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to-star-lake · 5 years ago

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re: untitled [ pt. 1 ]

pairing | jjk x reader genre | ceo!jk, arranged marriage word count | 5.4k pt. 2, pt. 3, end

“Do you really have to leave?” Taehyung whispered against your skin, his lips pouting and caressing your bare shoulder. “It’s not like he’s waiting up for you.”

You scoffed, scooting to the edge of his bed, picking up your t-shirt from the floor and sliding it over your head. “It’s not him, it’s Namjoon and the goddamn board of directors,” you said, standing up and shimmying into your jeans that were hanging off the armchair beside the bed. “Acting like he’s our guardian or something, that guy really pisses me off with all the curfews and rules,” you mumbled, making your way over to the desk and picking up your purse.

Taehyung sighed and you looked over to see him sitting up against the pillows rubbing his eyes. “I don’t get it, why doesn’t Jungkook do something about that fool sitting up in his office calling the shots, he acts like he doesn’t give a shit about the company.”

You rolled your eyes, looping the strap of your purse over your shoulder. “It’s cus he doesn’t give a shit about the company, I’m the one in every single board meeting and strategy meeting and business development meeting.”

You picked your coat up from the back of the desk chair and walked over to sit down on the mattress beside Taehyung. He leaned forward, giving you a kiss, taking your left hand in his. When he pulled away you saw him look down at your hand in his, his fingers brushing over the shimmering diamond on a silver band on your finger.

“It’d be nice to see you in the daytime once in a while, you know,” he said softly, leaning his head against your shoulder. You sighed and tried to muster a smile, lifting his face and giving him a peck on the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll see you in the office, k?”

Those are the last words you always say to him before you walk out of his apartment, down the elevator, and out to the garage where your car is parked. And you always thought about him on your drive home. About how if maybe circumstances were different, you might love him, and could actually be with him. You caught your gaze shifting to the diamond on your ring finger, glittering from the lights of the city flashing by as you drove downtown to the steel and glass highrise and the penthouse where you lived.

“Miss Y/N, you’re cutting it close tonight,” Johnny, the valet teased as you pulled up in front of your building, getting out from the driver’s side of your car, tossing him the keys.

“I set an alarm this time,” you quipped back, pushing through the glass doors into the marble lobby of your building, noticing the security guards at the front desk exchange nervous glances as you walked into the elevator. It rose above 48 floors and the doors opened with a ding to the penthouse suite, and you heard a shrill screech coming from the end of the hallway.

“What the fuck, Jungkook?!” the voice shrieked, and the sound was followed by a half naked girl, running towards you into the open elevator doors, holding a silk sheet around her chest, a loud revving sound following closely behind. You ducked out of the elevator, and saw a 2-foot long toy tonka truck was chasing her at full speed. Turning, you saw Jungkook at the end of the hallway, wearing nothing but his briefs, the controller in one hand, the other clutching his stomach in laughter.

“You’re no fun!” he shouted down the hall.

“You’re fucking insane!” the girl yelled back as the elevator doors closed on her and the toy truck hit the doors at full speed with a thunk, pieces of its hood shattering across the floor and leaving a dent in the bronze elevator doors.

You rolled your eyes, walking down the hallway towards the open door to the penthouse you shared with the man child in briefs, who slid down to the floor, still laughing. You walked past him without a word, making your way across the marble foyer, straight to the mahogany liquor cabinet beside the large sofas in the living room. Taking the top off of one of the crystal decanters, you poured yourself a drink and heard Jungkook’s footsteps behind you. He reached out and grabbed the decanter from your hand, taking a swig and plopped down onto the velvet ligne roset sofa.

“Nice hickeys, what is this guy, 15 years old?” Jungkook scoffed as you took off your coat, revealing the trail of purple and blue marks along your neck and collarbone. Already irritated, you were about to snap when you heard the elevator doors ding and looking out into the hallway, you saw Namjoon step out.

“I just saw a woman wrapped in a bedsheet fuming and stomping out of the building, I can assume that was your work?” Namjoon walked into the living room, stopping in front of Jungkook, whose body is leaned lazily into the sofa, taking another swig. You laughed audibly at this remark but Namjoon turned, also noticing the hickeys on your skin.

“And you,” he began, holding up his phone, open to a dark and blurry paparazzi photo of you leaving Taehyung’s building next to a photo of you and Jungkook at an art function last month under the headline ‘Marriage or Merger? Billionaire Couple’s Sham Relationship.’

You rolled your eyes at this, taking another sip of your drink.

“This is on page six,” Namjoon pressed on, pushing the phone closer to you, making you flinch and swat it away. “You need to be more discreet.”

Jungkook chuckled from the couch, gulping down a few more swigs from the decanter. “And who knows how many paps got photos of that amateur’s work on her neck,” he snickered.

“You’re the one chasing a naked girl around with a fucking toy truck,” you were becoming more irritated by the second.

“Both of you shut up,” Namjoon raised his hand to his face, rubbing his temples in frustration. “Alright, you,” he said, pointing at Jungkook. “No more chicks in the penthouse, ok, I can’t keep paying your valets and doormen to keep this quiet. And Y/N,” he turned to you. “No more going to Taehyung’s house, and from now on both of you,” he shook his hand back and forth between you and Jungkook. “Both of you go to a goddamn hotel for your torrid affairs like normal, bored heirs alright? And do me a favor and do not arrive or leave with your flings. I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down before continuing. “Now we have a board meeting tomorrow morning at 10, you’ll both be there, right.”

“Obviously,” you crossed your arms in front of your chest, annoyed at the insinuation.

“I’m not asking,” Namjoon said, turning and walking out of the apartment.

“What’s got his knickers in a twist,” Jungkook said, drinking down the rest of the bottle before tossing it to the opposite end of the couch.

You rolled your eyes and crossed the foyer to the other end of the penthouse where your bedroom was. You were pulling your t-shirt over your head when you heard Jungkook’s footsteps.

“You need to stop seeing that asshole,” he said, leaning against the doorframe, drunk and slurring his words.

“Fuck you,” you scoffed, sliding your jeans off and tossing them where you dropped your t-shirt and walked into your bathroom, turning the water on in the ivory tub.

“I’m telling you to stop seeing him,” he raised his voice, walking up behind you, grabbing your forearm. You whipped around, twisting your arm from his grasp.

“I don’t say shit about all the girls you have coming in and out of here, so stay out of my life.”

He let out a bitter laugh, “I’d stay out of your life except we’re supposed to be fucking married here,” he held up his hand, pushing the silver band on his ring finger at your face. “We’re supposed to run the company together and you’re fucking the CFO.”

You unhooked your bralette and slid out of your underwear and climbed into the half filled tub. “And you’re fucking, oh wait, I’m sorry, who is it this week? And don’t act like you give a shit about the company.”

Jungkook put his hands on his hips, exasperated and averting his gaze from your naked body in the water. He took a deep breath and turned to leave. “It doesn’t matter who I’m seeing, they’re nobody. You’re fucking the CFO. If you fuck this up, he’s gonna fuck us over, don’t think for a second that asshole won’t.” He turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

You felt your anger boiling over and reached for the nearest thing you could get your hands on, a loofah, and threw it against the door.

“Fuck,” you said under your breath, brushing your hair back and dipping under the hot water.

You were angry because you knew he was right. And you’d thought about it many times, what could happen if things turn sour between you and Taehyung. But you were so glad to spend time with anyone other than your arranged marriage husband that you didn’t even question it. But despite your anger, you could admit it was possible you were being more reckless than he was.

It was the end of summer last year and you were in the bedroom of your apartment, packing your bags to begin your first graduate school semester when your parents called, letting you know they were in the city and asked you to have dinner.

You remembered arriving in the restaurant and when the hostess led you back to a private dining room with gilded wallpaper and dimly lit by a crystal chandelier, you saw that it wasn’t just your parents. You weren’t particularly surprised by this, your parents had been taking you out to functions and dinners with their various business partners your whole life. The Jeons had been friends of the family for a long time and you greeted them cordially before sitting down.

The conversation was light, which contrasted a stark and obvious tension in the air which you felt immediately that never lifted. Your parents had just begun to tell you about their plans to retire very soon and move to the chateau on Lake Como when the door to the private room burst open and the Jeons’ youngest son stumbled in.

You’d known Jungkook since you were children, and you weren’t particularly fond of him. You remember him always causing trouble, and was a rowdy, mischievous kid, who followed you around at events and parties, tugging at your hair or smearing food on your clothes when you weren’t looking. You remember his older brother constantly chasing him to sit him down on a couch or chair in time out for misbehaving, and he would jump up and run away into more trouble the minute his brother turned his back.

It’s been quite some time since the last time you saw him. During his last years in middle school, he’d gotten expelled from the prestigious private academy his parents worked hard to get him into, so they sent him away to boarding school. You hadn’t seen each other since you were 15.

He’d grown so tall, you thought. His dark hair, which you remembered his mother always kept properly groomed had grown long, strands of it falling over his eyes. You watched him slide languidly into a chair beside his mom, removing his sunglasses and tossing them onto the table. It was 8 PM at night. His father coughed audibly upon seeing his mother’s distressed expression.

“‘Sup, creators,” were his first and only words that evening.

Your parents commented amicably on how much he’s grown and asked him seemingly innocuous questions like how was Cambridge, how was his big South America excursion with his friends, and his mother answered for him. You stared at him in awe, at how little he could care to behave in any acceptable way in front of his parents and their business partners. He didn’t lift his face to look at you once.

A number of agonizingly long and uncomfortable silences passed when your father finally said, “Well, I’m sure the both of you are wondering why we’ve asked you out to dinner tonight.”

That was the lead-in to both sets of parents informing the two of you that they were planning a merger. And a merging of their two enterprises would be on a scale that the industry hadn’t seen in a long time. But they were getting old, they said, and wanted to retire and do some traveling. Your mother wants to tend to a garden, and Jungkook’s father spoke extensively about the books he wanted to write.

So they were handing the company over to the two of you.

And not only that, that the two of you would marry, and that this had been the plan for a very long time.

You felt your eyes growing wider in shock by the minute but there was something holding you back from blurting out all the things you wanted to say to your parents in that moment, like a heavy rock in the bottom of your stomach weighing you down. You kept glancing over at Jungkook, who sat in the same lazy posture in his chair, pushing his food around mindlessly on his plate with a fork, the same blank expression on his face, while you were panicking.

You parted ways with Jungkook that evening without so much as a single word addressing each other. His mother asked for your phone number and gave you his in exchange before they left. You expressed your grievances in full to your parents that night. They did not listen.

The wedding was one month later at your family’s chateau on Lake Como. It was a small, private ceremony, but your mother made sure there were enough photographers and journalists there to cover the event for publicity. The only words you and Jungkook exchanged on that day were your vows, which were carefully crafted by the company’s publicist.

That night both your families left the two of you alone in the chateau. This was following a lively dinner with close family friends who were invited and flew out to stay in Lake Como for the weekend on private flights. You were not intimately familiar with any of them, and as far as you could tell, neither was Jungkook.

You studied him carefully that day, nervous, but also resolved that even if the marriage is a sham, you wanted to make sure the two companies’ merger went through properly and that you would do your level best to run the enterprise with him. Despite the arranged marriage, you knew this company was your parents’ legacy, and you would not let it fail in your hands, and certainly not Jungkook’s.

After everyone left that night, you sat at the boudoir nervously in the silk slip you wore under the custom gown your mother spent weeks with the designers in the Saint Laurent atelier crafting. The doors to the bedroom opened, and you turned to see Jungkook walk in. He had changed out of his tuxedo and into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head.

He stood in the center of the room looking down at his shoes for a few moments and you were about to break the silence when he looked up at you and said, “Let’s go for a drive.”

Those were the first words he spoke to you directly of his choosing. And that was the first time his eyes met yours with any substance.

You threw on a coat and followed him out of the residence to the white Maserati gran turismo parked on the gravel lot in front of the house. A long and quiet car ride later, he pulled the car to a vantage point at the side of the road. He got out and walked to the overlook, climbing over the stone ledge and taking a seat. You followed suit.

