Kill Switch (Killua x OC)

composure and consequence

The Balcony – minutes later

Kurapika leaned against the railing, arms folded. The cool stone pressed through his shirt sleeves, grounding.

The door slid shut behind them with a soft click, muffling the laughter still echoing from the living room. The night air bit a little more out here on the balcony—fresh, quiet, and just sharp enough to cut through the leftover noise in Kurapika's head.

Leorio leaned on the railing beside him, holding two drinks in one hand. He offered one without looking. He let out a low breath, turned and leaned his back against the railing, and muttered to himself, "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you lose a war to a teenage assassin."

Kurapika didn't look over. "She's nineteen."

Leorio squinted up at the stars. "Yeah. Which makes Killua what? Chronologically insufferable?"

Kurapika stayed quiet. That was his default; a neutral silence with a bitter edge.

"Damn," he muttered, eyeing the drinks. "Forgot my wine bringing you these."

Kurapika didn't look over. "Didn't realize you'd poured it into your bloodstream already." He glanced over, deadpan. "How efficient."

"Pfft," Leorio smirked, stepping beside him. "That's whiskey. Keep up."

They stood there a moment, watching nothing.

"I know Killua can be a dick." Leorio said, wandering over to the railing and leaning forward, exhaling. "You ever think he just forgets other people have feelings?"

"No," Kurapika replied dryly. "I think he remembers, he just doesn't care. He's Killua."

Leorio laughed. "Okay, true, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Just... selectively evolved, I guess."

Kurapika arched an eyebrow.

"What?" Leorio shrugged. "You and I both know it. He loves her, he'd kill for her. He just hasn't figured out how to exist in a room where not everyone is in love with her too."

"Projection?"

"Observation," Leorio corrected.

A pause.

"I'm surprised, though." Kurapika raised a brow, finally glancing over. "it took you ten years to notice he's a dick? Hm."

"No. I just thought he'd mellow with sex and success. And Anera, that girl's the whole package. So I figured maybe he'd stop there."

Kurapika hummed. "He's too in love to mellow. You've seen how he looks at her."

"I've seen how everyone looks at her," Leorio muttered. "It's like she's not even real. She just walks in and Bisky's skin clears and de-wrinkles, Gon remembers how to form a sentence or do basic math, and even Killua forgets what sarcasm is."

Kurapika didn't answer.

Leorio turned slightly. "You okay?"

"I'm always okay," Kurapika replied, voice smooth.

"Right. And I'm the Zodiac's top pick for 'most regulated.'"

"Too bad you didn't make the shortlist," Kurapika said flatly.

They both smiled faintly at that.

Leorio leaned his forearms against the railing, looking down over the quiet garden below. "For what it's worth, I didn't say anything."

"I know."

"She's... brilliant," Leorio said. "Not stupid, but she can be an oblivious-ass girl every once in a while. How she's basically a genius baffles me sometimes—like, she can't even read a goddamn room!"