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"You've had a lot of tickles in your throat lately, Killua. Do I need to tell Kurapika so he can make you some tea?"
"I don't need tea for such a minor thing, dumbass." I swatted Gon's arm before he could start poking me like he always did when he wanted my attention.
It had been a week since Leorio told me I had Hanahaki disease. I had coughed up petals and blood every couple of days since, and whenever Gon asked me about the random coughing fits, I would use the exact same excuse over and over again. I knew he'd eventually figure out that I was lying if he hadn't already, but I wasn't creative enough to come up with anything else.
So far, I had done a good job at keeping the petals hidden. Only Leorio and I knew about my condition, and he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut about it. At this rate, nobody would ever know about my disease, and I intended to keep it that way.
Gon and I had taken a break from following Shenka's scent so we could have a quick sparring match behind an abandoned warehouse. I had managed to get the better of him this time, and he insisted on taking some time to sit still before moving on so he could "recover" from his loss. I knew this meant he just wanted some time to sulk about his defeat, but I still humoured him and allowed it anyway.
"Killua's such a jerk sometimes." Gon gave me a look that implied he was not amused. "Perhaps I should tell Kurapika about that too, so he can give you one of his tedious lectures on being nice to other people."
"Oh god, please. Anything but that." I rolled my eyes. Kurapika was both known and feared for his seemingly endless lectures he dished out to anyone he thought needed them.
"Hmmm... Fine. But only because Killua's the most special person to me."
"Being the favorite friend does have its perks."
Gon giggled and leaned closer, resting his head on my shoulder. "But I know I'm your favorite friend too, otherwise you wouldn't let me get away with stealing Leorio's cookies!" he chirped, in a singsong voice.
"Only because you share them." I tensed up, trying my absolute hardest not to blush. Gon made it so very difficult to keep my feelings hidden, I wished he wasn't such a touchy-feely person. "If you didn't, then I'd just rat you out."
Gon only smiled knowingly, choosing to remain silent. He knew as well as I did that I didn't rat him out because I'd always had a soft spot for him. Tattling on him was equivalent to betrayal.
We sat together for a few more minutes before wandering off to continue searching for Shenka. His scent was getting easier to follow, now that all the bad weather had gone away. There was absolutely no wind with the exception of the occasional light breeze, and the sky was bright and blue. There wasn't a single cloud in sight, and the heavy scent of rain had completely vanished.
Gon and I had been traveling the rougher side of the city for a couple hours now, so we made a point to avoid interaction with anyone we happened to encounter as we ducked between and around the worn brick buildings. This part of town was known as a hotspot for crime, and neither of us wanted any trouble. I didn't want to have to bring my claws out and kill someone, Gon just didn't want to have to deal with nasty people in general.
As time passed, the tracks Shenka had left behind became more and more prominent and, according to Gon, the scent had gotten a lot stronger.
"He's been here. Extremely recently, too." Gon declared, after sniffing around a boring white building he'd deemed suspicious for whatever reason. "I'd say maybe half an hour ago at the very most, the scent is so strong."
"Huh. You were right. That building is suspicious." I blinked a couple times in surprise before returning my attention to my friend. "Do you think we can catch up to him today?"
"Kurapika told us not to confront Shenka without him. He doesn't want to see us get hurt." Gon said, mechanically.
I smirked and intentionally tensed the muscles in my fingers, causing my usually blunt fingernails to elongate and sharpen themselves into claws. These claws could slice through human flesh better than any ordinary sword could, and I had a lot of practice using them. In fact, I was good enough at it that I could remove people's hearts using nothing but my fingers.
"Do you really think we need Kurapika's help? I mean, hello, I'm a trained assassin!" I exclaimed.
Gon rolled his eyes and reached over to grab my hand, concealing my claws entirely from view right as a guy wearing a black hoodie and dirty jeans walked by. The man gave us both a hard stare but, thanks to Gon's quick thinking, he hadn't noticed anything unusual about my hands.
"Ex assassin." Gon corrected me, giving me a pleasant smile before releasing my hand and turning around to continue examining his suspicious building.
"Good catch. I should've sensed that guy coming and put my claws away, I'm sorry." I shuffled my feet and looked down at the ground, feeling a little stupid. I really should've seen it coming. "It's a good thing you're always around to save my ass, otherwise I'd be a goner for sure."
"Heh, yeah. And it's okay. You were trying to make a point and got caught up in the moment. Happens to me all the time." Gon waved a hand dismissively and I chuckled.
"That's because you've got the attention span of a fruit fly." I told him.
"You're not wrong."
The tan boy examined the white, single-story building for a few minutes longer before he grew tired of it and came back to tell me he'd figured out which direction Shenka had gone, but that we definitely wouldn't find him today because he had already gotten far away from the immediate vicinity.
