11 | SERVE × AND × PROTECT
THE GROUP STARED AT THEIR COMMON ENEMY, the undefeated champion; the Testing Gate. The towering structure that separated them from their beloved friend, Killua. The gate was a difficult opponent with its overpowering physique that wished for the destruction of their hopes. It halted their movements from proceeding forward and seeking out their friend. Yet, by combining their strengths, the group still had a chance of succeeding, despite all their failures.
"Match your timing," suggested Seaquant. "You three must push both of the gates simultaneously or the gate won't ever open!"
"Let's do this!" exclaimed the man dressed in a suit.
"Nah, for a second, I just thought we'll wait it out until the gate became generous enough to open itself," [Y/N] replied with a witty comment.
"Was that needed?" said a dissatisfied Leorio. "I'm the leader. It's my duty to be an encourager."
"I don't think anyone saw you like that."
"Guys, you don't think that, right?" wondered Leorio, turning around to face his other two friends, who mindlessly avoided him.
"Hey, Kurapika, look it's a butterfly," Gon responded, pointing to the delicate creature that rested itself upon a leaf.
The winged-insect sprouted its wings, displaying the colors that painted its individuality. "My, what a beauty," Kurapika commented, inching closer to observe the fragile insect.
"Guys!"
"It truly is beautiful," added the girl, admiring the breathtaking view.
More butterflies have gathered with wings of crimson-colored, edged with deep red. One of the winged-insect fluttered around until making a rest stop above Gon's nose. The boy was startled but then accepted his position of being the rightful heir to the throne of the butterflies.
[I found this gif and it was simply adorable. I couldn't help but include it in the story so let's pretend these butterflies also exist in Kukuroo Mountain.]
"I am no longer Gon, I am the butterfly king!" he exulted, stretching out his arms to welcome his followers.
"Or you're their lunch," [Y/N] commented, pointing to an open wound on his arm that he received when he fell from opening the Testing Gate.
While the group had their idled chitchat, Leorio was becoming annoyed by his friends ignoring him. When the group finally took notice of his reaction, all three of them burst into a fit of laughters. In response, the man huffed, and in a child-like manner, kicked some dirt from the ground in the direction of the three friends. One dodged, one had their eye stung by the tiny particle, and the other was treated to lunch with a disgusting, germ-infested, sand entree.
The girl coughed up the foul substance. "Leorio!" screamed the angry child, who clenched her fist and marched her way over to the tall man. She brought him down to her height by taking hold of his collared shirt. "I'm going to kill you."
Kurapika pried the girl off Leorio. "We still have a gate to open, remember? Let's focus on that."
Kurapika, I respect you, I really do.
But sometimes people must have their asses kick when needed.
The group returned their focus back to the task at hand: opening the gate. They all placed both their hands against the large mental exterior and pushed with all their might.
The gate became slightly ajarred, and the three friends entered a state of disbelief and shock. And in the moment of distraction, the door swiftly shut. The heaviness of the door created a wind current that flew the three friends backward.
Gon ran towards the group. "Leorio! Kurapika!"
Fuck you, then.
The young boy then focused his attention on the girl, crouching down, he extended an arm for the girl to grab. "Are you okay?" queried Gon, concerned for [Y/N]'s well-being.
Forget what I said earlier.
[Y/N] gladly accepted his help. "Yeah, I'm okay," she smiled, reassuring the boy she was in a stable condition to proceed with their quest.
Quest?
Am I an adventurer now?
I wouldn't mind if I was at least getting paid for my services.
━━━━ ⋆ฺ｡❀ TIME SKIP ❀｡ฺ⋆ ━━━━
"How about the three of you remove the vest this time?" Zebro suggested.
The words that left Zebro's mouth was music to Leorio's ears. A smile sprouted on his face and his hands curled into a fist to exemplify his excitement. "Without them, we can finally open the gate!" Leorio cheered, removing the weighted vest and dropped it on the ground, with the others following after. The weight of the vest created a hole on the ground when each of the vests was stacked upon one another.
"I don't think it was the vest that was making it impossible," [Y/N] commented as her eyes gazed over to Leorio.
