Black Butterfly
TheRealGonZoldyck
Chapter 3
Notes:
because you guys are so awesome, here's anotha chapter :-)
Also, Kalluto is mentioned in this chap & I know many hc him as a girl, but with respect to canon I used he/him pronouns.
Chapter Text
It hadn't been fate or destiny or coincidence. It had been downright shit-ass luck; the kind of luck that puts the boy he hates most in the world in the locker room with two douchebags from the rival swim team.
It'd happened too fast, there hadn't been enough time to fix the situation; Gon was at least right about that much. One moment Killua was winning a fiercely contested swim meet, and the next he was being followed into the home team lockers by two of his opponents. Words were thrown around, then Killua got shoved around, and soon he felt the alarming rush of adrenaline that came from a person knowing they're going to have to defend themselves.
He was about to start throwing punches when he looked up to see Gon standing in the background, hair soaking wet like he'd just come out of the shower, in nothing but black briefs. Killua's heart lodged into his throat with humiliation.
Then, to make matters worse, the douchebags noticed Gon, too.
"Is there a problem here?" Gon had asked in a low, deceptively polite voice. He'd crossed his arms, shoulders squared, and Killua felt his cheeks grow warm.
"What, is your boyfriend coming to your rescue?" one of them sneered.
And Killua, thrown by Gon's presence and having no idea how to deal with it, shot back, "So what if he is? You're both gonna get your asses kicked with or without him!"
That, more or less, had sent things into a tail spin. Killua didn't get his ass kicked; the boys sort of smirked in amused confusion and left, leaving Killua alone and awkward with Gon still standing around with his hair dripping onto his shoulders.
"That wasn't-" Killua started to say just as Gon said, "Sorry, I didn't-"
Killua cleared his throat. "Whatever. It's none of your business." A drop of water slid down the ridges of Gon's chest, but Killua refused to watch its descent.
"Right. Just fulfilling my civic duty, 's all."
"I didn't need your help! I was fine."
Gon shrugged one shoulder, flicked wet hair off his forehead. "Alright." He gave Killua an unreadable look before turning away. Killua let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, hating the way his eyes tracked the lithe movements of muscle along Gon's back.
The next day in school, rumor had spread like wildfire that they were an item, and Killua began to wish he'd just gotten his ass kicked after all.
~
He doesn't tell a soul about their agreement, not even Palm, who would probably find out on her own, anyway. But she's hopelessly immersed in a crush on her debate partner, and Killua is relying on her obliviousness to save him the embarrassment of explaining a stupid plan that should never have been made in the first place.
That doesn't stop her from looking at him like he's completely lost his mind the instant Killua tells her at lunch, "Sorry, can't this afternoon, I'm helping Gon with his math homework."
Palm drops her fork. "Excuse me? You're what with who? Are you even speaking English?"
Killua focuses on his Sprite can. "Yeah? He needs the tutoring, or he's going to fail and get kicked off the football team, maybe not even graduate."
"No, no, no-wait, hold it, back up the train for a second. You're tutoring Gon? Because you want to?"
"Uh, yeah? And?"
"Killua, you've hated Gon since the seventh grade. You drew dicks all over his face in your freshman yearbook."
An uncomfortable heat crawls up his neck. "People change," he replies lamely.
"Oh my God." She stares at him, wide-eyed. "Don't tell me the rumors are actually true, you're not actually-holy shit."
"Okay, look." Killua lays his hand on the table, fingers splayed. "We came clean with each other, alright? He's not such a bad guy, and he-he likes me. And I-I like him, too. A lot." His throat feels way too tight.
"How could you not tell me? Are you high? You're high, aren't you? It's okay, you can tell me, I promise not to judge."
"I am not high. Gon is-I mean, we're dating." He bites the word out, wincing slightly.
Palm sits back, stunned. "I don't believe you. This is some kind of twisted joke, this isn't natural! Killua, you hit the guy with your car...on purpose! I just can't-"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gon appears, and to Killua's horror and shock and confusion, he slides his fingers through Killua's hair and ruffles it quickly as he passes behind Killua's chair. He leans in close, says softly, almost against Killua's temple, "Your place after practice, yeah? I've got notes," and then-
-and then he winks.
About ten thousand different responses snake through Killua's brain, many of which include What in the actual fuck, we agreed no touching, and Don't ever do that in front of my friends, and You wink at me again, you die.
But instead, his mouth opens and shuts like a dying fish, and the heat spreading across his neck rushes up into his cheeks. And against his will, he also thinks, Why the hell didn't you just kiss me and get it over with?
