A/N: Hi there! Once more, we'd like to thank you guys for taking the time to review, it means a lot to us and is the only way we really know you're still with us. This is the third chapter and it's a little shorter this time. But for those of you who were looking for some Gon/Killua mush, here it is ;) We hope you'll enjoy it and we'll encourage you once more to leave us a tiny, little review, because that's what it takes for us to know you're interested to see what comes next and for us to act on it, by posting the next chapter.

Chapter 3

"I can't freaking believe this!" Killua hissed out in utter frustration as soon as Leorio had left the premises. "Everything was going so well and then that idiot had to bring that up! He should know that topic of conversation is practically a taboo! Damn it, Leorio, you stupid old man!"

The former assassin was absolutely seething by this point in time as he stooped behind the bar with Gon, both of them disengaging their Zetsu. All of his careful plans had just been burned into ash, and there was no possible way to know if Kurapika would ever talk to Leorio again. The only hope that they had in that case was the fact that Kurapika had paid for Leorio's food out of his own consideration earlier (Killua had secretly followed the Kurta to the bathroom while Gon kept an eye on Leorio), which was a sign they were on the right track at least.

Well, there was no guarantee that there even was a track anymore, despite the sound argument that Leorio had actually given their blond friend concerning his revenge (which was a surprise all in itself). If Killua thought about it, that was another sign that he had been correct concerning the doctor's feelings. If Leorio had thought so much over Kurapika's situation, it was possible that the older man's feelings were more than just friendship.

"Excuse me, Young Sirs."

Killua was startled out of his thoughts by the reappearance of the manager. The middle-aged man looked more than terrified by that point.

"Here is your carry out boxes from your previous purchases. They have been warmed up for you already, and they are free of charge. Just, please, leave!" The manager all but begged as he handed them the two carry out boxes in his hands.

Killua and Gon took the boxes as directed and thanked the other man for helping them. The manager just begged them to leave again, though, not even accepting their gratitude, so the two teens just left after Killua secretly stole some wine from the kitchen. He was going to need it to drown out the feeling of utter failure that had accumulated in his stomach.

In a dark alley close by, Kurapika waited for his feelings to calm down enough, so that his eyes returned to their normal color. He kept himself from thinking too much about what had happened until he was back in their hotel room.

Taking off his clothes, the Kurta took a long, hot shower. As their argument replayed in his head, his eyes glowed a crimson red once more.

Leorio had no right to judge him! He had no idea what it was like to lose everyone who meant anything to you all at once, and in such a gruesome way. Leorio didn't know what it was like to have your dead parents stare at you with bloody holes for their eyes, and to see that sight night after night long after it had happened.

His parents...

"Your parents, would never want to see you like this."

Leorio's words echoed through his mind. All his parents ever wanted was to keep him from harm. They had not wanted him to go to the outside world in order to keep him safe, to keep everyone safe. Kurapika would forever live with the doubt that his last test to receive permission to go out into the world might have alerted the Troupe to their location. The guilt was the greatest burden. Why was he alive when everyone else was dead? Did his brethren wish he had died with them? Were they blaming him from their graves?

Once more, Leorio's words echoed through his mind. His parents had been kind. His clansmen were a peaceful, warmhearted people. They knew he had only wanted to help his friend. They were not the vengeful kind.

Tears mixed with the falling water as Kurapika allowed himself to consider that his friends and family might be glad that he had been spared, that they might want him to have a long and good life. Was that really possible? Was Leorio right about that?

Only when the hot water was starting to make him feel dizzy did Kurapika stumble from the shower. Wrapping himself into a fluffy bathrobe, he headed towards the bed. Right. There was only one bed. Emotionally exhausted, he threw the second pillow onto the floor and lay down right in the middle of the big mattress.

He thought about the Nen curse again, and a possible way to wipe out the Phantom Troupe. The idea wasn't new to him. Kurapika had thought of it without the aid of Leorio, but he had feared what might happen after his death. If the curse didn't work out, if he did not kill all of them, would his clansmen hate him forever in the afterlife? But now there was a new thought. Would he be throwing his life away just like Leorio said, and would his clansmen resent him for that? Were they actually glad he escaped and wanted him to carry on for as long as was granted to him?

Utterly exhausted from the emotional turmoil and the crying that came with it, Kurapika finally fell asleep.

Gon was sighing along with Killua. This really didn't go so well. While the beginning was promising, the end was pretty bad. When Killua blamed Leorio, though, Gon had a different opinion.

