Chapter six: Special Grade

Gon.

You… Are light.

For the longest time, Killua never truly understood what it meant to be in the light.

The pitch darkness in the shadow of his family took up every corner in his view, death followed him at his every turn, an eternal trade and in return, he swallowed the hate and kept it close. For the longest time, the hate was all he knew, it was his closest ally, the only friend he was allowed.

It wasn't until Killua took the Hunter's exam, it wasn't until Gon that he realized that where there is darkness, there is the dying of the light.

Gon… Sometimes, you shine so brightly, I have to look away.

It took meeting Gon, his best friend, his rock, a beam of salvation in this sea of darkness for Killua to realize a lot of things. That there was more to him than the absence of the light, that one day, maybe even Killua could provide some shelter one day, maybe even a person like him could provide the light instead of taking it away. Instead of watching it drain out of his target's eyes.

But even so, is it still okay if I stay by your side?

It wasn't even a choice, there was simply no other option. Killua would have paid any price demanded to preserve that light, to save Gon, even if it would have been greater than any other price he has ever paid before. Killua did it willingly, without hesitation, without remorse. He simply asked. He asked Nanika to save his best friend- to stop the dying of the light.

Maybe, one day, I'll be worthy enough to stand by your side…

Maybe, one day, we'll see each other again. Maybe, one day, I'll see the light again. I'll see you, Gon.

Killua would have paid any price it took to save Gon's life, to heal the absolute devastation that was left behind after Gon traded it all, his Everything, to kill Neferpitou. The aftermath was simply unacceptable, Gon lost sight of the light and darkness consumed his heart until there was nothing left but ash.

Gon's heart, Killua realized, was something he could not afford to lose. Gon's smile, Gon's joy, Gon's… Gon. He would have traded his life to save that smile, that joy- to save Gon.

How brightly do you shine now Gon, I wonder, without my shadow looming by your side?

Killua knows now that where there is darkness, there is the dying of the light. How long will it take without Gon's light to guide him, he wonders, until there is nothing left of him but the depths of his Hate?

"Killlllluuuaaaaaa-chan!" Gojo drags out his delighted exclamation, throwing open his bedroom door with complete disregard. "The sun is shining on this wonderful morning, the birds are singing, can't you hear them, Killua? Isn't it so beautiful, isn't it? Huh? Huh?"

Killua stares at the boisterous man with disinterest, sighing as he swings his legs over the side of the mattress and stands up. He didn't sleep at all last night, obviously, as if he could trust any of these jokers. Though it did give him some time to meditate, to appraise the curse withering in with his soul, threatening to barge out and bite at the nearest hand.

Killua lazily regards the man with waning patience, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Are you always this loud?"

Gojo merely smiles, crossing his arms as he leans against the doorway. He's wearing a familiar pair of round sunglasses, exactly alike to the ones Killua saw when he first met the sorcerer. "Are you always this boring? C'mon, lighten up, it's a brand new day and you're still alive! Now, are you ready to go? Are you ready to find out just what your amazing papa get's up to all day?"

"Go where?" Killua raises an eyebrow, but the man only keeps smiling, leaning away from his place at the doorway until he disappears around the bend.

With a roll of his eyes Killua follows Gojo's retreat out of his room. Maybe he really was finally going to learn more about curses, and cursed energy. Hopefully enough to cut this little adventure short, that and the masquerading around, pretending to go along with this idiot's idea that they're somehow related. This guy's attitude was seriously starting to get on his nerves.

"We will eventually get to introduce you around, get you sorted out with your new uniform, and such and such, all in good time. However, today…" Gojo abruptly pivots to face Killua. The grin on his face is wild as the man flashes his hands out at his sides and releases bunches of confetti into the air. "Bada-da-da! You have your first official mission!"

Killua watches the colorful paper wilt to the floor, blank faced. First mission already, huh?

Gojo huffs, blowing up his bangs and shaking loose a piece of confetti that had landed on his hair, clearly disappointed in Killua's lackluster response.

The rising sun peeks through the windows in the hallway, chasing away the shadows on the floorboards the higher it rises in the sky. Despite how early it is, the heat of summer is already present, the cicadas humming nonsensically outside.

Gojo clears his throat before smirking and straightening up, seemingly moving on quickly from the fact that he had just made a complete fool out of himself. "It's finally time to get serious, Killua. Are you ready?"

This is you being serious? Killua slowly raises an eyebrow. "I guess."

