AN: SlightlyYandereMelissa, thank you for saying that. I was wondering if this story was too bad for anyone to post a revies. LOL.

CHAPTER 8

Killua wondered how come the old man had been so much faster than him when running to the hill. He expected him to be fast, maybe a little faster than him, but there had been a considerable gap in their speeds. He had only seen two people faster than him; his father and Illumi. Even Hisoka was probably as fast as he was, just much stronger. It came as a shock that this old man, that could well be ten feet under the ground by now, was as fast as his father. Killua wondered if he had unrealistic expectations about his family or if Okume was amongst the strongest people out there. He watched him walk over to a big flat stone that lay under a tree on the edge of a forest. He sat down and, when he had seemed to find a comfortable position, he started explaining.

"The next technique we're going to learn in ken. As you might remember, ken is the ability to strengthen your aura to the point that it builds a barrier for aura enhanced attacks. The problem is that it requires great amount of aura, so it will drain you greatly if used recklessly. I recommend using this technique when you don't know where the attack will be directed from. First of all, I want you to mold you aura in a way that it resembles a shell around your body. You can imagine it any way you like as long as it does the trick."

Both Hayuri and Killua concentrated and managed to do as instructed after a couple of seconds.

"Good, that's enough." Okume sensei said and both stopped. "Just like with shu, the difficulty is not hardening your aura, but being able to do it while in combat and knowing when to use it. So, for the rest of the day, I want you to fight each other while hiding. You'll have to use zetsu to hide until you find an opening and then use shu. Use shu to make whatever you find around you into a weapon and throw it at your opponent. Use ken to protect your body from the hit. Do not aim at any vital point, since your opponent might not do ken fast enough, and a nen enhanced attack can be mortal. You may also engage into some hand to hand combat, but remember that the goal is to use ken when faced with a surprise attack, so don't overdo it. I'll be watching you train." He finished and sat down.

Okume crossed his arms and leaned back into the tree. Hayuri and Killua looked at each other defiantly.

"So, Hayuri." Killua began. "Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"Get on with it." Hayuri smirked. "We'll start at the count of three. One, two, three!"

Both jumped up into the forest to find a weapon and ambush the other one. Hayuri quickly found a couple stones and twigs and she put them into her pouch. She immediately closed her and went into zetsu mode. She tried to sense Killuas presence, but couldn't find him. That could mean two things; he either was too far away, or was already hiding. She assumed the second scenario and hid behind a tree to lower his chances at attacking from behind.

She suddenly felt a spike of aura at 5 o clock, and immediately went into ken. She felt a couple rocks hit her side while she turned to the source of aura. She saw Killua aiming a kick to her lower back just in time to avoid it. She jumped back a couple steps and then aimed a punch to his jaw, which he deflected and grabbed her arm to throw her to a tree. Instead of crashing, Hayuri twisted her body in the air and placed her feet on the trunk. She pushed herself upwards and landed on a thick tree branch.

She could see Killua running through the forest ground, so she jumped from branch to branch following him while doing Zetsu. Suddenly she realized there was an opening and threw a couple rocks with shu at him. He built this defense as well and the rocks fell down. She came right behind aiming a punch to his shoulder. The punch connected and she felt her eyes widen in surprise. However, as soon as she did, she felt him knee her in the stomach and punch her on her side. She stumbled a couple meter back and retreated once again. She had landed a hit on him, but she had been too soft on him and done almost no damage. Instead, he managed to land two strong attacks on her. He had probably decided to take the hit in order to have an opening.

Killua jumped from behind one tree to another. He was watching Hayuri hide behind a tree as well, while holding her belly and side. He wasn't comfortable hitting her with that much force, but didn't want to go easy on her as well. This training would be productive for both of them only if they gave their all. He took out some more rocks and jumped to the side to aim at her. She built her defense again and moved to kick his face. This time she was much faster and he felt the kick connect to his jaw. He was pushed a couple meters back and jumped back to the trees to retreat.

After that they seemed to be more leveled; Killua assumed she had started taking the spar seriously. This went on for the whole day; one of them would launch a surprise attack with shu, the other one would build his ken and dodge or block a hand to hand attack. Sometimes a hit would connect, but most of the time they got away unscratched.

