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Chapter Text

It was the fifth consecutive date Killua had witnessed in the five days he worked that week. If they were all different couples it wouldn’t have been odd at all—this was Starbucks, dammit, otherwise known as the epicenter of campus interactions. He took the orders of hundreds of students every day he worked.

What was odd about it, though, was the fact that they were all dates with the same guy, just different partners. Killua wouldn’t have thought anything of it if the guy wasn’t already a regular, and if Killua didn’t already get flustered at the very sight of him.

Gon Freecss, better known as the university’s star running back and local heartthrob.

Killua wasn’t one to frequent frat row, by any means, but the few times he went he once witnessed Freecss’ shirtless and screaming at the top of his lungs from the second story balcony of a frat house before leaping into a bouncy house to the tune of every guy and girl on the lawn shouting his name. Killua had been so alarmed, along with every other student on the sidewalk with him, that when Freecss’s head emerged from the bouncy house ball pit, fists in the air, a breath of relief echoed from him to every passing stranger. Freecss’ was, practically, the face of their football team. If he broke a leg over a stupid dare at frat parties, it’d be over for their season.

He also just didn’t want to picture Freecss’ rolling through the Starbucks line in a brace and crutches.

Killua really had no reason to be irked as he pushed out two drinks onto the counter and called out Gon’s name for the order, and a preppy, skinny guy came to get it.

“Thanks,” the guy said, smiling wide with that perfect blonde hair and cute round glasses.

“No problem,” Killua said, frozen in place. He stared after the kid as he went to the bar top in front of the store window where a familiar, black-haired running back sat with his feet perched on the stool spokes. His broad back, that charming, charismatic smile. None of it was fair.

It wasn’t that Gon exuded straightness or anything, but coming to terms with the fact that Freecss’ was bi was enough to send Killua into a spiraling pit of despair. It was easier to convince himself that he didn’t have a shot because of Freecss’ sexuality, but now?

He just didn’t have a shot because he had the social backbone of a squirrel.

Killua slumped as he returned to the cash register. As if my self-confidence wasn’t already down the drain , he mused miserably.

That same day no more than an hour later, Killua could be found slumping in one of the OChem lecture hall seats in the far back of the auditorium. Arms crossed and radiating a brooding, eerie atmosphere—this was precisely how his lab partner Zushi found him.

The kids in their class gave them a wide birth, which left the seat in front of Killua open for the taking. He had his feet kicked up on the seat as Zushi strategically stepped over them as he said, “Is it that guy again?”

“The situation has progressed at an alarming rate,” Killua reported, slumping even further. “And not for the better.”

“Oh no. What happened?” Zushi whispered. There was a constant murmur in the auditorium, both from the echo, and also from the fact that they were in a lecture hall of approximately three hundred students. Those two factors combined made for a noisy start to the class.

Killua glared at the stairs where a familiar blonde TA was hiking up to reach them. The TAs tended to claim the back row of the lecture hall, near the back corner where Killua and Zushi sat, so they had become friendly with their lab TA, Kurapika. It was because they were friendly that Kurapika paused a few steps away, alarmed by the murder written on Killua’s face.

“What happened. It’s not the midterm, is it?” Kurapika said.

“No, I did fine on that,” Killua said, only to shrivel again. If just barely , he thought. No one did ‘fine’ in OChem.

Well, aside from Kurapika.

“It’s the guy from Starbucks,” Zushi said, facing Killua. He put an arm on the back of his chair as Kurapika proceeded to claim the seat behind them and lean over to listen. “I still don’t know his name.”

“Well, we can’t help without a name,” Kurapika said, and Zushi hummed his agreement.

Killua sneered a little. They went to a massive university—largest in the state, actually—so it would have been different if Freecss’ wasn’t such a prevalent character on campus. Killua wished the damn idiot was unknowable because that way, he could make a fool of himself and not have to worry about seeing the guy again. That way, he could tell Kurapika and Zushi, and neither of them would be able to look Freecss’ up and say, “Hey, he’s on the Hunter’s football team!”

“I don’t know his name,” Killua lied, as he always did.

“You literally work at Starbucks,” Zushi insisted. “You literally write his name every day.”

“He’s one of those idiots that changes it every time.”

“He’s lying,” Kurapika said, as they always did. “I’ve never heard a more obvious lie.”

Killua twisted around and slapped Zushi’s arm off of his chair. Zushi recoiled with a pout, rubbing at his arm as Killua flipped Kurapika off and said, “Call me a liar again and I’ll gut you.”

“Yeah, and I’ll gut your grade,” they threatened. They put their hands out with a shrug. “What’s the big deal anyway? You really think I’m gonna know who it is?”

“Yeah, obviously. Otherwise I woulda told you a month ago,” Killua said.

“As if. I know, like, three people,” Kurapika said.

“You’re a TA. You know three hundred people and then some,” he insisted. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t all that sure Kurapika knew who Freecss’ was. Chances were, the star football player wasn’t even in a science-related major.

“Okay, fair,” Kurapika sighed. They leant back in their seat, arms crossed. They pointed a finger at Killua and said, “Still not over it, though.”

“What’s the development, though? I thought he went on a date yesterday, so what happened today?” Zushi said.

Killua put a hand to his forehead and sighed. He dragged his hand over his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see their faces as he said, “He was on a date with a guy this time.”

“You’re kidding. He’s bi? ” Kurapika shrieked. Killua’s entire body seized up and before he could lunge over his seat to punch them, they jumped forward in their seat and threw their arms up. “Right, okay, sorry. Calming down.”

Zushi’s eyes were the size of Mars and then, as the knowledge sunk in, became aligned with Jupiter. “You have a shot , dude! Congrats!”

