"What if... I go with Onee-san the next time she goes out??"
Killua's eyes widen slightly. "Oi, do you really think she'd let you join her when I can't even?!" he asks, placing his hands on his hips and narrowing his eyes at Alluka.
"U-Uh...." Alluka falters for a bit. "Well, I'm not you though, Onii-chan!! Maybe it'll be different for me!"
Killua sighs, slumping his shoulders as he trudges towards her. "You've grown to be really stubborn, you know?" he says, patting her on the head.
An irk mark appears on Alluka's forehead. "No, you're the stubborn one, Onii-chan!" Alluka exclaims with a pout.
"Me?! Seriously, where is this coming from?" Killua's eyebrow twitches as he retreats his hand from her head.
"You have to let me do it, Onii-chan! Please!" Alluka claps her hands together in prayer, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
Killua narrows his eyes at her once more, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, fine–"
"YAY!"
"Wait, I'm not done." Killua looks at her, arms crossed. "You need to consider every possibility. What are you gonna do if she says no? What's your next plan?"
"Oh, uh..." Alluka pauses in thought. "Oh! I'll just follow her in secret, then!"
"You–" Killua is taken aback for a moment. "Hey, take this seriously!"
"I am serious!" Alluka argues back. "Well, I think it would be a good idea if you followed her in secret, too. Even if she lets me come with her."
Killua stays silent for a second, putting a hand on his chin as his brows furrowed in thought.
"...I think it's a good idea." A voice said from the room's entrance.
Alluka whirled around, seeing Ryu and Senka standing by the doorway. "Oh!" Panic overtook her features. "Did you hear all that?"
Senka chuckled. "Well, you're not exactly the quietest person around..."
Alluka's jaw dropped.
"Actually, we were thinking of joining you in your plan. I'm worried about (Y/N) as well." Ryu speaks up with a determined look. Senka nods in agreement.
With widened eyes, Killua turns to the two Hunters. "...Are you sure?" he asks, confusion evident in his features.
"Of course we are! And we're not going anywhere until you say yes!" Senka puts her hands on her hips, lifting her chest with a confident smile.
"Ohh! Does that mean we're going with my plan, Onii-chan?" Alluka beams excitedly.
Killua lets out a deep sigh, but you can catch the slight upward curl of his lips. "Fine, but you have to follow my directions. It won't be easy to tail someone like (Y/N)."
Senka chuckles. "We're Hunters, Killua. We'll be just fine!"
_ _ _
No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't shake off the tense feeling in your whole body, even as you held Alluka's hand.
The two of you were strolling around the bustling parts of the city, watching as trees and greenery mixed perfectly with buildings of concrete and glass.
Alluka was immediately transfixed with the atmosphere, and at first glance, it seemed like you were, too. But we all know that was the least of your concerns.
Killua and the two Bounty Hunters were nearby. They hid behind the convenient shade of the trees, making sure none of their auras leaked out.
"Nothing seems amiss so far. Is this really what (Y/N) has been doing for the past week?" Senka whispers, watching as Alluka cheerfully dragged you around the stores.
Killua frowns. "There's no way," he replies. 'I need to make sure he's not involved in this.'
Just as Killua thought that, a familiar red color invaded his peripheral vision.
"Oi, did you see that??" Killua nudged Ryu, using his head to point to the direction of the red figure.
Ryu raised an eyebrow in confusion as he shook his head. Senka was busy keeping an eye on you and Alluka, so there was no way she saw it either.
Killua narrows his eyes, turning his head back to where he saw the red figure. "Can I leave you guys to watch over (Y/N) and Alluka? There's something I need to investigate first." He asks, looking them in the eye. "Please?"
Senka blinks a few times, stunned by Killua's sudden request. "Wait, where are you going?" She grabs him by the sleeve in urgency.
"I saw someone suspicious earlier." He frowns. "I'll be right back. Make sure (Y/N) doesn't realize you're here," he whispers, before disappearing silently into the shadows of the trees.
"Hey!" Senka whisper-shouted.
Ryu nudges her. "Senka, they're on the move. Let's just trust that Killua can handle himself," he whispers, before moving forward to discern your next destination.
Senka sighs softly and follows suit.
