CHAPTER 12

Killua ran at full speed through a dense forest as the moon barely illuminated his body, which was just a blur passing through the trees. His eyes were fixed ahead of him and his senses were sharply aware of his surroundings. He jumped a couple meter upwards and landed on a thick branch. He molded into the shadows as he went into zetsu and his presence seemed to disappear. He waited there a couple seconds until another figure entered the clearing. It was a brown haired older teen that was probably aiming for Killua's token.

The test to be accepted as a bodyguard trainee was to protect a token each and take somebody else's as well. It would test their abilities to protect and attack and enemy, which reminded Killua of the first phase of the hunter exam, where he had met Hayuri. Speaking of whom, he hadn't seen her since the test had started a couple hours ago. He had been hiding for now and, due to his assassin training, he had not been spotted at all. He was waiting for one of the candidates to lower his guard a bit to make a move.

He would have attacked on a straightforward manner if the situation had been different, but these examinees were almost as strong as he was. He was taught to only attack when there was a great chance of success - at least 70% - and so, he had to raise his chances by catching his opponent off guard. He knew his opponent would not give up easily, since the work as a royal bodyguard was not only well paid, even for a hunter, but allowed almost as many privileges as a noble. It was a job most people would kill for, and they only allowed only one try per applicant, so Killua was being extra careful.

Killua watched the brown haired young man walked right under his branch and he closed his eyes. His presence appeared to be that of an opponent not as strong as most people around him, so Killua decided to follow him and pay close attention. He didn't even need to leave his branch, because a piercing scream resounded through the forest. The poor teen didn't even know what had hit him, since, as soon as he looked back towards where the scream had come from, his vision went black. Killua had chopped him in the back of the head with a nen infused hand and hoped that it wouldn't be enough to kill him. Before the body hit the ground, Killua caught him soundlessly and crouched to lay him down on the leave covered ground. He quickly searched him for a token, which he hopefully still hadn't lost, and Killua put it away next to his own.

He quickly jumped up to a tree branch and closed his eyes in deep thought. He could have sworn that the scream he heard sounded like...

"Aghhh! Damn you, bastard!" The faint voice could be clearly heard as it cut through the dead silence of the clearing.

Killua widened his eyes as he recognized Hayuri's voice. He didn't even think about it, knowing that everyone was putting their life on the line in this place, and sprinted towards her voice jumping from one tree branch to another. Just a couple seconds later, when he had ran a hundred meters, he stopped in the shadow of a thick tree and, still in zetsu mode, he looked down to the ground. Just a couple meters away, there was Hayuri surrounded by three other applicants. He quickly assessed them; the three of them were almost as good as Hayuri, and they were unharmed. On the other hand, Hayuri had what a nasty injury on her left shoulder, which was profusely bleeding. On her right hand was a short blade, which made a poor attempt at keeping the other three at a safe distance. One of the men seemed to charge some nen into his fist, which he aimed at Hayuri's nose. She dodged leaning to the right and with her forearm blocked a nen kick to her ribs thrown by the second attacker. However, she wasn't fast enough to dodge or block a punch to the gut from the third guy and she grimaced and tried to use Ko as she watched his fist just a couple inches away from her. Suddenly, the third attacker was thrown off his feet and into a nearby tree, smashing it to pieces. Everyone turned around in surprise to be met with cold sapphire blue eyes and a pale skin that looked to be a ghostly white under the moon light.

"It doesn't seem nice ganging up on a girl in the middle of the night." Killua had appeared out of nowhere and stood with a plain face and a bored voice. He almost sounded to be uninterested in the whole situation, but his eyes spoke the hidden truth of his annoyance.

"Hey, it's not like that. We just want her token, so you just walk away and we'll forget about this." One of the men pointed at Hayuri and took a step towards Killua.

"Oh, sorry, no can do." He shrugged in response.

"Y-you bastard." An angry voice came from the pile of wood that now was the tree which had been destroyed by Killua's throw. The pissed man stood up and took a few steps towards the group of people. "I'll teach you not to meddle on other peoples affairs."

"Killua." Hayuri said locking eyes with him, and both silently agreed on watching each other's backs, so they turned to face away from each other. Killua nen kicked one of them in the chin, effectively sending him a couple steps back and then blocking a nen infused punch to his side with Ko. He elbowed the man on the ribs and grabbed his wrist as he tried to throw him over his shoulder. However, his attempt was ruined by a second hand that held his arms in place and forced him to release the other one. He managed to release himself and jumped a couple steps back. He had guesses it before; even fighting people with regular fighting techniques was hard if there was nen involved. He guessed that even he could've been done for if he had to fight three of them simultaneously.

