"He sold his mother's rings; she said nothing."

"Hey, Killua? Where did Gon get a bunch of women's rings from?" Biscuit had approached Killua one early morning while Gon was busying himself using the restroom in the nearby venue when she asked that strange question.

But Killua wasn't honestly paying attention to a word she said.

Electric blue eyes blinked, unfocused at staring at the sights of Masadora's bustling, bright buildings, colorful signs, and stores to not notice her form coming closer towards him; that is, until she actually pinched his cheeks to give him a wake up call.

"W-what?!" He yelped, pulling away from her tweezer fingers to glare forlornly in her direction, "Oi, what the hell was that for?"

"You were spacing out and I had to get your attention." she said simply, raising an eyebrow.

Sighing into his regular composure, Killua straightened, hands in his short pockets as usual. "Well you have it now, so what is it?"

"How did you Gon get a hold of a bunch of women's rings?"

"What the-? What are you talking about?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously, sparing a glance over of Biscuit's small, lean little form in a huge dress, and grumbled because none of that made no sense. His head was still slightly spacey from earlier which didn't help. Since when did a girl's rings come into their conversation?

"Gon had a huge handful of rings earlier and was pawning them off at the shop." Biscuit pointed out, gesturing at the nearby building that clearly said Pawnand Shop in big bold letters separated by a giant picture depiction of a ring in the center. "They weren't game cards obviously because I overheard the shop keeper saying they weren't items or valid in Greed Island. But then I heard someone else in the store actually buy them off of him using the standard game currency and Gon accepted the trade. When did he get a hold of those rings?"

"I don't know." answered Killua automatically and he gazed at the mini mart that Gon had ventured into for bathroom usage. Where did he get rings from? And why would he want to sell them here?

"So you don't know anything about them?"

"Of course I don't."

"But you're his best friend."

"So?" Killua huffed and folded his arms like a little kid and Biscuit rolled her eyes at his childish behavior, "How does me being his best friend mean anything?"

"Well, you should know more about him then anything. I mean, you are having sex with him after all.."

"Just because I'm his best friend, doesn't imply-" He stopped the second she mentioned sex and his jaw dropped to the ground, speechless, "What the hell are you talking about? We aren't having sex!" He knew the easily distinguished flush blooming across his face would betray him, but there was just no way Biscuit found out this quickly! He had been real careful too, always planning out their little romps in utmost secrecy and even imposing Zetsu if necessary when they were too far away. All his excuses were believable and he even had a time restraint with each passing they made, just so it wouldn't arouse suspicion.

There was just no way in hell she found out.

"You're lying." Killua said instantly and Biscuit wove a sly smile onto her lips.

"Says the one who was taking it up against a tree last night when you were clearly asleep a few minutes earlier after I left you." She said bluntly, the twitch of her eye making Killua coughed and he choked down his own spit. "And was on his knees with his head bobbing between Gon's legs this morning before we left, over by the river when you two were supposed to be just getting a drink. I don't remember letting you off on break to get a drink and give head, Killua."

Shit, shitting fuckety, fuck.

"Or, do I need remind you that one time I found you with Gon going at it in a bathroom stall? You don't want to know how I found out about that incident. This includes the time apparently you two were making out and giving each other hand-jobs in an alleyway between two buildings and several by-passers saw and would not stop talking about it, either. Oh, how embarrassedwas for having my students caught like that when they didn't even know the relationship we three share!"

"Uh-"

"OR that one time where Gon was on top of you straddling you in-"

"HOLY SHIT, OKAY. I get it! I GET IT! STOP."

Biscuit giggled.

"Crap." Killua bit at his tongue and a smirk wormed its way onto the blonde woman's face, all-knowing and deceitfully wrong. "So much crap. Damnit. How, just- how did you find out?"

"You think it was a big giant secret?" Her laugh made Killua cringe and step back a pace, fearing the worst from their mentor with such a sadistic ringing quality to her voice. "It hasn't been one since the first time I saw Gon and you having sex on the forest floor three days in when we started Greed Island. I was tracking you right after you left Antokiba; city of prizes. I saw when you rejected the player's alliance offer to join, remember? I was there."

"Oh." Killua did remember, the image of Biscuit's face flashing across his memory, sitting highest on the steps where they had met Genthru and his other allies; wanting to team up to clear the game via use of monopolizing spell cards to gain other people's cards. Gon was the one who wanted to play the game as it should and Killua eagerly followed him – and that is what led the two falling into the victimizing hands of other more skilled players knowing how to manipulate the game and land their sorry asses bummed out in the woods.

And then, thereafter, they did indeed have sex.

"Oh." Killua definitely remembers alright. Clearing his throat, he sighs and hangs his head low, a little. "Yeah, yeah. Okay, fine. You caught us. But what does us having sex have to do with any of this?"