“As if Killua couldn’t turn a straight man gay,” Kurapika insisted. Killua reached over to slap them upside the head. Kurapika ducked out of the attack to say, “I’m just stating the facts here, all right? Case closed.”

“Case not closed. I’m reopening the case. We’re putting the evidence on the table,” Killua said, laying his hands flat and spreading them out as if straightening a tablecloth. “For all we know, these aren’t even dates . Maybe he’s just… buying coffee for all his friends.”

“Those are dates, dude,” Zushi sighed with a pitiful smile. He shrugged and said, “But you’re right. We can’t keep assuming the guy’s a sleaze.”

“We can and we will,” Kurapika said.

“I thought you were supposed to be the voice of reason here,” Zushi whined.

“This is the only entertainment I get outside of my Friends rerun breaks between studying sessions,” Kurapika said. “Grad school can kiss my ass.”

“And Starbucks guy? He can kiss Killua’s ass,” Zushi said with a wink in Killua’s direction.

Killua glared at him and said, “I don’t know why we’re lab partners.”

Zushi sighed, slumping in his seat. “You know? I don’t know either.”

Class commenced and Killua was both grateful and anxious by the distraction. For one, he wouldn’t have to think about Freecss’ for another hour, but it came at the price of pure, unadulterated torture via carbon compounds and mind-numbing organic chemistry. He riddled his notebook pages with diagrams and numbers and, by the end of lecture, his hand was cramping. When the professor called an end to the lecture, he sat back and stretched his fingers out with a barely concealed groan of contempt as he said, “I’ll be forever grateful to whatever god helps me pass the final. I may even believe in a god if I pass.”

“I’ll believe in agnosticism and nothing else,” Zushi sighed. He snapped his notebook shut and said, “That was a little contradictory, wasn’t it?”

“Not enough to bother me,” Killua said. He rose from his seat and stretched his arms overhead. He folded his arms over his hair and tipped his head towards Zushi. “What’re your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Going to the gym.”

“Gross. I didn’t know you worked out,” Killua said. Personally, he had never set foot in a gym in his entire life and had no plans on doing so.

“I don’t, but my roommate does. We’re meeting up to head back to the dorm for dinner,” he said. They waited at the stairs for Kurapika, but a student passed them on the way to where Kurapika was just putting away their laptop. When Kurapika glanced at them from around the student’s shoulders, Killua raised a hand as if to say, “ Don’t worry about it. We’ll chat later .”

The chaos in the auditorium didn’t die down until they were out of the building and a few paces away from the entrance. The sun was shining, and Killua dared call it a lovely day if his heart wasn’t so heavy in his chest. He was more hopeless than usual that day, which was odd considering the sort of family life he had as a kid. He really should have been used to this feeling.

Killua walked a ways down the sidewalk at Zushi’s side. The sidewalk was flanked by a concrete ledge overlooking the river, and as they went, Killua dragged his fingers across the edge of it.

Zushi cleared his throat. “Hey, you should check out our dining hall tonight. I mean, unless you’ve got something going on.”

“No, nothing planned,” he confessed.

“So… Ren Hall for dinner then?” he asked, and when Killua looked at him, he found Zushi beaming at him. Some days, Zushi was just too bright for him to handle, but on that day, it balanced out the dread dragging Killua’s hopelessly romantic heart down.

Killua managed a soft smile as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

Zushi, quite literally, leapt with excitement. Killua let out a startled laugh, only to scream when Zushi threw himself at Killua before vaulting on the stone ledge beside the sidewalk. Killua staggered to the side, spinning from the weight of his backpack throwing him off-kilter. Zushi cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted at the river, “ YAY, I’M SO EXCITED! ”

Killua yanked on Zushi by the hem of his sweatshirt, hissing, “ Kid! Shut up and get down from there!”

Students on the sidewalk were looking at them—some laughing, some annoyed, but Zushi didn’t care. He ran down the concrete ledge with Killua at his heels before at last jumping down and throwing an arm over Killua’s shoulders. Killua wasn’t all that much taller than Zushi, but the height difference was enough to make the scenario comical.

“You finally get to meet my roommate! I keep telling you—I think you two would get along swimmingly . He’s probably, maybe straight, but I’m sure there’s some merit to what Kurapika’s saying.”

“You’re straight and I haven’t turned you gay,” Killua said.

“I know, and I’m grateful for that,” Zushi said. “You have a heart of gold, truly. I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

“Now you’re just being cheesy,” he said.

“You use your attractiveness for good, not evil.”

“I… wouldn’t say it’s evil, necessarily…” Killua said to avoid acknowledging the compliment. He appreciated the fact that Zushi wasn’t the type of guy to say No Homo and peace out of the conversation.

Zushi thumped him on the chest before backing off with a shrug. “Just saying. He’s single, I’m single, we’re all single. We are just a solo men’s club, the four of us.”

“What four?”

“You, me, my roommate, and Leorio.”

Killua laughed at the mention of his roommate. Leorio Paladiknight, otherwise known as the Resident Dad and Resident Assistant on his floor. The only reason Zushi even knew Leorio was by pure coincidence. Killua and Zushi had been studying in the Hatsu Hall study room when Leorio crashed in with a roar that shot Zushi’s soul straight out of his body and onto the Moon. They really hadn’t talked aside from that one interaction, but Zushi was convinced that Leorio Paladiknight was now a permanent member of the OChem Struggle Squad.

As Killua tried in vain to argue against Leorio’s inclusion in the matter, they crossed the campus in no time. Zushi would have none of it. “That man is the face of a nation. He could probably command the entire dorm swear loyalty to him and they would.”

“The only reason he’d be able to command it is because of that distracting voice of his,” Killua said. “Talking normally is whispering to him. We’re all lucky he doesn’t have a roommate or else we’d hear him blabbering on from down the hall!”

“What’d I tell ya! The guy’s made for big crowds and leading the people.”

