ʙᴀsᴇ ʙʏ: ᴀᴋᴀᴛsᴜᴋɪᴍᴀʏᴄʜᴀɴ

ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛɪғᴜʟ ᴅʀᴀᴡɪɴɢ ʙʏ: ᴡᴏʟғʟᴏᴠᴇʀ𝟣𝟤𝟧00

༺♥༻

༺♥༻

The small cut that resided on Valentine's cut had now become a scab and she was currently sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.

The Troupe had decided what they'd do with them; the man named Nobunaga had wanted the group to meet their boss and now, they were stuck in a small room where the only exit was blocked by Nobunaga.

A low chirp brought Valentine out of her staring contest with the man and she looked down, seeing Zeus's glistening obsidian eyes looking up at her.

It looked like he was smiling at her.

Her cheek stung as a reminder that her beloved companion could've been easily killed by Hisoka if she hadn't saved him in time.

Feeling a strange aura filling the room, eyes of the gods slowly looked up just in time as Killua stood to his feet and his aura spiked as he glared at Nobunaga.

'No, you're wrong!'

'Pretty scary. If looks could kill, huh?'

Chuckling as he stood up, Nobunaga put his hand on his sword and his aura immediately spiked.

'I should warn you, if you step into range, I'll cut you down'

Watching as Killua slowly walked towards Nobunaga, Gon and Valentine's eyes widened as they quickly looked towards one another with worry, before turning back towards the silverette.

'Killua!'

Watching as he walked towards Nobunaga, Gon's chocolate gaze turned towards Valentine and his eyes glistened with worry as Killua stepped closer and closer to the man.

'Valentine, you have to stop hi—'

Not having to be told twice, a sharp ringing pierced through the air causing Nobunaga to wince slightly and then, his eyes widened in wonder as the blonde haired girl suddenly appeared in front of the boy.

Blinking in surprise, Gon looked down and saw beady black eyes staring back up at him as Zeus let out a low chirp; the blonde had placed him on his lap as soon as she had teleported.

Standing in front of the boy like a boulder, eyes of a goddess's glow shined with determination and Valentine's arms were outstretched on either side of her as she looked up at the silverette, stopping him from going any further.

Seeing the sweat falling down his face and the way his eyes were wide with emotion, Valentine's expression softened as she frowned with worry, blue and gold connecting as they stared at one another.

It seemed as if everyone in the room had frozen as the two stared at one another.

Watching as his pupils expanded slightly, Valentine knew that he had snapped out of whatever trance he was in and his breathing calmed down as the shaking began to slow as he stared into her calming gaze, but he was still trembling.

Slowly reaching forward; as if fearing that she would scare him off, Valentine gently intertwined her hand with his and looked towards Nobunaga with a fiery look, before she looked back up towards the silverette, gently tugging his hand to slowly pull him along with her.

Once they had reached Gon, the two sat back down and as Valentine went to pull her hand away, the grip on her hand tightened, restricting her from pulling away.

Blinking in surprise, eyes of gold slowly looked up and seeing that Killua was looking at the ground, holding her hand tightly in his own as he shakily exhaled.

'Hey, I wonder if Leorio's okay',Gon suddenly spoke up,'I wonder if he had gotten a hold of Mr. Zepile'

Shocked that he was talking about that at a time like this, Valentine blinked slowly in confusion as her brain tried to process it and she slowly turned her gaze towards her green-haired friend.

Feeling as Killua's hand tightened around her own; not enough too hurt her but enough to catch her attention, caused eyes of gold to quickly snap his way and having noticed, Gon looked towards him as well.

'Killua, are you okay?',Gon questioned.

As Killua remained silent, Gon hummed slightly and placed his hand on his chin, his lips puffed out as he tried to remember.

'Let's see.. Mr. Zepile taught us cauterization, autopsy and.. something else',Gon trailed off and looked towards Killua,'Remember what it was?'

It was silent for a moment.

'I forget',Killua answered and didn't let go off Valentine's hand, feeling his muscles tense and untense as she slowly rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand.

It was clear that she was trying to calm him down, as if she had sensed the way his thoughts were running wild but at the moment, her attempts were futile.

'Was it osmosis maybe?',Gon questioned.

Blinking in confusion for a moment, Valentine's eyes brightened and Gon's message had finally clicked in her brain.

Suddenly, Killua's tight grip on Valentine's hand relaxed and he let go of her hand as he stood up, staring Nobunaga down.

'Gon, Valentine, I'll be the decoy',Killua stated,'Wait for it, then try to escape'

Shock covered their faces as Valentine and Gon looked towards one another, before their gazes turned towards Killua, their eyebrows furrowing.

Just what was he thinking.

'Look seriously, forget all about it',Nobunaga stated,'You're good enough to recognize the difference in our abilities. You won't catch me off guard'

'Shut up, alright!',Killua shouted, standing to his feet once more,'The only way I'll find out is if I try'

'Killua, what're you thinking about doing!?'

Shaking his head at the boy's response, Nobunaga sighed slightly and watched as Gon stood up, placing his hand on Killua's shoulder, only for it to be hit away.

'I'll stop his shodachi, even if it kills me',Killua stated.

Feeling her eye twitch, Valentine stood to her feet and slowly made her way over to the two.

'When I do, you take Valentine and get out of here'

Finally reaching the boy, Valentine lifted her hand and harshly brought it down, delivering a hard smack to the back of Killua's head causing Gon's eyes to widen as he looked at her, a small drop of sweat falling down the side of his face.

Just the anger that was radiating off of her body caused Gon to quickly scooch away from the two and he was glad that it wasn't him this time.

With an irk mark appearing on his forehead, Killua quickly turned towards the blonde and hesitated for a moment as his eyes connected with hers as he saw the fury raging within them.

