Initially, Killua's reaction was to withdraw completely from the attempts to lessen the impact of the eruptions and escape with Gon somewhere that the two might have a better chance of remaining undetected. This seemed to be the most obvious choice of action at first glance, but upon closer inspection, its flaws were clear. He had managed to avert Gon's prompting to battle Hoshii by redirecting his attention back to the eruptions. The downside was that he could not now reasonably abandon both the ideas of avenging Misaki and saving the world without expecting his friend to revitalize his resolve to do both.

Assuming that Gon would be as willing to defend the sanctity of his own life as Killua was could only be described as foolish. Gon, as enthusiastic as he was to accomplish his goals, would never stand for it. Killua knew this all too well, and in result he was aware that his earlier hastiness had put them both in a position where he could do little more than keep up his guard. Nonetheless, he disliked being set at a disadvantage, particularly when he was the one to put himself there.

Much to his surprise however, days passed effortlessly and without conflict. Following the first three days, Killua found himself constantly pumped with adrenaline and hardly able to sleep at all, expecting that Illumi would appear to them at any moment. He was certain that the reasoning behind his brother's absence was carefully calculated to test him, and he was not about to leave himself open for attack as easily as the first time. The more he pondered it, the more he became convinced that ultimately it was unlikely that both Gon and Illumi could coexist under the same moon, and this thought especially sent him winding through a tangled, mental mess that he was afraid to properly confront.

It was amidst this knotted mob of thoughts that Gon, who had ceased his steady pace of work to stand tall and admire the golden sunlight painting the treetops and the waterline far below the mountain range, finally spoke.

"I wonder if there are people who have lived here all their lives and never came up here to look at this."

Blinking a few times to draw himself back to reality, Killua replied, "Look at what?"

"The sunset!"

His dirty, tanned flesh seemed to bathe in the last rays as he smiled contentedly.

"Oh, that. I don't really notice stuff like that much anymore."

Gon pivoted his face into the shadows in surprise.

"You don't?"

"Nah. Back home it always looks like this."

"Wow, you're so lucky!"

Killua scoffed in response.

"Lucky? No way. Only if your idea of lucky is being tortured for after-dinner dessert."

Shooting his friend a sympathetic smile, Gon said, "I only meant the view."

Killua shrugged.

"You get used to it."

The smile disappeared from the brunette's lips. He turned back toward the last beams of retreating light, seating himself on a piece of broken rock.

"I think if I got to see this everyday, I wouldn't let myself get used to it. I'd never want to lose the feeling that this is something incredible, you know?"

"Gon..."

"What a beautiful speech! My heart is pounding!"

At the sound of the new, familiar voice entering the conversation, the boys immediately shifted. Gon leapt to his feet and twisted back around to face the intruder in a single, swift motion while Killua assumed a defensive stance in front of his friend. Hoshii stepped out from the shadows, between the many piles of fragmented rocks, an obnoxious grin spread out upon her pink lips. Her palms were pressed together and angled slightly to the left.

"Hoshii!"

Waving a disciplinary finger back and forth at the green-clad boy, she sang, "Ho-shii-chan."

Gon clenched his fists and jaw in response, narrowing his eyes. Killua sensed the urgent change in his demeanour. There was no time left to think.

After all, sometimes you just have to 'do', and not think so much...

"Gon, run," he commanded calmly, eyeing down Hoshii.

"Killua...?"

"I'll deal with this, you get out of here."

"But..."

"Go!"

Despite his hesitation, Gon (with a look of extreme unease in his features), hopped upwards along the cliff, using the jagged, broken rocks for leverage. Once he was out of sight, Killua spoke again.

"Aniki..."

Although he had been unsure of what his brother's reaction would be, Killua was genuinely surprised when Hoshii simply blinked absently before turning her chin over her shoulder as though expecting someone to be standing behind her. As she faced him again, she tilted her head ever so slightly to the right and scrunched her nose, letting out an ungraceful sounding:

"Huh?"

Killua swallowed hard.

"Illumi..." he insisted, all the more uncomfortable to be speaking his name.

Hoshii inspected him closely before her eyes widened with... confusion?

Pointing to herself, she asked with surprise, "Me?"

He could feel his core tightening and his hands unconsciously shrank into fists as his chin dipped lower.

