"I'll not be able to attend Killua's birthday party." Kurapika sighed, sitting down on the couch beside him. "I'm sorry but I have work to do. It was hard enough to find time for this meeting."

"Seriously, Kurapika?" Leorio frowned. "And what does that work include, huh? Blackmailing more people?"

Kurapika sucked in a sharp breath. "Yes." His eyes grew foggy. "Perhaps it does."

"Kurapika." Leorio shifted closer to him. "Kurapika, look at me."

"I--"

"Just do it."

Kurapika slowly raised his eyes to his.

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe your clan would have never wanted you to turn out like this? Really, if someone else had survived instead of you, would you have wanted this path for them?" Leorio took his friend by the shoulders. "Be truthful."

"I wish..." Kurapika lowered his gaze once more. "I wish the Spiders killed me too. So I could die with them in peace."

"Kurapika." Leorio's voice softened. "That's... that's a normal thought, you know. Sometimes, when it gets so hard, I start wishing the same. That doesn't mean it's okay though."

"Nothing's okay, Leorio. Nothing." A stary tear trickled down his cheek, dripping onto the cheap leather of the couch. "Everything's so screwed. I'm so screwed. If only I would have killed the Spiders back in York New City I-- it would have been so much better. If the fucking Spiders hadn't killed my clan in the first place, everything would have been so fucking better."

"You can't change the past, Kurapika. But you can change the future. I want you to--"

"There's nothing left for me." Kurapika lashed out, getting up to turn away from him. "Nothing." His breath came out in irregular gasps. "My clan is dead. And soon, I'll die too. That's it--"

I'm here for you, Leorio wanted to scream, yet nothing came out. Instead, he felt a sudden heat of emotion in his chest. Sadness? Anger? Rushing forward, he grabbed Kurapika and pinned him to the wall with a kiss. Hard. Angry. Compassionate.

As the shock passed away, Kurapika shoved him back. "No." He whispered, wiping his lips with trembling hands.

Leorio suddenly felt ashamed. "I just--"

"Get out." Kurapika whispered, shaking his head as he struggled to breathe. "Leave."

"Kurapika, just listen to me--"

"Fuck. Off."

With tight shaking fists, Leorio walked out of the hotel.

It had been a week since then, and Leorio couldn't stop thinking about it. He could barely sleep, tossing and turning all night-- thinking about what he could do for his friend-- or more than that? Was he more than that? Wasn't that just a hurried move? He had not truly meant the kiss part, had he?

The next morning, Leorio decided to quit running away from his problems. When dialling Kurapika's number didn't work, he drove back to the shabby hotel.

"Is Kurapika still registered in Room 203?"

The receptionist gave him a disgusted look. "Oh yea. Him. He's still here." Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the computer. "All I keep seeing from him are booze orders, booze orders, and booze orders." She dramatically counted on her fingers.

Leorio fought the urge to punch her. Or punch anything in general. Especially Kurapika.

Running up to his room, he knocked on the door. "Open up, you idiot!" When that didn't work, he tried the handle of the door. Easily, it bowed down.

"Hey! Why the fuck is the door unlocked, huh?!" Leorio yelled, entering the room. "You even there?"

His gaze travelled through the gray cement walls, the empty couch, and the herd of empty cans and bottles covering the ground. "Seriously, you drank this much in just a week?"

"Gosh this place stinks." He muttered. Failing to find him in the kitchen and the bedroom, he moved to check the bathroom. And there he finallt found him, curled up on the floor beneath the sink.

"What the fuck?" Leorio cursed under his breath, instantly crouching down to check his pulse. Stable. He had only passed out.

As gently as possible, he carried Kurapika to the bed, laying him on his side. Just in case, he also placed a bucket near him.

While waiting for him to wake up, Leorio decided to start cleaning up the place. There was no room service-- guests were expected to clean up after themselves-- only a janitor down in the lobby, always to be found sitting in a corner and playing games on his phone. Borrowing a few supplies from him, Leorio got to work.

First, the collection of empty cans and bottles. Tying it all neatly-- along with some other trash-- in black plastic bags, he carried it out to the dumpster in the back of the building.