By the end of the day, Hayuri and Killua were too tired to properly defend themselves. Also, they had trouble controlling how much force they used when attacking. They had both received a strong hit each, which had probably already bruised in an ugly way. When it finally was time to go home, both could barely stand on their own. Doing hand to hand combat and using such an exerting nen technique every 5 minutes for the whole day had taken its toll on them. Okume said that he would go ahead and prepare dinner for them, seeing how worn out they were. When he left, Killua and Hayuri slowly, slowly, made their way home. Now that they were no longer under the trees, the heat of the sun was hitting them directly. So, now they were not only tired and beaten, but also starting to sweat like pigs.

Almost an hour later, they entered the house and were immediately welcomed by the delicious of food in the air. When they got to the dining room, they found that Okume had already served dinner.

"Oh? You're already done. Just in time. Take a seat already." He sat down himself.

"Hai!" Both immediately answered, sat down and took a bite.

"Ahhhhh.. sensei!" Hayuris eyes shone in delight. "This is delicious!"

"Yeah." Killua added. "This dish beats every recipe Hayuris knows. Not that it comes as a surprise..."

Hayuri sent a small glare at Killua and turned to Okume once again. "What's this dish called? How is it prepared?"

"It's called rokudesu and, no, I cannot tell you how to prepare it." Okume answered and put his hands on his lap. "It was a secret family recipe that my wife used to make."

"Wife?" Killuas eyes widened.

"Yes, she died 10 years ago." He said and his eyes saddened a bit. He told them that he and his wife used to be pro hunters. They were one of the best for a long time. They even found time to work as hunters when they decided they wanted to build a family. They had two daughters and would take turns to watch over them and go on missions. On one of those, Okume had been out working when their girls were 2 and 5 years old. When he came back, he found that his home had been broken into and that his family was dead. They had all been murdered. It came as a shock to him that his wife, being as strong as she was, had actually been killed. He was too sad and confused to think straight, but after some time he understood. While working as hunters, they had made lots of enemies, who were mostly strong nen users. One of them must've wanted them to pay, so they attacked while he was away. Of course, his wife having to watch out for two small kids wasn't able to properly fight and defend the three of them. He spent some time crazed with revenge, but, when he finally found and killed the culprit, he didn't find peace. He was lost for some time and drowned his sorrow in alcohol, but life started putting students in his way. So, in the end, he decided to live a simple life away from the world of hunters and become a nen teacher. Okume said he would never forget his family and that a part of him had been lost forever that day, but that even though he had managed to find peace.

When they finished dinner, Killua and Hayuri were a little taken aback by their sensei's story. Both of them were engrossed in their own thoughts while they washed the dishes and spoke only if necessary. After putting everything away, both walked out to the garden and sat down for a while, observing the night wildlife that was starting to roam around.

"It's amazing." Hayuri said while looking up to the sky.

"What is?"

"How Okume sensei managed to rebuild his life and move on after something like that. If you look at him and talk to him, you would never guess that he went through something like that. It's like, even though he's been through so much, he radiates so much peace and patience around himself."

"Well… he's an old man. What he told us must've happened at least 30 years ago." Killua said. "He's had plenty of time for recovering."

"I don't know. When I lived on the streets, most of the adults in our condition had been through something like that. And they had been stuck for decades." Hayuri sighed and looked down to the ground. "I wonder how sensei managed to find peace."

"Well, he said it, didn't he? He started teaching again. It was probably that, which gave him a purpose in life again." He pointed out and Hayuris eyes widened. She turned to look at him with a surprised face and Killua frowned. "What?"

"You're not as clueless as you seem. I thought you had issues concerning emotions and stuff."

"I don't have issues. I'm just not open with my feelings, unlike most people, who go around telling personal stuff to anybody."

"Well, I don't know about that. I can't say for sure right now." She shrugged. "And you're right. Purpose was what probably brought him out of his previous situation. It helped me out too, you know? When I was picked up from the streets, focusing on getting stronger and repaying my debt was my anchor. It helped me move on and create a new life. Do you have a purpose?"

"See? That's what I mean. You go around divulging something like that without a second thought."