"I think you're confused, Killu-tan. I'll say it again for you: Ho-shii-chan. Let's say it together, okay? Ho-sh-..."

"Enough!"

The sharpness in his voice was enough to momentarily quiet his adversary, though inside his heart was booming in his ears, and a jolt of fear whispered from within that he had possibly overstepped his bounds by shouting like that. Involuntarily, his shoulders shifted inwards. Hoshii simply tossed her arms out horizontally at the elbow, shrugging.

"Killu-tan, I think you're losing your marbles!"

"I... I won't let you hurt Gon," he announced through clenched teeth, averting his eyes subconsciously.

Hoshii giggled.

"You're such a good friend, Killu-tan! How about we make a deal?"

"A...deal?"

"Sure! What if instead of killing Gon, I just take his arms and legs!"

"What?"

"Instead of killing him, I could just take his limbs! I could take all four at once, or maybe we could work out a deferred payment plan where each day I come for one of his fingers until there are none left... then his toes... then his hands... then his-..."

"You'll never touch Gon."

In an instant, Hoshii was right in front of him, leaning in and nearly pressing her lips to his.

"What about you, then, Killu-tan?"

He jolted back, leaving a trail of dust before him as he slid back against the dusty terrain. Hoshii grinned and clapped her hands together childishly.

"You're so much fun, Killu-tan! Let's play togeth-..."

Between the inner battle between fear and duty, adrenaline came out the winner. Before he had even a chance of calculating his movements, Killua charged directly at the girl with his claws. He did realize, a fraction of a second after advancing, that his actions would certainly hold quite the sum of backlash... but it was a fraction of a second too late already. There was no way to stop now.

The closed umbrella met his strike, blocking him from making contact. Nonetheless, his body advised him to continue, to search for an opening while Hoshii concentrated on intercepting his blows and laughing foolishly.

"Oh, come on!" she whined. "This isn't even as fun as last time! Don't disappoint me, Killu-tan!"

"Can't you drop the act? I know it's you!"

"You're sure a crazy one! Why don't you use that energy to fight better?"

"You're too confident!" he snapped without meaning to.

"You can go all out on me, you know," Hoshii insisted with a wink. "Who knows, maybe I will, too! Oh, I'm getting shivers just thinking about it, Killu-tan!"

As it happened, Killua saw a very small opening for attack. Using his ability to speed himself up, he thrusted between manoeuvres and managed to land a modest hit alongside the face. In an instant, he felt that familiar aura seething as he was knocked backwards off the ground, held up by the umbrella against his neck. Hoshii's face was inches from his own, black eyes boring into his.

"That's two times too many that you've hit my face," she said in a deadly calm.

Fighting against his fear-paralysed muscles, Killua choked out, "I'll...never... forgive you..."

It was very sudden. The pressure on his windpipe dissipated as the umbrella retreated from his neck without warning. His feet touched the ground as the maddening expression on the female face slowly pulled back to neutral. Killua was nearly too stunned to react as Hoshii withdrew two paces from him, inspecting his face as though she had only just approached him now and was trying to place his face as someone she had seen before.

His own eyes widened with morbid understanding... an absolute clarity that he did not need to consider to understand in this moment... as her eyes, for a very faint period of time, lightened. The sound of his hitched breathing seemed to stab at his own ears. Acting of its own volition, his hand reached out shakily, wanting to touch her face even while he was quite certain he did not...

A howl of pain escaped Hoshii and she crossed her arms over her core and held at her neck, keeling over in the process. With his back still against the rock, Killua dropped himself into a sitting position, lips slightly parted in shock.

"You got lucky today, but I'll be back!" she spat, rushing away.

"Wai-...!"

"Killua!"

Having been so caught up in the events taking place, he had not even noticed Gon's return during his fight with Hoshii.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen, but you knew that I couldn't ju-..."

"Gon..."

"Come on, Killua! We have to go after her!"

"Gon, it's..."

"She killed Misaki-san! We can't just let her get away!" the brown eyed boy cried out.

"No...Gon...I had it all wrong," he whispered, his throat parched and his head swimming. "She... is Misaki..."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. As it happens, I'll be moving at the end of the month, so I'm not particularly certain when I'll be able to update next. If I have time, I'll try to do it at least once more before the move. Take care.