A Heart Frozen Over (MHA X HxH)

4

"Gon, you need to eat" Leorio said worriedly, as he poked at his meal halfheartedly with a fork. Gon's eyes dropped and he mumbled, "I told you, I'm not hungry" Leorio had been trying to get him to eat his lunch for the last two hours, but honestly after breakfast that morning he wasn't actually all that hungry. It was...hard. Hard to forget, to pretend like it didn't happen. Leorio had told Kurapika they needed to talk about something important, but the soonest he'd be able to make it to Leorio's place would be in three weeks and this wasn't a discussion to have over the phone. "What do you mean your 'not hungry?' You haven't eaten well for the past few days and you ate such a small breakfast!" Gon shrugged, laying his chin on his hand with a blank expression. "I'm just...not" He mumbled. Leorio let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn, the two who know how to deal with trauma aren't here and I have no damn clue what to do about it" He muttered under his breath.

Then he sighed again, before grabbing Gon's fork from him. Gon blinked, then stared listlessly at the table. "Ok, let's see if this works" He cut off a bit of a piece of meat and stabbed it with the fork, then tilted Gon's chin up and poked at his mouth. "Open up, you need food" As soon as he smelled the meat, his mind went to the rotting bodies at the marketplace. Gon's face twitched and he moved the chair backwards. "N-No" Leorio frowned slightly, observing his different reaction. He huffed, then instead stabbed some of the salad and leaned over to poke his lips with it. "What about this?" Gon opened his mouth to refuse, then the leaves were shoved in. "Nhm-" The flavor was tangy and exotic, the leaves crunched a little as he chewed. "There we go" Leorio said with a grin. He removed the fork as Gon swallowed, then shoved some more salad in his face. Gon felt his stomach rumble slightly, so he let the fork enter once more.

After a few more bites of salad, Leorio tried to give him more of the meat. Gon turned his head away, breath hitching. Rot... Leorio paused, obviously confused. Then, he seemed to get it as his eyes widened and he hastily removed it all from his plate and fork. "Oh, sorry" He murmured. Gon shifted slightly, then turned back to his now meat free plate. It suddenly looked a lot more appetizing. Gon took the fork from Leorio and got himself his own bite of salad. Leorio grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something down, then went into the fridge and moved some stuff around. Gon kept eating, slowly filing his stomach. "So Gon's a vegetarian now, fantastic" Leorio muttered sarcastically under his breath as he rifled through the fridge.

Days passed, Gon usually got pulled into activities with Leorio for most of the day because if he didn't than he'd just sit around and stare listlessly off into space. Gon felt...empty. There was a hole in his heart, one that would never be completely stitched over. But he hadn't cried, not since he was on the island itself. Leorio never offered him meat again. Actually, he never even put any on his own plate when they ate together either. They were currently eating dinner, which was spaghetti. "So, how're you feeling today?" Leorio said conversationally. He always tried to spark a conversation, get him engaged. "Fine" Gon said emotionlessly, taking a forkful of pasta. However, Gon always answered with as few words as possible. Leorio hummed for a moment, then spoke again. "When are you planning on meeting up with Killua again?" Gon paused, fork halfway to his mouth.

Killua... Gon hadn't seen Killua since they parted ways. Gon to the world tree, Killua to spend time with his little sister Alluka. With that thought, his empty heart ached a little. "I haven't...heard from him" He mumbled, setting down his fork and grabbing his phone. Gon scrolled through his contacts, then clicked on Killua. He read the last two messages that were sent.

Gon: See you later Killua!

Killua: Hopefully soon😽

Gon stared at the messages for a few moments, before typing.

Gon: Killua, we need to talk.

He clicked send, then set the phone down on the table as he half heartedly took another bite of noodles. "Ah, right." Leorio said, then continued eating. Gon sat there for almost an hour, Leorio cleared both their plates as he sat and stared at the phone, waiting for an answer. Eventually, his phone dinged and a new message popped up.