Killua was absent. Gon knew, he shouldn't make a big deal of it, but it's been four days now (weekend not included). It could have been just a cold, though there weren't any signs of it, however, considering the recent happenings it was very unlikely. And that made Gon worry.
Also he heard what had happened. How could he not? The whole school was full with it: Killua Zoldyck's older brother came to scold him for being friends with Freaks, though Zoldyck is looking down on his oh so good friend anyway. Gon tried his best to put the story together, but it wasn't easy at all. Some of those who saw and heard the whole thing shaked Gon off right at the scene, they were in hurry after the "show" was over. Other were clearly offended by what they've witnessed (why did they even stay there and gawk if they disliked it that much, Gon had wondered, and asked once even - that person still doesn't even look his way when they see each other in the hallway) and only offered the boy remarks like: Ask your dear friend, he'll tell you how much we commoners suck! or I don't understand what you like about that arrogant loser and In your place I would never ever talk to him. These, and the different versions of the happenings (each of them wilder than Gon assumed the reality was) just confused the black haired boy. The only thing he knew was that Killua and his brother had an argument on the day after the incident with Kurapika and the Spiders, and maybe Killua's brother disapproved of his and Killua's friendship.
In the end it was Pokkle, who told him the real story, and even though the other boy insisted on just waiting for someone and not wanting to eavesdrop, he could recall the happenings quite detailed. In any other situation Gon would have gotten mad, but now he didn't mind it at all, atleast he finally got to know what was going on between Killua and his brother.
His relief was short-lived as it was quickly replaced with anger. He never met Killua's family but from what he has heard, he knew they weren't pleasant people. Though his friend never really talked about them, and when he did, it was clear it's not a subject he likes to talk about.
Gon could remember the first time when their families came up. It was on a rainy day, shortly after they became friends. They sat in an empty hallway far from their schoolmates to avoud the weird looks, since others were still not used to see them together. The two just finished their lunches and stared out of the window, taking in the gray scenery, following the raindrops with their eyes as they rolled down the glass. It was a comfortable soft of silence, one they often shared.
"Your family must be really nice..." Killua munbled, his voice being half drowned out by the sound of the rain pattering on the window. He must have referred to their previous conversation.
"Huh?" Gon turned to look at his friend, not sure if he heard him right - there was something in Killua's tone he couldn't grasp. Was it melancholy? Sadness?
"I said your family must be really nice. Are you even listening? The white-haired boy repeated, making a face in annoyance, but his voice sounded like usual, so maybe Gon was just hearing things.
"I heard you," Gon reassured his friend, sticking out his tounge to ease the mood. "It sounded like..." the way Killua's eyebrows furrowed made Gon stop mid-sentence and rethink what he wanted to say. "I mean... What is your family like? What are they doing?"
Killua looked back at the window, his eyes getting distant. Turning back to Gon he said in a low voice: "My family owns the Zoldyck Corporation," as if he said everything necessary for Gon to understand. Unfortunatelly he didn't
"Uhm, that sounds cool," Gon he nodded what only earned him a weird look from his friend, so he gave up on pretending to know what the other meant. "And what does that mean?"
Killua blinked dumbfounded before bursting into laughter, and Gon felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment.
"Well, sorry for not knowing..." he mumbled, expression settling to an irritated pout.
"Sorry, sorry..." Killua wheezed, wiping his eyes. "Can't blame you for that, you're not from around here. It means that my family owns a big company."
"So your family must be rich," Gon guessed.
"Pretty much," Killua nodded to which the black haired boy just hummed.
A short pause, then Killua let out a butter huff.
"It's not so great like everyone thinks though."
"Why not?" Gon blinked in surprise at the sudden change of his friend's mood.
"Because," Killua's eyes were fixated on the window again, his lips stretching to a humourless smile, " people only find me interesting, because they want my money. And as soon as they realize that they won't get anything, they leave." He propped his elbow on the window sill, his chin resting in his palm. The smile disappeared from his face as he went on. "And my parents have high expectations of me. They want me to take over the company one day." His voice was a quite murmur, mouth twitching. Gon had to listen closely, so he wouldn't miss a word. "But I don't to. Who wants to have their life planned out for them?" He let out a small angry huff.
There was silence for a while, only the pattering of the rain could be heard. Killua looked like he was deep in thought, but - judging by his expression - they weren't too pleasant. Before Gon could say anythingm his friend turned away from the window, shaking his head (getting rid of uneccessary thoughts?) and let out a breathy laugh.
"Not that I could do anything against it," he shrugged and changed the subject.
And whenever this topic came up, their conversations went similarly: Killua talking a few words about his family (looking straight ahead and never at Gon) and before he would go into detail, he shrugs it off with a faked smile and starts talking about something else. All Gon could get to know about his friends family, that he had lots of siblings and his parents were strict. After seeing that lingering sadness in his friends profile, Gon never pressed on it lest he upsets his friend.
It made him mad. Especially after hearing about Illumi's visit, it made him so mad. Even though he barely knew anything about Killua's past, he could guess, that lots of bad things must have happened to the other, things the boy surely didn't deserve. Why else did he get so scared when the chairman said he would call everyone's parents'? If the Killua, who was late almost everyday, the Killua, who openly slept in class and talked back to the teachers got almost a panick attack because his parents would hear about an incident in which he wasn't even at fault, then things were clearly not right at his home.