He'd never seen her this mad before.

'What the hell was that for!?'

"You're being an idiot, Killua!"

Having rarely heard her talk like this, hearing her saying these things greatly shocked Killua and Gon.

But not showing it, Killua's left eye twitched for a moment and neither of them paid attention to just how close they were.

'Huh!?'

"Don't just talk about you dying as if it's not that big of a deal!"

Deciding to back her up from a distance, Gon shouted out;

'Yeah, what she said, Killua!'

'Why not? The two of you did!'

"That's because we can! But you can't, do you understand me!?"

Staring at her as if she was insane; which she probably was, Killua's eyes widened and his lips parted open as his eyebrow twitched, a small drop of sweat falling down the side of his face.

This girl made no sense to him sometimes.

A loud chuckle escaped Nobunaga's lips and he slowly shook his head as he observed the scene.

'Arguing with a Manipulator is pointless. If it comes to keeping their loved ones safe, they don't listen to what others might have to say about the argument. I thought you knew that kid'

Balling the collar of her shirt in his fist, Killua pulled Valentine close and they were face-to-face, nose to nose and neither of them paid attention to that as they stared one another down.

With wide eyes, Gon looked between the two and began to wonder if he should step in; they would never hurt one another but this argument could possibly go on forever.

If given the chance, Valentine would just keep going.

'We can't escape unless we're prepared to die, you idiot!',Killua yelled,'You don't know what I was thinking! So tell me, who's the selfish one now!?'

As he let go of her shirt, their eyes glistened with emotion as they stared one another down and it was quickly cut off as hearty laughter echoed through the air.

'You two are hilarious, you know that? Are you guys like a couple or something? Because you sure act like it'

Quickly snapping their heads in his direction, their eyes were wide as they stared at the man and Valentine's lips parted as she tried to form a sentence, but nothing came out.

Killua was just as starstruck as she was.

'Listen, I'm not going to hurt you. Just behave yourselves, I know you guys mean business, alright?',Nobunaga stated,'Don't throw your lives away. Sit tight and wait until the Boss gets back. And if you don't strike his fancy, you get to leave, free and clear'

Feeling talons softly dig into her shirt as a weight landed on her shoulder, eyes of gold glanced at the blue hawk out of the corner of her eye before Valentine looked back towards Nobunaga.

'But try to escape and I'll kill you. Make me draw my sword from it's scabbard and you won't survive to talk about it'

Suddenly, Gon's eyes widened and he turned towards the two, a wide smile on his face.

'I remember now! The other one is ostomy!',Gon exclaimed,'Cauterization, autopsy.. and the last one's ostomy!'

Feeling confusion fill their veins, Valentine and Killua glanced towards one another, their eyebrows furrowing.

It took them a moment, but soon, their eyes light up in sync as light gasps left their lips.

'Do you guys remember now?'

'Yeah!',Killua exclaimed,'I just wish I'd thought of it sooner!'

'Right? I can't believe we forgot something so simple!'

Confused as to what they were talking about, Nobunaga tilted his head and let out a small hum.

'Alright'

"Now that, that's all settled"

'Let's go!'

Nodding their heads, the three got into a fighting stance and their auras harshly spiked up.

'Are you serious? You know you're going to die. I'm not nearly skilled or merciful enough to temper my strength to face you'

Pushing forward, the three shot forward and Nobunaga tightly grasped his blade.

'You fools!'

Just before they could reach him, a firm grasp clenched her hand and tugged Valentine along as the three split up, breaking through the wall on either side.

Quickly running down the hallway with their hands tightly clasped together, Killua and Valentine ran as fast as they could and eventually reached a staircase, rushing down it.

"I'm sorry about earlier.. as soon as I heard that you wanted to put yourself in danger just for us to escape and the thought of you possibly dying because of it.. I snapped"

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, Killua's heart raced as their eyes connected and seeing the glistening within them, a small smile twitched at the side of his lips for a moment.

'It's fine, you idiot. If it were you.. I would've done the same thing, so, I'm sorry too'

Shaking off the smile that spread across her lips, Valentine's eyes narrowed as they had more important things at the moment and soon enough, the two heard Gon's voice echoing throughout the building.

'Killua, Valentine! Are you there?'

'Yeah, we're here!',Killua shouted back to him.

'We can beat him, the three of us!'

Knowing that Gon had used that as a distraction to make Nobunaga think that they were preparing to fight him, the two took the chance and Killua's hand tightened around her's as he tugged her along as they met up with Gon, before getting out of the building.

'That idiot!'

'Man, I really wanted to beat that guy up!'

"Are you kidding me, he would've run you through with his sword before you could even blink!",Valentine exclaimed and Zeus chirped loudly in agreement, turning his obsidian gaze towards the green-haired boy.

'Are you sure about that?',Gon questioned.

They all jumped over the fence and grunted slightly as their feet hit the ground, but they didn't stop running; if anything, the three sped up.

'She's right, we only know the basics of Nen',Killua defended,'We wouldn't stand a chance'

Turning towards Gon, the two saw that he was chuckling and they raised their eyebrows.

'You're back to being your old self again! It's my job to be reckless, Valentine's job to scold us if we do anything wrong and it's your job to stay cool and keep the both of us in line!'

With a light derisive snort, Killua turned his head away from Gon and looked towards Valentine, watching as she smiled as Zeus cuddled into her cheek causing a small smile to twitch at the side of his lips.

As Gon patted him on the back, Killua stumbled forward and would've knocked right into Valentine if he hadn't stopped himself.

'Glad I could count on ya, pal!'

'You're being selfish!'

Catching up to Gon, Killua and Valentine wondered what they were going to do now and it was obvious to them all, that they may need Kurapika's help on this one.

And if they were going to fight the Phantom Troupe, then they'd all need to improve their Nen.