Chapter 3: Natsuki
"Well, boys?" Kite asked with a look on his face that told me he already knew our answer.
"We're in." I said.
"I figured as much," Kite said, "I saw the resolve on your faces the moment I told you what I was doing. Luckily, I bought enough food for three people. Come on, let's go back to camp."
We walked out of town and into the forest again. Gon and I were constantly keeping an eye out for any more "Super Soldiers" on either side. If any showed up, we knew we'd have to fight them. Fortunately, we didn't see a single thing, except maybe a few forest animals, and we made it back to Kite's camp.
It was already dark by the time we got to camp, so Kite made a fire. While he was doing that, I opened up some cans of food and Gon decided to go fishing. It wasn't long before he caught three fish that we could cook over the fire. Once the fire was made, Kite asked us about our day.
Gon started out with an embarrassing "I got to be on top of Killua!"
I nearly choked on my own saliva before I hit him on the head. "Idiot, don't say it like that!"
I explained to Kite what really happened. How we had gone to the library to look up some information and almost got our information deleted by the Hunter's Association. I told him how I had used my Nen, I gave a little demonstration by holding my hands up and allowing electricity to flow between them, to short circuit the computer and that we were thrown out of the library because of it. I complained about how the head librarian had called us "Troublemakers".
"That's how I got to be on top!" Gon chimed in.
I hit him on the head again and told him, "Stop saying that!"
Kite just laughed. Gon laughed immediately after Kite had started. I just sat there with my arms crossed and more than a little red. Fortunately, the fire hid my redness from them.
After we ate, Kite gave us some "bad news", as he called it. He said he'd forgotten to pick up a couple extra sleeping bags so we'd have to share his bag again. I didn't find that news all that bad, since it actually felt kind of nice to be wrapped up with Gon. He once again offered to take watch for the night, but Gon was naturally concerned about his sleep.
"Don't worry," Kite said, "If I fall asleep, it'll only be for a short time to rest my eyes. And plus, I have the fire to keep me warm. Now, you just go to sleep and we can discuss what to do in the morning."
Gon was contempt with Kite's response and climbed into the sleeping bag. I got in after Gon like I did last night, with my back to him. It was still a little tight, but still comfortable. Gon once again put his arm around me, while snuggling in close to me, but this time it was around my waist and he rested his hand on the front of my pants.
My face turned the shade of the reddest apple you have ever seen in your life and then some. For a moment my mind was completely blank. I didn't know what I would do; what I could do. Then I did the only thing that came to my mind: I shrugged his arm up around my side.
"Cut it out," I whispered to him in an annoyed tone.
"Cut what out?" He asked insincerely. I could tell that he had done that on purpose because he let out a small giggle.
"You know what I mean," I told him.
I was just thankful that he didn't see how red I was. If he had seen that, then he would've just put his hand back there. I hated how he always toyed with me like that, like I was his own personal court jester whose only purpose in life was to make him laugh. I let out a sigh.
"Just, don't do it again," I said.
"Okay, Killua," his voice sounded sincere, but there was still a slight playfulness in it, "Good night."
He whispered in my ear and I felt his warm breath cover the whole side of my face. Then he snuggled back in. I waited until I heard him breath deeply, until I knew he was asleep, before I rolled over on my other side. I kissed Gon on the forehead and snuggled in close to him.
"Good night, Gon."
I woke up in the morning to the smell of fire and smoke. It didn't smell like a campfire, though. It was more like a forest fire. I shot up like a rocket, disturbing Gon from his sleep.
"Mm," Gon said while rubbing his eyes, "What's wrong, Killua?"
"Fire." I said softly.
"What?" Gon asked.
"Fire!" I yelled as I got out of the sleeping bag.
I looked around for Kite, but I didn't see him. I wondered where he went, but I had more pressing matters to attend to first. Gon was still rubbing his eyes as I nearly dragged him out of the sleeping bag. He was about to close his eyes again when I hit him on the head.
"Ow!" He said. He got up and yelled at me, "What'd you do that for, Killua?! That hurt!"
I spread my arms and said, "Look around, there's a fire! We need to get out of here!"
Gon's eyes filled with horror as he saw the huge flames surrounding the forest. He wanted to go look for Kite, but I told him I already had and didn't see him anywhere. I told him that I thought Kite had abandoned us there, but Gon didn't believe me. He said that Kite wouldn't do that.
"And how would you know?" I asked him, "You've known him for what, an hour and two days? How do you know what he's really like?"
"I just know, Killua" he shouted back at me, "He told me he trained under Ging and I know that Ging would never abandon anybody!"
"He abandoned you, didn't he?" I yelled without thinking.
As soon as I said that, I knew it was out of line. Gon's father, Ging, had left him in the care of his aunt in order to be a Hunter. Gon had set out on a journey to find Ging. And I had just insulted him.
"Gon," I said realizing my mistake, "I'm sorry."
"Goodbye, Killua," he said with tears in his eyes, "I'm going to find Kite. You can leave if you want to, but I'm staying."
