An ocean breeze and the smell of salt water did wonders on Gon's nerves. Sitting down on the edge of the small cliff where sea spray could hit him freely, Gon cast his fishing line out into the water. He felt at ease for the first time in days. The paparazzi had been so bad when they reached Sael that he hadn't even been able to leave the hotel room safely for the first couple of days of his and Killua's vacation. They were like hounds, once they got Gon and Killua's scents there was no escaping them.
"Some vacation," He mumbled to himself.
Leaning back so the sun could soak his skin, he quickly forgot his grievances. Well, at least him and Killua had been able to go out today without any trouble, so he could enjoy this beautiful day. He smiled with closed eyes, ignoring the odd stretched sensation that came with the movement. The sound of the waves sang the sweetest and most familiar lullaby Gon could have asked for.
He had nearly fallen asleep when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Gon slowly opened his eyes to face whoever it was getting his attention.
"Excuse me, sir, but have you seen a teenaged boy with spiky black hair around here anywhere?" A young man with a camera slung across his shoulder asked.
Shaking his head slowly, Gon answered," Haven't seen any kids 'round here, just me and the fish out today."
The young man nodded and politely said," Thank you, sir," before hurrying away.
Gon watched the man leave, feeling very proud of himself. Earlier that day when he'd suggested to Killua that they disguise themselves so that they could actually go outside, his partner had been convinced it would never work. Showed him, Gon thought with a chuckle, people believed he was a real old man! He scratched at the back of his neck, the costume did come with a price though, the latex used to make his old man face was itchy!
"It's worth it, though," Gon spoke, settling back on the cool grass again.
A few hours passed before Gon was awakened from his peaceful slumber. This time when he looked to see who it was, he was met with a familiar face. To anyone else, Killua would have looked like some black haired city slicker out to make a ton of jenny at the casino, but Gon would recognize the distinct features only Killua held no matter what the disguise, most noticeably his fierce gaze which glimmered purple in the sunlight. Dropping down beside him, Killua gazed out at the ocean.
"Caught any fish, grandpa?" he asked, his voice teasing.
"Hohoho! Not yet my boy!" Gon answered, cheerily playing his part.
Killua let out a laugh that never failed to dazzle Gon with its brilliant sound quality. "So you've had about as much luck as me," Killua said, sitting back so that he rested on his arm and was facing Gon," I used up my allowance for the passed couple of days and got zip back."
Gon stuck his tongue out. "What did I tell you, gambling's a waste of time!" he said, back to using his own voice.
"Y'know, your costume is kind of creepy," Killua said, eyeing Gon with a raised eyebrow.
Reeling in his line to cast it again, Gon commented," Not all of us can look as good at this age as you Zoldyk's."
Killua let out a snort," Yeah, right. Anyway, we need to figure out what we're going to do about this mess."
"Avoid it?" Gon suggested light heartedly while his childish smile shone through the old man wrinkles.
"If only," Killua said, letting out an irritated huff," But these freakin' people are better trackers than most hunters, eventually they'll find us and our whole vacation will be ruined."
Pressing his lips together, Gon put on his best thinking face. Of course, he'd been trying to come up with a plan whenever he'd been awake and staring out into the deep blue sea water, but nothing had come to him yet. In fact, his mind was so easily distracted by the calls of the sea creatures around him, he hadn't thought of much of anything, not even what to have for dinner … As if to answer this question, a sharp tug ran through his fishing pole.
"Oh yeah, first bite of the day!" Gon cried triumphantly, standing up as he began to skillfully reel in whatever was at the other end of the line.
Chuckling at the other teen's short attention span, Killua sat up with only slight interest in what Gon would manage to pull out of the ocean. By keeping his mood light, Killua could successfully hide from Gon just how bothered he was. All of this hype about them coming 'out of the closet' made him feel self conscious and paranoid. Killua had been raised to always be aware of his appearance, as his family was surprisingly big on that issue, so to be known as 'the gay Zoldyk' was by far damaging his reputation and image. To be judged by someone close like Gon was one thing, but by the entire world? That was just too much to deal with.
"Wow, look at the size of that!" Gon cried as he successfully pulled an incredibly large fish from the ocean.
