It was an agreed upon brother-sister tradition for Killua and Alluka to meet up for lunch every time their schedules opened up simultaneously. It wasn't a common occurrence, and Killua hadn't seen his beloved sister in person for two entire months.

Their reunions were the only thing keeping Killua going some days.

"Why'd you drag me to such a fancy-assed restaurant?" Killua complained. "How do you expect me to pay for this shit?"

"You don't have to pay anything, big brother~" Alluka taunted.

Killua grumbled, but backed down. In actuality, he was relieved that Alluka was paying. He wasn't exactly made of money at the moment. In fact, he was pretty much broke until his next paycheck would finally come in.

It had always been Alluka's dream to move to Yorknew City. She'd wanted nothing more than to leave home and their psycho family. When the time had come for Killua to apply for college, he'd applied for Yorknew University and Yorknew University alone. He'd refused to consider any other options.

His parents had given him hell, but he hadn't given a damn.

Alluka's dream was to live in Yorknew City, and there was no way in hell Killua was letting her chase her dreams all on her own! Alluka was one year younger than Killua, and once she graduated high school she followed him to Yorknew University to live out her dreams.

Only problem was, Alluka had the audacity to drop out!

Yeah! She fucking dropped out!

And you know why she dropped out?! Because she was offered her dream job!

Killua didn't understand how his sister managed to be so fucking lucky, but she'd happened to meet the daughter of a luxury clothing designer at a school event. From there she'd been introduced to Biscuit Krueger, and had somehow managed to convince the old hag to hire her full time at her boutique.

So yeah. Alluka had dropped out, and abandoned Killua at Yorknew University.

Jerk.

He'd moved off campus at the beginning of his sophomore year so he could live closer to Alluka, who lived in one of the luxury apartments over Bisky's boutique.

Killua had been utterly betrayed by his sister. How dare she follow her dreams and separate herself from him! Do you know how hard it is for a full time clothing designer and an overworked college student to have overlapping free time?! Well it was once in a blue moon! Killua would never stop giving Alluka shit over it, but she knew that he was just being dramatic.

He was proud of his sister, so incredibly proud of her. Alluka was living her best life, and making a shit ton of money right out of high school. She was set for life working for Bisky, and now all Killua had to do was make sure he got a job in Yorknew City after he graduated. He and Alluka would never have to deal with their parents' shit ever again, and they'd live happily ever after.

Or at least, that's what Killua thought.

It was all completely perfect, that was, until Alluka gave him the news.

"So, have you run into Gon at all?" Alluka asked mischievously.

Killua choked on his water, "Uh, no, and I'm glad!"

Alluka and Killua told each other everything, so of course he'd informed her his every waking thought involving Gon. However, Killua was starting to get the feeling that he might regret being so open with Alluka.

She'd latched onto this wacky fantasy of him and Gon getting together, and she clearly was not going to let go.

It was embarrassing, and completely uncalled for!

"That's so sad! How are you going to fall in love with your prince?!" Alluka whined.

"Stop."

"He kissed you on the stroke of midnight!"

"I swear to god–"

"-Your heart longs for him, brother, it longs!"

"There is no 'longing' going on here!" Killua argued. "He's just some dumb ass! Stop obsessing over him! I met him completely by chance, and I'll likely never see him again!"

"You go to the same university. You're in the same year. And you both love chocolate!"

"Where did you get that idea?" Killua retorted.

Alluka grinned a cat-like grin as she twirled fettuccine noodles onto her fork, "He got a mocha frappuccino! And two chocolate chip cookies! He's definitely a chocolate lover!"

Killua pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sometimes I wonder why I tell you things."

"It's because you're hopeless without me~"

Killua scoffed, "If anything my life would be more enjoyable without having to suffer through harrassment every single fucking day."

"You flatter me," Alluka purred.

Killua rolled his eyes. "I'm changing the subject. Tell me what you've been up to. How's the Christmas line coming along?"

