Chapter 10 - In which plans are formed

Plan Time

Alluka was happy.

It was quite a common occurrence. There were plenty of things to be happy about - new clothes, the beach, her brother patting her head. Killua was happier now. He didn't show it very much, in fact Alluka doubted he himself knew, but he was. He was more focused, his mood brighter.

Alluka was also worried.

This one used to be quite a rare occurrence but more and more now was the feeling creeping up on her; the little butterflies in her stomach, the black shadow in her mind. However hard she tried, she couldn't shake off the feeling.

Alluka wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Are you OK?"

A voice jolted her out of her musings, and Alluka looked up to see her friend, Aili, looking down at her from where she was standing next to Alluka's desk. There were two lines in-between her eyebrows, where her skin was scrunched up from frowning.

"Yeah," Alluka replied, a smile already forming on her face. "Of course. What about you?"

"I'm good," Aili said. The tall girl glanced at her desk. There, as usual, a pile of notes were waiting to be studied all over again, in preparation for the next lesson. Aili worked so hard, so constantly, and coming into this term, the stress was really showing.

Although, it seemed it was Alluka who was the unusual one. Whilst Alluka had been relaxing for the summer holidays, most of her friends were studying.

"You don't want to get sent to Class E."

The same mantra, constantly.

Alluka didn't really care. She did her best, of course, but her slipping grades and the fact she was near the bottom of the class just didn't really bother her. What was the worst they could do? Class E? Class E was quite nice, and they seemed to look out for each other. Or maybe expel her? But then again, Brother could enrol her to a different school quite easily.

She would miss her friends though.

"Well I need to study, so…" Aili said, apologetically. Alluka nodded.

"That's alright."

There was more she needed to do. There had to be something, surely, nestled in her mind.

A single image came to her, faint and wispy at the edges but clear enough. Killua's birthday, when Alluka had given him his birthday present. The picture of Gon had been one sent over mail, printed out in the local library and framed in a local shop. Alluka tried hard to recall her brother's face - the odd cloud of darkness that had passed across his face and the sad smile on his lips.

Alluka had an idea.

"Aili?" Alluka called. Aili looked up from her desk where she was seated.

"Hmm?"

"Can I borrow your phone?" She wanted to keep it a secret, a surprise. Killua would be so happy. If she used Aili's phone, then he would have no way of knowing.

"What for?" Aili said.

"I want to call someone," Alluka replied simply. "It's overseas, but I promise I'll be quick."

Aili looked at her for a second, her face thoughtful.

"OK," she said after a while. She handed her the phone, a flat screened touch pad with a pink case.

"Thanks!" Alluka said.

She took the phone and headed outside. The number was a familiar one and her fingers flew over the numbers effortlessly. They had used it often back then, when they had just started their adventure around the world but over time they had stopped doing so. It was for a number of reasons – they had been busy, flying around the world, and Killua had been subtly against it.

She pressed the phone to her ear. She waited patiently, counting the rings as she did so.

1…

2…

3…

…

7…

There was a buzz as somebody picked up on the other side.

"Hello," a voice said. It was feminine and warm, like milk and honey. They must have been doing something active, because it was a little out of breath. Alluka smiled.

"Hello. Mito-san. It's me, Alluka," she said.

"How can I help," the other person replied. Alluka bit her lips. Should she do this? She had been so sure a few minutes ago but now doubt clogged her mind. How would Killua react?

She took a deep breath. This would help him. It had to. Resolve steadied, she continued with what she wanted to say.

"Can you pass over to Gon Freecss?" she said.

Once the original idea had been settled, it was time to adapt it. The process was an interesting one to watch, certainly. The students worked before school, at free times and after school when Korosensei couldn't peak at their plans. Watching them, Killua thought he had started getting to know them better. He could certainly recall their names now.

The bowl of sweets was scrapped and replaced with something bigger. Getting unlimited resources from the government meant that these students could dream as big as they wanted.

Killua, who had put himself forward as a candidate for the final blow was suddenly found in a bright spotlight. They wanted to test his abilities, and he could feel the gaze of the class on him constantly, a nagging sensation at the back of his mind. Even though they were only a bunch of school kids, it was still incredibly unnerving.

One slip and they would choose someone else. His chance to show what he could do was now and if he didn't use it, getting to be a part of the class would be very difficult.

(Not that he intended to stay. Kill Korosensei and leave – that was his objective.)

Through Karasuma, they had the resources of the Japanese military at their disposal, and the first thing they did was rent out a small hall for the day. In it, preparations were being made. The plan had grown quite substantially from the initial idea.

Having had a look at the hall which they would be working in – a cavernous underground space – Killua was already calculating ideas.

At break time he started working on his final plan, studying his draft work and copying it up on a large sheet of paper. He worked quickly with his pencil in hand, a ruler held in his other. Another two tools that he was unfamiliar with. Illumi had always been against putting down plans on paper, instead insisting Killua memorise every detail. So many ways it could get stolen and compromise the situation.

