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A/N: Hey, everybody! This is a little later than I expected it to be, but certain things came up and I put of writing. But, no matter. It is here and that is all that counts, right? Anyway, this chapter, again, gets "T+", but it's near the end. Enjoy!
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Chapter 23: The Castle

"I said, STOP!"

I lifted my knees and hit him in the chest. He rolled off of me and I rolled to face away from him, clinging on to my knees. I heard him trying to catch his breath. I guess I hit him harder than I had thought, but I wasn't about to apologize. After a minute, his breathing became normal.

"Killua?" Gon said.

I said nothing. He put his hand on my arm but I shrugged it off.

"Killua, are you mad at me?" He asked.

"I'm not mad," I said as something wet rolled down my cheeks.

"I know you're mad, Killua," Gon said, "and… I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. It was like earlier at the store where I knew what was going on but I couldn't control myself."

The tears from my eyes kept coming as Gon was speaking. I didn't know if he was telling the truth or not. Gon had become quite good at lying so it was hard to tell his truths from his lies. However, one thing I knew about Gon was that he didn't like lying except when it was necessary. But that didn't mean anything.

I sniffed and Gon said, "Killua, are you crying?"

"I'm not."

He put his hand on my arm again and tried to lean over to look, but I sat up and put my feet over the side of the bed. I wiped away my tears with my arm and stood up to walk over to my backpack. I opened it up and took out a fresh set of clothes to put on. Once I was dressed, I went to the door and picked the lock with a wire I found in the bathroom.

"Killua, where are you going?" Gon asked.

"For a walk," I said.

"I'll come, too!" Gon said starting to get off the bed.

"No!" I practically yelled at him, which startled him. I continued, "I need some time alone to think."

"Oh," Gon said, a little disappointed, "okay. I'll just be here, then."

I left the room and closed the door behind me. I walked away muttering to myself how Gon was so stupid and how he didn't care about anyone other than himself. I knew the words that were coming out of my mouth weren't true, but I just needed to hear something that would make me feel better; to cool me down. As I walked by the doors, I noticed they were all different. Some had designs of animals, like cats or dogs, while others had designs of monsters, like Kitakura. I had to wonder what they all meant.

I kept walking and noticed that the designs on the doors weren't the only things changing. The color and even the material the doors were made out of changed. One door would be cedar and the next could be steel. And, despite the castle looking like it has been here for a few years, the doors didn't seem much older than two months. I began to wonder if leaving Gon in the room alone was a good idea, but I shrugged it off thinking he could handle himself.

As I walked down the hall of doors, I glanced up and down. Up was stone mixed with wood. I figured the wood was there to support the stone. Down, I was walking on glassy stone. I could practically count the hairs on my head, the stone was so reflective.

I came to a stairwell, different from the one Yellmi had us walk up. I thought I had walked in the same direction we came but maybe I hadn't. The stairwell was decorated on the walls with torches and tapestries similar to the monster designs on the doors. The stairs were wood with what seemed like a polished finish, but it could have just been the light from the torches playing tricks on my eyes. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, a huge wooden door with a gold knocker blocked my way to the second floor.

I tried to open the door and found it was unlocked. With the way Kitakura kept locking the room Gon and I stayed in, I would have thought he'd lock every door possible. The door opened with a creak, which I found odd since it didn't look any older than the other doors. The second floor looked much like the third except the floor was all wood and the ceiling was the same glassy stone as the floor above it. As I stepped out, I noticed the doors were very similar to the ones on the third.

Very similar, indeed. The colors, the material, the designs were all very similar to the third floor. However, they weren't exactly the same. The designs on the doors were all creatures that looked like they belonged in somebody's nightmare and there were different color patterns on each one. The designs also took up the whole door.

I noticed one door that had a design of a huge ant. At least, I thought it was an ant. It had legs like an ant, but it was standing on two of them, like a human. Curiosity got the best of me and I tried opening the door. I was surprised when I found it locked and I wondered what kinds of doors Kitakura locks.

What a time to forget my lock pick, I thought. I only realised as soon as I tried the door that I had left my wire on the floor in front of the door in the room. I wasn't going to go back just to get my wire. If I did, Gon would probably insist on coming and I'd have no way of stopping him because I couldn't pretend I was mad at him anymore. So, instead, I decided to move on.

As I was nearing the end of the hall, I began to hear noises. All my instincts told me not to go any farther, but I ignored them and quietly inched my way toward the source of the noises. At the very end of the hall, right before the stairs, a stone door (different from the stone I was used to seeing in this castle) was slightly open. I went as silent as I could be without doing my Rhythm Echo technique as I approached the door. I peeked inside the crack in the door with one eye.

Inside the room, I noticed a single bed, much like the one in mine and Gon's room, with something moving on it. The sounds seemed to be coming from the bed, as well. I couldn't really make out what was going on in the room except for the movement on the bed, which seemed almost rhythmic. The noises seemed to be coming from a female's voice, as well. When whatever was on the bed moved, the covers fell off and I realized what was going on.

