New chapter: hope you enjoy it!

Confrontation Time

The crackle of electricity cursing through his veins kept Killua focused. He ran, reactions quickened to impossible levels with his nen, almost flying across the floor and he was at the elevator in less than a second, Alluka still clutched in his arms. He paused at the door, turning around in response to presences.

Freyzard was after him. He mentally cursed.

"Are you alright?" Killua asked, looking down at Alluka. She nodded.

Killua wondered briefly if he should wait for Ritsu to operate the elevator for him or just break it and climb up. The latter would be faster but would potential block off the only escape route for Nagisa.

(Did he really want to leave Gon? The other boy couldn't use nen. But… Alluka was priority. He had to get her safe.)

He didn't have to choose. The elevator door opened suddenly in front of him, revealing the square compartment inside. Killua took a quick glance around his vicinity and immediately spotted a security camera on the corner of the corridor, its unblinking lens eyes staring down at him. He smiled at it.

"Thanks Ritsu," he said, before stepping into the elevator.

As soon as Killua was outside he was running again, jumping out of the nearest window of the abandoned parking lot and into a cluster of trees just outside. He needed to get as far away as possible to make sure Alluka was safe. Alluka was priority.

"Brother!" Alluka suddenly called out. Killua came to a sudden halt just nearby a large yew tree, stray crackles of electricity still clinging to his hair. He had travelled a substantial distance, even in those few seconds and the dilapidated building was already far behind him.

"What did he mean?" Alluka asked. Her tone had lost its simple curiosity, now filled with the subtle but noticeable tone of hurt and anger. A frown appeared on Killua's face as he forced himself to evaluate the situation rather than avoid it. He got the vague impression, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he had seen this scenario coming and had been unconsciously delaying it for as long as possible.

"Alluka…" he started. He set her down in front of him.

"Don't avoid the question!" Alluka said. Her hands were clenched into tight fists and her shoulders raised angrily.

Killua looked down, avoiding eye contact. Guilt settled uncomfortable in his stomach as he realised just how long he had kept Alluka in the dark for.

"I'll explain anything but…"

"No buts!"

Nervously, Killua glanced behind him. He couldn't feel anything but he wasn't sure just how long that peace would last. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

"You know the moon exploded last April?" he said. Alluka nodded.

Of course she did. You would have to be living in a hole under a rock not to.

"The culprit came forward. He's called Korosensei and he's fast. Incredibly fast."

Alluka stared at him, face blank.

(Mach 20 fast.)

"He's threatened to destroy the Earth next April unless he's assassinated in that time. He's a teacher at Class E," Killua explained. "The students are all assassins."

Looking up, Killua studied his sister's face carefully. Alluka blinked. There was nothing in her expression that suggested shock or horror and Killua gave an internal sigh of relief.

"That's it?" she asked. Killua nodded. He wasn't lying.

"That's why Freyzard wanted Nanika to kill… Korosensei?" Alluka said.

"Yeah," Killua said quietly. Everyone wanted to kill Korosensei and not just for the massive bounty on his head – not many people were happy with the world being destroyed in less than a year's time.

"Then why didn't you just tell me?" Alluka said. "Why do you never tell me anything? I don't need to be put in a box."

"Alluka…" Killua started.

"I'm tired of being your little sister who needs to be protected from the whole world. I'm thirteen! Don't you think I can look after myself!" she said.

Killua stared at her for a few long seconds, heart twisting horribly at the words.

"I'm just trying to keep you safe, Alluka…" he said but the words felt weak and like an excuse.

"LEAVING ME IN THE DARK ISN'T KEEPING ME SAFE!" Alluka shouted. The words stung deeply, all the more because they were true. It was Killua's fault. With a sinking feeling, he realised he had failed in everything he had promised to do for Alluka: keeping her safe, keeping her happy, being a good family when no one else had been.

"I…" Killua stuttered.

He stopped. He had no excuses left. No, Alluka didn't deserve to be given excuses, certainly not from Killua. Why hadn't he seen that?

There were a few tears in Alluka's eyes but she ferociously blinked them back. She took a step forward and hugged Killua tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry," she whispered hoarsely.

"No, Alluka," Killua said. "I'm sorry." He hugged her back, feeling the warmth seep into his body. It had been cold, although he hadn't realised it until now.

"I'm sorry for being a bad brother. Alluka, I know I've said this before, but can I try again?" he said.