“As if he’d run for management, let alone student president. You know he’s only an RA to pay for housing,” Killua said, but he couldn’t deny the fact that every kid on his floor loved Leorio. Leorio didn’t get the title Resident Dad for nothing. He rolled his eyes and said, “Well, the guy could probably put his fist through a wall and everyone would cheer. If that doesn’t scream charisma I don’t know what does.”

“Fascinating.”

“You know, one time, I was half naked, swapping boxers, and this idiot barges into my room saying it’s Smash Bros time because evidently that’s a thing that happens every fucking weekend and I’m over here like, ‘Sounds gay, I’m in,’ but insert me in nothing but a pair of Waluigi boxers—”

“Wait, why Waluigi?”

“Because they’re purple. We’ve been over this, Zushi. Anyway—”

“What about Smash Bros is gay?”

“Zushi, do you not have ears? Listen to me say the name. Listen, listen— Smash. Bros .”

“Sounds gay to me.” The voice certainly wasn’t Zushi.

Zushi shrieked like a school girl and slapped a hand over his mouth. Killua cursed and spun around, only to curse again because he was so close to putting God on the phone and saying, “ I’ll see you in court, bitch.” Killua truly did feel haunted by his past mistakes if this was what Karma served him on a silver platter made of Gon Freecss and his own social incompetence.

It took Killua a solid second to come to terms with the fact that he was within spitting distance of The Man Himself. The Hunter Legend, University Football Star, the one, the only, Gon-fucking-Freecss standing on the steps of the university gym like he was supposed to be there, within Killua’s general vicinity.

Killua said the first thing that came to mind. “Excuse me?” As much as he regretted the sass, he figured he might as well get it out in the open and flush it out of his system. He was determined to make a good impression even if his self-control screamed otherwise.

Freecss’ was just standing there, looking between Killua and Zushi before taking the final few steps down to them. He had a hand hooked on the strap of a gym duffle slung over his solid, stocky shoulder. His eyes were bright and, in the sunlight, a light amber. It was the first time Killua had seen them in person beyond Starbucks lighting. All this time he had thought they were just plain brown.

Not that… there’s anything wrong with plain brown eyes. Evidently I’m more of a hoe for brown eyes anyway , he thought.

His existential crisis lasted all of five seconds before Freecss was talking again and pointing a finger at him. “Oh, hey, barista guy!”

Barista guy? he thought, eyes wide. Fuck, he recognizes me. Shit. Crisis mode initiated once again .

“I, um. Hey—”

The guy pointed a finger to himself and said, smile wide. “Do you remember my name? If you do, I’ll be seriously impressed. I mean, I come in every day but still . That’s gotta mean something.”

“Y-Yeah, Gon,” Killua croaked. All of the heat in his body compressed into the singularity and erupted in his cheeks. It took all of two seconds for his entire face to feel like the high density temperature state just before the Big Bang because by then, Zushi was staring at him and putting two and two together like the stupid, idiotic, ignorant genius he was.

Fuck .

Gon put a hand up with a laugh and said, “ Nice! High-five. What’re you doing with my buddy Zushi?”

“B-Buddy?” Killua stammered,  gingerly touching his hand to Gon’s .

“Oh!” Zushi said, voice cracking. He stepped up beside the two of them and gestured broadly, saying, “Gon, meet Killua. Killua, my roommate Gon, whom… you’ve… already met… at… Starbucks.”

“Does this mean I get discounts now?” Gon said.

“No, I charge interest," Killua said before he could stop himself. He slapped a hand over his mouth and thought, Cool it with the sass, mister! “I-I mean, I’m not allowed to give friends discounts. I barely get a discount on my own drinks as it is.”

“Fuck Starbucks then. Free drinks for all,” Gon said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Solid economic plan. You should run for president,” Killua said, as if his humor wasn’t already as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Gon stared at him and Killua felt like an alien. His brother always said his sarcasm was unseemly and cold, and Killua never thought he’d care until that moment. He willed a god of some kind to smite him dead right then and there, but alas, he still had a court date to attend to.

His heart was beating so fast he thought he might faint.

When Zushi clapped his hands, it sounded more like a nuclear bomb. Both Gon and Killua jumped at the sound and Gon put a hand to his heart and said, “Jesus, I thought a gun went off.”

“No guns here, folks,” Zushi said. He slapped his hands onto Killua’s shoulder and, likewise, Gon’s shoulder. “Killua’s joining us for dinner at Ren Hall.”

“I am?” Killua squeaked. Zushi gave him a pointedly narrow stare, at which point he regretted accepting the offer. “Oh, no, I should probably just… go back to my dorm.”

“Really? Are you a freshmen too, then?” Gon asked.

Killua swallowed hard and tried not to faint. Thankfully, Zushi answered for him. “Yeah, he lives at Hatsu. I go to study with him sometimes.”

“ Oh ! That’s who you sneak off to. All this time I thought it was a girl,” Gon said.

Zushi rolled his eyes. “He’s more into guys, so—”

ZUSHI ! Killua’s brain screamed. He wondered if Zushi could hear it, because a second later, Zushi flinched. Zushi shrieked and Killua realized it was because he was unaware of the fact that he had Zushi by the arm, pinching him relentlessly with an vice-like grip between his thumb and index finger. He held on until Zushi cried uncle.

“I am this close to beating you with a stick,” Killua threatened.

“ Bite me ,” Zushi snapped. Killua took a threatening step towards him. 

“Kinky,” Gon said.

Zushi recovered long enough to slap Gon in the arm and shove him in the direction of Ren Hall. The heat in Killua’s face ruptured in his ears where his heart was already pounding. He put a hand to his hair as he heard Gon ask, “Why do you always go to Hatsu? You’ve never invited him over!” to which Zushi replied, “ This is why I haven’t invited him over!”

