Daniel talks to Killua about what he discussed with Clarisa.

"Hey Killua…" Daniel spoke as soon as he entered the hallway, wanting to address what he and Clarisa spoke about long before he closed the door. He knows he should've said 'Kyle', considering he hadn't closed the door yet. But the news was more important than hiding his partner's identity. He felt like Killua was the only one who wanted to keep up this charade.

His boyfriend a legit reason to be worried about spilling his surname to others. But really, if he were to be honest, they should stop caring about the technicalities. They've reached a point where they felt like they should stop caring about other people's opinions.

What they want to do for each other, should only concern them. But he knows Killua… he's been travelling with the boy for a little over two years, now. He's as sunning and intelligent, as he's sassy and witty. He knew long before he closes the door, his partner will be complaining.

The boy addressed the situation before Daniel could continue, "Door open, I'm Kyle… The door closed, I'm Killua…"

Daniel shook his head as he sighed. Either way, Madelyn will eventually find out 'Kyle' is using an alias… so why should they continue to care?

Sure, Killua cared about the technicalities…

Sure, Madelyn sounds like the kind of person to blow up as soon as she hears his surname. That she'll assume the worst-case scenario, even though after this long… Killua hadn't done what his family would've dreamed of him doing… taking a life. Although, they'd prefer with came with a pay cheque.

They'd hope that it'll happen and Killua would finally come back home, admit he was wrong and they were right…

It would never happen… Daniel wouldn't allow it to happen. He knows Killua will never want to go back to that life, but the possibility of Killua never taking a life wasn't something they could predict. Circumstances could change…

Like the looming shadow following them in the shadows… waiting, to strike.

Daniel just hoped they could continue to have a normal life, one without either of them having to suffer for years. With a roll of his eyes, he shut the door, making sure Killua could hear it close first, before he continued, "Better Killua…?"

"Hmm…" Killua hummed with a cheeky grin, "Yes, I believe so…"

"You know she'll eventually find out? After all, you already mentioned that your family will snuff out her life if she found out about Alluka's skill?" Daniel broached the inevitable topic as he rounded the corner, smiling at his partner before hooking his arms around the boy, hugging him as he cooked.

"Oh, I know…" The boy melted at the touch, but he tried not to show it just yet. They were talking about something serious "but until then, we have to continue just in case. She may react negatively to my family connections… we both know that, given the fact she got pissed off at us for saying Vastorie is a brutal trainer. Also, knowing her lack of ability to foresee past her own inflated ego, she probably thinks my family belongs to the Mafia, considering she argued that I should tell her about my sister's underground connections."

The boy sighed in defeat; Killua was right in this instance. She'll probably react negatively to Killua's past occupation "You're right… we'll continue to hide it just in case." Daniel pecked Killua on the cheek before removing his arms, checking to see if Killua needed help with anything.

"Didn't you have a question?" The boy asked with tinged cheeks. Being open about their feelings and themselves comes with its perks… and embarrassments. One day he'll get used to affection, but that wasn't today.

"Less of a question, more of an update. The bad news… Clarisa's lips are sealed."

"Ugh… back to square one…"

"The good news, we're technically correct with our assumptions." As Daniel turned around, he rested his back against the counter. He crossed his arms before offering a smile to the boy still cooking for them "Need any help?"

"No, I'm almost done. Anyways, back up. So, what you're saying is… Madelyn may be experiencing Stockholm syndrome?"

"Yeah, but I don't think the parents are dead, they're alive… either in jail or living their lives without Madelyn."

"Hmm…" Killua rubbed his chin, deep in thought, "That would explain the whole situation about her arguing with you about possibly being your older sister… as well as her seething reaction to the concept of family. Maybe, if Vastorie had adopt her, her personality would've improved… but given the fact that Zaikaria treats you like a little kid who can't make his own mistakes, I highly doubt that…"

"At least she'd be more caring…" Daniel argued as he pointed at Killua's back, "if she grew attached to Nathaniel…"

"Nah, she would've grown attached to Vastorie, just like Zaikaria…" Killua smirk at the idea. If that was the case, it seems like girls connected with Vastorie. Who knows, what part of his personality they gravitated towards. But if Madelyn were to become Daniel's sister, he wouldn't be surprised if, she was on that man's side.

"You can call her Zia for short… instead of saying, you know… Zaikaria every time."

"Until she stops treating me like a mass-murdering, wanted criminal… she doesn't deserve that kind of treatment."

Daniel features fell; how could he forget… She treated him this way because she automatically assumed Killua was the one who inflicted his first scar. She was assuming that his opinion would be biased because he's in-love with Killua.

So, after his old memories returned, she probably thought he was applying this 'Killua can do no wrong' filter to said memories. Then again, she could always just search his memories again, but then she'd know the number of times they had done it.

That's the last thing Killua and even himself would want right now.

"We'll never be close until she removes the thick tree branch from her ass."

