In which Killua goes to school, for the first time in his life.

Professional Time

The first day of school after the lengthy summer holiday was characterised by a whole school assembly in the hall. Alluka lined up along with the rest of her classmates, listening to the students do their presentations. She had never liked assemblies. The abuse thrown at the line of students near the edge of the hall – the ones with the mismatched uniformed and oddly coloured hair – was always a source of discomfort for her; it was wrong to hurt someone just because they were different.

But those were things you apparently weren't allowed to say, unless you wanted to end up there too.

Not that you care, Nanika commented idly from inside.

Killua was joining their ranks. It was strange, now that Alluka thought about it – Alluka had always imagined Killua to be someone… different, special. Seeing him in an environment as normal as school was almost like seeing their Father as a legitimate businessman or Illumi as an animal conservation volunteer (OK, maybe it wasn't as otherworldly as that). It struck a dissonant chord inside.

For some reason the air was stuffy, full of tenseness that sent shivers down Alluka's back. It was like the crackling static in the electricity before a storm but blacker and deeper and somehow worse to be in. Unnerved; the word explained how Alluka felt well.

(She couldn't see Brother. Where was he?)

"…Today, Class A will be adding a new member to their ranks. Until yesterday, he was in Class E!"

What?

Alluka looked quickly upwards.

Click. Click. Click.

Footsteps echoed on the wooden stage at the front. A boy came on, tall with round glasses and a somewhat awkward stance. He walked on quietly with his head and high and back straight. Alluka didn't recognise him. She looked over to the line of Class E students, studying their faces, which ranged from confusion to shock, carefully.

It seemed they cared about their class mates, or at least this particular one - the look of betrayal was clear enough. They had about as much idea of what was going on as she did.

(Brother loves tight knit communities like that. He feels more comfortable.)

The boy on the stage talked, line after line of dirt smeared on to Class E's name but Alluka was not listening. Not to the words anyway, more the forced undertone and the metaphorical chains that seemed to wrap around his body. The jerking movements. The small hesitation after each word, unnoticeable to those who didn't recognise it. It was horribly familiar; so much so it left Alluka's heart beating hard in her chest.

Killua had been like that too when he said goodbye and left her, years and years ago. Then once again, when he made Nanika go away, although he had been far better at hiding it.

Invisible binds, wrapping around where it hurt.

"… I will work hard that I will never fall into Class E again… that is all."

There was a stuttering silence – a thick blanket of shock stifling the air. Then… a single clap from the top of the stage. That single cound radiated outwards, racing like a fire across the hall until suddenly everyone was clapping. Then cheering.

"Well done!"

"I knew you were different!"

Alluka's eyes drifted to the line of Class E students, each frozen with shock ticking away on their faces.

(It doesn't make sense.)

She did not clap.

It was Karasuma who introduced Killua to Class E. For the first hour of the morning Killua waited in the classroom as it seemed that there was a whole school assembly and he did not particularly want to go. The deserted classroom had yet to be touched; it was still the first day after the summer holidays.

"You must be the new assassin that has been sent in by the government."

Killua jumped round. He stared at the room, looking for the origin of the feminine voice. It seemed that the class wasn't quite as deserted as it seemed.

Near the corner of the room lay a tall cubic shape, complete black and somewhat featureless other than a screen on the front. Suddenly it flickered to life and there was the flat picture of a girl, around the same age as Killua, staring out with curious but collected eyes.

"Yes," Killua replied.

("There are two other assassins in the class")

"I am Ritsu, autonomously thinking fixed artillery," she (or was it 'it') said with a smile.

"Fixed artillery…?" Killua asked. With a flick of her wrist, the side of the black box opened up and out popped a heavy looking gun which twisted round to aim at Killua. Not even leaving time for Killua to say anything, another flick and it was safely stored back in her body.

"That's cool," Killua commented.

"Thank you," Ritsu replied with a smile, twisting her hair in her fingers. Was it a habit? A computer with habits? Ritsu certainly seemed like an interesting individual.