He turned around and started running off into the blazing forest. I ran in the opposite direction, leaving all the supplies there. The whole time I was running, I kept thinking about Gon and wondered if he'd be alright without me there. I quickly told myself that it was Gon and he'd find a way to survive without me.
I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice shadows running beside me. Or, if I did notice them, I was too busy thinking about Gon to care. I should have been paying attention when one of the shadows had come straight out in front of me, but I didn't. I ran into a body that knocked me to the ground.
"Hey, jackass!" I yelled at whoever it was, "Watch where you're going! What's the big idea cutting in front of me like that anyway?"
I looked up to see that from the waist up, the person that had cut in front of me was a mean-looking German Shepherd with the arms of a human. Closing in around me were all kinds of other dogs: Pitbulls, Bulldogs, even St. Bernards. I was getting ready to either fight them or run away, when a man in his early twenties came out of the forest and yelled a command in a language I didn't understand. I figured this man was the leader.
He spoke to the dogs and immediately, they sat on the ground with their tongues sticking out. He gave them each a weird shaped treat. I had seen plenty of dog treats when Mike, the dog that guards my family's estate, was given some. Ones that weren't trespassers, that is.
However, these treats looked like something else, something I can't describe. I'd never seen treats like those before. After he had given his dogs their treats, he took a bite of one himself. I was a little bit disgusted by that, but I didn't show it because he looked at me and said something I didn't understand.
"Excuse me?" I said, trying to seem polite.
The truth was, I was pissed at this guy. If these dogs were what I thought they were, then this guy had to be their leader. And if he was their leader, then he was probably the cause of this fire. And if he was the cause of this fire, then he was the reason Gon had left me. The more I thought about this guy and what he could have potentially done, the more I was getting pissed off at him.
"Oh, sorry about zat," he said in a thick accent, "I forgot zat jyoo can't speak my langvage. Ah, how rhude of me. Please forgive me."
I didn't know what to say. I was still pissed at him, but I kept my cool and said, "You're forgiven?"
"Ah," he seemed almost too happy about what I had just said, "zank you zank you!"
He grabbed my hands and lifted me up. He shook them as hard as he could as he spun around. I stayed where my feet were planted, but I had no choice but to spin as well. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see his dogs sitting down where they were before. I saw the looks they had in their eyes. Hungry looks. Like I was going to be their dinner.
When he stopped spinning, he let go of me and said, "Oh! Zat's right, I forgot to introduce mienself. I am Rhodgiero Von Kampa Natsuki ze sirhd. Und who might jyoo be?"
"Killu-" I stopped myself. I couldn't give out my real name to this guy. His name was Natsuki, the name the bartender told Gon and I was behind the Super Soldier program. I decided to use a different name, but it probably wasn't the best name I could've come up with. "Killua. Killua…Freecss." I hated myself for using Gon's last name.
"Killua Freecss?" Natsuki repeated, "Zat is a vunderful name. I have heard of Freecss before und zey are said to be big powerful! Tell me, Killua Freecss, vwat are you doing in zis burning vorest? Jyoo should know not to go into fires."
"I uh…" I tried to think of something quick, "I was just coming to help the animals get to a safe place."
"Zo far into ze vorest?" He was probing me and was probably onto my lies.
"I got lost," I lied, "It's hard to see with all this fire everywhere."
Natsuki was about to say something else when a voice came over the roar of the fire. It was a small voice at first, barely audible, however, I knew the owner of the voice immediately. The voice grew louder and Natsuki said something to one of his dogs. The dog growled and got up as soon as its master called it. It started to head into the forest, and I knew I had to act.
"Killua!" The voice was clear now, but still a ways away. "Killua~!"
The dog ran to where the voice was coming from and I let my instincts take over. I used my Nen to move at lightning speed to intercept the dog. The dog paused a moment when it saw me and I snapped its neck. We both hit the ground at the same time, however, I landed on my feet and it landed on its arm.
"Killu-" the voice was right behind me this time, "Ah! Killua!"
I turned around to see Gon running at me, with his arms wide open. I tried to stop him with my hands out in front of me, but he ended up tackling me to the ground. He kept apologizing while he rubbed the side of his head against the side of mine. I kept trying to push him off of me.
"Gon," I said, "get off!"
"Ah!" Natsuki was beside the dog that I had just killed. "Mien poor, poor Janke! Killua Freecss, zat waz not a very nice zing to do."
"Killua… Freecss?" Gon asked looking at me.
"I'll explain later," I said, "Now get off!"
I pushed him off of me and he landed on his butt on the ground. I sat up and introduced Gon to Natsuki. I told Natsuki that Gon was my brother and Gon looked at me the same way I had looked at him when he introduced my to Kite. I shot him a look that said 'I'll explain later, now just go along with it.' That seemed to satisfy his curiosity, at least for now.
"Ah-ha!" Natsuki was suddenly over the loss of his dog, though I figured it was because he had a whole army of dogs. "Ze bruzah of Killua Freecss! How I am excited to meet you pleasure!"
He started to shake Gon's hands like he sook mine, except without the spinning. Gon, through a shaky voice said, "Um. Nice to meet you, too, uh…" He trailed off waiting for Natsuki to introduce himself.