_ _ _
It's been at least 10 minutes, and Killua has been keeping a watchful eye on the figure in red.
It was just as he thought. The dark red duffel coat, the tall figure of a man, was surely him.
'Sanguis...' Killua seethed, trying his hardest to stop himself from attacking then and there. 'What the hell are you doing here, huh?'
Thankfully, it seems that Sanguis didn't notice Killua's presence. He continued on, walking at a leisurely pace towards the forest, though he took a dark and less populated path.
Killua followed silently, watching his every movement like a predator hunting its prey.
That is, until Sanguis suddenly disappeared.
Killua widened his eyes. Not only did he disappear from sight, his aura was also gone.
After looking around a bit more, Killua cursed under his breath, standing up from his hiding spot and enveloping himself with a strong layer of Ken.
'Where the hell did that snake go?!'
Killua, slowly and silently, approaches the spot Sanguis was standing at earlier. He sees nothing on the ground, but upon gazing at a nearby tree, he sees a piece of red fabric tied to its branches. The same red fabric Sanguis wore.
He clenches his jaw, steeling himself for any possible traps as he reaches for the fabric.
Just as Killua's fingers brushed over it, he sees a spark in his peripheral vision. Immediately, he retracts his hand, just a split second before a sharp object cuts through the air his hand was just in. It pierced through a tree trunk instead.
Killua's eyes widened. It was a large tranquilizer dart, but there was no one nearby who could have shot it.
'Not only did he know I was here, but he anticipated this, too??'
Killua whips his head to face the source of the dart, only to see another spark staring straight at him.
He furrows his brows, positioning his hands right in front of his chest just in time to catch the dart before it pierces through his heart.
He scoffs. "Does he not know I'm immune to poisons?"
Suddenly, another one pierced his shoulder from behind, seemingly coming out of nowhere.
'Crap!' Killua immediately reached behind him to get the dart from his shoulder.
"He came prepared. Explains how he avoided Single Star Hunters for this long," he mumbles, examining the darts while ignoring the trickle of blood flowing from his shoulder. He then keeps the darts in his pockets. 'This confirms it, I better get to (Y/N) ASAP,' he thought, immediately rushing to where you are.
Little did he know, the tiny bleeding wound would not close up. In fact, it would only get worse.
_ _ _
"Onee-chan, where are we going now?" Alluka tightened her grip around your hand, looking up at you with worry.
"You'll see, Alluka..." you gave her your best smile, though your eyes betrayed your expression. They almost looked... apologetic.
You continued leading her deeper and deeper into the forest. As more time passed, the faster your heartbeat went, the harder it was for you to breathe as more cold sweat rolled down your forehead. Should you keep going on with this? A terrible feeling settled in your chest.
"Why is your hand so cold, Onee-chan?" Alluka tilted her head in confusion.
You jumped in your place. "A-Ah..." you stammered. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine!" you gave her a thumbs up.
Tense silence filled the space as you continued on.
"...Hey, can we go back? I don't like it here anymore..." Alluka tugged on your hand, looking at you with the slightest fear.
Your eyes widened. "What, why?"
Alluka shook her head.
"Uhm..." you paused in thought. What would he think? "L-Let's just keep going for a few more minutes. I promise it'll be fast!"
Alluka pouted for a moment. "Fine..." she mumbles, continuing forward while keeping her grip around your hand.
Sure enough, it didn't even take long for you to reach the forest clearing.
"H-Huh? Ehh??" Alluka's eyes widened. She lets go of your hand, immediately hiding behind you in fear.
In the middle of the clearing stood a very familiar face. "(Y/N)! I'm so proud of you! You followed the plan perfectly!" He smiles warmly at you.
"Hi, N-Nii-chan..." you looked down, clenching your fists tightly.
"Nii-chan?!" Alluka whisper-shouted. "Onee-chan, Sanguis is your brother???"
Sanguis smiled. "That's right! It's been so long since we last reunited." He chuckles rather unnaturally, before putting on a serious expression. "Now, (Y/N), bring her to me." He holds a hand out, glaring straight at Alluka.
"What?!" Alluka exclaimed.
You stayed silent for a moment, as a tear slowly rolled down your cheek. "I'm...I'm sorry, Alluka."