Alluka broke away from the hug and smiled. It was her usual, cheerful smile; the one that never failed to melt the white haired boy's heart.

"You can try as many times as you want," she said.

They stared into each other's eyes, as if the act would somehow strengthen the conclusion they had come to, despite knowing they didn't have the time.

Noticing the presence far behind him, Killua spun around.

Freyzard – they were out of time.

"Alluka, do you have a phone?" he asked, turning back to Alluka. She shook her head.

"Damn," Killua muttered. If only they had a phone they could contact Korosensei who, depending on where he was, could come in minutes. They would have to get to the nearest town.

(And endanger the civilians?)

"We need to get to the nearest phone, phone Korosensei," Killua explained. Alluka shook her head.

"We can't go into the city! The people!"

Killua inhaled deeply before letting go of all the air in his lungs as one collective burst. He needed to protect Alluka but if he tried to endanger innocent people, Alluka would more than likely do something incredibly stupid to make a point.

"Alluka, go," he said, patting her shoulder with a gentle smile on his face.

"Brother…?" she asked, a little trepidation entering her voice.

"Find a phone, call this number," Killua explained. The presence was closer now, inching towards the two at the edge of Killua's senses. Killua gave Alluka Korosensei's phone number and she nodded.

"Remember to hide your presence." Another nod.

"Thank you," Alluka said. She turned and disappeared among the trees. Just as her presence disappeared, just a few metres away from where Killua was standing, Freyzard's disappeared too. He turned to where he had last felt Freyzard's presence and using en let his aura expand across the area, bright and noticeable as a beacon.

He could feel everything. Every leaf on the trees above him, every twig on the ground around him. There was a bird on one of the branches next to him and Killua's attention locked on to it briefly before it fluttered away in panic. It wasn't a large circle of aura – a metre and a half in radius – but it was enough.

Killua let his eyes drift shut.

There!

Even before his eyes snapped open, his body was moving, leaping backwards in an almost cat-like action. A solid mass of nen missed him by centimetres, passing across his vision as a bright blur of light.

Before Killua could even react, the cylindrical shape was once again slashing across his bubble of aura. He dodged it, barely. Retracting his aura into his eyes a little let him see the outline of the shape; Killua saw it hit a nearby tree, taking a large chunk cleanly out of the wood before swinging around for another blow.

Godspeed.

He let his en down completely, focusing on converting his nen to electricity.

Although he no longer had the split second warning if the attack came from behind, this time his moves were more fluid, jumping over the attack with ease. Still in mid-air, Killua mapped the trajectory of the attack, calculating the position of the enemy in the time it took to land.

Killua charged forward, towards a dark cluster of leaves above him.

"Hmpf."

Killua distinctively heard the sound before a shadow jumped out of the trees and landed a few metres ahead. Killua landed in front of his opponent.

"Freyzard," he acknowledged. Freyzard's lips twitched upwards as she flicked her blue hair over her shoulders.

"Well, this is bothersome," she said. There was a sudden air of light confidence to her voice.

Before she had even finished speaking, Freyzard swung her arm around and sent a burst of solidified aura in Killua's direction, who ducked down to avoid it.

He charged forward, only to be stopped by the solid mass of Freyzard's aura in front of him. Another swing forced him to jump backwards.

The exchange was repeated a number of times: Freyzard's nen flying towards him and Killua dodging just before the next blow came.

Despite the fact transmuters were supposed to be lacking in long range ability, Freyzard's nen spanned a considerable distance from her body. Killua was fast, far faster than Freyzard, but somehow he couldn't find a way into her protective bubble of attacks long enough to deal serious blow to the wall of aura protecting her.

It was almost like she was predicting his moves, blocking him effectively in as small an action as possible. Was this the gap in experience?

"Damn," Killua muttered quietly under his breath, as he felt a little weakening in the crackle of electricity around him. Already after ten minutes his electricity store was rapidly running out, having spent too much coming here at full speed. It was vital he finished this off quickly.

He dodged another blow from behind. Even the brief lapse of attention left him dangerously slow, the rush of wind detected by the hairs at the back of his necks milliseconds before the attack hit the space he had just been in.

He couldn't focus – half his concentration was expended on just keeping an eye out for the next blow, almost half his aura sent to his eyes in a steady gyo.

(But then again, Freyzard is using her concentration on In.)