"We're making progress. At least we know one of the best spots to start looking when we continue our little manhunt tomorrow." I shrugged dismissively. "Let's report back to the others and go get something to eat, I'm hungry."
"Killua's always hungry." Gon fell in step beside me as I turned and started walking off toward the more stable part of town.
"So are you, baka."
"We should skip meeting the others and go right to the food places. As you mentioned just now, I am always hungry just like you. But I'm especially hungry right now, so..." he trailed off and raised one eyebrow at me.
I laughed and punched his shoulder playfully, causing him to stumble a little. "Yeah, I like that idea. Let's do that instead. No need to bring the other two along because, no offense, but Kurapika's too much of a mother hen and Leorio's honestly just deadweight."
"None taken." Gon nodded a couple times, processing this information. "You're absolutely right, let's go without them."
We got dinner at a small burger joint only a couple blocks from the hotel. Gon had been so excited about the food that he completely and utterly forgot to order dessert too, so we wound up going across the street to a little ice cream shop once we finished our meals. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed spending so much time with Gon like this. No missions, no important business, no mother hens and deadweights. Just me and my best friend.
When we made it back to our hotel room, Kurapika and Leorio were already there. Kurapika was beginning to worry about us, so we only made it two steps within the room before getting bombarded with endless questions about our previous whereabouts.
"They're still so little, Kurapika." Leorio called out, from where he was sprawled haphazardly on the couch. "Let them be."
"Did... Did you just defend us?" I raised one eyebrow curiously as Gon grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around for the sake of digging around in my backpack.
"Don't get used to it." was the spectacled male's rigid response.
"You still have my fishing rod." Gon told me, when I shot him a suspicious glare. He eventually found what he was looking for after rummaging through the various maps and things I kept in my backpack. "Got it. Thanks."
"Huh." Kurapika said, staring wide-eyed at the rod in Gon's calloused hands. "I had no idea that thing would fit in Killua's backpack."
"It's collapsible." the tan boy smiled broadly at the blonde. "And Killua was sweet enough to offer to carry it for me, sometimes it's a little heavy and difficult to drag around on missions."
"I say you find a better weapon. Something lightweight and less clumsy would do the trick." I suggested, taking off my backpack and tossing it onto the nearest chair.
"I agree. It would also ensure you stop complaining so much about how heavy your fishing rod is." Leorio agreed.
I shot him a glare, but he only chuckled and returned his attention to the book in his hands.
"But it is heavy." Gon pouted as he took off his jacket and wandered into his room.
"Is it really?" Kurapika asked, turning to me.
"A little, but it's nothing I can't handle. He definitely needs a better weapon, though." I replied, shrugging carelessly. "I should teach him how to make claws out of his fingers like I do. That would be fun."
"Absolutely not." both Leorio and Kurapika exclaimed, in perfect unison.
"Claws sound so cool! Killua should teach me!" Gon piped up from his room.
I barked a laugh at that. "See? He wants them! Who am I to deny the poor kid a means of defending himself?"
Later that night, I coughed up flower petals again. Fortunately, it was past midnight when it happened, so everyone else was asleep. I had been sleeping too, but the intense agony flaring up in my chest and throat woke me up. I hoped the seemingly endless coughing and hacking hadn't disturbed the others, but even if it had, they were too sleepy to care and went right back to dozing off in their beds.
This time, I coughed up thirteen petals, and there was a little more blood than usual. Not a lot, but enough that I felt a cold knot of worry tie itself in my stomach. The disease certainly was progressing pretty quickly, I had gone from three petals to thirteen in just a week.
What if this means I only have a month left to live? Am I gonna die well before my time?
It was almost a scary thought. Not the idea of dying, I still wasn't afraid of death. I just hated thinking about leaving Gon behind.
I could clearly picture the way he would look when he eventually found my body surrounded by smears of blood and dozens upon dozens of flower petals. His face would be completely stricken by grief, shock and absolute horror, his skin would go as pale as death, completely abandoning its healthy tan hue. He'd bolt from the room, screaming for Leorio and Kurapika, begging them to come help me. But there'd be nothing they could do.
I don't want that to happen to Gon. He's precious to me and I want him to be happy. Something tells me finding his best friend dead on the floor won't do much for his happiness.
But I didn't want to confess, either. Not only easy I too shy and afraid to do so, but it might put Gon in a really uncomfortable position. I didn't want him to pretend to accept my feelings just for the sake of keeping me alive. I wanted to have something completely and utterly real, something that I didn't have to force upon him with my mysterious illness.
May not be the most heroic way to die, but I'm willing to let it all come to pass. Seems death is the only way to completely resolve this.
To be continued...
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A/N: I apologize for the length of this chapter, I just didn't really feel like adding to it because it's 12:45 in the morning and I kinda wanna get some sleep XD.
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