Disclaimer: Hunter X Hunter is merely a favourite of mine, not owned by me.
Author's note: Yo! This is my first fanfic, so anyone who happens to read this, please do review, 'cos I need feedback to know how does my fics fare. Thank you!
When the rest of the family left, the young silver-haired boy weakly raised his head to face the deep royal blue figure partly hidden by the shadow in front of him.
'Is aniki not pleased with my performance tonight?'
Even in his dizziness the thought of his brother not pleased with his performance caused a spasm of panic to shoot through his numb mind. For some time the both of them remained static; not moving a single muscle. The crowd that had collected at the Sky Arena to watch the young silver-haired boy go against his opponent was slowly subsiding. They had cheered, yelled and nearly screamed their head off while the fight was on. They had placed a bet on the young one to win the match, although the opponent was a lot stockier and bigger-sized than the young one. The young one had fought hard during the match, but not because of the hope the audiences had placed on him, but because...because of his eldest brother. He did not want to disappoint his brother. In the end, he, of course, won, defeating his opponent in mere minutes, but stood on the brink of exhaustion himself, due to the continuous trainings that his mother had subjected him to even minutes before the match.
Finally, the young one could no longer hold on to his consciousness. His view wavered in and out of focus and he pitched forward. Immediately, hands shot out from the dark royal blue figure and caught the silver-haired boy's limp body. Stabilized, the young boy leaned in towards the figure. The cold warmth emitted by the being enveloped him, numbing his already numb senses, but yet made him feel so at ease. Desperate to know if his brother was happy with his performance, the boy tried to call out, but only managed a weak and nearly inaudible whisper.
'A-niki...?'
That alone was sufficient. The figure bent down, and a pale, handsome face framed with black raven hair came into light. His features were calm, nearly emotionless. Something that attracted and yet, at the same time, distracted attention are his eyes – black, cold and empty. Nothing, but mere windows to a locked soul.
'You did well, Killua. Aniki's pleased.'
Relief washed over the young one.
'Really, aniki?'
He felt his brother move a little as he nodded.
The young one chuckled a little.
'Thank you.'
And he allowed unconsciousness to carry him as he snuggled deeper into his eldest brother's cold, secure embrace.
- - -
'Quit jumping around, Gon!' Killua half-yelled as he hurried after his spiky-haired friend who was blending into the sea of people, jumping up and down excitedly.
'Why, Killua? I thought you were supposed to be just as active as Gon. Lost your stamina?' Leorio's voice suddenly sounded from behind, causing Killua to jump a little and knock into several people in the crowd. A little cross and embarrassed, he quickly apologized, then whirled around to find a blonde dressed in cobalt blue with yellow lining and mysterious patterns on his outer clothing, and a grown up in a deep blue suit with dark brown, nearly black hair smoothly combed back. His mini-sized sunglasses perched precariously on the bridge of his nose. Both were silently laughing as they stared at him. Killua felt himself going red in his face. He opened his mouth to retort but nothing was supplied.
'Oh, shut up,' was all he could finally manage. That caused the other two laugh even harder.
'Really sorry, Killua, but I can't help it. You look so helpless back then, when you knocked into those people and also when you couldn't find anything to say,' the blonde answered, his earrings swayed as he laughed.
'Kurapika!' Killua exclaimed, annoyed, causing the blonde to relapse once again into helpless laughter.
'There, there, Killua, there's no need to get angry. I know very well that it is not your fault,' the other said in a mocking voice, at the same time trying to stifle a laughter bubbling in him. Killua clenched and unclenched his hands, veins popping out of his temple. Leorio could be very irritating at times. No, wait, make that all time.
'Leorio, you have a death wish?' Killua asked, his voice low and menacing. Leorio stopped laughing and took a step behind.
'Uh oh, silver cat's angry...'
Kurapika sweat dropped. Before Killua could answer back, Gon reappeared behind Killua, squeezing between two fat foreigners arguing over which souvenir to buy.
'What are you guys doing here? I thought I lost you all,' he announced, a little flustered and annoyed, in the exceptionally innocent voice of his, dark brown eyes expressing hurt. Immediately, Killua whirled around, eyes flashing with mock anger, and advanced upon whom he called his best friend. Secretly, he was rather glad that Gon appeared at that very moment, because he had ran out of good retorts to Leorio's masterful teasing. It is sometimes very annoying that Leorio is so much elder than him and has much more experiences than he does, thus allowing him the upper hand of any vocal battle that they embarked upon.
'What do you mean – what are you guys doing here? You were the one who ditched us and proceeded alone.'
Gon blinked.
'Are you pissed off, Killua?'
'No, you are.'
'I'm not!'
'Well, someone has to be,' Killua said matter-of-factly. Gon opened his mouth defiantly to answer but what he had in mind was never to be voiced out.
'No, there's no need. So, stop this childish argument and find a place where we can spend the night,' Kurapika the peacemaker stemmed the argument between the two younger ones.
The both of them silenced and blinked blankly at each other.
'I think I saw a motel yonder,' Gon announced, pointing to the direction where he came from, anger forgotten, as the others shaded their eyes and strained to see where Gon was pointing at.
'I don't think I see it, nor ever will, if we just keep at this place. Lead the way, please, Gon,' Leorio finally exclaimed in frustration, giving up.
'Okay!' Gon agreed readily and instinctively pulled at Killua's hand as he prepared to lead the way. The first few steps met with no resistance except for a few under-the-breath grumbling about a particular stupid early teen that did not act his age, but at the fifth step, there was a hard and sudden tug, and Gon was roughly jerked backwards. Behind him, he could hear both Kurapika and Leorio exclaiming in surprise. A little annoyed, he whirled around, about to reprimand his friend that the one not acting his age is not him, but Killua himself; but stopped short when he saw the look on Killua's face.
Fear and shock were scribbled all over his pale features, and he was staring into the dark alley beside them, eyes narrowed, expressing disbelief. Something immediately clicked in Gon's mind at that moment – the only thing; no, make it person; that can cause such a reaction in Killua is only him...which means...the dark alley!
Gon swiftly turned his head towards the dark alley and squinted his eyes as he tried to search for the outline of the person. He sensed rather than saw both Kurapika and Leorio doing the same. After a few seconds, Gon frowned.
Negative.
He silently exchanged a sideway glance with the other two, then shifted his gaze back to Killua, who was still peering into the dark alley. Gon, deciding Killua should return to reality, called him tentatively and softly at first, but louder when Killua showed no signs that he heard him.
'Y-yeah?' Killua stammered as he tore his eyes away from the alley.
'Killua, what is it?' Kurapika asked, stepping to Killua's side, followed by Leorio. Killua turned a little to face Kurapika, his face a little clouded. Then it slowly cleared.
'N-nothing important,' he grinned shakily, still stuttering a little. No one was convinced.
'Oh, come on! Let's go to the motel Gon mentioned. I'm nearing death if I don't get my HP raised soon,' he exclaimed, comparing himself with the characters of a game, as he hitched his bag higher and tugged at Gon's hand. He continued grinning. Only thing was – his grin did not quite reach his eyes, as it normally would.
So? What do you guys think?