CHAPTER 30
Killua walked down the dirt main road with a one year old Yamato on one arm and a grocery bag on the other. He smiled at his son, who kept on pointing at different objects that caught his attention, and he named them for him. Killua was glad he was a father. It really brightened up his days more than he thought it ever would and, after a whole year of fatherhood, he found that it was not as hard as the first months. He wasn't sure if he had gotten used to it or if the workload had actually down, but he didn't really care.
Along with that, he and Hayuri were better than ever. They had managed to build a trust between them to an extent that had not been before. Their intimacy had also returned to normal by now and their son slept better at night - not all night long yet, but it was still better than before. Also, they worked a whole shift now and took turns on staying home with Yamato, starting at 7 am and ending at 3 pm. They trained now every afternoon for a couple hours while Yamato explored the wilderness of the woods they trained in and, therefore, they had managed to recover their previous physical strength. Once or twice a week Laila would watch over Yamato for a couple hours and Killua and Hayuri used that time to spar without needing to look after him. Honestly, things were going pretty well except for-
"Pffffft. Look at that." A snicker came to Killua's sharp hearing as he walked by a local restaurant. It was loud enough for any normal person to hear, so it was safe to assume that someone was mocking him. Again.
"It's sad to see one of our own doing a woman's work."
"Well, not every man wears the pants in their relationship. Actually, only real men actually show their woman who's in charge. This one probably is just another pussy." Another one said and he was followed by loud laughter.
Killua clenched his fists and turned to slightly glare at the men who sat there drinking beers. He watched the smug look on their faces and was about to move on, when another comment reached his ears.
"Well, he certainly doesn't have any guts. That kid will probably grow up to be a pussy whipped by another bitch." Killua growled at their insult to both Yamato and Hayuri and swirled around to face them, putting the grocery bag down as he spoke.
"Is there something you want to say to me?" he asked raising an eyebrow at the men.
"Oh, I think you've heard it all already. You´re a fucking dishonor for our gender, doing a woman's duty and letting her work for money."
"First of all, be both work for money and do the housework." He said raising a finger, trying to keep calm. This was the second time that he had heard that particular group's mockery directed his way because of this, but they had never been so blunt. He knew that he should walk away, but bad-talking his family was something else. He couldn't stay quiet and let this ignorant fools get away with it. "It's called equality. And second of all, why would I want to have her do all of the so called 'dishonorable' work? I wouldn't be fair to someone I care about."
"Ohhhhhhhh! That's it, right?" A particularly fat man said. "Well, I love my wife too, but she does everything for me. She cooks, cleans, looks after our children and sews at night to help with some money too. She loves me and works hard to keep me pleased. You're just whipped."
"It doesn't sound fair at all. She's doing all of that while you sit around and have an overly extended lunch break?"
"What can I say, my woman knows her place. I'm a strong man and she knows that I'm in charge." He said pointing at himself while everybody at the table cheered for him.
"Well, you just sound like a weak man trying to reassure himself by mistreating his woman. If you were really strong and confident as you seem, you would find an equally strong confident woman who stands up for herself. That speaks more than anything else."
He finished and then rose his eyebrows as the man stood up sharply, making his chair rumble against the floor. Killua only then remembered that he was holding a child in his hands and cursed at his stupidity. Yamato was watching the exchange with interest and completely oblivious to the fact that his father had picked up on a fight. Who picks up fights while holding a baby? Him, apparently.
"How dare you, motherfucker. I'll show you what a real man is like." The fat man said and took a step closer to Killua.
"Look, I don't want any trouble. I shouldn't have said that, all right?" He waved him away and was about to crouch to get his grocery bag back, when the man took another step forward.
"You think I'll just let you walk away like that? Huh? I'll take the corpses for both of you back to your bitch and rape her fucking brains out until she learns what her place is."
Killua growled and glared at the man, who didn't seem to notice the chilling aura emitting from the silver haired young man. He clumsily aimed a punch at Killua, who tightened his hold on Yamato, firmly pressing him to his side, and took a hold of the man's wrist. He threw him over his shoulder, making him crash against the table and break it into tiny pieces. Everybody around them stopped talking with wide eyes. Another man from the group stepped forward and aimed another punch at him, while Killua simply twisted his arm around and held him firmly against the floor. Yamato was still quietly watching the exchange, but had seemed to notice that there was something going on, because he fisted his hands on his father's shirt.
