin was glistening and her lips were shining.
"Hi," the girl greeted carefully, standing up from the floor. She still seemed surprised. She smiled little, but she sounded confused.
When Killua blinked again, the room seemed so dim now, ordinary. But the ramen girl still looked weird. He looked down then looked at her again, letting himself in the room. "Hey," he greeted back casually as he walked towards the table. "What are you doing down there?" He nodded towards the floor.
It took a while before Yuhi could answer. She only stared in what seemed as though an endless wonder of why the white-haired boy was suddenly up there until she blinked and looked down. "Oh." Then she finally smiled quite sheepishly. "I was fixing things."
"Oh," Killua answered. He stopped when he reached the table, the ramen girl standing opposite him, but he could see her much better. He figured out why she looked weird. It was applied on her face lightly, almost invisible, but he could see the difference. Ah, make-up. "But what are you doing here?"
The girl's eyebrows creased when she heard the question. Then she smiled, looked down and started fixing things she was fixing again. She was sorting out the decorations and putting them in boxes. "For the poster," she replied, smiling at Killua and returning to her work.
The latter inwardly winced. Of course. But for the poster and she's here doing council work. "Well, yeah." He shrugged. "I mean, where's Gon?" He looked around then looked back at the girl. "Where are the others?"
"Oh." Yuhi chuckled. "I'm sorry, I thought— They're downstairs setting up. Gon wanted to help so I'm left to keep watch."
The boy's eyes grew slightly wide. "You haven't started yet?"
"Not yet, but we've prepared so after they're done setting up, it's camera time."
Killua had the urge to laugh at that. "Camera time," he repeated, finding it funny and cheesy.
"Yes!"
Killua watched her shrug and smile at him, and it was one of those smiles that felt normal and real—like Gon's smiles during mornings and whenever he was just being Gon. The thought of why and how she could smile like that in front of his face was slowly infiltrating his brain again. He tried shooing them off, so he had to look away. He walked east and read the writings on the board.
"So, you're here to see Gon, I guess?" Yuhi started.
Killua stopped again, not entirely sure if that was really the case. "…Yeah," he said, turning around and finding the ramen girl now carrying boxes to places. He stepped forward, surprised and disbelieved at the same time. "Seriously, what are you doing with that stuff?"
Yuhi put the box she was carrying on top of another box and aligned it neatly. She dusted her hands together. "I've got nothing to do and I can't leave the room too. I don't have the key." She looked at the boy and shrugged before proceeding to lifting boxes again.
Killua only stared, his face flabbergasted. Really, this person… "Shouldn't you be saving your energy up for later? And we'd still work on that next week. You don't need to rush things." He thought she was being ridiculous. She was even wearing a jacket that seemed to be the nicest looking in all he had seen her wear, and she was lifting boxes and spending time on the floor.
"I'm just about done," the girl said, putting another box down on top of the one she put down before that. She turned towards the white-haired boy paused. Her eyes grew wide. "…What?" she asked silently.
The boy blinked and looked away. "What did you even do?" he muttered under his breath as he turned around, asking the question more to himself than to the girl. It was quiet for a while after that, pressuring him to regret even letting out a rather rash tone and turning around.
"Karina-san ran a little late," the girl started. When Killua turned, she was standing by the table, looking at him and seemed to be doing nothing else but talk to him. "They were relying on her for this so we had to wait. She said her alarm clock failed." She laughed. "It's a cool excuse though, 'cause my alarm clock fails on me every time too."
There went the random topic of conversation again. But the boy could not help but carry on with it. Killua inwardly winced at that information. If he stayed at home and waited for Gon to come back, he would have finished the entire game already. "If she knows she needed to be in school on Saturday then she should have woke up early."
The girl smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
It was quiet again for seconds after that. Killua was starting to feel something sparking in his fingertips. He never imagined that being in an empty school building with the ramen girl could be so… suffocating. That never happened before, not to him, and he had been alone in a room with her one time. He shrugged off the funny feeling and walked towards the window, finding something that can interest his attention five stories below. Oh, he wanted to talk. He just did not know what to talk about when his brain is full of mashed up nonsense.
"Gon said you aren't coming."
Killua was thankful for the opportunity. He looked down before he turned to look at the girl. But then he had to look away, rubbing his nape with his palm. "Well, that…" I wanted to go anyway? "I got bored so I thought I'd roll by."
"Oh." The girl's big eyes shifted from his face to the skateboard in his arm then back to his face. She blinked. "Skateboard?"