Yet, before he could say something on this, the manager stood before them. The man looked terrified, and Gon couldn't exactly blame him. Once they received their food, they left the restaurant. On their way back to the hotel, Gon turned to Killua.

"I don't think Leorio's wrong, you know. Kurapika's path is slowly eating him up. He looks worse every time we see him. He tries to hide it, but really, it's not healthy to only live for revenge. I think Leorio is the only one who can tell that to Kurapika, though. He would never listen to us."

Gon huffed then as he bristled again at some of the things he had heard.

"They don't view us as grown-ups! We're not kids anymore, are we?" Annoyed the taller teen stretched himself some more. He was an adult! Well, almost. Okay, not by law, but...but by experience for sure!

Lifting the box of food in his hand, he sniffed and sighed. "This smells so good! We were surrounded by all this good smelling food. I'm sooo hungry now," Gon once more switched topics suddenly. "Oh, and by the way, what was it that you took when we headed out through the kitchen's back door?"

Curious, he looked at Killua. His friend had been fast enough that only a trained Nen user would have been able to notice that he stole something while they left. But, even though Gon knew it had happened, he had not seen what exactly had been stolen.

Killua was so busy mentally berating Leorio's stupid decision to have a morbid conversation during a moment that he was supposed to be romantic that the former assassin almost missed what his friend had said.

"I'm not saying that what he said was wrong," the transmuter reiterated so that Gon would understand what he had actually been getting at, "I'm saying that the place and time that he decided to say it in were wrong."

Gon seemed to take his words in stride then, because he went off on another tangent; one that Killua whole-heartedly agreed with.

"Yeah, we're not, but I can't blame them for still thinking of us as such," Killua tried to explain to his now taller friend. "They met us when we actually were kids, so we'll always be kids to them since they're older. I know that I will always think of Alluka as my baby sister no matter how old she gets."

If Gon understood what he was getting at, his secret crush didn't show it. Instead, he groaned about how hungry he was for their long-awaited food. Killua couldn't help but agree. He could smell their food wafting out of the Styrofoam containers they were carrying, and it was almost driving him insane. Of course, he tended to pig out on anything he could get his hands on (mainly sweets) whenever he was depressed about something, so his current hunger probably had something to do with that.

When the ex-assassin heard Gon ask him what he had taken from the restaurant then, a mischievous, cat-like smirk spread across the silver-haired teen's face.

"I don't want to look suspicious, so go around to my other side and use Gyo on my hand. I'm hiding our little treat with In," Killua explained with a conspiratorial tone in his voice. As soon as Gon did what he said, he heard a surprised gasp from the taller teen. Killua didn't have to look at his friend to know that he was probably giving him a reprimanding look for stealing wine, which was something that they weren't even legally allowed to drink yet, especially in Kinawa-O.

"Come on, Gon, it should be fine. My parents subjected me to alcohol when I was young, too, so I can hardly ever get drunk. One or two swigs won't hurt you either, not with your body type anyway, and considering the fact that wine has lower alcohol content than most other alcoholic beverages. Besides, I really need a pick me up after tonight," the former assassin finished with a heavy sigh. "What the hell are we supposed to do now, Gon? I had other things planned in case the restaurant didn't work, but I'm not even sure if the two of them will want to talk to each other tomorrow at all! We need to do something tomorrow that they'd actually agree to or they won't even want to be in the same vicinity…And I know that there still has to be something there between them, especially for Kurapika, because I saw him hand his credit card over to the restaurant manager in order to pay for their food, and he even bribed the guy to tell Leorio why his food was 'free'! So I know that we're on the right track at least, but we still need to overcome this hurdle that was just thrown at us!"

Killua internally grumbled to himself then as the two of them reached their hotel a second later. There had to be a way to get their two older friends to apologize (for their heated words, at least) and force them to interact tomorrow, but what could they do?!

Gon did just as his secretive friend asked. He circled around him and used Gyo to find a bottle of wine hidden to anyone who couldn't use Gyo and search for it. The spiky-haired teen gasped in slight shock. Although he had just protested that they were adults, they were still not old enough yet to indulge in alcohol, and he was just about to tell his sneaky friend this when Killua countered before the fact.

He should have expected the other to have drunk alcohol before. If he had to drink it at an even earlier age, was that why he didn't grow as much? Maybe it would be good if he drank alcohol now, too. He didn't want to become much taller than Killua, because he knew his friend didn't like him being taller too well.