"Well, aren't you two close?"

"Yeah? I think."

"You 'think'? You don't sound too certain about it to be giving me that pitiful thing for an answer."

"It's just," Killua said, licking at his chapped lips and locked in his own indecision, "It's been really rocky lately. Our relationship. It's been rocky for a long ass time and I'm not sure when it's going to get better."

"You two aren't dating?"

"No." Killua hated himself for denying it even if the better half of him still wanted that to be true. It wasn't. His feelings reprimanded him in the furthest hindquarters of his mind, heart hurting with the grief. Killua dropped a sad frown to his face and let the regret fall to the depths of his stomach in a sick and twisted up lump of what wasn't real and what was, just a fantasy. It sucked. This sucks. "No, we aren't dating."

"Then why are you two having sex?"

"I don't know."

"You have to know, Killua. You can't just not know when you're having sex! You both are too young to be engaging in such risky business and you know it! You're just barely teenagers for pity's sake! Has nobody ever taught you about the dangers of doing things like this? I mean, come on, Killua, use your head!"

"What are you, my mom?" Killua bit back and immediately regretted it when Biscuit glared more menacing then he anticipated. He recoiled at the look with a gulp. "U-uh, wait, I didn't mean-"

SMACK.

Her white gloved hand left a nice lasting reddish mark clean across his cheek and the echo of its noise filtered out across the boulevard of Masadora's street. Many people stared, swallowed, and quickly averted their gaze away and started walking for fear or getting caught in the middle of something. Killua's head did not move from where it turned in the slap and he stared, wide-eyed, at the nearest light pole for the longest time as he listened to Biscuit's ragged, stuttered breathing. He knew she was mad and he rightfully deserved that, probably, but there were some things even Killua couldn't control.

His mouth in the face of older ladies was one of them.

"You're right." Her voice came out more controlled then it should be for sounding so wired-up seconds ago, "I'm not your mother, Killua. But I am your mentor and Nen-teacher which gives me every right to be concerned for my students well-being and health. I'm not stupid and I know exactly what sex is and what it can do to a person, including all the problems and issues it can bring up in people's relationships. I'd like for it to stay out of both of my student's lives, if possible, until they are more mature to be dealing with this kind of behavior."

"But we're using protection! And it's not like we can get pregnant or something. I'm definitely not a girl!" Killua defended, the first thing coming off his mind when it came to protecting the only thing him and Gon really had left between them since the drug incident. Yeah, they had at least always used protection (mostly when they remembered, that is) and were always very careful to stay clean before and afterwards. As much as he hated being found out about the dirty acts they had been carrying out together; to have it ripped and torn away from him so soon was something he hated even more. "What more do you want from me!?"

"Protection isn't the thing I'm worried about and it wouldn't matter if you were a girl or not." hissed Biscuit and Killua challenged her with his eyes, even if she was now towering over him with fists on her hips and making a face that spoke danger, back off. "I'm worried about the two of you and your health. Physically and mentally!"

"Sex isn't going to mess us up physically or mentally!"

"It can." she pushed and stepped forward. Killua was helpless and had to step back, in order to dodge any hits she might swing his way at any moment. "And it will if you keep doing stupid things like this so you need to stop while you're ahead. You're going to wreck your life if you keep doing it and once you do, there's no going back. Be smart, Killua, I know you're better than this."

"'Better than this?' What the hell? What is that supposed to mean?"

Growling defensively, Killua bared his fangs in a movement that he might have just bit at her for the hell of it, and Biscuit's fist flew straight towards his nose and paused just an inch away when Killua's eyes flew wide open, bigger than saucers. "Don't." She said, once, and Killua felt the wind knocked from his lungs in the same way the wind from such a fast strike billowing across his face when she swung, and was nice enough not to punch his lights out. He couldn't even see her fist coming at him; the movement too blindingly fast for his well-trained eye to catch. He was clearly outmatched. "Killua, just please, please think rationally about what I'm saying and at least consider it. Sex isn't a game and I don't want to see either of you boys hurt. Please."

There was a touch of hurt in her voice and that was possibly the only thing that kept Killua's dissuading and volatile feelings from lashing out and doing harm. So, he dropped his hands and placed them back into his pockets, head bowed in acknowledgment as he sighed, nodding a little.

"Fine. I'll think about it."

"Thank you." Biscuit murmured, expression softening, just as Gon came trotting back over to them waving frantically in the air. Killua looked up, feeling his heart do flips at the sight of Gon returning to them and after all that talk had him riled-up and tense; it all just melted away in that instant he came back.

Gon was as exuberant as ever, light and feathery and cheerful and..

Everything Killua was not.

And he knew it wasn't going to be as easy as anybody hoped it'd be.

It was only going to be harder. Much harder.