Beside him, Palm looks like she just spotted Big Foot and the Easter Bunny having Sunday brunch.
"Oh my God," she mutters. "I'm in the Twilight Zone." And Killua wants to crawl in a hole and die.
*
*
*
Gon has never been to Killua's house; in fact, nobody has ever been to Killua's house-or his mansion, per say. But cohabitating with a modern day remix of The Adam's Familydoesn't exactly make a kid eager to show it off.
Yet here he is, pacing his bedroom floor and wondering if he should hide his collection of Batman comics, or the super deluxe edition of Lord of the Rings he has sitting on top of his DVD player. His swim trunks are hanging off the back of his desk chair, and there's a pile of dirty clothes at the foot of his bed. It's not exactly the most sophisticated room on the planet, but it's not like Gon will care. He'll more than likely just shove his homework at Killua and leave without a word.
Killua rolls his eyes at the thought, and goes downstairs to wait.
~
There's a sharp tapping of a foot behind him, and Killua spins around from the dining table. There are various post-it notes stuck to his face with penises drawn on them, but he gives Illumi his best "seriously I'm doing homework" face.
"Yes?" Killua asks, innocently. Kalluto is snickering quietly from the other side of the table, shoving a pad of post-its in his bag.
The eldest narrows his eyes. "Do I want to know why there is cartoon male genitalia stuck to your face?"
"...because I've never had the real thing?"
"Your guest is at the door," Illumi deadpans. "Whom I suspect may have the real thing."
For some stupid reason, Killua's heart beats a little faster. He quickly moves from the dining room, pulling the stickies off his face, and then pauses just before opening the front door, squaring his shoulders. He's ready to get this over with; he can take whatever Gon wants to throw at him. He always has.
The thing is, he doesn't expect Gon to be standing on the front steps with wet hair and his backpack over one shoulder and a couple of frozen popsicles in his hand.
Killua is utterly speechless. He stares at the icy goods, then looks at Gon, trying to find words. "Um?"
"What? You don't like popsicles?" Gon asks curtly, but there is something in his eyes that are off, something-like he's nervous? What the hell.
"Not really-why?"
"Seriously? I like to snack when I study."
"You're not studying here," Killua snaps.
"Oh right, I'm 'studying'." Gon makes awkward air quotes since his hands are full. "You're the one doing all the work. So either take it or don't, whatever, can I come in now?"
Killua sort of stumbles back as Gon pushes his way through the door, shouldering Killua out of the way. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks around.
"Your room's upstairs?" he asks.
Killua blinks, an annoying heat blushing his cheeks. "Yes."
Gon nods, then starts climbing the stairs.
Killua starts to say something, that they can just as easily study in the living room and Gon doesn't need to be dragging all his crap up to Killua's room, anyway. But he can't quite get the words to come out, and ends up swearing under his breath before following after Gon.
When he gets to the top of the stairs, Gon is standing in the doorway to Killua's room, sucking on a popsicle.
"Not quite what I expected," he says, then thrusts the other popsicle into Killua's chest before dumping his backpack onto the floor. Of course, Killua is thwarted when Gon suddenly leans in...and pulls a post-it note off of Killua's face and hands it back to him.
Jesus Christ.
"Well, uh, what did you expect? A racecar bed?" Killua asks, feigning indifference as he crumples the note and shoves it into his pocket.
Gon shrugs. "Maybe. But I picture you as more of the guy with a Batmobile." Then, to Killua's horror, Gon flops down on the bed and kicks his Converse off.
Killua shoves at his legs. "Get the fuck up, I didn't say you could-"
"I'm your boyfriend, I should at least get to lay on your bed," Gon says with a lazy smirk.
"Okay, there are several things wrong with that sentence, the main one being you are not my fucking boyfriend." Killua shoves at his legs again, and finally Gon rolls his eyes and sits up. Somehow the movement shifts him around to where his knees are suddenly braced on either side of Killua's legs. Killua crosses his arms over his chest and glares down at him, steadfast and not looking at how Gon's jeans spread tight over his thighs.
Gon glances up with raised eyebrows. "If we're going to do this, I want to know I'm getting my money's worth."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"How do I know you won't just mess around and write a bunch of nonsense for my assignments?"
"First of all, I told you I'd-"
"Yeah, you told me, but you're not exactly my biggest fan, are ya?" Gon leans back on his elbows, angling his hips in a really annoying way and his legs spread out even more. Killua swallows.
"We have an agreement," Killua replies, tightly. "I don't back out of my agreements."
Gon shrugs. "If it's all the same, I'd rather keep an eye on you."