"That's the spirit!" Gojo hums, spinning to continue his trek down the hallway. "It's common for newbies like yourself to go on team missions, I thought I would have some time to show you the ropes today but seeing as something just came up I will unfortunately be busy, but don't worry, I have the perfect person in mind! I think you're really going to like him."

Killua frowns.

Fushiguro Megumi knows just as well as everybody else that the only thing granted equally to all is an unfair reality.

A warm breeze drifts by, a single bird soars across the blue sky.

Megumi stares, and stares, and then stares a little more at the miniature Gojo standing next to Gojo-sensei. He struggles to make sense of the words being spoken to him, even though they are quite straight forward.

"Huh?"

Gojo-sensei grins widely, a stark contrast to the emotionless expression pasted onto the face of the little boy standing next to him. "Megumi-chan, this is my son, Killua-chan. He'll be joining you today on your assignment. Please take good care of him for me, ne?"

"Huh?" Megumi repeats once again, struggling to come to terms with the reality before him, but he is given no illuminating answers as Gojo-sensei merely gives them both a thumbs up and vanishes into thin air.

Megumi blinks at the now empty space, before stiffly turning his attention towards the kid. He looks down at the boy, and the boy looks back at him, just as blankly.

That was five minutes ago. While Megumi no longer feels like he's completely floundering, he still can't quite comprehend what the hell just happened. Not to mention why Gojo-sensei thinks it's a good idea to have this kid- his kid- brought along on the mission, assumed grade-three or not.

Though, it is hard to deny the truth in front of him. The white hair, those blue eyes… There are no such features outside of the Gojo clan, more specifically, nobody other than Gojo-sensei. The resemblance is simply uncanny…

Megumi glances at Killua from the corner of his eye as they continue to walk down the pathway towards the road, scanning over the kid's bored expression and lax posture. The fact that this kid's cursed energy feels completely weird. I don't know anything about this kid. I can't tell if he's overly confident or completely clueless, either way, he's going to be a liability…

Megumi feels like sighing. He feels a little like throttling his exuberant teacher. Leave it to Gojo-sensei to be the worst parent in existence.

Megumi understands that the only thing granted equally is an unfair reality. However, having Gojo Satoru as a father figure, would be an unnecessarily cruel reality for anyone to have to live through. Megumi would know, after all.

"Killua… Have you ever exorcised a curse spirit before?" Megumi can't help but ask curiously, unable to catch a crack in Killua's expression. It's been caught between a bored, thinly veiled curiosity since he's met the kid.

Killua… Just where the hell have you been this whole time?

Killua scratches behind his ear, his other hand in his pocket. "Ah, I guess."

Killua would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued. Whatever a 'mission' for a jujutsu sorcerer entails, he has no idea, probably something to do with exorcizing curses, if he were to hedge a guess. The true intent behind this mission, however, is what keeps him on high alert. It could very well just be another one of their 'tests' to see whether he was 'worthy' enough or not to be a sorcerer, or some other bullshit.

At Megumi's confused eyebrow rise, Killua glances at the boy before looking forward again. He can see the car Megumi mentioned that would take them to the location of where the curse was spotted apparently. The sweaty valet is waiting for them beside the sleek, expensive looking vehicle, looking at his phone.

Killua shrugs. "I just didn't know they were curses at the time."

He glances around the area as they reach the end of the path, the gravel and dirt trading for the smooth road of what looks to be a normal residential block. They had walked for a few minutes to get out of the borders of the school grounds.

Megumi tilts his head slightly in confusion. "What?"

"It doesn't matter," Killua replies a bit too quickly while avoiding meeting his eyes, not exactly wanting to be made fun of by this Megumi kid for calling them monsters, too. "If you're worried about me getting in your way, don't."

Megumi gives him a completely unimpressed look, raising an eyebrow doubtfully as he stares down at him.

"You're cocky." Megumi's face looks like he can taste the sudden reluctance in his tone, and Killua huffs at it. Not that it matters what this kid thinks, Killua is used to people underestimating him. It only makes it more enjoyable to prove them wrong in the end.

Killua grins a bit mischievously to himself, before looking back and giving the middle schooler an innocent, wide-eyed expression. "Well, as long as I have you to protect me I don't have to worry about anything, right, Megumi-kun?"

That makes Megumi blink a bit dumbly at him, caught off guard. Previously narrowed eyes widen as his pace slows on the path to slightly lag behind Killua, apparently rendered speechless.

It's almost too easy. Idiot. Killua looks away from the sight with a little snicker and stops walking too, standing just a few feet away from the nervous looking man standing beside the sleek vehicle. Megumi's aloof, if not chagrined behavior as of yet, somewhat reminds him of how Kurapika can get, when pushed to his last patience. It's pretty amusing teasing the middle-schooler, when he thinks about it like that. Killua has lost count the amount of times he and Gon have put that dumb look on Kurapika and Leorio's faces, too.

