Having just learned Killua's true name, Madelyn blows up in the boy's face. She was angry… but it looks like she wasn't the only one.

Madelyn pressed her foot against the floor, believing Daniel was a madman for believing that Kyle, no… Killua is a Zoldyck of all people. He's from a family of assassins… those who kill without remorse. She calls bullshit! There's no way someone like that, was able to show love back.

But the way the boy spoke of Killua, their interactions… conversations… she was struggling to believe Killua didn't have compassion for others. Unless… he was faking it? Was he lying to Daniel's face, just so he could find the best moment to slit the boy's neck?

No, that couldn't be it…

He had plenty of time… they had been together for a long time, hadn't they?

Wait, Daniel said Killua was an Ex-Assassin? Yet… the Zoldyck's infamous nature still held strong, "Is… Is this a fucked-up joke?"

"No," Killua gave the girl a cocky grin, "Why are you scared…?"

"Stop antagonising her Killua."

"That name… you're just a monster walking around with a false identity."

Killua frowned, "I know what I did in the past was wrong… even monstrous at times. Sure, a few people deserved it… to have their life taken, but the ends do not always justify the means. I'm not absolved from all my wrongdoings, just by being by Daniel's side… or after making friends with Gon… Sakura… Kurapika… Leorio… Palm… Ikalgo… Iason… or even the friends I made here."

"Then if you know what you did was wrong… why did you continue to do it?"

"So, you know who the Zoldycks are… pretty much everyone does at this point. But what people don't know, is the inner workings of my family… the shit they did to us as kids… the shit they put us through… how manipulative and controlling my parents are… even my older brothers could be."

"There's always an out…"

"Not always… not until recently for me and Alluka, at least…"

"Alluka…? Wait, Audrey?!"

Clarisa stepped in front of the girl, stopping this conversation from progressing "You said you'll keep this precise and to the point. Don't scare her anymore!"

Killua pulled back his figure, crossing his arms, "We told you it's going to be a difficult conversation… things aren't always black and white. The shit Daniel and I have been through, well… you can see why at times, we believe it can be justified to kill one person from time-to-time. Especially when the lives of millions, are predicated, on one person dying…"

"I…" Clarisa sucked in a breath. The fact that Killua still believes it's necessary to take someone's life at times, showed her that his childhood training was ingrained in his being, for the rest of his life. But… if they continued to talk, will he be able to justify his reasoning? Only if the conversation continued, will she find out the answer…

However, she was going to defend Madelyn, not because she needed to be defended… but because the two weren't letting up on the poor girl. She needed time to think about his words, to understand his reasoning without being bombarded with too much information "But by being direct in this manner, she has become scared. She won't listen. She's fragile…"

"Scared?! Fragile?! I-" The girl stood up from the insult, pointing a finger at the girl, "I'm not…" Something then clicked about the situation… something she didn't think about before. This didn't feel right… it felt abnormal. From the way Clarisa was acting with the boys… she was calm, rational. She held no fear towards the boy… it's as though this whole time, she knew…

Kyle Cilka, was actually… Killua Zoldyck "You fucken knew…"

Clarisa winced from the anger being directed at her, "I-"

"No! You knew the whole damn time, who Killua was… and you never told me?! For weeks I've been trained by him and Daniel, and you never thought to tell me-"

"Get off your high horse!" Killua interrupted the girl, now pointing a finger at her, "For fucken months, I've been listening to you talk shit about Daniel and myself, YET, you're still breathing right now." The boy held out his hands in an open gesture, daring her to argue he was nothing more than a killer at heart "I had no reason, or intention to slit your neck from the start… so stop fucking around and playing the blame game! You just feel like your feelings have been hurt, because Clarisa knew something you didn't…"

"Blame game?! My feelings…? Listen here, you're just a monster with your hands dripping blood of the victims you slaughtered for what…? Infamy? Money…? Praise…?"

"Neither, you dumb-"

Daniel wrapped one arm around his partner while the other covered the boy's mouth. Daniel was shaking, this was over… Eifion will come in at any second to pull the plug on the situation, "Killua, please stop… We messed up… we should've saved your name for later. You were right."

Killua broke from his partner's grasp, instead, opting to pull the boy into his arms. Holding him close, he glared at the girl, "It's okay… it's not over… Eifion hasn't come… yet."

Eifion stood in the shadows, watching the argument reach its peak… He wanted to end it abruptly, but Madelyn's gaping mouth told him she had been surprised by the boy's actions. He'll give them one last chance to recover…

"He's… just…"

"Stop…" Clarisa stopped her housemate by stepping in front of her, blocking the girl from seeing what was going on behind her, "You've done enough damage…"

"Da-"

"You heard me… you were stunned for a second. Regardless if this is a ploy to make Killua look good, it's the action that counts, not the reason for the act. Look at that boy…" Clarisa stepped aside to point at Killua, "He does have remorse… feelings… he isn't some emotionless prick like you think he is…"

Even though Killua was still glaring at her, she could kind of understand the girl's reasoning, her sentiment. Killua was showing compassion to someone, even if it was a boyfriend, or it was just a way to make himself look good… this wasn't some random stranger Killua met off the street, he was holding his partner in a caring embrace.