The two of you sat in silence for a few moments and the stillness of the chilly night air fell upon you. He took a deep breath and turned his head, and your eyes met his, for the first time in earnest. His dark irises shone in the moonlight and they gazed into yours placidly and he said, “What do you want to do?”

It was a simple question, but both of you were well aware of the gravity of their meaning. What he meant was, ‘What do you want to do about this marriage?’

You looked out onto the lake and thought for a few moments.

“We will be the picture perfect corporate couple in front of everyone,” you began. You saw him nodding gently in your periphery. You turned to face him, taking a long breath in before saying, “But we will stay out of each other’s personal lives. Let’s not pretend like we actually have any feelings for each other. And I have no illusions about you actually wanting any part of this merger or running the enterprise. But I will not let you waste and wreck this empire our parents worked their whole life to build, so you will stay out of it.”

You saw his eyes grow wide in incredulity at your words for a brief moment before he turned away and took a deep breath. “Going to be kind of difficult to stay out of it since the general counsel wrote into the terms of the merger that you and I hold equal shares in the merged enterprise and you will be CEO and I will be president of the company.”

“You’re just a figurehead to represent your father,” you scoffed at his remark, though you were surprised that he actually seems to have read the terms of the merger. “Stay out of the operations. I will run this company.”

He stood up, smirking. “So that’s it then?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“That’s it.”

Both of you were silent on the drive back to the chateau, but you noticed his hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel, knuckles white under his skin, and he drove far past the speed limit. Of course he’s like this, you thought, a child throwing a tantrum and can’t control his emotions.

You got out of the car but he didn’t, instead, rolling down the passenger side window and calling out to you, “I trust you can find your own way home? I’m sure you can use the jet at your will, Miss CEO,” his mocking tone continued.

“Where are you going?” you asked, an annoyance and frustration building in the pit of your stomach which you were certain would persist every day of your marriage.

He shrugged, “I hear Portofino’s lovely this time of year. Or maybe I’ll take a flight out to Majorca. I don’t really know, honestly, since I now have all this unexpected free time from not having a run a company or participate in a marriage.” And with that, the tires of the car screeched from the gravel lot and you stood on the steps of the residence, mouth open in awe at this display while the engine roared down the road and disappeared into the night.

The entire last year of your marriage and partnership was like this. While you attended strategy meetings with your c-suite and reported earnings to the shareholders, Jungkook was galavanting around Europe, Asia, and rumors of his numerous affairs were well documented by the press. He would show up at random to meetings and events, undoubtedly dragged back from some wild binge by Namjoon, who was appointed acting president by the board when Jungkook’s behavior was finally deemed too erratic.

Initially you were overwhelmed by the amount of work you had to take on in the absence of the business partner you were supposed to have. Part of you considered calling Jungkook, and asking him to return to help you run the business. But your pride wouldn’t allow that. And the longer his erratic behavior drew on, the more your anger grew until it grew to the point of apathy. And it was then that you found a new partner in Taehyung, the company’s newly appointed CFO. He was calm, collected, brilliant, and more than anything, understood you and the business. He was someone you could confide in.

---

It was 10:55 AM and you had just concluded the last discussion item on the agenda for this month’s board meeting when the glass doors to the conference room flew open and Jungkook sauntered in, plopping down into one of the chairs along the room’s periphery.

“Ah, Jungkook, good of you to join us,” Namjoon commented, looking around nervously at all the shareholders around the table exchanging concerned glances.

He took the sunglasses off his face, “What did I miss?” he asked but didn’t mean.

“Only everything,” you muttered under your breath as you slammed your laptop shut, but somehow Jungkook did manage to hear your remark.

“Oh that’s alright, I’m sure Miya would be happy to uh, debrief me after this,” he chuckled, looking over at the secretary seated in the opposite corner, fully blushing at his comment.

“Oook, well, this was a productive meeting everyone, thank you for coming in today, we’ll meet again next month!” Namjoon stood, laughing nervously, clasping his hands together and quickly dismissing everyone before they could think too much on what Jungkook just said.

“That fucking asshat,” you dropped our laptop onto the desk in Taehyung’s office and he looked up at you his hands raised in surprise at your entrance. You slammed the door behind you, brushing your hair back with both hands in frustration, pacing.

Taehyung leaned back in his chair, twirling his pen in his hand, “I take it he actually did show up to the board meeting?”

“Barely,” you muttered, still pacing.

He laughed softly, but sat up quickly, and gestured for you to look at something. You looked over across the open office floor to Seokjin, the company’s in-house counsel’s office where Taehyung was pointing, and saw Jungkook taking a seat while Seokjin brought over a stack of papers, which Jungkook proceeded to flip through and sign.

“What the fuck is he doing?” you asked, trying not to stare.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung responded, equally curious, but less concerned than you were. “I have never seen him have a single conversation with Seokjin, what could he possibly be working on?”

You scoffed, “Maybe he’s finally being served for harassment in the office.” Taehyung chuckled at your quip, but you were only making a joke to suppress and hide your concerns. You watched as Jungkook shook Seokjin’s hand and left his office. You waited, pacing for a few minutes before rushing out of Taehyung’s office, making a beeline to Seokjin.

“Y/N! Oh, what a surprise, I wasn’t expecting-” Seokjin jumped in his chair, his glasses falling crooked on his face when you blew in through his office doors. You sat down in the chair across from him and crossed your arms.

“Well, I uh, this is great timing, because I was actually just about to come to your office,” he tripped over his words in nervousness. “I uh, I need you to take a look at this, please,” he pushed a stack of papers over to you and you could tell from the manila binding it was the same ones Jungkook was just signing.

“What is this?” you asked, flipping through the pages of legalise.

“Well, uh, Jungkook just brought in three new defense contracts,” Seokjin replied. You froze mid-motion and stared up at him.

This couldn’t be true.

“What?”

“Jungkook brought in three new defense contracts,” Seokjin repeated, enunciating his words.

“I heard you, I mean how?” you said, impatiently flipping through the pages of the contract, eyes wide at the fact that Jungkook has actually somehow brought in new business for the company.

“I’m not sure, uh, you’d have to speak with Jimin over in business development for the details on how they executed the contracts, I’m sorry, I just write the terms, protect us from liability, um-” he looked at you nervously, knowing full well he wasn’t answering your real question. “But Jungkook asked me to present you with a plan,”

“A plan?” you scoffed, looking at the numbers in the contract.

“Yes, uh,” Seokjin took the pile of papers from you and slid you a folder with more papers.

“Ok,” he took an anxious breath in, “So, Jungkook wants to give you his shares. And actually today’s board meeting is the final meeting with six of the 11 board members. In the last couple of months Jungkook bought their shares, which made up about 45% of the total enterprise shares. He wants to give you that 45% he acquired, along with his 10%, which, added to your own 10% would give you 65%, making you the majority shareholder of the enterprise, you just have to sign here,” he motioned towards the dotted line at the bottom of the page and held out a pen to you.

You sat frozen for a moment before standing up, shaking your head and pacing.

“Y/N?” Seokjin asked anxiously.

“Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me he was buying out our shareholders?”

“Well, I, I can’t speak for the shareholders themselves, but I was told this was need to know only..”

You were in shock, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. “So you’re telling me he went around buying out our shareholders to acquire a majority of the company, just to give it to me.”

Seokjin nodded nervously.

“You don’t find this suspicious? He’s bringing in new contracts, he’s buying out shareholders?”

“Well, there is one stipulation,” Seokjin pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and leaned over the stack of papers, flipping to a specific page. “Jungkook is asking that 5% of annual earnings be dedicated to a new R&D department.”

“What?” you asked, walking over to look at the page Seokjin was referencing.

“What does he want a research and development team for?” you were fully perplexed.

“I’m not sure, maybe he’s trying to work on some things for the defense contracts, I’m not clear on all the details. Again, Jimin could tell you more, or you could ask Jungkook directly..” he stopped, realizing you were glaring at him. “Uh, in any case, the numbers look good, I was going to run them by Taehyung after I got your ok. The R&D will cut into 5% but the new contracts will bring about a 12% growth in revenue so it’s all offset with a good profit.”

You scoffed, falling into the chair, shaking your head. “Go, get the financials verified,” you said, waving Seokjin off and he sloppily gathered the papers and stumbled out of his office over towards Taehyung’s.

You stood slowly, and walked in a daze down the hall to your own office, barely registering your secretary trying to tell you something before you turned the knob to the door and walked in and saw Jungkook standing behind your desk, looking out the windows at the city view. He turned when he heard you walk in.

“Have you talked to Seokjin?”

You took a deep breath in, trying your best to control your tone but failing, “Sure, let’s just get right down to it. What the fuck are you doing buying out our shareholders?”

He smiled and you couldn’t tell for the life of you if it was genuine or mocking. “I thought you’d be pleased to become the majority stakeholder.”

You slammed your laptop down on the desk, your anger and impatience growing and you stared in annoyance at him, standing in front of you in a suit and tie, feigning legitimacy. “Why the fuck would I be pleased about that? How the hell did you land those defense contracts?”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his perfectly creased slacks and moved closer to you, close enough you could feel his breath on your skin. He lowered his voice and the sound resonated through the air as he spoke.

“I don’t want to argue and I shouldn’t have to explain myself. You’ve been running the show long enough to know why I’m doing this. Those contracts will bring us 12% revenue growth, and the R&D will give us tax exemptions to put even more in our bottom line. I’m making you the majority stakeholder of the company because you should be the one running the enterprise, not Namjoon and his board of clowns. Let me work on the R&D and the defense contracts, and you can fully own this company. It was never our parents’ intention for us to report to some gaggle of stakeholders dicking around, raking in our money, and if it was, they’re idiots.”

He walked over to the door of your office, turning the knob and opening the door, and you stood frozen at your desk.

“Sign the papers, Y/N.” And with that, you heard the doors shut behind you.

#jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfiction #bts fanfiction #jungkook scenario #bts scenario #bts x reader #jungkook series #bts series #jungkook angst #ceo!jungkook #arranged marriage au

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decembercamiecherries · 8 years ago

Link

Title: Bloodstained

Word count: 14688

Warnings: Blood, Violence

Summary:

Machi asked, “What were you two doing up here? Strangers aren’t allowed, especially mortals like yourself. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Killua clenched his jaw, breathing heavy through his nose. The Phantom Troupe couldn’t know.

They couldn’t find out that he and Gon had come here to save Alluka after she’d been randomly snagged by the Troupe as a free meal; they couldn’t discover that Killua was Alluka’s older brother; they couldn’t learn what Killua specifically represented to the vampire community-

Because if they found out that they had Killua Zoldyck in their grasp- the prized son and heir to the country’s official Vampire Hunter, the same son of the man who stabbed a wooden stake through their boss’s dead heart twenty years ago- it was all over. For him and Alluka both.

Killua met Gon’s wild-eyed gaze and swallowed thickly around the lump lodged in his throat.

It was going to be a long night.

(written for the 2017 HxH Big Bang!)(@hxhbb17)

So, this is the vampire au fic I wrote for the 2017 HxH Big Bang :D This story was based on these two drabbles I wrote ages ago…I really had a lot of fun with this fic despite how challenging it was to write, and I met a ton of friends through this event so I am very happy @sketchxhunter convinced me to join back in January!

A BIG thank you goes out to @softkillua and @terminallydepraved; both of them beta’d this fic for me and I am eternally grateful!

AND since this is a Big Bang fic, some wonderful artists got paired up with this fic to do art! :D Links for art by @shimmy-sham-with-the-fam, @sketchxhunter AND @gonfreacss are at the end of the fic because I don’t want to spoil anyone BUT PLEASE CHECK THEIR ART OUT IT’S ALL AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE!!!

And that’s about it! I hope you enjoy this fic ^-^

“Okay, so.” Killua stared at Gon in the dim light, gaze hard and piercing. “Are you ready for this?”

Gon bobbed his head. “Yep! I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?” Killua asked.

“Mhm!”