"It's going great!" Alluka exclaimed, her eyes lighting up the second Killua gave her an opening to gush about her job. "I'd been unsure what to do with the evening gown, and then I thought, 'duh,' add glitter! So I added gold glitter! And then I made this incredible white feathered boa and sprinkled it with the gold glitter too! Here, I've gotta show you!"

Alluka slipped her phone out of her pocket, and pulled up a picture of an elegant red gown sparkling with golden glitter. Killua leaned across the table to look, wrinkling his nose in distaste at how Christmasy it was.

"It's giving Mrs. Claus!" Alluka squealed.

Killua gagged.

Alluka stuck her tongue out at him. "You're such a scrooge!"

"I'm an atheist."

"Atheism has nothing to do with it! You can be an atheist and still celebrate Christmas!"

"I don't think you understand what Christmas is, dear sister."

"I'm not really that religious either, but I still get presents for all my friends and do all the fun activities! It's about the experience, Killua!"

"An eXpEriEnCe dedicated to pouring more money into big corporations."

"Stop being such a buzzkill!" Alluka ordered, leaning across the table to aggressively rustle Killua's hair. "That's not what Christmas is about!"

Killua rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever."

"One day you'll see!" Alluka threatened, waving her fork around in an attempt to be intimidating. "One day, Christmas will take you down with it! Someone will show you what it's all about, and you won't be able to resist!"

"Over my dead body. What else is new?"

"Dick," Alluka muttered. She sighed, and ran her hands through her mass of silky black hair. "Well, there is something that I need to talk to you about."

"Oh yeah?" Killua asked through a mouthful of garlic bread. "Do tell."

Alluka rolled her eyes at his horrible table manners. "Have some class, brother, we're in a nice restaurant!"

"It's the 21st century, Alluka, professionalism is dead!"

The young woman sighed melodramatically, knowing that Killua was beyond hopeless. The silver haired menace snickered at this, he worked hard to keep up his reputation!

"Well, like I was saying, there is something important I need to tell you."

Killua made a "continue" motion with his fork.

Alluka bit her lip, and fooled with her skirt under the table. "I have a boyfriend."

The sun may as well have fucking exploded for the way Killua reacted.

He spat his food out all over the table and almost fell out of his chair.

"WHAT?!" Killua shrieked, making Alluka wince at the noise and turning several bystanders' heads.

"Brother, keep it down!" Alluka hissed, waving apologetically at their fellow restaurant-goers.

"Keep it down?! What the fuck do you mean, how can I keep it down when some NEANDERTHAL is trying to get in your pants?!"

"Killua!" Alluka shushed, shooting across the table to slap her hand over his mouth.

"WHO THE FUCK–"

Alluka slapped him upside the head.

Killua checked his volume and then continued, "Who the fuck is this asshole?! I need to meet him right fucking now! What's his name?! Where's he live?! I'm gonna kill him–"

"Brother! Calm down, god!" Alluka scolded, shooting out of her chair for the second time to grab Killua's wrist and stop him from turning the entire city upside down.

The silver haired male sat begrudgingly back down, but did not calm himself in the slightest. "Alluka, where the fuck did this come from?! Why do you suddenly need a boyfriend?! You're a strong, independent woman, why the fuck have you chained yourself down to appease some random man?! You have me! You don't need another man in your life!"

Alluka grumbled and massaged the bridge of her nose. She then steepled her hands and pointed them at Killua, "Killua. You're my brother. I'm allowed to associate with other guys!"

"No you're not!" Killua all but whined.

"You're not my boss! Bisky is the only person on this planet that I take orders from! And you know what? She approves of him!"

Killua gasped, utterly offended. "You introduced this dickhead to your boss but not your brother?! Alluka! How could you!"

"Because I knew you'd react this way! I needed to make sure he was capable of putting up with my psycho brother without having a stroke and dying!"

"If he dies then his fate is sealed!"

"Killua. You are not going to kill my boyfriend."

"Oh yes the fuck I am!"

Alluka took a deep breath, she was the only one preventing this from turning into a screaming match. "Killua."

"What?"

"I'm eighteen years old."

"Yeah."

"I'm an adult."

"Yeah."