Hayuri had been going on a battle of nen kicking and blocking with the third man, as she kept cursing herself for her slowed movements. At the beginning of the battle she was the strongest out of the four, but now she had lost a lot of blood and was clearly slower. She had been refraining on trying to use her hatsu, as she still needed to concentrate a lot to do it. Now that she was fighting only one person, she decided to try it. She blocked a nen infused knee that was aimed to her side and a punch to her already injured shoulder and forced her body to push her opponent back a couple steps. Before he was on her once again, she deeply breathed in and out one time. She sprinted forwards and touched her opponent's right shoulder trying to will his nen to stop. She brushed him lightly and immediately stepped back and watched him. He tried to attack her, but stopped midway with a confused expression while looking at his shoulder, which seemed to be immobilized. Hayuri took that chance and jumped to attack him with both hands, one nen enhanced fist and one with her nen enhanced short blade. Obviously, seeing as her weapon was the deadliest, he blocked it with his good side, allowing her nen infused fist to connect to his cheekbone. He was thrown back, landed on his back and rolled away to a standing position. His arm shoulder seemed to be working again, and he attacked her again. However, Hayuri was now sure that if she used that tactic, she would beat him in no time.

Killua jumped back as he avoided one more hit and, already tired of playing this game of attacking and dodging, he molded some of his nen into his hands. He touched each man on the head with a hand and watched them be slightly electrocuted, which instantly slowed down their movements. The next second, he kneed one of them in the gut, making him bend forward and then he swiftly chopped his neck. When he turned around he had to dodge another attack from the remaining opponent and did a couple back flips until he was satisfied with the distance between them.

"Oii, Killua." Hayuri smirked from under a tree with an unconscious figure next to her. "Finish up already."

"Don't hurry me when I'm helping you out, idiot." He demanded as he looked back to his last opponent. He did a low roundhouse kick and swept him off his feet, reached out to him just as he fell. Both his hands were successfully blocked by his opponent, but Killua smirked and the man widened his eyes in realization. Hayuri was already next to them and she hit the back of his neck rendering him unconscious. Hayuri crouched next to him and searched his pockets, finding nothing.

"Only one of them had a token, there is not enough for both of us." She pointed out and sighed.

"Who do you think I am?" Killua smirked bringing two tokens out of his left pocket. "I'm already fini-"

But he didn't finish his sentence as sound from behind him stopped him. Hayuri watched in horror as someone was right behind Killua, aiming a long blade to his neck. At that moment, every millisecond seemed to pass at a strangely slow pace, each moment the blade coming closer to Killua's neck. Hayuri's mind only thought about how she would NOT allow somebody else close to her to die. She forced her nen to flow at a faster rate through her body and increasing her speed. In the blink of an eye, she had unsheathed her short blade and was behind Killua blocking the attack. However, as her short blade met her opponents, she realized that her speed had not been enough, and that her angle was wrong. So, instead of successfully blocking the attack, the long blade sprinted across her short one at full speed. She leaned just in time to avoid getting her head chopped off, but instead received a long deep gash across her upper chest and clavicle.

She took in a sharp breath, unable to scream in pain, and she felt her knees give in. She held her own weight with her hands and managed to notice that Killua already had engaged the person in battle. Hayuri didn't get to see what happened, since she was seeing black dots mostly, but soon she saw Killua approach her.

"Hayuri!" He crouched down and helped steady her body. Hayuri realized that his hands were drenched in blood that was not his own, leaving stains across her clothes. His face was filled with worry and he was scowling deeply while looking at her injury. "Fuck, this looks bad."

"B-baka, you're ruining my clothes." She muttered with a soft voice.

"They would've been ruined anyways, look at how badly you're bleeding…." He trailed off for a second. "Why would you step behind me?"

"W-what do you mean? He was going to kill you..."

"I know! But you knew that there was obviously not enough time to properly block. So, why?"

"I… I would never let a friend die just because I might lose... fear losing my life." She talked with a spinning head, but with a smile nonetheless, and she managed to see Killua's eyes widen at her rapid blood loss. "Damn... I think that I..."

As Hayuri couldn't form a sentence anymore, Killua held her in place and his heart started beating faster than ever before. He even feared that he would have a panic attack. He was so used to feeling blood on his hands that he didn't even notice anymore. However, feeling Hayuri's warm life spreading through his legs and pooling under his knees, built the feeling of anguish and distress.

