A/N:

The long-delayed chapter has arrived! Don't forget me guys I'm still here! Hang in there with me.

Hey guys...Besides from my usual Togashi-like hiatus habits...I was actually feeling discouraged from posting on here for a while because I was very annoyed...

I was alerted that someone is apparently plagiarizing this story...which is dumb, because they copied all of my dumbest jokes. But anyway it used to be on but it seems to have been removed (thank god).But it's still on Quotev.

I don't really know what to do about it other than say that in case anyone runs into that story, I didn't copy anyone...It's the other way around. Anyway as I'm sure you all know it's just upsetting to see people copy your work and take credit for it. It's actually kind of scary.

Of course I decided to continue writing anyway because I got re inspired by reviews and I love all you guys :)

I don't own HXH.

Recap: Gon, Killua, and Fern are at the Celestial tower. Wing agreed to train them. Fern privately asked Wing to train her Hatsu ability which is to burn things with mittens. He agreed. Fern teased Killua, as usual. That's about it, I think.

. . .

Chapter 27: Chocolate is Heaven

Time at Celestial Tower flew by like a rocket. One day it was the her first meeting with Wing, and then the next thing she knew it, she was waking up in the morning with Wing telling her she was ready to have a match now that they'd been working together for over two months.

Wow.

Two months.

Fern blinked.

….Already?

She couldn't believe time was passing by so quickly.

And so, Fern found herself, two months after coming to Celestial Tower, standing across the arena from Guido, going over everything Wing had taught her in the past two months.

Her nerves were going crazy, jittering back and forth inside her like popcorn in an overheated microwave. If the referee didn't announce the start to the match soon, she swore she was going to explode.

"Go, Fern!" That was definitely Gon. He was like a personal cheerleader, Fern though dryly. She pretended not to hear him.

"You can do it! Beat him up!" Never mind, Zushi was even worse. The kid had a sweet face but inside, he was a total delinquent. Seriously. Zushi loved to fight, and he was still a kid. Maybe he was the son of a yakuza or something .Oh god, what if Wing was part of the yakuza?

"Over here, over here, Fern!" In her peripheral vision, Gon was now standing up waving his arms around like a maniac.

Fern looked over, giving in, just in time to see Gon, in his excited waving, whack the box of chocolate out of Killua's hands. The balls of chocolate went rolling across the aisles down the seats. "Oops," Gon said. Killua was appalled.

They were goddamn impossible to ignore, she thought as her eyelids lowered, watching them dully. Gon, Zushi, Killua, and then finally, at the end, Wing, were all sitting there. Although Gon technically was not supposed to see any nen matches while he was recovering, after much begging, pleading, and bargaining (cough blackmailing cough cough) on Killua's part (not Fer, because she didn't particularly care if they came), Gon was finally allowed for the boy to come see Fern's match. And so, there they were, sitting in their front row seats watching her match like it was that Karate Kid movie.

(The expensive first row seats were purchased kindly by Killua, who claimed tauntingly that he NEEDED first-class seats so he could personally watch her fail. To which, she smiled and said "Thanks, Killua, I really appreciate your support." Which meant, haha. Fuck off. )

Shaking her head at them, she turned back to the match in front of her. Her insides continued to jump around; the excitement was settling in like sugar dissolving in the bloodstream. Indeed, she was ready to explode not because of nerves but because of overwhelming adrenaline pumping through her system. Her fingers twitched. She looked down to hide her eyes. She bit her tongue and ducked her head to help reign in her Nen. After all, she couldn't be caught radiating blood-lust Nen in front of do-gooder Wing.

"Hurry up and start already, referee," Guido commanded. His voice was muffled by the strange mask he had over his mouth. "I'm getting impatient."

Fern itched to use her mittens, but she'd left them behind today. The sound of cheering of the stadium, the thousands of eyes and lights upon her…Fern was a secretive person. A place this publicized was the last place she would ever pick to reveal a special technique. Thus, it was going to be a non-mitten victory today.

