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A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm back! Firstly, I want to apologize for the lack of updates. It seems that my v-day fic burned me out. I also tried doing a couple other little stories, but I never finished them. So, last week (for you Future people, that would be about August 9, 2013), I dedicated myself to writing this chapter. I had also debated on whether or not to make it a bit longer than usual (to make up for my lack of updates) but as I was writing the "extra" part to the chapter, I thought where it ends now is good enough. So, what does this mean? It means that you should expect another Redux chapter sometime soon. Then I'll see if I can get back to the crossover and possibly Killua's World. Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the chapter! I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
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Chapter 22: Brother?

My back was pressed tightly against the wall. I was pleading with whatever God that would hear me no to let my brother see us. Mostly, my vision just stayed fixed on the wall in front of me, but I glanced over to see Gon looking out to the open area of town. I had an urge to pull him back in and scold him for being so reckless but I knew Gon's answer would be wanting to fight my brother and he wouldn't listen otherwise. I glanced over to the other side to see that the buildings were almost to an outer wall, just barely off the wall.

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that with Gon standing point and a near-impassable corridor on the other side, there was no way my brother would be able to get to us. Right? Wrong. I felt a familiar hand under my chin not a second after I even thought to breathe a sigh of relief. The hand turned my head towards the wall and my eyes met with the black void that somehow allowed my brother to see.

Almost instantaneously, he pressed his lips to mine and I felt his tongue intrude in my mouth. The thought that for the third time in what could have been less that 24 hours somebody's tongue had been in my mouth. The thought sickened me even more knowing that the first time was basically a tree and the third time was my own brother. I felt like throwing up and I didn't care that my brother's lips were still pressed tightly towards mine. He could swallow my vomit for all I cared!

The next thing I saw was a fist that landed on my brother's cheek. It didn't seem to phase him that much, but it was enough to break the kiss. As my brother looked away from me towards his attacker, I fell to my knees clenching my throat and choking as if it was my first time tasting poison. That description didn't seem too far off, when I thought about it. And I hoped, just like when I was being trained against poisons, that I didn't have to taste the poison ever again.

Curiously, I looked up to see who had attacked my brother. To no surprise, I saw Gon ready to square off with my brother in a one-on-one fight that he probably had no chance of winning. I wondered how Gon knew I was being assaulted but thought that maybe I was waving my arms as my brother was kissing me. Perhaps I had hit Gon with my arm and he had turned around to yell at me for hitting him for no reason. That, at least, made more sense than him just knowing I needed help.

"What the hell, Illumi?" I asked when I was able to talk again in hopes I could distract the two from fighting.

"Excuse me?" Illumi responded.

"Why the hell did you just suddenly ki-" I wanted to throw up again at the thought but finished my question anyway, "kiss me?"

"I'm sorry, Kill," my eyes shot up towards his in surprise. Illumi never apologised for anything he did ever. Unless there was a catch to it. Sure enough, my brother continued, "but I thought you liked that sort of thing now. After all, you seem to do it so many times with him," Illumi shot Gon a quick glare that would have been missed by any normal eyes and Gon flinched for a second, "I thought it had become a new way of greeting. And I was just a little overjoyed because I hadn't seem my precious baby brother in so long. I guess I got carried away with my emotions."

There were so many things wrong with what my brother had just said that I was beginning to wonder if this really was my brother. First of all, why would he call me his 'baby brother' when we both knew that we had two siblings that were younger than me? Secondly, Illumi always kept his emotions in check. He even told me that when we were on a mission, something he tried to shove into my head countless times. This 'Illumi' might just be another one of those forest children, like that other Gon.

No, I concluded, we were too far away from the forest. I wasn't sure what the conditions on the forest children were, but I doubted that they could survive outside of the forest. Then, if this 'Illumi' wasn't one of them, what was he? An impostor like the Leorio and Kurapika from the Yorknew airport? No, he sounded too much like Illumi to be one.

"What the hell are you?" I asked.

"Excuse me?" Illumi replied.

"You're obviously not my brother so what the hell are you?!"

Illumi's mouth formed a sick smile. A smile that looked so familiar, it sent shivers down my spine. No doubt Gon recognized the smile as well. As Illumi's face changed, I wanted to run. My body screamed 'grab Gon and RUN!' But my legs wouldn't move.

The face that once belonged to my brother now was an old man's face. The face appeared to be from a man in his late-thirties or early-forties. A few wrinkles were present around his lips and on his forehead, but other than that, there wasn't much else about him that seemed to stand out. Except a broken nose. The nose that had been broken thanks to a fully charged Nen punch from Gon.