“ Me?! ” Gon whined, moaning miserably. “What did I ever do to you?”

Killua hurried after them, pressing the back of his hands to his cheeks to cool them down. It was no use, though. He would never be able to recover. He was certain that in one month’s time, his obituary would declare the cause of death to be humiliation in the face of his ultimate crush. It would have been a relatively swift recovery were it not promptly followed by said crush saying the word ‘ Kinky ’ in front of him.

Gon walked with an arm around Zushi’s shoulders like they were a couple, and Zushi looked as pleased as ever as they walked from the gym to Ren Hall. Ren Hall was the newest dorm facility on campus and therefore, housed the majority of underclassmen athletes. It was close to the gym, had the best dining hall, and the best view of Yorknew’s epicenter: The massive, elegant park.

Yorknew University boasted the best of the university experience as well as the city life. They were amidst the hubbub of the best tourist destinations and on the outskirts of the park. In another life, if Killua wasn’t allergic to sports, he might have been more keen on taking runs through the park to clear his mind.

The Ren dining hall was across the road from the park, and so as the three of them converged on an empty spot, they took the tall table nearest the windows. Killua paused to stare out past the street rails and over the trees. They were up high, overlooking the park, and there was a group of tourists standing at one of the outlook posts taking pictures.

“Makes you think we’re actually special being here,” Killua said to Zushi. He glanced over and Zushi shrugged.

“I don’t know. I think the only reason I got into Ren Hall is because of dumb luck,” he said.

“Dumb luck my ass,” Gon said.

Zushi scowled at Gon and barked back, “You’re literally an athlete. They’re required to give you a room here.”

Gon put his nose in the air and beamed. “And I’m proud of it.”

Zushi huffed with a roll of his eyes. He dismissed himself to get food, and so Killua watched him march off. Zushi made it to the half wall before turning around and putting his thumb up. And then, he winked.

I’ll skin him alive , Killua decided, fists clenched over the back of his seat.

“So have you been to this dining hall before?” Gon asked.

Killua blinked, looking away from where that smug rat disappeared. Gon was watching him, his head tipped to the side like a goddamn puppy. Killua stepped away from the table and Gon followed after him as he said, “No, not really. When I toured they took us through here, but that’s about it.”

“Then I’ll show you around,” Gon said. He reached for Killua, and the next thing he knew, Gon’s hand was on his elbow like they were about to waltz or some shit. Killua’s skin prickled as Gon walked him from one end of the dining hall to the other, naming off the foot spots and dessert plates and, let us not forget, the protein shake bar.

This place really is for athletes, huh? Killua thought as Gon walked away from the counter with a protein shake in hand.

He rejoined Killua and said, “You look like you work out.”

“I— what? ”

“What? That’s not an insult.”

“Excuse me? ”

“I just said it’s not an insult!” Gon cried, and Killua grew flustered the instant he realized that Gon was flustered. Gon removed his hand from where he had it at Killua’s upper back, guiding him along down the salad bar line. He put it in his hair and sighed, “I mean that it looks like you work out. We’ve got, like, the same body shape going on.”

Killua stepped back to stare at him, completely flabbergasted. “What’s that supposed to mean? And no, I don’t work out. I don’t think I’ve ever worked out aside from running to catch the bus.”

Gon’s eyes brightened as he gasped, “You’re serious? Dude, I would be down to show you around the gym some time. I’ve been looking for a gym buddy but all the guys on the team are absolute bulldozers. We don’t run on the same wavelength, if you know what I mean.”

Killua’s heart was shot. He was certain it wasn’t even moving anymore and at this rate, his obituary would be printed in a week’s time rather than a month. “No, I really don’t.”

“I mean, I work out every day but it’s no fun when your gym buddy’s on the other side of the gym doing a completely different thing because they’ve got a different regimen. I could just put you on my regimen and we’d, like, build you up from the ground up. You’ll be ripped by the end of the semester.”

“The end of the semester is in forty-three days,” Killua deadpanned. Gon’s excitement paused to consider the specificity of Killua’s answer. “I keep track. And I eat too much whip cream for working out to make a difference. At that point I’ll just be cancelling out my sugar intake in a day.”

“I—Wait, how much sugar do you eat?”

“Dude, I work at Starbucks, in case you forgot.”

“I didn’t forget,” Gon said. Before Killua could read into that and twist it into something it absolutely wasn’t—Midnight Killua would get to reel over it later that night—Gon added, “Come on, it’ll be fun! I’ll give you my number, you can text me your schedule, and we’ll work something out.”

Gon punctuated the end of the discussion by dropping an empty plate into Killua’s hands. Killua stared at him and managed a shrill, “O-Okay,” because really, he couldn’t breathe for shit.  

Chapter Text

Killua dropped his forehead on the note table attached to his lecture hall seat. An entire two days had passed and Killua was back in OChem with a Freecss Complex the size of Canada. He really couldn’t fathom a reality in which Wednesday was real, and that he, Killua Zoldyck, agreed to become “Gym Buddies” with Yorknew’s star running back.

As if he could even keep up with a Yorknew University athlete . Yorknew was a nationally accredited Division I university with the stats to prove their worth. Their athletes were the best in the game, and the fact that they were known to put exclusively seniors on the field made Freecss’ all the more of a celebrity. A freshmen on the team holding his own against massive, beefy, hulking biceps and thighs. The lead quarterback, Knuckle Bine, had a pair of thighs that caused earthquakes in San Francisco and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean.

And Killua certainly didn’t know this because he had fantasized about having his head annihilated by them.

Just as Killua brought his head up to hit against the desk for a third time, someone’s knuckle rapped on the surface. Killua stared vacantly at closed notebook. Out of the corner of his eye, Zushi leant over into his vision.