Killua eyed the way Gon rocked back and forth on his heels, fingers drumming against the floor, head snapping around at the slightest sound. He had too much energy. If Gon got too excited and messed this up, they’d both be dead before sunrise.

“Tell me the plan,” Killua ordered and Gon pouted.

“But we’ve gone over it a gazillion times!”

“Tough,” Killua said shortly. “Tell me it again.”

Gon huffed but, to Killua’s relief, finally stopped bouncing. Gon said slowly, “We both leave here at the same time. I head to the back of the warehouse to find Alluka. And you go to the center room below us to…to…”

Gon made a face, wrinkling his nose in displeasure, and Killua grit his teeth. They didn’t have time for this.

“Keep going.”

“But.” Gon bit his bottom lip and sharp fangs peeked out under soft lips. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go down there on your own, Killua. I know you’re just going to distract them for me and Alluka, but we don’t know how they’ll react. The Troupe could try to kill you.”

And there was Gon’s real problem with this plan, just as Killua knew it was.

“That’s exactly why I have to be the one do it,” Killua said. “Even if they try to kill me, I can deflect their attacks, catch them off-guard and escape. They don’t know what I am, Gon. But they definitely know what you are. If you go instead of me, you won’t have a chance of surviving.”

Gon grimaced. Killua knew that Gon knew he was right. Gon had the strength and the speed of a born vampire, along with the changing gold and red eyes, immense strength and pearly fangs. But the Phantom Troupe would know all of that the second they saw him.

Killua, on the other hand, was different. He was nothing like what he appeared to be and the Troupe couldn’t fight against what they didn’t know.

Gon let out a resigned sigh. “Okay, I’ll let you have it your way. But can you at least promise me that you’ll be careful?”

Killua rolled his eyes to the back of his head. They were on a second-floor balcony overlooking a large, open space on the first floor and Killua grasped the railing they were hiding behind in a white-knuckled grip, saying, “’Course. Besides, if something does happen you’ll hear it and be all over me in a second, right?”

“Heh.” Gon smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. I will.”

“Jeez.” Killua shook his head. “You shouldn’t be focusing on me.”

“I’m always focused on you, though. There’s no point without you, you know?”

Killua’s heart flipped. Gon’s steady gaze cut straight through him, making him freeze where he crouched on the floor.

Gon’s bluntness was something Killua would never get over. Just like Killua would never understand Gon’s constant adoration for him that never seemed to go away, no matter how much time passed since their initial meeting.

It still amazed Killua- the fact that someone had actually fallen in love with him. Even more mind-blowing was that this person he loved, this same person who made Killua want to really see and experience and live rather than just survive, was a vampire.

His parents would slit his throat if they ever found out.

Killua swallowed thickly and pushed the thought aside. His pulse was lighting quick under Gon’s intense gold stare as he said, “Still. We’re here to rescue Alluka. We can’t let the Troupe discover who she is, otherwise they’ll bleed her to death. And I’ll die before I let that happen.”

“It won’t come down to that,” Gon swore. He reached out to cover Killua’s fist with his own, tanned hand. “It can’t. I’ll do whatever it takes to save her, Killua.”

“Then promise me you won’t try to save me if something goes wrong. Get her out first.”

Gon’s face twisted in pain. “You know I can’t do that.”

“You have to,” Killua hissed. “I need to know I can trust you!”

If Gon left Alluka, if he abandoned her in favor of Killua, then-!

Cool fingers brushed against Killua’s cheek and he jerked. Killua’s head snapped upwards to find Gon gently caressing Killua’s face.

“You can trust me,” Gon said softly. “I said I’ll save Alluka no matter what, and I don’t go back on my word. But. I also said I would never leave you behind, remember?”

Killua’s mind flashed back to hoarse whispers, hands desperately finding each other under cold sheets, dawn breaking through the crack in the window curtains and Gon’s cool lips pressed to his flushed skin-

“As if I could ever forget,” he croaked, body tingling, and a grin broke across Gon’s face.

“Good.”

“Just- please, remember, they can’t know who I am-”

“And who are you, pray tell?”

Ice skittered down Killua’s spine. He spun around, heart jumping up into his throat-

There, barely five steps away from their hiding place, stood two women with bright crimson eyes.

They’d been caught.

Gon’s nails dug into Killua’s wrist as Killua stuttered, “I-”

The women blur with speed. Killua had a split-second to inhale sharply before a muscled arm wrapped around his neck, choking off his air. Gon’s hand was ripped away and his nails left streaks of red across Killua’s skin. The marks burned but Gon’s scream of rage- ringing in Killua’s ears- drowned out everything else.

The vampire holding him captive leaped and Killua gasped as the ground disappeared from under his feet.

“KILLUA!!!” Gon bellowed after him and the hair on Killua’s arms rose at the high-pitched desperation in Gon’s scream. He could just barely see Gon across the hallway, struggling with all his might against the other vampire holding him in place. “KILLUA! KILLUA-”

“Hush.” The women yanked on Gon’s arms and Killua’s stomach rolled at Gon’s responding cry. “There’s no need to shout.”

Killua’s vampire said calmly, “Yes, please don’t do that. It’s not good for the human’s ears.”

Sharp nails scraped against his scalp and Killua hissed as his head was forced back. Out of the corner of his eye, he made out the vampire’s pink hair and sharp eyes.

He recognized this vampire from photos on top of his father’s desk. She was Machi, a member of the Phantom Troupe. The only group of vampires his family had been unable to pin down for decades.

Machi asked, “What were you two doing hiding up here? Strangers aren’t allowed here, especially mortals like yourself. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Killua clenched his jaw, breathing heavy through his nose. The Phantom Troupe couldn’t know.

Killua met Gon’s wild-eyed gaze and swallowed thickly around the lump lodged in his throat.

It was going to be a long night.

The vampires led Gon and Killua from the second-floor balcony to the center room just below- it was plain, empty except for a strangely shaped box off to the side and a heavily patterned rug covering most of the cracked floor. But Gon couldn’t care less about what the room looked like, or even where they were heading; he wanted to fight tooth and nail, to turn his fangs on the pink-haired woman holding Killua captive-

But one look from Killua forced Gon to stay still.

Wait, Killua’s piercing blue gaze said. Wait, there might be something worthwhile to all of this.

So Gon bit on the inside of his cheek until the sharp taste of iron filled his mouth and he didn’t struggle. He trusted Killua. So, he would wait.

“Hey, Machi! What’s with all the noise?!”

The pink haired vampire glanced up at the new voice, hands pausing in their efforts to bind Killua’s hands. Gon didn’t even move, too busy staring at the bruises forming on Killua’s pale skin. There were sure to be more marks dotting Killua’s arms and neck and ribs, he knew, and hot anger bubbled up inside his chest.

Killua narrowed his eyes at him, a warning hidden in the slight downturn to his lips, and Gon just barely held back a growl of frustration.

It didn’t matter that the metal chains around Killua’s wrists were tied to the second-floor balcony, forcing Killua’s arms above his head in a way that had to be painful. Breaking free of metal was as easy as shredding paper to him. Killua might’ve looked human but he was leagues above the rest of his species. The Zoldycks weren’t known as the best vampire hunters for nothing, after all. The experiments on Killua by his parents before and after his birth had guaranteed that he would be able to keep up with any vampire he’d been hired to kill.

Hands that could morph into claws, impossible speed, superior strength…Killua had inherited all of those deadly skills from his parent’s experimentations with vampire venom. Yet, his body did not crave blood, nor was it bound by wood like all vampires were.

Killua had been born as the perfect vampire-hunting weapon.

But Killua wasn’t using his inhuman strength or speed right now. He was playing the meek human for a reason Gon couldn’t understand. They’d been caught, so why wasn’t Killua fighting back? Gon wanted to know, was dying on the inside to have Killua whisper a plan for Gon to hear even at their current distance.

If they did that though, the Troupe would also hear. And that would defeat the purpose of having a plan at all.

So Gon was stuck, tied to a pillar on the opposite end of the room with a wooden lock he couldn’t break because, unlike Killua, Gon was a full vampire. He couldn’t move. The only option was to trust the silver-haired human he valued more than his own life.

“We found these two hiding on the second floor balcony over there,” Machi answered the new voice with a shrug. “We decided to tie them up here and wait for everyone to get back before figuring out what to do with them.”

The stranger scoffed, “Why wait? You should’ve just killed them for blood, already. The Boss needs as much as-”

“One of them is a vampire,” interrupted the suited woman who had locked Gon up. She stood tall even with her arms crossed, hooked nose raised high in the air. “The other is a human. Don’t you think that raises some cause for suspicion? We should at least find out how they discovered this place.”

Killua’s lips pressed into a thin line. Gon could see the tension in his body from the straight line of his shoulders. Even if Killua did have some plan in mind, one wrong move could have leave both him and Alluka dead. Gon too, but that didn’t matter as much.

If Killua was killed, Gon might as well have died, too.

The stranger let out a whistle. “Now that is interesting, I admit. A vampire working with a human-”

The voice cut off suddenly in a sharp inhale. Gon barely registered the sound, still too preoccupied with staring at Killua, who in turn was warily watching the Troupe members. Those metal chains had to be hurting Killua by now; Gon knew the wood around his own wrists were rubbing away at his skin-

“What is wrong?” the suited vampire asked.

“No way.” The stranger let out a laugh. “I can’t believe it. After all this time- is that really you, Freecss?”

Gon stiffened at the mention of his name.

It was impossible. It couldn’t be-

Gon finally shifted his gaze from Killua to the newest vampire. The second his eyes landed on the thin man’s familiar mustache and long inky hair, his stomach plummeted to the floor. Gon didn’t have a pulse, but if he did, it would be racing.

“Nobunaga,” Gon said numbly and the vampire grinned.

Gon couldn’t look at Killua now. If he did, he would give everything away.

“Long time no see, huh, kid?” Nobunaga bent down in front of Gon and cocked his head to the side. “It’s been- what, a hundred, maybe two hundred years since we last met?”

Gon didn’t answer.

“You know this vampire, Nobunaga?” Machi asked suspiciously.

“Yeah- hey! Don’t look at me like that! I was out on a mission for the Boss and I ran into him. I tried to convince him to join the Troupe, actually. This kid’s young but strong.”

“And he refused?”

“Obviously!”

The woman in the suit- the only vampire who Gon didn’t know the name to- said, “It doesn’t matter how you know him. The fact still remains that he was hiding upstairs with that human. We’re not sure how they found out about this place, and that means they are dangerous. They need to be treated as threats.”

Nobunaga straightened, frowning. “Ah, yes. The human. Where is he?” He turned around until he caught sight of Killua.

Icy fear skittered down Gon’s spine. No. Not Killua, not-!

Gon shouted at Nobunaga’s retreating back, “Nobunaga, I-!”

Something tugged sharply at his wooden cuffs and Gon gasped at the stinging pain that jolted up his arms.

The suited vampire said lowly, “It would be best for your health to keep quiet. You’ve faced Nobunaga before. You should understand the situation you’re in.”

He didn’t hear her. His gold eyes were locked onto the only person in the world who mattered- the pale and blue-eyed human shackled in metal chains across the room.

Killua watched Nobunaga with transparent caution, leaning away even as Nobunaga grew close. He had known about Gon’s encounter with the other Troupe member, of course, but he and Gon had seen Nobunaga leave the warehouse with most of the other Troupe members earlier in the evening. Gon’s hearing had allowed them to find out that the rest of the Troupe wouldn’t return until the next day, at least.

Gon could tell that Nobunaga’s sudden appearance unsettled Killua. Killua didn’t like surprises. If Nobunaga had returned, what if the rest of the Troupe came back soon too? The more Troupe members there were in the warehouse, the harder it would be to escape with Alluka.

And that was assuming the Troupe didn’t find out Killua and Alluka were Zoldycks before that happened.

“And who’re you, human?” Nobunaga asked softly. Something in his face must have frightened Killua, because what little color was left in his cheeks drained away.

What was Killua seeing?! Gon couldn’t see Nobunaga’s expression at this angle. He would give anything right now to be at Killua’s side.