"I… understand. But, give Nathaniel some time. He's working on it… She's stubborn like Vastorie… she refuses to give up, until she'll inevitably be shown… she's wrong about you." Killua gave a noise of understanding, letting Daniel continue to address his earlier topic, "Given that Madelyn may be going through that experience, it's safe to assume that even if she completes Vastorie's task, he still won't help her…"

"It's possible… then again, it's hard to gauge the situation. Considering he's acting like a spoiled brat and ended all contact with his family members, they're no way to gauge if he'll on the spur of the moment, choose to help Madelyn… whether she really wants to be alone or not."

"Then again…" Daniel decided to interject in the conversation a moment Vastorie's actions contradicted his feelings, "He had sent a text to Zaikaria to watch out for Victor, and then one to me… telling me to ask Nathaniel about my song choice for our dance."

"Don't remind me…" Killua's expression softened, smiling at the recent memory "You're right about that instance… he has contradicted himself there. However, those are few and few between each other. What else did you talk to her about?"

"Nen, and Madelyn being our student…"

"Was she aware of Nen before you said anything about it…?"

"Nope, Madelyn hasn't said anything to her."

Killua sighed, leaving the wooden spoon in the pot to rub the bridge of his nose. Looks like they're going to have another student. He wasn't annoyed at the situation… he had no qualms about teaching her, it's just he was hoping Clarisa wouldn't have to find out about Nen through them "How far did you get?"

"I talked about the basics of Nen, mainly the introduction. Madelyn learning about Nen, that she's focusing on Ten at the moment. I did it mainly to gauge whether or not Madelyn mentioned it to her."

Killua picked up the spoon again, returning to his cooking session "Well, now that she's aware… I guess she wants to learn more about it from us?"

"I told her to speak to Eifion first. If he says yes, he'll most likely make us her teachers. She joked about the situation, saying at least it'll give us more reasons to talk to one another."

"Anything else…?"

"I also brought up the fact, that Madelyn shows signs that she cares deeply about Clarisa… But I told her to not bring up with Madelyn. She can't talk about anything we spoke about or Madelyn will be upset at her."

"It'll become a problem if Madelyn saw you… you do realise that."

"Wait, were you following us?"

"No, I…" Killua closed his eyes for a moment. He knows why his partner said it… he can't blame him. He knows he can be jealous at times, but that's only because a small part of him was afraid to lose this… to lose the people close to him… his friends… Alluka… and now that he has one… his boyfriend "I trust you. It's just… We both know they'll get into an argument about the whole situation… which may or may not result in a messy friendship between them."

"Then I'll just have to make Madelyn understand. I'll prove to her, that Clarisa refuses to talk about her past."

"Then she'll get upset about you probing the girl for her past…"

"What do you think I should do in that case?"

"Give her a month or two to get over the whole ordeal, then try to deal with the situation. She'd be pissed, but I highly doubt she can keep a grudge for longer than that."

"And if she does…?"

"Stiff shit! Sorry to say this… but we're the last chance she had. Vastorie may never help her, so she has to depend on us…"

Daniel gave his boyfriend a nod, "You're right there…" the boy then stood up straight, once more closing the distance between them. He hugged his partner once again, savouring the smell of Killua's cooking, "It smells delicious…"

"Me or the food?" Killua asked with a blush.

"Both if I'm being honest…"

The two kept silent for a few minutes, neither one talking.

Killua had a gut feeling Daniel wanted to talk about something else, something he probably didn't know if he could address or not "You have something else on your mind. I can feel it…"

"Is that from our bond getting stronger, or from what I said?"

"Your tone…"

"Damn…"

"You sound distracted like you're thinking about something else." Killua paused, to let his words sink in before he continued, "I know these things take time, Daniel… so don't expect this ability to appear overnight. Give it some time to manifest…"

"You're right…" Daniel nuzzled his head in his partner's neck, "What are we missing…?"

"Besides my memories… I don't know… Whether that's from what's left out or what you still haven't told me… it could be several reasons."

"Have you… remembered about your past?"

"I think I need a trigger, like something you said on that night to spark my memories…"

"Something I said… which I haven't already said… like, something I said while I was delirious?"

"It's our best bet…"

Daniel hummed into his partner's neck, blowing a gentle breeze that made Killua shiver. Daniel closed his eyes, trying to recall any of those delirious messages, but nothing came to the forefront of his head, "Nope… can't remember. I'm sorry…"

"That's okay…" The boy let out a defeated sigh, "I'll keep trying to remember. I have another question…"

"Shoot…"

"On a scale of one to ten, how much do… you want it?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "Are you talking about the… bedroom department?"

"Yes, now keep it down…"

"I'd say for you… pretty high."

"No… I mean-" Killua let out a frustrated sigh, "I mean you personally. Be honest…"

Daniel closes his eyes, "about a four…"

Killua broke out into a huge smile, "Thank you, that… honestly means a lot to me."

"What you mean? Shouldn't higher be better?"

"Yes… well, no… I feel like while we're in the middle of it, you're into it… but before that… it's like you have no incentive. Sure, it's happened once or twice… but I don't think you did it for yourself… you did it for me."

Daniel tightens his grip around his partner, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry I made you feel that way… for not being more open and honest with you…"

Killua hummed in understanding. Hearing this meant the world to him, to hear Daniel finally speaking up about his feelings, "It's ok… I guess I'm starting to understand you better… figure out certain things about you. It's not that you don't ever want to do it, it's just you need that initial push… Also, I hope that under no circumstances, you feel like I'm forcing you into it either. It's just… if I'm going to be honest, you lack a sexual drive till the engines are being revved."