"Our classmates will be back soon, I believe," she said. Killua nodded.

Korosensei arrived first, bursting in with a dramatic bang.

"Good morning, Mr…"

"Killua is fine," Killua cut in bluntly, although his voice was not cold.

"Killua," Korosensei repeated, his wide smile stretching further sideways, although Killua noticed it wasn't as wide as it could have been. "Welcome to Class E." He looked at Killua, a purple cross suddenly appearing on his face.

"You should be wearing uniform."

Killua looked down at his T-shirt and shorts, accompanied by his trademark trainers. He hadn't thought about wearing uniform. To be honest he had no intention of doing so.

"I'll think about it," he said.

The babble of conversation reached Killua's ears long before he saw the children coming up the windy path towards the old school building. There was something about the way they were talking – hushed and worried – that perked Killua up.

Tense.

They stopped when they saw the new addition to their classroom. A cautious expression flickered on to all their faces like a light and they stopped to analyse, examine, gawp.

Mainly the latter. They were, after all, still children.

Killua gave them a smile as they filed in quietly but it seemed they were distracted. Behind them, Karasuma stepped forward; his face was serious. His eyes passed over where Killua was sitting once... twice but the older man did not acknowledge him. Korosensei was eating bits of wood at the front of the classroom, the air around him jubilant, as though he was a toddler who had discovered a new toy. Such childish aspects was not endearing but quite the contrary; it was creepy.

Once all the students were seated, Karasuma introduced Killua.

"This is Killua," (No surname. Had Killua even told him? He had completely forgotten.) "-who will be joining Class E from now on," he said. A little of the edginess drifting round the room dissipated, but still there seemed a barrier, a rift between the new boy and the rest of the class. It seemed that although acceptance was readily given, trust was another thing all together.

"Hello," he said.

("They are powerful allies if the situation is right")

The lessons were boring. Killua sat through them concentrating as much as possible but it was difficult when there was a massive octopus teaching the class. The octopus' tentacles were just distracting, the lesson was dull. His senses were more alert than usual, looking for a weak spot.

A knife was stowed under his desk. Although Killua didn't usually use weapons, he had been told this was the only thing that worked against this monster. Killua did not like the guns. Too slow; he could dodge that in his sleep. Later he might ask Karasuma if he could modify his trusted yoyos with the special material that could apparently harm Korosensei, but for now the knife would do.

However, Killua could not deny that the octopus' teaching style managed to keep him sane through the entire hour of listening to information he probably would never use again in his life (who cared what sine, cosine and tangent was)? It was the subtle rhythm of his voice, the presence that surrounded him – both encouraging but relaxing at the same time – which almost bordered on hypnosis. Whether the would-be destroyer of the Earth was doing this with intention or instinctively through his devotion to his job was unclear, but Killua could already see the attachment forming between student and teacher, assassin and target.

("Never hold emotions for your target. Emotion will only seek to distract you.")

It was funny: how much Killua remembered about his old life, so many years later.

Yet something was wrong. Killua couldn't put his finger on it, but something was just slightly off. All the Class's tension rippled towards an epicentre – an empty desk lying on the side of the classroom. Who had sat there? Killua wondered. Why were they no longer there?

Killua's first assassination attempt was nothing more of an experiment to gauge the octopus' powers; a knife in his pocket as he went up to hand in his work.

"Are you finished, Killua-kun?" Korosensei asked. Killua did not say anything, eyes cold and piercing.

There were no sounds of footsteps as he approached. Pin dropping silence.

When he was less than a metre away, he struck, hands moving at inhuman speeds to whip out the knife and slam it into where Korosensei's body had been in that instant; the same movement he had used when they first met.

This time, however, Killua attacked not through anger but instead focused on his eyes, letting the aura concentrate there. The world became sharper, more focused and he saw Korosensei move frame by frame.