"Ki-" I stuttered, "Kitakura…"

Immediately, I got down on to my hands and knees and threw up against the building I was leaning against just minutes earlier. The thought of my brother's tongue in my mouth made me feel like throwing up, but finding out it was a probably-centuries-old human-wolf monster sent me over the edge. I never wanted to be kissed by anybody but Gon again. As I stood up again, Gon was standing defensively, as if getting ready for Round 2. Personally, I couldn't blame him; I wanted a round 2 as well.

"H-" it was Gon's turn to stutter, "How did you-?"

"How did I survive getting my heart ripped out?" Kitakura finished the sentence and Gon nodded. "I didn't."

That answer raised more questions in my head. Questions like 'How the hell are you alive, then?' and 'What the hell are you doing here?' Unfortunately, I was still too caught up on knowing his tongue was in my mouth to form the questions. I restrained myself from vomiting again, though. Kitakura must have known I was wanting to ask questions, though, because he answered all of the ones I was thinking.

"Let me start from the beginning," he said, "I was dead. Thanks to that bastard doctor friend of yours, I was minus one heart. When something normally dies, its spirit leaves its body to become one with the world. However, my spirit stayed in my body. My eyes opened and I saw a man. He was wearing a police officer's uniform but he did not belong to the force. He told me himself. He said that if I was willing to serve under him, I could live. I could have revenge," he snarled at the word 'revenge' but quickly regained his composure, "So, naturally the thought of vengeance intrigued me and I accepted his offer. And so, here I am." He held his arms out as if he was expecting us to hug him or something, then continued, "Oh, but silly me, you must be wondering how I found you. You see, the man had told me everything as to your whereabouts. He even said something about a special mission from… what was it called again? Oh, right. The Hunter's Association."

My heart stopped beating and my blood ran cold. There was no way anybody could know about the mission the cabbie, Joel, gave us. It just wasn't possible. Could Joel have been the guy that appeared as Kite right in front of us when we were with Natsuki? Was that even possible? Was this whole thing just one big set-up?

A bell rang out through the town, interrupting my thoughts. Kitakura said, "Four o'clock already?" He took out a small watch from his pocket and looked at it. "So it appears. I'm sorry for my intrusion, boys. I wasn't looking for a fight at this moment. Please, excuse me, as I have something I must take care of." He started walking past us when he suddenly stopped and continued, "Oh. Gon, Killua, it seems as though you've already been checked out of your hotel. Please, come stay with me for tonight. Accommodations have already been prepared for you. Follow me, if you will."

I was still so confused. How were we checked out without physically checking out ourselves? How were these 'accommodations' made so fast? I couldn't help but wonder why the 'accommodations' were like, too. Was it a room or a dungeon? With what we did last time we stayed at his place, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a dungeon.

He looked back at us when we weren't moving, held up two fingers and pointed them towards him saying, "Come."

Instantly, we both shot forward. I was being pulled by my chin and, as my eyes looked over to Gon, I saw he was being pulled by his right hand. I wondered what invisible force was moving us against our will when it hit me. An invisible force the moves people against their will. It wasn't a force at all! I used Gyo to concentrate my Nen into my eyes and saw a pink gum-like string attached to my chin.

"B-Bungee Gum!?" I exclaimed aloud, though I had wanted to say it inside my head.

"What!?" Gon used Gyo as well to look at his own fist. "How does Kitakura have Hisoka's ability?"

We stopped behind Kitakura, who was now out of the alley. He said, "Oh, did I forget to mention my new ability? How silly of me. Don't worry, though, I'll tell you everything once we get to my castle. It's just over there."

He pointed to the castle that I had noticed earlier with one finger and I flew to the ground beside Kitakura. Apparently, my chin was connected to that finger thanks to the Bungee Gum. Kitakura noticed me on the ground and just managed an 'oops'. He said he was still getting used to using Nen. I wasn't sure if I believed him.

I got up off the ground as Kitakura started walking again. This time, instead of being dragged by the Bungee Gum, Gon and I kept pace behind him. Gon kept asking if I was alright to which I constantly replied that I was. Apparently Gon didn't believe me, which was why he kept asking. Sometimes I hated how persistent he could be.