“Hey… big guy… how’re you holdin’ up?” Zushi said as he took his seat. He sat on the edge of it, though, all of his attention and energy seeping into Killua’s direction like the tendrils of a vicious beast, grinning smugly at him from the shadows.

He glowered at Zushi.

Zushi (bless his heart) offered an almost-pitiful grimace as he nodded in “understanding” and said, “That bad, huh?”

“I haven’t slept in two days,” Killua said. It was an exaggeration, but it was a direct reference to how he felt as a human being, existing in a bag of flesh, at that very moment.

Zushi gestured to his eyes and said, “I can… I can tell. You’ve got, uh, bags under your eyes today.”

“It’s my immune system rejecting this situation,” Killua said, slumping back in his seat. He put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and sighed. “He’s your roommate.”

“We would have known this sooner had you just told me his name— ” Zushi said.

Just past Zushi, Killua caught sight of Kurapika climbing the stairs. Once again, Kurapika stopped at the sight of them, and then at what they had managed to overhear from the situation. Kurapika hurried over, backpack swinging off of their shoulders and onto the floor behind Killua’s chair.

“What happened? Why does Killua look like death incarnate?” Kurapika demanded.

Zushi cleared his throat as he prepared for the delivery of the best punchline of Killua’s joke of a life. “Mystery Starbucks guy?”

“Yeah?”

“My roommate.”

Kurapika fell back into their seat. They stared at Zushi, completely stunned. They put a hand to their heart and said, “You’ve done it. You’ve officially killed me.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Killua huffed. “I’ve been dead for two days. This is just my ghost talking.”

Kurapika leant forward to hiss, “Your roommate’s Gon Freecss . As in, thee guy . The Guy who made the field as a freshmen. Didn’t he get, like, a full-ride scholarship to Ohio State?”

Zushi nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Uh-huh, that’s the guy. That is thee guy that sleeps three feet away from me every night.”

“Wow,” Kurapika said.

“I hate everything about this,” Killua droned. “Kill me now or forever hold your knives, fellas, because I might just beat you to the chase.”

“Well, you will if you stay awake any longer. Have you even been eating? Look at your face,” Zushi said. He straightened with a gasp, snapping his fingers as he said, “Gon said you gotta eat carbs today. Like, a fuck ton of them. Like, grab yourself some Noods after this ‘cause it all starts tomorrow.”

“What starts tomorrow?” Kurapika asked. “Also, I never understood why everyone calls Noodles & Company ‘Noods’.”

“Because it’s cool? I don’t know,” Zushi said. “But our boy Killua has a date with destiny. And by destiny I mean the gym. Gon has pledged to make Killua ripped by Christmas so he can take on Jesus in a fisticuffs battle of the century.”

“Wow,” Kurapika breathed, shaking their head in disbelief.

“My arms are the size of twigs,” Killua whispered, barely holding himself up against the armrest. He looked to Zushi, eyes bleary with sleep. “Does cool whip count as carbs?”

Class went on, and once again, Killua was effectively distracted enough not to think about his eminent downfall set to commence in less than twenty-four hours. His phone weighed heavily in his pocket with all of four texts he had shared with Gon Freecss over the topic of their schedules and how incredibly well they crashed. Still, they would make it work (somehow, if Killua’s lack of self-control had anything to say about it).

Freecss ran on a different clock. His days rotated between classes, practice, meals, and personal gym time. It was a religious schedule that, when Killua took a closer look at, now existed in his very hands. He had Gon’s entire life in his fingertips, and he wondered how much it would sell for on the Yorknew University Black Market. How many girls would tear his innards out just to get their hands on Freecss’ class schedule like this? The guy had even included the room numbers . If Killua wanted, he could sit in the window of every lecture hall just to stare at Gon .

Which he seriously… wasn’t considering doing. It was just a vague, hardly defined visual in his head.

Killua shook his head as class ended. No, definitely not thinking about that .

Killua had made sure to block out time on his calendar for studying and schoolwork, which left far less time on his clock than he initially thought. He supposed it made sense. When he wasn’t at school, studying, or eating Ben and Jerry’s, he was at Starbucks. It made his nights long but manageable, and it certainly diminished the cost of classes.

But that just meant his early morning Starbucks shifts were all the more difficult to get up for. However, Gon’s name was slotted in bold immediately after, just before Calculus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And, on every other weekday, Gon Freecss slipped in immediately after OChem with the promise of dinner at Ren Hall immediately after.

Zushi walked with Killua to Noods, where they stood in line and determined the cheapest option on the menu. They sat at a booth as they waited for their togo bags, and Killua propped his chin on his hand and sighed. Zushi smiled from across the table and asked, “So I take it you don’t come from a rich and famous family with a limitless credit card.”

“Nah, I do,” Killua said, so deadpanned that Zushi’s fond smile faltered. Zushi raised an eyebrow at him and Killua sighed, “Disowned.”

“Wait, are you serious? Shit, I was just kidding—”

“Nah,” Killua said, eyes traveling across the line of costumers before landing sharply on Zushi to say, “I’m serious.”

“Wha—? How?”

Killua shrugged and, by some stroke of luck, his order was called. He didn’t mind talking about his family, really, but he’d never talked about it before. Before Zushi, Killua was socially brain-dead. He thought he’d pulled the plug on hopes of an average teenage life, and what with his shit schedule (as Freecss now knew as “lame”) he didn’t expect to have a social life.

As Zushi got his meal, Killua popped open the top of his togo container and walked out to the front of the building. He waited on the sidewalk as Zushi jogged up to him and said, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I mean, that’s gotta be rough.”

“They’re assholes anyway,” Killua said, mouth full of noodles and oh-so-yummy spicy pasta sauce. He waved his fork idly as he said, “I just don’t know what to say about ‘em, you know? It’s like… so many kids here wish they had a family to pay for it all. I have one, but it’s just not in my moral code.”