That aside, Gon was mad at himself too. The last time he saw Killua - the day when Illumi came to their school - his friend was strangely quiet. He just stared with an unreadable expression at Gon while the black haired boy babbled about whatever came to his mind, only rolling his eyes and calling the other an idiot, when the boy said something very silly. Gon knew he shouldn't pry, Killua wouldn't answer anyway (just like the previous day). All he could do wa to act silly in the hope he could cheer up or atleast distract the white-haired boy.
But the most frustrating in this situation was, that he couldn't be there when Illumi confronted Killua, he couldn't be there when his friend needed him, especially because (even though Gon haven't done anything bad) he was the source of the trouble. Considering how Killua was always there, when he got into trouble, dragging him away from meaningless fights; yet he couldn't do anything in return.
It's been too many days, Gon was restless. He was honestly worried about Killua, he needed to know if his friend was okay. Even Mito noticed his distress and suggested to call Killua after listening to Gon's brief explanation of the situation. Gon felt a bit dumb for not thinking of this as an option - they had exchanged numbers long ago, but it didn't even occur to him, because they met everyday, there was no need to call each other.
Rushing to his room he searched for his phone and found it under his desk. It just showed that he didn't use the device at all, he didn't even wanted one, but Mito insisted on buying him one after he got enrolled to school. Hastily he opened the contacts. There were only two numbers: Mito's and Killua's, Gon dialed the latter and waited nervously for the other to pick up.
"Killua!" He nearly screamed into the reciever when he heard the soft click from the other end of the line.
A short pause, and then: "Who are you?" It wasn't Killua who answered the call.
It was a cold voice, tone menacing.
Gon took the phone away from his ears for a moment to check if he called the worng number, but it seemed correct, so he brought it back to his ear.
"Who are you?" He asked back. "Why isn't Killua answering the phone?"
"I'm affraid none of those are of your business," the other answered, voice getting colder. "Answer me. Who are you and why are you calling Killua?"
Gon felt like he is going to burst from anger. That arrogant guy really made it sound like he had the right to be concerned about Killua, when they were the ones who were mean to their own family member. Gon took a deap breath.
"MY NAME IS GON FREECSS, I'M KILLUA'S FRIEND SO PUT HIM ON THE PHONE!"
Silence.
"So you are that Gon Killua was talking about," the voice said and there was something in his tone, what resembled strogly to disgust. "Get away from him. You are only a nuisance to him, he doesn't need people like you."
"I'm not!" Gon shot back angrily. "And I'm his friend, whether you like it or not! You have no right to tell Killua who to befriend! Apologize to him!"
"And you think you can tell me what to do? You are really nothing but trouble. Leave Killua alone! This was my last warning." Gon heard the soft click again, signaling the end of the call this time.
He stared at his phone for a good while. He was worried before too, but now he didn't even think "worry" would cover what he felt. Things were far more serious, than he thought. He was sure Killua didn't come to school, because his parents didn't allow him it, and this conversation with Illumi (Gon assumed it was him) just prove it.
Gon now needed to see with his own eyes if Killua's okay, if his family didn't do anything to him. More importantly, he wanted Killua to be safe from them, he himself would bring his friend out of there if he could. He knew this wasn't possible considering that Killua wasn't even allowed to talk to him. He didn't even know the Zoldycks' adress. He couldn't ask anyone for it, as far as Gon knew he was Killua's only friend, maybe Kurapika and the others too, but they werent so close. Gon's mind pulled a halt here. Did that mean he and Killua were close? According to Pokkle the white-haired boy did say that he wanted to be friends with him... Gon mused about it for a while, the thought making him surprisingly happy and excited. He then shook his head. If they really were close friends, he needed to do something and not just sitting around and thinking about unimportant things. Well, they weren't unimportant, Gon corrected himself, but there were more significant things which also involved Killua and he nedded to focus on these. He let himself fall back on the bed with a sof thump. Who could he ask for Killua's adress?
Soft knocking interrupted his thoughts, Mito bringing him snack then leaving. Gon got up from his bed and dragged himself to the desk to grab something to munch and in that moment it hit him. He finally knew who to ask for help.
The next day Killua was still absent, what just proved, that Gon had to do this. Still, he knocked quite hesitantly on the staff room's door.
"Oh, it's Gon! What brings you here?" It was Senritsu, who opened the door.
Gon took a deep breath, eyes determined. "Can I talk to Miss Krueger, please?"
A/N.: Okay, I don't even know how to apologize for being this late with the update. I'm so sorry! ;_; *bows down in apology* I try to keep my updates more frequent from now on, tho I don't know if I can, bc I'll get hired soon, so I might be able to write only on weekends. But I don't want to make anyone wait!
I'm sorry if this chapter isn't so good, my muse completelly left me to deal with this alone, orz.
Once again, I'm sorry for the long wait! I try to update the College/Child actor AU as well, I hope it wont take so long!
As always, thank you so much for reading this fic, I appreciate everyone's support!
Btw, can you guess who Pokkle was waiting for? *wink wink*
