Usagi, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio pushed on the Testing Gate in perfect sync, opening the door. "Yes! We finally did it! Let's get going," Usagi said, half to herself.
The four started walking the path that would take them to the where they would meet up with Killua, Usagi being lost in thought the entire way.
"I'm excited to see Killua again. It'll be nice! I'm pretty sure he misses us. I mean, why wouldn't he? We're his friends, and he knows it. I'm sure we're friends. We have to be... But the other night... That weird 'dream' I had while I was on the airship. What was that all about..?" She asked herself.
As if on cue, images of Killua in that strange room flooded into her mind. She caught onto a tiny bit of what was going on, and she hoped it was just her imagination.
"Is Killua being tortured... Because of me?" She questioned, though she didn't get an answer. Usagi brought a hand to her chest to feel her heartbeat.
"Oh no. Please don't do this to me again," She pleaded her mind as she began to fight with her self-conscience. Her mind said that it was her fault; that everything bad that had happened to him ever sines he met her was Usagi's fault. She knew that wasn't true. It couldn't be, and she wouldn't believe it.
She stopped walking, and stood there listening to her heartbeat. "No. That's not true. It's not my fault. It's not my fault!" A voice in the back if her head said it was. "Please... Go away..." Her legs went numb and she fell to her knees. She began to have another panic attack, though she was quiet about this one.
"I can't make them worry about me..." Gon turned around to see her, and began walking to her when he saw her on the ground. She lifted her head up and looked at him with her gold and watery eyes. He smiled and held out his hand for her to take. She grabbed it and he helped her up.
"Don't worry, we'll get Killua!" He reassured. Usagi felt much better after that, and began walking in time with Gon until they made it to a fence. A girl who looked to be either Usagi and Gon's age or older was standing on the trail, blocking it. She held a rod with a ball on the end of it in her hand.
"You're not welcome here. Turn back and leave," She said. Usagi walked up to her, Gon close behind.
"I'm sorry, but we can't. We're here to see Killua, and we won't leave without him; even if it means we have to fight our way in," Usagi explained. The girl's eyes widened when she mentioned Killua, though she quickly returned to her previous state.
"You may not enter," She said, using her rod to draw a line in the dirt in front of her. "If you cross this line I will use force." Gon had a determined look in his eyes as he walked up to her and stepped across the line. She raised her weapon and brought it down in Gon, knocking him back several feet.
It was Usagi's turn next, and she ran up and attempted to run right past her, but she hit Usagi even still. When she got up from her fall she asked,"What's your name?"
The girl looked a bit surprised. "Canary," She said.
"Well, Canary, don't expect us to give up anytime soon!" She shouted, running up again only to be knocked back to where she started. That went on for a long time, Usagi and Gon both running up and getting hit back, until Canary looked angry and sad.
"What is wrong with you two?! Can't you see you won't get across? Just give up!" She yelled, sounding a bit hurt that she had to keep hitting them.
"No way!!! We're too stubborn! We will NOT leave without Killua!" Usagi shouted, running up a again. When that didn't work, Usagi and Gon both went on either side of Canary and punched the pillars of bricks, shattering them.
"Why aren't you hitting us?" Gon asked, as he and Usagi both were across the line. Canary looked as if she might cry.
"I can't. I'm letting you cross," She said. "Please, help Kil-" She stopped short when something hit her head, knocking her to he ground. Kurapika and Leorio ran over to help.
"Oh, what a surprise. It's been ages since we last had visitors," Said a mysterious woman from next to a nearby tree. She had someone next to her. She looked at Usagi and for a split second, and showed how disgusted she was that Usagi was there, but she quickly covered it.
"Ah, Usagi Ametsuchi, correct?" She didn't answer. "And you must be his 'friends'. How nice. He's told me a lot about you four, though he talked almost nonstop about you," She said, looking at Usagi and pointing.
"Where is he?!" Gon asked for them.
"I'm sorry, but Killua cannot see you right now because he's in solitary confinement." Usagi's eyes widened and her breathing shaky.
"Then... Does that mean what I saw... Was real?" She thought.
"He says sorry for not being able to greet you personally," She continued. As she kept on talking, Usagi zoned out and everything she heard became fuzzy. "Nee, are you listening, girl?" She asked, dragging Usagi from her thoughts.
She didn't answer, making it obvious she had no idea what she had said. Kikyo groaned and continued rambling, and once she saw Usagi literally couldn't care less, she stopped and left.
The four helped Canary and she took them to another large house for butlers. She said that Killua would be coming soon, and he was. He had broken out if the chains, and after talking with his dad, went down to that same building and was actually waiting for them. Killua had told a butler to tell him when get got there, but he secretly obeyed Kikyo and tried to get rid of them.
The butlers quickly grabbed a hold of Canary and Usagi, using them as hostages as Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio sat down on a couch. They were forced to play a game to guess which hand held a coin, and if they didn't guess within three seconds they would slit Canary's throat, and then if they did it again it was Usagi's turn.
They game barely lasted a couple of minutes, and it ended when Killua walked in from another room. He ran over to the couch, completely passing Usagi. She hated to admit that it hurt her a bit.
"Gon!" He exclaimed, standing behind them on the couch. "And... Kurapika!" He said, happily.
"I'm just a second thought..." Kurapika thought to himself, smiling weirdly in the outside.
"Hmmm... Liorio?"
"LEorio!!"
He turned around, and his ocean blue eyes met Usagi's bright gold ones. She looked a bit down, but he looked happy to see her. "Usagi!" He exclaimed, happily. She kept her eyes locked onto his, hoping that if she stared longer Killua would understand how she felt.
His face fell when she made no reaction. "Usagi? What's wrong?" He asked, curiously. She lifted her head up some.
"Nothing!" She said, plastering on a fake smile. "Let's go," She said. They all followed her out. She made sure to wave to Canary before she left.
They walked along the same path with the same trees surrounding them as before. Except this time Killua was with them, and that's all that mattered to Usagi.
Killua didn't like the way Usagi was acting. She was being different than usual. He looked at her, a concerned look on his face when he saw that she was just staring at the ground as she walked, emotionless.
"Usagi, will you follow me?" He asked, jabbing a thumb behind them and into the forest. He had a serious time to his voice.
"Sure," Usagi agreed as she followed him into the woods. They stopped walking once they were far enough away that the others couldn't hear. He turned to face her.
"Do you not want to see me?" He asked, seriously.
Usagi's eyes widened in shock. "Why would you ask that?" She questioned.
"Well, you just didn't seem too happy when you saw me again."
"That's only because I didn't know if we were friends or not!" She explained. Killua. Looked a bit shocked, until he remembered.
"Oh, now I remember. Just forget about that; I didn't mean any of it," He said, waving it off. There was a short silence. "But did you mean what you said... About caring about me..?" He quietly asked. Her face turned red and she looked down out if embarrassment.
"B-Baka! Of course I did! Why would I lie to you?!" She almost yelled. He looked a bit surprised as he turned a little pink.
"I don't know why you'd lie to me..."
That was when she popped up and glomped him, hugging him tightly. He winced a tiny but because he was still hurting a little from being tortured.
"Can I ask you something without you lying?" She asked. He nodded. "What did they do to you?" He looked shocked.
"Nothing... They didn't do anything. Let's go, we don't want to get left too far behind," He said as an excuse.