He hated this, hated being weak and useless while Killua was in danger and needed him.

“Y’know…” Nobunaga stepped further into Killua’s space. His shadow cast Killua into darkness and Gon strained desperately against the wood lock holding him in place. The pillar at his back groaned in protest.

Nobunaga continued softly, “You look very familiar, for a human. Have we met somewhere before?”

“Doubt it,” Killua said stiffly, voice surprisingly steady. “I just moved to this area. Vampires like you shouldn’t even be here anyway- it’s illegal for you to live in an all-human city like this one. Why don’t you crawl back to Yorknew and struggle along with the rest of your blood-sucking species-”

Nobunaga snatched Killua’s neck with one hand and lifted him clean off the floor.

“NO! No, Nobunaga!” Gon throat burned with the force of his scream as Killua gasped for air and kicked his legs. Nobunaga was choking him; Nobunaga was going to kill him. “NOBUNAGA! Let him go, damnit, I-!”

“This doesn’t concern you, Freecss,” Nobunaga growled. He glanced over his shoulder, grip still tight on Killua. His scarlet eyes almost seemed to glow in the dim light. “Unless you have something useful to add to the conversation, I’d shut up if I were you. Otherwise we’ll just have to cast you out of the room and do whatever we want to your rude friend here.”

Gon saw red.

“If you do anything to him,” Gon swore lowly and his voice shook. “No matter what it is, even if it’s a paper cut, I’ll return it tenfold on you. If you hurt him, I’ll make sure you’ll wish you were never born.”

For a few seconds, there was silence except for the sound of Killua’s horrible wheezes.

Then Nobunaga slowly lowered Killua back down to the floor. Gon nearly sobbed at the sharp sense of relief that stabbed through him.

As Killua’s ragged coughing echoed around the room, Nobunaga turned to face Gon once more. He said curiously, “You don’t seem the type to make promises lightly. Why do you feel so strongly about this one human? Hm?”

Before Gon could even say one word of protest, understanding filtered into Nobunaga’s eyes.

“Oh, no,” he breathed. “Don’t tell me…you’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Horror flooded through Gon, washing over him like a tsunami.

“I- I’m not- that’s not-”

“What do you think, Paku?” Nobunaga glanced over at the suit woman who merely pursed her lips.

“It’s the truth,” she confirmed and Gon clenched his jaw hard enough to hurt. How could she possibly know that?! They’d only met her less than half an hour ago, there was no way…

“It helps make sense why he was working with the human, at least,” Machi added thoughtfully.

“And why he’s no longer on that deserted island, where I last saw him,” Nobunaga said and Gon’s head snapped back to glare venomously at the other male vampire. “Unfortunately for you, Freecss, this information can only hurt you. Well, mostly him, but you too by default.”

“…what are you talking about?”

Nobunaga shrugged. “Now we don’t even have to guess how you two found us. We can torture him, and you’ll tell us all we need to know.”

“No.” Gon’s head swam. “No. Don’t- don’t you dare do anything to him!!!”

Nobunaga raised his pencil-thin eyebrows. “Are you willing to tell us on your own, then?”

Killua suddenly shouted, “Gon, don’t! I’m fine, don’t tell them anything!”

Gon froze. Before he could stop himself, his eyes darted sideways to glance at Killua. His best friend’s white face was twisted in rage, eyes sparkling like electricity. The look almost made Gon falter, but-

“But they’ll hurt you!” he cried back, voice cracking in desperation.

Killua snarled, “I don’t care about that! I can deal with the pain; you know I can!”

Gon did- the Zoldyck estate hadn’t been a happy home, after all. But that didn’t mean he was okay with letting Killua suffer. Especially when there was something he could do about it!

Machi stepped towards Killua and they both jumped.

“See this?” She held out her hands, tilting them so that the nearly invisible string in her hands caught the light. “This is as sharp as a knife’s blade, if you know how to hold it the right way. It’s also laced with the deadliest poison known to mankind.”

Sliding behind Killua, Machi lifted the string over Killua’s head and formed a noose around his pale neck.

Looking pointedly at Gon, she said, “It would be very simple to cut his head off just using this. Or, I could poison him by using it to break through his skin. Either option would be easy for me.”

“So, Freecss,” Nobunaga said as tremors raked through Gon’s body. “What will it be? Will you tell us how you found our base? Or, will you let your boyfriend suffer and die?”

Killua silently begged Gon to do nothing. He had gone through the poison training as a child and no matter what Machi said, this stuff would barely affect him.

Gon knew that. He knew Gon knew that because he had told Gon specifically that if they got into a situation like this, Gon had to let Killua deal with the pain. There were bigger things at stake here than Killua’s suffering.

But, seeing the look on Gon’s face, Killua knew none of that mattered.

I’ve lost so many people I’ve cared about, Gon’s eyes pleaded. I can’t lose you, too.

Killua watched Gon bow his head, torn between frustration, sadness and a swelling love. Gon was going to tell the vampires they’d come here by following Alluka’s scent, against Killua’s wishes, because he valued Killua too much to see him hurt. It was a telling gesture, one that made Killua’s heart ache.

Gon loved him. And he loved Gon back, so there had to be a way to get out of this with all three of them alive. Killua couldn’t accept anything else.

Killua’s mind whirled. As soon as Gon told the vampires the truth, they would make the connection that he and Alluka were siblings; their facial features were too similar to hide that fact.

But, then what? Knowing that he and Alluka were family shouldn’t have any immediate consequences, but Killua didn’t know enough about the Troupe to believe that fully. These guys were wild cards. They could drag Alluka out by her hair and suck both of their veins dry of blood in front of Gon if they wanted.

So…why hadn’t they done that already?

Killua sucked in a quiet breath. Of course, there had to be some other reason why they were keeping Alluka alive. Something more important than using her as a food source. But what, exactly?

Killua cast his gaze around the room, searching for hints. Think, Killua, think. There had to be something-

His gaze landed on the oddly shaped box off to the side of the room, and his pulse started to race.

That wasn’t just any random box- it was a coffin. And Killua suddenly had a good idea of who was in there.

The sound of his father’s voice echoed in his mind:

“I managed to stake the Troupe’s leader through the heart, but I wasn’t fast enough to pull it out. As long as that stake is in Chrollo’s chest, he isn’t officially dead. The Troupe is resourceful and determined enough to somehow find a way to remove the stake without letting the wood’s poison spread to the rest of his body. So Chrollo’s name can’t be removed from the Extermination List. Not yet.”

“We…” Gon’s rasp brought Killua back to reality. “We followed the scent of the girl you captured.”

The vampires glanced at each other.

Paku said slowly, “The human girl with blue eyes and long, brown hair?”

Gon nodded.

“That’s impossible,” Machi argued, her breath brushing against Killua’s ear. “No one could track a random human off the street like that, I don’t care how good you say his nose is.”

Nobunaga stroked his beard. “Maybe she wasn’t random.”

Paku dropped her crossed arms as understanding filtered into her eyes. “They know each other.”

“Family, is my guess,” Nobunaga said. “They probably used something that he had-” he jerked his head towards Killua’s direction, “- of hers lying around to track her path. Is that right, Freecss?”

Killua nearly groaned out loud at the shock on Gon’s face.

Gon stuttered out, “H-How did you-?”

“Because it’s not that hard to figure out, stupid!” Killua seethed. “We have the same color eyes!”

Gon’s mouth fell open. “Oh.”

Killua glowered at his friend. Gon was smart, but he looked over the most obvious details! It made Killua want to bang his head against the wall until his brain was numb-

“So you’re here to save your sister. That’s noble of you. But you also had to know that you stood no chance against the Troupe. Why did you even bother coming here? You could have informed the police that there were rogue vampires on the loose.”

“They probably had some reason to make them think they could beat us,” Machi said and Killua felt the string tighten against his skin. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Yet. “The only question is, what is that reason?”

Killua’s heart lurched. They were getting close to the truth. Too close.

“Freecss is stronger than most vampires,” Nobunaga said thoughtfully.

Machi pointed out, “But after meeting you years ago- he would’ve known that mere strength wasn’t enough. And you heard the way he talked about this one-” she yanked on the string and Killua inhaled sharply.

“Killua!” Gon threw himself forward but the wooden cuffs around his wrists held him in place.

“-see?” Machi said. “He wouldn’t put the human in danger. They either have a plan, or-”

“Or,” Paku finished. “The human isn’t a human.”

Fuck, Killua thought as a hushed quietness fell over the group.

After a heavy pause, Machi began, “If he’s not human, then just what-”

“You said he looked familiar,” Poku interrupted, turning to Nobunaga.

Killua took the chance to glance at Gon, desperation building in the back of his throat. Gon’s eyes locked onto him and Killua easily read naked terror there. Gon was just as petrified as Killua. He kept searching Killua’s face as if looking for something- for what?! A plan?! Killua didn’t have one anymore!

Killua struggled to breathe evenly. Think. Calm down. Come up with something else. Something that they could work with.

The most important thing was Alluka. He had to save her, even if he couldn’t save himself. His sisters deserved the chance to escape from these insane vampires, and that meant Gon had to somehow find Alluka. He would free her, then come back for Killua.

Gon would always come back for him. That was the one thing in this crazy world Killua knew to be the absolute truth.

So. Free Gon. Distract the Troupe while Gon saved Alluka. Escape with Gon.

Too bad that plan wasn’t nearly as easy as it sounded.

“He does look familiar,” Nobunaga muttered. He studied Killua’s face with a scrutiny that had goosebumps rising on his arms.

Nobunaga continued pensively, “I’m not sure what it is exactly, maybe something with his hair color…not many humans have pigment like that. In fact, the last one I remember seeing was on-”

The vampire stopped suddenly, his entire body stiffening with realization. Killua instantly understood what had happened. Blood roared in his ears and adrenaline poured into his veins, breath quickening despite hismself-

“What is it?” Machi asked sharply. “What did you figure out?”

“This kid…”

Killua squeezed his eyes shut. This was it. This was the end.

“…he’s a Zoldyck.”

His words were met with silence. Shock hung heavy and thick in the air like it was a palpable thing, and seconds ticked by without any kind of reaction.

Then Machi’s voice cracked like a whip, cutting through the tension with a single word-

“What.”

“Do you really believe that to be true, Nobunaga?” Paku asked, voice tight with stress.

“Without a doubt. Don’t you remember what that bastard Silva Zoldyck looked like when he drove a stake through the Boss’ heart?!”

The pressure to Killua’s neck increased and he willed himself to remain calm.

“I will never forget. Not for as long as I’m breathing, I will never forget.”

The hardness in her tone sent chills skittering down Killua’s spine. They were in big trouble, Killua thought as he clenched his jaw. The Troupe members wouldn’t let him out of their sight now that they’d discovered the truth.

But that didn’t matter; Alluka mattered, and she could still be saved. All Killua had to do was somehow free Gon.

Killua jolted as something cold pressed under his chin. It was a silver sword. He was slowly forced to look up and found Nobunaga staring at him with narrowed, dangerous eyes. They glinted in the low light like rubies.

“Can’t you see the resemblance?” Nobunaga said softly, and Killua could feel the cold fury radiating off every word he spoke. “The lightest hair you’ve ever seen, eyes hard and blue as ice, skin so pale they could be mistaken for vampires themselves…this kid is definitely the Zoldyck’s brat. I’d even go as far as to say he’s the head Vampire Hunter’s heir; remember that newspaper article when the announcement came out? They never mentioned the successor’s name to protect the kid from being targeted, but this human fits the description and age perfectly.”

Paku’s eyes swept up and down Killua’s frame. She said, “If that’s true, he should have no trouble breaking through those chains. The Zoldycks are some kind of hybrid between human and vampire, are they not?”

Killua’s heart jumped up into his throat. Shit-

Pain exploded in the back of his skull and the world faded to black.

"KILLUA!” Gon shrieked as Killua crumpled. The pink haired vampire standing behind him caught Killua around his middle before he could crash into the cracked cement at their feet.

Gon lurched towards the ivory-skinned teen, desperately digging his heels into the carpet to get to his best friend. It was useless though; the only thing achieved was the floor cracking under his heels.

