SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

48 | after

POST-CHIMERA ANT ARC

WHEN SEN entered the hospital, she expected more resistance than what she got. The Hunters gathered in the lobby were shrouded in the austerity of a shared tragedy. Stains from East Gorteau.

She heard the raid lasted only a few hours, but these people looked like they'd taken a decades-long battering.

Sen felt a sensation of wrongness. She didn't belong there.

And then, a pair of familiar faces. Melody and Hanzo approached.

"Hey, kid," Hanzo gave her shoulder a firm pat.

"I'll take you to them," Melody said quietly.

Sen didn't know most of the Hunters she passed, but they seemed to know her.

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

After a long eleven months, something in Sen sighed and settled when she saw that fluff of white hair.

Killua didn't look up at the sound of the automatic doors. 

He sat alone. His head was bowed, arms on his knees. Between his pale features and the greenish fluorescent lights, he almost blended right into the walls. 

He was so still that Sen wondered if he wanted to disappear. Sen kind of wanted to disappear.

She hesitated at the entrance of the hallway.

"Killua?" Her raspy voice was almost too loud for the silence.

His head shot up.

A thousand things flashed across his face, most of which went by too quickly for Sen to decipher. Some things she caught. Relief. Longing. 

... Happiness?

"Sen," Killua's voice, quiet, also seemed too loud.

"Um," she started awkwardly. "How... how have you been...?"

Sen found herself stumbling back into the wall. A tiny, surprised noise left her mouth. She hadn't even seen him move.

Killua stuffed his face into her shoulder, mumbling things she couldn't hear. His arms trapped her tightly against him. She reached up to pet the back of his head, unused to this kind of affection from him. He must need it.

His breaths were unsteady against her neck.

"I've been watching the news," Sen said, muffled against his tank top. 

The Chimera Ant diaspora had her scared shitless. She'd ordered Mai to keep the triplets away from the televisions. Between that and the ongoing battle with the Tsujihara family, her mother decided to close the resort until further notice.

It was quiet without the tourists. (Without Gon and Killua yelling in the background.)

"You're okay," Killua whispered. "I'm... I'm so glad."