The boy smiled for some reason. "Yeah."
Yuhi let out a syllable, but she traded it for another sentence. "The roads can be slippery during mornings," she said with a tone of wonder. "Were you okay coming here?"
Killua did his best not to let his eyes grow wide of confused surprise at the girl's question. Instead he shrugged. "I get by."
The girl nodded. Then she smiled that smile again. "Well, I'm glad that you're here!"
There was a pause in the air that Killua had no idea how long took. His stomach started churning and he was so certain that a very weird creature was living inside his chest as he watched the ramen girl smile heartily after saying that to his face. He suddenly recalled that time when Gon left him to go with Lykira. The ramen girl was in their room doing afterschool chores when she said the most bizarre thing. Back then he found it funny and amusing, with a little happy dancing happening in his nerves. But at that time, the little happy dancing transformed into party-house rocking. They were hammering his pulses, and he started feeling his face warming. He wanted to laugh like before, because part of him wanted to. But part of him also wondered why part of him was acting that way. It was not right, yet it felt so right. All he could answer was a faint, "Yeah" and he said that to the floor.
Shortly after that, Gon came barging in to call on Yuhi and to give Killua a huge embrace when he saw him. They proceeded downstairs and started the project immediately. And just when he thought he could only suffer inner seizures by watching, the council had to make him do stuff.
"Ah, Killua-chan?"
The boy turned. Taka called him, the events manager officer, the one holding the camera. Killua blinked and walked towards him. "Yep?"
"Can you be assistant for a while? Everyone else's pretty busy," he asked, smiling sheepishly.
Taka was no less than a centimeter taller than the white-haired boy and his face looked youthful compared to Jared and Klint and the rest of the seniors, so it was not intimidating to talk to him and it was not that hard to accept a request from him. Killua agreed, even though he was vexed of the fact that there should have been more officers at the photo-shoot. "What do I do?"
"Thank you! Just stay on-call." Taka smiled and faced ahead again. "Alright, last set! I need you guys to take these snow cones and just have fun with it." He looked back at the white-haired boy. "Killua?"
The addressed stared at Taka for a while before he realized that he agreed to do the PA job. "Oh." He took the snow cones and handed them to Gon and Yuhi.
"Wait. Gon, you take two. Yuhi takes one and that stuffed bunny right there," Taka ordered.
Killua obliged. Then he left the spotlight and stood next to Taka.
"Okay! Just act as you just won that stuffed bunny and you're eating snow cones while walking along the festival street!" Taka lifted the camera and went into shooting position. "Okay, go on."
Gon and Yuhi looked at each other, grinned widely like crazy people, and laughed while they pretended to walk towards the camera. Taka took a shot, and another, and another, until Yuhi sneezed. The scoop of ice scream in the cone she was holding fell on the ground.
"Oh? Yuhi, are you okay?" Gon asked in a failed attempt to help her out. He was carrying snow cones in his hands.
Killua grinned. He wanted to laugh, but looking at the people near, he pressed his lips together and suppressed it.
Taka stayed calm. He blinked when Yuhi sneezed again—louder that time.
The girl laughed, blushing as she turned away. She scratched her nose with the back of her hand. "Sorry," she said, not knowing what to do with the empty cone in her hand and with the messed up forelocks that scrambled on her face. "I…" She sneezed again. "Something got caught in my nose."
Killua was snickering, but he argued it was not because he was being mean. It was because he thought that she looked like a 3-year old kid.
Gon wanted to be of use to his friend. He reached out, struggling to put both cones in one hand. "Here, let me—"
"Wait, Gon," Taka said, smiling at them. "We can't risk losing another snow cone, sorry." The white-haired boy was in the middle of laughing silently at the girl when the events manager officer turned to him. "Killua?"
Smiling, the addressed looked. "Hm?"
"Can you get the other snow cone from the tray, please?"
Killua couldn't help but grimace and grin. He shrugged and proceeded to doing the job. When he handed the girl the snow cone, he snickered a little. She was hiding her face under her bangs and Killua thought of it as an opportunity. He grinned teasingly. "Hey, your snow cone." He stretched his hand hear where the girl could see it. The boy watched the ramen girl with confident eyes, but when she lifted her face that read the look of embarrassment and vexation, cheeks puffed red, Killua just stopped again. There was this brief moment of silence where only his single heartbeat dominated the world when he met her eyes. Then he came back to earth when the girl looked at the snow cone in his hand. He had handed the filled cone and retrieved the empty one, saw the girl blinking and shaking her hair and blowing at her forelocks before he turned away. His eyebrows were creased of utter confusion. What the heck was that?