Forcing himself to smile and congratulate his buddy on the catch, Killua convinced himself that the issue wasn't seriousness enough yet to worry about. As long as he is with Gon, he's happy and that's all that matters. Or at least that's what he'll keep telling himself …
---
That had been two days ago. How nice that day had been, especially when he'd reeled in that whopper of a fish for dinner … A little bit of drool began to collect at the corner of Gon's lip as the hunter remembered the taste of the delicious meal. The food from the hotel provided couldn't even come close in comparison. Sure, it tasted good, but it lacked a certain quality a fish caught after a long day of patiently watching the water held. Gon let a deep sigh escape from between his lips.
His large brown eyes stared out the rain streaked window of the hotel room, wondering what he had done wrong to ever deserve this kind of torture. While Killua was out gambling away at the casino, he was stuck cooped up in the room due to the treacherous downpour outside. It had started raining the night after he'd gone fishing and hadn't shown any sign of letting up. Gon had tried going out despite the rain the day before, but he'd only received a cold for his trouble. And along with the addition of the rain, Killua had been really grumpy. For the life of him, Gon couldn't figure out why he was in such a bad mood. It was probably just a Killua thing.
Letting his abnormally warm forehead fall against the cool surface of the window pane, Gon silently begged for something – anything! – to happen to relieve him of this boredom. Lids half open his gaze slid over to the television. No, he'd already managed to break that, his ignorance of technology quite impressive, so that was off his list of possible things to do. He couldn't go to the casino either, because the risk of him and Killua being spotted together was too great even disguised, and going to the casino without Killua just wouldn't be any fun. So he could check that off his list as well.
A sharp sneeze rang out, followed by a whimpered 'ow' as Gon's head collided with the window after the force of the sneeze forced it back. "This sucks," he mumbled, dragging himself from the window and flopping down on the large, comfy queen sized bed. But even the comfort of the bed couldn't mitigate Gon's poor mood.
"I guess I could go to the restaurant on this floor and get something warm to drink," Gon thought out loud. A chill had settled into his bones from the cold he had caught, so a cup of tea would be welcomed.
Bundling up in his warmest clothes, Gon shuffled through the vast hallways of the top floor of the very large, expensive hotel. Killua had insisted they stayed in one of the best rooms, since only guests with special cards could come to the top floor. This helped to keep the annoying paparazzi away, but Gon felt it was a waste of money mostly. Although, he was thankful he didn't have to go far to get his drink.
Stepping into the café styled restaurant, Gon was glad to see not very many people were inside. Dressed as if he was about to go out into a snow storm, he would have been sure to draw unnecessary attention if the place were crowded. As it was, the few inhabitants of the café seemed too absorbed in their food or conversation that they didn't bother with him. Gon let a small smile rest on his face in relief before going up to the counter and ordering a cup of tea. Enjoying the warm atmosphere of the café, Gon seated himself in one of the large leather chairs by the vast window that acted as a wall for the restaurant. It viewed the restless waves of the ocean and the drenched shoreline.
"Mhm," he murmured contentedly after taking a sip from his hot tea.
Relaxing back into his seat Gon also took off the warm cap he'd put on, feeling some color rising back into his cheeks as the drink warmed him. Taking the time to really take in his surroundings, Gon inconspicuously studied the few others in the café. There was a richly dressed woman sitting at a corner table and chatting into her cell phone while delicately eating a pastry. She seemed like a nice woman by the light and gentle way she laughed. A couple tables away from her was who appeared to be two sisters, the older one helping her smaller sister eat without making a mess. They looked nice too, very caring.
Then Gon's gaze came to rest on two men sitting off by themselves, seemingly in a deep conversation. He would have had to turn his head to be able to clearly see their faces, so not wanting to be rude Gon settled for cataloging everything he could see from his current position. The one out of the pair who seemed to stick out the most was sipping from a cup of coffee. He had strikingly white locks that fell a little ways passed the nape of his neck and appeared to be very fit from the way the black sweater he wore hugged his torso. Sitting across from him was a slightly smaller man, but Gon could really only see that he had long black hair and what smelled like some kind of sweet cappuccino drink. As if sensing his stare, the man with white hair slowly turned to face Gon's direction.