I stepped back from the door, holding my vomit in. What I had just witnessed was worse than anything I had ever witnessed before. But was it really what I saw? No, it had to be my eyes playing tricks on me, right? I pressed my eye toward the crack again.

I wished I hadn't. I would have been happy just passing it off as a trick my eyes pulled off due to the lack of light in the room. The tour lady was on the bed, sitting straight up and making those noises I was hearing. However, the reason she was making them was much worse. The tour lady was sitting on Kitakura and I noticed a slight up-and-down motion that she was doing.

I wished for anything to happen so I wouldn't have to witness this horrendous scene anymore. Unfortunately, my wish came true. I felt a familiar gaze on me that made me shiver. I turned around to find Hysoka staring at me with blank eyes. That somehow made his stare even more intimidating.

I expected him to say something but he just stared at me. He opened his mouth and let out a weak breath. He took in an even weaker breath and I expected him to talk in that same raspy voice that Yellmi has spoken in. He said nothing. Instead, he just turned and walked away, motioning me to follow him.

I figured anything was better than watching Kitakura and the tour lady so I followed him. We passed the doors I had seen before, the ant one almost closed. I was sure that it wasn't like that just a few minutes earlier. Hysoka stopped at the ant door and did nothing. I wasn't sure what was going on until the door flew open and a creature like what was on the door jumped out at me. Instinctively, I jumped out of the way and it flew across from its door.

The ant creature stood up on two of its legs and turned to look at me. What I guessed to be saliva was overflowing from its mouth. It took a run at me. This time I was ready and jumped over it, making my hand into a claw mid-air and stabbing the creature's neck area. My hand didn't penetrate it.

It turned around while I was landing. I didn't think it'd have such fast reflexes. I was preparing to use my Nen when it grabbed me with the remaining appendages. For some reason, it felt like I was in a state of Zetsu while it was holding me. The ant's mouth opened and I thought I was going to be a midnight snack for it when a playing card flew in front of my face and into the ant's mouth.

The sudden pain caused the ant to drop me and it retreated into its room, closing the door behind it. As I landed on my knees, I looked in the direction where Kitakura's room was. I guessed that if Kitakura was able to use "Bungee Gum" then he would have known how Hisoka's card tricks work. However, nobody was there. If Kitakura had done that, there was no way he would have been able to go back to his room that fast.

That meant only one thing. I looked in the other direction and saw Hysoka holding a deck of cards. He was shuffling them between his hands. I stood up as he started walking again. I wasn't sure what was happening but I followed him. As I walked behind him, I thought I noticed the slightest bit of red come into his hair but I marked it off as just my imagination.

A new set of stairs, much like the ones leading up to the floor above, led down to a new area of the castle: a single room. It wasn't a dungeon, but it felt like one. There were no windows and only one exit. It seemed as though it was the oldest part of the building, much older than how it looked from the outside. The air was dank and made it harder to breathe.

The room was split into a few sections, divided by curtains. From the ceiling hung low hanging lights, one in each section. I wasn't sure but I guessed it was where the butlers lived. Hysoka walked over to a desk in the middle of the room and picked up a piece of paper. He walked back, handing it to me so I could read it.

It read, 'Little Brother, I was surprised to see you enter the castle with that Nen-stealing monster. I am sure you must be wondering how it happened, as you no doubt have seen him use Nen that is somebody else's. I would like to tell you how I saw it, but my voice is not working properly at the moment. I have concluded it is a side-effect of having my Nen stolen in that manner. Therefore, I will tell it to you by this note.

'I had just finished a mission and I was travelling home. Along the way, I received a message on my phone from Hisoka. He explained he was in the area on business of his own and suggested that we meet up. I didn't see any harm in that, as I wasn't expected back home for a week. And so, I detoured to meet up with him.

'It was a short time after we had met up that we ran into a strange old man. He had introduced himself as Kura, a travelling salesman. He explained that he was giving away a sample of a new shampoo product. Hisoka commented that I needed a new hair care product because my hair was looking frizzy. I had sent him a death glare.

'Reluctantly, I agreed to try his new product. This man, Kura, said that his samples were at his shop, as he called it. We had followed Kura to his shop where he sat us down at two sinks. He explained that we needed to only sit with our heads over the sink and he would take care of the rest. So we did.

'As Kura rubbed the shampoo into my hair, it felt as though something was leaving me. I had no idea that he had taken my Nen and my youth until it was over. Hisoka had suffered the same as me. Having apparently known how powerful we were, Kura decided to take us to his new home that he was recently given, as he explained. Once we arrived at the castle, Kura had given us new names and said that we should obey only him.

'It has been a while since then. I had begun to lose any hope of regaining my Nen. Until I saw you, Little Brother. If this man can be defeated, I would say that you could be the one to defeat him. However, I'm afraid you must be tested first. If you pass my test, then you may stand a chance. Fail, and you may not like what happens. -Aniki'

I always hated receiving letters from Illumi. He always signed letters to me like that. His letters were always long winded as well. It was a pain to read through. However, it answered my questions.

