Chapter Text
Whale Island was especially warm that time of year. Hunter duties were on pause, and they were spending their spring at Mito’s house. Gon and Killua sparred together in the yard, working for hours in the heat, coming home covered in bruises and scabs. They would exhaust themselves every day, rest, and go back at it again the next. This continued for a few weeks, until a few of the village kids passed by the yard one morning.
“Hey, Gon! Wanna play ball with us?” one asked.
“Sure!” Gon called. “Killua, c’mon.”
Killua trailed after him reluctantly. The group raced to an open, grassy spot in the forest, and began kicking a ball around between them. The game was simple enough, just running back and forth across the field. Killua was instantly bored of these kids. Although they were around the same age as he and Gon, there was a huge skill gap between them. They were so much slower and weaker than him that the game became immensely uninteresting. Killua went back to Mito’s house and played video games until Gon returned.
The next few days were the same. Gon would leave early in the morning and return late at night, catching up with his old friends. Killua went with him occasionally, but he couldn’t stand to be around those kids for more than a couple of hours. They were so naïve. So unaware of the realities of life, so unable to comprehend the pain and death he had known since birth. Killua was a little offended that Gon would rather play with them than train.
For a while, Gon’s absence didn’t bother him. He’d been alone all his life, knowing only his family and servants until he met Gon. But now he was used to the constant company of his best friend, so being alone was suddenly strange and unpleasant. Each day was harder than the last. Killua couldn’t decide if he hated the village kids more than loneliness, so he holed up inside and hated Gon instead.
To top it all off, Gon came home with a giant grin on his face and a paper clutched to his chest one day. He sat on the porch without a word to his friend, just smiling and swinging his legs back and forth. Killua scowled.
“Tch. If you’re not gonna tell me what’s on that paper, don’t bother now. I don’t care.”
“It’s a letter from Akemi-chan,” Gon said smugly.
“Who the hell is that?”
“Just one of the village girls. We go fishing together sometimes.” Gon paused, probably for dramatic effect. “She likes me.”
“Congratulations.” Killua didn’t sound congratulatory at all. Bored, maybe, or sarcastic. Not congratulatory.
Gon’s face fell. He was expecting his best friend to be at least a little bit happy for him. Now, he wasn’t sure what to say. A few moments passed, Gon kicking small pebbles and Killua tapping his knees.
“Do you like her back?” Killua finally asked.
“Um. I think so. She’s really good at skipping rocks, and her hair is orange, like Mito-san!”
“Stupid. That stuff doesn’t matter when it comes to liking people.”
“Oh… Then what does?”
Killua frowned, trying to put his thoughts into words. “It’s… the way you feel about that person. The way they make you feel. If you really do like her, your insides will feel all fluttery when she’s around, and you’ll be happy every time you see her.”
“Okay. That makes sense.” It didn’t.
Killua studied Gon’s face. He could tell Gon was still trying to comprehend what a crush was. His confusion was sort of adorable. Killua smiled - not outwardly, but somewhere inside him. His chest felt light.
“So do you think you like her?”
Gon’s frown deepened for a moment, then released with a sigh. “I still don’t know!”
“Probably not, then.”
“Guess so.” Gon sighed, a little disappointed. “I feel bad. I mean, Akemi-chan likes me a lot. The letter says so. I wish I liked her, too. Then she could be happy.”
“She’ll get over it. Besides, she’d probably get tired of you running off and getting in fights all the time.”
“You’re right. I’ll tell her how I feel tomorrow, and if she doesn’t want to hang out with me anymore, we can spar after.”
“Okay!”
Gon leaned into Killua. “I like hanging out with you better anyway.”
Killua smiled and shoved Gon playfully. “C’mon. Let’s go inside.”
The boys stood up, dusted themselves off, and headed inside for dinner. Gon stopped just before reaching the threshold and turned around to look at Killua.
“I get happy every time I see you. Does that mean I like you?”
Killua’s eyebrows shot up. “Why would you say something like that? Don’t be an idiot.” His face warmed, and he looked at the ground so Gon wouldn’t notice.
“Just wondering.”