Taka started to laugh a little. "Killua," he called again and the boy looked as he placed the empty cone on a tray. "Sorry, can you help Yuhi with her hair?"
. . .
What.
Killua was absolutely certain that he was better off finishing the game at home than going to school. He did not realize that he was holding his breath until he turned to look at the ramen girl. She was looking at him too, and her face was slowly coloring. The boy noticed that. He noticed that even before. He let the air out of his lungs slowly and carefully, trying to feel his numbing fingertips. Yuhi had to look away first. She looked down, and Killua wondered what that meant. Was he trying to fill his own expectations up again? He had no idea.
"Come on, guys. This is the last take. Please, Killua?" Taka insisted.
The white-haired boy blinked and decided to look at his best friend for back-up. Gon was smiling at him with an anticipating look on his face. Killua frowned. Great. He wasn't going to take crap from anyone including Gon for not doing something simple he was asked to do. He looked at the ramen girl and she was still struggling to get her forelocks into place with the back of her hand. Killua sighed and walked towards her. She looked at him, she was blushing, and Killua was struggling not to stop again. So he shifted his gaze from her eyes to her hair. He stretched his knuckles before lifting his right hand up. He felt his fingers would shake because of the crazy inner seizures he was strangely feeling. It was weird, because he could hear his heartbeats through his ears, throbbing against his head.
It felt like it took forever before he could touch her hair. He scattered her forelocks and swept hair off the girl's face, doing his best not to brush the tips of his fingers against her cheeks. The inner seizures were starting to get really, really bad to the point that he found himself exasperated. He fixed the girl's hair to her temples as what he saw Karina did earlier, and so as it would not get into her face easily. Then before turning away, he returned his gaze at her. She was looking at him, and he regretted it. He regretted letting his eyes drown into hers, because when they did, he started having intense urges to touch her face.
Although it felt as though the planet had stopped, all of those things happened fast. Killua reckoned he did not even show any signs of what he was inwardly fighting, because Gon said nothing, Taka said nothing, and the ramen girl never gave a look of confusion—which was good because he didn't have to make up an excuse for it. But it was bad, it was terribly bad. He was now feeling much worse than the day before, than any of the days before. It was weird. He wanted to scold himself. But he also wanted to smile. He wanted to laugh. What he was feeling in his chest was completely opposing what his brain was telling him to think. There was something dancing freely in his chest, but his brain was skeptical. He started to wonder if he was mad, crazy, or if his mood-swing was only getting the best of him. Everything was a complete wreck in his system, and he needed to redeem himself.
The shoot ended shortly after that. Killua wanted to leave and just be somewhere. But they stayed a couple more minutes as the council treated them with snacks. The officers talked about their plans for the winter festival, and when the posters would be out. Karina said that they should be ready to have them posted and distributed by Monday, three days before the event. Jared added that they would start clearing up the fields and finalizing the decorations by Tuesday until Wednesday so that they would be ready to set everything up by Thursday. Friday would be the long-awaited winter festival.
"Don't forget the exchange-gift activity, by the way," Hikari reminded to the three sophomores while they finish up the carton of chocolate milk inside the office.
Killua almost choked up on his drink.
Gon beamed. "Of course! Although I still haven't bought a gift yet." He laughed sheepishly.
Karina laughed, leaning her elbows on the table. "Well, how about you two?" She said, looking to and fro Killua and Yuhi. "How's it going?"
Killua did his best to look cool and collected. He turned to look at the ramen girl to see what she would say before he could answer the question. He found her eyes glancing at him before looking at Karina and looking at him again.
"I have but, it's not ready yet," Yuhi answered silently, shrugging and throwing a smile towards the white-haired boy.
Eyebrows flexing, Killua started to decipher her words. Not ready yet? What's not yet ready? He briefly imagined her giving him something she had tailor-made for him, but that would be ridiculous, superficial. He blinked and looked at Karina then looked away, shrugging. "I'd be stupid if I give a report about that," he said, glancing at the ramen girl. He wished Gon would not talk about it more, because, in fact, he truly had no report about the gift-giving activity. He thought about knowing the girl more before he could think of what to give her, so there was no gift in mind yet. He still had six days to think things through anyways.