"I have a professional career, and I live and support myself entirely on my own."

"Yeah."

"I have a boyfriend, and that's none of your fucking business."

"Alluka!" Killua gasped, "You can't say those words!"

The raven haired girl rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Killua had a mouth worse than a sailor. Hypocrite.

"Brother, my boyfriend's name is Zushi, and he's an absolute sweetheart. He accepts me for being trans, and he's the human equivalent of a labrador retriever."

"So he's smelly, heavy, and eats his own shit?"

Alluka gave her difficult brother a look of pure acid.

Killua felt himself shrinking in his chair.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Thank you," Alluka said. "As I was saying, I really like him and I want to introduce the two of you– but before you freak out and start planning a murder! You have to promise you'll be normal."

Killua scoffed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what and who I'm talking about–"

"-He had a look about him, Alluka! A look!"

"Well what about Retz?! What did she do wrong?!"

"Be a bitch! That's what she did wrong!"

"You made her cry! You scared her so badly she moved to a different state!"

"That's an exaggeration! She moved out to help her mom with her brother!"

Alluka groaned in exasperation, "That's not the point! The point is that you try to murder every partner I introduce you to! And I really think Zushi's the one, so you're gonna be a civilized older brother and treat him kindly!"

Killua gasped in horror, "No."

"Yes," Alluka corrected.

"You can't be serious!" Killua whined, dragging his hands down his face.

"I'm dead serious, and you're just gonna have to accept that!"

"I– I– I refuse."

"Big brother, you are going to meet Zushi tonight and that's final!"

"Tonight?! Who said anything about tonight?! You can't just tell me this the day of! I need time to plan his–"

"-His murder?! Yeah! That's exactly why I'm giving you no time in advance! That would give you time to prepare, and you're not scaring Zushi away!"

Killua glared at Alluka, and Alluka glared right back.

He gazed into his sister's raging eyes, eyes that were a perfect match to his own. Determination swirled in those cerulean depths, Alluka wasn't backing down. Killua could see it in her eyes: she cared about Zushi, and she wanted to show Killua the relationship she'd found.

Killua sighed, and slouched so low in his chair that only his eyes could be seen over the table. "Fine," he muttered.

"What?" Alluka asked, blinking in disbelief.

"I said fine!" Killua complained. "I'll meet the guy."

"Really?! And you'll be nice?!"

"Yeah, I'll be nice or whatever."

"Yay! Thank you, big brother, I love you!"

Killua rolled his eyes, already beginning to compose his rage-text to inform Ikalgo about this development.

"I'm so happy!" Alluka squealed. "I'll tell you what the plan is!"

"There's a whole plan?" Killua whined.

"Yup!" Alluka chirped. "You and I are going to meet Zushi at Central Park! They just finished putting up the huge Christmas tree this afternoon, and we're gonna go see the lights together! It'll be so cute! I even bought a new outfit for you so we'll all be matching for the Instagram pictures!"

"We're documenting this online?! Whyyyyyyyyy–"

"-Because this will be the start of a life lasting relationship! Once you and Zushi meet we'll be official! And besides, I am a clothing designer, so I'll be exploiting your pretty face at any given opportunity~"

Killua rolled his eyes so hard they hurt, and slouched so far that only the crown of his fluffy white hair could be seen. He continued to type his essay to Ikalgo.

"Oh yeah! There's one more thing!"

"There's more?" Killua bitched.

"Zushi's bringing his roommate with him too!"

Killua sat up so he could meet Alluka's eyes over the table. "His roommate? Why?"

"Zushi goes to Yorknew University just like you do! Him and his roommate are super close, they're like brothers! His roommate wants to meet me, just like you wanna meet Zushi. Also it's probably in his best interest to bring some protection along."

Killua rolled his eyes and slouched so far that none of him could be seen from over the table. "Whatever, I don't have much of a choice in the matter, now do I?"

"Nope!" Alluka chirped.

Killua had to admit. The whole protection thing was a good strategy. Killua would fight Zushi if given the opportunity. However, the whole roommate situation was pissing him off. Why was Zushi bringing his fucking roomate as if his roomate was on the same level of importance as Killua? Alluka's older brother? Seemed stupid to him.

