CHAPTER 26
"Who is this, Killua?"
Killua stretched a hand back and held Hayuri's hand tightly in his own, just to make sure that she was still there. Hayuri, on her side, felt anxiousness build in her chest, the face of the man inspecting her giving her the creeps. He was clearly not glad to have a visitor home and he was incredibly strong. They would have no chance if they decided to go up against him. Hayuri looked at Killua and saw that his stance was cautious but open, meaning that he was not willing for it to get to that. The man looked at Killua once more with a frown and then pointed at her with his index finger.
"I said, who is this?"
"Hayuri. Her name is Hayuri." Killua spoke and relaxed; he seemed to think that the man didn't mean to attack her.
"Ok. And why do you know her? Why is she here?" the man raised an eyebrow.
"It's a long story, grandpa." Killua said, not wanting to extend their interactions.
"Is it? Then maybe you can tell me all about it inside." He said and turned his back to them. "Come on."
Killua tightened his jaw and looked back at Hayuri. He motioned for her to follow as well and held her hand tightly. They took off running to the main house, Zeno in the front and Killua and Hayuri following not far behind. As he ran, Killua's mind was filled with possible scenarios. Killua wasn't usually overprotective of Hayuri, since she had always been capable of standing up on her own. Of course she was still strong, but there was too many risks involved if she had to fight now. Of course, a confrontatio would be completely foolish; Killua wouldn't be able to win against his father and grandfather on his own, much less if he had to watch out for her. He glanced her way and wondered if he could take the both of them fast and far enough to have his family lose their track, if it came to some sort of confrontation.
The journey back to the main mansion was filled with a tense silence and Hayuri was slightly worried. She didn't know much about the Zoldyck Family, but she was certain that they were no ordinary people and that she should take nothing for granted in there. On top of that, Killua seemed almost scared for her, as he kept throwing her glances – which she didn't meet – and tightening his hold on her hand as they ran.
Fifteen minutes later, Hayuri saw a huge castle-like building come into view. It looked huge, but it didn't resemble a house at all. It looked more like a dungeon or a fortification, with no windows in sight and thick stone walls. The approached an entrance, which resembled the gate that she had gone previously through that morning to enter the mountain. Silva pushed the doors open, and seven out of seven gates opened and closed behind him. Killua threw her a glance over his shoulder, silently asking if she was all right pushing the heavy gate. Hayuri nodded, so Killua turned back and pushed the gate as well, opening six of them. Hayuri gulped down and decided that she needed to prove her power, and pushed with all of her strength – unlike last time – and opened five gates.
As they closed behind her, she found herself walking down a long and wide hallway. The walls and the floor were made of stone and it was light by old candles on the walls. Hayuri looked in front of her, noticing that both Killua and the old man were walking up some stairs. When they got to the upper floor, the appearance of the place changed notoriously. The place now had huge windows that went up to the tall ceiling and the floor had a complex looking carpet. The walls were filled with paintings and portraits and there was actually beautiful furniture everywhere. Anyhow, the place still looked gloomy and seemed like a somber mansion from a horror movie. They turned on a few corridors, which Hayuri made sure to remember, and finally stopped in front of two huge wooden doors. Hayuri didn't have time to admire the beautiful cravings on it, since the old man immediately pushed them open.
They entered a huge room that had comfortable – and expensive – looking couches and chairs and a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the furthest wall there were huge windows that opened up to a small private garden. In the middle of the room sat a woman and a man, who were intently looking at the newcomers. The man was really muscular and had silver hair and blue eyes. Hayuri immediately assumed that he was Killua's father. Next to him was a woman with a traditional looking kimono and a beautiful hairdo. Her eyes were covered by some sort of visor, which seemed completely strange to Hayuri and she wondered if she was blind or something.
"Zeno. What is going on?" the man asked with a deep voice.
"I found Killua with this woman in the woods. I asked who she was and he said that it was a long story, so I figured that you two might as well hear it out. I don't want to have to repeat it myself." Zeno explained as he took a seat in a chair next to Killua's father.
All three of them looked at Hayuri and Killua, who still stood in front of the door. Killua sighed and stretched his hand to take a hold of Hayuri's. He led her to a couch and both sat down. Hayuri looked at both of Killua's parents – she assumed that they were, since she knew that he wouldn't be this respectful to anyone else – and decided that they were at least twice as strong as she was.