He tightly closed his eyes, breathed in and out slowly a couple time to calm down and thought about Hayuri's words. Friends. No one had ever called him that and he had never thought of anyone in that way. But Hayuri was different. She meant something to him and, hearing her say that they were friends, made him realize that they really were. Killua sharply opened his eyes again, determination shining on them. He wouldn't let her die; he had to find a way to save her. He thought for a moment. How could he stop the rapid bleeding without any kind of medical supplies? Something clicked in his head and he leaned down on her with a knowing look on his face.

"Hayuri." He said as he laid her down on the ground and moved to sit on top of her hips, straddling her.

"Y-yeah?" Hayuri managed to reply.

"I wish you were unconscious right now, because this will hurt." He said while putting a log on her hands for her to hold and talking the dried branch of a tree on his left hand. "Brace yourself."

Hayuri looked up to him with a confused expression, but it immediately changed to apprehension when he clicked his fingers and light the branch of fire. He brought his right hand down to her injury, holding it together, and took a deep breath. He looked into her eyes one more time, seeing that she locked eyes with him with a acceptance, and he lowered the burning branch to her injury.

Hayuri has always hated showing weakness in front of others, but nothing could keep in the piercing scream and the tears that she released again and again. She had never felt such terrible pain before, her body feeling like it was being ripped apart, and at that moment, she would've rather died. Fortunately, her consciousness seemed to cope with only a couple minutes of torture, and her mind soon drifted to oblivion.

- time skip -

Hayuri came back to consciousness to feel her body aching everywhere. Strangely, even though she felt numb, the pain was clearly the strongest on her upper chest and left shoulder. She slowly regained her senses and the next thing she registered was the nauseating stench of burnt flesh. Soon after, she heard the faint singing of birds and assumed that it was day already, so she forced her eyes to open. Slowly, she started to distinguish the figures around her. She seemed to be under some sort of rocky protuberance and surrounded by bushes; a great hiding place indeed. She softly moved her head back and forth and found that she was alone. She took a deep breath and slowly sat up with a low grunt, trying her best to refrain from crying out in pain.

"K-killua." Her dry voice croaked. Immediately, she heard some rusting beyond the bushes and watched Killua enter the hiding spot.

"Hey." He said with an unexpectedly kind voice. And brought a bottle of water to her lips, which she eagerly gulped down. "How are you feeling?"

"Alive and it fucking hurts everywhere." She smirked in a cocky way, but it looked rather pitiful with her pale face and bloody state.

"Good. Also, the pain is expected." Killua nodded and handed her a cooked fish on a stick. "Want some? You've been asleep for almost 10 hours, even though I expected you to wake up tomorrow."

"Haa." Hayuri said between her chewing. "That's weird."

Both stayed silent for a while as they sat next to each other in the improvised hiding place. Hayuri quietly munched on her brunch while looking off into the forest. Killua, on his side, was finally able to relax a bit now that he saw her awake. He had no medical training, so besides knowing that she was still alive due to her pulse, he had no way of knowing if she would make it out or not. Also, he had been deeply shaken when cauterizing her wound. Seeing her scream and cry like that while holding on to his knee was something he didn't expected would make him feel as it did. He had actually felt protective of her, and had cursed himself for not being able to help her endure the pain. He had wanted to hug her and tell her that she would soon feel better, but he couldn't since he had been the one doing the dirty deed. She probably wouldn't have noticed anyways.

"Thank you." Her voice suddenly brought him out of his thoughts.

"What for?"

"You saved my life."

"No! You saved mine! I should be thanking you!" Killua frowned and held his hand to his chest.

"You saved me twice." She pointed out.

"But you almost died when helping me. I'm sorry you had to do it. Please don't do that again, you had me worried. Really." Killua said, openly expressing his concern for her this time.

"Don't worry about it. However, I'm sorry, since would risk my life anytime again if it meant saving yours. Even if you hate me for it."

Killua was at a loss of words at her statement. He wanted to punch her and tell her to stop being stupid. But he felt happy. Of course he didn't want her to die, but knowing that she cared so much about him, made a warm feeling build in his chest. He looked down at her brown eyes as she smiled at him and couldn't help but remember the tears that she'd shed the night before. How much pain shed been in and how she was willing to go through that again to save a friend. Killua felt his arms move on their own and carefully embrace her weak form, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"Of course." He mumbled into her good shoulder, hiding the blush that crept into his face out of embarrassment. He was not at all used to showing kindness to anyone and he always felt too self-conscious when doing so. "We're friends. That's why we will always protect each other no matter what. That's how it's supposed to be, isn't that right?"

"Hai." Hayuri said as she hugged him back and laid her head on his broad shoulder. "That's right."

