SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

28 | soon

note: thank you for waiting, everyone! feel free to skim the last 2 chapters to catch up on the plot!

tw: mentions of past trauma & abuse, past death & gore, mentions of blood, uh.. chrollo is in this chapter but he's not named

INARIYAMI ISLAND, ONE YEAR AGO

ON SEN'S eleventh birthday, Watanabe presented her with two bowls. The first contained the reddest, best-looking strawberries she'd ever seen. The second was filled with tap water, a leaf floating on the surface.

The Water Divination test wasn't something Sen had to study for, but she still felt nervous.

Her teacher pushed the water bowl forward. "This first. Strawberries after."

The sun wasn't rising yet, but some older women were already preparing the bathhouse for opening. They left Sen and Watanabe alone. Nen wasn't anything new to them. 

Sen held her hands on either side of the bowl. 

"Ren," Watanabe instructed.

She activated Ren. The familiar hum of her aura soothed her shaking hands. Why were they shaking?

Sen waited for the leaf to spin, for the water to overflow, for something to appear. Nothing happened. She frowned at the unresponsive bowl.

Her teacher, chuckling, evidently didn't share her concern.

"You can stop," he said, amused. 

She stopped using Ren. 

"But... nothing happened," she said.

"Something happened," Watanabe insisted.

He dipped a finger in the bowl, then brought it to his lips. He hummed, satisfied with whatever he tasted.

"The water is honey-sweet," Watanabe looked at Sen, smiling. "You're a Transmuter."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

MAINLAND JAPPON, PRESENT DAY

Sen shared a Nen category with her brother, but Kotaro would always be stronger.

The stranger who followed them to the convenience store was stronger than both of them combined. 

He was shaggy-haired with youthful eyes, a headband tied across his forehead. The wrinkled button-down and jeans he wore made him look like a broke college student, but the immensity of the person's aura made her breath hitch.

He could kill them easily.

"Hello," said the stranger, looking between them. "Would you care for a chat?"

"No," said Kotaro. "We have somewhere to be. Let's go."

Her brother moved with a purposeful swiftness that Sen struggled to keep up with. She thought she was fast.