Their transport looks like an expensive, black luxury car. It's unsurprisingly not a brand Killua can recognize from back home, like all the other products on this damn continent. The windows on the car are tinted so dark Killua can see his own image in their reflection and he sticks his tongue out at himself.

"Ijichi-san?" Megumi says from behind him and Killua looks up, towards the man he presumes the kid is addressing.

The man's gaunt face is stretched into a look of abstract horror, his mouth dropped open so wide his thin, square glasses are almost falling off of his nose. Killua raises an eyebrow at the look, glancing towards Megumi only to find that he's blank faced, almost looking annoyed at the valet.

"You- you- you- you-" Killua blinks as he turns to look back at Ijichi, a little bemused by the man's fearful stuttering and the almost accusing, shaking finger being pointed in his direction. "But- but- but- Go- Go- Go- GOJO?!"

Killua stills and looks at the man vacantly. Is this what he has to look forward to? Constantly being compared to that Gojo idiot? He feels like sighing, or shouting at someone. How lame.

Megumi does actually sigh, seemingly taking some pity on the pathetic sight of the trembling man before them.

"Ijichi-san, this is Killua…" Megumi glances at him out of the corner of his eye, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, the uniform remarkably alike to the one Gojo and the principal had been wearing. "Gojo-sensei's son."

Ijichi's face grows ten shades paler. "So- so- so- so- so- SON?!"

"Is he alright?" Killua questions, turning towards Megumi with some annoyance. "He's twitching all over the place."

"He's fine." Megumi easily dismisses as he moves around the car to get in on the other side. "Are we okay to get going now, Ijichi-san?"

"Hu- Huh? Oh." The man jolts, "Oh! Of- Of course, Fushiguro-kun…" Ijichi warily looks at Killua, who merely stares back with a raised eyebrow, before the man practically lurches forward to open the backseat door for him. Killua blinks. "After- After you, Gojo-san!"

"Okay…" Killua squints at the man rather suspiciously, before shrugging at the strange behavior and getting into the car. Jujutsu sorcerer's are just a bunch of odd-balls, apparently. "Thanks."

Ijichi squeaks, closing the door crisply before racing to get into the driver's seat, sweat thick on his brow. Killua turns towards Megumi for an explanation, but the kid only looks faintly amused, if not exasperated by the valet's stuttering.

Whatever. Killua rests his elbow on the door of the car, placing his chin in his hand as the car starts up and pulls away from the side of the road. He pointedly ignores the sweaty valet's persistent, almost terrified glances towards him in the rear view mirror. I don't even care.

Killua rubs at his chest, the point over where his heart rests. Cursed energy coils against his soul, its malicious thorns seem to dig deeper the more time stretches on.

It doesn't matter.

A flock of birds flutters by in the clear sky, before disappearing behind the brush of a large tree.

"This should be it." Ijichi adjusts his glasses with his thumb and forefinger, apparently unable to help constantly glancing towards Killua as he approaches their side of the parked car. "Where the third-grade spirit was reportedly sighted."

A wide forest is spread out before the road they had pulled over on, a series of townhouses are rowed on the other side of the street, a simple chain link fence is the only barrier between them and the dense tree's. There must be a park nearby or something, there's the faint sound of childish laughter brought over on the wind.

Third-grade? Killua considers the term, staring up at the height of the thick trees. What is that supposed to even mean? Some kind of power level?

The leaves are lush, bright green under the glare of the summer heat. He looks towards Megumi, and isn't surprised to find the kid already looking down at him. "What?"

"What grade are you anyway?" Megumi questions through pursed lips, hands shoved in his pockets, but Killua can see how tense the kid actually was, the forced casualness in his posture. The guarded look in his eyes.

It had been a quiet car ride, less than half an hour of silence and during the entire length, Killua had watched with muted curiosity through the reflection in the window as Megumi got stiffer and stiffer the longer they drove.

"Me?" Killua repeats, for really no reason but to stall. Honestly, he is a bit curious what that means but he decides to shrug, not entirely wanting to admit his cluelessness on the subject. The longer he spent around Sorcerer's, the less he trusted any of them. "Does it matter?"

Megumi looks at him blankly, measuring him in another lengthy glance before sighing and turning his attention towards Ijichi. "I guess we better get going, then."