"Yeah, I can understand you. It was pretty disappointing," he agreed then with a nod.

When Killua explained about the credit card, Gon's eyes went wide.

"Oh that was what that was all about!" Hhe shouted out. "That's really sweet of Kurapika to pay the bill for Leorio without the other knowing about it!"

They were soon back at the hotel, and when they passed the front desk, Gon stopped in his tracks.

"We'll find something that'll work, don't worry."

When they had left for the restaurant, they had already seen that there was a massive amount of brochures on tourist attractions around the island laid out next to the end of the front desk. Gon decided to take a stack of them.

"There has to be something in here we can make both of them agree to go to."

Taking the elevator then, they went up to their room. Although there were two perfectly nice and plushy chairs with a table in between, Gon just took the two water glasses off of it and dropped onto the floor with his back against the bed. He spread out the brochures and held out the glasses to Killua who had joined him. When they were filled, he looked at his friend.

"I think we need to say something, don't we?" Unsure, the young enhancer looked at the glasses of wine in his and Killua's hand and up into the other's shining sapphire eyes. "Isn't that like custom or something?" This would be his first time drinking alcohol, so it kind of felt momentous, and he wanted to do this right.

Just as they entered the lobby, Gon assured him that everything would be alright before he rushed over to the end of the front desk and grabbed a large stack of tourist brochures that they had seen before they had gone on their restaurant expedition that afternoon. Killua's eyes widened in shock then as his friend returned to him. Why hadn't he thought of that?!

Berating himself a bit, the silver-haired teen followed Gon up to their room where he saw his tall friend sit on the floor in favor of the comfy chairs and table across the room. Killua just chuckled to himself at the sight as he went and sat down beside his crush, who had grabbed two water glasses from the table beforehand for their drinks. After Gon was done spreading out the brochures before them, and after Killua was done struggling with the cork top of the unopened bottle of wine, the former assassin filled the two glasses with a fair amount of the alcoholic beverage.

Before the transmuter could so much as take a sip of his drink, though, Gon was asking him if they were supposed to say something. Killua just chuckled again as he realized his friend was referring to a toast.

"It's a custom if it's a special occasion," the silver-haired teen explained with an affectionate smile as he stared at Gon in a calculating manner. Seeing that his friend seemed determined to do things right, and since it actually was a special occasion, Killua decided to humor him then. "Okay, here's how we'll do it. We raise our glasses, and we both say a few words to commemorate the moment, and then we'll clink our glasses together before we take a drink. You got that?"

Gon nodded with ease, showing that he could at least remember simple instructions like that the first time he heard them.

"Okay, I'll start out then," Killua began with a thoughtful expression as they raised both of their glasses. There were so many things that he wanted to say then as he stared into Gon's hazel orbs, but the smaller teen kept said words to himself. He wasn't much for sentimentalities anyway…at least, not face to face like this…

"Um…Here's to our vacation. I hope we'll be able to experience a lot of new things like this together…and here's also to our matchmaking attempts…Hopefully our friends will stop being stubborn and just kiss already…"

Killua chuckled again with amusement at his own words as he stared at Gon expectantly, wondering what the other was going to say.

"But it is!" Gon exclaimed, since it was pretty special to him to drink alcohol for the first time and being on vacation with Killua and the others like this.

His friend seemed to agree with him and told him how to do it the right way. Gon nodded and raised his glass the way Killua had demanded. Wide-eyed, he watched his best friend, and listened intently to what he had to say while he tried to think of what he wanted to add. He had to giggle a little at Killua's last words. That would be very funny to see his two friends do that. Nodding after a moment, he signaled that he was ready to try his hand at a toast.

"Here's to friendship, to being together, and sharing this experience. And here's to our two friends that hopefully make up again fast and finally understand what they mean to each other."

Gon smiled and they clinked their glasses together. Realizing he was pretty thirsty, the young enhancer took a swig of the wine, draining half the glass in one go.

"This tastes kind of funny," he decided, putting the glass down and starting on his food.

Balancing the Styrofoam container on his lap, he began to riffle through the brochures while eating the delicious noodles. The tomato sauce with the seafood was pretty spicy, though, and Gon soon asked for a refill for his glass. The wine wasn't too bad, but somehow the liquid didn't seem to quench his thirst. Rather, he had the feeling he got thirstier.