"So, Killua. Will you introduce us?" the woman spoke up after a while of silence.
"All right. This is Hayuri. Hayuri, this is my mother Kikyo, my father Silva and my grandfather Zeno."
"Hello." Hayuri was surprised that her voice came out even as she slightly nodded.
"A name doesn't day much, Killua." Silva pressed. "I'd like to hear more than one sentence so I can understand this unusual visit in depth."
"I know." Killua nodded. "I met Hayuri back at the hunter's exam that I had to take to do my job. We were stuck with tied wrists during the first phase and there was a technical problem with them, so we had to do the second phase together. The second one lasted five full days, which were spent in a forest, and we had to get to a certain part of it. At first we didn't get along well at all, but after a while we kind of did. The last day, a strong nen user – as strong as Illumi – confronted apparently us to test out strength. We fought together, but were going to lose, however he left in the end. She'd sustained an injury to her left hand and my thigh had been hit bit a powerful strike. She carried me all the way to the pinpointed place so that I didn't strain it any further. She told me that it was obvious, since we had been working together as allies." Killua chuckled as he remembered. "After that, we helped each other a couple more times during the exam. At the end, we exchanged numbers, because she insisted on it. I went on with my mission, but was rejected since it didn't know nen yet. I gave her a call and asked if she knew what was missing, she told me that she knew and said that she had a teacher. Long story short, we trained together for a good three months and developed the nen basic and advanced techniques together."
Killua stopped for a while and looked at his parents and grandfather. They all had serious expressions on, expecting him to go on. Hayuri seemed not to want to talk at all, so he thought for a moment how he was going to explain the next part of the story and took a breath in to continue.
"She was broke and wanted to keep on training, so I suggested that she tagged along with me. We took the entry exam to be body guard trainees, but it was a solo mission. We both managed to do our part on our own, but I noticed that she'd been surrounded by four other applicants. I gave her a hand and we defeated them in the blink of an eye. A stupid move from me had a hidden opponent lashing out at me from behind; she saved my life by stepping in between and blocking the hit. She got badly hurt, but said that it was fine, since we were friends. I had never thought that we were, but just came to that realization at that moment. I cauterized her wound and we made it to the rendezvous point." Killua stopped for a couple seconds. "We trained as body guard trainees mostly on our own, but we would meet to eat, work or talk. We got to know each other really well. She saved my life once more when we were up against strong nen users, but I didn't even feel the need to thank her, since it was obvious that any of us would do it without a second thought."
Killua was going to talk more on that moment, but he decided to not give more about it away. He chose to talk about the rebels and how it affected their job.
"Our job had gotten more important by then; there was a rebel uprising in the country. They wanted to bring down the monarchy and establish a democracy, in hopes to make better to terrible conditions of life that the common people had. We had to spy on them and find out what they were up to, who they were working for, and so on. Hayuri didn't want to have anything to do with it." Killua smiled softly. "She had a strong sense of justice, so it was killing her to do such a thing, but couldn't back down – I didn't know why at the moment. I wonder if she would've even talked to me if she'd known who I really was from the beginning." Killua's face turned serious again as he spoke up once more. "One day, the situation got to the point where we were asked to kill on sight any person who was out on the streets – of course she didn't do any of it. Thankfully, no one besides me found out about it, because she would've been in serious trouble. However, the commander of the royal guard deemed that we had to graduate earlier than planned. On our graduation day, my full name was said aloud. Of course I had used a last name that could have been easily recognized as Zoldyck in case any of you tried to find me."
Silence filled the room once more and Killua noticed that his family was now intently listening to him. He closed his eyes for a second, deciding what to say and what to leave out.
"That day, I noticed that something was bothering Hayuri, so I pressed to know what it was about. She led me away from the hall the ceremony was being held in and ticked me. She paralyzed me with her hatsu and tied my hands with nen suppressing hand cuffs. Three strong nen users surrounded us – they worked with her – and they all took me away. I hadn't known that someone else was out for me; a contract hunter association – hired by someone who held a grudge against our family. They brought me to a hideout, since I was to be delivered alive." Killua stopped once more. "I was held in a room that was completely secure and I had no way of escaping. Somehow, the electricity went out and every door to the hideout was opened, so I immediately got away. I had been so angry at Hayuri, that I didn't realize that she had actually been helping me out all along. As soon as I did, I went back as fast as I could – that's when I developed the ability you're so proud of. However, when I came I saw her get executed for treason and was too slow to do anything." Killua tightened his hands and jaw at the memory. "I managed to get a closer look and saw that her skull had been crushed and that her eyes were dull. I knew she was going to die, so when other hunters spotted my, I left."