I was going to reply the same way I had been when I noticed something strange. As we were walking, the town seemed to be clearing out. There were less and less people on the streets by the time we reached the bottom of the hill the castle was on. I counted about ten people were still outside, not including us, when we started up the hill. Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"Mr. Mayor, sir!"

Everybody turned their head to the direction the voice came from. It was the tour lady. She was running towards us. I had to wonder what she wanted and why she had just called Kitakura 'mayor'. I noticed Kitakura's smile when he saw her; a pleasant smile without malice, completely different from his smile just moments earlier.

"Ah, Coco," he said, "How can I be of service to you, my dear?"

"Mr. Mayor, sir," she repeated, "I wanted to give you the weekly tour update before the sunset." She then noticed us. "Ah, Mr. Mayor. Do you know these kids?"

"Yes, I do," he said without glancing at us, "They are my nephews. They came to visit with me for a couple days."

The tour lady's face held surprise at the mention of 'nephews'. I couldn't tell if she was more surprised at the fact that we were related to her 'mayor' or that his 'nephews' had tried kissing each other at one point. I guessed it was the latter of the two because she looked like she wanted to tell Kitakura about what had happened yesterday. She ultimately decided against it because her body position changed. She just said that she had taken us on a tour yesterday, to which Kitakura let out a chuckle.

"I see," he said, "Well, Coco, I thank you for taking good care of my nephews. Now, about the tour report…"

He trailed off and the tour lady took advantage of it, making an audible inhale before saying, "The weekly tour report is as follows-"

She was cut off by Kitakura's hand. He said, "I will hear your report at my castle, Coco. Come with me."

He motioned for the tour lady to follow him as he began walking again. If the walk to Kitakura's castle wasn't awkward at first, it sure was now. For one thing, we had the tour lady with us. I could tell Gon was worried about her because there was no telling what Kitakura would do. The awkwardness got even more apparent as Gon and I had to pretend to be Kitakura's nephews, something which I really didn't want to do.

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The castle was fancy. The outside was pure white marble with towers on the east and west ends. The inside was decorated with all kinds of wood and brick and cloth. I couldn't even begin to imagine how much money went into building this. From the outside, it looked like there could only be two levels to it but on the inside, the two levels looked more like ten.

An old man in a suit that looked like what the butlers at the Zoldyck mansion wear stepped in front of us as soon as we entered. And when I say 'old', I mean 'really old'. He had long white hair and maybe a hundred wrinkles on his face. Yet, he somehow looked familiar. One look at his eyes and I knew who it was.

"Gon," I whispered, "doesn't that old man look familiar?"

"Eh?" He whispered back and then squinted his eyes to get a better look at the old man. "No."

"His eyes," I said, "they're pitch black. It's almost as if they were-"

"A void!" Gon practically yelled.

I put hand over his mouth and whispered, "Not so loud, you idiot!"

"Shorry," came his muffled apology.

Everyone's eyes turned on us. I let out a nervous laugh and said we were just playing. This seemed to satisfy their curiosity and they turned back to what they were doing before. Once they looked away I removed my hand from Gon's mouth. I started theorizing what was happening but I wouldn't say anything to Gon unless I was certain.

"Yellmi," Kitakura said, "why don't you show my nephews to their room?"

Yellmi nodded and let out a breathy "Yes."

It sounded as if it was hard to talk for Yellmi. Like his lungs could collapse at any minute, or already had collapsed. He raised a finger to point at us and I could see up his sleeve, almost as if his clothes were too big for him. He said something like "come" or "follow", but I couldn't hear what it was because it was too breathy. Then he started walking backwards.

I looked at Gon, who shrugged, and we walked to keep up with Yellmi's pace. As we went away from Kitakura and the tour lady, we were in a brightly lit hallway. I noticed for the first time what was wrong with Yellmi. His skin wasn't wrinkly, it was dehydrated. It was almost as if the moisture in his skin was sucked right out in a short time, which made it look wrinkly.

Another butler, with the same skin appearance as Yellmi, appeared in a doorway. The sudden entrance made Gon jump and grab onto me. At first, he seemed harmless, which made Gon loosen his grip a little. But when we noticed how his white hair was spiked and the look in his eyes, Gon's grip tightened even more. It was a look that we had seen several times.

"Hysoka," Yellmi's breathy voice said.

Was that supposed to be a threat? Was it supposed to be condescending? Either way, I wasn't really paying much attention. I was too busy focusing on Gon's arms around me. When Hysoka didn't move, Yellmi began to and Gon and I followed, with Gon unknowingly still holding onto me.

