Watching Number One's bony fingers rise to the patch of darkness where his chin was presumed to be in response did little to lessen the tension. The cloak inflated slightly with the L.I.G.H.T. front-man's deeper than typical breath, but the silence remained unbroken. Killua, having been resistant to his own idea to pass the message along to the hooded fool before him in the first place, could not quell his impatience.

"Are you going to deal with this or not, old man?"

The reply was delayed for just long enough that the boy was once more amidst opening his mouth and shifting his footing to a more assertive position.

"The question is not whether or not I will deal with it; it's really about what you think I'm able to do here."

Killua clenched his jaw. Coming to Number One to ask for his... assistance... had been a harrowing blow to his ego, however necessary. In the same instance that he was well aware that he had to throw aside his own pride in order to do what was best for Gon, he despised himself for recognizing that to ensure success, help was required. There hadn't been time to lick his wounds and now it felt as though the Conspiracy Hunter commander was only salting them.

"Your entire job is to 'deal with' people and you're asking me what you should do?"

"I agree that this 'Hoshii's' appearance is most inconvenient to our mission."

"You catch on fast," the former assassin snapped sardonically.

The elderly man was undaunted by the hostility and simply turned his hood to more clearly face the younger boy.

"You say this girl is really your brother, correct?"

Rolling his eyes in an attempt to shrug off his discomfort, Killua retorted, "I'm not gonna say it again."

"You're positive, are you?"

In an effort to conceal the ghost of Hoshii's aura enveloping him in remembrance of the chilling turn of events, he forced the welled up fear into an irritated sounding groan as he harnessed the energy to thrust his hands into his pockets. Glancing sideways with an aloof toss of the head, the adolescent boy tried to make his purposeful avoidance of eye contact seem ambiguous. The image of a man pierced with many long spikes set on stained glass aside the pew only furthered to remind him of his predicament.

"I told you, I'm not gonna say it again."

"I see," the L.I.G.H.T. leader mused as though he had been given a full answer. "He killed Miu and your lady friend, yes?"

"I guess," he shrugged, forcing down the tightness in his throat and the pictures flashing in his mind of how exactly Illumi would have gone about killing Misaki.

"Yes... yes, that is most unfortunate, I must say. It seems that we have yet another spot to fill..."

"Look, old man, I told you before that I'm not playing around with you. One of your members is dead and one of ours is, too. What are we going to do about it?"

A rhythmic, raspy wheeze sounded from within the hood of the robe, shoulders shaking gently, and it took Killua almost a full moment to understand that Number One was actually laughing.

"I plan to continue our mission without losing any more of my members and eventually fill the empty spots left in my organization. That is what I will do."
A disbelieving rage pumped through the pale boy and before he could stop himself he slammed his palms down on the empty podium before the dismissive man. His eyes were heated and silently daring the Conspiracy Hunter to challenge him at his own perril.

"So you're not going to do anything?"

"Do understand; he is your brother. It is not my place to interfere."

"Not your place to interfere? L.I.G.H.T. does nothing but interfere! Now someone is killing your own members off and your plan is to just sit back and let them die?"

Number One's silence was answer enough. Turning on his heel, Killua paced toward the exit with fists in his pockets.

"Tell me why you came to me," the man suddenly called to him.

The sound of the elder's voice served to stop the silver haired boy in his tracks. He borrowed a few seconds to contain the full wrath of his temper, then turned just slightly towards the man. His eyes remained narrow and cold.

"This is a problem for both of us. Not to mention if we're stuck fighting all the time, there's no way we'll be able to stop the eruptions."

Once more, the man let our a series of wheezy chuckles, prompting Killua to continue his way to the door. It had been humiliating enough having to come and ask for help; he was not willing to stand there and be laughed at for it, too.

"I think the truth is that he is your brother, and this is your problem... and the root of the problem is that you know that you aren't strong enough to confront him. You don't think you can save your friend the way you couldn't save your lover. Now you want to avoid responsibility and accountability by handing off your issue to me."

The pain Killua experienced from the statement was tangible enough that he could have almost sworn he'd been physically struck. Everything in him wanted to argue. He wanted to say that he didn't really need L.I.G.H.T.'s help. He wanted to deny that Misaki had been anything even similar to his lover. He wanted to insist that he knew Gon was safe so long as he was with him. Most of all, he wanted to dismiss everything that was said as undeniably false.

...But instead, Killua found himself unable to speak at all. In silence, he threw open the heavy church doors and slammed them closed with frustrated vigor behind him.

"Killua, are you okay?"

Since his friend had exited the church they had met Number One at earlier in the day, Gon had noticed that he was not his usual self. Instead he was quiet and brooding when they reunited on the steps outside, and even still as they booked the room they were staying in for the night. Upon arrival, Killua had simply hopped into the shower without a word, and buried himself in the covers facing away from his companion to sleep.

"Just fine," came the unconvincing response.

The darker boy squirmed slightly from the bed opposite.

"You know... I understand that you're upset about Misaki-san. I am, too."

A small part of Killua desired to argue this, but for some reason or other, he could not find the energy to do so. Not tonight.

"The only reason she met us was because she was hired to kill you," he murmured, more as a reminder to himself.

"Yeah, but she didn't," Gon protested. "If she wanted to do it, she would have. She said that she respected you too much to want to go through with it, remember?"

Gripping his pillow tighter, he answered, "No."

"You really don't? You even jumped in and saved her when she s-.."

"Okay, okay; I remember. Let's talk about something else," the paler boy cut in, the sincerity and smile in his comrade's voice having been a bit too much to handle.

"Oh, okay."

Neither boy moved or spoke for a few solid minutes before once more, Gon broke the hush over the room.

"We should come up with a plan to beat Hoshii and avenge Misaki-san. That way we'll-..."

"We're not fighting Hoshii."

"What?"

An awed stillness swept the space once again.

"How will we avenge Misaki-san if we don't fight Hoshii?"

"Gon..."

Killua felt his throat close up for a moment, quieting him. He swallowed hard to clear his vocal chords enough to speak.

"Gon... Can we just... maybe just forget about Misaki?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Had he the spirit to, the lighter haired boy would have sighed. He had known the answer to the question before he'd even uttered it.

"I just mean... we have to focus on the eruptions right now," he lied. "That's what she would have wanted."

A soft, pensive humming sound came from the next bed.

"I guess that's what Misaki-san would want first..."

"It definitely is," Killua insisted.

"Well..."

"Good night, Gon."

Before his friend had a chance to object, he closed his blue eyes and focused on mimicking sleep in his breathing patterns. Sincerely, he hoped that he had been convincing enough, even with his lack of strength this night. Regardless he knew that "Hoshii" was a real threat to Gon's life, and there was no way he could justify allowing his comrade to charge towards his own death.

And there was no way he would allow Illumi to put out the light in his life.

'It's... him or Gon...'

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've had a fairly busy week or two. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited. :)