“Calm down,” Nobunaga said, and there was a touch of irritated exasperation laced in his words. “He’s only knocked out. It’s amazing how you haven’t sucked this brat dry considering how much you care about him.”

Gon growled, “Killua isn’t a brat. And I would never drink from him to the point where he could die!”

“But you have drunk from him before,” Nobunaga pointed out and Gon snarled wordlessly. “Hey, don’t get mad at me, kid. You know it’s only a matter of time before you submit to the call of his blood. Everyone knows that vampires get high off of their lover’s blood. The stronger the love, the stronger the high. From what I see here, my guess is that you’ll kill him before the year’s end.”

Gon was physically trembling with the force of his fury. He would never do that to Killua. Never. He would starve, lock himself away on the other side of the world before he killed Killua. It was impossible.

He remembered describing the feeling to Killua a long time ago:

“You know how drinking blood usually creates a feeling of euphoria for the human being drunk from? It can happen the other way, too. If a vampire really loves a human, their blood will taste better than anyone else’s, and they’ll get that same happy feeling from drinking that human’s blood, specifically.”

“…you. You just said you love me. Me, the Vampire Hunter’s prized son and heir.”

“Of course I do! You’re incredible, Killua. Your blood has tasted better to me than anyone else’s since the day we met, when I saved you in the woods. But that’s why- that’s why I shouldn’t keep drinking from you. It’s addicting, for both of us.”

Gon had stopped drinking Killua’s blood after that. For emergency situations- like if Gon was dying from injury, for example- it would be fine, but it was just too dangerous beyond that. And that was why Gon knew that Nobunaga’s assumption would never come true.

But his prediction about Killua’s death might turn into reality if Gon couldn’t think of a way to get them out of here.

“What are you going to do with him?” Gon asked, trying to buy time.

“Hm.” Nobunaga looked over at Machi. “What do you think? Should we tell him?”

“You shouldn’t press your luck, Nobunaga,” Paku cut in. “You said you met this child in the wilderness, you have no idea how strong he could be or how old he is.”

“It’s fine,” Nobunaga waved a hand at her.

“You should listen to Paku,” Machi retorted.

Gon said loudly, “What are you going to do to Killua?!”

Three sets of scarlet eyes landed on him then darted back to each other. There was a heavy pause, a silent battle between the Troupe members, before Machi sighed.

“Do what you want,” she said dismissively to Nobunaga. “But if this whole thing comes falling down on top of us, you’re going to be the one to blame.

Nobunaga snorted and turned on one heel. “It won’t. Stop worrying so much.”

He made his way across the room, stopping in front of the oddly shaped box that Gon had first seen when he and Killua were dragged into the room. He hadn’t paid much attention to it given the situation Killua was in, but he noticed it now. Narrow sides that widened at one end and then bent towards each other at the top…Gon recognized the box for what he hadn’t before.

It was a coffin. But for who?

Gon swallowed thickly around the dread rising in his throat. Killua would know who the coffin was for; in fact, he probably already did. But Killua was in trouble and Gon was on his own until he had Killua back in his arms.

“Do you know how to kill a vampire, Freecss?” Nobunaga asked him casually.

Gon glanced at Killua’s unconscious form- still breathing, he noticed with relief- before flashing back on the wiry vampire.

“You burn them,” he said slowly. “Or you stake their heart with wood.”

Nobunaga grinned. “Exactly. But, did you know that there is a way to save a vampire from permanent death even if they have been staked?”

The dread was growing stronger now. It filled his heart until it felt like a real, tangible thing trapped inside in chest.

“Your boyfriend’s father drove a stake through our Boss’ heart,” Nobunaga said matter-of-factly. “It was something that should have never happened, but it did. However, Silva Zoldyck didn’t have time to pull out the stake before we rushed onto the scene. And since the stake was never fully pulled out, Boss never died.”

He flipped the lid of the coffin off. It hit the ground with a loud THUD and dust scattered into the air.

Gon could just barely make out who was in the coffin; an extremely pale vampire with sleek black hair and huge gauges in his ears. His expression was so peaceful that Gon might’ve assumed the man was sleeping, except for the wooden stake driven through his chest.

“Of course, a staked vampire can’t survive very long without nutrition. We’ve been keeping Boss alive all these years by feeding him human blood, even in this state.” Nobunaga’s expression was strangely fixated. He stared at the man in the coffin with a kind of fascination that sent shivers down Gon’s spine. “There’s only one way to give him the strength he needs to survive the removal of that stake, though.”

Nobunaga turned to look at Killua’s limp body in Machi’s arms.

“And that’s to feed him every last drop of blood belonging to person who staked him in the first place.”

Gon’s stomach rolled with horror.

They were going to bleed Killua dry. They were going to feed him to this man until Killua was gone and the Troupe’s boss lived.

“But- but Killua isn’t the one you want!” he protested, his voice climbing an octave in his desperation. “It’s his father! You don’t need Killua, let him go-!”

“Same family, same blood,” interrupted Paku. There was a slight glimmer of sympathy in the way she looked at him but that did nothing to quell Gon’s fury. “As long as they’re related, it will work. It would be too hard to get at the nation’s head Vampire Hunter anyway. This plan is much better.”

“And we have the sister too,” Nobunaga added. “With the two of them, Boss should be back on his feet in no time. Machi, bring that one over here so we can start. The heir should always go first, after all.”

Machi snapped the metal chains off Killua’s wrists and they clattered to the floor. She took a single step towards the coffin, Killua dangling like a porcelain doll in her arms, and Gon couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

He roared and threw all his weight forward.

The wooden handcuffs were enough to keep his wrists locked behind his back. They were not strong enough, however, to stop Gon’s boundless rage and sheer strength from shattering the stone pillar he was tied to.

CRACK!

The Troupe froze. Gon could hear fractures splintering up the stone’s surface in spider web patterns and realized what was going to happen a split second before it did.

He leaped away from the stone beam as it crumbled and collapsed behind him, taking the entire second floor balcony with it. The air was filled with the rumbling sounds of wood-tiles-bricks falling down around them.

The vampires yelled in shock but Gon just dove towards Killua- he had to get there before the floor landed on him, Killua was stronger than a human but still weaker than a vampire and if he got crushed-

That would be the end of everything.

He reached Killua’s side just as the first tiles crashed into the floor besides them.

The wind that whipped through Killua’s hair was a biting kind of cold, sharp enough that he could feel the chill through his layers of clothes and deep into his bones.

Killua scowled. Why his parents hadn’t thought to make him cold-resistant when they conducted their experiments on his body was beyond him. Killua blamed them for having to deal with the winter’s howling wind just like every other human on the face of this earth.

He looked down at himself and held back a groan. He was covered in scarlet dripping blood. Not his, of course, but it was going to take a ton of bleach to get the bloodstains out. It always did; vampire blood was the hardest stain to wash out of cotton.

Glancing around, Killua shook his arm to shake off any excess blood. He currently stood alone in the midst of ten or so corpses scattered across the red-smeared snow. Technically vampires were already dead, but killing them a second time required wooden weapons straight to the heart. And it had been Killua’s job to do them in for a more permanent kind of death.

The wind picked up again. Killua buried his face into his scarf, wincing. Next time he was just going to refuse his father’s request to hunt vampires outside of the capital city. These guys had been a real pain in his ass, making him chase them across the country before finally catching up to them on some deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere.

He didn’t know why he’d been ordered to kill this gang of vampires. And he didn’t care. He had gotten rid them because his family had told him to, and that had been that.

He had nothing against vampires, really. As long as they didn’t attack him, they were fine in his book. But he didn’t have the luxury to think like that as son and heir of the country’s leading Vampire Hunter.

Crunch.

Killua whirled around, hands transforming into claws in a split-second.

There, not even five feet away, crouched a dark figure. Killua couldn’t make out this new person’s face except for the pair of glowing, ruby-red eyes.

Killua’s throat tightened. How?! He was so sure he had slaughtered all the vampires that had fled here. At the very least, he should have noticed this one’s presence. But he had felt nothing.

How was that possible?! Just how strong was this vampire?

The vampire wasn’t moving, Killua realized suddenly. He just stared unblinkingly at Killua with an intensity that was almost disturbing. Being the focus of that penetrating gaze caused a swirl of emotions to rise inside of Killua, a strange blend of confusion-curiosity-impatience .

Killua didn’t get it- why wasn’t he moving? Killua was a human as far this vampire could tell; he looked and smelled just like an ordinary mortal.

He wouldn’t know until he attacked that Killua could slice his neck open before the other even had the chance to bare his fangs-

The vampire leaped into the air.

Killua bent his knees, grabbed his wooden dagger from his belt and prepared to fight-

But the vampire soared straight over his head. He didn’t even brush Killua’s hair before he was behind Killua and out of sight.

Heart racing in his chest, Killua twisted around. He was just in time to see the vampire crash into a second vampire that had been creeping up behind Killua’s back, a detail that had gone totally unnoticed by the vampire hunter.

The two creatures slammed into the ice with a distorted mixture of hisses and grunts. Killua didn’t even have the time to react before the first vampire plunged his hand straight through the other’s chest.

The second vampire made a choked gurgling sound as his blood poured out onto the ice. He was dead- officially dead- within seconds.

Heavy tension hung in the leftover silence. Killua was so numb with shock that he barely felt the cold at all now. He gaped with bulging eyes at the still-crouching vampire.

“Y-You,” he stammered out. “You. You saved my life.”

The vampire turned slowly to look at him. Now that they were less than a foot from each other, Killua could see the creature’s spikes of black hair blowing in the wind, make out the curious interest in the other man’s gaze. He could also see the red stain spreading across the vampire’s side.

Killua’s sucked in a breath. “You’re hurt.”

The vampire looked down. “Oh. Yeah. I guess so…”

“What the hell do you mean, ‘I guess so’?!” Killua spat out. “What kind of idiot doesn’t notice they’re covered in blood?!”

The vampire tilted his head to one side. “You’re covered in blood too, though.”

Killua held back a groan. Great. Only he would find a vampire this dense. Weren’t these guys supposed to be decades wiser than the average human?!

“This isn’t my blood,” Killua said, gesturing at himself. “It belongs to the vampires I killed. As if I would let a vampire get to me.”

“One almost did.”

A muscle in Killua’s face twitched. “That is not the point I’m trying to focus on here. Just tell me how I can help you before you bleed out.”

The vampire blinked, as if surprised by Killua words. “Tell you…how to help-?”

“You got hurt by saving my life, right?” Killua said impatiently. “I’m not gonna pretend to know why, but you did regardless. So I owe you. How can I stop the bleeding? Do you need my blood? That’ll help your wound close, right?”

The vampire nodded jerkily and Killua raised one claw-like hand to his neck.

Shallow, he told himself as he willed his hand to stay steady. One wrong move and he would be the one bleeding out. And no vampire was worth his own life, even if this one had saved his.

Killua swiftly dragged his knife-sharp nails across the flesh of his neck.

The spiky-haired vampire blurred. Killua felt an arm wind its way around his waist as a hand cupped his jaw. Their bodies were pressed flush against each other as the vampire cradled Killua to his chest.

And all Killua could see were those burning, red eyes.

“Are you sure?” came the rough voice. “I won’t drink if you’re not sure. You don’t have to do this.”

He was right. Killua didn’t have to do this. But, like Killua made a point of telling his parents, he had nothing against vampires. This was the least he could do for the creature who had slaughtered one of his own for Killua’s sake.

Ignoring stinging pain of the cut on his neck, Killua said shortly, “Yeah. I’m sure. But tell me who you are, first. I’d at least like to know the name of the guy sucking my neck.”

The moonlight glimmered in the vampire’s eyes. He said, “My name is Gon Freecss. You’re the first human I’ve seen in over fifty years.”

Killua felt a strange thrill in his stomach. The way the vampire was looking at him made his heart race- was that the fear of being so close to something that could kill him? Or was it something else entirely?

He couldn’t tell. But it didn’t really matter, anyway. He would help this vampire then wash his hands of this whole ridiculous mission once and for all.