"Listen, and listen well." Killua said as his bloodlust leaked out at full force, sending a chill down everybody's backs. His eyes were dull and black as he watched everybody around him tremble in fear and the two guys closer to him nearly pissing their pants. "You are all nothing but ants to me and I can crush you anytime with only this one hand." He said raising his only free hand to make a point. "I don't want any of you bothering me or my family ever again. If you do, I'll make you beg for a quick death. Is that clear?"
Everyone nodded silently and Killua let go of the man he was currently holding. He stumbled away in fear and stepped in between his buddies, who were still frozen in fear. Killua crouched to get a hold of the grocery bag and then he stepped away from them, a frown on his face.
Well, so much for going unnoticed in this place.
- Time skip -
"I cannot believe you." Hayuri growled as she sat on the dining table, a hand on her tea mug and the other rubbing her temples. "You know that the whole idea of staying in this ridiculously small town was not raising any suspicion?"
"I know." Killua crossed his arms as he looked out the window at the starry night sky. "But you haven't gotten this kind of treatment before in here. I don't want to any of us to be looked down upon like that, but I also don't think it's fair if I start acting like one of them just to be left alone. We cannot live like this either."
"Yes, but did you really need to fucking hit them and threaten them while showing off your bloodlust?"
"Well, things got out of hand." Killua scratched the back of his head and sighed. "I'm sorry. Anyways, I don't believe that word will go out to major cities because of this."
"I guess." Hayuri sighed and then she looked up again with a smug smirk plastered on her face. "But anyways, I think that you put the three of us in danger. So, you need to make it up."
"Really?" Killua said while raising his eyebrows with an equally complacent expression and leaning forward so that his nose was only a palm away from hers. "What should my punishment be?"
"Well, I have a couple-" Hayuri started with a purr, but didn't get to finish.
"Hey! Not in the kitchen! There's a reason you have a room of your own!" a voice rang from the living room.
Killua and Hayuri straightened and a light blush crept on their faces. They had completely forgotten about Laila's presence. It was the third time that they had spoken in a sexually provocative manner in a common room while she was in the house. Hayuri leaned closer to Killua and whispered on his ear, sending shivers down his spine.
"I'll show you how you can make it up to me. Come." She said, her breath tickling Killua's neck, and pulled him through a door, closing it behind her quietly. Killua chuckled and groped her butt in a playful manner. She turned around and circled his neck with her arms. "You can't seem to wait until I close the door."
"How do you expect me to, when you make such a suggestion and then walk away, while showing off your ass?" Killua said and his arms traveled up and down her back.
"I wasn't showing it off." Hayuri mumbled into his neck.
"Well, I guess it was showing itself off. There's not much you can't do about it when you wear such revealing shorts." Killua smirked and his hand trailed up her leg and inside her shorts."
"Well, maybe we can fix that if you take them off." She said and moved to his lips. Not a minute later, they had engaged in a passionate kissing and were removing their clothes.
- Time skip -
Hayuri smiled as she watched Yamato open up another drawer in their bedroom, taking out everything that he found inside and curiously observing it; sheets, clothing, hygiene products, pencils, and so on. He was too curious about everything, a glint of intelligence in his eye as he examined it, probably trying to find out what it was for. Hayuri smiled as she bent down next to him and pointed to the pencil in his hands.
"This is a pencil. You can use it on paper and draw or write. Here, look." She said and showed him how to use it. His eyes widened in recognition and he giggled cutely. "Try it."
The baby boy clumsily too the pencil out of her grasp and tried to draw something on the paper. After a couple tries he managed to make a couple lines and smiled with contempt. Hayuri sat down next to him and look out the window, watching the sun enter the room and lighting up the bed.
"-ady" Hayuri perked up at the sound and turned to look at her son.
"What?"
"Addy-." The boy repeated.
"You want to see your daddy?" she rephrased for him and he smiled, meaning that it was exactly what he meant.
"Yeah, me too." Hayuri smiled softly. "Your daddy had been working these past few days, but he will come home soon. Okay?"
Yamato looked into her eyes, making her wonder if he understood what she had said to him, and then went back to making drabbles on the sheet.