It was as if all time stopped.
At that moment Gon registered the smile on the man's face and also caught sight of the large, ebony eyes the other man possessed. It was no other than Hisoka and Illumi. How had he not sensed these men's powerful aura's as soon as he'd stepped out of his hotel room? Even now, Gon had to struggle to even pick up on their auras, which seemed to hold no aggression toward him, but still sent chills down his spine. Was it the cold messing with his senses? Gon's heart raced as he tried to plan a quick escape if it were needed, because no way could he fight in his current condition, especially with innocent people around who could be hurt.
Narrow eyes trained solely on him, Hisoka seemed to be amused with the state of panic Gon was in. Motioning with his hand for Gon to join them, Gon was forced to decide - run and find Killua or face the two beasts? He was never one to run away and he couldn't sense anything harmful from their auras …
Gon stood from his seat and slowly but deliberately made his way to the table Hisoka and the eldest Zoldyk son sat at. "Hello Hisoka," he greeted casually, knowing any sign of fear would only excite the magician.
"Hello my little Gon," Hisoka said back, a feral smile in place," or should I say not so little, you sure have grown, my fruit."
Gon's heart rate galloped into a frenzy at the out right appreciative tone in Hisoka's voice, but managed to keep a cool demeanor on the outside. "Yeah, well, it has been a while since we last saw each other. I see you've changed your hair again."
Hisoka ran a hand through his hair," Yes, I grew quite bored with the last color. Do you like it?"
"Um … it's different," Gon commented, not wanting to offend the magician by telling him he looked nearly transparent with his unnaturally pale skin and now the hair. Actually, he was probably the whitest person he'd ever seen before and that was saying a lot - Gon knew Killua.
"Oh, you don't like it!" Hisoka pouted in his high and slightly whiny voice, reading Gon like an open book.
Gon shook his head vigorously. "No, no, I do like it! It's just, I'm still getting over the shock of finding you two here is all," He explained, hands up in defense with a nervous smile.
Hisoka chuckled, eyes closed with a pleased expression," That's good to hear, my fruit."
The magician's head jerked up and he turned an inquisitive gaze on Illumi. A moment passed, quite awkwardly for Gon, as the two older men seemed to be having a private discussion through their thoughts as they stared intensely at each other. Shifting from foot to foot, Gon really wished he'd just stayed in his hotel room. Why had he even come out in the first place? Killua was right; he was really stupid sometimes …
"Where is my brother?" Illumi spoke, interrupting Gon's berating of himself.
Thinking quickly, Gon answered," He went out for a minute." He didn't want to give too much away; he still wasn't sure why exactly the two men who naturally made him uneasy were there.
Illumi's extremely wide, black eyes continued to bore into him, seemingly searching through Gon's mind for the true answer. Sweat began to slide down Gon's neck from the sheer force of the stare. Even if he had wanted to, Gon wouldn't have been able to move from where he was standing, feet rooted to the floor as if he were some kind of statue. What was this? Was Illumi using some sort of nen power, did he just scare Gon that much – or maybe, was it just the unemotional, soulless look his eyes held?
"He went out? Is he not handling the stress of the media very well?" Hisoka broke through the tension, seemingly oblivious to it.
Gon blinked then forced himself to look away from the hypnotizing gaze of the eldest Zoldyk son. "You know about that, too?" A light blush crept onto Gon's face, was there anyone who didn't know about his and Killua's relationship now?
Hisoka's grin grew even wider. "Of course, anyone who goes near a television set or a magazine stand knows about you two love birds," Hisoka said, almost teasingly," I mean, it is all true, right?"
"Well, I don't really know what they're saying, so … "Gon scratched the back of his head as a feeling of discomfort spread through him.
"Oh, look, he's all embarrassed, how adorable!" Hisoka cooed as he shared another look with Illumi. "So it is true that you two are an item, then?"
Gon shrugged," I guess." He and Killua had never really felt the need to classify their relationship; they were just simply 'together' and would be forever.
That peaked Illumi's interest. "I must speak to Killua as soon as possible," he said in a business like tone.
"Why?" Gon questioned, eye brow raised.