“What code?” Zushi scoffed.

“Precisely,” Killua said. “You’d think it’s all just common sense shit. ‘Be good, do good,’ that sort of thing. My family—they aren’t like that.”

Zushi hummed, lips pursed. He swallowed down his noodles before shaking his head and saying, “Nah, I really don’t get it. What are they, in the mafia or something?”

“Worse. They’re lawyers,” he said. “I originally came here enrolled in Yorknew Law.”

“Shut the fuck up. You were not.”

Killua grinned, a cheeky smile on his lips as Zushi went on to stare at him in awe. Yorknew Law was the most difficult college at Yorknew University to get into. They had an acceptance rate of 12%, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, every member of the Zoldyck line who went to college attended the same exact college. Killua was a fourth generation alumni, and his family was beyond pissed that he switched colleges after his freshmen year tuition was settled and signed off.

They were at the gym doors then, and before Zushi could inquire further, Freecss’ was pushing open the door for them from where he was waiting at the windows. Zushi held up his pasta for Gon to see, as if to say, “ I’ve done your bidding .”

Gon smiled at them and said, “Nice Noods. Can I have some?”

Killua almost dropped his Noods all over the floor. On some faraway plane of existence, there lived a Killua who had been asked for nudes by Gon Freecss, and somehow, he had been dealt the wrong plane of existence.

Instead, he was just inquiring about pasta.

“It’s just mac and cheese, you nerd,” Zushi said. “Killua got something exciting. You should try his.”

“It’s spicy,” Killua blurted out before Gon even made eye contact.

Gon glanced down at the bowl of pasta in Killua’s hands as he held open the second door. It wasn’t fair, truly, for Gon to be able to lean against the door like that and say, “I have a good tolerance for spice.”

Killua held the pasta out like a sacrificial offering and Gon, one ‘D’ away from God, took the fork between his fingers. Killua transcended. He wondered if there’d be Renaissance-styled paintings, some day, of this interaction.

Killua swallowed hard as Gon put every tong of that goddamn fork in his mouth and pulled the noodle off with his teeth.

“Tasty,” he said.

“Fuck,” Killua said.

“What?” Zushi said.

Gon stuck the fork back onto the plate and walked on. Killua realized then that the choir of angels was just in his head, and it faded fast. He hurried to keep up. “I’ll show you around the gym, but I have to say, I don’t believe a word you said about never having set foot in here,” Gon said, glancing sparingly at Killua.

“I’ve never set foot in a gym. I swear on my life,” Killua said.

“We’re already changing the world then since you’re here standing in a gym,” Gon said.

“Yeah, and you didn’t burst into flames like a demon stepping foot into a church, so I’ll give you points for that,” Zushi said.

Killua rolled his eyes. There was a checkpoint just before the gym area that required their student cards. Gon went first, then Zushi, and then Killua. Killua slotted his card up with the sensor, only to have it blare angrily at him. He threw his arms up and said, “Well, nice knowing you guys. I’m just gonna leave now—”

He barely turned around before Gon was grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him back. He plucked Killua’s card out of his hand, and Killua told himself that it was only possible because Killua was distracted and holding a bowl of Noods. “You have to give it a second,” Gon told him, shaking the card in his direction.

He leant over the machine and put Killua’s card back down. He held it still for a solid second before the green light blinked on, and the half-door opened. Gon stuck the card back into Killua’s grasp and gave his hand a pat.

As if the heat in Killua’s cheeks wasn’t already intolerable.

Gon led the way to the stairwell that could, potentially, fit the width of a bulldozer. It was so goddamn wide, Killua wondered what the purpose of such a stairwell was . Killua stood at the landing just before the gym basement, realizing that an entire ten Killuas could stand shoulder-to-shoulder and still have room for more on the stairwell.

Gon and Zushi were already at the end of the stairwell by the time Killua’s focus returned. He hurried down, shoveling Noods in his mouth so that he could just be done with the bowl sooner rather than later. He didn’t want to walk through the entire gym eating .

The basement appeared to be some sort of free weight room. There was a wall of mirrors like this was a ballet class and Killua came severely underprepared. When Gon walked through, Killua wasn’t all that surprised to see that everyone seemed to know who Gon was. There had to be about six guys in the basement that day and every last one of them waved to Gon. They passed a burly looking fella with familiar-looking biceps.

Killua’s palms grew clammy. He chucked his Noods in the nearest trash bin as if it was evidence. Zushi snickered at him from where he stood near Gon as the guy clasped onto Knuckle Bine’s hand and reeled him in for a bro hug .

“Hey man, what’s goin’ on?” Knuckle said, and, as they pulled away, he gave Gon a fond pat on the cheek and sort of caressed his ear. It was weirdly intimate for two bros at a gym.

Is this another dimension? Am I dreaming? Killua thought, because not only that, but Knuckle, Hunter quarterback, was shirtless .

“Christ, your jersey doesn’t do you justice,” Killua said, out loud.

He slapped his hand over his mouth when both Knuckle and Gon turned to look at him. Zushi let out a startled laugh.

Knuckle took a confident step away from Gon and gestured to his defined six-pack. Killua stared at it, his mouth watering. “It’s good, huh?” he said before perching his hands on his hips. He thought better of it, though, and turned with a Greek sculpture pose to show off his biceps like he was about to throw discus. “You like?”

“I thought showing off was my job,” Gon whined.

Knuckle turned his back on them, flexing his biceps. The muscles in his back visibly rippled and God , Killua didn’t know that was possible. He shivered and clasped his fist against his mouth as he nodded and said, “Yes, good. Very good.”

“I hope you realize that all guys go to the gym just to glean compliments off of unsuspecting women,” Zushi said.