When I was done reading the letter, I crumpled it up and threw it over my shoulder. Hysoka- er, Hisoka held up one finger. I wondered what he was meaning. Was it going to be my first 'test'? Or was he asking for one of something?

"Test," Hisoka's gravely voice said.

So, it was my first 'test'. If Hisoka was going to be my test master, then I should be prepared for anything. If that creep asked for anything perverted, I'd fry his ass and forget about the whole thing. What did I care if Illumi and Hisoka didn't get their Nen back? It'd be more satisfying knowing they couldn't do anything to me or Gon.

Hisoka's 'one' turned into his down pointed thumb. He said, "Fail," in a voice that could hardly be recognized.

"What?" I demanded, "How the fuck did I fail my first test?"

"Ant," Hisoka said simply.

I thought back to the creature that came through the ant door. Hisoka had stopped. He knew the ant would come at me. I tried to fight it off but I wasn't fast, or strong, enough to avoid or damage it. In the end, Hisoka had to save me.

"That was my first test?" I asked incredulously, "A surprise attack from a creature I've never seen before in my life that can somehow stop me from using Nen? That's bullshit."

Hisoka seemed to ignore my complaint as he held up two fingers. "Test," he said. He pointed to me and said, "room."

"A room, huh?" I said annoyed, "Very descriptive. It would help out so much except for the fact that there are about a hundred fucking rooms in this place."

He stretched his arm out, still pointing to me and said, "room."

The way he was pointing at me made me thing that he was referring to my room. But, my room wasn't just my room. It was the room I shared with Gon. Was the test something having to do with Gon? Come to think of it, Illumi wasn't around the room…

My mind clicked and went into panic mode. I practically turned on my heels and ran straight up the stairs to the floor Kitakura's room was on and then up the other set of stairs that came out on the floor mine and Gon's room was on. I didn't pay any attention to the doors until I came to the door that Gon was behind. I realized I never got a look at the symbol before now. It was of two humans and some sort of deformity in the ceiling above them.

It was obvious to me that the two people on the door were me and Gon. That was how Yell-er, Illumi knew which room to take us to. The deformity on the ceiling was marked by a jagged line. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I didn't have time to speculate. I turned the knob and flung open the door.

"Gon!" I yelled out.

"Killua!" Gon said, surprised.

Other than his face being a deep shade of red, he seemed perfectly fine. Nobody else seemed to be in the room, either. I turned my attention, then, to the ceiling. Everything seemed to be fine except a small hole directly above the bed, where Gon was sitting. I started walking towards the bed, keeping my eye on the ceiling but when I glanced at Gon, I froze.

"What," I asked, "are you doing?"

"I-I-I-I can explain," Gon said, flustered.

Gon's hands hadn't moved since I came in the room so I didn't notice them. However, once I got close enough to see them, I noticed that his right hand was wrapped around his area and his left hand was clenched on the bed. My eyes scanned from that place up to his face. He was completely naked and his face was getting redder by the second. I leaned in close to him and noticed that if his face got any redder, it'd turn purple.

I hit him on the head and yelled, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

His hands released what they were holding and moved to his head. He said, "I… I don't really know how it happened but when you went to shower, I felt a tiny prick on my neck. Then when you came out of the shower, something felt like it was controlling me. Then you left and I felt a little lonely. I felt another prick on my neck and it got me thinking of you and then I felt a little cramped in my pants. Then it felt like the thing that was controlling me earlier was controlling me again and I just started doing that." His eyes lit up for a second and he continued, "But now that you're here, you can help me!"

"I ca-what?!" I leaned back.

"Yeah," Gon exclaimed, "You can help me by touching me!"

"Touch…yo-" I cut myself off, "No way! That's gross!"

Gon seemed a little sad that I said that. He said, "You mean, you don't love me?"

"What does touching you have to do with loving you?" I asked.

"Well," he put a finger to his mouth, as if he was remembering something, "Hisoka said that if you really love a person, then you should touch them."

"Since when do you take love advice from Hisoka?"

"Since he was kind enough to support how I felt about you!" Gon snapped back.

"He…" I began, "You… What?"

"Ever since the Hunter Exam, when we first met," he said, "I've thought of you as my friend. Then, when you left and were disqualified, it felt as though I had lost a part of myself. I knew I had to get you back and that's why I went to your house. During the tournament at the Heaven's Arena, I started to feel different feelings for you. When we were helping Kurapika in Yorknew City, the new feelings grew stronger.

"It was when we were in Greed Island that I figured out that I loved you. One day, when we were figuring out how to beat Razor, I went somewhere by myself. I thought I was alone, but Hisoka followed me. He figured out right away that I had feelings for you and he promised me he wouldn't tell anyone and give me advice. So, do you understand, Killua?"

I smiled at him and said, "Yeah. I understand, Gon."