"R-Right." Ijichi startles, dragging away his bug-eyed stare from Killua to look at the forest. It was as if he was worried Killua was about to jump out and bite him. He considers the merit of pretending to do just that, and decides to leave it. If the guy started crying or something, that would be annoying as hell.

Ijichi pushes up his glasses once more, swallowing. "I'll put up the veil then. Please, be careful, you two."

Veil? Killua perks up slightly at the odd phrasing, meeting Ijichi's slanted gaze this time, and for the first time the man seems to have calmed himself. Ijichi nods at him, countenance stern as he raises two fingers in a pose next to his shoulder, and then he begins to speak.

"Emerge from darkness…"

Killua looks at the man with growing suspicion, glancing towards Megumi only to find the kid looking completely unreactive towards the man's actions. Just what is he doing…?

"Blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

The once clear blue sky becomes spotted, a puddle-like form of what feels like cursed energy pools high above the forest in a strange, warbling mass.

Killua's eyes widen and he can't help but take a slight step back as his gaze snaps up to look at the sky. This feeling…

This pool of malignant energy wobbles and forms outwards like the ripples of slow moving water, spilling outwards to form an almost dome shape that begins to fall over the nearby vicinity. A cursed shadow is being draped over the edges of the forest, and Killua watches it form with narrowed eyes.

It feels like that barrier, the one that Killua sensed around Jujutsu High. He hadn't even noticed the change in the air until he stepped outside of it. He remembers the strange feeling it left on his nen as he and Megumi walked outside of the school grounds, like a release of curse energy shrouding over his person. It felt faint enough to dismiss then, now, however, he's beginning to regret that judgment.

Every step he takes forward, he feels as though he takes two more back. There are so many unknown's, Killua isn't sure where to even start in gathering intel, what could be useful, or what is just nonsense. What is going to help him get home, to get back to Alluka, and what is possibly holding him back from just that. Damn. This is getting irritating.

"Let's go." Megumi breaks him out of his thoughts, walking towards the dark wall of the barrier without a care. Killua stares as Megumi easily walks through it, the cursed form of the barrier slipping around his body until he appears on the other side of it, his reflection warbled as if looking through a smudged, dark purple lens.

After a moment of hesitation, Killua follows him. He blinks at the feeling as he walks into the veil, the curse energy leeching off his person as he steps all the way through. Weird. Looking behind himself, Killua can see the distilled form of Ijichi on the other side of the veil, looking like a puddle of ink was smeared over his image.

Killua follows Megumi as the kid kicks off the ground, one of his hands grabbing the top bar of the fence to help him jump over. Killua easily hops over the distance himself, his hands didn't even have to leave his pockets. He glances left, and then right, frowning. He can't really sense anything out of the ordinary about this place, other than the overall awareness of the barrier draped over them. What's that supposed to do anyway? We walked through it like nothing both times.

Between the shrubs low on the ground, scattered dead leaves and tall grass cover the forest floor, the tall trees are thick and compact to one another, crawling with ivy and old moss. The space looks overgrown, like nature's taken back its rightful place in this small area of Tokyo.

"It'll probably be farther in, I can't sense anything here." Megumi mutters, shoving a fir branch out of his face and ducking under another as he begins to walk into the brush without further preamble. Killua follows him, his footsteps a dead silence compared to Megumi's. The boy clearly didn't know anything about stealth, or maybe that was on purpose, trying to lure out the curse. Most likely, it was a merge of both reasons.

Killua stares at Megumi's back thoughtfully, at his tense shoulders and swerving head as the kid looks around this way and that for any sign of a curse. He's probably one of the few, if Killua is to believe what Gojo said, students at Jujutsu High, which is a bit interesting considering the kid couldn't be older than a middle-schooler. Either way, Killua would take Megumi's quiet, no-nonsense attitude over that Gojo clown any day.

"Ne, Megumi, how many curses have you dealt with before?" Killua jumps over a root perching out of the ground, casually scanning the area.

Spare, purple-tinted sunlight seeps in through the treetops, casting pebble-like light shadows against the forest floor. The sounds of laughter have long since dispersed, leaving them with only the sound of the wind and Megumi's footsteps, the crunch of leaves under his feet and a snapping twig, here and there.

Megumi doesn't spare him a glance, pace quick and purposeful as he walks deeper and deeper into the forest. "I've lost count."

"Hm." Considering what Killua has seen of Tokyo, Japan, lingering in the red light district for a week, he can see how that can happen. Especially considering the amount of curses he easily crushed under his sneaker alone, with the barest amount of energy put forward-

That's when he feels it.