"A-a-alright," the referee stuttered, clearly intimidated by the strange appearance of Guido. The man swallowed and cleared his throat. "Begin!" he announced, raising the flag into the air.

At the sound of the match being declared, Fern immediately bent into a crouch and jumped backwards, leaping until she reached the very end of the arena. She'd looked into how her opponent fought beforehand.

After watching several of his matches and prying some information from Gon, Fern gathered that Guido, a strange contestant wearing a black cloak and with one center stick in place of his legs, was a Nen user who used his aura to throw tops (you know, the spinny kind) all over the room.

That sounded incredibly stupid and more like something that belonged in a little kiddie day care than anything else, but given the right conditions and use, even that seemingly stupid ability could become a lethal and deadly weapon. Fern shouldn't talk; her mittens looked like they were from the Better Homes and Living front cover. Yeah, Betty Crocker and her cooking mittens were going to fry you to a crisp.

Hence, she refused to make fun of him. (Out loud anyway).

She also learned that Guido used the stick thing he had in place of legs to spin himself around like a top. That was his defense, she supposed.

In the case of fighting Guido, standing in the center of the arena ring would just be stupid. It would leave her open to be attacked on all sides by his spinning tops. Thus, she jumped as far close to the wall as she could without actually leaving the fighting ring.

"What's wrong, little girl?" Guido chuckled. "Afraid?"

She couldn't help it. She clutched her dress and pretended to shake like there was an earthquake inside her vest. "O-oh… please…Don't hurt me!" Laying it on super thick.

The dumbass guy laughed. "You should give up little girl!"

Wow, what an idiot. Her dul eyes stared out from behind a curtain of blonde hair. He didn't even notice her fake acting when it was intentionally made to look fake. She was pretty sure she heard Killua snort from the stands.

Guido began to chuckle. "This will be easy!" His nen flared suddenly and he released a batch of his tops into the arena. They spun around on the floor and in the air, and floating around him in a circle, almost like a protective barrier.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she appeared to just barely dance out of the way. "Soooo fast!"

He laughed maliciously. "Silly little girl…You'll regret coming here when you end up like your idiot friend over there in the cast."

She continued just barely dodging. It was so easy it became like a meditative exercise. She was losing focus. Guido started to get annoyed. She was starting to feel a buzz within her, in her brain.

Dreidel dreidel dreidel…I made it out of clay…

She started to hum. It started out low. No one would hear her. Her eyes darted faster and faster tracking the increasing amount and speech of every top. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and fueled her with energy. It was thrilling, it was exhilarating, it was fun. She loved danger.

"You impudent brat," Guido growled. "Well," he said, calming down. "I was going easy on you…"He raised his arms and sent a burst of nen into his tops. "Let's see if you're still going to dance around after this," he snapped. And then he thrust his arms forward, sending a dozen of them spiraling through the air and soaring towards Fern at such a speed that a normal person would have seen only a blur of the moving objects.

…And when it's dry and ready…oh Dreidel I shall play…

Her humming was becoming louder. She was still weaving around his tops with both ease and pretend stumbling.

"All you have done so far is stumble around and avoid my most simple attack," Guido countered. It was obvious he was starting to get unhinged; his confidence was as shaky as his Nen in the air was. She could sense it, his insecurity beginning to show. "But luck won't save you now!" He prepared for his next attack.

Oh dreidel dreidel dreidel…

Her lips started to form the words. The heat of her nen was surging beneath the surface of her skin, itching, itching, burning behind her eyes, with a sickening urge to seep into skin and corrode burn, devour…

I made you out of clay…

"Now you'll get it, you brat!" he yelled, his voice rising at the end. Cackling loudly, he pumped even more nen into his tops, making them faster and faster until they reached the near speed of light.

Fern dodged them for a while, leaping up and down and side to side without so much as getting grazed by one of the tops. This was a waste of her time, she decided. If it weren't for Guido having hurt Gon's arm so badly, she would have lost interest in him a long time ago. But the thing was that he had hurt her friend…her Gon. Mine….