"How come you're here now?" Zeno asked Hayuri after a couple seconds of silence.
"On the last minute I developed a Hatsu that would allow me to heal any injuries I sustained in exchange for not using nen for a certain amount of time." Hayuri said. "When I woke up Killua was already gone and I managed to find a safe place to hide until I recovered. I came here after that."
Hayuri's voice came out clear and steady, since she was calm. She knew that she should've been scared in the presence of these people, but for some reason she wasn't. She looked at Killua who seemed less tense than earlier, and she wondered if they were safe now.
"That seems pretty loyal of you, Hayuri-san." Kikyo said calmly and Silva nodded, agreeing with her.
"However." Zeno spoke up with a grave voice. "That doesn't explain her condition."
Killua and Hayuri tensed at the remark and Killua's hand went to hold hers tightly.
"What condition?" Silva asked and raised an eyebrow at Zeno.
"I'm an old man and have seen lots of things throughout my life." He pointed out. "I can see that your steps are heavier than they should be, given you contexture, and that your movements are not as swift I would've expected. So, can any of you explain what is hidden under that cloak?"
A thick silence filled the room, in which Killua's parents looked at both of them with questioning glances. Hayuri felt her heart race and wondered how on earth the man could've noticed, since she had made sure to move in the most natural way. She looked at Killua, who was looking forward and, without even flinching, he spoke up.
"She's expecting my child." He said with a clear voice and everyone nearly jumped in surprise. No one spoke for what seemed like half a minute until Killua's father leaned forwards.
"You're too young." he said gravely. "Only nineteen. You still have much to learn before you father an heir."
"I know." Killua nodded once in agreement. It had not been planned at all, but his father didn't need to hear that.
"How old are you, dear?" Kikyo questioned.
"Nineteen as well." Hayuri said immediately.
"How far along are you?" she added.
"Four and a half months."
"I would never suggest that you get rid of my grandson or that you never see him again." Silva said, crossing his hands in front of his chest, and sighed. "We'll raise here and I'll help you train him. We cannot delay his training, seeing that in order to raise him to his full potential he needs to start at the age of three."
"We'll have to plan a wedding! I have lots of ideas!" Kikyo beamed and placed her hands on her cheeks in delight. "We'll prepare a bedroom for the two of you to sleep in! I can call a decorator afterwards so he can help you out."
Hayuri knew that this reaction was better than what she had been expecting, but felt angst build in her chest. She did not want her kid to live this life; tortured and trained to kill since barley a child. Forced into a life of isolation and violence. She didn't want such a life for herself either. She felt her hand shake against Killua's firm hold and tried hard to slow her racing heart. She would not accept this. Maybe they'd try and kill her or something, but she had to at least try. She opened her mouth to speak.
"No." Hayuri was startled as Killua's voice rang loudly in the room, saying the exact words that she'd been about to speak.
"What do you mean?" Silva questioned with a quiet tone.
"I won't raise him here." Killua said in an almost daring tone. "I have never liked this way of life, but hadn't known anything else before, so I couldn't really choose anything different. Now I do."
"Killua." Zeno said patiently. "You are the heir to our business, you always have been. Your whole life has revolved around this until now. Are you willing to throw that away?"
"Yes." He said without hesitation.
"How come I never knew of your aversion to our occupation?" Kikyo said slowly.
"Illumi had planted a needle in my head to prevent me from going against anyone or anything that might put me in a dangerous situation." Killua said. "I removed it a couple months ago."
"Ah… that explains a lot." Silva scratched his chin in thought. "I remember that you had a rebellious phase when you were twelve or thirteen. One day it simply disappeared and I assumed that you were over your doubts concerning your future as the heir. I never considered that it could've been Illumi all along." Silva sighed. "If I'd known that you didn't like the business, I would've chosen someone else as the heir."
Killua sat still as he locked eyes with his father for a moment. Everyone was on edge wondering how it would turn out, but their apprehension disappeared when Silva slightly smiled.