"Also, I'm sorry for being stupid." Killua said as he pulled back. "It was ridiculous to take both my badges at that time and expose us like that. I suspected that someone could be watching, but lowered my guard to prove a point."

"Well, what can I say. Not everyone can be as smart as me. Or smart al at all." Hayuri smirked as she patted Killua's shoulder lightly, making a vein pop on his forehead.

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Oh, no not at all. You'd probably know if I were anyways, right? You're so smart and all." Hayuri shrugged and held back a snicker.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand something as basic as a rhetoric question anyways."

"Oh, so it actually was. I just thought you weren't capable of such a thing. Congratulations, darling, you can know graduate from basic social skills 1."

"Ew, don't talk like my mother." Killua grimaced and turned away from Hayuri. "I mean, she's my mom and all that, but she drives me crazy, so don't remind me of her."

"How does she? Drive you mad that is."

"She's nags to much about everything, never leaves me alone. I can't even remember ever enjoying her company, since she's always been too obsessed with my tutoring and training."

"Wow... that doesn't sound nice. How about your father?"

"Well... he's great at his work; the best. But he's never had time for his family and we were always trained by some other people or disciplined by our mother or older brother. Even so, the few times I've spent some quality time with him, I've really enjoyed it. I always look forward to when he'll find some time for me. On that subject, my mother has always been the one to give us the most attention, but I guess none of my parents really went out of his way for any of us."

"Wow, I guess being a rich kid does have it downs after all. My parents were kind of regular people, and both of them were pretty close to each other and to me. I really cherish my memories of the times before they died. My mother was always joking around and playing with me; she always found something interesting for us to do together. My father was more serious, but he was kind and caring; he always found a way to make me feel happier and he put a different light on things. I really miss them."

"I... I've never really thought about it, but I don't know if I would miss them that much." Killua thought aloud and Hayuri raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I mean, maybe I would never forgive myself for not living up to their expectations... fulfilling my purpose as a part of the family business. But miss them? I don't think I would."

"Killua!" Hayuri raised her voice a bit as she put her hand on his shoulder. "That's not fair to you at all! You shouldn't live your life fulfilling someone else's expectations. Whatever you do with your life, you should choose by yourself. Do something that you love, that you feel like committing yourself to! Or at least, whatever you do, do it for someone that means the world to you and that deserves it!"

Killua closed his eyes and sat there for what seemed like an eternity. This was the second time that Hayuri made him question what he'd do with his life. What she said sounded nice, having a choice in his future. Choosing what to do and for what purpose. Would it be a personal purpose or a greater purpose? What could he even do as for work besides assassination? The idea seemed alien to him and it was almost funny picturing himself as a construction worker, gardener, or any other regular job. However, his situation was not a common or regular one; he was the heir of the Zoldyck Estate. How could he even consider ever doing anything else? He had an important purpose, so he didn't really have a choice.

"That sounds really pretty and all, Hayuri. But I have a duty I cannot fail to fulfill. I cannot choose my future, so please don't try to change my mind about that. But I truly hope that, one day, you will have that chance and make the most of it."

"I already am. I'm repaying my debt to the hunters that took me in. It makes me feel like I'm doing something for someone that helped me before."

Killua said nothing, but looked back to the forest for a moment. Seconds passed by and he finally spoke up again.

"We're pretty close to the rendezvous point. Are you feeling all right to head back now? It'll be much safer there and you'll get a better rest and treatment."

"I think I am." She said crawling out of the hiding spot. She held on to a tree as she stood up and held her ground for a while. "I'm a little shaky, but I'll manage. Come on."

"Wait." Killua said holding her arm and keeping her in place. "I could give you a ride. I'm pretty unharmed and it's my fault you're like this. Let me help you out."

"You don't need to do this to compensate what I did back at the exam, I am-"

"I know you could do this by yourself. And I am not doing this because of retribution." He said and crouched down in front of her. "Come on, don't be a thickheaded fool. Let me help you out. Besides, we don't know what's coming next on out training or when it'll start. So you better rest while you can."

Hayuri tried to find a good reason to decline his offer, but all of them seemed ridiculous or unbelievable. She sighed and put her hands on his shoulders for support as she leaned into his back, carefully avoiding brushing her injuries against him.

"All right. You win this time, Killua." She said with compliance and put her head on his shoulder for support. Killua had only taken a couple steps back when fatigue got the best of her and lulled her – more like knocked her – back to sleep.

That's it! Thank you for reading and special thanks to Elisablackcat and ChainsOfKurapika!