Fern stopped jumping and landed on her feet. She was now lowly singing the words stuck in her head…"And when you're dry and ready…"

"Singing w-weird songs won't help you now!" Guido stuttered, backing away.

She let her shouko open, allowing her Nen to cascade out like a waterfall out of an open tap faucet. It gushed and gushed and gushed, more and more of Nen began to seeping from her body into the area around her. Soon, she was surrounded by a thick dome of Nen, concentrated around her like a bubble.

Guido opened his mouth to exclaim out in surprise. "What the—

Before he could even register what was happened, Fern had lifted her arm and channeled the mass of aura around her into a sphere—compressed it into one aura dense ball-

"Oh Dreidel we shall play" she whispered, suddenly in his face.

His eyes widened.

Blue eyes, sharp, clairvoyant, icy burned into his. "You want to play?" Her words sang, high-pitched, cooing. A saccharine smile on a cold sweet face. The bloodlust in the nen was crushing, strangulating. "Then…" She giggled. The shadows curved under the cold eyes. "Let's play."

And punched him in the face with the aura ball. It sank into his nose with a crack.

He shrieked.

The aura ball exploded. The great pressure released in an instant, blowing outward in a massive explosion of nen and aura. He flew back. The force was so great the area of the arena below Guido crumbled and chunks of the rock flew up into the air. A great wind blew through the stadium, the air charged and overflowing with Fern's aura.

When the winds died down and her aura gradually calmed and began to diminish, Fern was staring down at a cracked, shattered arena with a large crater in the center of it. Walking calmly towards the crater, she stopped at the edge and looked down.

And there was Guido, lying in the center, his stick leg utterly broken and his black cloak on the verge of disintegration. She leapt down into the crater like a cat and crouched in front of his trembling face. He was gurgling noises.

"Hey, Dreidel boy…" Fern's cold voice sent a shiver straight through him. He whimpered. She leant down to his ear. "Don't ever touch what's mine again. I'll kill you." He passed out.

She stood up and smiled sweetly at a silenced audience.

"R-right...!" the referee stuttered, still shocked. He quickly shut his gaping mouth and raised the flag in his hand. "C-contestant Fern is the winner!"

There was a short moment of silence before the crowd seemed to snap out of their daze and erupted into wild cheers. Loud whistles resounded through the stadium and yells and hollers filled the air. Some clapped, some hooted, some even stood up and pumped their fist in the air for her.

Fern sighed. She didn't like being noticed. Oh well, most of the stands were far away and the cameras were more focused on zooming in on Guido's bashed-in face to show any more shots of the strange girl. Slipping out of the ring, Fern passed through the shadows of the stadium moving towards where Killua, Gon, Zushi, and Wing were standing in the satnds. Once there, she leapt over the rail and slid in the row behind them.

"Hey," she said, leaning on Killua's head.

Zushi jumped five feet in the air and screamed. Wing twitched. Gon turned around excited. Killua didn't move; he'd probably sensed her coming, sneaky assassin that he was.

"That was amazing!" Gon exclaimed. He was grinning like a puppy. "Fern is so strong!"

"Indeed! I agree!" Zushi complimented. "You have inspired to become strong like that too one day, Fern-san!"

"Get off me," Killua muttered. His arms were crossed against his chest and he wasn't looking at her. She assumed he was pissed because she hadn't lost and also because Gon had made him lose all his chocolate balls.

"What's wrong…" She dropped her arms from his head to around his shoulders and her chin settled into the curve of his neck. He stiffened involuntarily and his head jerked, he still wasn't looking at her. She smirked. "Poor baby…are you pouting? Is it because I won?" A wandering hand drifted down his chest. "Or was it because…" fingers tiptoed down his stomach…down…down… "you lost all of your…" twitched at his waist band. He was frozen stiff, paralyzed. "…balls?"

Killua pushed her off. Fern rolled on the floor laughing. Gon hadn't been listening but was certain Fern had teased Killua again, as usual.

Killua huffed.

"Killua's ears are a little red," Gon remarked positively with a smile.