Killua's pulse immediately begins to race. "Hey, screw you! I'm definitely trustworthy! Besides, if I fucked this up for you, you'd just go around telling all your douchebag football bros how you saved my sissy ass in the locker room. Not that you couldn't still do that, but-"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't demean my friends like that, and also, screw you, because I'm not that kind of guy and I don't break agreements either." He glares fiercely at Killua, jams his knee into the side of Killua's thigh, but it's not hard enough to hurt.
"So, maybe I want to keep an eye on you, too," Killua says before he can think better of it.
Gon tips his chin up. "Fine. Then don't be rude when I come over and sit on your bed."
"Fine. And-and I get to sit with you at lunch. At the football table. No comments allowed."
"Okay." Gon sighs heavily, falling back against the bed as his arms flail out. The bottom edge of his grey henley rides up, just a little, showing smooth, tanned skin, a hint of muscle.
Killua grits his teeth and looks away, kicking at Gon's foot for good measure. "Okay. Good."
He ends up on the floor at the foot of the bed, back against the box springs, with Gon's math book and a legal pad in his lap as he absently nurses his popsicle. Killua likes to do his math homework in scribbles and scrawls before transferring it all to a clean sheet of paper, like a rough draft. He chews his lip, focuses intently on a particularly hard equation, when he feels something nudge the back of his head.
Killua frowns, twisting around to snap at Gon, only he's suddenly confronted with the sight of Gon curled up asleep on his bed, head buried into his pillow.
He is half on his side, one arm slung loose over his stomach, fingers curled gently into the fabric of his shirt and a copy of Macbeth laying face down on the blanket. The lamplight traces one arched brow and outlines a lip, a curve of jaw, a shadowed cheek.
Jesus, Gon is curled up like a fucking puppy on his bed and Killua is sympathizing? What the hell is wrong with him?
"Hey," Killua says, though not as loudly as he'd like. He huffs to himself, then reaches out to shake Gon by the shoulder. Killua is still on his knees, chest against the edge of the bed, and when Gon snuffles in his sleep and turns completely onto his side to face Killua, they're nearly nose to nose.
Gon makes a quite humming sound, his eyes slowly fluttering open. They're a deep brown and slightly unfocused, and for a moment he honestly smiles at Killua before whispering, "Hey."
Killua can barely breathe. "You're supposed to be studying, not sleeping," he says irritably, but his voice is low, quiet. It doesn't have the bite he's going for.
Gon frowns, and the sleepy haze gradually fades from his eyes. He blinks a few times, sitting up abruptly as he scrubs a hand over his face.
"Crap," he mumbles. "How long was I out?"
"I don't know, I just looked up and you were asleep." Killua's trying very hard not to stare at the pink crease on Gon's cheek, where he slept on the stitching of the pillow case.
Gon rubs the back of his hand over his eyes, like a little kid. "Don't let me do that again."
"Excuse me? It's not my fault you passed out on my bed."
"Crap," Gon says again, reaching for his copy of Shakespeare. "I have to read up to act five by tomorrow.Dang it."
"Maybe you should nap at your own place before coming over here to take up all my-"
"Can't help it, you have a really soft bed," Gon says, although it sounds almost like he doesn't mean to say it out loud. He winces, glancing over at Killua cautiously, then adds, "You almost done?"
Killua has one more equation to go, but fuck it. He scribbles a few numbers down and hands the paper and book back to Gon. "Here. Make sure you recopy in your handwriting."
"I know, I know. I'm not a complete idiot." Gon shoves everything into his backpack, still blinking sleepily. His hair is spiked up on one side from where it dried wrong.
Killua gets up from the floor, stands around awkwardly as Gon collects his stuff. He finally straddles his desk chair to keep from pacing and says, as nonchalantly as possible, "So...tomorrow?"
Gon takes a deep breath, rolls his shoulders. "Sure. Uh. Yeah." Then, he gives a sheepish, uncertain grin and rubs at the back of his neck. "I didn't-I mean, when you woke me up, I didn't, like...say anything weird, did I?"
Killua narrows his eyes, sensing a trap. "No?"
Relief flashes across Gon's face before he shakes his head and says, "Right, okay. Tomorrow, then. And don't get all weird at lunch, I don't wanna have to explain it."
He honestly wonders how it's so easy for Gon to piss him off. "I won't get weird, god, it's just sitting-"
"I'm just saying!" Gon calls over his shoulder as he bounds down the stairs. "No clingy boyfriend stuff, remember?"
Killua wishes he could kick Gon for real. He settles for looking out his bedroom window and trying vehemently to set fire to Gon's jeep with his brain.