“Well, Gon,” Killua said as steadily as he could manage. “My name is Killua. Thank you for saving my life.”

Gon grinned, revealing two pointed fangs.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said sincerely. Then he pressed his lips to Killua’s neck and Killua was swept away.

Gon didn’t try drink him dry that night like Killua had half-expected. Secretly, he was glad; if Gon had tried anything, he would’ve had to cut the vampire down right then and there. And Killua, for whatever reason, didn’t want that.

Instead Gon offered Killua a place to stay until the winter storm had passed. They talked and laughed until the sky was finally clear again. It was kind of strange to be so weightlessly happy with someone that had drank Killua’s blood, but…Killua didn’t mind. Gon made him laugh. Gon made him smile. And Killua couldn’t remember the last time he did either of those things without it being forced.

Gon surprised Killua again when he insisted on leaving the island with him and traveling back to the all-human city that was Killua’s home. He didn’t belong there and Killua warned Gon that he could be staked on sight if he ever got caught sneaking around the city. Gon would be much better off in Yorknew, an all vampire city a few hours away.

But Gon didn’t want to go there. The fact that Killua was the son and heir to the official Vampire Hunter of the country didn’t bother him, either. He became Killua’s shadow within weeks of their initial meeting, helping Killua escape his nightmare of a family with Alluka and move into an apartment on the opposite side of the city from the Zoldyck house. He was there when Killua joined Kurapika Kurta’s vampire hunter unit at his father’s request for moving away from his family, and he was there to pick Alluka up from school when Killua couldn’t. It didn’t take much for their relationship to blossom and grow into a close friendship. Killua was twenty years old and for the first time in his mostly miserable life, he had a best friend.

And after that it was only a matter of time before they fell in love, really.

“KILLUA!”

Killua jolted into consciousness, his dream of the past fading away.

The air was thick with white dust- that was the first thing he noticed. A weird, musky smell wafted all around him and his limbs were as heavy as bricks. There was an acute, stabbing pain right above his left eye where his hair started; it hurt like hell and his whole head throbbed. He could feel something cool sliding down the side of his face but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on what it was.

Because none of that mattered- not the dust or the smell or the pain. Not when Gon’s petrified face hovered less than an inch away from Killua’s, his bright gold eyes blown wide with a wild kind of fear.

“Gon,” Killua croaked and immediately coughed at the white dust that entered his lungs.

Gon let out a broken laugh. Killua had a single second to see Gon’s expression crumple with relief before Gon crushed Killua to his chest, shoving his face into the crook of Killua’s neck. Killua’s heart stuttered as Gon’s cool lips brushed against his bare skin. Gon’s fingers were shaking as they dug into Killua’s upper arms.

It was almost like Gon was trying to convince himself that Killua was really there.

Killua’s eyes prickled. “Gon-” he started again.

“I was so s-scared!” Gon hiccuped. “I thought something had hit you when the balcony collapsed; you weren’t moving, Killua!”

Killua could feel the tremors racking Gon’s body. He had never seen Gon like this before. His terror hung heavy in the air around them, and Killua’s throat constricted.

Lifting his arm as best he could, Killua carded one hand through Gon’s dust-covered spikes of hair. “Shhh,” he murmured softly. “I’m fine, Gon. Okay? Machi just hit my head really hard, that’s all. Now what are you talking about- the balcony collapsed?”

Gon pulled away just enough for Killua to see his surroundings. Gon’s grip hadn’t loosened in the least so it was a bit of a struggle to look around.

Killua’s mouth fell open.

The second-floor balcony where he and Gon had been discovered by Machi and Paku was gone. It now lay in huge piles of rubble around the room, piled up against the walls and corners like some jagged wall. Small pieces were still falling onto the ground and bouncing off the larger craters. Killua abruptly knew where all the dust had come from.

“What the hell happened?!” he asked, flabbergasted.

Gon’s arms tightened around him.

“They were going to drain your blood,” Gon said. Goosebumps broke out across Killua’s flesh at the cold fury in his best friend’s voice.

“What.”

“They were going to let you bleed over their boss until you had nothing left,” Gon repeated, eyes dark. “Then they were going to get Alluka and do the same thing to her. I couldn’t let that happen, Killua. Not to you.”

Killua swallowed thickly. The way Gon was staring at him- a burning intensity and possessiveness in those gold depths- made his skin uncomfortably hot. He didn’t know what to say.

“D-Did they say why they were gonna do that?” Killua managed to ask.

“It’s because you and Alluka are Zoldycks. Your blood can be used to remove your father’s stake and bring their boss back to life.”

Killua cursed. “I knew it. Dad always said he’d never actually killed Chrollo- wait.”

That coffin…the one off to the side of the room. Where had it gone? Was it crushed when the balcony fell? And where were the other Troupe members?!

He tried to twist around and get a better view of the room, but Gon’s nails dug into the skin on his arms.

“Gon!” he said, annoyed. “Let go, c’mon. I already told you I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.”

Killua’s mouth fell open. “I’m- what? What are you talking about, I don’t-”

Gon caught Killua’s hand in his. Gently, he guided Killua’s fingers to the stinging spot Killua had noticed earlier.

Killua hissed at the sharp jab of pain when he made contact. When he pulled his hand away, the tips of his fingers were coated in a slippery, shining red.

Ah, Killua thought numbly. So that’s what the stinging pain was: blood. No wonder Gon had-

Horror welled up inside him. Gon.

“Gon, you shouldn’t be this close to me.”

Gon’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m not gonna attack you and drink your blood, Killua”

“I didn’t say that,” Killua snapped, trying his best to fight down the panic coursing through his veins. Gon wouldn’t hurt him. Not in a million years. Killua trusted the vampire with his life, trusted him to hold him like this even with the temptation of a delicious meal right in front of him.

But that wasn’t the point.

“I don’t want to make this harder for you,” Killua amended, softening his tone. “Being this close- it can’t be easy.”

Gon’s crooked smile made Killua’s heart flip in his chest.

“Well. I was never one for the easy path, anyway.”

Killua’s chest swelled. He gazed at Gon and Gon gazed right back. There was some kind of pulsing emotion shining in the depth of those gold caramel eyes. It was so strong- so beautiful and breathtaking- that Killua was afraid to name it. His fingers twitched and before he could help himself, Killua was reaching up to cup Gon’s face in his hands-

CRACK!

Killua jolted at the sharp sound and Gon’s arms curling around him protectively.

“What was that?” he hissed, blood racing under his skin. The leftover silence was too quiet; it made his hair stand on end.

Something was wrong. He could feel it.

“I don’t know,” Gon admitted. “I was paying attention to you, so…”

Killua blinked, heat rushing to his cheeks. He mentally slapped himself. He needed to focus. It was so stupid that he still got flustered over little commentary like that, god.

He coughed awkwardly. “That’s, uh. Great. Um. But we’d better not sit around here much longer, anyway. I doubt the Troupe members got out of this mess seriously hurt. You born vampires have freakishly strong skin- like it’s made of steel or some shit like that. They could be here any minute…”

Gon nodded but the sad downturn of his lips made it painfully clear that he’d rather stay here on the cold ground, holding Killua in his arms. He did let go though and Killua was finally able to stretch. There were red welts around his wrists and up his arms from the metal chains; Killua might have vampire characteristics, but his body’s resilience wasn’t anywhere close to Gon’s. It was almost embarrassing how easily he bruised, actually.

He took Gon’s hand when it was offered to him. The second he tried to stand, the room spun.

Shit.

“Killua!”

Gon caught Killua just as his knees buckled. He pulled Killua back upright, keeping his arm wrapped securely around Killua’s waist to offer support.

“Killua! Killua, are you okay?!” Gon was saying shrilly into his ear. “What-”

“I’m fine, Gon,” Killua insisted. His legs were shaking and his head spun in dizzying circles, but other than that, he was perfectly normal.

“You don’t look fine, Killua! You’re bleeding a lot-”

“Don’t worry about it, okay, we don’t have ti-!”

He stopped short at the sound of more rubble hitting the ground. The room was eerily quiet around them. But not empty. Not anymore. Killua could sense at least one more presence that hadn’t been there before, could feel the prying eyes digging into his back.

They weren’t alone.

“Gon,” he said lowly, Gon’s shirt twisting in his white knuckled grasp.

“Yeah?” Gon’s eyes raked over him quickly. “What is it?”

“I need you to keep that promise you made to me.”

“Which pro- oh.”

Gon’s confused expression dropped, giving way to a look of pure horror. Just seeing it made Killua’s toes curl.

He hated that horrible desperation and denial in Gon’s face. But he had no choice. He had to save Alluka. Alluka and Nanika- they always came first. Always.

“No,” Gon said. His fingers pressed into Killua’s waist and Killua let out a low hiss of pain. “No. Killua, don’t, please, you know I can’t leave you now!”

“You have to!” Killua snapped. “You promised me, Gon! And now I need you to keep that promise.”

Gon’s nostrils flared as his breathing turned ragged. He was trying to figure out a way to stay with Killua and still rescue Killua’s sisters. Of course he was. That was Gon- always trying to find the best way to keep those important to him safe.

But there wasn’t another way, this time. Killua would only slow Gon down, and Gon would save Killua first over Alluka if he ever had to make the choice. If Killua stayed here, Gon would be motivated to return to Killua’s side as soon as possible. He would find and save Alluka without putting her in danger. But Killua couldn’t be there with Gon to do that.

“You promised,” Killua repeated and Gon’s eyes flickered to meet Killua’s. “Save them, then come back. I’ll be here waiting for you.”

“…you promise?” Gon said, voice rough, and Killua’s stomach flipped.

“Of course. I won’t leave without you, I swear. Just make sure you get them out first.”

Gon’s gaze hardened. Fiery determination burned in those gold depths, the kind that made Killua’s heart flutter.

He stammered, “G-Gon, why are yo-”

Gon roughly grabbed Killua’s face between his hands and dragged him forward, smashing their lips together.

Killua inhaled sharply through his nose and his lips moved to respond before his brain could catch up. He pressed himself flush against Gon’s chest, desperately gripping the back of Gon’s shirt like it was an anchor and he was drowning. Gon’s fingers were digging into his cheeks hard enough to bruise. All Killua could smell was sweat and dirt and blood but that was all Gon and Gon was intoxicating on even the worst of days.

All too soon, Gon pulled back with a gasp. He stared at Killua with bright, wild eyes. Killua could make out the tips of his fangs peeking from between parted lips, but it was the sight of Gon’s tousled hair and the feel of his calloused hands on his jaw that made Killua’s heart throb.

He swallowed thickly. There would be time later, he reminded himself. If they survived this, he was gonna reward himself by spending the whole day with Gon. His father could take Killua’s ‘heir’ status and shove it for all he cared.

Gon had helped set him free from all that, after all. And Killua would always love him for it.

“Go,” he croaked and Gon’s jaw clenched. “Go, then come back to me.”

Gon nodded, hands falling away. He turned and disappeared down a side hallway before Killua could say another word.

Killua let out a shuddering breath. Gon always affected him too much. It was hard to think straight with him around. And now that Gon was, well, gone, Killua could focus on his surroundings and the threat at hand.

He didn’t have to wait very long.

A single shadow stepped into the light, the same vampire that had first caught him with Gon in the balcony that was now just a pile of rubble scattered across the floor.

“Are you sure sending him away was a wise decision?” Paku asked. Her face was covered in dirt and there was a rip up the sleeve of her suit. “He would have protected you, you know.”

Killua allowed himself a tight grin.

“’Course,” he said, smoothly dropping into a defensive stance. “But, it wouldn’t be fair for you to be so out-numbered, now would it?”

Paku’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.

“Do not test me, little one.”

“I’m not. Because that’s assuming you were worth testing to begin with.”

A low hiss echoed around the room and a rush of adrenaline poured into Killua’s veins, familiar from years of combat training and solo missions forcing him to bet his very life.

Killua flexed his hand, feeling it twist and stretch into dagger-like claws.

This should be fun.