"Cleaning up for your friend?" The receptionist rolled her eyes as he passed by. "Oh, how sweet. Or did he just call you over for a clean up?"

"None of your business, hag." Leorio rolled his eyes back at her.

The receptionist smirked.

When he got back up, he found a puddle of vomit underneath Kurapika's face. Cursing himself for ever leaving him alone, he began wiping away at his face and hair. Once satisifed, he carried him over to lie down on the couch instead.

He took off the bedsheet to wash in the sink, wiped the mattress, and continued his flow. After vacuuming the place, helping the unconscious Kurapika throw up once more, and a few smaller chores; Leorio finally settled down on the floor against the couch, feeling quite pleased with himself... but also, hungry.

"Alright, I'll just order takeout." Leorio mumbled to himself.

"Hungry." A weak voice replied back.

Leorio smiled, turning around to face him. "Finally awake now, huh?"

"Leorio..." Kurapika whispered, barely able to even keep his eyes open. "... I'm sorry."

Leorio felt his chest tighten. "We can talk about it later. Do you want some water?"

Kurapika slowly nodded.

By the time Leorio returned from the kitchen, Kurapika had pulled himself together enough to sit up, albeit still needing support from the backrest.

"Drink up."

With a small nod, Kurapika took the glass in his shaking hands. Leorio watched carefully as Kurapika drank it, ready to catch the glass during a potential slip of hands.

Kurapika returned the glass and curled up further into himself, anticipating another argument.

Instead, Leorio gently prompted. "Do you want to talk?"

Kurapika stared at his knees. "Maybe."

"Okay." Taking a deep breath Leorio sat down beside him, further away than he'd have liked. But he should give him space. "So... to be blunt, I think you should stop with your whole mission and find something better to do with your life. Thoughts?"

Kurapika back bowed further, nose touching the knees. "It'd be a betrayal." He whispered.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, and get this in your head, it's not your fault. It's not your fault the Spiders did what they did. Even if you were with them at the time, you would not have been able to save them. Yeah?"

Kurapika suddenly looked angry. "Yeah? What, yeah? You're doing the exact same thing I am-- dedicating your life to lost loved ones. You're only working so hard to be a doctor because you feel guilty about letting your friend die."

"You're wrong."

"No."

"Yes." Leorio clenched his hands into a tight fist, digging them into his thighs. "There's a huge difference between what I'm doing and what you are. You wanna know? Sure. You're avenging the dead while I'm making sure what happened doesn't happen again. If I would be going for revenge like you are, I would have been trying to kill the doctors or politicians or whoever due to whom my friend wasn't able to get medical attention. But instead, I'm going to be a doctor. I'm going to be a good change in the world. It's a much less selfish cause than yours is."

"What now..." Kurapika's eyes dimmed. "You expect me to do what then? Be a bounty hunter? That's no better--"

"You're missing my point, Kurapika. If you really wanna deal with your guilt, you should do it in a healthy way. Being a bounty hunter isn't a healthy way either, at least for you. You could... you could maybe help conserve other small clans like yours?" Leorio smiled, proud of his own ideas. "Yeah yeah yeah! You could totally do that, Kurapika! It won't be easy to let go of your habits but won't it be a much better way to honor their memory?"

"...and the scarlet eyes? I should just let them stay in their dirty hands? And the Spiders... they should just- just roam around freely?"

"No."

"Then-"

"You will do all of that too. But not alone, Kurapika. Never alone again. We'll figure something out. There's Gon and Killua too. I bet they're way stronger now. We could add more people in the group. It'd work out, I promise. We'll do both the Spiders and scarlet eyes thing, and the clan saving thing. Just don't- just don't drift away."

"I don't want to involve-"

"Kurapika, we're friends. That's what friends do!"

Kurapika closed his eyes, taking a deep shaky breath. "Just friends?" He turned to look at him, a small smile on his lips.

"Is that- is that a... yes?"

Kurapika's smile widened and that was all the confirmation Leorio needed.

[A/N: Poof I'm back into writing. I was about to write 'Leopika if you squint' in the summary but hey isn't this better :3 Idk what else to sayy uhh the author's note shouldn't be this short, right? Right?]