"Wait." Megumi freezes, pace halting abruptly either because of his words or his tone. "Don't move." Killua repeats, face concentrated. His foot slides on the dirt, without so much as a sound.

"What?" Megumi murmurs, tense. The curse energy inside his body rises, as if pulled by a trigger at a low simmer, the slow ooze of intent leaking through the cracks. He slowly cranes his head to look over his shoulder at Killua, face pinched.

Killua closes his eyes and focuses. Listen. He inhales a breath and holds it. His heart rate slows, the blood in his veins trickles at a crawl. Focus.

A breeze drifts through the forest, he can hear the rustle of it flowing through the trees. The bleating of a cicada bug. Not far off, a squirrel lifts its head, and scurries down a branch. There's a bird in the near distance, plucking at the structure of its nest.

Killua can hear the fall of the leaves, the sway of the grass rubbing against itself, the huff of Megumi's bated breath- There!

The tremor shakes the ground again, a rumble of something distant, something big. Near imperceptible. It travels through the land, like the aftershocks of a push of a wave.

Killua opens his eyes, smirking. "Found you."

Megumi looks around the area warily- not having felt what Killua did, clearly- before turning to face him, appearing slightly annoyed, slightly on edge. Whether he doubts him or not, he still seems to afford Killua the benefit of the doubt. "Where?"

"Further in. North." Killua shrugs, shuffling his foot back to his side, thumbing one of his yoyo's in his pocket. "Sounds big." He continues, offhandedly.

"Tch." Megumi clenches his jaw, turning towards the north. His hands curl at his sides and Killua watches with some amusement as the boy looks at him sternly, jerking his head in the direction of the curse before he takes off in a run. "Let's go, Killua!"

He's eager. Killua huffs, following after Megumi at a much more leisure pace. This mission does prose an interesting asset though, for the first time he'll be able to see a sorcerer exorcize a curse. He's curious to see if Megumi will use any curse energy, or just simple brute force, like Killua has been since he first arrived on this continent.

They weave and duck between thick tree stumps, under branches and over fallen logs, at the pace Megumi was running, it did not take him long to stumble upon the curse. He bursts through into a clearing, leaves parting for him and revealing the empty space, there, chewing over a rotted animal carcass, is the curse.

Killua crouches behind a shrub as he reaches the perimeter of the clearing, concealing his presence with Zetsu while frowning.

Megumi narrows his eyes, giving the area a fast sweep but all he can see is the curse and returns his attention back onto it. Something big, huh?

The curse isn't that much taller than him, somewhat round around the gut. Green and speckled like a toad, strange, black, horn-like ridges run down the length of its back, as if its spine were poking through.

Megumi frowns, brow furrowing as he remembers Killua's warning. He readies his stance, hands raising to form the Divine Dogs sign. Was he just messing with me?

He feels out for Killua's curse energy, poignant in a way similar to Gojo's sensei's because of his teacher's Infinity. It was as if the kid had a persistent barrier enveloped around himself of some sort, too, however different the traces of such felt in comparison. Something to think about, another time. For now…

Megumi's eyes widen, and he only just manages to hold himself back from turning to look behind himself, revealing his back towards the enemy.

What? Killua, he… vanished? Megumi grits his teeth, glaring his frustration towards the unaware curse, still happily ripping apart its latest meal. He couldn't have been defeated already, no, the curse is right here… He must be playing games. Tch.

Nevermind that for now… Megumi adjusts his thumb, the form completing. For now… "Divine Dogs!"

I'll take care of it myself!

A howl cries through the air, the shadows of the trees pool at his will, amassing behind him and forming the white dog. He drops his hand pose as the dog fully forms, lowering his one hand to his side to pat the white dog's head as its tail begins to wag.

The gangly curse lifts its fat head from being lowered over the mess of blood and gore, turning its neck at a completely odd angle to look back at them with two wide, unseeing pupil-less eyes. It still chews on its prey, wide mouth smacking open and closed languidly, blood and chips of bone paint its front a bloody tale of wildlife eaten during its reign. Hopefully. Hopefully, it had only managed to snag forest critters, and nothing human.

Summons? Now that's interesting. Just how diverse is curse energy? If Killua didn't know any better, he would think Megumi was conjuring the wolf like how Kurapika conjured his chains. Maybe even using a specialization technique, that or they were some sort of nen-beast, but instead of it being imbued with nen, it was constructed entirely with cursed energy…

Killua's eyes are a bit wide at the revelation, though he still remains in his place hidden in the shrubbery. The white dog lowers itself as it takes notice of the curse, growling, despite having the presence of a curse itself.