"So…"

"That's how I came to figured out why you like foreplay so much."

"So… you get into foreplay, because you know I like it?"

"Exactly! Originally, I thought I was doing it for selfish reasons… to get what I want… But, as time passed… as we got closer to each other, the conditions of our future ability being the driving factor, I've come to understand I did it less for myself…" Killua turned his head slightly, glancing over his shoulder to see Daniel's reaction, "I did it more for you."

"That's… honestly… It's nice to hear. I guess I felt the same… that I got into it because I knew it made you happy… but, now hearing that you do that for me, it's relieving to hear… Being this open makes me happy… I get to hear your thoughts… to understand you better. I just wish we didn't need to go through the stuff we did, to set this goal in motion so that we had a reason to be more open with each other. I really wish we didn't need to suffer before you opened yourself to me…"

Killua's eyes widened, "Say that again…"

"Honestly, it's nice to hear?"

"No… way after that, towards the end."

"I really wish we didn't need to suffer before you opened yourself to me…? Why, did I jog an old memory?"

"Sort of… I remember you saying something similar to me… but you were slurring it, and I think it was a little different to what you said back then."

"Now that you say that…" Daniel strained his thoughts, trying to remember that night once more. He did say something, but what was it? As he was about to give up, an old memory clicked "I wish I didn't need to get stabbed in the back to see your smile…"

Killua dropped the spoon.

Daniel scrambled to catch the spoon before it could hit the ground, throwing it in the pot before he turned off the heat. When he turned to face his partner, he saw his boyfriend was having something similar to a light bulb moment.

"I wish the first person I met to show me kindness… never got to see this side of me… to see what I'm capable of, muddy his first impression of me…" Killua turned to Daniel, pressing a finger to the boy's chest, "That was what I said… You followed it with…" Killua tapped Daniel's chest with his finger in hopes of not losing his train of thoughts, "before you passed out again, you said: It's never too late to change what you want with your life…"

"Do you think that was the moment we created our bond…?"

Killua hit his head with the base of his palm, "Fuck… I'm so close to remembering the memory! I know we said something else, but I can't recall it… please tell me you remember that moment…"

Daniel shook his head. He doesn't remember saying it. But he could tell Killua was so frustrated after remembering so much, only to fall short of complete memory. He took hold of Killua's hand, kissing the knuckles once before offering a smile, "It's okay…"

"But it's not…" Killua felt tears in his eyes. He was so damn close, so close to remembering how they created the aura of string… why what they created so long ago, survived even with their memories of that night being removed.

He had it in his grasps, only to have them once more slip between his fingertips, "Damn it…"

"Again…" Daniel pulled his partner into a hug, one which Killua complied, his partner's fingers digging tightly into his shirt. He knows his boyfriend is frustrated with himself, but he needs him to understand, even if Killua never remembers what he was unable to recall, they'll never need to prove anything to his sister… to Zaikaria.

Zaikaria doesn't need jack shit from them! What truly matters, is the two of them continue to take care of each other. The reason for the bond may have been forgotten, but holding onto these feelings, the reason they want to continue their relationship, should be more than enough of a reason to keep going, "The fact that even if we can't remember how this came into existence… the fact that we still want to be together in this mess… means the world to me."

"It's so frustrating though… being so close to the truth, yet still being unable to grasp it's so… disheartening."

"And I repeat, it's okay to feel like this… but don't beat yourself over it." Daniel kissed his partner on the lips, "It's okay… you remembered a lot…"

"Three sentences are not a lot…"

"It is to me…"

"Well, that's because you have low standards…"

Daniel chuckled before pulling his partner into another kiss, "My standards aren't low… There's a reason I not only love you… but want to be with you. I won't list to them all, but what I will say is… it's a list that makes me want to stay by your side."

"You're a sap… you know that?"

"If by sap… you mean sweet, I know someone who likes to devour them, and he's in my arms right now."

"Whatever do you mean…?" Killua grin cheekily.

"How about you find out later tonight~"

"Are you saying that-"

"Because I want you… yes…" The boy followed his comment by whispering in his partner's ears, "no foreplay needed."

"Oh, you certainly know-" Killua froze once he noticed who was behind them, elbows on the bench, smiling widely. Exactly how much did Alluka hear from their conversation? And why didn't they hear her door open?

"Please, don't let me stop you from finishing that sentence…"

"I'm surrounded by cruel masterminds…" Killua let go of his partner to turn around, relighting the fire, "food will be ready in a couple of minutes."

"That's not fair… I stopped you from being sweet."

"Killua is always sweet…" Daniel rounded the corner to ruffle Alluka's hair. He then hugged her, whispering the end to Killua's statement, at least, a PG version of it "that I know the way to his heart."

Killua head perked up, turning to glare at Daniel "What did you say?"

Both Alluka and Daniel pretended to zip their lips before bursting into laughter.

"Seriously, what did you tell her?"

"That you were about to be sweet…"