Annnnd now I was walking with Gon.
In the middle of the woods.
At 3 Pm.
"Gonnn, where are we going?" I grumbled. I'm seriously not up for this right now. "I could be doing such better things right about now." Shit, I said that out loud. It's probably cool, Gon's basically an airhead.
"We're going to this place I really like. The sun shines through perfectly, and in the spring the flowers begin blooming! I thought you'd want to see them bloom." Gon begin skipping, which doubled his speed.
"Gon, slow down! I'm sweating my balls off in this forest, it's so humid!" I start into a jog so I don't lose him. This forest is surprisingly dense, how is there possibly an area where the sun shines through?
"Stop complaining, Killua, this is so pretty! And it's nice…" Gon slows to a stop, as do I. "It's nice to spend some quality time with you, Killua, since we separated." He turns around, and smiles his signature, blinding smile. I attempt a smile in return, but I don't think it happened as I imagined.
"Killua, are you okay? Is something wrong?" Gon, being the taller bastard he is leans down and puts his face close to mine. I can feel his breaths tickle my cheek… "Hey, Killua, why're you crying?" Gon took his finger and wiped it on my cheek. Which, I assumed, was covered with tears.
I reached up to touch my cheek to find it indeed did have tear streaks. "I… I don't know. I guess I'm just happy, Gon." This time I actually smile, and Gon gives a surprised face. Which eventually relaxes.
"Well, to change the subject, we're here, Killua!" Gon runs ahead, jumping over falling branches. I eagerly follow. I want to see the place that brought Gon happiness. That brought him happiness when no one else could, or would.
Did he come here as a young child? Did he ever return here after we separated? I carefully stepped over a small fallen tree and loose rocks to come out in a clearing. The trees filtered sunlight through, which sporadically hit the grass and pebbles below. A small stream of water went through the clearing, curving between the rocks and blades of grass.
"Wow…" I mumbled, and walked across the clearing. I looked over to Gon, who took off his backpack and sat with his back to a tree trunk. I walked over and joined him, although making sure we weren't touching. "Gon, it's beautiful. How'd you find this place?" I was still taking in the opening, in all its glory.
"Once when I was little and in elementary school, some bullies hurt me and I got sad. I didn't want to go home with bruises to Gram and Aunt Mito, so I walked through the forest until I ended up here."
"Gon… how many times did you come here?" I looked to him, a gentle look on my face. Gon's eyes sparkled with unfallen tears.
"That one year, I came here 34 times." Gon… how much did Gon suffer before I met him?
When I met Gon, he was the kid in the corner, yes, but I saw beyond what others saw. I was the beautiful features of his face, the sun from the classroom window casting shadows. He was intelligent, kind, and nurturing. He didn't seem to be rude at all. If anything, he was very outgoing when it came to talking to others. Why would someone dislike a kid like that?
I would've asked Gon himself, but he didn't seem like he wanted to expand the topic further.
"Gon… If you're ever sad, or upset, come to me instead of here. Even if your littered with bruises, covered with tear marks, or you're just upset, come to me! Instead of spending your time alone here, I'll always be someone you can talk to. You shouldn't go through these things alone. And if you ever want, I'll come here with you!" I hope I haven't stretched myself too far. After being apart for so long, I don't know if we lost some of your closeness and bond.
Gon definitely thinks we are even closer than before, but I have some doubts. It's always possible Gon's favorite color changed, or maybe Gon didn't like spaghetti anymore? Have I changed? I put my hand to my chin. I mean, obviously things have changed.
"Killua, I just might take you up on that offer." And the next thing I know, I feel Gon's hands trailing along my neck and down my back, encasing me in a warm hug. Not knowing how to respond, I hesitate a little. Eventually, I hug him back.
Putting my hands underneath his arms and on his back, I tighten the hug. He's like, really warm.
And disgustingly sweaty.
Am I sweaty? I panic before realizing that he probably would have let go of me by now if he minded.
He rested his head on my shoulder, while mine on his chest.
This feels so close for comfort, we just re-met a few days ago.
Finally he let me go, and I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Killua, thank you. Thank you so much for being my friend. From the moment you left, I hadn't stopped thinking about the day we will meet again." Gon removed his hands from my shoulders and went to grab his backpack.
"Gon, you don't know how i've felt. Who would've thought we both had been thinking about each other this whole time?"
"Good question that I don't have an answer too. Now, subject change. I really want to see Alluka and Nanika soon, Killua! Maybe this summer I can come up to your house to say hi!" Gon's smiled returned and we started going back to the college.
Checking the time, it was now 6pm. "Yeah, that sounds good! They'll be so excited to see you again. Hey, why did you never answer my calls? When you left I tried to call you in my downtime, but you never called back." I mimicked a pout, running up and stuffing my face near Gons.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry. All I have is a crappy beetle phone, and most places I went with Gin didn't have service or outlets to charge my phone. I really only played Frogger on it. I couldn't even beat the first level!" Gon laughed.
God, I could listen to that laugh all day.
"Wow Gon, you really are pathetic. Although, we really should start heading back now. It's getting late and I don't want to be woken up by one of your weird methods again." I started to run, jumping childishly over rocks and tree logs.
"Hey, my methods aren't pathetic, get back here!" I laughed, the breath escaping my lungs.
"Catch me if you can, slow poke!" I stuck out my tongue, and directed it to Gon.
Of course, he lost and ended up passing out once we got in the dorm. Wow, Gon, you really are pathetic.
I wonder, how did your old classmates of yours not like you? If anything, I like you way too much.
I patted his head and threw a blanket on him, knowing he's probably going to be asleep the rest of the night. "Sleep well, Gon." And I turned off the lights, and went into a deep sleep in my bed.