After a few more talks about school, about themselves and about Killua and his skateboard, they were off to go home. The boys walked the ramen girl to the bus stop, where Gon talked of having ramen if he had enough money that day. They waved hands, bade farewell, and walked back to head home. Killua carried his skateboard all the way. They talked about the day and about the winter festival. Gon seemed so excited about it, so Killua also felt excited about it. It should be fun, their first school festival ever.
When they reached home, it felt like déjà vu, for Gon talked to Mito the exact way he had the day before when he told her news about school and council work. They spent the rest of the day playing the doggone videogame and hanging around eating stuff. Killua was very observant of his best friend. He was alert and he readied himself for some questions. Thankfully, for him, Gon was quiet about the thing. But when night fell, he finally did it.
"Killua, what would you give Yuhi for the festival?" the spiky-haired boy asked as they lie on Killua's floor looking at the ceiling.
The latter almost winced. There it goes. He shrugged. "Haven't thought about it."
"Really?" Gon sounded surprised. He rolled over so he was facing his best friend. "But earlier you sounded like you have plans."
Killua looked at Gon with disbelief. "What was I supposed to say?"
Gon blinked. "That you haven't thought of it?"
Killua grimaced, returning to the ceiling. "You can't just say that in front of the person you're assigned to give a gift to."
There was a pause. "Don't worry, Killua. I'm sure you won't hurt Yuhi's feelings even if you tell her the truth."
What. Pure disbelief masked the white-haired boy's face as he turned his gaze back at his best friend. "What."
But Gon seemed to have ignored Killua's not-so-much-of-a-question question. "But really, you haven't thought of it? Why?"
Killua just let it go. He raised an eyebrow. "She's a girl."
Gon blinked.
Killua sighed. "Girls want stuff I wouldn't understand."
Gon blinked again.
Groaning, Killua looked away. "I'm not a good gift-giver, okay? The only person I gave a gift to was you and it was a freaking lame shirt with a bear on it. It's stupid." When he glanced at Gon, he saw him blinking again. Killua groaned louder, sitting up and turning away. "Stop looking at me like that. I feel like a bozo."
Gon laughed, and it was a hearty laughter, making Killua's face burn with so much blood. The spiky-haired boy then sat up as well, beaming. "You can ask her."
Killua turned to look at Gon, again with that disbelieved look on his face. "That's stupid. It's exactly why the note thing's pointless, remember?" He also told him that he wanted to sort of know what the ramen girl's likes and dislikes were so he could weigh down the options.
Gon shrugged and smiled. "I don't know much about girls," he started.
Killua rolled his eyes, inwardly laughing. That was bull. Gon knew more about girls than any of the guys their age he knew. It was surprisingly amazing.
The spiky-haired boy continued. "But I know what Mito-san wants. I once only gave her a hug on her birthday and she said that it's enough. I think most girls are like that. They look and sound demanding but once you give even the little things, they'd be so glad. Just give her anything you want to give her and she'll surely be happy about it."
Killua thought of what Gon said as he was trying to sleep that night. He still had no idea what to give the girl, or even anybody, without thinking of what they might be glad about. Then he started wondering about what the ramen girl said, her words echoing through the walls of his skulls. What's not yet ready? He did his best not to fall in the pits of hell and crash his brain thinking too much about it. He did not want to think about any of the things that happened that day. He did not even want to waste a single seconds to somehow comprehend what he felt during the photo-shoot, and the whole time he's been with the ramen girl. Killua fell asleep counting sheep jumping off a fence, praying that he'd wake up feeling better about himself just as what happened that morning.
The white-haired boy did wake up feeling better, but it was not about himself. He was feeling good but he was also questioning his crazy brain. He dreamed of the ramen girl—well, in a nice way. It was so vivid her face wouldn't leave his mind the entire Sunday. He refused to admit that he was thinking about her, because he was not. She was just there, stuck in his head like a stupid song. If it weren't for the dream being repeatedly only her smiling at him, she wouldn't even cross his mind. But it came to the point where he instinctively visualized himself touching her cheeks, and it made his nerves jolt. The inner seizures happened even when nothing's physically happening. It was insane.
The next day, Killua was perfectly calm. There was something to be busy about –school. Also, he thought that the inner seizures would worsen when he would see annoying things, but they were better. He even talked casually to everyone, even to the ramen girl when they ran into each other in the hallway, speaking of the poster carrying her and Gon's face. It was perfectly normal, and he was glad about it.
But almost too glad.
The posters scattered all over school were actually not helping.