I looked back to see Hysoka following us. It reminded me of the time when we felt Hisoka's eyes on us in Greed Island. It made me shiver, but I kept walking. Eventually, after climbing three sets of stairs, Yellmi stopped just past a door and opened it. He motioned for us to go inside.

Yellmi closed the door behind us and locked it. I was surprised that the room wasn't a dungeon. It looked more like a suite in a hotel. The bed was huge with fluffy pillows and blankets, there was a TV on a stand in the corner and the room itself was larger than any suite we had stayed in so far. There was a large circular window overlooking the town. I noticed that the town was completely dark; there were no lights on in any of the buildings.

On the bed was our bags. I guessed they were brought here as part of the 'accommodations' Kitakura mentioned. Thinking of earlier in the day made me feel sick again. I told Gon I was going to shower. When he asked why, I told him that I felt sick and a shower would help. It always helped after my first few missions as an assassin, when I wasn't used to seeing other people's blood.

I half expected Gon to pull another stunt like he did in Yorknew, where he kept trying to enter the bathroom, but I didn't hear the door open at all. My shower wasn't very long, though, only a few minutes. I always had felt better after a few minutes with warm water rushing down on me. I got out o the shower and dried myself off. I realized that my backpack had all my clothes in it so I opened the door and walked out.

In the main room, I saw Gon sitting on the bed, watching TV. It wasn't unusual for him to be doing something to pass the time. When he noticed me, he grinned. My cheeks felt a little flush for some reason. I asked him what he was grinning at but he didn't answer, instead making his grin wider.

"What?" I insisted, my cheeks growing redder by the moment.

"You're naked." Gon said plainly.

I was a little confused at his comment. It wasn't the first time I had been naked before Gon. Not even the first time since he decided we'd become boyfriends. So, then, why was I blushing? Could it have something to do with the incident the other day, with the other Gon?

"S-so?" I defended.

Gon thought a little while moving his head up and down. Wha-was he checking me out? Was he eying my naked body? I wondered just what in the hell brought on this change in him, as I was sure he wouldn't have acted like this before. After eyeing me for a few seconds, he gave an approving nod.

"I like it!" He exclaimed, "You should be naked more often."

I marched up to him and raised my hand, as if I was going to hit him. He flinched, closing his eyes and preparing for the pain my hand would inflict on his hard head. However, instead of pain, he felt a different feeling. And it wasn't on his head, but rather his lips. Because I kissed him gently.

As we kissed, Gon started to take control. He deepened the kiss and dragged me down onto the bed. As soon as my head hit the fluffy pillow, my mouth was invaded with Gon's tongue. I tried to push him away, but he held my arms down to the bed. After a moment, Gon broke the kiss and put his forehead against mine.

"It's no fun if you don't kiss back, Killua." He said.

Before I could let out a word, his mouth was over mine again. 'No fun'? Was kissing with your tongue really fun? I wasn't sure if what Gon was doing was actually fun or not. But, what if it really was fun? I couldn't let Gon have all the fun, could I?

I slowly let my tongue creep into Gon's mouth. I'm sure he could feel the movement, as his tongue was all over my mouth. For the first little bit, I still had doubts as to whether this was 'fun' or not. However, as I started to move my tongue around inside of Gon's mouth, I felt something I had never felt before. Perhaps this was the feeling Gon felt every time he kissed me with his tongue?

Gon's grip loosened on my wrists and my arms were freed. Normally, I would have pushed Gon off of me, hit him on the head and called him an idiot. However, this time, I wrapped my arms around his neck as we continued our kiss. I suppose the word used to describe the new sensation I was feeling, as our mouths moved on one another's, was 'passion'. A different kind of passion than what I had been told of, but I understood what it was at that moment.

Gon broke our kiss but that didn't mean he stopped. He moved to kissing my neck and chest. I let out a moan as he did so. It felt right, but something recent played out in my head. I couldn't quite explain it, but reality seemed to be mixing with my memories. I saw trees reaching up into the sky all around me, but at a distance. I felt the bed underneath me but as I turned my head while Gon continued his kissing journey, it appeared as a field of grass.

"Gon," I muttered almost imperceptibly, though I knew with Gon's acute hearing, he'd be able to hear a pin drop in a haystack. Yet, Gon did nothing except continue.

"Gon," I said louder. I lifted my head slightly and saw Gon was nearing my waist.

"Gon, stop." I felt his lips on my waist and decided to take action. "I said, STOP!"