New chapter: I hope you enjoy it!

Battle Time

Gon dealt the first blow, charging forward and swinging a punch at Tadaoka's face. He dodged it, holding his hand's up like a boxer and aiming a solid punch in return at Gon. Gon jumped away.

"A nen-user?" Gon said. He frowned and squinted as though trying to see something invisible about Tadaoka.

It wasn't the first time the word had been used. Nagisa stared at the scene his mind rushing to comprehend. He couldn't come to any conclusion.

"Oh you know nen? Perhaps you pesky brats aren't as hopeless as you seem," Tadaoka said with a manic sneer. "But you aren't a nen-user!" His leg swung upwards and Gon dodged it with a hop backwards.

"I thought I would make a point! Make the stupid brat who thought he could go against me suffer! I should have done this from the start!"

Tadaoka was insane. Nagisa knew this more than anyone.

"Gon! Watch out!" he shouted.

The large, burly man, clenched his fist tightly and threw a second punch at Gon. As Gon dodged, it slammed into the floor underneath him.

Suddenly the world was splintering. The ground, solid stone tiles, was smashed away under the impact of the blow, bits of it flying in all directions as deadly missiles. Nagisa stepped to side almost instinctively, the position somehow miraculously meaning they passed him completely. Gon shielded himself with his arms as the projectiles flew towards him.

"How?" Nagisa whispered, wide eyed.

Tadaoka's laugh was loud, without even the pretence of sanity.

"You brats will never understand! Stupid, pesky flies!" he shouted. He locked a glare onto Nagisa.

There was no point trying to put reason into him.

Nagisa knew that one punch like that would be enough to make either of them into red smears on the floor. Tadaoka was stronger than them, massively so.

"Gon!" Nagisa said. "We should go!"

Find Korosensei and Karasuma. Call the police.

"No!" Gon replied. Nagisa stared at him. Was he mad?

"Gon…"

"I'm not giving up here!" the other boy said.

Nagisa looked desperately at Tadaoka for any sort of weakness in his stance, anything that could give them a chance of winning. He forced his breathing to become level and told his mind to think. Tadaoka had the brute force, however, he was slow and prone making small slips that cost him a fight. In the past year, Nagisa had defeated him twice before. They could do this.

Tadaoka laughed and closed one hand into a fist by his chest. Suddenly Nagisa's ears were ringing and an invisible pressure thundering against his skull.

Gon jumped back, next to Nagisa, his face twisted into a frown.

"You know what this is? Ko. If you even touch it, you're pancakes," Tadaoka said, a large smug grin on his face.

Despite the situation, Nagisa was surprisingly calm. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he noted the fact Killua's stun gun was still there.

"Gon," he said. "Let me do this."

Gon turned briefly, catching Nagisa's look. Nagisa stared at Tadaoka, mind-set.

"Yes," Tadaoka was saying. "Come on Nagisa! Face me one last time!"

Yes. One last time.

This time he would win. Completely and utterly, without leaving a single chance for Tadaoka to recover from the blow. His bloodlust was buzzing around him, transfixed on Tadaoka. There was no smile on his face this time, just a blank sense of purpose. Gon turned to his and fixed his stare, surprise etched on his features.

Nagisa rushed forward.

"Nagisa, don't touch him!" Gon's shout was clear and ringing in his ears.

Nagisa dodged an incoming fist. At missed him by centimetres and even though it hadn't even hit him, it left a long gash on his cheek.

(He could feel it.)

Around Tadaoka, cocooning him like a shell. Mid-charge, Nagisa watched… no felt the invisible pressure collected around the man's large fist, leaving weakness everywhere else.

There it was safe to touch.

Nagisa grabbed the other hand.

"Nagisa!"

Tadaoka's face was twisted in shock as well as rage. Would the man ever admit his defeat? Or would he forever be haunted by the burning need for revenge?

He pulled the hand he had left in his pocket out, the stun gun with it. Already, the clump of something around Tadaoka's hand was returning to his body, snaking terrifyingly fast towards him. Nagisa felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

A rock smashed into Tadaoka's head.

The man's neck snapped around, staring ahead in fury. The energy stopped moving for a brief moment.

(Gon?)

Nagisa pressed the stun gun against his neck and pushed the button, just as he let go of Tadaoka's hand. The world erupted white.

It felt like an age before Tadaoka slumped down onto the floor, out cold. Nagisa breathed deeply in and out, trying to calm his raising heart.

"Nagisa!" a voice suddenly called from the doorway. Nagisa looked to see Killua, eyes wide with shock. Gon too, was staring intently at the blue haired boy.

"You…!" Killua started then stopped, apparently lost for words. He stalked up to Nagisa, (Nagisa vacantly noted how he had changed his steps as if to cover for an injury), and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Idiot!" he finished. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't…" Nagisa managed. Killua let him go.

"You don't know nen, do you," Killua said, a little dumbfounded.

"What…" Nagisa started. He realised his palms were slick with perspiration and he wiped it off on his jeans. All his senses were screaming at him that he had almost died, even though he himself had no idea what was going on.

"You're as bad as Gon! And even Gido wasn't using Ko!" Killua said.

"Hey! I knew it would be alright!" Gon said defiantly from behind Killua. Killua turned around and glared at him.

"Don't encourage him!"

"I'm fine," Nagisa managed weakly. He was. Honestly.

"You don't even know what happened," Killua snapped back.