The green curse tilts its head this way and that, bits of flesh plopping out of its gaping mouth to slap against the ground and Killua frowns. Something that small, it wouldn't have been able to produce such a massive vibration through the earth. No way.

Megumi runs left, while white dog runs right. They both converge on either side of the spirit in tandem, Megumi with an outstretched fist and white dog with its open jaws. The curse tilts its head abnormally to the other side, as if intrigued.

Before either of their strikes can land, the curse vanishes. Megumi's eyes widen. No, it didn't vanish. He looks up, feeling his heart skip in his chest, a weighted thud. It jumped!

The curse soars above them, its legs, previously hidden from its crouch over its meal, appear bent at the calf; they look remarkably like the legs of a frog. Its head nearly brushes an overhanging branch, before it begins it's decent.

Megumi grits his teeth, just managing to side step out of the way before he and white dog can crash into each other. White dog's claws scrape as it slides, using its hind legs to spin back towards the direction of the curse with a snarl.

Before it lands, that's when I need to strike. Megumi lifts his hands, shifting his fingers to form the snake sign. This should be easy. He plants his footing, shouting. "Great Serpent!"

There it is again. Killua purses his lips, lowering himself even further to place a hand to the ground. His fingers brace against the dirt, spreading until his palm is completely flat. Vibrations tremor up his nerves, stronger than before, enough to feel it in his bones. It's getting closer. I can feel you.

Shadows flow out of the woods, melting together like bubbling, boiling ink as it stitches together. It forms a circle pool on the ground just behind Megumi and out bursts forth a massive white serpent. With unparalleled speed, the snake slithers forward up into the air, the maw of its mouth snapping open as it aims for the curse still falling from its leap into the air.

Come out. Killua stares off in the direction of the rumbling, his body completely still. Curse aura, stronger than he's felt during his time in Tokyo, Japan, other than Gojo Satoru, is growing, pulsating the closer it gets. Brimming with what Gojo had lacked, and with what Killua has found himself in abundance of. Has cultivated since a young age. Pure, malevolent intent. Come out.

Thud.

I can feel you.

Thud.

Come out.

Thud. Thud. Thud Thud ThudThudThudTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD-

Everything goes quiet. There is no wind, no cracking of twigs underfoot, no cicada hum, dead, permeating silence.

"There you are." Killua mutters, disgusted.

Megumi stares, frozen in place.

A drop of blood drips, sliding down before dropping off the edge. It falls and falls until it lands with a splat on Megumi's cheek. His eyes crack open wide, mouth falling slightly open.

The green curse tilts its head in the opposite direction, suspended in mid air. Great Serpent's jaws clench around the gut of the curse, a reflex movement. Purple and red blood mesh, dripping down towards the earth, a cursed rain. Together, they are connected, made one by the spire suddenly stabbing through both of them.

The thick, brown javelin shutters as two, similar looking shapes are revealed in the clearing, piercing down and stabbing into the ground like poles of a tall structure with heavy thuds. Megumi looks up and, for a brief moment, all he knows is fear.

The giant curse looms over them all, it's long, stilt like legs fanning out around itself like a flower's petals. Pincers clench and close over a mouth of rowed, sharp teeth, multiple, beady eyes glare down, and down at them from its grandeur height. Undoubtedly, the shape of a massive, curse spider hovers, as if momentarily perplexed by the scene it's stumbled upon.

It must be strong, at least stronger than the other curses I've come across so far. Killua brushes his thumb against his lips, considerate as he watches Megumi shake himself out of his shock. The newfound tremor in the kids hands is something to note, and he refocuses his attention fully towards the lumbering, spider curse, curious to see what Megumi will do.

No way… Megumi grits his teeth, forcing himself to move, move, move, to do something other than standing in place, petrified, as the curse spider stabs its long leg further into the green curse and Great Serpent. The snake's wide tail thrashes as the spire pushes further through its upper and lower jaw, and Megumi strikes out then on instinct, placing his one hand on the serpent's side to disperse it before it can be completely destroyed.

This curse, Megumi leaps back a decent amount, his back brushing the growth lining the clearing and white dog follows his example, landing at his side quietly, seeming to sense the turn in the tide as well. Without the Great Serpent's large body to awkwardly hold it up, the spider's leg crashes down towards the earth and lands with a resounding boom.

Feebly, the green, frog-legged curse attempts to jump again, only for it to slide further down where it's been pierced through the stomach, like Yakitori on a skewer.

This curse is no doubt, Megumi swallows, fingers twitching to form another hand sign. Sweat trails down the back of his neck. Without a doubt, at least a grade-one- or worse- it could possibly even be an unregistered special grade.