"Oh, look here...that's interesting. There's giant seashells here that you can go inside," Gon held up a brochure, showing it to Killua and started to giggle. "It's a favored dating spot. Sounds perfect for those two." He took another sip of the wine and giggled some more. "Leo and Pika sitting in a shell. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

When his fit of the giggles ended, he rubbed his face with both hands. This seemed to be the effects of the wine, he realized. He tried hard to concentrate on the task at hand of finding the right place that Leorio and Kurapika would agree to go to even if they were still a little mad at each other.

"Hmmm, how about this?" Gon held up a colorful brochure for an amusement park. Sifting through the pages she found something he liked. "A water ride! Oh! Oh! And look, here, a huge Ferris Wheel! Don't you think this could work out? Even if they were still annoyed or mad, it's a big park by the look of it, so they could give each other a wide enough berth to cool off."

Gon looked at Killua with big puppy dog eyes.

"Killua, I wanna go, please! Pleeeeeeeeeease!"

The silver-haired assassin smiled warmly as Gon said his piece. They clinked their glasses together then after a moment with Killua taking a tentative sip of his wine afterwards. The transmuter's eyes widened when he saw his friend down half of his glass out of the corner of his eyes, though. So much for Gon being able to handle the alcohol; it was never good when you drank wine too fast.

"Of course it tastes funny," Killua responded to Gon's semi-complaint, "It has alcohol in it. It's going to taste like something you haven't tasted before."

It seemed that Gon didn't really care about the taste, though, despite the little complaint (which was more of him stating a fact more than anything else, now that Killua thought about it), because he started digging into his food. Killua started on his as well, liking the taste of it, although it was a bit spicier than he expected. Gon seemed to think along the same lines, because he was asking for a refill on his wine already. Killua just smiled knowingly to himself then as he poured his friend another glass. It wouldn't take much longer now. He had seriously thought Gon would last a little longer than a few minutes, but his inexperience with alcohol was his undoing at the moment. Killua told himself then that he'd tell Gon how to drink appropriately, so that he wouldn't get drunk too fast next time.

The first brochure the both of them looked at was actually for the beach behind their hotel, and Gon couldn't stop himself from commenting on the shell structures people could sit and relax in. Killua couldn't stop laughing at Gon's drunken attempt at trying to sing a very familiar children's chant. He knew that the correct word for the chant was 'tree' so that it would rhyme with the 'g' at the end of 'kissing', but since Gon was talking about a shell, there was nothing he could do about that.

"It's a good idea, so we'll keep it for later," Killua commented as he took a sip of his wine, feeling the light buzz of the alcohol as he did so. It would take waaaaay more to get him drunk (probably four bottles of the same wine) but he could still get off at the slight happy feeling the drink gave him without suffering any other effects. Besides his skill with alcohol, though, they would really have to use the shell structures for something, because they were too good to pass up. But there was no way that Leorio and Kurapika would agree to go to the beach together, and for Killua to try and keep them together on the beach, even if they did agree.

When Gon showed him the brochure for the amusement park next, Killua's sapphire eyes alit with inspiration. The amusement park was perfect! The Ferris Wheel was always perfect for romantic occasions, and considering the fact that, since he and Gon were supposed to have no idea that the two of them were fighting, if they asked them to the amusement park the next morning, they'd agree in order to keep the peace for their vacation together and probably think they'd be able to go and do their own thing besides once they got to the amusement park. Needless to say, Killua was going to make sure that Leorio and Kurapika wouldn't be able to stay away from each other.

"Of course we'll go!" The ex-assassin exclaimed happily as he sent his friend an appreciative smile. "The amusement park is perfect! And look, the brochure even comes with a map of the area and the attractions!"

Killua scanned the rides, his mind coming up with a million possibilities as to how to go about the day tomorrow.

"Oh, look, Gon!" Killua cried out in excitement then as he pointed to a small paragraph on the bottom of the brochure he just saw. "During the summer, they have firework shows every weekend! Tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll be able to catch a firework show if we go to the amusement park tomorrow! This really is perfect!"

The silver-haired teen's eyes shone with absolute excitement then, his thoughts hopeful. Maybe there actually was a way to still pull this matchmaking attempt off!

Once Killua agreed they would go, Gon was super happy. He grinned like an idiot, but partly because of the alcohol. Just like Killua asked him, Gon leaned in then to look with him at the map of the park. There was a lot of stuff that looked like it would be fun. He felt happy that his friend agreed that the idea was good.