“Damn straight,” Knuckle said, pinning Zushi with a wink as he turned back around. He clapped Gon on the back, and Killua realized that he had been entirely too distracted by all of the exposed muscles that he hadn’t realized Gon’s eyes were on him. Gon startled, looking up at his teammate as Knuckle said, “You got Coach’s email?”

“Yeah, meeting at seven. Got it,” Gon said with a firm nod.

“Perfect. Well, I’ll leave you all to it. Nice to see you again, Zushi. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow, huh?”

“Yes, I’ll definitely be there,” Zushi said. As Knuckle walked off, Killua raised an eyebrow at his lab partner. Zushi blinked at him and said, “What?”

Killua laughed and shook his head. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

As they walked down the length of mirrors, Killua found himself staring after Knuckle Bine. Killua saw photos of him all over his social media—from media coverage of the latest game to the feeds of his friends posting pictures of him being a general goofball. Knuckle had a plethora of photos—an entire portfolio, really—of pictures of him kissing the cheeks of every football player on the team.

They left the free weight room to an empty, industrial corridor where their footsteps echoed and Killua’s voice amplified despite his intentions of being quiet. “There’s a home game tomorrow, isn’t there?”

Zushi turned around with his arms out, beaming wide. “Yup! Which means frat row is the place to be!”

Killua rolled his eyes. Truthfully, he never once set foot in a frat house. Yorknew was a massive campus in the middle of a massive city—in order to get in to a frat party, Killua would have to get his name on the party list. The only way to do that, unfortunately, would be to socialize with fraternity brothers. Girls tended to get priority on the lists, anyway, so Killua’s shot at getting on any lists depended on if he made friends with people who had access to them.

“Never pegged you as a party person,” he confessed, walking up beside Zushi.

“I’m not, but Knuckle invited me,” he explained. “I’m sure it was a joke but then I got invited to the Facebook event so…”

“I invite you to all of the post-game parties,” Gon argued, stopping in front of the locker room. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Zushi, who giggled and rubbed the back of his head. Gon pointed to Zushi and looked at Killua to say, “Usually he’s at Hatsu.”

“Yeah, we watch the games together and study during commercials,” Killua said.

Gon blinked at him, hand lowering. “You… watch football?”

“My family’s always had season tickets to the Hunters,” he said. “Perks of being alumni, or whatever.”

“You never finished telling me about them,” Zushi said. He turned to Gon to say, “Killua got into Yorknew Law. This was news to me. Breaking news, like, two minutes before we got here.”

“Looks and brains,” Gon said with a grin. “So you’re gonna be a lawyer or something?”

Looks AND brains .

The words echoed in Killua’s head on repeat into eternity.

“Y-Yeah. I mean, fuck no. No way,” Killua said in a panic, shaking his head. “My family’s a bunch of cutthroat criminal justice lawyers. I passed the entrance exam just to get them to pay for my first semester and then I switched colleges.”

Zushi put an arm around his shoulder and tipped their heads together. “And now we’re both premed. Fascinating, right? Picture us as doctors .”

“Sounds hot,” Gon said. “Unfortunate I’ll have to wait eight fucking years to get a checkup.”

Zushi snorted and shoved Gon into the locker room. Gon swatted him away with a goodnatured smile on his face as he swept into the room with a valiant gesture. As Gon introduced them to the men’s locker room, Killua’s mind imploded into a blackhole.

Somehow, Killua survived the tour. After grabbing his things from the locker, Gon took them through the three floors of the gym. The top floor supported an entire track that circled the circumference of the complex, looking over the second floor lined with machinery Killua never bothered to remember the names of. Everything come out of Gon’s mouth just sounded like, “ Looks AND brains. Sounds hot. Tasty. ”

When they rounded back to the front of the gym, Gon held up his phone where the clock ticked to six thirty in the evening. “I’ve got a meeting to get to, but I’ll see you , Zushi, tonight. And Killua—I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Zushi said.

Gon threw his arms out then and, as seemed to be the custom, Zushi reached out for a hug. Gon folded his arms over Zushi’s narrow shoulders and rocked him back and forth for a solidly executed hug, saying, “I’ll miss you dearly, my dear, sweet Zushi Roll.”

“Until tonight, my love,” Zushi said.

Killua put a hand to his forehead and briefly wondered if he was hallucinating, but the image of Gon turning towards him with his arms out had him reconsidering reality instead.

In a panic, Killua blurted out, “I don’t hug.”

Gon dropped one arm then, still extending the other. “Handshake, then.”

Killua put out a hand. He didn’t prepare his body for the absolute force Gon put behind the hand he slapped into Killua’s palm, like he was trying to break his wrist or something. Killua’s arm turned into a noodle that wobbled when Gon gave it a firm shake.

And then, Gon was off.

“Zushi Roll,” Killua whispered.

“Yeah?”

“He calls you Zushi Roll . Why the hell haven’t I thought of that yet?” Killua cried, throwing his arms up. “And what was with that 1940s-esque romantic drama shit I just witnessed with my own two, bleeding eyes?”

They started on their route to Hatsu Hall and, considering the fact that Zushi didn’t take the turn for Ren, Killua figured studying was in their itinerary that night. Zushi shrugged, thumbs hooked under the straps of his backpack. “I don’t know. What I do know is that you totally wanted to hug him, but you didn’t follow through, which I just don’t understand.”

Killua slapped a hand on his forehead and moaned, “I panicked.”

“Eh, it’s probably for the better, anyway,” Zushi sighed. He scuffed a foot on the brick walkway as Killua turned to look at him. “I mean, Gon’s kind of a serial monogamist.”

“A what? ” Killua snorted.

