Chapter 8

When Killua awoke, Gon was gone. The bowl of stew that Killua had made (he had learned to cook a little with Alluka) and left out for Gon last night was empty. At least he ate… yesterday's planning session didn't really go as I had hoped, Killua thought. They had not spoken after Gon's apology. To be honest with himself, Killua was glad Gon had left before he woke up, his nen bond telling him that Gon was less than a mile to the north, he could relax a little. That was rather embarrassing, Killua reflected. I can't go round forgiving people when I know he'll do it again. He always was reckless. What was it he said? "It's my job to say crazy stuff. It's your job to stay cool and keep me in line."? I could accept that, until he ignored me and basically killed himself to defeat Pitou. Killua sat staring at the wall. I just need to get my sister back. Then he took a deep breath, got up, and left.

Gon was fishing. After waking and deciding he needed to clear his head, he had sniffed out a lake to the north. It hadn't taken him long to reach it.

"But I do."

Whispered so softly, yet it echoed deafeningly in his head on the walk over. When he got to the water, Gon let his mind go blank (which admittedly was quite easy), baited his hook, and cast off to where his experience and intuition told him would get a bite. Sure enough, a short while later he had a respectable pile next to him. He built a fire and began to clean and gut his catch when he detected that Killua was drawing near.

"Hello Killua!" He called out as the silver-haired boy approached. "I've started on breakfast."

Killua nodded and held up a bag. "I brought rice balls."

"Perfect!" Gon replied, "The fish will be ready soon."

"Gon, we need to talk." Killua stated as he sat down. "I need to know you're not going to be a liability; I need to trust you. And I'm not sure how I can do that, considering…" Killua let the sentence hang.

Gon nodded. He speared the prepared fish on a stick and set it to roast above the fire.

"Ging told me that when you apologise to a friend, you promise to do things differently next time. And to make sure I do, I told the Bondsmith to put a nen condition on me. If I ever betray you again, I'll die!" Gon said with a grin.

"You-" Killua spluttered. "Y-you did what?"

"OH! I'll also die if we don't get Alluka back within one year." Gon continued cheerfully, "we weren't sure about the time limit; I thought one year was too generous and tried to haggle."

"Wha-"

"I got him down to eight months at one point! But then he made a bet that I couldn't solve this riddle, and if I lost then we'd have to go back up…" Gon trailed off, "Killua?" he said questioningly.

Killua's mouth hung open. Eventually, he exploded.

"You… you… you MORON!" he shouted, but he couldn't hide the smile on his face or the laughter in his voice. "Just when I thought you couldn't get more reckless! Then you go and pull this! How did-"

Killua's voice faded into the background for Gon, as a wave of aura washed over him from his friend. Wow, Gon thought, what is this? It certainly wasn't anything he had felt off of Killua before. Gon basked in the feeling, and a soreness and pain he hadn't realised he was carrying melted off him. How long had that been there for? Gon thought, Since that day at the world tree? Before? Gon was not sure, but he felt better. It must have shown on his face.

"When did you even…" Now it was Killua's turn to trail off, "Gon?"

Gon blushed, "Oh! Errm, Killua? There's one more thing I need to tell you… I can tell your emotions through the aura you send me."

Killua went stone faced. He turned away from Gon, and the new aura suddenly went plain. Then he turned back, a cat-like look on his face.

"Aww, how did you do that?" asked Gon, somewhat disappointedly.

"Assassin trade secret." said Killua, sticking out his tongue.

Killua looked over at Gon as they ate their fish and rice by the side of the lake. I can't believe I didn't realise that I was doing it, Killua thought, So, so embarrassing. It had been easy enough to ensure that his emotions didn't leak once he knew that it was happening. He continued glancing Gon's way occasionally, until they caught each other's eyes and he had to stop. He finished his breakfast and stood up.

"Come on, we've got to go see a man about an octopus." said Killua as he started down the path.

" 'Kay" said Gon, uncharacteristically meekly.

"Ha!" said Killua, "You sound like Nanika. She always said that. Says that, I should say"

"Yeah?"

"Yep!" continued Killua, "And I'll tell her all about your similarities when I find her."

"Really?"

"Yep! When I find her…" Killua looked back with a teasing smile, "probably about a year from now I should reckon."

"Ahhh… A year from now, huh?" Gon said, "Are you sure we won't manage it a little sooner? Just a little? By a few days, maybe?"

"I suppose we might manage it, now you've stopped blacking out. No idea what was causing that, right?" Killua said with a wink.

"Not a clue." said Gon with a grin.

Killua had the decency to look a little sheepish. Then he stood up straight.

"Gon. Three nen users. Eleven o'clock. One-hundred and forty meters. Are you ready?"

Gon met his friend's gaze.

"I'm ready."

Author's note:

This chapter was a long time coming :)

As always, thanks for reading. More to follow!