Fern paused and stared at Killua, who was cursing and looked away. Then she started laughing harder, her hands on her stomach trying to stop. Teasing him was so fun.

Wing stared at them for a moment before chuckling. "Alright, alright," he said, smiling. "Now, let's get head back before it gets too late." And he turned and began to walk out of the stadium, leaving the four children behind to stare after him.

"Is anyone going to tell him his shirt is hanging out?" Fern whispered. She was lying on the floor, staring at Wing from upside down. "I vote no."

"Nah," Killua said, waving her question away. Fern thought he was trying to act like nothing had happened. Smart idea, considering Gon seemed keen on teasing him too. Dropping it was the best way for him to escape with his pride intact. "Let him figure it out himself."

"Geez," Gon muttered. "You guys are so mean."

Fern grinned. "What, then you want to tell him?"

Suddenly shadowed by Killua's mischievous cat-face, and Fern's lowered eye-lids making her look rather like a fox, he shivered. "…No…" Gon said.

Fern clapped him on the back. "That's my Gon! Knew you had it in you…"

. . .

Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.

The train shook beneath him as the wheels screeched over the tracks, fumbling over bumps and grinding against the rails. The ride was not in the least bit smooth, or luxurious. The seats were hard and stiff against his back, and the floor bounced so much it was hard for even him—a hunter—to walk on them without falling.

Kurapika sighed and leant his head back against the seat, closing his eyes and trying to catch a wink of sleep. It wasn't likely, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. He knew he could have used his Hunter Licesne to obtain better seats in a better quality train, but he decided that he wasn't going to, because he didn't want to lose himself in the luxuries.

He refused to become the type of person who was so spoiled they only took first-class seats.

Even if it meant his own suffering.

Kurapika sighed again as the train hit a bump and the whole cart went flying forward. He reached up calmly to stop his bag from falling from the rack above, but otherwise did not react in any way. He ignored the chattering and complaints of the other passengers and rested his head back against the seat once more. Two hours passed.

He still wasn't asleep.

Kurapika was exasperated with his inability to fall asleep. He decided to make use of his time by sorting through his thoughts. He had much to think about, seeing as throughout the whole Hunter Exam and during his stay at the Zaoldyeck house, he had pushed his worries to the back of his mind until later, trying to focus his mind on the present.

But now, he had time. He could think about it. And the first thing that popped into his mind was the Kurutarian trademark- scarlet red eyes. Fern's scarlet red eyes.

He was sure he had seen them. Only a flash, one so quick he would have missed it completely had he blinked or looked away for even one second—but it was there, he knew it was.

Or did he?

Kurapika frowned. Maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe it was just his hopeful mind playing cruel tricks on him. A symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, perhaps, a remnant of the childhood trauma that plagued him throughout his life. Or maybe his own eyes had turned red, causing him to see red and think it was her eyes turning red—

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Focus, he told himself. And calm yourself. Think clearly.

But he couldn't. Just thinking about the Kurutas and what it might mean if Fern's eyes had really turned red made his heart pound in his chest and his mind fly out of the window with possibilities. He couldn't think straight—in fact, he could barely think at all.

Kurapika grit his teeth together and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand. His head throbbed, a headache no doubt setting in. He frowned. In about an hour, he would be arriving at the mansion where the interviews for his job selection would take place. He didn't know what they would be testing, whether it would involve fighting or not.

He knew he couldn't afford to have a headache, to be distracted, to hope. Not right now…

Leaning back against his seat and making a conscious effort to relax his body, he pushed the thought of Fern and her red eyes away. Later, he promised himself, trying to stifle the stuttering of his heartbeat and the nauseous memories rising up his windpipe. Later. Later. Later.

(but the eyes haunted him…stalked him…seared holes in the black of his mindscape…)

When September first came and he saw her again, he would ask, he decided. He would do it. He clutched his heart that panged in his tightened chest. His own eyes were red now, beneath his black-shaded contacts.

