Chapter 2

Beauty

One upside of a sprawling metropolis was the ease with which one could find a place to clean up in. The fact that the sun had just started to rise, the streets were practically empty and the doors of the closed sports complex were boarded shut, made it all the simpler.

In his childhood, Killua had infiltrated dozens of fortresses of underworld juggernauts, sneaking in through a window was rudimentary.

After securing the premises, Killua made his way to the showers and undressed.

He had expected to relish the chill of the water cleansing his skin.

Instead, it felt like he was being doused with ignited gasoline.

Briefly grimacing, Killua continued briskly washing up. The pain was annoying, but something he could easily handle.

'I guess I'm still recovering from whatever roughed me up.'

Killua stared at the water swirling into the drain, blackened with congealed blood that was flaking off his body.

Warmth bled out of the countless stab wounds on his body, red spread at his feet and his vision jerked as consciousness escaped him, his soaked back belatedly telling him he had fallen….

Killua forced back the memories with a scoff, lathering his hair with more force than necessary.

Shutting off the water, he grabbed a towel.

Surprisingly enough, he had lamented having to steal clothes from a shop in the mall. Even if Gon's 'kicked puppy' face™ hadn't flashed in his mind's eye, he did not enjoy feeling like a petty criminal. It had been years since he'd had to resort to such measures.

But it wasn't like he'd had a choice. He had badly needed a change of clothes, his original ones shredded so badly Killua wondered how they hadn't fallen off during his skirmish with those monsters.

After drying off and donning his fresh clothes, Killua glanced at the mirror.

His unruly locks were shining silver and fluffy again, his face unblemished. With his untucked maroon dress shirt and denim jeans, he looked like himself again rather than a slasher victim.

"So they don't show up on mirrors." He sighed, turning around, he glared.

A swarm of flying, bat-like creatures nearly filled the hallway. Just like the others, their proportions were distorted, with giant, owlish eyes encased within slivers of flesh, several tendrils uselessly hanging down as the creatures were kept afloat by four rapidly fluttering wings.

Killua had noticed them gathering while taking his shower, he had even noticed them following him here. He'd fortified his ten and prepared to strike first at the smallest sign of aggression. But the creatures had just hovered and watched.

'As creepy as these things are,' he groused, flexing his hands, 'attacking them could probably just meet the condition of some guy's Nen Ability.'

Then there was that strange presence, that misshapen miasma that Killua could comprehend even without gyo, so similar to hostile Nen yet feeling antithetical at the same time. With an unsettling malevolence that screamed despair almost to the point of melodrama. It made his own aura stir and coil tightly around him, like a protective straightjacket.

Killua rubbed his temple.

This all was making his migraine worse.

A pillar of undulating black hair, amber eyes dulled to black, lifeless as a fist struck the earth-

He exhaled through grit teeth, frustration mounting. It was ironic, how his brain had been feeling so nostalgic all day, yet could not recall the last few days at all.

He had been traveling with Alluka. The last thing he remembered was her laughing face as she watched him eye a choco-robot cake on display at a bakery as if it had held all of life's greatest answers …

Four.

That had been four days ago.

'Alluka.'

He missed her.

"Damn it!" Killua growled, clenching his fists.

His bloodlust rose, despite his best efforts, overflowing.

Thick, purple sludge splattered across the mirrors.

Killua observed with disgusted fascination as the gore and blood turned to dust, just like the creatures from earlier.

He'd timed his ren to keep any of it from getting on it, yet he still felt miffed at his recklessness. He might have just triggered someone's ability.

All because he was pissed off.

He scoffed.

He needed to get a hold of himself, and fast. Getting rid of the headache and reigning in his bloodlust were priorities.

With a steadying exhale, Killua sat down crosslegged. Adopting the typical Shingen-ryu stance Wing had taught him. He cleared his mind of all thoughts and willed his aura to life, shaping it into a teardrop shroud over him.

For the next few hours, Killua meditated.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Well this is unexpected."

"What is?"

"Something unforeseen," the man paused, a contemplative quirk playing at his lips as he processed the information. "Dare I say serendipitous even."

He turned around with a flourish, patting the heads of the two girls with a paternal smile. "Sorry girls, we're going to have to take a raincheck on that shopping spree."

As much as their disappointed whines of protest tugged at his heartstrings, the robed man soldiered on.

If he was right, this was more than worth even disappointing his girls.

In a blink, he proceeded to jump out the window.

It had taken taken six hours of maintaining his ren, but Killua's composure had more or less returned. Even better, his headache was finally gone.

Still, he had not been able to meet his usual time of seven hours.