In a sudden outburst, Killua pointed at a paragraph then, but the spiky-haired teen had trouble concentrating on the tiny, dancing letters. Was this how it felt to be drunk? Actually, he didn't mind. It didn't feel bad, and he was with his best friend in the entire world, so even if he was drunk and a little vulnerable, nothing bad could happen to him. Luckilyy enough, his transmuter friend read out to him what had him so excited, and Gon could only agree.

"Woah! Fireworks! That really is perfect. I like watching them! And they are totally romantic, too. We have to get them to be friends again by tomorrow night so that they can watch them together," Gon decided with total conviction.

Now that their little problem was taken care of, and they had a plan for the next day, they finished the rest of their food while they looked at the tiny symbols on the map and talked about which rides they wanted to go on.

When Killua divided out the last bit of the wine, Gon suddenly remembered his little present. He got up then but had to stay still for a second as he felt a little woozy.

"Killua, I totally forgot! I promised you something. Can you go sit on the bed? I'll be back in a sec," the enhancer shouted out when the world stopped swirling.

Just a little bit unsteady, he went into the bathroom to get a brush. When he returned, his friend was sitting on the bed and looking at him expectantly. Gon had no idea where the sudden, bright, stupid smile that spread itself across his face suddenly came from, but he didn't mind. His heart was beating faster in his chest, somehow driving him to get over to his friend as fast as possible. He followed his heart and knelt behind Killua on the bed.

"I promised to take care of your hair if you didn't cut it, didn't I?"

Gon looked at the full, thick mane of hair that was very reminiscent of Silva's; Killua's imposing dad. The hair's color was pretty unique, and Gon still remembered how exotic it had been to him the first time he saw it. Once again, his heart beat faster as he reached out to touch it.

"It's so soft," he gasped out in wonder. It looked like the wild, untamed fur of a beast but it was smooth and silky to the touch.

Gon carefully pulled out the other's hair band, and spread the silver waves of hair over his friend's shoulders. He loved the feeling of it running through his fingers. Holding onto the upper parts, he started to brush out the ends, slowly working his way up in this manner so that it didn't hurt, even when he worked at some tangles.

"Your hair is just beautiful," Gon sighed when he had finished brushing it. He didn't think about what he was saying. There was this comfortable buzzing feeling in his head, the nice smell of Killua's shampoo in his nose, and the shining silver of the hair before his eyes.

"I've got something for you," he said softly and pulled out the hairpins he had bought for Killua. "You'll see it in a moment."

Skillfully he pulled back his friend's bangs then, and pinned them to the top of his head. The sides he secured in the same fashion. The main hair he pulled together at the nape, twisted it a few times, and pinned it against the back of Killua's head. The wild ends he let fall back down in a little cascade. Said cascade was short enough so that it would feel like short hair in this warm climate because it left Killua's neck free. Killua's long, white, beautiful neck. Gon shook his head at the thought. Maybe the wine had some side effects that weren't too good, after all.

He got up from the bed then and took his friend's hand.

"Come, take a look. I hope you like it," he said as he led Killua to the bathroom mirror.

Killua wasn't really all surprised when Gon got excited over the thought of fireworks. The silver-haired teen laughed as he and his friend finished up their food and talked about what rides they wanted to go on, as well as made sure on what rides they could get Leorio and Kurapika on as well.

When both of them had a pretty good idea on what they wanted to do tomorrow (Killua was certain that Gon would not remember anything once the morning rolled around), and they had finished their food with Killua dividing the last of the wine between them, Gon abruptly got to his feet. Killua stared up at his friend/crush in surprise, wondering if the enhancer would fall over from his slight tipsiness. Thankfully, he didn't. With a shout that he had promised him something and that he wanted him to sit on the bed, Gon started to walk away from him.

Killua blinked in astonishment as he watched his friend wobble his way into the bathroom before he heeded Gon's words and stood up to sit cross-legged on the bed. When Gon reappeared, Killua looked at him expectantly before his eyes fell upon his friend's hand; it was holding a hair brush.

The ex-assassin blushed as Gon climbed onto the bed behind him then, feeling a little apprehensive but happy as his black-haired friend reiterated his promise to help him with his hair. The silver-haired teen had always thought it weird that his friend had insisted that he shouldn't cut it, and even told him that he'd help with it if he didn't, but Killua decided to keep his long hair anyway, because if Gon liked it so much that he'd be willing to help with it (the idea actually terrified Killua, because Gon didn't seem like the type to be able to manage hair in any sense), he just couldn't say no. It was nice to know that his crush actually liked his appearance.

