Gon is here! Finally!

Arrival Time

Killua was still munching on a piece of chocolate as the elevator went up. There was a frown on his face as he stared at the door opposite him, watching the numbers go up one by one. He was annoyed; of course at Korosensei but mostly at his own incompetence. Where had he gone wrong? Did he let something in his demeanour give it away? Could he have been less obvious?

He sighed. Perhaps he was thinking about this too deeply. He had a whole year ahead of him, after all.

With a soft ding, the elevator informed him he had reached ground level. Killua was alone in the elevator, having stayed to help clear up and used the excuse of needing the toilet to remain behind for a little while. He wasn't really in the mood to talk and long elevator trips were too awkward. The door slid open and Killua stepped outside.

"Killua!"

The high pitched sound rang in Killua's ears. For a moment Killua thought he had slipped into a dream, because there was no way that this could be happening. He recognised the voice, (of course he did; how could he forget?) but he couldn't be here…

He turned his head to the side. The light from a tall window was in his eye and after the murky darkness of underground the brightness was a little overwhelming. Black hair, brown eyes, bright green clothes. He was waving a large, exaggerated wave, one hand flying in the air whilst the other clutched the strap of his bag. He was smiling. The same smile.

There was a word in Killua's mouth. It took a cough for him to get it out.

"Gon…"

"Killua!" Gon repeated, again.

Maybe he expected something more to happen. He wasn't entirely sure what. Nothing did. Not really. Confused at the lack of reply Gon stood and stared, the smile plastered still on his face.

Killua's eyes had adjusted to the light and everything returned to its normal hue. He blinked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. The words sounded far harsher than he had intended to his ears. Looking behind Gon, he saw a grinning Kataoka, Karma with a camera (why?) and…

Alluka.

(Was this her doing?)

The elder brother locked his glare on the younger child. She shrunk back under his intense gaze, guilt passing across her eyes. Immediately, Killua regretted the action. He hadn't wanted to make Alluka feel bad.

"Alluka called," Gon said cheerfully, making Killua snap his attention back to him. "I thought I might visit."

"Oh…"

The answer was pathetic, but Killua couldn't think of anything else.

The grin on the Gon's face was still big and genuine, as he blinked a few times with wide eyes. Killua wondered whether the other boy pretended to be complete oblivious for the sake of avoiding complicated conversations or really just insensitive.

(It's over. You walked away, remember?)

Killua was still trying to collect his swirling thoughts and think of a rational reaction. Killua supposed Gon would expect him to continue from where they had ended – friends, best friends, who supported one another. At that thought, Killua's jaws clenched ever so slightly. Wasn't that the problem with their friendship? Gon didn't care about hurting himself for his own wild goals and expected Killua, the ultimate friend, to follow suit like nothing had happened.

Finally, Killua settled with apathy. He shrugged. Then he glared at Karma, before walking out of the building.

"We're going home," Killua said.

They walked home in sombre silence. The sky had blossomed a violent shade of orange as the sun prepared to dip below the horizon and each of their faces were lit by the warm glow. Although there was the distinctive bustle of people around them, the silence in the air was still oppressing.

The silence was mainly Killua's fault. Alluka and Gon would talk eagerly for hours on end if they were left to it (as they had demonstrated over email plenty of times) but right now, both were staring at Killua from either side as though waiting for him to speak up. Killua walked quickly, a stride in front of the two. The pace wasn't fast but it still hurt his aching muscles. He knew he would have to say something eventually, but a part of him was frantically delaying it as much as possible.

After a few more minutes, Killua spoke.

"Where are you staying?"

"Your place, I guess," Gon said cheerfully. Typical of him, he hadn't made any plans before arriving.

"We only have two bedrooms," Killua said.

"I can stay in your room," Alluka interjected.

Now that Killua had opened his mouth, the two quickened their pace slightly to catch up with Killua, with an air of victory, as though making the silver haired boy talk had been an achievement.

"I have so much to tell you!" Gon started. "Leorio's doing well with his course… "

(Yes, Killua knew that. Leorio had mailed him a few times with his progress, along with a few suspicious looking links that Killua ignored.)

"… and he got a girlfriend!" That was news. Killua turned to Gon is surprise.

"Seriously? That old geezer?"

"She's really nice," Gon said. So he's met her, whoever 'her' was, whilst Killua didn't even know of 'her' existence. Did Leorio not bother to mention his new relationship to Killua or was it because Killua had been avoiding contact with his old friends?

"How's Kurapika?" Killua asked.

"He's gotten a lot of the eyes back, but he's still searching. He's found a new lead – a Prince somewhere."

At those words suddenly Killua got the impression that a tall, impenetrable wall had suddenly sprung up between him and everyone else, because they had all changed over time (perhaps other than Gon) and grown apart. No, not just sprang up, had been built brick by brick over the months. Stranded on the other side, Killua felt a little empty. Only a little, though. He knew that all of this was worth it for Alluka's happiness and safety.