Whether it was simply by interrogating her, or a different, less upfront way, he would find out somehow. He hated to be suspicious of one his friends, and would hate it even more if he had to sneak around behind her back to find out something about her. But it was necessary. He had to know. He couldn't leave it. He couldn't let it lie. Not…not something like that. Was she…was she truly…?

He had to know.

(the eyes…the eyes…the eyes…)

He had to.

. . .

"Gon! Killua!" Fern exclaimed as she raced down the steps towards the two boys. They had just exited the elevator, coming back from their matches—both victories of course. They turned at her voice and paused, waiting for her to catch up. She grinned widely as she reached them, her eyes bright and her face lit up. "You kicked buttttt!"

Gon grinned and opened his mouth to exclaim something in return, but he was cut off as Fern grabbed him around the waist and swung him around. "You did ittttt!" She let his feet drop down the ground again, but smothered him in a hug.

"Eh…." Gon laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't think it was that great…" He looked down. " I didn't win against Hisoka…"

"Doesn't matter," Fern scoffed. "You did what you wanted. You gave the freak his pin back."

Gon smiled. His face was beat up but he looked proud. "Yeah," he said. "All the hard work with Wing-san paid off!" He was bouncing on his feet again. "And Killua all his matches so easily!"

Killua smirked cockily, arms folded behind his head. "Of course I did. Don't you have faith in me, Gon?"

She let go of Gon and looked at Killua. "That's right…Killua did soooo well today," she drawled. "And I always give Gon hugs…"

"Don't you dare," he said. His face contorted.

She pounced on him. He moved swiftly out of the way, but the second time she moved, she was smirking and he felt the impending doom as there was only an elevator behind him and the doors were shut. As such, she knocked him right to the floor, arms squeezing his torso and buried her face in his stomach. "Killua's a cool kid, Killua's a cool kid," she said over and over ignoring his furious wriggling and his hands pushing her away.

"Gon!" Killua exclaimed, eyes bugging out. "Get her off me!"

"I'm tired…" Gon whined.

"Killua's ticklish," she cooed, fingers twitching at his back. She rubbed her nose against his stomach. He twitched.

"Leggo!" he squirmed.

Fern continued teasing him. All the while, her mind spun. She wasn't lying; they had been amazing. It had only proved what she'd already suspected; Gon and Killua were prodigies.

While Fern had been training with Wing, they also had been working hard with him as well. For people who had only discovered Nen about two months ago, they were astounding.

Fern suddenly paused.

Oh no. What if they were so talented they became better than her and then-! Nonono, she shook her head, blonde hair whipping. That would never happen. Never. Neeeeever ever.

I'll just train harder. Super harder! Super training! she decided at that moment. Super woman!

Gon frowned at her, noticing her sudden mood change. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"What?" Fern blinked and realized she had zoned out. Killua was underneath her, sitting up, looking at the suddenly gone-lax and limp on him Fern. "Uh…nothing."

"Yeah," Killua agreed. He shoved her off surprisingly lightly and stood up. He shot her a teasing smirk. No doubt about to offer some payback for all the teasing she'd subjected him to. "She's just PMSing."

Fern blinked, and then his words registered in her head. "I am not!" she exclaimed defensively. "And how would you know what it feels like to PMS? Oh, Killua," she sang tauntingly, "Is there something you'd like to tell us? We're very open and accepting…"

"See?" Killua was unfazed. "You changed moods again," Killua remarked smugly. "Definitely PMS."

Gon frowned. "What's PMS?"

Fern froze.

Killua gaped. "What?" His face twisted. "You don't know?"

Gon shook his head.

Fern and Killua exchanged incredulous glances. How come Gon knew other things but not…? Well, Fern considered, tilting her head to the side. He was a boy…

A grin curled the corners of Killua's lips up. "PMS is when a girl has her monthly—

"Perpetual Munching Spree."

Gon blinked and turned to stare at Fern strangely. "Huh?"

"Uh…." She trailed off awkwardly. "You know, perpetual munching spree! Everyone has their cravings!"

Killua snorted. "Perpetual Munching Spree? Really?"