This isn't the first time he's come across such a case, not even close, but each of those incidents he had had Gojo-sensei by his side, the man laughing like a real creep as he languidly took care of the problem. Something so easily handled by the strongest, that the man wouldn't even finish exorcizing the curses before suggesting they pick up some Kikufuku on their way home.

With no time for respite, Megumi feels the air in his lungs go stagnant as several, dark beady eyes suddenly catch onto his person. Before he can so much as form the final sign for Nue, the curse spider had already moved.

A feather floats towards the forest ground as a blue bird squawks, taking abrupt flight from its perch.

Megumi doesn't have time to run, to even flinch before the curse spider slams one of its eight legs into his gut. He hurdles back at breakneck speed, unable to stop the intense momentum as his back slams into and completely tears through the first tree.

The wind is kicked out of him, he gags at the overwhelming pressure in his chest and doesn't even feel the second, third, or fourth tree until his body comes to an abrupt, world-spinning impact on the fifth. He hears a crack, a groan of the large oak as the trunk splinters, or maybe that was just him, maybe he broke something, or two.

Copper tastes thick in his throat, it bubbles over and drips from between his teeth as he slumps. He can hardly see through the sudden double vision, the forest tips and teeters to the side like he's starboard on a ship in the midst of a raging storm. For a moment, he can't breath, he can't hear, he can't think.

Unable to support his own weight, he slides to the side until he lands on the ground in a useless heap. Blood pours out of the wound on the crown of his head, warm and in the way, as it dribbles into his eyes and down the side of his face.

"Damn it!" The words rip violently from Megumi's throat as soon as he manages to catch a ragged breath, desperate, squinting eyes swirling as he tries to lift his head from the dirt to look up. He can hardly think, let alone stand at this point, despite how much he wills his body to move. Damn it. Move. Move. "Damn it, damn it!"

"Hey, relax, Megumi." Megumi's eyes widen in disbelief, gaze snapping up to meet Killua's in an instant as he appears at his side. Whe.. Where the hell… did he come from?

Killua crouches in front of the boy's downed form, looking away from the distant point within the thick of the woods where the giant spider's cursed energy still looms, and towards Megumi instead. He may not know the guy very well, but that doesn't mean he was just going to leave him here to die, after all, he's supposed to save a thousand more, right?

And, maybe he feels a little bad for sitting back and watching while the curse beat the crap out of him. In his defense, how the hell was Killua supposed to know it could move so quickly, and swing with that much power? It's definitely stronger than the others. This might actually become a challenge, if I'm not too careful.

"I'll protect you with my life, so don't worry." Killua promises confidently and smirks at Megumi's incredulous expression, tapping the tip of his finger between the middle-schooler's pinching brows. Megumi's shock seemingly renders him so frozen he doesn't even flinch at the touch. "Idiot."

Killua stands from his crouch and spins on his heel. The frown works its way back onto his face, and with a final, lazy wave over his shoulder he starts off towards the curse to get rid of it himself.

"KILLUA!" Megumi yells once he shakes himself out of his stunned stupor, desperately reaching out a trembling hand towards the kid's retreating back but Killua doesn't stop running farther and farther away, doesn't so much as glance back at him. "Moron, don't-"

It's not until Killua completely vanishes in the brush that the terror fully hits Megumi.

"I'll protect you with my life," The Image is almost too familiar to a certain, nonsensical sensei, too familiar to Gojo Satoru, to make sense of. An over-confident smirk, reassurances given in a blase, almost entertained tone. It's horrifying, it's reassuring, it's the last thing Megumi ever wanted to hear at this moment. "So don't worry."

Don't worry? What a childish thing to say. Killua's too young voice rings in his ears, an excruciatingly young echo. Too young, far, far too young. "Idiot."

Idiot. Idiot? How am I the one being an idiot right now? Don't worry. Don't worry?

"Well, as long as I have you to protect me I don't have to worry about anything, right, Megumi-kun?"

"KILLUA!" His frantic shout goes completely ignored. There is only the near silent wisp of the wind in the trees, and it feels entirely mocking, entirely too quiet. Megumi slams his fist down weakly into the dirt, over and over again as he curses out to the unresponsive forest around him.

"Right, Megumi-kun?"

Damn it… Megumi grits his teeth, feeling, and loathing, loathing his consciousness as it begins to fade and slip between his fingers. Damn it… Damn it all to hell…

There is an image in Killua's mind, of two fingers crossing, as if making a wish. Gojo Satoru's irritating, flippant personality is brought to his attention once more. Tch. What the hell is that guy's problem?