They had arrived at the apartment. Killua fished the key out of his pocket and, unlocking it, pushed open the door.

The sun was now down and in the gloom the apartment looked like an empty hole. Switching on the light filled it with a bright yellow glow, illuminating all the furniture. Killua slipped out of his black rubber soled shoes and lined it up against the wall with his usual pair. He would have to return those tomorrow. Gon and Alluka did the same with their laced up boots.

Once inside Killua went to the kitchen and put on a kettle of water. A glance at the wall clock told him it was late, late enough for Alluka to be going to bed. Behind him, Alluka and Gon sat on the sofa, chatting.

"Alluka, you should start getting ready for bed," Killua said. Alluka glanced at the clock. She puffed out her cheeks, indicating annoyance, but stood up nonetheless.

"I'll move my stuff to your room then," she said.

"No, Gon can have my room, I'll sleep on the sofa. There isn't enough space in my room for two anyway," Killua said. And lately nightmares had become an issue and the last thing Killua wanted was to accidently wake Alluka up in the middle of the night.

"Alright," Alluka said and walked to her room. The door closed behind her with a click.

It was just Gon and Killua now. Killua could easily see an awkward conversation starting.

(Like why did you stop mailing?)

He would rather avoid that. Without looking at Gon's face, Killua sighed quietly and walked to his room, making sure the door closed firmly behind him. Perhaps it was rude, leaving a guest on his own like that, but Killua couldn't care less. It wasn't like Gon would notice.

Once inside, Killua hastily pushed the piles of paper sprawled across the floor together and dumped them in the far corner. However, as soon as he had done so he changed his mind and shoved them in the small cabinet to the side of the bed. Assassination plans. He wasn't sure how much Gon knew, but Killua didn't particularly want him finding out like this. From the top of the cabinet, Killua also took the portrait of Gon that Alluka had given him on his birthday and placed it carefully on top of the paper, before closing the door. Surely Gon wouldn't go through his stuff.

Straightening up, Killua looked around the room, making sure it was presentable. The duvet was a little ruffled and there was still school items lying all over the floor, but other than that it seemed alright.

"Is this your room?"

Killua's heart jolted so much he thought he was going to have a heart attack. He hadn't done anything wrong and yet he felt like a little kid found with chocolate all over his hands.

"Err, yeah," Killua said. The room was too small. Even though Gon was metres away, rucksack over one shoulder, Killua felt like he needed to get away. A blush was forming on his cheeks – the radiator had been left on for some reason and the temperature was noticeably hot. He needed to get back to the kitchen (the water had probably boiled by now), but to do so he would have to push past Gon who was still in the doorway.

"It's great!" Gon exclaimed, dumping his bag to the side and running up to the window on the other side. "Hey, there's a shop over there. What is it?" Gon's face was so close to the glass, his nose was practically touching it, his breath making white clouds on the cold surface.

"The convenience store," Killua answered simply.

"Do you use it?"

"Sometimes."

The doorway was clear now.

"I'm making tea. You can unpack your stuff if you want," Killua said and without giving Gon time to say anything, exited the room.

Once outside, Killua exhaled the breath he realised he had been holding. Idiot! What had the tension been all about? Because Gon was in his room? How many times had they held a conversation in the same hotel room, or slept next to each other under the stars? Back then, almost every day.

(They had been younger then.)

"Brother! Goodnight!"

Killua jumped, again. This couldn't be good for his heart. He composed himself and turned round to Alluka, who had already changed into her pyjama's and was standing at the entrance to her room.

"'night," Killua said. Alluka grinned then retreated into her room.

"Hey, Killua!" a voice called from inside his own room and Killua turned to see Gon with his head pocking out of the bedroom. "How do you turn the radiator off?"

"There's a… um… switch to the left side," he replied, quietly so he didn't disturb Alluka.

"What?" Gon asked.

"There's a switch, near the bottom," Killua added for clarification. There was a few seconds pause as Gon looked for the switch.

"Found it. Thanks Killua," he said.

"You can open the window if you want, but close it before you get to sleep." Not that anyone would be able to get past Gon unnoticed, sleeping or not but better safe than sorry. It was a city after all.

"Ok. What about tea?"

Why was he always so active? It suddenly struck Killua that the different Time Zones meant Gon was a few hours late with his internal clock. He almost groaned. Tired as he was from assassination, he didn't need a hyperactive Gon disturbing his sleep for the rest of the night.

"I'm going to sleep," Killua said firmly. Walking to the sofa, he collapsed onto it. The tea still hadn't been made, the kettle having turned off automatically was left on its stand. Killua couldn't be asked to do it. He was tired, and he had school tomorrow. He had only closed his eyes for a few seconds before he sunk into the inviting darkness of sleep.

Aaah! I'm really scared I've done their reunion wrong! I loved writing this chapter and at the same time it was so difficult.

Thank you for reviewing and please leave a review:3

Guest: Thank you for your review!