Killua tried to focus, especially during P.E that Tuesday. He tried not to look, but his best friend, Gon just suddenly threw his arm around his shoulders and forced him to stand straight ahead, excitedly pointing at the person standing alone in the middle of the tiny circle 2-B created, holding a bow and an arrow, and glaring at the dummy that stood seven feet across from her. It was reflex—that stupidly annoying impulse humans naturally possess. Killua looked, and he instantly regretted it. But he did not look away. He watched and waited. That was the ramen girl, and she sucked so bad at archery.
Laughing was an option. So he smiled, but he was slightly taken aback. There was a major mind-boggling feeling when he did. He couldn't explain it. But if he were to describe, it would be as though he was freed off the pressures life had to force into humans. He felt good, in a way that he shouldn't had.
After gym class, the boy excused himself to retreat in the classroom. He told Gon he was not feeling well, insisted that he should not worry about him because he'd be fine. Gon nodded, faced concerned and unconvinced, but he still went on ahead to help clear up the volleyball court after P.E.—as what they did every day.
Having changed to his winter uniform, Killua went in their classroom where it was thankfully quiet and empty. Everyone was out for the break and some were, well, still in the gym. He flopped on his chair and unwrapped a lollipop, popping it in his mouth and looking out the window. The weather was nice. With only the winter season beginning, the sun still shined behind the gray clouds, making the snow that formed on the windowpanes light up like crystals. Killua then reckoned that the snow looked better with the rays of the sunset. He absent-mindedly smiled. Then catching himself did so he immediately erased it and shook his head. The weirdest thing would happen to him sometimes. It happened the day before while in the last period of class where he was staring out the window feeling sleepy, sunset-like colored eyes suddenly appeared in his head. He could not believe what he saw when the picture zoomed out and revealed a face.
Killua thought he had a mental disorder. He wondered why something about it was so, so weird. It started when he asked the question to the hallway girl. But he tried to ignore the idea that the question he made was meant to reassure himself or reassure his confusion. Because what he felt that afternoon at the rooftop was the epitome of severe and he could not understand. It sure was more severe than when she handed him the note earlier that day, than when she came to their house when he was unbelievably sick, than when she handed him the cupcake that night—
"What are you staring at?"
"Whoa!" Surprised, Killua accidentally pushed himself off his seat too much. He almost fell from his chair. It was ridiculous. He looked at the perpetrator with blazing eyes. Then he felt his head burning. Perfect. He groaned so loud he wished that his voice would hit the person in the gut.
Lykira was laughing loud, arms around her waist. "The Killua Zoldyck jumping off his seat because of utter fright!? Well, that's new!"
Killua hissed, sitting upright on his chair and pulling his uniform straight. "I wasn't frightened." He looked away, stretching his arms behind his head and sitting comfortable back on his chair.
"Geez, you're no fun," Lykira said with a smile. She pulled herself up on Killua's desk and sat facing the windows.
The white-haired boy glared at her. "What are you doing? Get off from there." Lykira didn't say anything. There was a moment of silence in the air that reminded Killua how much he never understood women. Doing anything they want. Tss. "If you're here to bother me, it's not worth it. I'm not in the mood for something childish." Then he looked out the window again. The last thing Killua needed was Lykira tattering with him in the middle of his ponderings. Wait, what? I'm not thinking about the ramen girl!
Lykira sighed. "Can't I sit anywhere near you without you thinking that I'm gonna do something super annoying?"
"No." Killua glared.
"Harsh." Lykira said, smiling. But still she remained sitting on his desk.
The boy ignored her, shaking his head and letting his mind wander off somewhere peaceful and nice, also wishing that Lykira would scoot someplace else. He truly wasn't in the mood for anything.
"Anyway, you seem so grumpy lately," the girl started.
Oh, man. Killua inwardly rolled his eyes. And so the conversation began, and it always began with people commenting on his mood. He didn't like when people comment on his mood, especially during that time. "Why do you care?" he asked at the horizon. But Killua knew Lykira's eyes were at him.
"It's pretty obvious."
Killua blinked before closing his eyes of frustration.
"So," Lykira started again after a five seconds pause. "What's the snitch?"
And just like an explosion, Killua's heart jumped when he recalled the snitch. He felt as though his nerves were acting up. "What are you talking about?"
Lykira shrugged. "I don't know. The one you've been thinking about?"
Killua snapped. He looked at Lykira with piercing eyes. "What?"
The girl looked at him for a second. Then blinked. Then smiled and laughed. "I take it back. You're fun."