Hands shoved into the pockets of his slightly baggy hoodie, Killua walked down the busy streets of this unfamiliarity city, a grocery bag in hand with a few stolen essentials. Plus chocolate. Not his favorite brand, but good enough.

It was frustrating, trying to figure out where exactly 'here' was. The people dressed like the typical city folk, if a bit eccentric, and the layout of the infrastructure vaguely reminded him of Yorknew City. But that's where the similarities ended.

As part of his training, Killua had been made fluent in virtually every major language since a young age. It was invaluable to know the tongue of the locals in a foreign land, especially when your family received assassination commissions from all over the world. Yet he couldn't make sense of what these people were saying and that was irritating.

After spending the day wandering about, he'd become familiar enough with common phrases, noticing some phonetic similarities to Japonese. He could at least get by now, which was good because if the spoken tongue was annoying, the written language was outright infuriating. It looked more like weird art than actual letters and words, it would definitely take him more than a day to get the basics of that.

His Beetle-010 was missing so he could not make use of the smartphone's built-in translator, nor could he try his luck contacting Alluka or his friends.

And to top it all off, showing his Hunter's license at a civil center had only earned him a blank stare followed by security escorting him out of the premises.

That had actually left Killua speechless. Of the Known World, aside from remote native islands, only residents of East Gorteau had not recognized the Hunter Association on sight, and that had been before the Chimera Ant Incident.

Now with no way of contacting the Hunter's Association, the first step was learning how to communicate.

During his exploration of the city, he had ended up in the more rundown part of town. Not quite the slums, but definitely nowhere anyone would want to be caught walking alone in the middle of the night, what with the scarce lighting and more rats than people scurrying about.

Hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he noticed a familiar presence return as the sun went down, it grew stronger the deeper he ventured into the underbelly of the city.

Abruptly, Killua came to a stop at an alley with a dead-end.

Turning around with a bored expression, he glared straight above, his ken intensified.

"Come out."

Suguru Geto had witnessed many phenomena in his life. It was standard that as a Jujutsu Sorcerer, one would experience things that the pitifully blind monkeys could never even dream of comprehending. It made it difficult to surprise a Jujutsu Sorcerer, especially one with Suguru's particular breed of Cursed Technique.

And yet, though the hundreds and thousands of nightmarish and putrid Curses he had vanquished and choked down his gullet had never so much as made him bat an eye, a simple look from this boy sent chills down his spine.

This boy, with his silver hair and all-seeing eyes, with a dissecting look that screamed warnings of death.

But not even the eerie resemblance to his old friend was what had shaken him, nor the fact his footsteps were almost completely silent with the evident ease of a tenured assassin.

It was the boy's Cursed Energy. . . or lack thereof.

Whatever it was, it formed a perfect second skin over the boy, bestowing an ethereal white hue over his body that instantly reminded him of the star Sirius, actively warding away surrounding Cursed Energy.

'Such-'

Suguru only realized it after he had jumped off the rooftop and deftly landed in front of the boy.

Suguru was grinning, eyes wide with pure euphoria.

'Such beauty!'

'What a talent!' Genuine tears sprang to his eyes. 'Jujutsu truly has a bright future.'

Suguru schooled his features into a less intense but nonetheless friendly smile.

"Hi there," he inclined his head, "I'm a friend."

When the teenager just continued to glare at him, piercing gaze appraising the intentions of every twitch of his body.

"Lie."

Suguru's smile dampened. 'After thinking so carefully of his words, that's what he comes up with?'

Then the realization hit him.

The boy did not quite look Japanese. And though he bore strong resemblance to them, a few of his features were quite distinct from the Gojo Clan. If Suguru had to guess, some Russian or Scandinavian may have been involved.

Further, that supported the theory of this boy being a secret Gojo child. One of the only ways for Suguru to be unaware of him was if he had been kept hidden away in a foreign country.

With a wave of his hand, a golf ball sized curse materialized.

Boasting a devil-tail and cross-eyed doll-like eyes, it was possibly the most innocuous curse he possessed.

Conveying as much disarm as he possibly could into his body language was difficult, what with the kid looking like he was a hairsbreadth away from attempting to tear him to shreds. It was probably his assessment of Geto's skill that kept him.

Suguru let the curse bite into his neck, drawing blood.

"What?" The teenager tensed, that exquisite aura crackling in anticipation.

"Ah, we can understand each other now." Suguru smiled, casually pointing at his neck as if flashing a tattoo. "Xenoglossophobia curse. Useless at first glance, but invaluable for bridging language barriers. Never thought I'd get to use it so soon."

"I'm Suguru Geto." He watched closely for any sign of recognition. There was none.