She wanted to act on her biases, to tell her friend off for the suggestion… but something internally was suggesting against the idea. She felt… remorse for her words and actions. But her stubbornness stopped her from admitting that.

"You need to apologise…" Clarisa pointed out with a stern voice, she felt as though she was talking to a child.

Madelyn crossed her arms, "For what… exactly? He's a Zoldyck… his hands are covered in so much blood, he could do finger painting."

Killua wanted to laugh at the dark joke, even if it was a terrible one at that. The situation, however… was anything, but, amusing. She was judging him on his surname… not his actions… not the moments they spent together. It's like none of that training now mattered to her.

"Then Alluka… Killua's younger sister."

"She's one of them…"

"Fucken look at her…" Clarisa held an accusatory finger at the girl, the person who her feelings were slowly waning from. She knew the reason why she was like this. But she wasn't about to go for a low blow.

She had to see the reason for the moment, to see it for what it is… her being judgemental, "She hasn't got a single ounce of murderous intent in her bones. She wasn't raised to be that way… I get it, I got scared when I found out Alluka was a Zoldyck. I got worried for my little brother… but then Killua told me her story… how she was treated."

"And how exactly…?"

"She was locked away…" Killua's voice was dark, cruel… cutting through the thick tension like a knife through butter. The bitterness in his voice amplified his hidden hatred for his family, "buried deep underground, behind several different thick plated doors… the kind you'd find in a bank. However, these doors were thicker, wider… they spanned for what felt like miles. No bomb expert could get through them. Not even a professional Enhancer could punch his way through those doors. They were built to trap her inside, as though SHE was the monster…"

Killua felt Daniel's hand comforting his back like he had been doing.

He gave his partner time to rub his back, to calm him down from his justified anger. Even if Madelyn deserved a smackdown from the truth, he was going to be rational about his thoughts. The boy remained silent for a few moments, speaking up, only once he had calmed down "She has an ability that makes her appear like a fickle genie. Using a contract, you need to meet three of the genie's demands, then, you can get a wish granted… A single… wish." Swallowing thickly, he continued, "but there's a way to bypass the genie's demands… me. My family didn't care… they didn't listen to my pleas."

Killua frowned, he'd have to involve a little bit of truth in his statement here "They tested her ability. Hundreds of lives… destroyed… all to see how her ability works. They got worried about one of her kids trying to fulfil her sometimes, ridiculous demands. Because remember… Alluka is a monster in my family's lives. So, they locked her away… they treated her like an outcast. She may carry their name and blood, but not their lifestyle or skills…"

Holding out a finger, he let his aura seep out, his cruel nature circling the girl making accusatory arguments about his sister, "So, don't you dare go tooting your bullshit spewing mouth about her. I love her with all my heart. I want her to have a normal, fucken life… I want her to experience everything she missed out on those past few years of being locked up. She deserves more, more than to be called a Zoldyck. She deserves to be treated like I see her… a fucken… princess…"

Madelyn started to tremble at the seething hatred being directed at her.

Clarisa step in the line of Killua's finger, feeling the intense murderous intent. But she swallowed her fear, to defend Madelyn, even though her actions and words were indefensible, "Killua… I will not allow you to pick on her like that. Put away your… whatever you're doing right now. Remember… she has a reason she acts this way… she too, has suffered in the past."

Killua blinked in surprise. There was no way that girl suffered as terribly as he and Alluka had. Even if she had, it didn't suddenly justify her words or actions, "And what would that be?"

Clarisa turned to Madelyn, "Her story to tell… not mine."

Madelyn glared at Clarisa, "And it will be my story to tell! I'm willing to admit I was wrong about Alluka, but…" she pointed a finger at Killua, "I find it hard to believe his feelings for Daniel or even Alluka, exempts him of his past…"

Killua's hands tightened around his partner, pulling him in a tad bit closer, "Then what you feel about me… you must also feel about Vastorie." He didn't intend to sound so angry… frustrated, even annoyed for not only getting treated poorly, for things he had no control over.

But if she's going to pick on him for being a monster, Vastorie wasn't that pure either… he was an assassin too… He was just good at covering up that part of his history.

"Huh?"

It's not like he could walk up to his parents, after being given his first kill contract and say 'Mum, dad… I don't want to kill people.' Then they'll be all hunky-dory, saying 'That's okay son, you don't need to be like us. You can do your own thing. We'd love you, no matter who you wanted to be… and what you want to do in life.'