It seemed that Gon wanted to remind Killua of this fact, too, because, the next moment, the taller teen was commenting on the ex-assassin's soft hair as he slowly slid his hair-band out. Killua shuddered at the feeling, and mentally forced himself not to think of it as Gon starting to undress him. Still, the feeling of the other's fingers in his hair, and the wonderful comments he kept receiving (although Killua assumed them to just be drunken murmurings in the end) as Gon brushed out his tangled knots of hair was practically overwhelming. The former assassin's face felt completely overheated from everything that Gon was doing, and his brain was practically imploding on itself at the fact that Gon was actually good with hair. He was brushing everything just right to actually make it feel good and not hurt at all!

It was then that, as the last tangle in his hair was gently brushed out, Gon mentioned that he had something for him. Feeling even more flustered then, Killua watched on as his taller friend took something out of his shorts pocket and started pinning his hair back.

"G-Gon…!" Killua choked out in surprise as soon as he realized what was happening, speaking the first words he had uttered ever since his friend started messing with his hair. Those hairpins that Gon had apparently bought in the late afternoon weren't for a girl it seemed; they were for him and for this purpose alone. At that moment, the flustered transmuter wished that his bangs weren't pinned back, because he felt extremely vulnerable then, like Gon could see everything that he didn't want the other to see as his entire face practically became beet red from happiness and embarrassment. Killua kept reminding himself that what Gon was doing was just a friendly gesture and nothing more as his darker haired friend twisted his hair up before pinning it to the back of his head and letting the loose ends fall down. Almost immediately, Killua could feel the drastic difference in weight his thick, fluffy mane usually gave him when it was pinned back this way, and he could also feel the cooling effects of the air conditioning on his neck better. It actually felt very nice, like if he had short hair again.

The former assassin snapped out of his thoughts the next second, though, when he felt an insistent tug on his hand, and a drunken Gon was stumbling and pulling him over to the mirror, insisting that he look at what he had done. Killua could only hope that his hair would look as nice as it felt, considering the fact that Gon could hardly walk straight, so his hands couldn't be that steady either.

As soon as the shorter teen was in front of the mirror, his eyes widened and he gasped in astonishment as he tentatively touched his hair. This new style actually looked good on him, even at different angles (as Killua noted the next second when he turned his head from side to side to check out his profile).

"Wow, this looks really good!" The former assassin exclaimed happily as he noted how the purple hairpins complimented his eyes and most of his wardrobe (that he could think of anyway) nicely. "And it feels so much nicer, too! I don't know how, but it doesn't feel as heavy like it did in the plain ponytail."

As Killua stared at his reflection more, though, he couldn't help but notice something. He had been so caught up in how good the hairdo looked on him that he didn't take into account how other people would view him if he wore it. Killua knew that he had softer features than most boys his age, and with his hair in this style now, he looked quite feminine. Actually, on a scale of femininity, he had to be between Kurapika (on the low end of the scale) and his big brother Illumi (on the high end).

As this thought sank in, Killua's happy and flustered mood from before deflated, and self-doubt took its place. Had…Had Gon wanted him to keep his long hair just so he could get Killua to wear it in this style…to make him look more feminine? There really wasn't anything wrong with it, and he generally wouldn't care about something like that but…the fact that Gon wanted him to look like this made Killua's stomach turn with unease and sadness. Didn't he look fine before? Wasn't he fine just the way he was?

Would Gon like him better if he…looked like a woman? Was he just overthinking all of this?

Confused, a little hurt, and un-sure of what to think, Killua tried to hide his expressions from view, but found himself unable to due to his hairdo. Screw this! His new hairdo was working against him now. He'd only wear it at night if that's what…Gon wanted…or maybe he wouldn't wear it at all!

"Um…thanks for the hairpins…they're nice…" Killua commented lamely then as he turned his face away from the other. "The hairdo is a bit feminine, though, so I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable wearing it outside in public, you know?"

Finally getting control of his emotions again, the silver-haired teen turned back towards his friend with a questioning glance.

"By the way, you never told me that you knew how to style hair. Did you do this all the time with Mito-san or something?"

When they were both standing in front of the mirror, Killua turned his head this way and that. Gon looked at him through the mirror to see what his friend was seeing. He felt happy when Killua said he liked it, and that it felt better this way. Of course it was much cooler with his hair pinned up.

"Ah, that's good, too."