"You're hungry?" Gon asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

She laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah! Sure…"

"Oh!" Gon said. He grinned. "Okay, I get it now."

Really? 'Cause what I just said doesn't even make sense to me, and I'm the one who said it. She raised an eyebrow at him and shared a strange look with Killua, both of them obviously thinking the same thing. "You do?" Fern said doubtfully.

Gon nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" He raised a finger. "Killua gets those all the time!" He smiled. "Killua, you should have told me you have PMS…" He pouted. "Then I wouldn't have made fun of you about the chocolate all the time."

Killua's jaw dropped. He looked totally dismayed. "What."

Fern choked. She turned away to hide her laughing. "Serves you right," she whispered to a gaping Killua.

"Wait-Gon—" Killua reached out.

But Gon continued on oblivious. "Speaking of it…Why don't we go get something to eat?" he asked. "I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

And, as if on cue, the boy's stomach growled.

. . .

Fern glanced over at Killua as she heard him let out a sigh. They were outside, walking down the front steps of the Celestial Tower, under the warmth of the sun and the expanse of the bright blue skies. Gon insisted that they eat somewhere special to celebrate all of their (Fern, Gon, and Killua's) victories in the tower, so they were walking around the town to find a place to eat.

"Ahhh," Killua groaned, stretching. "It's over already?"

"I'm glad it's over," Fern replied, frowning. "That was way intense." She was glad Gon's fight with Hisoka was over. When Gon told her his mission to give back the pin no matter what, she had almost had a coronary. Hisoka was a dangerous maniac. That guy could never be trusted. Just thinking about it sent shivers down her back.

"No," Killua said. "Not Hisoka and Gon's match. I meant Celestial Tower."

"Oh yeah!" Gon's eyes widened slightly in realization. "Now that I've made Hisoka take back his pin, we don't really have a purpose here anymore."

Fern blinked. "Does that mean you're leaving?" She stopped walking, suddenly feeling a sinking in her stomach.

Killua shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I don't know," he replied slowly. His eyes flickered to Gon. "Depends on what you guys want to do."

Fern made a face.

"Um…" Gon began hesitantly. "If it's okay with you guys, I wanted to go back to Whale Island for a little while and visit Aunt Mito-san." He smiled sheepishly. "I haven't seen her in a while."

"Eh…" Killua mumbled thoughtfully. "So, I get to see your home, huh?" He laughed. "I really want to meet this famous Mito-san you always talk about."

Gon smiled for a moment, before he frowned, turning to Fern. "What about you?" he asked. "Can you come too? I really want you to meet Aunt Mito-san…"

Fern stared at him blankly for a second, before she blinked. "You know…" she muttered. "How could I possibly say no when you're looking at me like that?" What a manipulative puppy…

Gon pouted. "I'm not…" he began to protest, but then stopped himself. Instead, he brightened up and asked, "Does that mean you're coming?"

She was a little reluctant. She wanted to get back to Akulla and Bea, but then again, she was planning to just wire the ton of money she got at the Tower (am I rich? I have money? What? What? WHAT?) to him from a computer at a café… and this venture had taken less time than she'd thought it would. Besides…"Well…I did promise to come see your home one day, didn't I?" she recalled, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah!" Gon exclaimed.

"I…guess I can go," Fern said. "After I tell some people," she said.

"Okay!" Gon grinned. "I'm so excited! You can both finally come to Whale Island! I can't wait for you to meet Aunt Mito!"

"Is she nice?" Fern asked curiously.

Killua grinned mischievously. "Is she an old hag?"

"No!" Gon protested instantly.

Fern frowned, confused. "Wait, she's not nice?"

"No, she is," he clarified. "But she's not an old hag." He smiled. "Actually, she's pretty young."

"Hm…." Killua hummed. "She sounds interesting…" He was wondering what on earth a normal aunt was like. He had no basis, considering his own insane family. Ugh. He shivered.

Gon grinned. "She is!"

