BLD7

(A/N: sorry it took so long to update! I was planning on doing a special chapter on the seventh since that was my sixteenth birthday, but I ended up with a four hour hair appointment (a trim, bleaching the tips, dying them purple, and cutting bangs) as well as a shopping trip. Then I got hives, so I lost like three days of my life.)

Chapter 7: expectations

Feitan drew his sword and eyed the door impatiently. He was the only thing standing between those kids and Kalluto. And he was damn determined to keep them far apart.

This was so much more than a duty. Kalluto was so much more. This was the day Feitan would prove to himself and anyone who ever doubted him that he was capable of being human. Today would go down in history, and everyone would remember him.

Feitan knew the old saying, "actions speak louder than words," and he knew it was true. Anyone could talk big, but to follow through with those actions took a lot more courage.

And luckily for Kalluto, Feitan was a man of action.

Which, in fact, was unlucky for Killua.

The white haired boy came bursting through the door, hands bunched in fists and face contorted with rage.

"You," he pants, "you sick bastard! Give me back my brother!"

"Yours? No jokes today. You no care about him, you too busy with the other one." Feitan spats, glaring daggers, "that's why he left."

Killua narrows his eyes, and takes a hesitant step, "what do you mean?"

In a flash, Feitan appears behind him, breath hot on Killua's neck, "he says you forget him. You no care anymore. What family forgets? Even spiders remember each other."

Killua pushes him off, "I never forgot him! I figured he was fine on his own. He never said anything, so I figured he left because he needed space! And I'm not here to hurt him, I just heard that Illumi was trying to mess up his life!"

"Rapunzel left yesterday." Kuroro suddenly appears behind them, "but yeah, he's causing problems. Trying to force Kalluto and Feitan to get married so Kalluto will go nuts and die or some bull. Did you hear about that? We dressed Kalluto up as a girl, wig and everything, and pretended they were engaged. Illumi wasn't very pleased."

Killua takes a couple steps forward and turns around, "they pretended what? Please explain."

Kuroro sighs and walks slowly down the steps, "okay, we needed an excuse as to why we weren't trying to find Kalluto, since he wasn't there, and I hadn't thought that far. Feitan saved our asses by announcing he was engaged to the middle child of the family, played by Kalluto in a wig. It didn't fool him for long, and then he got this wild idea that actually marrying Feitan would drive the poor kid to insanity. Well, Feitan has his pride so they're going to attempt to prove him wrong."

Killua blinks a few times, and makes eye contact Feitan. They stare at each other for a minute, and eventually Killua backs up.

"Okay, I'll back off since I'm no huge fan of Illumi… but I'll need to have a word with you both later. Nothing personal, but I have to be the responsible one."

Feitan nods, and sheathes his sword. They stand in silence for a moment before Feitan turns to the garden.

"I go find Kalluto. I calm him down, then we talk."

"That was by far the most stressful conversation I have ever had to witness." Feitan shudders, "Killua was always so… not like that! He seemed a bit protective, yes, but now he's turning into a dad! Well, I'd rather deal with Killua, chain-user, and the rest than Silva Zoldyck. Even I'm not that stupid."

Feitan let out a Nen pulse to try and get Kalluto's attention. In response, he got a weak response from Kalluto, and a familiar flare up.

"Shit, Kurapica's got him!"

Feitan follows the direction of the pulses, jumping over the hedges. He sees the Nen from Kurapica's attacks clearly, but Kalluto seems to be entirely on the defensive.

"That's not normal. Kalluto's a Zoldyck (for now) and he should be able to land hits… unless he doesn't want to hit him!"

Feitan, with this new knowledge, jumps over the final hedge and grabs for Kurapica's clothes.

Everything goes silent for a moment before Feitan puts him down, "put down weapons. We fight not today."

Kurapica turns to face him, eyes a dull red, "and why should I listen to you?"

"This is not about you. This about Kalluto and me. This about the pride of the Spider… my promise to Kalluto. I promise to keep him safe. I keep my word."

Kalluto gets up, legs shaky and face bruised, "He's telling the truth Kurapica. We'll explain when we get back to the house. Illumi disrespected us, he said horrible demeaning things about Feitan. We can't just take that lying down! And as one of Killua's friends, we need you to be on our side here."

Less than ten minutes later, Feitan, Kalluto and Gon's group were sitting in the library, having heard the whole story.

"Wow, I never would have thought." Leorio gasps, "Illumi's a bit mental, but really? Seriously?"

"I knew there was something up with that guy!" Gon exclaimed.

Kurapica stays silent, staring at the stacks of books around them. His eyes were now back to their usual color, but his face was still bitter.

"I understand why they're going through with this," he muses, "if it were me, I'd do the same. And I can see it in Feitan's eyes, he really cares about Kalluto. I think they'll be the last to know, though. Heh, who would have thought, right? But I swear they better invite me, I'm not missing this for the world."

Break

It was sunset when Kalluto and Killua finally got to talk. They sat out on the front porch, eating cookies and milk.

"So, you look different," Killua notes, "what's with the new get-up?"

"Oh, these were for the disguise, but I suppose the darker style has grown on me a bit. Plus, I feel like it makes me and Feitan like good together. Gotta have that creepy aesthetic, right?"

The laughter dies down quickly, leaving awkward silence.

"Hey Killua… you aren't mad at me, right?" Kalluto asks, "I mean, I dress like a girl, and I ran away to join the enemies of your friend!"

Killua turns, and furrows his brow, "What? I'm not mad at you! How could I be, when you've grown up to be such an awesome person! And you're you; don't ever apologize for that. Really, I should be apologizing, not you. I've been a bit of a shitty brother. I always thought you didn't want to be close to me…"

The two of them are interrupted by a creaking door. They turn to see Feitan peeking out of the front door.

"Hey Feitan!" Kalluto calls, "come on, sit down!"

"Yeah," Killua chuckles, "I actually need to talk to you about something."

The air around Killua was noticeably darkened, catching Kalluto off guard. Feitan plops down between them, grabbing Kalluto's hand for a moment to calm him.

"Alright, keep in mind this is just a formality, okay? I'm not here to scare the ever living shit out of you because I'm a nutcase, this is just something that needs to be done. It's either I do it or we get the rest of my family, and no one wants that." Killua begins, "but I swear, if this doesn't work and you break my brother's heart, I will see to it that you watch your own heart stop beating."

By this point, Killua was in assassin mode, and Kalluto was blushing as red as the skirt he wore.

"K-Killua! What are you-?"

Feitan cuts him off with a reassuring hand squeeze, ad Killua continues.

"I'm putting my own flesh and blood under your protection. Don't disappoint me; no one has lived to tell the tale so far."

Feitan nods stiffly, and gets up, holding out a hand to Kalluto, "come on; meeting in ten minutes."

Smiling, Kalluto grabs his hand, and the two lock eyes for a moment before heading inside. And the small gesture was not unnoticed by the new brother-in-law, who took care to hide his smile of approval.

"Oh man," he realized, "I'm probably going to have to go through this with Alluka someday too. I don't know if my heart is ready for that... I hope I don't cry during the wedding."

(A/N: I love protective Killua! Too cute.)