With a happy smile, he looked into the mirror at his best friend. But as he watched on, Killua's mood seemed to change. Gon wasn't quite sure why this was happening. Was it just him? He knew he was showing effects from the wine.

Gon shook his head a little to clear it, and rubbed at his eyes. Still, when he looked into the mirror again, Killua's expression was unhappy, and his eyes had a guarded look to them. His next comment made it clear that he really wasn't too happy. His friend even turned away, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Oh...ehm...yeah...you might be right," Gon answered sadly. "I...I just wanted to help you against the heat and...and I like how I can see your eyes this way." The taller teen's voice turned so soft it almost trailed off into a whisper.

Killua turned around to him again then. Scratching his head, the enhancer looked apologetically at him.

"Yeah. Although she has shorter hair now, it was longer before. She made me brush it and showed me how to put it into different hairdos. Mito said I would need it later when I had a girlfriend but I'm pretty sure she just didn't like to do it herself. That was why she cut it later, I guess."

Gon sighed softly then. He gazed into his best friend's eyes, which could not hide behind the other's bangs like they usually did. Although he enjoyed it, Killua obviously did not.

"I'm sorry. I guess I only know how to do a girl's hair. My own hair never did what I wanted anyway."

With both hands, he pulled tufts of hair down into his face, but, as soon as he let go, the hair sprang back into place. Gon shrugged his shoulders. The chuckle that accompanied the action, though, was pretty shallow. He had tried to do something nice for his friend, but something had gone very wrong, and it made him sad.

"I don't know about you, but I think I should lie down now. I think the wine has made me tired, and I want to be fit for the park tomorrow."

Killua agreed with him then. His friend stayed in the bathroom, no doubt wanting to pull out the girlish hairpins as fast as possible. Gon berated himself for having been so stupid. The two of them got ready for bed without talking too much. Only when they lay down to sleep did the young enhancer turn to his friend to really look at him.

"I understand, if you want to cut your hair now. I'm not as big a help as I thought I could be. Hmm...good night then, Killua." Gon smiled and hoped everything between them would be okay now.

His friend's answer was expected, Killua thought then, since it was the only outcome that made sense. How else could Gon know how to manage hair when he could barely manage his own?

At that thought, the former assassin heard his taller friend apologize to him and even mention his own inability to care for his hair. Killua felt bad then. It was obvious now, because of his lack of bangs, that Gon had been able to read his turbulent emotions. Because of that, Gon was apologizing, even though it was still questionable if the other was just apologizing for only knowing how to style women's hairdos, or if he had actually caught on to what Killua had feared and was apologizing for that.

Placing his bet on the former thought, Killua watched then as Gon drunkenly tried to smooth down his own bangs, but only for his stubborn hair to spring back up against the laws of gravity. The action actually caused the former assassin to smile slightly, despite his worries. It really was a wonder how the beast hunter's hair could sit like that on his head without any product in it.

It was then that Gon declared that he wanted to head to bed in order to be ready for tomorrow (and to sleep off the wine). Killua agreed, but he didn't follow his friend out of the bathroom. Instead, he stayed behind to take his hairpins out. As he let his hair fall back onto his shoulders, he stared at the purple pins that Gon had specifically bought for him. Sudden guilt washed over the silver-haired teen as he remembered the look of guilt that had been on his friend's face as well. He had made Gon feel bad because of his paranoia, and he just felt awful because of that…but…still…would Gon like him better if he looked more girlish?

Feeling his confusion rise again, Killua just placed his hairpins onto the bathroom counter before he headed out into the main room to throw away their food containers and place their last glasses of wine in the miniature fridge in the room.

When he lay down next to Gon in their bed, ready to sleep, his taller friend turned to him with a hopeful smile, telling him it was okay to cut his hair since he hadn't been of much help. Killua's guilt grew even more then as Gon closed his eyes after wishing him a goodnight.

"You were really helpful…I won't cut my hair, either…" Killua mumbled out in embarrassment then, hoping that Gon had heard him as he buried his face into his pillow. He just couldn't bring himself to cut his hair after how much Gon had commented on it that night. The taller teen obviously really liked his hair long, and…Killua didn't want Gon to not like how he looked…even if he did end up looking like a girl in the end…

"Goodnight, Gon."

With that, Killua tried to sleep and prepare for the exhausting day ahead of him.