Hayuri sighed and looked down at her hands as she scrubbed them for warmth. After the little incident with the group of men a couple months ago, their employer had fired them. Just like that. He had made up a lame excuse and said that he was terribly sorry, but couldn't have them work in his shop anymore. Of course they knew that either word had gone out about Killua's outburst in the street or the group of men had decided to make an indirect move against them. Either way, they had lost their job. And they were running low on cash. After a long talk, they had decided that it would be hard to find another one on such short notice. Also, they had been doing things that were not what they were experts at; they were pro-hunters after all. So, in the end, they decided to start taking missions every now and then to get some cash. They had agreed that until Yamato was a little older, Killua would be the one taking missions. The first time he had gone out to do them had been three months ago, just after getting fired. He had been out for four days - two days of traveling and two days of working – and the amount he had made in that short amount of time would have been enough for them to last four or five months. Killua had gone out a second time, and he probably would come back any day now.
Hayuri was missing him so much. On one hand, taking care of a baby by herself all day and night was really tiring. She hadn't really noticed how much his help meant until he had been gone for more than a couple hours. She needed to take a break to just… think or take a walk by herself. Having Laila look after him while she took a shower was more than she could ask. Hayuri knew that the baby was not Laila's responsibility at all, so she never asked anything of her unless she herself offered to help.
On the other hand, she missed Killua himself. She missed talking to him, holding him, laughing with him. She missed the way his sapphire eyes shone with mischief every time he made a dirty joke or teased her. She missed the way his features would change whenever he was contempt, tired or smug - especially when he was being smug. Really, he was a smug bastard, something she had known from the beginning, and she couldn't help but be allured by that. She also missed his faults; him being an all-knowing person all the time and debating with her on whatever crossed their minds. Him getting angry at everyone for no reason; he never really did anything about that, but she couldn't help but chuckle remembering how he would furrow his brow at her teasing comments on him being a bitter old man.
Hayuri looked at Yamato as he put the pencil into his mouth and softly held his hand to stop him.
"Don't do that. It's toxic." She remarked and the kid simply dropped the pencil, already bored of it, and started looking into the drawer once again.
Hayuri wondered if Killua would be back soon, hoping that he would be back that day. She closed her eyes for a couple seconds and used En. Her En had a particularity; it was not a sphere as most nen users. Her En was like an octopus; it moved around the place in an irregular manner, which helped her reach much further than she normally would. On the other hand, it didn't allow her to get a clear grasp at her surrounding; it just served her to make a general mental map of the situation. Hayuri allowed her En to move around town, which reached a little past its outskirts, and searched for Killua's familiar presence. She sensed Laila on the living room, Yamato next to her, and other familiar presences that walked around on the streets.
She grinned widely when she found that Killua was walking down the street towards their home, and praised her intuition for making her use that ability. She was definitely going to go out with Yamato and surprise him before he got home. Maybe they could even pull a little prank on him; it was hilarious how he would always-
Hayuri abruptly stopped, her senses suddenly more aware than they had ever been for over a year. She sensed something that made her stomach drop and a knot to build in her throat. Not too far behind Killua, but far enough for not even him be able to realize it, were two strong presences. They were using an almost perfect Zetsu, which meant that if she hadn't used En, she would've never noticed them. The first presence made Hayuri wince, since she clearly recognized its usual murderous intent; it was Hisoka. However, the second one was far more terrifying. She had never met this person, but it's ruthless, calculating and cold demeanor helped her immediately pinpoint who it was. Illumi.
Hayuri opened her eyes frantically, watching her baby boy giggle again as he picked a shiny bracelet from the drawer. She had always known that they would be in danger going out to major cities to work. Killua had told her all about Illumi and they had agreed that he was resourceful enough to find them in almost any circumstances.
Hayuri's mind almost went overdrive, but managed to calm down and stopped for a couple seconds to think. Her En was completely irregular, so even though both men had certainly sensed her, they didn't have a way of finding out her current location. Nonetheless, this was a tiny settlement, and they would probably get to them soon enough. On the other hand, how come the both of them new each other? If going against Illumi would've been hard, going against both Illumi and Hisoka would be more than they would probably be able to take. She needed to lure the both of them out of town and keep them away as much as she could.
Hayuri sat next to Yamato and, after making sure her voice would be calm and collected, she spoke.
"Hey." She said and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm going out for a while. I'll call Laila to watch over you for a while, all right?"
"Aila." Yamato answered with a smile. Hayuri looked into his eyes and she found herself lost for a couple seconds in his huge green and innocent eyes. She held him close for a second, breathed in his baby scent and kissed him on the forehead.
