The next days they'd spent lunch break together, and though there shouldn't be any reason for friends to do so, it was still like some sort of unspoken agreement between Killua and Kurapika to not leave Gon alone and give the Spiders a chance to cause trouble. Gon hadn't minded it at all, he always enjoyed the blonde's company, and the way he smiled when Kurapika and Pairo joined them the second time, he seemed to understand their true intention and appreciated their presence even more.

After a while even Knuckle and Shoot had joined them. Gon and Knuckle butted heads again and it happened outside of school, so there was no reason to stop them. Killua watched the whole fight and was quite impressed by the older boy's strength. It was obvious that he was much stronger than Gon, but the spiky-haired boy refused to give up. Still, Gon lost (and was quite upset at first), but atleast their conflict was settled and they reconciled.

The group of four turned quickly into a group of six, making them one of the loudest bunch in the cafeteria thanks to Knuckle's big mouth. Though Killua preferred to be alone with Gon, the other didn't seem to mind, and it wasn't so bad either. Killua found, he enjoyed listening to his schoolmates chatter while munching on the lunch Mito-san prepared for him (she insisted on cooking for him too, when she heard that he almost missed lunch because of Gon), adding his own snarky remarks and snorting his food out through his nose, when Kurapika topped it with his sassy comments. That would usually make Knuckle mad, but thanks to Gon's, Shoot's and Pairo's soothing words a serious argument could always be avoided.


"Sorry, I'm late," Kurapika was out of breath as he arrived at their table, it looked like he was running all the way to the cafeteria.

"It's okay, we saved you a seat!" Gon smiled at him, refraining from a toothy grin in the last moment because his moutth was full with food. Instead he patted the empty chair next to him.

"Thanks!" Kurapika nodded, sitting down with a tired sigh and unpacking his lunch box.

"Where's Pairo?" Shoot asked.

"Hisoka asked him to collect the homeworks and bring them to the staff room."

"Who else would aks someone to run an errand at lunch break..." Killua grumbled while eyeing the vegetables in his lunchbox.

"Poor guy!" Knuckle shook his head.

"He always asks me to run errands for him though," Gon mused aloud, a finger on his chin.

"That's because you couldn't keep that big mouth of your's shut!" Killua snapped at his friend, flicking a red pepper in his direction.

At this a small fight broke out: Gon chiding Killua for waisting food and not eating healthy, Knuckle and even Kurapika (damn, he was really like a mom) joining him, while Shoot just sat there not sure about what to say or do. When Gon "threatened" Killua, that he will feed his friend, if said friend won't eat the vegetables on his own, the argument was decided. Killua surrended immediatelly (and with a very-very sulky-grumpy expression on his face) – there was no way he will do something so embarrassing (again) and in front of so many people on top of that. Anyway, Hisoka and Pairo's absence were forgotten.

But not for too long though. Kurapika glanced with growing frequency at the cafeteia's clock and entrance, a worried frown deepening on his face after every passing minute. Everyone at the table could sense their friend's distress, and it was indeed odd, no errand (not even those for Hisoka) took so long.

"He sure takes his time..." Knuckle murmured and it just made the blonde more tense.

"I'm going to check," Kurapika said hastily stood up from his chair.

"Should we..." Gon started, but the blonde already crossed the hall.

Tense silence fell upon the rest of the group, the remaining four exchanging concerned looks before going back to their lunches. A good half of the lunch break was over already, some students were already leaving, but the two seniors weren't back yet. Killua noticed, Gon stopped eating and stared expectantly at the entrance, looking like he is ready to get up and search for their friends in any minute. Before he could do so, someone stormed into the hall and shouted:

"There's something going on between Girly and the Spiders on the backyard! Someone's already injured!"

The four friends jumped up from their seats in unison with such force, that some of their chairs fell over, but they couldn't care less, they sprintet out of the cafeteria towards the backyard. As they got closer Killua could already hear some noises, loud thuds and shouts. Knuckle and Shoot were the first to step out of the building, Killua and Gon following close behind. They heard Kurapika yelling from the side, so they turned the corner as quickly as they could.

The sight that greated the small group made them froze for a moment. The first person Killua spotted was Pairo: he lay on the ground on his side curled into himself. His clothes were dirty and he himself was obviously beaten up badly. Only his hands were visible, but they were full with nasty bruises and scratches. He covered his face, and only then when he shifted a little, could Killua see the blood dripping from under his palm. The white-haired boy tore his eyes from the injured with great difficulty, looking around he noticed Kurapika too: the blonde just got up from the ground possibly from being hit, he wheezed, muscles all tense, hair flying in every direction. His left forearm was swollen, his light skin turned into a nasty red colour. Not far from him stood one of the Spiders: it was that huge guy who looked the most aggressive and picked the most fights. The rest of the group stood further away, watching the fight from the sides. Even their leader was there.