Leorio sighed heavily for the umpteenth time that night as he made his way back to the hotel with only a slight buzz of alcohol in his system. He had planned to drown out his woes, but realized too late as he entered the bar that he didn't have much money on him in order to do so (potent alcohol was rather expensive, obviously), so yeah, after a few drinks and still remembering the whole scenario with Kurapika, Leorio just decided to face the music and head back to the hotel. More than likely, Kurapika wasn't there and was taking the earliest airship ride away from Kinawa-O just to get the hell away from him, or he was at the hotel, and he was still pissed off at him. Either way, Leorio wasn't looking forward to it. He felt bad for angering his friend, but if it came down to him apologizing for the things he had said in order to make the other happy again…he wouldn't be able to do it. He was not sorry at all for sharing his thoughts and feelings with is friend, and Kurapika was just going to have to accept that…or not, and never talk to him again…Shit, this wasn't good.

Not remembering the last time he had felt so shaken up like this, and with his heart practically breaking at the thought that Kurapika would never want to speak to him again, Leorio finally arrived back at the hotel. He took the longest route possible back to his hotel room in order to figure out how he was going to handle the situation waiting for him, so when he was finally in front of the door to his room, Leorio was ready to open it.

…

Okay, maybe he wasn't quite ready to open it yet, but if he didn't do it, he'd end up sleeping in the hallway, and he really didn't want to experience that, even if it was a four star hotel!

Leorio just stared at the doorknob in fear then as he thought about all the things that could go wrong as soon as he opened the door. What would be waiting for him?

Before he could try to talk himself out of it then, the rookie doctor immediately used his key and opened the door.

His eyes met complete darkness.

Leorio could feel his heart seize in his chest then as he took in the inky blackness. Had Kurapika left like he had feared? Was their friendship…over?

Taking in a shuttering breath as he felt a pain in his chest he had never felt before, the novice hunter made his way into the room and softly shut the door behind him in defeat. He didn't bother turning on the lights then as he made his way into the room. Actually, there was enough illumination coming from the moon outside as it shone through the glass of the balcony doorway. It was this silver glow that actually showed Leorio that he wasn't alone like he had first thought. As the taller man made his way into the main room and looked down on the bed he was about to climb into, he saw a petite figure hogging the entire middle of it. The figure had a mop of blond hair that looked ethereal in the moonlight, and Leorio couldn't help but stare at the other in amazement.

After gaping at the prone figure in shock for a while, Leorio shook himself out of his stupor. He tried to tell himself that he had only been staring because he had been surprised that Kurapika had even bothered to stay…although…he was taking up the entire bed now.

Glancing down towards the floor then, the doctor almost groaned aloud when he saw his pillow before his feet. Apparently, even though Kurapika was still there, he was just as pissed off at him, if not even more so.

Remembering his earlier conversation about the bed and the floor with Kurapika earlier, and deeming then and there that he really didn't want to test the theory out, Leorio opted to take his pillow over to one of the plushy chairs in the room to sleep in instead. It was just as he was bending down to retrieve the said pillow that he saw it; Kurapika's face.

Since he was bending over, he was at the same level as his sleeping friend, and could see his face as the moon outside shone onto the Kurta's pale skin. It was because of this that the doctor could see how swollen Kurapika's eyes looked. Unable to keep himself away because of his overly-caring-complex most doctors seemed to have, Leorio inched closer until he was practically nose to nose with the sleeping Kurta (which, under normal circumstances, would have been a very dangerous situation since Kurapika was a very light sleeper). By then, the other would usually open his eyes and demand that he get away from him, but the slumbering blond didn't so much as twitch. Worry and guilt flooded Leorio's system then as he put two and two together. The swollen eyes, the other's deep slumber; Kurapika had cried himself to sleep.

Seeing as the other wouldn't be waking any time soon, Leorio gently sat upon the edge of the bed then, right next to the sleeping Kurta. Dark brown eyes stared down at the other forlornly, wondering what the next day would bring. He had made one of his closest friends cry by stirring up bad memories, and there really wasn't much he could do to apologize to the other without taking everything back, which he still refused to do.

Sighing sadly to himself and wondering if everything was going to get rockier from there, Leorio reached a hand out to gently stroke through Kurapika's hair, the golden strands soft to the touch. The doctor leaned down then, his mouth right above the other's ear as he held his hand behind the other's head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered out before, to his own surprise, he laid a soft kiss against the Kurta's forehead.

After reassuring himself that the alcohol in his system had to be the reason for his spontaneous action, Leorio slowly lifted himself off of the bed, grabbed his discarded pillow, and made his way over to one of the armchairs for a difficult night's sleep.