Hayuri took a deep breath in, knowing that she didn't have any time to lose, and stood up quickly. She opened the door to the living room and felt how her heart sped as she walked into it. She found Laila reading a book on the couch and walked to her.
"Laila." She started with a shaky voice this time and the older woman immediately looked up, noticing that something was wrong. "There are two strong assassins heading our way. Killua is a couple blocks away too, but probably hasn't noticed anything yet. I need to find him and take them out before they get here. Please watch over Yamato for me."
"Of course." Laila said with a slightly frightened expression and stood up hastily. She was about to enter the bedroom to find Yamato, but stopped midway and turned around to face Hayuri once again. "You will come back, right?"
Hayuri didn't know what to say to her. She should've lied to make sure that she wouldn't worry, but what if they didn't? What if they got killed? What would she do with their son? Would she come back here and be exposed to Illumi if he remained alive?
"Listen. I don't know if we will. The both of them are really strong. Really, really strong." She took a deep breath in and continued. "I want you to wait ten minutes and then leave town with Yamato. Take the money we have – you know where we keep it – and go to Kandia. Let's meet at the town square in two days. If we don't get in touch with you in a week, you can assume the worst… If that's the case and you cannot look after Yamato, you can take him to Killua's family. They'll take care of him... kind of. You shouldn't come back here for a while anyways. It'll be dangerous."
Laila stayed quiet for a couple seconds, looking at the ground and clenching her fists at her sides.
"Laila, I'm sorry to ask this of you. I'm so sorry. You don't deserve to be in this situation. But I have no one else-"
"Stop. Don't say sorry. You're like a daughter to me, all right? We are a family." She stopped for a couple seconds. "I won't have to take care of him, because I'm certain that you will come back. Neither of you would leave this child to be an orphan; you both love him too much. You do everything in your power to make sure that you come back. That at least one of you does."
Hayuri said nothing and smiled at how lucky she was for having someone like Laila. She nodded and watched her enter the bedroom where Yamato was in and start packing some clothing and diapers. Hayuri immediately walked out of the house and took a detour to get to where Killua was, to make sure they didn't notice where she had come from. She speed walked towards where he should've been by now, her hands trembling at her sides and her sense heightened - sensing everything and everyone around her.
Hayuri got to the main road and thanked that it was not too crowded. She took a couple steps towards the east and her eyes immediately fell on Killua, who was walking just a block away from her. She looked his way intently, waiting for his sharp senses to notice her attention. Of course he did and, in just a matter of seconds, their eyes had met. The happiness in his sapphire orbs immediately faded once he noticed the angst in Hayuri's eyes and the defensive stance in her body. He frowned and watched her with worry as they approached. When the distance between them dropped to zero, Hayuri started walking next to him. She kept her distance, acting as if they were only acquaintances, and talked to him with a straight face.
"You were followed." She mumbled, making sure that her lips wouldn't be read.
"Illumi." Killua growled and bit hard on his inner cheek, drawing blood.
"Not just him. Hisoka too." Hayuri said and she watched confusion in Killua's expression, but he professionally masked it in a matter of seconds.
"We need to lure them out. Yamato is safe, I assume."
"With Laila; she will be leaving with him in eight minutes. We need to keep them away until then."
Killua nodded, immediately agreeing with her plan. He knew that it would be suspicious for them to take a turn right now, but if they didn't they would get dangerously close to their home and further into the center of the town. As if they had somehow verbally agreed on it, both turned left on the next corner. They had only taken a couple steps towards the smaller street, when they felt their alarm bells go off. Both jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being pierced by needles and cards. They watched as the whole street suddenly froze and observed in shock at the two unknown men that suddenly appeared in front of the two residents. Not only the anonymous figures were leaking with bloodlust, but the silver-haired and the brunette were too. It was clear that whatever was going on, it would probably not end too well.
"I must praise you, Kil. You managed to hide from me for almost two years." Illumi's mouth turned into a dead and cold smile. "However, it is time that you face your destiny. Which is most definitely not this one. I know that you will not simply oblige peacefully, so let's just get this over with."
And, after those words were spoken, all hell broke loose.
A/N: Well, I gotta say this chapter took a little longer than usual, because 1. I had a writer's block, and 2. I didn't have much time to think it all through. I hope that you enjoyed it though. Next chapter will be thrilling and action filled. I'm already looking forward to it.
MadokaMagica1998: Thank you for reviewing every time! Really. I motivates me to know that I have a couple loyal readers :')