His family doesn't work like that…

His first was brutal. The blood being spilled made something inside him, fracture… split asunder. The first one broke him because it wasn't quick and painless… he hesitated. The person tried to run.

When he finally took the person down, that voice haunted him for days… the crying… the pleading… the begging as blood was being coughed up. It created this monstrous image of himself… all he saw looking back at him, was glassy eyes and outstretched hand, trying to reach out, begging for help he'll never receive.

If Illumi hadn't stepped in, taking his first target's life, for him… who knows how long they would've had to bleed out for, before the person took their final breath. Then rather than comforting him for what he had to go through, Illumi chastised him for doing a poor job…

That wasn't when the nightmare ended. No… His older brother then reconditioned him, the manipulation, the torture he endured, just to alter certain aspects about himself. They wanted the perfect weapon… the one that portrays the family motto.

Quick…

Seamless…

Without a single piece of himself, being left behind. He could never be allowed to have anything, which could be used to be trace back to him.

After he found Gon…

Daniel even…

He no longer wanted to be a part of that. To experience that kind of lifestyle, for the rest of his mundane life. What makes Madelyn believe, that just because he grew up in that kind of environment, he wanted to remain in that kind of position for the rest of his life?

To hell with that bullshit…

He's gonna shatter her image of Vastorie, just to make a harsh point; reality wasn't shades of black and white… it was fucken grey "You think you're a shining beacon of exemplary righteousness… YET, you put Vastorie on the pedestal like he's some… kind of god of benevolence. He's far from it. He has taken more lives than I have… he makes my finger painting, look like a mac and cheese picture a child would make for their parents."

"You're lying!"

"Madelyn…" Killua made his next point, in a cold, dark tone… direct and straight to the point, "He was… a fucken… assassin, like me."

"Bullshit…" The girl grabbed the side of her head, shaking at the news. It couldn't be real "You're lying… he wouldn't do that… he was kind… gentle to me. He'd never hurt anyone."

"It's sadly true…" Eifion stepped in for the boys, validating their words.

Daniel seized up from the voice, his head twisting from under Killua's chest, to instead, look directly at the man. He expected anger, maybe a look of disappointment. Instead, what he got was remorse.

"You're lying… you all are!"

"Scarlet… maybe that name would trigger a memory. She, an androgynous-looking fellow. She got to experience it firsthand."

Eifion pointed towards himself "My uncle, Xavier Griffith, one of the deacons of this school… was one of Eifion's targets. He told me… at first, I believe it to be a joke too… But then he handed me the files the man was going on before his demise."

Turning the boys, he spoke in a soft voice "you know what this means… right."

"We failed…" Daniel looked at the floor in defeat.

"I… I want the truth. Tell me this is a hoax!" She walked towards Killua, expecting to grab him by the collar, but Daniel slapped the girl's hands away.

She was shocked, ready to get angry once more. But the tears in Daniel's eyes left her stunned, silent "No, you don't get to touch my boyfriend." Pointing at the man, he spoke in an annoyed tone, "let me say one final thing then."

Redirecting his attention, he pressed a finger against the girl's chest, "You have no idea… what the fuck my father is capable of. He has multiple sides to him. He isn't nice twenty-four-seven, he can be a monster at fucken times. When I lost my memory of Killua, I was hoping my father would come up… apologise for his words. What instead I got, was Killua… fucken… Zoldyck… comforting me. You know what my father said to me… hmm…"

It was a rhetorical question; he wasn't expecting an answer from her. But when she opened her mouth to say what she believed the man said, his expression made her shut her mouth, "I wish you were never born…"

"He…"

"He would never say that? Think again, he was caught in a situation that made him aggravated. Someone is out there… is trying to kill me… and my own, father, at least one of them… said he wished I was never born. Even though I did nothing wrong, in fact, the man who erased my memories of Killua, was trying to erase my memories of Vastorie… but my father isn't the one I love the most… it's Killua."

Killua blushed faintly from the admittance, but Daniel wasn't exactly done yet, "Killua was forced to pretend, to listen to me as if those moments we cherished, never existed. It hurt… it hurt when I got those memories back… it hurt, knowing that I told Killua off at times, got angry at him for shit that wasn't his fault. However, none of that matters… not in Vastorie's eyes. I don't remember what he said before it, or if I heard the words that led up to that point… but those words clung to me. I'm here, to learn more about my father, what he has done and created. What I see… is a mask of kindness, hiding the face of a cruel man…"

He pulled his finger back, "Now I get that I'm being biased here. I understand… that Killua has also taken lives, but I don't see him as being intentional cruel. However, like Killua, Vastorie has multiple sides to him… he isn't just a pretentious, horn dog, that insults others because he just happens to be angry at the time. No… he can be kind at times… even if I don't want to believe it. Whether you like it or not, he has taken lives… and whether his actions of saving others, is his way of trying to make up for his past mistakes… I'm going to find out, one way or another… all the sides to him. There are other names on the list I was given. YOU are outside of that list… your past may or may not, sway my opinions of my father."