A sudden strong revelation came to Killua as the final thought entered his brain. If Freyzard was using her attention to hide her aura as well as protecting herself, than perhaps she wasn't concentrating fully on the fight either. The playing field was equal.

Now time to tip it too Killua's advantage.

He jumped out of range to a nearby tree. Extending his hand backwards, Killua felt the rough bark under his fingertips. As the next swing flew towards him, he jumped upwards, into the canopy, disappearing neatly among the trees.

With zetsu Killua's aura winked out.

"You think you can hide?" Freyzard said from below him. Killua ignored her, keeping one part of his brain focused on her, in case of more attacks, and the other on keeping as silent as possible.

(If you can't win in a one to one battle, turn it into an assassination. Nagisa was brilliant at his.)

Killua was right above Freyzard. She was alert, apparently understanding his intentions, bright eyes flitting around in search of his silhouette.

He allowed himself a single breath to steady himself. Then, like a stone, he dropped out of the tree.

Because he was still using zetsu his presence wasn't substantial. However, even the slightest disturbance in the air alerted Freyzard, and her eyes snapped immediately upwards. Killua let go of his aura and it burst into life around him. Within the next heartbeat he had collected it back into his eyes, just enough to see the coming blow.

With ko, he braced himself.

His timing was just a moment out. The aura flowed to his side in a well-practiced ryo but not fast enough to completely send all the collected aura to one side. The effect of the blow was damped by the cushion of nen, but it was still like being hit with a freight train in the ribs, pushing him to one side.

Killua gritted his teeth.

"Nice try," Freyzard commented blankly. Killua landed heavily to the side. He picked himself up, just as Freyzard came towards him. He didn't attempt to use Godspeed.

"Out of electricity?" she asked. Her aura was once again in a long cylinder around her arm – concealed. Killua smirked.

"No," he said. "Waiting."

Suddenly a creak caught Freyzard's attention. She turned in shock, just in time to see the tree behind her fall towards her. She jumped back and it skimmed her blue hair.

Shippujinrai

Killua reacted with inhuman speed, flying forward one final time. As the tree crashed to the ground, he slammed into Freyzard. She toppled to the ground.

As Freyzard attempted to get up, Killua held two nails, sharper than knives and deadly, to her neck. She tensed visibly.

"Move, I kill you. Use nen, I kill you," Killua said, letting the bloodlust drip from his voice.

"How?" Freyzard asked, a little breathlessly. The singe of burning wood caught the wind from the tree that had fallen.

"Electricity does more than carry messages to muscles," Killua commented.

"Will you kill me, Killua-kun?" Freyzard said. Her voice was a little patronising.

"No," Killua said. Freyzard blinked. "I promised a friend of mine. However, if you hurt Alluka again, I might forget that promise."

He stared straight into her eyes, expression cold and harsh.

Freyzard didn't reply. Killua grinned, cheerfully.

"You sold information about my sister, didn't you? You put her in danger. How much more information have you stolen from the Zoldycks? You know, if my family found out about this, I don't think they'll be very pleased; I'm sure Illumi will have something great planned for you," Killua commented. Freyzard didn't react, but Killua didn't miss the subtle paleness of her skin.

"Do you understand? Tell someone about my sister's power one more time and I will kill you. Nod if you do."

After a brief hesitation, Freyzard nodded.

"Good," Killua said.

"I'm not working alone you know," Freyzard said.

"Yeah, I know about Takaoka," Killua dismissed. Freyzard grinned.

"Not that stupid bulk of muscle. My real employer was the one who organised the whole thing; freeing Tadaoka, employing men…" she said. Killua stared at her.

"Who?" he asked coldly. She stared up at him silently. Killua considered his options for a moment.

(Of course she's planning to distract you.)

"Fine," Killua said. He punched her in the face and knocked her out cold. The cold but subtle feeling of nen solidifying behind him disappeared abruptly. "Tell Karasuma that in prison."

As soon as Freyzard was dealt with, the heavy pit of panic returned to his stomach. How much longer would Alluka take? She needed to hurry. Without electricity, it would take minutes for Killua to return to the parking lot.

(Gon can't use nen.)

I loved writing this. Nen fights are brilliantly complex.

en - expanding aura

gyo - concentrating aura

ko - concentrating all aura

in - concealing aura

zetsu - stopping aura from being produced

thank you to everyone who reviewed! Please leave any questions or thoughts and I hope to post another chapter next week.