Humans didn’t understand the way blood affected vampires. Gon had been taught that by Kite years and years ago, before the warped vampires calling themselves Ants came and slaughtered everyone Gon knew and held dear, before Gon had taken it upon himself to return the favor.

Before Gon had seen Killua standing in the snow with blood dripping from sharpened nails, staring him down with eyes cut from midnight skies.

Blood was food, pure and simple. It was a life source. A way to get energy to keep themselves moving. Without it, a vampire would be hungry, but that didn’t make them lose control of their sensibility like the rumors and myths said. Did a human turn into a wild beast after their stomach started to rumble? No. And neither did a vampire without blood.

Blood from a loved one was different, somehow. Gon didn’t understand why, but it was.

When he drank blood from Killua, he tasted nectar and honey. It was like fireworks were bursting into life inside his chest. He tasted Killua’s blood and he felt like he could run for miles. He felt like he could fly. Killua’s blood was more drug than food. It was a luxury; it was addicting.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t resist the call. He could’ve stayed there with Killua and protected him from the Troupe members. He wouldn’t have turned on his best friend or sunk his teeth into his neck even though his throat tightened at the glittering blood pouring from the wound on Killua’s head.

That wasn’t what Killua wanted, though. Killua wanted Alluka safe. And Gon knew that saving Alluka was the only way Killua could fend off the Troupe members that were surely closing in on him now- because he trusted Gon with his sister, Killua could focus on fighting the vampires. And that action alone spoke volumes.

So, the only thing left to do was find Alluka and get her out of this horrible place. Then he could return to Killua’s side again, where he belonged.

Gon pelted down deserted corridors and empty hallways, straining his ears for the sound of a single frantic heartbeat. Alluka was as much a human as Killua but her pulse was twice as fast. Gon would hear her even if there were walls upon walls separating them-

There.

Gon skidded to a halt. He listened again to pinpoint the source of that light fluttering before turning on his heel and taking a sharp right.

Halfway down the endlessly dark path, he found her.

She was sitting on the ground, curled into herself, and locked behind a set of brown bars. But she was alive and breathing and unhurt, and that was the most important thing.

“Alluka!”

The girl’s head snapped up and her blue eyes- so like Killua’s, but not angular enough, not piercing enough to see straight into Gon’s soul- widened.

“Gon,” she whispered. She staggered upright and ran to him. “How did you-”

“That doesn’t matter,” he said, shaking his head. He braced his legs and started to push at the bars separating him from his best friend’s sister. He grunted, “I’m gonna. Get you out of here. Just give me- ahhh- a second.”

“You can’t. The bars are made of wood.”

Gon stopped and scowled. Seriously, again with the wood?!

He glanced back at Alluka. Her face was very pale in the dim light. Even paler than Killua’s. He could see her hands shaking at her sides.

“Alluka,” he said and she blinked at him. “I can’t break these. But you- you’re a Zoldyck. Why haven’t you gotten out on your own yet?”

She bit her lip. “I- I’m not…I can’t do anything without Nanika, Gon. I’m not strong enough to tear apart wood on my own!”

“Then why don’t you call Nanika out?” he asked, confused.

“Nanika needs blood!” Alluka said with exasperation. “And it can’t be mine! She’ll only come out for Killua on command!”

Gon ground his teeth together so hard it ached. He didn’t have time for this- Killua didn’t have time for this. He could be seriously hurt by now and Gon was just standing here. Killua had already been bleeding when Gon left, what if-

An idea hit him.

Gon gripped the wooden bars tightly, hands curling into fists. “Does it have to be human blood?”

Alluka looked at him like he was crazy. “Gon. You can’t be thinking-”

“It’s the only way,” he said. “We have to get you out of here. Killua sent me and I need to get back to him.”

Alluka’s face lit up. “Killua’s here?”

“Yes. But he’s in trouble, so-”

“I would be much more concerned about your own safety, if I were you.”

Gon stiffened at the familiar voice.

His gaze met Alluka’s, and her lips pressed into a thin line as she read the warning there. He reached between the bar to grip her hand. Her fingers bent around his, squeezing once.

Then he turned around to face Nobunaga.

“What are you doing here?” he asked lowly. Alluka’s nails were digging into the skin at his wrist. It was a sharp pain, but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was awakening the other, separate being that existed inside Alluka. Because while Alluka was a weak human through and through, Nanika was a vampire with the power to equal ten of the Troupe members, if not more. Gon didn’t understand how Alluka’s physical body changed anatomy when Nanika awoke and Killua hadn’t offered any kind of explanation the first time he described the change to Gon.

“My parents thought Alluka was a dud,” Killua had told him, expression closed off and cold. “A ‘failed experiment’. But then Nanika showed up, and then they realized it was just the opposite; they had created the strongest vampire-human hybrid in existence. And then they locked her away.”

Killua had been in the process of freeing Alluka- and Nanika- when Gon had found him. Killua had scarified parts of his own freedom to see her unchained and walking under the sunlight. She was his responsibility, and now Gon’s.

So Gon wouldn’t let Nobunaga have her.

“I would think that would be obvious,” Nobunaga drawled. Gon eyed the way the other vampire’s long and pale-fingered hand rested on the hilt of his sword. “I’m stopping you from escaping with the other Zoldyck brat. Machi’s saving the boss and Paku has your boyfriend. It’s my job to get her.”

Ice seized Gon’s heart and he struggled to breathe. Nobunaga was just saying that. He didn’t know if Killua was caught or not.

Something cool and wet trickled down Gon’s wrist. He didn’t shudder as he felt soft lips press to his flesh, didn’t wince as tiny fangs scraped against the scratch.

He kept his gaze on Nobunaga as he said, “You’re not touching Alluka. I’m getting her out of here.”

Nobunaga laughed. It echoed around them, ricocheting off stone floors and bare walls.

“You’re good, kid. I’ll give you that much. But you’re not good enough to defeat me . Remember what happened last time?”

Gon did. Nobunaga had found him after Kite and the Ants, but before Killua, back when Gon had been in stuck in a swirling vortex of loneliness and self-hatred. And when Nobunaga left, Gon had been bleeding out onto the grass.

He still didn’t know how he survived. But he was glad he did- it meant he was able to meet Killua.

“I remember,” Gon said steadily.

“Then you have to know, there’s no way you can defeat me. Not on your own.”

“I’m not alone.”

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow. “Even if that girl is a Zoldyck, she’s weak. She couldn’t land a single hit on even the scrawniest Troupe member.”

The gentle pressure on his wrist was loosening. Gon clenched his hand into a fist and in his mind’s eye, he saw a tall and thin vampire sporting a blue cap over flowing white hair.

Gon said clearly, “Don’t underestimate her. Sometimes the most powerful abilities hide beneath the surface.”

Nobunaga sighed and shook his head. “Whatever you say, Freecss. It’s your death, not mi-”

He stopped suddenly, body stiffening.

Gon knew why. There was a new presence at his back, totally different from the one who had been there less than a minute ago.

“Nanika,” Gon said and Nobunaga’s bulging eyes flickered between Gon and the human-turned-vampire standing behind him. “Help me defeat Nobunaga.”

The cold fingers at his wrist tightened.

“Aye.”

"ACK-!”

Killua clawed at the hand currently crushing his neck, digging his nails into pale flesh.

“Why do you bother?” Paku asked. Blood oozed out of her nose and there was a bruise already forming on her jaw. A rush of savage satisfaction rushed through him at the sight. He had really hit her good that time.

She was saying something else though-

“- cannot win. Give up. You are strong, I will admit, but even a Zoldyck has no hope in defeating a born vampire with centuries of-”

Killua spat in her face. The revulsion and disgust that washed over her face made him grin despite the burning in his lungs.

“You…you don’t know, anything,” he wheezed. “I don’t care who you are or what you can do. I won’t forgive anyone who threatens my sister. You’re going to die tonight, vampire.”

Her mouth twisted into a snarl, “You-!”

Killua’s arms flashed through the air, one hand slamming on the bone of her arm from above and the second from below. A resounding CRACK echoed off the ruble and walls.

Paku released him instantly with a hiss and he quickly backpedaled a safe distance away from her. The murderous glare she leveled at him was dimmed by disbelief; she hadn’t expected him to be strong enough to do that.

“You broke my arm,” she said lowly.

“Guilty,” Killua said as he gracefully slid into a defensive crouch. “Wanna try to hit me again? Go ahead. But that arm of yours should give you an idea of the damage I can deal you. The next time you touch me, I’ll cut your hand off. After all, I can’t let my reputation as a Zoldyck be tarnished.”

She said nothing. Just breathed heavy through flared nostrils and gritted teeth.

“You know I’m not lying,” he said after a pause. “Your vampire venom has some kind of truth testing ability, right?”

Her eyes widened fractionally. He had surprised her by guessing her power correctly. She really should’ve expected that though, knowing who he was.

Killua shook his head. “Too bad that ability’s not good for fighting. Oh, well. At least you’ll die knowing you tried your best to save your boss, even though it wasn’t enough to save your own life.”

Paku suddenly relaxed. The strange smile she gave him made the back of his neck prickle in warning. Something was wrong, why was she-

“Perhaps you should take your own advice, Zoldyck,” Paku said.

Killua heard the whistle of air a second before it was too late.

He ducked and Machi’s well-aimed fist flew over his head. He dropped to the ground and swung his legs out, but the vampire had already leaped away. He scowled at her as she straightened into a standing position next to Paku.

Damnit. He’d assumed Machi had run off with their boss. Either he’d been wrong or she was already finished and had returned to help Paku.

How long had he been fighting? Killua curled his hand into a fist, blood crusted nails scraping against cracked cement. He didn’t know. And he couldn’t run until Gon came back-

“Did he do that to you?” Machi’s quiet question to Paku broke through Killua’s thoughts.

“Yes. He’s stronger than he looks.”

Killua snorted and Machi’s lip curled, revealing pointed fangs.

“I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you, Zoldyck. You can’t fight both of us.”

Killua simply smiled. “Won’t know until I try. I’ve fought dozens of vampires at once before- taking on two at once is easy. I could do it in my sleep and still kick your ass.”

Machi narrowed her eyes at him. Killua kept his smile in place despite the lurch of his stomach.

He wasn’t lying. His father had sent him on dozens of missions to exterminate entire clans of vampires. But facing two Phantom Troupe members at the same time…

That was a different story altogether.

It had been half luck and half skill that he had landed those hits on Paku at all. With Machi thrown into the mix, dodging their attacks would be the most he could do. It would have to be enough until Gon-

Machi’s figure flickered and then she was right in front of him.

Killua jerked backwards. He blocked the hit-punch-swipe and managed to land a solid blow on her right knee. She barely stumbled. But her quick inhale told him that he’d at least hurt her in some way. He jumped back as Machi snarled and braced himself for her next attack.

But the sudden, unexpected jab to his chest sent him flying. A split-second later, his back collided with one of the partially destroyed pillars. The back of his head slammed against the concrete and his skull exploded in agony, air vanishing from his lungs.

He collapsed to the ground with a wheeze and curled into himself.

Shit, he thought as his head spun in dizzying circles. He coughed violently, tasting the sharp tang of blood at the back of his throat, and the edges of his vision turned fuzzy. He couldn’t even see the outline of the jaggedly destroyed pipe next to him on the ground. That wasn’t good.

A shadow fell across him. He squinted upwards at Machi’s strangely-blurred outline.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay down,” she told him flatly.

Killua grit his teeth. He slowly pushed himself upwards, ignoring the way his entire body shrieked in agony and hissed, “Never.”

He grabbed the pipe and flung it at Machi’s face.

She ducked with ease. She’d been expecting it, clearly; the bored and semi-irritated look on her face told him that much.

She hadn’t been expecting his claws.

She cried out, jerking away from him. Blood started to seep into her clothes from the cut on her shoulder and large droplets fell onto the carpet. He threw himself after her without pausing to think. He twisted on one foot and slammed his sneaker into her side. She lost her balance, tumbling backwards. She toppled onto a shattered pile of rubble with a shout.