Another loud groan escaped the boy's throat. "And you're annoying so shut up and get off my desk." Killua huffed. He thought Lykira was really acting like a true human, until she laughed. And Killua figured that she was there really to annoy him.
"Okay, I'll stop!" The girl took a deep breath. "But seriously, what's up with you? Having a really bad case of mood-swing 'cause of the weather?"
Killua shot deathly glares for seconds before he sighed and looked out the window again. The way Lykira said her question sounded real nice he could not believe that it came out of that girl's lips. So he answered fairly. "No. I think. It's none of your business," he said silently it almost sounded like a mumble.
"Oohh. Zoldyck's been worked up hard?" Lykira looked at Killua waiting for a response. The boy seemed to be thinking of how annoying she already was with her questions, albeit also thinking about the answers to them. She smiled. "Is it a problem?"
"Meh." Closing his eyes, Killua silently took a breath. Lykira sounding concerned—perhaps she wanted to pull something out of him. After all, she had been giving him the look all the time. "Why are you being so pushy?"
The girl huffed. "C'mon. Just answer."
The last thing he would ever want was Lykira knowing about his ridiculous brain and feels. "None of your business."
"I know," she said with a chuckle. "But I think you should talk to Gon about it. You know, problems get solved easily with the help of friends. If you tell Gon, it might ease up what you're feeling, and he might just come up with a brighter solution for you."
Killua's eyes grew wide with utter surprise. He turned his gaze slowly towards the ash blonde girl, face reading disbelief. "How would you know?"
Lykira looked back, a crooked grin on her face. She shrugged. "Gon's your best pal. He'd know what's best for you."
". . ." Killua turned towards the window again, thinking. Tell Gon about it? What will I say? "Why are you suddenly telling me this?"
"Because you're acting real strange," Lykira answered—as a matter of course, tone still of the friendly one.
Killua grimaced at the wind. "And now you're suddenly nice."
The table moved. Lykira turned and crossed her arms against her chest with such force, looking at Killua with narrowed eyes. "Hey, I can be nice!"
"Ha!" Killua smirked. "Not to me, you can't."
Lykira laughed. "But I've said some pretty rad words, right?"
Killua looked at the girl with disbelief before rolling his eyes and turning to the window again. "Oh, please."
The girl continued to laugh. Then she took a deep breath, putting a hand on Killua's shoulder. "Yeah, well, I don't know. But talk to Gon about it. See what his opinions do to yours."
Killua wanted brush Lykira's hand off him. But instead he turned to look, tried reading the girl's face, eyes directly at hers. The world must be ending soon with all of the weird things that's happening to people—including himself. Lykira acting concerned, nice; yes, that was perfectly normal—not. Maybe she was just truly wanting him to say stuff she could use as blackmail.
"Anyway," the girl turned away, looking out the window and stretching. She yawned, jumping off Killua's desk, "if it's about some girl, it'd be totally bonkers if you won't tell me. Don't know, I might become super jealous or upset or something." Lykira shot the white-haired boy a smirk before walking out the room.
What? Killua's face read a look of disbelief as he watched Lykira disappear in the hallway and the other kids enter their classroom. Super jealous or something? That was absolutely so uncharacteristic of the girl. He shuddered and looked out the window, actually trying to consider Lykira's words—how she said that he should talk to Gon about it. If I talk to Gon, what would I say? How do I begin? What would I even want to talk about? To clear my head up? He groaned. I don't even know what's up! There were a lot to consider in talking to Gon about something so vague. Gon have to be told about a thing directly, straightforward, and Killua didn't know if he could do it because he had no idea what it was. He needed time.
Killua entered the student council office with a sigh that day—followed by a moment of silence for his soul, because another weird thing was right before his very eyes. Karina's younger sister was in the student council office—only to take a picture with him because it was the little girl's wish, which was of course stupid. The student council officer said that it was her sister's birthday that day, and she wanted to see Killua, because she had a huge crush on him—to which Killua responded by nodding and thinking, that's not my problem. They made it seem as if it was his problem though, because they never said a thing even though it was obvious how he was trying to shoo her away.
Karina took the pictures. It was ridiculous because the little girl—Kirino, her name—was practically reaching up to the white-haired boy to fake a hug. The boy wanted it over and done with fast, but there were too many shots he couldn't tell whether he was even smiling or looking or what. He didn't care.