But again, he didn't have any say in the matter, now did he?

…

That night, Killua trudged alongside Alluka down the sidewalk in Central Park.

"Haven't you been pouting long enough?" Alluka asked.

"No," Killua answered.

Alluka sighed in exasperation, and then held her phone up and over the two of them, snapping a quick picture.

"What was that for?" Killua asked.

"I'm Snapping Zushi! Letting him know we're on the way."

Killua frowned over Alluka's shoulder at her phone, which displayed a photo of herself smiling cheerfully into the camera and Killua beside her looking like he wanted to kill someone. Oh, and then there was the filter that placed little golden sparkles all over their cheeks and noses. Ah yes, glitter and a grimace of contemplative murder. That encompassed Killua's mood with the utmost accuracy.

The silver haired grump felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and drew it out to find a Snap from Ikalgo. He opened it up, finding a selfie of Ikalgo and Chrollo in the drive through at Beanz.

"Bro?!" was typed across the middle of the screen.

Killua took a picture of himself staring blank-faced into the camera. "Kill me," he typed, and positioned the bar of text so it rested over his bangs. He sent the picture and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Alluka had dressed him in a white, trench-style coat with shiny black buttons. It didn't have a hood, because Alluka had told him that she didn't want him hiding in his coat when he was supposed to be socializing. She'd also given him a pair of black leather leggings, which he hadn't been sure about at first, but he actually loved. Especially with the white leather boots; they were fabulous.

If there was anything in it for Killua in having a clothing designer as a sister, it was that she always gave him a bunch of free shit. It was great!

Alluka herself was wearing a shorter, more feminine version of Killua's coat, with a black knee-length skirt and plaid patterned fishnet tights. Her shoes were absolutely adorable: lace up black leather boots. Killua was already crafting a scheme to steal them from her closet the next time he visited. Finally, Alluka was wearing a pair of fluffy white earmuffs.

Killua's sister was a literal angel. He'd murder anyone who said otherwise.

He had to admit, whatever this "aesthetic" she'd been going for was really working with all the Christmas lights they'd strung about in the park. Every tree had a swirl of lights around the trunk, with every leafless branch dripping with more lights, making them look like ethereal willows.

The bushes were covered in lights, and so was every street light and the back of every bench. It was a Christmas-lit garden, with the frigid air stained in gold and puffs of white breath. It hadn't snowed yet this winter, but Killua was certain that snow would make this whole spectacle even more beautiful.

Killua didn't like Christmas all that much, but he had to admit that he was enjoying the lights in the park. What can he say? It was really pretty!

Alluka led Killua around a bend in the path, leading them to the center of the park, with the huge fountain and the center of the show: the 100 foot tall christmas tree. Killua craned his neck to take in the gargantuan thing. It was a fake tree, but the needles looked real as ever. The branches were choked through with lights and red ribbons, and the star at the top flashed to a lazy, programmed rhythm.

The fountain in the center of the square hadn't been turned off for the year yet, and the water reflected the inky night atmosphere and the golden pinpricks of the millions of little lights. Damn. Alluka was right, it was really fucking beautiful out here.

Killua's only complaint would be how crowded the square was. It seemed like everyone and their mother had decided to come visit the tree on its first night on the job.

He turned to Alluka to ask which of these douches was Zushi, but found Alluka squealing a happy little squeal and already darting off into the crowd.

Killua swallowed his groan of annoyance, and turned to follow his sister. He walked grumpily along after Alluka, ready to murder Zushi with his eyes. He hadn't been shown a picture yet, and Alluka had forbidden him from stalking him on social media. Who was this guy Alluka was so obsessed over?

"Zushi!" the raven haired girl cheered, and Killua narrowed his eyes to hone in on the guy she was suddenly running towards.

Killua's first impression: he looks like a scrawny little pussy.