The trio wandered around the town a little while longer, just conversing friendly and joking around. Gon talked about what he wanted to do when they got to his house. He told them about Gonta, too ,the fox-bear hybrid in his forest, and his grandma as well. He also told them stories of something he had done as a kid and Mito had reacted too.

Fern laughed at some of the stories he told them, and also shared a couple of her own tales about interesting people she had met. While Killua himself did not have any warm stories to tell, he didn't feel excluded. No, he felt warm—but not from the good weather.

From the two beside him.

. . .

"Hey, Gon, what are you ordering?"

The sun was setting now. After they'd walked around, they'd all become more hungry than they were in the first place, but Gon was apparently very picky in which places he wanted to eat. He said he wanted to eat somewhere they could all sit around and talk comfortably. Killua kept pointing out all the fancy restaurants. Fern kept pointing out the shady ones.

Gon was determined to find a small, but comfortable, traditional restaurant. And, at last they'd found one, and they were all seated around a table, hardly anyone in the restaurant other than them, staring at the menus.

"I'm getting egg on rice," Gon said cheerfully. "It's the best thing ever."

"…Ok-ay," Fern said. Fern did not spent much time in restaurants…unless it was in their trashcans stealing things. Consequently, staring at a menu was fairly foreign. Her hands itched to steal; she actually had to sit on top of them to keep from stealing things. That salt shaker was looking particularly valuable. Nice glass bottle, good quality salt…could last a while—urgh. Right, menu.

"What about you, Killua?" Fern said to distract herself. "What are you getting?"

"Nothing."

She looked up. "What? You're not hungry?"

"No. I'm just gonna eat chocolate."

Fern blinked and leaned over the table, intrigued. "Chocolate?" she repeated. She frowned. "You have candy?"

Killua grinned. "Yeah." And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large box of said candy. "You're not getting any, just so you know," he added, when he noticed her staring wide-eyed at the box.

"I wasn't expecting any, dumbass," Fern said defensively. "I'm just curious."

"'Bout what?" Killua asked as he opened the box and popped a round chocolate ball into his mouth.

Fern stared at him intensely as he chewed.

"What," Killua paused in his chewing. His eyelids lowered. He couldn't enjoy his chocolate properly with Fern staring at him like he was a science experiment.

"It's just…" Fern's eyes narrowed. She watched him chew and then swallow. "It looks like balls of dog shit, but when you eat it you look like you're having an orgasm."

Killua made a face. He regretted making those noises. "You make everything dirty…" he grumbled.

"So," Fern continued on, "I thought, those chocolate things must be something incredible."

Killua paused. He stared at her like she was crazy. "You…don't know what chocolate tastes like?"

"No…." she drawled, looking at him strangely. He was looking at her like she had grown five heads and a rhinoceros horn.

He gaped. "You've never had chocolate before?"

"No…" she repeated.

"Never?"

"For the last time, no!" she exploded, slamming her hands on the table. "How many times are you going to make me repeat that! And stop giving me those weird looks," she muttered, sitting back down and twisting a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "Geez."

"Whoa!" Killua yelled, his eyes widening. He turned to Gon beside him and jabbed his index finger at Fern rudely. "Can you believe that, Gon? She's never had chocolate before!"

Gon shrugged. "I don't know. It's just chocolate…"

"Just chocolate?!" he exclaimed, as if shocked anyone could say that.

Fern sighed. "Shut up," she groaned, closing her eyes and hiding her head behind her menu. It wasn't her fault that she'd never had chocolate before. Living in a dump didn't exactly make something like chocolate (or at least, edible—not rotted) easy to find.

She paused for a second before lifting her head back up from behind the menu and staring at Killua. "So, anyways," she began. She leaned forward and stared at him with wide, curious eyes. "You never said. What does that stuff taste like?"

"Like heaven," he replied. He popped yet another chocolate ball into his mouth and his eyes seemed to almost sparkle with joy. "Amazing," he sighed, and stuck another in his mouth.

Fern laughed dryly, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. "You do realize you have three of those things in your mouth right now, and if you put another one in you're going to choke, right?"