What was Korosensei's starting speed, in that instant just after he started moving? Seven hundred kph? Eight hundred? It was too fast for Killua body to keep up but accelerating slow enough for his eyes to focus on the movement. By the time the knife slammed down, the place where Korosensei's large form had been was thin air. To be expected, really; Killua knew he could have to think more if he wanted to even consider catching Korosensei. It was so easy here – so much scope for experimentation without fear of your target escaping.

"Nurufufufu," Korosensei's laugh resonated from behind him. The blade in Killua's hand had disappeared. "Haven't I said, Killua-kun, you will have to think more than that. Bear in mind that assassination attempts during class are forbidden."

However Killua noted the slight wariness in his movements, as though he was anticipating something dreadful to happen soon. As Killua showed no sign of attacking again for the next second, the tension dissipated. He wondered why.

"Seriously? Even Nagisa did better than that," a red haired boy said from the back of the classroom. Nearer to the front, a blue-haired boy with pigtails looked quickly down with a flush on his face.

"Maybe," Killua said with a shrug and walking back to his desk and sat down.

With a shrill ring of the school bell signalled the end of the lesson.

As soon as the students were dismissed, Korosensei suddenly announced he was going to buy ice-cream and was off again into the sky with a bang. Although Killua was interested in where he was going, he was already out of sight by the time he made it to the window.

The blue-haired boy came up to Killua, a curious expression on his face.

"Hello," he said. "I'm Nagisa Shiota."

"Hi," Killua replied cheerfully. He noted the taller redhead behind him looking their way with a blank but solid stare. It wasn't malicious; something similar to curiosity. Looking round, Killua saw that the other members of Class E too had the same anticipating glance, waiting for something to happen.

"So… err… what do you think about the teacher?" Nagisa asked.

"He looks like a friend I once had." Well, Ikalgo was shorter and far more realistically octopus like than Korosensei, but it was close enough.

For a moment the silence was complete.

Nagisa paused slightly, unsure how to act. The rest of the class too expressed a brief moment of confusion, trying to figure out whether he was joking (who had a friend like an octopus?). It was so funny, watching them trying to find a box to fit him in. Killua still believed his charm point to be the fact nobody knew whether he was serious and times like these he found the temptation irrespirable.

(Gon knew. Gon had always seen through him like glass, piercing him like light. But not the one time when it had mattered.)

"You are the assassin that Karasuma said was coming, aren't you?" said the red-haired boy. He was blunt, wasn't he?

"What if I am?" Killua replied.

"We all are here." Assassins? Killua almost laughed. These kids, and they were kids – all terribly ignorant and blissful to the world – were as far from assassins as one could get. They had no idea what it was like to kill. They used fake rubber knives and fake plastic guns in a fake world, where mistakes cost you nothing, where each effort was commended, not disregarded as the norm.

But hadn't Killua said something like that before too?

(I'm a hunter now.)

Even when, looking back, he realised how weak he had been. An amateur, walking into the world of adults, announcing himself as professional.

Killua shrugged.

"This is Karma," Nagisa said, introducing the boy. Killua nodded in acknowledgement. The other boys grin was mischievous.

With that the attention of the room shifted off of Killua. Introductions were over and now it was time to discuss other, more important matters.

... A conversation that did not include Killua.

It was pointless to try an assassination attempt when the target wasn't even there, so Killua went outside to enjoy the sun and explore the forest at the back of the school, jumping lightly from tree to tree with wind whipping against his face. It was set on a mountain, full of ups and downs. Large boulders made mini hills and the sides of the deep gauge that the small stream had made over time had turned to steep cliffs. Killua jumped down effortlessly.

Here it was quieter, away from the smog of the city. It felt untouched, an island of paradise among the sea of urban society, that Killua knew stretched as far as the eye could see behind the trees that kept it hidden from view.

(It felt like he was on Whale Island again. He kept looking ahead for the boy with black hair, his easy going grin… the eyes full of bright energy.)

Running was good.

The things that you can forget whilst running.

Another chapter finished. Thank you, again for reading and review. Please leave a review if you can!