Blocking out everything that threatened to taint his goal or claim his undivided attention, Killua steadily trailed Misaki and Yuto from a safe enough following distance that he was certain they would not suspect being tracked. Putting to use those years of scrupulous training, he kept his eyes patiently focused on his target as he gracefully weaved from one hiding place to the next. If there were any chance of moving in beyond Yuto's knowledge, he would challenge the opportunity post haste.

As the two entered a tacky, quite retro styled café, Killua debated whether or not he would be capable of concealing himself inside the building somehow, (though hastily opted against it once he'd taken a peek through the generously sized window around the side). No, it was far too small of a restaurant for him to risk it. Fortunately however, there were many topiary designs just before the pane of glass outdoors that offered adequate coverage and free range of sight in to the dining room.

Huddled behind the green leg of a clipped "elephant", Killua studied the two with the utmost caution, analyzing each and every motion as though it were a piece to a large and infinitely significant puzzle. He found himself spitefully elated to notice Misaki's apparent gloomy mood as she sat frowning in to her first course across from the boy's decided rival. There was no hint of chemistry; just a very miserable and displeased girl that mostly left her hands in her lap and her eyes to herself.

Grinning wickedly, the silver haired boy thought, 'Ha! I said she didn't like you, and it looks like I was right!'

That guy is such a jerk!

Yeah, he is…

He willingly replayed the words over and over, fueling them further with the disdain in her unimpressed facial expression.

Yeah, he is…

There was something wonderfully terrible about the thought that Yuto, in all his sickening confidence, was completely and utterly wrong about Misaki and her desires, and that he himself was entirely and unarguably right. In his own head he gloated his victory, hoping that Yuto could somehow feel this.

Yeah, he is…

"Killua…?"

Having been so wholly focused on the scenario occurring within the café before him, the former assassin had failed to notice his friend approaching. He jumped in an explosion of flailing limbs, an unshakable feeling of embarrassment overwhelming him as he realized just how severely he had been startled. Had he really neglected his surroundings so completely?

"G-Get down!" he ordered after a beat, tackling Gon to the ground. "They'll see you!"

Gon was sufficiently stunned for a moment, blinking his eyes as though he were attempting to adjust them to a sudden extreme change in lighting. Remembering their last encounter in the bathroom, Killua lowered his eyes awkwardly.

"Gon, I-…" he whispered.

"I don't think they're even looking this way," Gon announced, and as Killua glanced up he realized that his companion was peering in through the massive sheet of glass.

"Gon," he murmured carefully, rubbing the back of his neck, "about before…"

The tanned boy grinned sheepishly.

"Aw Killua, don't worry about it," he insisted. "I shouldn't have said those things to you… especially since I was the one that thought you should tell Misaki your feelings first."

Killua felt the blood rush to his face.

"It's not that big of a deal," he mumbled uncomfortably.

"Nah, that's why we can forget about it," Gon assured him, misunderstanding his words.

"Yeah, okay," he agreed, smiling weakly.

Warmth spread through him at the reminder that he could always depend on his best friend this way. Gon stood up and offered his open palm to the boy.

"I know you want to watch Misaki-san," he said with a smile, "so if it's that important to you, we can do it together."

With widened blue eyes, Killua- stunned- asked, "You want to help me?"

Gon enthusiastically raised his thumb and with a wink cried, "Of course! You're my best friend!"

Averting his eyes once more, the silver haired boy smiled to himself. In spite of everything that had happened before, Gon was still willing to put his worries and insecurities aside to assist him in what ever way he most needed. There was a pleasant ripple of emotion that came with this realization, and Killua found himself very much adverse to his initial goal in turn for celebrating and returning his comrade's kindness. Somehow, some way, his tanned friend was always so compliant when it came to sharing his light with those who required it most.

"Maybe…" Killua murmured, taking Gon's hand and using it to hoist himself to his feet, "…we could just go back to Haku's place and play a game instead."