"Why did you look at me while you said that? Are you saying I'm weak? I'm strong," boasted Leorio and to add further fire to his embarrassment, he rolled up his sleeves and showcased his award not-so-winning 'muscles'.
"I didn't call you weak. You called yourself weak," the girl defended herself and deflected Leorio's claim.
"You clearly looked at me," he pointed out. "We made eye contact and everything."
"That was just a coincidence. My eyes just happened to wander in that direction, that's all."
The man leaned forward, in an attempt to intimidate the girl with his tallness. "Then what were you referring to?" asked the man with his head cocked to the side.
He thinks he's doing something but in reality, he's blocking the sun that was scorching my skin, by casting his shadow over me.
Thank you. I didn't know you could be so kind and thoughtful.
"I was talking about Gon," the girl informed the offended adult. "If we had him, we'll have a better chance of opening this door. Three is good but four is better."
"I don't believe it."
You shouldn't.
"Sadly, it's the truth."
It's not.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to stop listening to you now," Leorio said calmly, refusing to let his guard down and unleash all the pent up anger that's been rising. Every time the girl opened her mouth, his patience slowly thinned.
"I think someone got their feelings hurt," [Y/N] said, draping an arm around Kurapika's shoulder. "Don't you agree?"
Kurapika sighed. "I agree that you two should stop arguing and help me open this door."
"It's not my fault that Leorio is old and his muscles are barely functioning," the girl demurred, as she wasn't the one who insinuated the argument. All she did was make a comment that Leorio felt the need to dispute.
"See? You were talking about me," he scowled, sending the girl a dirty look.
Who else would I have been talking about?"
"Did you really think I was actually talking about Gon?" snickered [Y/N]. "You must be stupid if you thought that."
Leorio furrowed his eyebrows. "Let's get one thing straight, I'm strong."
The young girl interlocked her fingers together and brought them over her head, resting them against the back of her neck. "I'm not denying your strengths, I'm just denying its existence," she grinned cunningly.
Did I just use Killua's signature stance?
He sure does know how to attach himself to people without even trying.
"Whose idea was it to invite her along?" sighed Leorio, turning his attention over to Kurapika and Gon, the only two people that don't annoy him or nag his ear off.
"Don't you turn your back to me," she jeered, grabbing his shoulder and forcefully turning him towards her. "I have every right to be here, just like you."
"Did your feelings get hurt?" Leorio mocked the young girl who quickly rose her feet and kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. He fell to the ground, clutching his precious jewels that served no other purpose than adding on to his narcissistic personality.
"Sorry...my foot slipped," she apologized yet no trace of remorse could be linked to her fake sincerity. She offered him a hand which he smacked away since he was still fuming with anger.
Sometimes you gotta set them straight by injuring the origin of their behavior.
"Guys, please. The gate," Kurapika intervened, bringing their argument to a halt and prevented Leorio from seeking out his vengeance on the child.
Once again, all three of the friends simultaneously pushed the gate with all their strength. The gate opened but it was too small for a person to actually fit through the tiny space. Then, Gon walked up to the gate and placed his hands against the metal structure. Leorio questioned him about the condition of his hand, the one injured during his match against Hanzo. In response, Gon informed his arm was healed and there was no need for his friends to worry.
"One."
"Two."
"Three!"
Again, this time with all four of the friends united, they all shove the gate inwards. With all their strength combined, the gate opened. The gate's panel scraped against the concrete surface, creating a hard grating sound. The two children, Gon and [Y/N], fell inside, and landed roughly on the ground, scraping both their arms and legs.
Both Gon and [Y/N] smiled at each other.
"We did it!" Leorio exclaimed.
The long-reigning champion had been defeated by a group of friends, striving to rescue their friend from his family's clutches.
━━━━ ⋆ฺ｡❀ TIME SKIP ❀｡ฺ⋆ ━━━━
The journey to Killua's home was a long one. One would think, it would be a quick walk to reach his house but that wasn't the case. His home was all the way at the top of the mountain, and they weren't even close to reaching their destination.
If I could turn back now, I would.
Who knew it would be a long-ass journey to reach Killua's home?
I thought it would be a quick walk to his house, but no, it wasn't like that at all.