"Ach! You're right!" Natsuki had stopped shaking Gon's hands and had put one hand over his forehead, with his palm up, in an over-the-top dramatic reaction. "I should introduce mienself virst! Ach! You'll have to forgive me, for I am unfamiliar wis your customs. Mein name is Rhodgiero Von Kampa Natsuki ze sird und jyoor bruzah und I vere just becoming friends."
At this point, Gon and I were standing. I could tell he noticed the name 'Natsuki'. I pleaded in my head, Don't say anything, don't say anything, don't say anything. No such luck.
"Natsuki-" I stepped on Gon's foot and he let out a loud, "OW!" as he jumped up and down holding it.
I feigned concern "Gon, what happened to your foot?"
"Buoyz, buoyz, please," Natsuki said, "Ze treez are coming down und it is getting a bit hot. Let'z find a vay out of zis vorest togezah. After all, you und I are ze zame: lost travellerz."
In the excitement, I had forgotten that the forest was burning. I almost wished I hadn't stepped on Gon's foot so hard now, because he wouldn't be able to run and keep up with us. Almost. The only reason why I didn't, was because I got to carry him on my back. I got to embarrass him by having my hands on his butt to hold him in place while we ran and that gave me the smallest bit of satisfaction.
"Cheater." Gon said bitterly into my ear.
I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. It wasn't often I saw Gon defeated, so this was a moment I just had to take in. For as long as I've known Gon, he'd always loved a challenge and embarrassing me was his best challenge. He always won because I wouldn't go to the lengths he goes to embarrass him. So, stepping on his foot hard enough to stop him from saying something stupid so I could carry him away from a burning forest while touching his butt, could seem like cheating to him.
We made it out of the forest just as the exit we had used was blocked off. Natsuki said something to his dogs in that foreign language and they all went away. I had wondered where he sent them but I didn't ask. I thought it would make me seem too nosey and I didn't want Natsuki to be suspicious of me. Instead, I just said goodbye to him and started to carry Gon off in a direction the dogs didn't go.
"Vait," Natsuki called, "If you are going into ze town, I vould like to go vis you. I am new to zis area und don't really know mien vay arhound, so I need some help."
His smile was empty. I could tell because it was a smile I often wore. I accepted to bring us with him to town and I could feel Gon's eyes on me. I knew he wondered what I was doing. Natsuki thanked us in his usual manner and began to walk ahead of us.
When he was a fair distance ahead of us, at least enough to be sure he couldn't hear us, Gon whispered, "Killua, why are we taking him to town?"
"Because I want to know where he sent his dogs off too. If my hunch is correct, it's probably somewhere near town."
"Then why-"
"Because," I interrupted him, "we have a better chance at finding out what he's planning on doing."
"Oh." Gon said. We walked in silence for a few minutes, when Gon asked, "Why did you say your last name was Freecss?"
My face turned a little red and I looked away. "I don't know," I said, "I didn't want to give my real last name and yours was the first one that came to my mind." I was obviously lying.
Gon let out a little laugh, "I bet it's because you secretly want my last name as your own. Is that it, Killua?"
He whispered my name in my ear and I blushed. "N-no!" I said defensively, "Why would I want that? That's stupid."
Gon laughed again. I decided to change the subject. "So, what about you?" I asked.
"Huh?" Gon responded.
"Did you find Kite?"
Gon didn't answer for a while. I knew the answer was either 'no' or 'yes, but' and I also knew what usually followed the 'but'. I was sort of hoping he didn't find Kite, for his sake. If Gon had found Kite dead, then he probably would've snapped at the first person who pissed him off.
"No." Gon finally said, "The fire got too much for me to handle and I had to turn back. When I got back to the camp, I saw you weren't there and I went looking for you."
The memory of what I had said about Ging just an hour or two ago, came flooding back to me. "Gon," I said, "I'm really sorry about what I said earlier. I… I didn't mean it."
"It's alright, Killua," he rested his head against my shoulder, "I already forgave you for that as soon as I left."
Typical Gon, I thought, even if somebody had cut out your heart, you'd forgive them instantly. I couldn't help but smile at that thought. Then, another though came to me. "You know, Gon," I said, "your foot's probably good enough to walk on now."
"I know," Gon said, "but I just don't feel like walking. I'm comfortable."
I laughed. Gon started to laugh as well. Up ahead, Natsuki was most likely wondering what was so funny. We didn't care, though.
Our laughter was interrupted by a sound overhead. We looked up but didn't see anything. I looked ahead to where Natsuki was, but he didn't seem to notice. The sound came by again and Gon had caught a glimpse of what had made it.
"Killua," he said, "I saw a plane!"
"A plane?" I asked, "No normal plane could move that fast."
Gon nodded, "Yeah. I think it was one of those Air-Zingers we read about yesterday."
"If that's true," I started, "then we're walking right into a trap."
"Killua, put me down." Gon said.
I crouched and Gon put his feet on the ground. I called ahead to Natsuki to tell him we were gonna rest and make sure Gon's foot was alright. He said he'd wait for us a little ways up the path. When he was out of sight, we began our planning.