"You're not just anybody." Hayuri answered bluntly and Killua made a shocked expression. "We've known each other for over a month by now. We've spent a lot of time together. We're certainly not strangers, don't you agree?"

"Maybe." Killua said averting his eyes and blushing a bit.

Hayuri chuckled at his shy behavior and they stayed in comfortable silence, and she closed her eyes to hear to sounds of the garden more clearly. She didn't expect him to say anything, but after a couple minutes, Killua turned his head away from her and spoke up.

"My father." He said in a low voice. "I've always wanted to make my father proud of me."

Hayuris opened her eyes and looked at him. She couldn't see his face, since he was facing away from her, but she could tell it was hard for him to tell someone about that. She smiled and looked in front of her once again.

"Is he not already?" she asked, wondering aloud. "Shouldn't he be already?"

"He always expects more of me." Killua said with a discouraged expression and looked back at Hayuri.

"Really? How is that even possible? I think you are amazing." She said and warmly smiled at him. "I am proud of you."

Killuas breath was caught in his throat. It had taken a serious amount of courage to tell her about something so personal. He had been struggling with the decision, but had finally decided to just let it flow for once and open up to her. After all, they were not strangers, just like she had said. They were allies, right? Acquaintances and training partners. They had fun together and he was able to lower his guard around her. Surely there was nothing wrong in saying something like that. So, in the end, he just did.

But this kind of answer, this he hadn't expected. No one had ever said something like that to him, not even close to that. All he ever got from his family was demands of working harder. All he got from his butlers was a sense of distance and a strong wall made of respect. All he got from his victims was cries of help and mercy. Having someone smiling at him like Hayuri had and saying what she had said, was something he had secretly yearned for even since he could remember. He had been so shocked and absorbed in his thoughts, that he didn't notice her voice until she shook his arm.

"Oiii." She said and he shook his head to clear if up from his thoughts. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Killua said. "I'm just sleepy. I think I'm going to bed. G'night."

Killua stood up and walked to his room in a hurried manner. He closed the door behind him and exhaled in relief. He couldn't help but allow a sheepish toothy grin form on his lips.

-time skip –

Killua had been feeling differently when in the presence of Hayuri after the conversation they'd had after the first sparring day. On one hand, he felt like she was someone he could maybe trust, while on the other hand, he felt apprehensive about letting her closer than she already was.

So he had decided to not do anything for the time being, and see how things evolved. They had been sparring using kou and shu for a week and, during that times, he had no trouble keeping his emotional distance. However, by now they were no longer exhausted when they finished training and so, to their dismay, they started doing their nightly chores once again. When they did their chores, it was much more difficult for him to keep his distance, since they were used to speaking to each other while doing so. He didn't want to talk to her too much, but at the same time, he didn't want her to stop talking to him. He really was a mess.

Hayuri, at the same time, had noticed his slight change of behavior. She had realized the moment the words left her lips, that it had been a little too much to say. But she hadn't lied, it was the truth; she thought he was amazing. She had to accept, though, that it startled her how much only that sentence had affected him, even more if she took into account that he seemed used to hide his feelings. Hayuri wondered if he had ever received praise or kind words ever before or is something had happened for him to react that way. Seeing how he now appeared to be unsure around her, she decided to just let him have some space to work things out on his own. She would simply act the way she usually did.

Apparently she was right in choosing patience, because he slowly became carefree around her once again. He started talking more, and responding to her jokes once again (even if it may have been in his usual teasing manner). She was pretty happy with that, since she had really missed their conversations out in the garden. In her eyes, he seems a bit more open to her than he used to be.

Killua, on the other hand, had been questioning things about how he had always assumed he was supposed to act. Seeing Hayuri work hard but, at the same time, not beat herself up for making mistakes or sometimes doing as she pleased, set some kind of example for him. If she could enjoy some of the things life had to offer, if she could simply accept her faults, why couldn't he?

His brother had always repeated how important it was for an assassin to keep himself in check all the time. Was it really necessary to stay away from other people? His job was being an assassin and killing the target was the only aim. As long as he successfully completed the job that was assigned to him, is shouldn't matter. He could allow himself to relax and have fun with someone. He could talk about some things about himself, as long as they didn't endanger his mission. Right?