He didn't answer, and popped another into his mouth anyway. Somehow, he didn't choke.

"…I think he's too lost in chocolate to hear you, Fern," Gon said wryly.

Fern reached forward with her arm and poked Killua's cheek.

"What?" he mumbled, irritated, through a full mouth.

She poked him again.

"What," he demanded, opening his eyes.

"I want one," Fern said bluntly. "Like, now."

Killua frowned and pulled away, clutching the chocolate box close to his chest protectively. "No," he said, though his words were muffled by his mouthful of chocolate.

Fern frowned stubbornly. "I want one," she repeated. "Come on, Killua, I'm having my Perpetual Munching Spree right now!" She batted her eyelashes.

"No," he said again, turning away.

"Just one," she negotiated, practically crawling across the table.

He frowned. "No."

Fern pouted. "Pleeease?" she begged, leaning over to his side with her arms outstretched. "I've never ever had one before and I really want to try it."

"Buy your own," Killua answered. "And that face is not going to work on me."

"But Killuaaaa!" She pouted more, lying flat against the table, staring up at him sadly. "Please?"

"No way."

"Umm…" Gon stood up at this point, backing away from the table. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Abandoning me…" Killua hissed, but let him go.

"Please?" Fern insisted.

"I said no!"

"Why the hell not?" She glowered suddenly, the fake innocence instantly vanishing.

"Because they're mine," Killua rolled his eyes. "What'd you think?"

She frowned at him. And stared.

Killua popped another into his mouth.

Stared.

He groaned at the sweetness.

Stared.

He stared back.

Jealousy radiated off of her in dark waves of doom. Glaring at him. Darkly.

Killua pulled another chocolate ball out of the box.

"I'll let you store your chocolate boxes in my room!"

Killua paused for a moment, thinking. "…Fine."

"Just kidding," Fern said.

She stood up, leaned forward, grabbed him by the collar of his sweatshirt, yanked him forward, and as he opened his mouth to gape, dipped her head, blonde hair falling across her shoulders tickling his cheeks, blue eyes daring his then closing…a foreign tongue dipped into his mouth and rolled around his. She made a noise that went straight through him, curled her tongue around the swirling chocolate and pulled away, swallowing. "Mmm…" she smiled contentedly. "Oh?" She licked the corner of his mouth. "You made a mess."

Killua gulped—and promptly choked, too much chocolate all down the wrong pipe. He fell back into the seat and coughing, grabbing his throat.

"I told you you were going to choke," she said with a sigh. "And anyway, you took too long to agree." Sat back down, put her feet on the table.

While he was bent over, eyes falling out, tongue hanging out, gasping for breath, "What—what," he choked out. "You—"

She just smiled and took another chocolate, rolling it around in between her fingers before plopping it in her mouth. He watched her from the corner of his eye.

She moaned. "You were right." From beneath eyelashes, she smirked, blue eyes boring into his. "These are heaven."

He felt a shock go down his spine.

(And that was the day it all began.)

. . .

A conversation over the phone:

"Hey, Akulla. It's Fern."

"Need something?"

"Yeah, I…"

"Going off somewhere?" A sigh. "Don't worry about it. Do whatever you want."

"Are you sure? I can come back if you want. It's okay."

"Nah."

"Really. I mean it. You say the word and I'm coming back. You and Bea are the most important people in my life."

A snort. "Shut up."

"You love me." A smirk.

"Whatever. I already said. Go wherever you want. Just as long as you come back."

"I will."

"…You sure?"

Laughter.

"Yeah. Always."

. . .

END of CHAPTER 27!

Sorry guys for the wait but I hope you guys liked the chapter! Kind of dropped a bombshell there with Killua and Fern... What happened originally was not that at all and then I got an idea and edited it...hehe...

Let me know what you think!

Your reviews always help me get on track. They are what inspires me to write no matter how many times I forget what's going on in the show or get sidetracked with life, I always get brought back to this story because of my lovely readers and reviewers.

Review!