[Y/N] was unaware that her friends had stopped in their tracks as she was in deep thought that she crashed into Leorio. "Watch where you're going," the girl snapped at the man even though it was her fault for walking into him.
"You crashed into me!" retaliated Leorio.
"Because you were in the way. Maybe if you moved and considered your surroundings, this wouldn't have happened," she stated, nonchalantly.
The blond walked over to the young girl and covered her mouth with his hands. "Look," he whispered into her ear and positioned her head to face the brick wall, where another young girl stood.
A young girl with dark skin stood in front of the two brick pillar walls that were attached to a spiky fence. Her dark-colored hair was combed into thick bunches, each tied with a string towards the tip. She was dressed in a suit and a cane was positioned in her hand.
She stared blankly at the friends. "Leave," she ordered in a polite tone. "You are trespassing on private property. I cannot allow you to pass without permission."
Gon was the first to speak and attempt to reason with the young girl. "We already called ahead and we came through the Testing Gate."
"The butlers did not give you permission to enter."
"And I didn't give them permission to make demands, what's your point?" [Y/N] chimed in, fed up with the girl's persistence to prevent them from proceeding forward.
"No permission, no entrance."
"What do we need to get permission? I said I was Killua's friend, but they wouldn't put him on," Gon explained to the girl who seemed to be misinformed about the situation but still, refused to listen to his words or believe them.
"I wouldn't know," she answered honestly. "Because no one has ever received permission."
"Then we'll have to trespass!" Gon declared in frustration, after being constantly denied passage to Killua's residence from not having permission from the butlers or the higher-ups.
"I suppose so,"' the butler stated and drew a line on the dirt with the ball-end of her cane. "In any case, this is where I draw the line."
"Quite literally," [Y/N] joked and was nudged by Leorio.
"Ow," she winced as she rubbed her arm but Leorio paid her no mind since he's been through worse damage, considering the stunt she pulled earlier.
"If you take one step beyond this line, I'll remove you by force," she informed, still guarding the pathway.
Leorio, Kurapika, and [Y/N] were prepared to advance forward but was quickly stopped by Gon as he held his hand up.
Who made you in charge?
[Y/N] ignored Gon's request of staying back and walked alongside the young boy. When their feet crossed over the line, the girl swung her cane and struck the two younglings in their face sending them both flying backwards.
Leorio took out his knife and Kurapika took out his bokken sword, prepared to attack the young girl in retaliation. However, Gon refused their assistance and ordered them to stop.
The young boy stood on both his feet and walked over to [Y/N]. He grabbed her face gently stroked the area of her cheek where she was hit. [Y/N] cliched slightly as he ran his fingers over the spot that hurt the most. "That's why you should've stayed behind. I'll do anything to protect my friends, even if it means that I'll suffer the pain in their place."
Damn so inspirational.
He should become a poet.
"Stay here," he told the girl and picked himself off the ground and faced the young butler. "We don't intend to fight you." The boy wiped the blood that dripped from his nose. "We just want to see Killua.."
"It doesn't matter what your motives are," the dark-skinned girl stated as she positioned her cane in front of her.
"I am simply following orders," she finished.
Gon was persistent to get through, no matter the pain or the bruises that marked up his body. He continued to get back up, against the girl's wishes.
"You can try all you want, I'll never let you pass," she pointed out but Gon's determination will never let him surrender such a defeat.
"I will pass..." the young boy clarified. "I'm going to see Killua..."
━━━━ ⋆ฺ｡❀ TIME SKIP ❀｡ฺ⋆ ━━━━
"Cut it out! Don't you realize how futile this is?!" yelled the girl, frustration and annoyance coursed into her bloodstream. "Why don't you stop him? Aren't you his friends?" implored Canary to the friends to stop Gon, but instead, they all stared at her with fixed expressions and continued to silently observed from the side.
"What's the problem?" asked the young boy, raising his fist. "I'm just here to see my friend. I'm just here to see Killua! Why do I have to do this?!" screamed Gon, smashing the concrete pillar that stood next to the girl. The pillar shattered and crumbled into pieces from the impactful hit. Even the nearby crows in the forest felt the reverberation and flew away.