His mood began to darken, even though Zushi didn't seem intimidating, douchy, or too heterosexual. Killua pinned him as likely bi, which was acceptable. Zushi was a skinny little guy, just barely taller than Alluka. He had scruffy brown hair and bronze skin. It seemed that Alluka had given Zushi a dress code as well, for he'd been put in a pair of black jeans and a white hoodie.

As Killua judged Zushi's greeting with Alluka, he had to give the guy a few points. The second he turned and laid eyes on Alluka, his face lit up in this joyous grin. He saw her running up to him, and immediately opened his arms up to catch her in a cuddly hug.

Okay. So Zushi wasn't an… entirely… horrible… dick of a human.

God, that was hard to choke out! And it wasn't even out loud!

Now, who was Zushi's roommate? The guy that just had to come along?

Killua walked over to his sister and her boyfriend, immediately pinning his eyes on another future in black pants and a white coat. Just as Killua was arriving at the edge of the reunion, Zushi's roommate turned around from where he'd been taking pictures of the Christmas tree, and Killua was met with a pair of fire-colored eyes.

NO–

Killua froze in his tracks, because this was NOT happening a-fucking-gain!

"Gon?!" "Killua?" the two of them said in unison, Killua sounding horrified and Gon sounding shocked but pleasantly surprised.

The look of devious pleasure in Alluka's eyes when she whipped around to see if she'd heard right would haunt Killua's nightmares for the rest of his life.

WHAT THE FU–

"Killua, you're Alluka's brother?" Gon gasped, with a growing grin on his face. "This is so crazy!" He gave an excited little hop. "Zushi! This is the guy from the coffee shop!"

"Guy from the coffee shop?" Killua found himself asking.

Alluka, on the other hand, was snapping her head from Gon to Killua and back again.

She was clearly having the absolute time of her life.

"Yeah! I was telling Zushi about this guy that I met that was a sophomore at Yorknew University with us! Isn't it such a small world?"

Killua did not join in with Gon's bout of laughter, because nothing about this was funny.

NOTHING!

"Yeah, I guess so," Zushi agreed timidly. He visibly swallowed and then stepped up to Killua and held out his hand. "My name is Zushi, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Killua took his outstretched hand, and made sure to clasp it just hard enough to intimidate. "Killua, nice to meet you too."

Zushi shook Killua's hand a couple of times, and then stepped back and motioned to Gon. "It seems two of you have already met, but Alluka, this is my roommate. Gon."

"Hello!" Gon chirped, giving a cheerful little wave.

Alluka grinned and waved right back. "Hello Gon! It's wonderful to finally meet you!"

Shit, shit–

Alluka threaded her arm through Killua's. "I'm so happy that we're all here together! It means so much that we can all get together and celebrate!"

"Yay! Trees!" Gon cheered, throwing his hands into the air and grinning like a fool.

"Exactly!" Alluka agreed with a twinkling laugh. "Come on, let's walk the trail and get to know each other better!"

I. Hate. My. Life.

…

And so the four of them walked the trail.

It was safe to say that Killua's entire game plan had been ruined.

The plan had been to subtly scare Zushi away from Alluka, but Killua had been too distracted by Gon to do a fucking thing!

This was SO horrible! Why the fuck was Gon Zushi's roomate?! What horrible world did Killua live in?! Here he was, the guy that Killua hadn't been able to get out of his head for the past week! Goddammit! Why Killua?! Why him?!

And why the fuck was he so on edge?!

He felt so awkward and trapped! He knew that Gon was right there, and that Gon had kissed him, and that Gon was always on his mind and now that they were being forced together with no escape route and Killua was being completely thrown off his scare-Alluka's-boyfriend game.

But! But.

Thank fuck for Zushi's existence, because thanks to him Killua was able to effectively ignore Gon's existence.

As they walked the trail, Alluka and Zushi walked hand in hand sandwiched between Gon and Killua. Killua walked on Alluka's side, and occupied most of his required socializing with Zushi. Gon walked on Zushi's side, and was boxed out of the conversation for the most part by Killua's interrogation.