Killua raised his clawed hand into the air-

Paku materialized in front of Machi, a glittering gun pointed at his face, but Killua’s arm was still swinging. He couldn’t to stop in time, the only defense he had was his other arm blocking his chest. Paku was going to take advantage of his opening. She was going to shoot him in the head.

Fuck.

Killua had already began to brace himself for the impact when something grabbed him around the middle.

BANG!

He inhaled sharply as the ground disappeared under his feet. He blinked, wind tearing at his hair as he clung desperately to Gon’s arms, and suddenly they were on the opposite side of the room.

“Killua? Killua?!” Gon’s high-pitched yell was deafening. It rang in Killua’s ears and he winced reflexively. “Killua, are you oka-”

“Yes, yes, I’m okay, Gon,” he groaned. His heart still raced in his chest and he had a hard time catching his breath. He had almost died just there. If not for Gon, he would have been gone forever.

A rush of gratitude washed over him and Killua dropped his forehead onto Gon’s collarbone. He inhaled Gon’s scent, trying to calm his rapid pulse. He’d never been so happy to see the vampire in the whole year they’d known each other.

“You are lucky that your boyfriend showed up.”

Without loosening his arms around Killua, Gon twisted around. The low growl from Gon’s throat was so deep Killua felt it all the way to his toes.

“You hurt Killua,” Gon said quietly. His tone sent chills down Killua’s spine.

“He hurt us, as well,” Paku said thickly around the blood oozing out of her nose. “It was an even trade.”

Gon began to growl something, bearing his teeth to show off sharpened fangs-

And that’s when all four of them heard it: distant voices, muted scraping sounds echoing off the walls in the corridor to their right.

Machi and Paku looked at each other and Gon’s head swiveled towards the hallway.

He whispered, “Killua, what’s that?”

Killua grinned. “Help,” he answered and Gon’s eyes grew large in understanding.

“Go,” Paku said lowly to Machi. “I can hold them off.”

Machi’s mouth twisted into a deep frown. “But, Paku, what about you?”

“Someone must make sure the Boss escapes. Go, Machi. Find Nobunaga. Save the Boss.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“You must.”

Machi swallowed, lips thinning. But she stepped back without another word. She glanced where Killua and Gon stood clutching to each other and her eyes glowed scarlet. But then she turned away and vanished as quickly as she had appeared.

Killua nearly chased after her. But Gon’s low murmur of no and the stinging ache of his bones convinced him otherwise. He could barely think through the pounding of his head.

“G-Gon,” Killua stuttered while the room spun dizzily around him. “Did you get Alluka?”

Gon buried his face into Killua’s hair. “Yeah. She’s safe, Killua. I got her out before I came back for you, just like I promised.”

He slumped in relief. “Thank you,” he whispered as the room was swarmed with Kurapika’s vampire hunter unit. The last thing he saw before his eyes fluttered shut was the crowd of armed men surrounding Paku, the look of resignation on her face.

Killua closed his eyes. Alluka was safe. They had done it.

Alluka was alive. And that made everything- all the pain, fear and choking terror- worth it.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” a familiar voice sighed.

Gon blinked to see Kurapika Kurta standing in front of him, dressed head to toe in protective anti-vampire gear.

He couldn’t help but find some irony in that. Kurapika was half-vampire himself, after all.

“Well?” Kurapika asked.

“Eh.” Gon scratched his cheek. The small cuts from Nobunaga’s sword were already starting to heal, so the action didn’t hurt nearly as much as it should. “You know me, Kurapika. I’m an adrenaline junkie.”

“As true as that may be, I doubt that was the case here.”

Gon winced at Kurapika’s flat tone. He suddenly wished he was standing instead of being looked down upon by the no-nonsense man questioning him. “Um. See, the thing is-”

“You were here for Killua, weren’t you.”

It wasn’t a question. Which meant that Kurapika already knew the truth, or had at least connected the dots. Kurapika was smart like that- a lot like Killua, in many ways. But while Killua’s natural perceptiveness left Gon in awe…Kurapika’s piercing gaze made him want to bolt for the nearest exit.

Bowing his head, Gon admitted, “Yeah. I was here for Killua.”

Kurapika let out a heavy breath. Gon looked up in time to see Kurapika pinch the bridge of his nose.

“What-” the vampire hunter asked, “- am I going to do with you two? Do you know what Killua’s father would do to me if he knew that an unrecorded vampire with unprecedented strength was fooling around with his son?”

Gon couldn’t blush. But if he could, his entire face would be crimson by now.

“I- we, um, we don’t-” he stammered.

Kurapika held up his hand, cutting Gon off. “Don’t bother lying. I see the way you two look at each other.”

Gon bit his bottom lip and his eyes darted to the very person they were talking about.

Killua sat on the opposite side of the room, currently talking to a doctor assigned to Kurapika’s unit. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and wore a sour expression on his face. But there was color in his cheeks that hadn’t been there before and that alone made something loosen in Gon’s chest.

Suddenly, there was the sound of thunderous footsteps and a high-pitched cry of: “Brother!”

Killua’s head snapped up. Then he was sprinting across the room, nearly toppling to the ground when Alluka threw herself into his chest-

“Gon?”

He jolted, gaze flashing back to Kurapika’s unamused frown.

“Ah, sorry, Kurapika. I got distracted.”

“I could see that.”

Gon winced. He was trying to ignore Kurapika, really. It’s just…when Killua was around, everyone else faded into the background somehow.

Kurapika said, “Listen, I know tonight was rough for both of you. But Killua should have called me the second Alluka was captured, not five minutes before you two stormed the Phantom Troupe’s lair. You could have gotten seriously hurt. Killua could have died.”

Gon’s breath caught in his throat, ice seizing his heart.

“No,” he said and Kurapika’s gaze flickered to Gon’s face. Whatever the blond saw there caused him lo tean away from Gon, the blood draining from his cheeks.

But Gon didn’t care about that. He continued in a dark, steady tone, “Killua wouldn’t have died. That can’t happen- won’t happen. I’ll make sure of it. Don’t you get it? Killua is safe as long as he’s with me. So, there’s no need to tell his dad about what happened tonight.”

There was a pregnant pause.

“Is that a threat?” Kurapika finally asked.

Gon shook his head. “No. It’s a promise. I won’t let anything happen to Killua. Ever. I just think you should know that there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Kurapika pursed his lips. “I can’t just take your word, Gon. But…” He let out a long breath. “But I suppose I can let this go for now.”

“Wha- really?!”

“Yes. Really. I just need a few reports from you, Alluka and Killua.”

“And then?” Gon couldn’t help but glance back at the Zoldyck siblings; Killua was pinching his sister’s cheeks while Alluka whined loudly.

“And then you can take them home,” Kurapika said, crossing his arms. “Obviously there’s no point in keeping you here without Killua to keep you on track.”

Gon laughed weakly but on the inside his heart soared.

As long as he was by Killua’s side, that was enough for him.

Hours later, after Kurapika had lectured Killua about rushing into unsafe situations without back up, after he’d been covered from head-to-toe in bandages and had his wounds stitched back together, after Alluka had cried into his shirt with relief and hugged him so tightly he’d lost all the air in his lungs-

Killua lay on his side, bed covers pulled up to his ribs as he faced Gon. His entire body ached from the bruises and cuts dotting his skin. But the mattress was soft and comfortable, and the shameless adoration glowing in Gon’s eyes was enough to warm him from the inside out.

For a while, they didn’t speak. The only sound was their light breathing and birds’ chirping beyond the tightly shut blinds of their windows. Killua spent the time tracing circles around Gon’s knuckles as he tried- and failed- to ignore the heavy weight of Gon’s gaze on his face.

There were things Killua wanted to say. But he didn’t know how to start.

“Thank you,” Killua whispered at last into the quiet space between them and Gon’s eyebrows jumped upwards. “For helping me get Alluka back, I mean. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

The edge of Gon’s lips twitched. “You would’ve done it even if I wasn’t here, Killua. You would’ve saved Alluka no matter what.”

“Yeah…I guess. But you made it a lot easier. Plus, who knows if I would’ve survived if I had been on my own.”

Gon’s expression faltered and there was a pang deep in Killua’s chest.

“I was really scared, you know,” Gon confessed quietly. Killua frowned as Gon’s hand moved under his. But Gon merely flipped his hand over and interlocked their fingers. They sat quietly as a minute passed, just staring at their joined hands. Killua’s heart pounded in his chest at the simple sight.

He would give anything to erase the horrible, mortifying blush that was starting to creep up his cheeks.

Gon’s voice quivered slightly as he said, “I was scared I was going to come back and you’d be gone. I was scared that your injuries would stop you from fighting back. I was scared Paku and Machi were going to hurt you even worse than you already were.”

“…you weren’t scared of me dying, though?” Killua asked, confused, and Gon offered him a small smile.

“No.”

“Why not? I’m human, just like everyone else. I can still mess up.”

Gon shrugged. “I trust you, Killua. And I would’ve saved you somehow, if it ever came to that. Because that’s what I’m scared of most- losing you. So no matter what, I’ll find a way to save you. That’s why what Nobunaga said earlier didn’t make sense.”

“You’re gonna have to be a bit more clear than that, Gon,” Killua said weakly. His head was starting to hurt again. It felt like someone was hitting his skull over and over again with a hammer just for kicks.

“When he said I would drink you dry,” Gon explained and Killua’s breath hitched. Gon’s fingers tightened around his. “I won’t, you know.”

“I know,” Killua said immediately. “I…I trust you too, Gon.”

Gon’s answering grin was dazzling. “I’m glad,” he said. The way Gon’s cheeks stretched to allow his smile made the shallow cuts across his face even more pronounced than before, when they were fresh. Killua’s heart lurched.

“Are you sure you don’t want to drink at least a little?” Killua asked, even though he knew it was pointless. “If you drink my blood, your injuries will heal faster.”

Gon shook his head, squeezing Killua’s hand again tightly. “No, I’m okay. You don’t get a fastpass to heal, so I don’t either. And my cuts aren’t so serious that I need to be healed right away. You know?”

Killua sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

He didn’t resist when Gon gently tugged him closer, until their chests were pressed against each other and their legs were a tangled mess. Gon had to let go of his hand to do so, but that was okay. Cuddling was better than just holding hands anyway.

Killua wrapped his arms around Gon’s torso while Gon rested his cheek on the crown of Killua’s head. Killua could feel his ears burning despite the fact that they’d done this sort of thing a million times before. Being with Gon like this always left Killua’s whole body tingling, even if they weren’t doing anything particularly suggestive. It felt good, somehow. It felt right.

“I would do it all again for you, Killua,” Gon murmured into silver hair and Killua’s heart stuttered. “I’d do it over and over and over a million times more. I would walk into fire for you.”

Killua pressed his eyes together until he saw stars, emotion constricting his throat until he could barely breathe.

“Why?” he said hoarsely. “I’m not- I’m nothing special, Gon. You should hate me for slaughtering your species, not protect me.”

Gon laughed, his entire body shaking around Killua, and Killua grunted at sudden jostle.

“You are special,” Gon insisted, a smile hidden in the bright lilt his voice. “You brought me back to life, Killua! And I’d do anything for you as long as we got to do it together.”

Killua swallowed thickly. He lifted one arm and Gon’s hand was already moving to slide against his, interlocking their fingers and holding on tight once more.

“As long as we’re together,” Killua repeated and Gon’s fangs shone in the dim light when he beamed.

“Together,” Gon agreed.

Then Gon leaned forward, pressing their lips together, and Killua’s heart burst like fireworks inside his chest.

There were a lot of things he hadn’t sorted out yet- like how to shake off his parents from forcing him to accept a future he didn’t want, how to keep Alluka and Nanika safe from those who would abuse them, what he wanted out of his life after everything was said and done- but, he had Gon.

And as long as Gon was with him, Killua could do just about anything.

Big Bang fanart:

Shimmy-sham-with-the-fam did fanart of Gon and Killua’s first meeting

Sketchxhunter did fanart for this fic’s beginning scene AND for the final scene

Gonfreacss also got paired with me! I’ll add a link to their art once they post it

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