"Hey," said Gon, gaining the young apprentice's attention. From all the confusion and distractions that erupted in one take, Gon's foot managed to step over the line that she desperately tried to protect. "I crossed the line."
Canary slowly glanced down and her eyes widened as she failed to prevent the inevitable from happening."Aren't you supposed to hit me?" asked Gon, but the butler was too frightened to raise her cane.
Is he asking that because he's curious or because he's you know.... that kind of person?
"You're different from Mike," the young boy expressed and Canary appeared to be taken back by his words. "You may try to hide your feelings, but you have a heart. When I mentioned Killua, your eyes softened for a moment," observed Gon, sending a smile her way.
The girl stayed silent and lowered her cane in defeat being swayed by Gon's attempt to reach Killua. When it came to Killua, the girl had a soft spot for him due to the kindness he had shown her and requesting to be her friend, but due to her position, she had to decline his offer. A single drop fell from her eyes and landed on the cane. "Please... Help Killua-sama—"
Her sentence was cut abruptly as a shot was fired at the side of the girl's face. In her last few seconds, her face filled with terror as her body unconsciously dropped to the floor. Everyone rushed to her aid, and crouched down near her body or stood on guard.
"Is she going to be okay?" inquired [Y/N], inspecting the girl's motionless body.
"Yeah," Leorio nodded. "She's just unconscious."
"Honestly... What was that servant babbling about?" a woman questioned out loud, appearing from behind the bushes, staring down at the girl's senseless body with disgust and disappointment for mouthing off the Zoldyck's family.
The group glanced up at the unidentified women, dressed down in a dark blue ruffled gown, paired with a large pink hat that was decorated with flowers, fur, and feathers. Her face was covered in bandages and she held a gun-like technology in her hands. Standing by her side, was young, short kid, dressed in a black kimono.
The four friends stared at the two strangers in both anger and confusion. [Y/N], however, was in her thoughts, trying to make sense of this women's fashion choice.
Who allowed this woman to dress herself?
Let alone let her go out in public in such a get-up?
It's like she matched two unmatchable clothing and tried to pass it off as a fashion statement.
Whoever told you, you look cute in that, lied to you.
I would say look in the mirror, but can you even?
The unknown woman continued to banter on. "She made it sound like we're being mean to Killua. A worthless apprentice had the nerve to insult us!" The woman dislike being told that her treatment of her son is inhumane and unmotherly. And when she overheard Canary plead to the four friends to rescue Killua, a switch went off, and she shot the apprentice with a tiny projectile.
Shut up. You're just as irrelevant as your words.
She then averted her eyes over at the young children. "You must be Gon," said the woman, staring at the young boy dressed in green. Her eyes then peered over to the girl that was beside him. "And you must be [Y/N]."
No shit sherlock.
I'm literally the only girl here.
"I heard about you from Illumi," the older woman announced, informing the group of friends of her trusted information broker. "Killua knows that you're here." The words that left her lips obtained Gon's attentiveness as he darted his eyes from the unconscious girl to the women. "I have a message for you from Kil... 'Thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. But I can't see you right now. Sorry.'" recited the woman, unmindful of the young girl's suspiciousness towards her.
Lies.
She a lie.
The moment she dared say he apologized, is where she lost my trust and her credibility.
Imagine Killua actually saying sorry.
Or imagine Killua saying sorry and actually meaning it.
"Sorry, but who are you?" questioned [Y/N], feeling uneasy and uncomfortable from being within this woman's field of vision.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself," the woman apologized. "I am Killua's mother and this is Kalluto," the women introduced herself as their friend's mother and the child as Killua's younger sibling.
"Ah, so you're the woman, that gave birth to that emotionless toothpick," [Y/N] laughed. "Sad excuse of a son, might I add."
She brought her fan up and smiled wickedly at the girl's unprecedented response. Although she felt insulted, she was delighted as she imagined her precious Killua talking to her in such a manner. "[Y/N], was it? That's your name right?" Her voice appeared to sound a bit strained from her having to force herself to sound kind.
"Nah, my parents weren't that creative," she answered bashfully. "Of course that's my name. You literally said it conversation ago. Does amnesia come with the old age or are you just slow?" sassed the young girl, unaware of the stabbing daggers that were aimed at her.