Looking around, he saw everyone laughing—including Gon, Taro, and the ramen girl. They said it was because they thought that Kiri-chan was cute, to which Killua reacted by rolling his eyes and thinking otherwise. He did his best to glare at them, but when his gaze fell at the auburn-haired girl's laughing face, that stop happened again. He stared, and wondered why and how the ramen girl could look so… so… so… weird. It was only when Killua caught his breath that he looked away. He looked down. He needed to be somewhere where he couldn't see her straight. "Is it over yet?" he asked.
Karina took another shot with her Instax camera and waited for the picture to develop before giggling in delight. "Yes. Thank you, Killua," she answered, bright eyes at the pictures in her hands.
"Thank you… K-Killua-nii," Kirino followed, speaking shyly.
Killua sighed, tried to smile a little before stretching his arms behind his head, and walked towards his post. He sat on his chair and closed his eyes, having a breathing exercise for five seconds. He heard Gon cheering him on and insisting Karina to let him see the photos.
"Nice photo-shoot!"
The boy inwardly jumped. He opened his eyes. That was the ramen girl. She seemed to be talking to him. He blinked, looking away. "Uh… Thanks?"
She chuckled behind her palm. "Kiri-chan's really cute."
Killua hissed. Well, if she's that cute, you shouldn't have put me there in the first place. He looked at the ramen girl and she was smiling at the little girl standing in front where the other officers were then let air roughly out his lungs. Why do you look so… weird!
"Hey, Yuhina? Can you accompany Kiri to the canteen, please?" Karina called, waving a hand at Yuhi.
The latter immediately obeyed, grabbing the little Karina's hand and leading her out of the room.
It gave Killua a breather. He didn't realize how much air he had in his lungs the whole time the ramen girl was there until she left. He exhaled long, closing his eyes, trying not to overthink it. But alas, even when he closed his eyes, her face would still be there. He opened them, planted his elbows on the table and started massaging his temples. What is wrong with me!?
"My sis is a real jewel, isn't she?"
"Ha?" Killua looked up and saw Karina walking towards him and sitting on the table, shuffling the pictures she took in her hands with a smile on her face. Yep, there were many photos. The boy groaned and rolled his eyes, picturing for a split second Kirino's blonde locks in huge pigtails, her big blue eyes and her tiny voice. "A spitting image of you, if you ask me."
There was pause. Then Karina laughed. It was one of those laughs were one would wonder whether that person was evil. "I'll take that as a compliment." Meticulously looking at each photo now, Karina continued talking. "Although she's a super energetic kid. It's hard to move around sometimes. Yuhina's pretty nice to kids to be able to keep up with Kiri's super bratty attitude."
And so the older sister admits it. Killua grimaced. "Is that why you let her do the job?"
"Nah. I think she's enjoying it. Yuhi told me she likes kids. Cute kids, to be exact."
Killua raised his eyebrows. Old people and kids? "Psh. Really strange," he commented silently, more to himself than to the person he was talking to. What a martyr, he thought while recalling how the ramen girl interacted with the inattentive Kirino. If that were Gon, he would perhaps do the same—that is if he was assigned to do the baby-sitting job. But if that were him, he never would have bothered talking to the little kid. Is she a philanthropist or something?
"But Yuhi's a real jewel too, isn't she?"
…Yeah. Killua straightened up. Wait. "What?"
Karina laughed. But it was a different laugh. It was nice, easy. "I mean, she's a good person, sweet and lively. It's nice when she's around. The council office could use a little girly youth, don't you think?"
Slowly, Killua raised an eyebrow, not exactly sure how to react to the sudden emergence of the ramen girl topic. "I guess?"
Karina smiled. "You're really lucky."
It was as if a huge explosion happened inside the boy's chest. He blinked then looked at the council officer. "I'm sorry, what?"
There was a moment of silence with the two only looking at each other's eyes, face reading a look of surprised confusion. Karina blinked, leaning back first. She then grinned, slightly hitting the boy in the arm. "Oh, c'mon! Don't try to hide it. I know you two have a thing." She grinned widely, playfully, mischievously.
Killua felt that his face was twisting. "What thing?" There was a limit to how he could calm his nerves. He felt blood filling his skull.
Karina's grin was evolving into tiny snickers. "Don't tell me you still haven't made a move."
There was an ocean inside Killua's ribcage, and the wind was too strong, the waves crashing against the shore of his lungs hard—tsunami, several tsunamis. It was painfully numbing. "What?" he managed to say, trying to stay cool.
"Oh?" The student council's public information officer frowned. Then she raised an eyebrow. "You mean there's nothing going on between you two? Like, seriously? Nothing? Absolutely nothing?"