Over the course of their "fun" little walk, Killua had learned some basic information about Zushi, and a little about Gon as well. He'd had to offer up some of his own personal information in exchange, but such was the price to pay in social negotiations such as this one.

They'd gone through the whole "what's your major?" conversation that Killua had partaken in far to many times to fucking count. Zushi was in pre-vet, Gon was in pre-software engineering, Killua was in pre-law, and Alluka had given her drop-out-dream-job story.

Killua, Alluka, and Zushi were all in-state students, and Gon had transferred from out-of-state just this semester, having taken his freshman year at his local community college while saving up the money he'd need to survive in Yorknew City.

Zushi really loved animals, sushi, and reading. He'd grown up in the country and had four dogs back at home. He was a black belt in taekwondo (Killua couldn't have been more shocked) and didn't know how to change a tire (Killua made fun of him for this until Alluka elbowed him hard enough to bruise). Killua had been correct about his hunch on Zushi's bi-ness, and Gon was just as accepting of Alluka being trans so there were no beat-downs in order (unfortunately).

All in all, it seemed that Alluka had found herself a chill, cuddly little dude. It seemed that he really was the human equivalent of a labrador retriever. And guess what?! Killua didn't entirely hate him! He could tolerate his presence at Alluka's side without experiencing the burning urge to rip him in half!

So far, Killua had been able to get by without looking Gon in the eye once or talking directly to him at all! Victories all around! Unfortunately, Alluka had other ideas.

Once the four of them finished their walk of the trail and arrived back at the Christmas tree, Alluka locked elbows with Zushi and pulled the two of them out of line to stand before Gon and Killua.

"Me and Zushi are gonna go ride in one of the horse drawn carriages together!" Alluka announced. Killua narrowed his eyes. What? What was this about? The horse drawn carriage rides were on the other side of the park and only available for two people at a time, what was Alluka trying to pull here?

"This little double date is fun and all-" Killua almost had a stroke when Alluka said this, "-But this is Zushi and I's only chance to go out for the next several days cause of my work, so would you mind if we split up for an hour or two?"

Zushi took notice of Killua's darkening look, and was looking more and more terrified by the second. He subconsciously leaned against Alluka's shoulder in an attempt to hide. Alluka, on the other hand, fixed Killua with her practiced angel-face.

It was like a puppy-face, but infinite times more powerful.

Killua wanted to say no. But– But he was not capable of defeating Alluka's angelic power.

No, she couldn't do this! Was she seriously trying to leave Killua alone with Gon?! She couldn't do this! This was the highest of betrayals! If Alluka and Zushi left then Killua would actually have to acknowledge Gon's presence! He couldn't do that! She couldn't do this!

"Of course we don't mind!" Gon answered, beating Killua to the punch. "You guys have fun! Me and Killua will just have to entertain ourselves until you get back!"

"Yay! Thank you Gon, you're such a sweetheart!" Alluka cooed, skipping up to the amber eyed male and pinching his cheeks like he was some sort of toddler. The guy just giggled, and Killua swore that he was wriggling like a puppy. What the fuck. He was– he was practically glowing, how was he human?!

"You guys have fun!" Gon cheered as Alluka and Zushi swiftly retreated, though more accurately Alluka retreated and pulled the helpless Zushi along after her.

"You too! Take good care of my brother!" Alluka cried back as she and Zushi vanished into the crowd.

Killua opened his mouth in one last ditch attempt to worm himself out of this situation, but his traitorous sister and her spineless boyfriend were already well out of earshot. The silver haired male watched Alluka and Zushi disappear into the crowd, an anxiety crawling to life in the hollow of his gut.

Goddammit! What am I supposed to do now?! I hate this!

Now it's just me and…

"Aw, they're so cute together!" Gon sighed as he watched Alluka and Zushi slip out of sight. Killua glanced up at the guy. He really did look happy for Zushi and Alluka. He seemed to care about Zushi a whole lot, and he'd clearly taken a liking to Alluka as well.

Watching the smile on Gon's lips grow, (and now that he was cornered with no hope of escape) Killua found himself wondering… curious.

Just who is this guy that kissed me under the mistletoe?