"Illumi told me about that personality of yours, but surely, you'll know to respect those older than you," she educated the young girl with fake smiled etched across her face to add a bit of character to her bland appearance.
"I only respect those who tell the truth. If you like, we can discuss that fake attitude of yours over a cup of tea, obasan."
Kurapika, being the lifesaver that he is, covered her mouth to silence her from continuing her talk. "You really like to make an enemy of the Zoldyck' a family, don't you? Do us a favor and be quiet, please." She sighed but nodded in agreement to the blond's request.
"Excuse her behavior, she's just tired and hungry. She meant no disrespect," Kurapika insisted, but [Y/N] crossed her arms and faced away from him.
You're lucky that Kurapika was here.
I've come through many death scenarios, I'm not scared of you.
Or I'm just saying that because I know you can't read my mind.
"Why can't Killua see us?" asked Gon.
"Because he's in solitary confinement," the woman spoke with a calm demeanor. "Since, Kil stabbed me and his brother before he ran away from home."
I wish he would've caused you more damage.
And if he does, I'm going to need a front-row seat to witness that.
"That is the story he told us," Kurapika responded, remembering about the information given to him during the Hunter Exam.
"Kil returned because he regretted his actions and he voluntarily entered solitary confinement so we do not know when he will leave..."
The visor that covered her eyes made a sound and then Killua's mother flicked and became distressed. "What? Father! What are you doing?! Don't do anything hasty! He's finally returned!" The woman yelled, disagreeing with the person on the other end of the line.
"Oh, why must Father be this way?" she groaned, disappointed in her father's actions. "Something has come up so I bid you farewell."
Okay bye.
Nice not knowing ya.
"Please wait!" Gon yelled out, making Killua's mother stop in her tracks. "We'll be staying in town for a while. Please let Killua know that."
"Very well. I shall let Killua know," the woman nodded and turned her attention back to her main focus. She sped-walked down the path, holding up her dress, to prevent the hideous attire from becoming filthy.
Despite Killua's mother leaving, the young child that accompanied her was still in the group's sight. The boy turned to look at them and unsure of their presence. "Who are you?" queried Kalluto.
"Killua's friends," Gon answered proudly.
"Friends...?" drawled Kalluto, slowly processing the word that seemed foreign to his ears.
Nah, we're just a film crew trying to exploit the Zoldycks' by gaining the stupid one's trust.
Can't you tell?
"Kalluto-chan! What are you doing!? Hurry up and come here!" yelled Kalluto's mother from a distance, demanding for her son to return to her side.
"Yes, mother!" Kalluto belted out and ran in the direction of where his mother went.
Is there one member in the Zoldyck's family that isn't weird or abnormal?
I get that they're a family of assassins, but damn, they're either uneducated or too prideful.
Reminds me of Leorio.
"What do we do about her? We can't leave her here?" [Y/N] inquired, unsure of what the group intended to do with the unconscious girl. Leaving her would be unprofessional and not coincide with Gon's ideals.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," the man assured. "It's not every day where intruders making it inside the gate alive."
"Don't be insensitive," the girl nudged him. "If it where you on the ground, I wouldn't mind leaving you and taking her. She's more capable than you."
The two friends nudged heads with one another, until the sound of a girl's voice brought them both back into reality. "I-I'll take you all to the butler's office. There's a phone there that connects to the mansion," the girl informed, lifting herself from the ground, and holding her head as it throbbed with pain. "If Zeno-sama is the one who answers..."
A look of puzzlement washed over Gon's face. "Zeno-sama?" he asked.
"Killua's grandfather."
The list is endless with Killua's family.
*
What's an anime you're currently watching? I'm curious 🧚🏼♀️
Whaddup everyone, it's ya girl, kat, back at it again with another chapter. Idk what it is about me but I give [Y/N] every possible opportunity to annoy Leorio. Like, it's like I can personally see it actually happening and that's saying something.
I hope you love this chapter and give it the same love by voting and leaving comments. Thank you for all those who are reading! I love and appreciate your support very much!
(=^K•A•T•^=)