"Then you'll have to teach him."

Nagisa turned at the familiar voice, immediately recognising the yellow shape that had taken up the doorway. Korosensei had his usual grin on, although Nagisa swore it was a larger one than always.

"Korosensei!" he said enthusiastically.

Killua was staring at Korosensei.

"Teach him… nen?" he asked uncertainly.

Korosensei's smile widened further.

"What else?"

Soon after, the police arrived with Karasuma. The imposing man seemed to be worried about Tadaoka's escape and was busy rethinking the security of their newest prisoner, but took the time to praise the four of them for dealing with the situation. The whole group of them had gotten the day off by Korosensei to 'recover from the shock of the incident' and Alluka obviously thought it would be a great time for all of them to make reconciliations.

Killua still refused to talk to both Nagisa and Gon. He seemed angry but that wasn't the main emotion that had been present since Gon explained what had happened. He stormed in front of the group, hands clenched, eyebrows coming together in a deep frown.

Once they were home, Killua sat down. Nagisa sat next to him and tipped his head to the side, trying to look at Killua's face. Alluka put water in the kettle and started making tea.

"Killua?" Nagisa said.

"Why didn't you run?" Killua asked, staring at the clock blankly as he did so.

Gon looked to the side, a little tinge of guilt in his expression.

"Nagisa nearly died," Killua said.

"I'm really sorry," Nagisa said apologetically. Killua ignored him.

"Gon?"

"Well… I was angry. He hurt Alluka and you care about Alluka…" Gon started. "I care about Alluka."

Killua watched his explanation with exasperation. He sighed and ducked his head, not speaking. Years ago he would have shouted at the boy, called him an idiot and hit him around the head, but now he had lost the will to repeat his actions.

"Are you angry?" Gon asked.

"No," Killua said quietly. He still hadn't looked up. "This is so… you." It was. How long had it taken for Killua to realise? This was Gon. The mad, stupid Gon who went around endangering people's lives because he was angry.

(But Killua had…)

"I'm sorry," Gon said.

"Gon you can't use nen anymore. You can't… do what you used to do. Do you understand?" Killua needed him to understand. Like this, Gon was more dangerous than ever – with the same fierce determination but without the power to back it. He was like a cannon made of glass, ready to shatter at the first thing it touched.

(Knowing that, Killua had still…)

"Killua…" Gon said.

"I'm sorry," Killua interrupted him abruptly. Gon stared at him, a little confusion in his voice and Killua continued. "I left you behind. I knew he was a nen-user, that Nagisa didn't know a thing… I knew you would be too stubborn to run and I still… left you… behind."

(It was his job to stop him being stupid. This wasn't the first time he had failed at that.)

He was staring at his socks, the words clogging up painfully in his mouth. Killua could feel Alluka's stare on his back.

"I left both you and Alluka in the dark about what was going on. You still don't know what's going on," Killua gave a hallow laugh. "- it's my fault."

"When you say 'left in the dark', do you mean assassinating that octopus?"

Killua looked up. Gon's brown eyes were fixed on his. There was nothing accusing about his stare or any clue in his demeanour that suggested disappointment.

"He's called Korosensei," Alluka said brightly.

"Short for korosenai sensei, the un-killable teacher," Nagisa commented.

"How did you know?" Killua asked, feeling like a bit of moron.

Gon scratched his head and gave a little laugh.

"Well, when I first came here, the other students were talking about it. The rest I kind of figured out," he said.

Killua stared at him.

"So you're not…" he paused.

"Not what?" Gon asked obliviously.

"It's assassination!" Killua said, arms open in a melodramatic pose.

"Well… yeah," Gon started. "But the target seems happy with it so I think it's cool!" He gave a bright grin to demonstrate how 'cool' he thought it was.

(He had always assumed Gon didn't like his assassination background.)

"So it's fine to kill someone as long as the other person is happy about it?" Killua snapped back. This was ridiculous. Gon was against killing.

Gon tipped his head in thought.

"The students are learning from it, so I don't think it's right to take that from them," he said. His voice was quiet and serious compared to his earlier remark.

There was a little stilted second of silence.

"And you've forgotten about the whole 'going to destroy the world next year!' thing," Killua said.

"Well he hasn't done it yet!" Gon countered loudly.

"Cuz that really makes a difference!" Killua laughed sarcastically. Gon was so engrossed in the evidence before his eyes he had no concentration left for the bigger picture. Despite the fact it was one of his glaring weaknesses, Killua was blinded by it's bright innocence. It was also what made him special; not power or potential, but this.

He didn't judge people by other people's standards. Only with what he had.

Gon was laughing.

"What?" Killua asked. "What's so funny?"

He was very tempted to punch the black haired boy (not too hard, of course).

"You're back to the normal Killua!" he said.

Killua stared at him.

Yes, the tension that had been presence since their reunion had gone entirely. He wondered why.

"Killua, why did you stop calling?" Gon asked curiously, suddenly changing the topic conversation.

(For Alluka. To protect Alluka.)

"I was just… busy, I guess," Killua sighed. "Gon, I'm serious. You can't use nen. You can't keep charging around as the hero."

Gon nodded seriously.

As soon as something came up, he would probably forget about this warning. But that was alright because Killua would be there this time to stop him.

That was his job now. To protect both of them whilst making a life of his own.

Killua didn't know what to think.

So what did you think? Nearly at the end of the story now. Thank you everyone for being so supportive!