"It is a family matter," Illumi informed, then held out a card for Gon," Tell him to contact me at this number."
Gon looked down at the paper. "There's two numbers," he said absently, glancing up for an explanation.
Hisoka shot him a coy smile. "The one with the heart next to it is mine," He said with a laugh," You can call me whenever you get tired of your lover boy!"
He politely excused himself, then Gon hurried out of the restaurant and towards his room. Those two creeped him out so badly he felt like he could collapse from the stress it put on his heart and mind! He had to pause in his quick pace to let out a large sneeze he'd been holding in while talking to the two men. In that time, he felt someone's presence behind him. Caught off guard, Gon swiftly jumped into a fighting stance as he spun to face whoever it was. If it were Illumi or Hisoka, he was so dead!
---
"Oh my! Did you see the front cover?"
"Whoa! Really? I knew those two were too good looking to still be single!"
"Yeah, but I mean, they're together? That's so weird!"
This conversation was nearly a duplicate of the dozens of others Killua overheard just in his daily trips to the casino. Although, the other half of the conversations were about how it must have been such a disgrace for Gon and Killua's families with this 'new development'. Why were these people so hung up over the news, like it was some kind of scandal? It really pissed him off! They should just mind their own damn business. Killua purposely pushed the two women in the elevator with him aside so he could get off at his floor. If he just focused on being angry, he wouldn't think about all the other thoughts swimming around in his mind.
As he walked down the hall to his room, Killua noticed Gon standing in the middle of the hallway. He was bundled up like a mummy, but there was no mistaking who it was, especially after the loud sneeze that only Gon could manage. Killua stopped by his side, expecting him to turn and greet him, but was surprised as Gon jumped into a fighting stance.
"Gon, you okay?"
With a sigh of relief, Gon relaxed his stance. "Oh, it's just you Killua," he said, using the back of his hand to wipe at his nose," Don't sneak up on me like that."
Killua gave him a weird look. "Are you okay? You should have been able to sense me before …?"
Gon shook his head," Let's go to the room, I need to tell you something."
---
"You what?!" Killua yelled, anger seeping from his words.
Slumping further underneath the covers, Gon inwardly winced. He hadn't expected Killua to react this way to the news of his encounter with his brother and Hisoka. He should have expected it though, with the way Killua had been biting his head off recently for the slightest mistake. Just the other night, Killua had been ranting on about how idiotic he could be sometimes just because he couldn't figure out how turn on the fancy shower in their room. Maybe Hisoka was right, maybe Killua was really stressed over this whole media ordeal.
"If you're so out of whack from that cold, you shouldn't have gone out in the first place!" Killua continued to yell," I mean, what if they had attacked you? You wouldn't have stood a chance!"
Irritation began to bubble inside him. Gon dug himself out of his nest of blankets so he could point an accusing finger at the other teen. "Well maybe if you hadn't abandoned me here on my own, I wouldn't have had to go out," he shot back in defense.
Killua crossed his arms over his stomach. "I didn't know you needed to be baby sat," he said coldly.
"What's your problem?" Gon asked, just as much anger coming from him as well as Killua," You've been acting like such a jerk lately!"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because on top of having to deal with everyone and their freakin' brother knowing I have a boyfriend, you've decide to start acting like some kind of brainless idiot?" Killua refused to meet Gon's eyes; instead he kicked off his shoes and dropped himself into a chair while turning on the TV. Or at least he tried to turn on the TV.
Hiding underneath his mass of covers again, Gon prepared for the tirade that was about to begin. But instead of the wave of anger that he had been ready to face, he was met with silence. Poking his head out to see what Killua was doing, he observed the other hunter picking up his hotel key and the card with Illumi's number on it. His face had something like exhaustion written on it, along with the way his shoulders seemed to be slumped.
"What are you doing?" Gon asked softly, as if speaking any louder was dangerous.
Killua threw open the door to the hall, calling over his shoulder," Out," before slamming the door shut behind him.
Head pounding from his cold and all of the noise that had just filled the room, Gon sank back down. Somehow the silence hurt worse.
A/N: So this is questionably a very boring chapter, but some plot development happened and I actually like it, so, yeah ...
Thank you to those who took the time to review!