"I like the determination I see in your eyes now. I can't even remember the last time I saw that on you." Silva smirked and closed his eyes for a couple seconds. "I can see that I won't change your mind in this subject. You can go and build a life somewhere else, as long as you promise to come and visit. I'd like to see how my grandson is growing up."
"I will." Killua nodded as he felt both himself and Hayuri relax at his father's words.
"I have a suggestion to make." Zeno said suddenly. "You should leave this estate as soon as you can. Illumi is out on a job, but he'll be home anytime today. I don't think he'll agree with any of this and you know we cannot interfere with what family members do."
"Then, we better head out soon." Killua said and was about to stand up, when Kikyo interrupted them.
"Kill, I'd like to have a word with Hayuri while you pack up your things." Killua looked at her with slight suspicion, but she waved him off. "Don't worry, I will not hurt her."
"Okay. I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Killua said standing up and throwing a glance at Hayuri, who slightly smiled in return. He stood up and walked out of the room.
"Follow me, dear." Kikyo said standing up and lead Hayuri to a room right next to the one they'd been sitting in. When they entered, she settled on another couch and Hayuri sat down right in front of her. "Hayuri, I know that Killua's decision was partly because of you. I can see that you don't agree with our way of life, I saw it in your eyes when we mentioned raising the child in here." Hayuri was about to say something, but she was stopped when Kikyo raised her hand. "I'm actually glad."
"You are?" Hayuri raised her eyebrows in slight surprise.
"Yes. You know, I didn't really have much of a choice when I married Silva." She sighed. "I came to love him with time, but I never wanted my children to live like this. Being forced to do what we did for a living, to live through the training they had to endure. At first I didn't want accept any of this, I cried often seeing what was being done to them." She said and her voice almost broke. Hayuri's eyes widened at that; she had never imagined Killua's mother to feel like that. She had seemed so cold and in tune with the assassination business in her eyes. "I tried to talk Silva out of it a couple times; we could still train them to be strong without hurting them as much, but he always said that the most important thing was to make good assassins out of them. He didn't support me at all, and in the end there was nothing I could do; women don't have much of a say in this family. And maybe I was too afraid to stand up for what I wanted for them. In the end, I forced myself to agree with all of this, but I kind of lost my mind for a while a couple years ago. I was pretty crazed, and pushed my children as much as my husband, burying what my instinct had been telling me all along. Deep inside, I always wished to have a close relationship with them, but I don't think that will ever be possible now. None of my sons really know about this."
"I'm sorry." Hayuri's eyes softened at her words.
"I'm proud that you were planning on standing up for what you think is right. I'm also proud that my Kill decided to choose a different future for the three of you." She smiled and held Hayuri's hand softly. "However, you cannot let this choice make any of you weaker or have you lower your guard. My eldest son – Illumi - is ruthless and I don't think he will ever let you get away with this.
"Thank you so much." Hayuri bowed low and beamed. "I will make sure that we come and visit when Illumi is not around."
"Good. Go, dear. Killua must be back already." She waved Hayuri out of the room.
Hayuri walked back with a sort of nostalgia in her chest; it was a sad story, Kikyo's, but she was glad that she'd shared it with her. As she passed by the room where they'd been before she bowed at Silva and Zeno.
"Thank you so much for your hospitality."
"You're welcome. Take good care of my son and grandson." Silva said and slightly smiled.
Hayuri nodded and walked out of the door. Killua stood in the hallway with a travel backpack and with his hands crossed in front of him. He was also wearing a cloak – a black one - probably in reason that they had to stay low and avoid running into Illumi.
"What was that all about?" he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow when the door closed behind her.
"Maybe you should ask your mother someday." She smiled.
"Ugh." Killua furrowed his brow. "Seems like a drag."
"You should talk to her, I won't be the one telling you about it." Hayuri said with finality and Killua wondered what the hell they'd talked about in there.
"Ok. Come on, I don't want to run into Illumi. Also, we need to hurry in order to take the tourist bus out of here, since using a car from our house will be too easy to track down." Killua said as they walked out of the mansion. When they got out, he turned and handed his backpack to Hayuri. She was about to ask about it, but Killua answered her question before she could. "But that on and get on my back. It'll be faster this way and you won't have to run."