There was a click and a swoosh as the door opened on the other side of the classroom. Killua felt the presence of someone entering the room. A student.

"Are you ok?"

Killua looked up from what he was working on. Kayano stood there, an easy going smile on her face.

"Yeah," Killua replied. Kayano looked at the paper on Killua's desk curiously.

"What's that?" she asked.

"Plans," Killua answered. He showed her the diagram; a blob in the middle, with ruler lines and curves crisscrossing all around it. Kayano studied it carefully. Killua noted her eyes – darting around the page with frightening efficiency.

"Did Kataoka tell you too?"

"No, but I thought I would anyway."

"Isn't this the same technique they used in summer camp… Did you look in Nagisa's notebook?" Kayano said. The notebooks with all those weaknesses written down? Of course he had. It wouldn't be like him to not use such a valuable resource.

"It's a good idea," Killua said simply. "I adapted it to fit the plan."

Killua internally gave a sly grin as he said so. Korosensei wouldn't be expecting this.

The only problem was efficiency. The class would have to act perfectly if this were all to work out; there was no guarantee this would work.

(They failed last time, didn't they?)

Killua wondered what he would do if this attempt failed. He could simply try again, as the class had always done. Throwing himself pointlessly at a wall in hope he would hit a crack, a fatal weakness. There was always Nanika, but Killua would rather not use her powers. Sure, it was a pretty grave situation, but plenty of these had past and gone. If he started using her power for every disaster…

No, he would avoid that for as long as possible.

"You should use the class' strengths too," Kayano said softly. She shrugged. "It's just a suggestion."

Typical of the class. Insisting an emphasising team-work. Killua had to admit, the green haired girl had a point.

"I can help if you want," Kayano said. There was a small, helpful smile below her wide eyes.

"I'll ask them later," Killua said, folding up the piece of paper. Kayano blinked. There was a brief pause before she answered.

"OK."

Later turned out to be Lunchtime. In the remaining warmth of the summer sun, a group of class E members, sat around talking. Killua mentally ticked off a list in his head: Kataoka, a natural, charismatic leader along with Isogai; Kurahashi, the optimist; next to them Okano…

A few others were playing games on the grassy field to the right. Then

Karma was missing. Takahashi too. The two rebellious members of the class were rarely where everyone else was.

Kurahashi noticed Killua first as he approached the group. Her bright green hair eyes brightened.

"Hi Killua!" she said. The other members of the group sitting there turned.

"Hi," Killua replied.

"Hello," Kataoka said blankly.

"About the plan," Kurahashi started eagerly. "-we've been thinking about it and done some more planning."

"I have a plan too," Killua said. A few more members who were sitting there turned around, curious. Killua got out the slip of paper from where it was neatly folded in the pocket of his school uniform. He handed it to the group and watched the reaction as they read it.

"Who's doing what?" Kurahashi asked, a small frown on her face. Killua shrugged.

"I was thinking you can decide among yourselves," he said. To be honest, he hadn't really been thinking about people when he drew up the plans, only the trajectory of the bullets. "You know the class better than I do," he added. Apparently satisfied with the answer, they focused their attention onto the plan.

Other members of the class had gravitated towards them and they bent low over the paper.

"The idea is good," Kataoka said. "He would think we were reusing and old trick…"

"And so would be even more surprised at the twist!" a boy finished. Black hair, brown eyes. Sugino.

The group had descended into a small huddle of whispers. Okano swept her brown fringe out of her eyes and got out a pencil from her pocket.

Killua stayed with the group for the rest of Lunch, looking over their progress. Grudged, he admitted they were far more familiar with the class (although this probably should have been obvious from the start) and found it would be better to leave them to it.

A rustle to his left informed him that someone had arrived on the scene. Familiar bright red revealed the identity of the newcomer, and mischievous eyes locked onto Killua's own blue ones.

"So you finally decided to be less headstrong," he whispered in Killua's ear. Killua shrugged.

"Teamwork is a valuable advantage," he said, recalling Korosensei's words. He had to admit, the octopus shaped teacher was kind of right.

From the next day, preparations began almost instantly. They split themselves into two groups – those who would gather the necessary equipment to set the trap and those who would plan the main attack. Everyone would be part of the main attack. The more the merrier, after all.

They told Korosensei of the coming party a week later. The teacher regarded the idea with delight.

"Of course," he said. "It sounds like a brilliant idea. What about after school? But remember, this won't be an excuse to slack off work." The members of the class shot each other gleeful grins.

"Great!" The mission had officially started.

When Killua returned home that day, Alluka was in a strangely upbeat mood. She was still being her usual secretive and Killua had long given up trying to beg information off of her. He did what he could to keep himself occupied. He played games on the laptop. He sat and did a few pieces of homework with Alluka. He was running low on chocolate so he visited the store and refreshed his stock.

He had not predicted how much of his free time school would carve away. It left him feeling somewhat constricted with time, even though he could afford to go without sleep for a few days to do what he wanted. The evening passed quickly in to night, and before he knew it, it was morning.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!

Guest: Thank you!