Killua's frown deepens, annoyed as he leisurely jogs back through the forest, ducking under a low hanging branch. He continues towards the source of the curse's aura, leaching out into the air and brushing up against his nen in tentative waves of foul energy, as if looking for a fight. Does Gojo even give a damn about this kid?

How any of those numb-skulls expected a kid like Megumi to be able to handle curses like that, is beyond him. It's no wonder that the casualty rate of the school is so damn high, he's more surprised there's anybody left at this point, really.

Killua conceals his presence as he nears the site of the curse spider, stalking around the entrance to the clearing, considering his next move.

The curse spider seems to have grinded away at the other curse beneath its large, stick-like foot, stomping away carelessly at the smaller, green curse, rendering it to threads of shapeless, purple guts and flabby, cursed flesh. The white dog Megumi summoned is nowhere to be found, it had probably been kicked off just as easily as the boy had been, or dispelled at the very least.

Not wanting to drag this out any longer than it already has been, Killua allows the nen in his core to build, beginning to transmute electricity over his body. His hair begins to rise, static crackles in the air, ready to zap out and fry at an instant. It's now, or never, I guess.

Killua slides out into the clearing, behind the massive beast of a curse and out of its line of sight. Steam is beginning to rise from the other, deceased curse turned to mush. His right arm extends out quickly as he jumps into the air, the yoyo sat in the palm of his hand flings out too fast for the natural, human eye to follow.

The cord stretches out wide to compensate for the large berth of the spider, and with a tug of his grip it bends to the left, wrapping around the front of its form in a swift hook. At the same time, he releases the yoyo in his left grip, flinging it out in the left direction, before turning it sharply to the right. Anticipating a strong resistance, Killua pushes Shu into his hands in case the pull back is too strong, adding more and more weight into the yoyo's themselves. With a rise of both his forearms, the yoyo's come full circle and smack into his awaiting palms once more.

And then he yanks.

The loose cords constrict and pull in tight, wrapped around the spider's legs, Killua immediately transmutes his lightning down the length of his yoyo's. Volts travel at the speed of light and ignite the spider. The curse releases a creepy, screeching howl as its entire frame glows blue, the lightning shooting in every direction, it sinks inside, worms its way to the base of the heart, and fries.

The smell is thick in the air, putrid and burnt, and Killua continues to drag the cords towards himself as he jumps back a few steps. The legs are slowly being forced to close in under the beast's belly, made even easier as the curse is taken off guard from the overwhelming strike of lightning. He's sure if he wasn't blasting the thing with the power he sucked up from the Tokyo streets yesterday, it would have resisted much more against the tying of its feet.

As it is, Killua's feet plant heavily against the dirt. The curse's legs are all almost touching together now from the strain, feral shrieks echo into the air, the sound of enraged pain filters throughout the forest. It twitches robustly, attempting futility to move, or break its towering legs free but it only succeeds in tripping itself up and tipping to the side.

With a grand crash, the curse slams into the ground, taking a couple of trees down with its descent, the forest floor cracks and rumbles in the aftershock. Using the fall to his advantage, Killua drops his yoyos and allows godspeed to shroud around him. He activates his claws and in a burst of speed, crosses the distance of the clearing in less than a second.

Purple, stinking blood spurts up into the air in a shower, fanning out in the nearby area in a sudden onslaught of gory rain. There's a muted thump as the spider's severed head lands onto the ground and rolls, only coming to a stop as it knocks into a nearby tree's trunk and bounces back slightly, before settling.

Killua waits a moment, before glancing over his shoulder, face blank. He allows his lightning to trickle out and fade into a barely noticeable hum under his skin when the curse's corpse doesn't so much as twitch, the spiking of his nen lowering into its normal state of Ten. His claws retract. The cursed energy in his chest rages to be set free. That was easier than he thought it would be, it was kind of disappointing.

"Impressive."

Killua pauses at the musing voice and looks up, and up, and up. Finally revealing yourself, huh? He had been wondering for a while now if the presence he sensed was going to make themselves known, or if he was going to have to hunt them out for himself.

Killua narrows his eyes as he finally catches sight of the person who had spoken, his posture relaxed, although still on guard. "Who're you?"

Near the peak of the large tree sat only a few meters away, the man tilts his head, chin resting on the curl of his knuckles. His smile is soft as he stares down at Killua.

"A friend."

Notes:

Thank you everyone for all the comments, support and patience. I hope you continue to enjoy this as much as I am.

I may not be the strongest, but I'll try my best to not disappoint.