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page twenty four

"okay, mama, do not tell anybody." you let go of killua from your embrace, looking down at him as he gazed up at you. a small crumb of chocolate clung to the corner of his lips. acting on instinct, like a mother tending to her child, you reached out and wiped it away with your thumb. he blinked at you but said nothing.

"not even gon?"

"especially not gon." 

his words left no room for argument, but hesitation tugged at your chest. shouldn't gon be involved in this little secret? maybe even kurapika and leorio? after all, they were your closest companions, practically family. but if killua said no, then no it was. 

still, the thought lingered. surely, it wouldn't hurt to at least tell them, just in case. what if you ran into illumi again while you were with them? if he so much as hinted at something, wouldn’t it be better if they weren’t left in the dark? yes, that was a solid reason. 

your gaze drifted to killua as he eagerly unwrapped another piece of chocolate, his focus already shifting away from the conversation. you hummed quietly, lost in thought. should you tell him about hisoka too? 

you shook your head, pushing the idea away. no, probably not. killua might get the wrong idea, he might think you were betraying his brother.

killua watched you closely while munching on his chocolate, his sharp eyes noticing the way you'd suddenly gone quiet, staring off into nothing. his chewing slowed as realization struck him, his eyes widening. 

"wait, mama—tell me, do you want to date illumi?" his voice was filled with a mix of disbelief and concern. "i mean, i really don’t want him for you, not at all! but... if you like him, then i guess i won’t get in your way. maybe it’s not that bad since he’s still family... oh wait, no, it is bad because he’s family! i know my family!" 

you blinked at killua, momentarily stunned by his outburst. 

"no, no, no," you quickly reassured him, shaking your head. "i wasn’t thinking about dating at all. besides, i don’t really have experience with that kind of thing, so the concept is kind of... unfamiliar. bizarre, even." 

killua let out a small, exaggerated "pew" of relief, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction. 

still, his question lingered in your mind. you’d never given much thought to romance, but even if you were to date, it wouldn’t be something casual or fleeting. love, to you, was something meant to last—something built on unwavering loyalty, a connection strong enough to endure eternity itself. 

and therein lay the problem. you were not a mortal. 

if love required permanence, then you could never truly love a human. yet, with gon and killua... it was complicated. you were attached to them, undeniably so. they meant something to you in a way no one else did. but they were mortals—fragile, fleeting, and not even from the same world as you. 

the thought unsettled you, but there was no answer to it. not yet.

"what's taking them so long?" killua muttered to himself, thinking about gon, kurapika, and leorio. it had already been almost an hour since the two of you entered this room, waiting for them to arrive. 

"mama, let's go downstairs and check." you nodded, standing up alongside him. before heading out, you reached for his backpack and secured it onto his back. 

as you both made your way down the stairs, the faint sound of clapping echoed from the living room. killua, sensing something, quickened his pace and pushed the door open. 

"killua!… and mom?!" 

gon shot up from the couch, his face a mix of shock and joy. kurapika and leorio shared the same expression, eyes wide with surprise. 

"you're here, gon!" killua grinned before turning to the others. "along with kurapika! and… liorio!" 

"it's leorio, you brat!" leorio groaned, already exasperated. kurapika, meanwhile, deadpanned, unimpressed at being treated as an afterthought. 

"wait, wait, wait—how did you get here, y/n?" leorio asked, his curiosity taking over. 

you sweatdropped at his question. right—killua had strictly told you not to tell a soul about how you got here, let alone the fact that you'd kissed illumi and pretended to be his fiancée. 

"she's just that talented. let it go, liorio." killua answered smoothly, saving you. but leorio, now more irked at the intentional mispronunciation of his name rather than the lack of an answer, groaned again. 

"it's been a while. i can't believe you came." killua grinned, his tone happy and teasing as he took in gon’s state. "what happened? your face is a wreck!" 

you stepped forward, gently cupping gon’s cheeks, your fingers brushing over the bruises and bandages on his face. your frown deepened. what had happened to him? leorio and kurapika are both in good state.

"eh, we just ran into some difficulties along the way, but it's all good!" gon grinned, brushing off the concern. then, he turned to killua, immediately grinning. 

"yours isn't any better!" letting go of gon's cheeks, you took a step back to examine him fully. his clothes were dirtied, bruises scattered all over him. your eyes narrowed, arms crossing over your chest as you unintentionally summoned lightning in the sky outside. 

the sudden shift in the atmosphere did not go unnoticed. the butlers, aside from gotoh, flinched. 

leorio shivered, sweatdropping as he glanced at you. "her protective mother mode is on," he thought, shifting his gaze toward gon as if silently pleading, do something before we all get electrocuted!

"e-eh, mom, i'm fine! calm down!" gon quickly waved his hands in the air, trying to ease your rising storm. 

killua, unfazed by the chaos, deadpanned and turned to gotoh instead. 