Hayuri put the backpack on without a word and climbed on his back, putting her arms around his neck. She smiled amusedly, surprised that he was being such a gentleman after all-
"Damn you're heavy. You should stop eating so much." Killua remarked and Hayuri clearly heard the smug smirk in his voice.
"I should've known you'd say something like that." she rolled her eyes, but the smile didn't leave her face.
"Hold on tightly." Killua said and she almost yelped when took off at an inhuman speed. Not five minutes later they stood in front of the testing gate. She got off and tried to put her messy her back in place, but kind of failed and decided to just but her hood back on.
"I can see why you called it God Speed." She sighed.
"Let's go." He said and put on his own hood. He walked to the Testing Gate and pushed, opening six doors, just like before, and walked past it. Hayuri followed not long after, pushing the gate open and joining him outside.
"Miss Hayuri." Zebro, who was standing next to Killua, raised his eyebrows. "You made it."
"Of course I did." She smiled.
"That's good." He turned back to Killua. "You're leaving, Master Killua?"
"Yes. I might not come back for a while, Zebro." The silver haired looked at him in the eye. "If my brother or anyone else asks about me, say you know nothing. Not about me, not about Hayuri. If you do, we'll be in danger, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Zebro bowed at Killua and nodded. Not long after that, the tourist bus approached the testing gate. As soon as it stopped, everyone got off and started taking pictures of the gate and wall. Killua and Hayuri had already gotten out of the way and approached the pink haired tourist guide.
"Excuse me." Killua said and she was started at the voice, seeing that she probably hadn't even noticed him there. "We need a one way ride down of the mountain."
"Eh… ok, no problem. We still have a couple empty seats, so just pay half the fee to the bus driver." She said with a raised eyebrow and watched as Killua stepped into the bus and paid the driver. He got back down and the guide noticed that he was wearing a black hood that didn't allow her to closely watch his features. She threw him with a quizzical glance and then turned back to the tourists, signaling that they had to get on the bus already. Killua and Hayuri got on and sat down together on the front row, since they'd gotten in first. The guide got on at last and, as she stood in the front, her eyes stopped on Hayuri and widened.
"Ehhhhh, you're the woman who entered the Zoldyck Estate this morning!" she said and everyone in the bus stayed quiet and looked at Hayuri. "Did you visit them? How are they? Didn't they hurt you? Is this young man next to you a part of that family?"
"Eh…" Hayuri said and sweatdropped. Killua looked at her with exasperation, silently scolding her for entering his house with such carelessness. Behind them, there were a lot of whispers about the both of them. Killua sighed.
"Please, can we just go on down the mountain? We're in a hurry." he said and his eyebrow twitched as he felt some people standing up and taking a picture of them. Thankfully their heads were hooded and they were in the front, so pictures would be pretty useless. Suddenly Killua stood up and turned around with his face shadowed by the hood. Everyone in the bus stayed frozen, since they could see his deadly sapphire eyes and feel his bloodlust leaking.
"Pretend that we're not here, never say anything about it and let's get going quickly. You don't want to get caught up in our business." He said with voice dripping venom.
He went back to normal and sat down next to Hayuri, noticing that the bus was deadly silent as it took off. Hayuri nudged Killua on the side and he face her frowning face.
"I don't think that was necessary."
"It was, they would've made too much of a fuss and told everyone about it." Killua said. "Besides, this is all your fault. How could you be so careless? Jeez."
"Well sorry, I guess I'm not used to a life of fame. I've always just been a common person with no need to hide from others."
"Well, that's already changed." Killua said and locked eyes with her. "You'll have to get used to it for you own good. For the three of us."
Hayuri said nothing, but knew that he was right and nodded. Things were definitely going to be different from now on.
A/N: There it is. What do you think? What should happen with Illumi? Things are bound to get complicated. Also, do you think Kikyo was too OOC? I've always thought that she must've lost her mind because of something, and this seemed like a good reason. Please leave a review, I love your support!
Hexel-JustAnotherReader: YESS I'm so excited to write more on that subject.
MadokaMagica1998: I did think that it was kind of predictable, but it's exciting nonetheless, right? *_*
Elisablackcat: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! – and yes my boyfriend is evil, he now suggests that one of the three gets killed by Illumi. LOL he really seems to love tragedy (thankfully only in fiction; in real life he's doesn't like trouble at all xD)
Lyll & Guest: Here you go!