Surprised, the island boy replied, "What about Misaki-san?"

Killua exhaled a long, slow breath as he turned his gaze back to the window. Yuto was standing now, retreating to the washroom. The plum haired girl was downing her glass of red wine at record speed. He knew this could have been his opportunity to speak to Misaki, to confess to her all the things that he didn't really know how to say…

He closed his eyes for a moment before angling his face back toward Gon.

"I think… I can talk to her when she gets back home," he explained. Showing off his most smug expression as he took to the street, he said, "Come on, I learned a new card game that I can kick your butt at."

Laughing, Gon raced behind him.

"Man, this game is hard!" Gon whined as he threw himself on to his back.

Grinning, Killua collected the rows of cards back in to one collective pile and reshuffled them in to the deck.

"Yeah, but once you catch on it's not so bad."

"Is this the same one you lost to Misaki-san at the hospital?" the tanned boy asked, immediately regretting bringing up the girl.

Grunting, the blue eyed boy muttered, "It was a close match."

With a flick of the wrist, Killua alternated between them as he dealt out ten cards each. As he lifted his hand, he peered over the smooth edges at his friend, who was staring in to his own set with his tongue poking out at the side of his mouth in a display of his determination and focus.

"You don't think…" the pale boy began, withdrawing his blushing face behind the cards when his tanned friend looked up at him. "I mean… she didn't look very happy, right?"

Gon tilted his head back toward the ceiling, scanning it as though the answer were hovering above them.

"No, I think she looked pretty upset."

Killua fought to suppress a smile.

"Yeah," he agreed coolly, relaxing a bit as he laid out his rows face-down on the floor.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Seated in the modest easy chair with his elbows propped up on his knees, Killua stared at the wall clock opposite of him. Other than Haku's occasional snore or Gon's heavily, sleep induced exhaling, the pendulum was the only source of sound in the room. The hands pointed at twelve and one, and admittedly the boy was losing confidence in his belief that the date was going poorly. If that was true, what in the world was taking them so unthinkably long to come back?

As his eyes rolled over the couch, brushing across Haku's thick rimmed glasses (which were perched atop his head) and Gon's agape and sometimes twitching mouth, a thought occurred to him. What if Yuto and Misaki had no intentions of returning tonight? Could their date have included some sort of overnight getaway? Did that mean that perhaps their situation had improved since his departure, and that rather than coming back here, right now they were…

A tight, suffocating sensation clutched within Killua's chest at the mere idea.

Don't wait up…

He folded his hands over and over, clenching his jaw. No, no… there was no way they could be… Misaki wouldn't… with that jerk? Would she?

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Squeezing his eyelids together, he forcibly recreated the image of her miserable expression as he had seen it earlier at the café. Perhaps he even embellished it, if only slightly.

'She hates you,' his mind hissed hopelessly at a non-present Yuto.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick-

There was a flash of aura nearby, he was certain he had sensed it. However it had come and gone so rapidly that he had failed to specifically locate it. His posture corrected itself; was it them?

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick-

It had revealed itself once more. This time he had narrowed down the possibilities of which direction it had come. He was partially stunned to recognize that it appeared to be originating from Haku's bedroom. Slowly, Killua rose to his feet and silently shifted his steps down the hallway.

As he felt the wave of aura for the third time, he finally wrote off the prospect of the perpetrator having accidentally fallen out of Zetsu due to inexperience. No, this was a timed response that was cycling as if on cue. Who ever this was wanted someone to know that they were there. Naturally, this only further raised Killua's guard as he approached the door.

Deciding to play it safe, Killua turned the knob so slowly that one would be hard pressed to have recognized it turning at all. With the same abundance of patience, he opened the door enough to poke his head in…

…and was not in the least prepared for the meticulously planned scene that awaited him on the other side…

A/N: Dun dun duuuuunnn!

I know I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now, but thank you for the reviews! I was a bit surprised to see the feedback over the weekend XD