The boy forced himself to smile, to show some sort of compassion… even if he didn't want to right now "I understand if you hate my guts for talking about my father, your shining beacon of hope like he's a selfish asshole… but to me… he's a grandiose piece of shit. BUT NEVER… accuse Killua of being a monster, while trying to argue my father is not one also… Killua is at least trying to change… Vastorie has barely, reached out to me. He only gives me warnings or hints… but he has never apologised for how much his words hurt me that night…"

Crossing his arms, he turned away from the girls and the man in the room, "I'm done…"

Eifion flicked his hands, turning the elevators back on "Madelyn… you can leave now."

Madelyn turned away, walking towards the elevator that was the furthest away. She didn't want to walk past Daniel… past Killua. She didn't want to see their faces, their eyes staring into the back of her skull.

She couldn't handle that right now.

Clarisa clenching her fist decided to voice her opinions, "For the longest time… a part of me believed you liked me." Madelyn stopped, never once turning around. She was willing to listen, or more like a part of her was compelled to listen "When you opened up… when you told me things you hadn't been forthcoming to anyone else about… besides Vastorie, I believed you were trying to reach out."

Clarisa felt her lip trembled, "I may have fallen for you in that process… but seeing how your talk to Daniel and Killua after I got to see this other side to their dynamic… those feelings started to wane. When you told me about your past, I felt sorry for you… I still do… but when confronted by the fact that Killua also had a terrible childhood, you threw it in his face… acting like he wanted it to be in that position all his life when in your position… no matter how different it is to Killua, you wanted no part of your childhood… Killua can feel the same about his childhood. It isn't just limited to your feelings…"

"Clarisa, don't antagonise her anymore…" Eifion warned the girl.

Clarisa frowned at the older man, "No… this has been a long time coming. She needs to hear this from me. I'm not gonna let her walk over potential friends."

Eifion didn't object. There was nothing he could object to, in that statement. Daniel and Killua could be potential friends. However, given the circumstances, her housemate should be giving the poor girl time to recover from her thoughts.

The girl didn't relent, pointing an accusatory finger at the girl she genuinely cared about "People can change… I thought you could too… You made me believe that…. I saw that you could be kind and open. But now that it's Killua and Daniel, you close yourself off to them. What about me makes you so willing to be open, yet, you can't talk to them?! Why not them…?"

If she was so fixated on being alone for the rest of her life, what's the point in trying to help her? Was there any point in showing love and compassion to someone who sees those trying to help her, as a burden?

Madelyn clenched her fist. She was conflicted, between telling her off… and arguing against her. She had changed… she wanted to believe it herself… she been telling herself her whole life, that she has changed.

She had opened herself to someone… and whether she believed like she lost that trust, because she felt like Clarisa told them the truth about her past behind her back, when in reality… seeing the way the boys are talking to her, they know none of what her childhood was like.

Against Killua, what she considers as falling into a ditch somewhere in her life, was more like hitting a pothole, when came to Killua's childhood.

She thought she had it bad…

Killua had it far worse…

She was acting like she was the one in the worst position. She still believes she does, even if those thoughts were incorrect.

She believes that Killua has someone to talk to, someone he can be open with. Someone who was, willing to listen and be there for him when he needed a person to talk to. Likewise, the boy did that same for Daniel. The two of them defending each other was proof of that.

YET, hearing the plea in Clarisa's voice, Madelyn now realised, she also had someone too… she was just actively ignoring the chance to take that opportunity, to believe her life could get better without Vastorie's interference.

Then, like a knife digging deep into her chest, Clarisa had to say the one thing, that broke all her walls.

Clarisa crossed her arms, "You're just selfish…" She was done with the girl. If the girl walked away now, there was no point trying to stay with her… trying to help her through her internal struggles.

It would be better to give up, then continue smashing her face against the wall.

Without warning, Madelyn fell to her knees. All the morals she was taught, her feelings of what should and shouldn't be right… who she was at her core… came crashing back down on her.

She internalised her feelings for so long… now that she was being confronted with evidence, proof that everything she once believed was right… was wrong. She brought her hands up, covering her eyes as her body trembled.

Tears fell from a simple fact…

That people can change… whether Vastorie was there to help or not.

Through a broken voice, she finally asked the right question, the one that plagued her heart… the one, that she had been vehemently ignoring for so long "Why is it so hard to let people in…?"