"And you are?"

The teenager responded after a beat. "Killua."

Geto smiled wider, spreading his arms. "I meant what I said, Killua. I'm a friend."

Killua eyes only lost all remnants of warmth.

"Those things following me all day were yours weren't they." His voice grew frigid. "And you've been tailing me for hours."

Geto's eyes widened.

"Friends don't do that."

The boy's presence suddenly grew heavy, brimming with the purest killing intent Geto had ever felt, closing in around him from all directions like a massive snake strangling its prey.

Geto clapped. A single, inspired tear sliding down his cheek.

Killua watched him warily.

"That is why I followed you, Killua." Geto finally said, allowing his arms to hang by sides. "Have you ever seen something so wonderful that you want to appreciate it from afar? That's what I felt when I felt your . . . presence destroy my pawns. It's even more awe-inspiring in person. I've never felt anything quite like it."

The boy seemed to be looking for any deceit. But Geto was honest.

"So forgive my shyness." Geto said, smiling with exaggerated amiability. "As an apology, I'll tell you all about those "monsters" and myself."

Taking Killua's disinterested stare as approval, he continued.

"They're called curses." It was nostalgic, like helping his fresh underclassmen in the Jujutsu High days. "They originate from negative emotions like fear, hopelessness and most of all, hatred."

"As you can imagine, there's a lot of variety." Geto grabbed the creature latched onto his larynx. "And all of them are quite disgusting."

"There's a select population of humans in Japan graced with the ability to use a similar power. We quite creatively coined it cursed energy and fight against these Curses. Called Jujutsu Sorcerers, they-"

"I don't care."

Suguru's eyes widened.

In what had been the fraction of a blink, Killua now stood inches away from him enshrouded in a flurry of electrifying energy.

His sharpened nails ripped through the shielding curse Geto had hidden under the ground with ease, but it still bought enough time for Geto to jump to safety before the hit could touch him.

"So quick to violence!" Geto huffed. "You really are just like Satoru Gojo!"

"Who?" Killua coldly ripped through another massive centipede-like curse, dismembering it with a single strike.

Geto laughed heartily, nearly doubling over as he mounted his flying curse, watching with a delighted smirk as Killua scaled the building below in hot pursuit.

"I see I have bored you enough, so I'll now bid you adieu. Take care, dear Killua! And don't forget!" He bellowed, standing with his arms spread wide as Killua leapt from the rooftop, rapidly closing the distance between them, frigid gaze aiming to pierce through his throat.

"Friends help each other!"

Another tentacled monstrosity materialized, the size of a duplex this time, and crashing down on top of Killua, impacting onto the street with a billowing dust cloud. With a bony skull-like head, giant tumors of fat dotting its bug-like body, its beady eyes settled on the prey crushed beneath it.

With a satisfied smirk, Geto surveyed the savagery as the boy proceeded to shred through his semi-Grade I curse.

One giant insectoid limb went flying and crashed against the adjacent building. Another ripped apart with a thunderous impact.

'Making it immobile.' Suguru smiled. 'Smart.'

Then stumps of the creature began distorting, cords of flesh shooting out and intertwining, forming massive tendrils that narrowly missed their target.

This Curse was not particularly strong for its Grade, but it made up for that with its tenacity, being able to regenerate a limited but quite high number of times, each severed piece gaining independence and forming a new curse. It was the kind of power that frankly made it one of the most valuable in his arsenal.

Funnily enough, this curse stemmed from gambling addiction.

Now he could let Killua tire himself out while analysing his strange Cursed Techni-

Suguru's jaw slackened as the entire block went dark.

For what could seem like a millisecond, a massive jagged lightning bolt the size of a building seemed to crash down onto where the semi-Grade 1 had been standing.

Suguru shielded his eyes with his left arm, the spectacle nearly searing his eyeballs blind, the shockwave forcing him to brace himself.

As he departed from the scene, he could just quite make it out as the light faded.

His curse had been defeated.

Suguru Geto's face dampened with joyful tears as he grinned.

A/N: I found it tricky to write Geto at first, he didn't have many scenes and we weren't shown big chunks of his character arc. He's one of those characters you need to write a lot of to get a feel for.

For anyone confused, this fic takes place during the events of Jujutsu Kaisen 0. During the previous chapter, Yuta's on his first mission with Maki.

This Killua is from the current point in the HxH manga, meaning he's 14 (there was roughly a 2 year timeskip since the end of the anime) so he's slightly matured in both appearance and strength. That's why his time of maintaining ren is 7 hours now instead of the casual 3 hours it was in the Chimera Ant arc.

More JJK pov next time!