Another crash. "What are you talking about? Nothing's going on. What do you even mean?"
Karina then grinned again. "Really?"
Killua groaned. He looked away. "This is starting to piss me off."
Karina laughed. "Alright, I'm sorry. I just thought that, you know, since you two act like it, you're together together. Or at least it's something in that tone. 'Cause it's pretty obvious that—" For some reason Karina paused.
Killua looked, wanting to find out what made her pause. She seemed to only pause on her own. He creased his eyebrows. "That what?"
The officer gave another stare. Then she looked away, smiling at her photos. "That you like each other," she said casually as though she was not saying the most absurd and incredulous thing in the whole.
Here Killua's eyes grew wide and he felt as though the world stopped. He stopped. His system stopped. Everything stopped. Something in her phrase made his head spin. Like? Like!? In an instant he could deny the false accusation, but he couldn't. He looked at Karina and for a moment he knew that he was giving her a look of severe confusion.
The latter lifted her bright blue eyes from the photos in her hand. She smiled and pulled one from the deck. "You like her, right? So why not?" Jumping off the table, the blonde officer slid a photo towards the boy and hopped away to proceed to her fellow council officers, speaking loudly about how cute her sister looked.
Killua was in isolation. His thoughts were far from the planet earth, and from himself. He was not even thinking about it, but his brain just couldn't let the thought go. Karina gave him something that might be the answer to what he was feeling, and worse she gave him the idea that something about it is possible. He blinked, shifted his gaze towards the paper on his left and took it. The instant he looked, his eyes grew wide, and he couldn't believe himself to be sane anymore. It was a stolen shot of him looking at the ramen girl in a way that it would be very embarrassing for him to describe, because he was Killua, and Killua did not look at girls in the most tender way. He inwardly freaked, flipping the photo upside-down and smashing it on the table.
That was it. Slowly, his thoughts mashed, scenarios passing fast as though his soul was being sucked in a black hole. The night of the heavy rain and cupcake was the last of it. Then all went to a halt, and the ramen girl's face was the only thing that remained, Karina's phrase echoing throughout the hollow walls of his skull.
Like!?
He could not bring himself to think that he would result to that kind of thing. He took a deep breath. You are overreacting, Killua thought to himself. He closed his eyes and did breathing exercises again for five seconds. But when he opened them, the ramen girl came entering the scene, holding Kirino's hand and looking so, so weird. The light was hitting her face and her eyes in all the right ways, and she was bright. The ramen girl was glowing. He blinked and looked down, but he could not resist to look again and see if it was only hallucination. It wasn't. Killua's inner seizures were starting to intensify. Something in him was fully awake, and it was starting to swallow him from the inside. He blinked, breathed in, and now he could say that the inner seizure was his heart beating fast and loud. Every time he saw the ramen girl.
Holy crap.
Killua couldn't believe that he would seriously take an advice from a witch.
He needed to talk to Gon about it.
-CHAPTER END-
Dun dun dun dunnnnnn! What do you think of this chapter? Are the conversations okay? What do you want to say to Killua? Haha! Gah, I have no idea why but it took me weeks to finish this when I'm trying to write scenes every day. Well, maybe that's because it turned out to be this long. (actually there are some scenes I want to put in here but it's too long already and I figure they aren't significant enough so there). And heeeyy, thanks for you plot twists or premonitions or thoughts about this fic. I really, really appreciate them. A promise is a promise so I'm gonna put up my own crazy plot twists too (which may or may not happen of course). Here goes:
1. Yuhi falls for Gon and they will end up together.
2. Killua actually has a thing for Gon and only gets jealous of Yuhi that's why he asked her if she liked him, because he wanted to lure her to him-to any person-but Gon. Because he loves Gon.
3. Gon and Killua will end up together.
4. Sejin and Killua were childhood friends and they were in love but something happened that Killua forgot about her.
5. Yellich is actually a super evil villain and he's only pretending to be Yuhi's brother.
Hahahahahahahahaha! Yep.
I remember having more but those are optional in my head so I can't reveal them yet. Haha! Anywaaaaay, here's the chapter! Please leave a review so I would know what you think because I tell ya, I'm super nervous about this one. I've thought this through so much it felt as though my brain would melt so I kind of gave up doing a hard proofread. But you guys tell me. Please, please, please, please review? I sound dumb but I have to know what you think. ^^"
NEXT CHAPTER: Fireworks are pretty, you see.
I shall be waiting while I cry for Killua in the Chimera Ants Arc.