"YOU...!" Kurapika hollered as he threw himself at the guy in front of him, who just stood there grinning in amusement. "How dare you to do this to Pairo?!"

As if this was the sign, everyone took action. Gon kneeled down beside Pairo, Killua tackled Kurapika to the ground and Knuckle and Shoot went after the Spiders. After that Killua didn't know what happened around him anymore, he was too busy with holding Kurapika down, which was a more difficult task, than he thought. The blonde was shocked by the sudden surprise attack from behind, but he quickly snapped out of it. He squirmed violently trying to shake Killua off, his strength was impressive despite having an injured arm.

"Let go!" The blonde wheezed, making further attempts to break free.

"Don't be stupid!" Killua snarled. "They are stronger than you, they're going to beat you to pulp!"

"I don't care!" Kurapika's face turned pale as Killua accidentally pressed on his injured arm, yet his eyes were almost glowing red from sheer anger. "What they did to Pairo... I won't forgive them!"

Killua winced at the mention of their injured friend and that was enough for the older to shake him off and launch forward. Killua cursed as he threw himself at Kurapika again, but this time it was expected and the blonde dodged him smoothly. However, the white-haired boy had quick reflexes too, he managed to grab the other's clothes and cling onto him.

"Damn it...!" He cursed through his clenched teeth, he was sure the blonde will shake him off with ease again. "Hey Gon, come and help me!"

But Gon was nowhere and Killua started to panic for real. Where did that idiot disappear to? He really hoped Gon went to get help and wasn't fighting any of the Spiders. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kurapika broke free with one powerful tug, the fabric of the blonde's shirt sliding from Killua's hold. It's over, he thought.

"What's going on here?" A women shouted behind them. It was Biscuit Krueger, his homeroom teacher and Killua was never so happy to hear her voice.

He whipped around to see Wing and Senritsu kneeling down beside Pairo, who lay there still and Killua didn't even dare to imagine what have the Spiders done to him what made the always calm and collected Kurapika so enraged. Morel went over to his own students, who fought with the huge guy, but weren't strong enough to stop him. None of the Spiders were there, they probably fled the moment the teachers appeared. Finally, Killua spotted Gon as he staggered over to him all battered, with a bloody nose and a swollen eye. The black haired boy watched as his teacher carried Pairo away from the scene, and even after Wing disappeared from their sight he stared at the spot where Pairo lay. The bloodstains in the dirt made him upset again, he furiously turned to the direction where the Spiders left. Killua saw this and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. When Gon looked at him askance he just shook his head and looked over to Kurapika. The blonde was in terrible shape – he kneeled on the ground not so far from where they stood, hugging his injured forearm. His shoulders shook violently, his tears left clean streaks as they rolled down his cheeks. Senritsu kneeled beside him, rubbing his back in hope of comforing him. Things were already terrible as they were, there was no need to make more trouble by trying to follow the Spiders, and Gon understood that. Still, he looked like he was about to cry too – whether it was because of what happened to their friends or because he couldn't do anything against their "enemies", Killua couldn't decide, but it wasn't a nice view. This whole situation was nauseating, he swallowed loudly to will away the tightness in his throat.

Sudden clapping snapped them out of their misery.

"Alright, alright!" Biscuit placed her hands on her hip and looked at them sternly. "Now that everyone had calmed down, let's go to the Chairman's office! I'm sure he'd like to hear about this incident!" She whirled around and started walking with energetic steps towards the building.

Though Killua was somewhat relieved that the fight was over, his stomach clenched. Going to the chairman's office? This won't end well...


A/N: First of all, I'm sorry for the delay! My week wasn't too pleasant, but hopefully things will get better from now on.
I have to say I'm not really satishfied with this chapter. I had no inspriration, but I wanted to update so I kept writing (and then and rewriting), but I just couldn't get it right... I'm not good in writing action scenes, I'm sorry!

On another note, I have to thank everyone who was kind, encouraging and supporting when I posted chapter 4. Thank you, you guys rock, and are super sweet!

I don't know what I could say... I try to get back into my swing, because I really don't want to mess up the next chapter.

Thank you for reading! (I hope this chapter wasn't too much of a disappointment ORZ)