"hey, gotoh, i told you to let me know as soon as they arrived," he said, his voice holding a tinge of annoyance. gotoh and the butlers bowed respectfully. 

"forgive me, master killua. i had them participate in a little game." his words piqued your interest. 

"what game?" 

your voice was steady, but everyone, aside from gotoh, shrieked as crackling electric energy sparked around you. 

"it was nothing more than a poor joke. i apologize for any aggravation," gotoh quickly clarified. you sighed and decided to let it go.

killua had warned gotoh not to follow him, no matter what orders he received from kikyo. with that settled, the four of you walked toward the door, ready to leave. but before you could step out, gotoh called for gon. you weren’t sure what it was about, but you decided to wait outside for him. 

it didn’t take long—less than two minutes later, gon came running toward the door with a big smile on his face. whatever gotoh had said must have pleased him. 

as the four of you walked through the streets of the republic of padokea, you took your time to appreciate the simple beauty of the place. it had been over a hundred years since you last saw a new land beyond inazuma. every corner of your homeland, you knew like the back of your hand, but this—this was unfamiliar, yet oddly refreshing. 

the others were deep in conversation about gotoh’s technique with his coins. kurapika, always observant, demonstrated the same trick, mimicking the butler’s precision with impressive accuracy. 

you smiled softly, content just listening to them talk, tease, and bicker with each other. after everything, it felt like things were finally settling down again. 

when you reached the train station, the five of you boarded a train. it was a strange contraption to you—nothing like what existed in inazuma or anywhere else in teyvat. but you weren’t entirely unfamiliar with the concept. there were transportation systems for goods that used rails, similar to this, so it wasn’t difficult to grasp what it was meant for. 

inside, you quickly noticed a problem, the seats were made for four people. naturally, you offered to sit on the nearest available seat alone, but they immediately rejected the idea. instead, gon, killua, and kurapika did their best to squeeze into a single seat, determined to make space. surprisingly, they succeeded—though just barely. 

so, you ended up seated beside leorio. leaning back against the seat, you crossed your arms over your chest and closed your eyes, not to sleep, but just to rest while still keeping track of their conversation. 

killua started nagging gon about not using his hunter’s license for privileges, but gon only smiled, explaining that he didn’t want to use it until he could land a punch to hisoka. 

"so, where’s hisoka?" killua asked, raising a brow. 

gon hesitated, smiling sheepishly as he muttered a small, "actually…" 

kurapika, killua, and leorio all deadpanned at him. 

"as expected," they muttered in unison. 

kurapika sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment before speaking again. "i know where he is," he admitted. 

the others turned to him with interest as he explained. during their match, hisoka had mentioned something about the spiders and even offered information on them. after the fight, hisoka told him to meet in yorknew city on september first. 

you listened intently, though the name spiders meant nothing to you. you hadn’t been with them from the beginning, so you had no idea who they were referring to. but judging by kurapika’s tone, there was deep hatred behind his words. 

as you continued listening, you slowly pieced things together. the spiders were actually a group called the phantom troupe—bandits known for stealing and plundering. kurapika then mentioned an upcoming auction, set to take place from september first to the tenth. 

you remained quiet, taking in the information. it seemed there was more to all of this than you initially thought.

earlier, somewhere in the main zoldyck mansion, the matriarch held a telephone to her ear, engaged in a hushed conversation. 

"i see. have they already left?" 

on the other end of the line, illumi stood atop a tall building, gazing down at the flickering city lights below. the glow reflected in his cold, black eyes, dancing like distant fireflies against an otherwise lifeless void. 

"not yet, but i was given strict orders not to interfere," kikyo responded, her voice dripping with dramatic sorrow. "oh, i wouldn’t want to let killua go, but your father insisted!" 

illumi remained silent, processing the information. 

"and y/n?" 

his question made kikyo pause for a beat before she answered, her tone shifting slightly. 

"your fiancée is with killua. why are they so close? but anyway, are you really okay with letting her leave? she could have stayed here." illumi blinked at her words, noting the sudden change in her demeanor. there was something almost calculating in her tone now. 

"illumi," she continued, lowering her voice, "you’re not doing it right, son. you shouldn’t have left until you made sure she was tied to you! you’re giving her the idea that she’s still free." she sighed dramatically.

"ugh, just keep track of your fiancée. you wouldn’t want to let her get snatched away, now, would you?" 

illumi’s grip on his phone tightened, his fingers pressing into the smooth glass surface. his dark eyes narrowed. but then, as if struck by a private thought, his lips curled into a slow, eerie smirk. 

"perhaps," he murmured, voice laced with amusement, "it would be more entertaining to let her remain free… for now."

    ┌ ╌ ╌ ╌ ╌  ㅤ °ㅤㅤ 𝒪𝒪.   .ㅤ     ╭◜

      *       ㅤ            ㅤ                              ╎
ㅤ         ㅤ           to be continuedㅤ       ❀