“Serial monogamist. I don’t know what else to call it,” Zushi said. When Killua continued to stare, Zushi rolled his eyes and said, “I think Gon’s addicted to Tinder. Since the start of the semester, he’s had three semi-serious relationships and a whole host of dates—I gathered the second part after putting two and two together with you… you know… serving coffee to all of his dates.”

“Classes have only been in session for three months.”

“I know! So I’m just saying that… if you’re looking for something steady…” Zushi started, awkwardly, grimacing as if in pain. Killua’s eyebrows rose even higher as Zushi floundered with his hands and said, “Then I don’t think Gon’s your guy.”

Killua laughed and said, “Right, well, Freecss can do whatever the hell he wants. The guy probably gets enough ass to make me concerned about testing positive, if you know what I mean.”

Gon Freecss was a football player . Weren’t they notorious for that sort of thing anyway? When he wrote Gon’s name on receipts and stuck them to Gon’s coffee cups, he supposed he thought about it. Fantasized about it, even. Killua wasn’t even looking for something steady. Despite what his schedule suggested, he wasn’t exactly set in stone or “ dating material ”.

But he spent so long wondering about what the hell made Freecss so undeniably charming. Would he be able to let go if it ever came to that point?

Killua shook his head.

“On the topic of fraternity cesspools,” he said, drawing Zushi’s attention back, “are you really going to a frat party?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Have you ever even been to one?”

“No. Why, do you wanna go? I bet I could get your name on the list.”

“I—” Yes , he wanted to say. The last serious party he attended was at the whim of his eldest brother. He had visited for a weekend and, somehow, wound up at a house party with his brother’s graduating friends. He came for a calm weekend spent in the Yorknew University library while Illumi would study and Killua would prep for exams at high school. Instead, he spent the weekend getting hammered and regretting it.

It made him hesitant to ever attend another party again.

“Maybe,” he said.

“Well, I’ll have Gon put your name on the list and then if you don’t show, you don’t show. It’s no big deal,” Zushi said. They walked a ways in silence before Zushi said, “But I’m serious, about you and Gon. I just don’t want—”

“Yeah, I know. We’ve kind of had this coming anyway. We’ve just been romanticizing it in OChem,” Killua said, more for himself than for Zushi’s sake.

Just last week Zushi and Kurapika were naming Killua and Starbucks' Guy’s children while Killua argued that having children was the most basic form of inhumane torture. It was a torture device as old as time and yet it kept happening .

It didn’t stop Zushi and Kurapika from gushing over the name Macchiato for a girl, to which Kurapika had said, “Nickname: Macchi,” which spurred Killua to say, “Sounds too Machiavellian.”

Zushi smiled softly as Killua swiped his card at the Hatsu building entrance. As Killua held open the door for him, Zushi said, “Well, for what it’s worth: You’ll have a lot of fun working out with him.”

Killua let out a dry laugh. He dragged his feet after Zushi as he said, “Uh, yeah, I’m sure you’re speaking for my hormones. The rest of me is already combusting into flames just thinking about it.”

Chapter Text

It was easier to wake up Saturday morning for his early shift than expected. In fact, he was on his feet after the first alarm on his phone.

Killua rubbed the side of his bedhead with a yawn and, stretching his legs out in front of him, plopped his feet on the carpet in his dorm room. A pro to having a ridiculously wealthy family intent on paying for his law school meant that he also had the luxury of a single room dorm. With no one to bother him and no one to worry about but himself, Killua prepared for work.

He stood in front of the shared restroom mirror, brushing his teeth. The bathrooms were always silent on Saturday mornings. With everyone either hungover or trying desperately to sleep in before the dining room opened, Killua had the entire restroom to himself. He bent over the sink and spat out bubblegum flavored foam.

When he straightened up, he stared at himself in the mirror. He flattened his hand over his bedhead, where it was oh-so obvious in the trimmed hair on the sides of his head. When he pulled his hands off, those bleach-blonde strands stood up on end once again.

Do I really want to shower just to fix my bedhead? he wondered, tugging on the messy, crazy strands on the top of his head. He thought of Freecss, which immediately pissed him off. As if he’d shower for a guy . They were going to be working out, so showering how was just an extra step in his day.

It’d only take two minutes … he thought.

He took the shower and, less than an hour later, he was already grateful for it.

Killua opened that day which meant prepping the counter space, filling the coffee machine with fresh grounds, and brushing up the espresso machines. By the time all that was taken care of, his coworkers were in and he left to drag the locked gate away from the store entrance. He crossed the tiled flooring, turned the corner away from the back room door, and stopped at the sight of someone glaringly familiar standing outside of the gate, eyes on his phone, distracted.

Killua skidded to a stop a few paces away. He was used to customers waiting outside of the gate on weekdays, but Saturday?

“What’re you doing here, Freecss?” Killua said, resuming his pace. Maybe if he acted normal, he’d be normal for once.

Gon looked up from his phone. The instant he locked eyes with Killua, he smiled. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, though, which remained slack and tired. “I have a lot of homework to finish before the game. I didn’t want to bother Zushi Roll so I figured I’d come here.”

“Ah,” Killua said, articulate as ever.

He went to the wall where the gate locked in. He stuck the key in and turned it, walking it around the arched café space where it looped out into the student common area. He passed Gon on his way. Gon was watching him, his bright eyes diluted with exhaustion. Killua came close to snapping his fingers at Gon and telling him to head back to his dorm to sleep for another hour because Christ , if Gon didn’t look two seconds away from passing out or what .

It was the earliest Killua had seen Gon. Most days, Gon came in almost religiously around nine in the morning, never sooner, sometimes later. Killua always assumed that nine in the morning was Gon’s first taste of caffeine, but he was starting to think that Gon stopped by Starbucks for an extra shot.

When Killua returned to the cash register, Gon seemed to be waiting for other waiting customers to filter past before Killua claimed the second register. Gon was the first in his line.

Gon took his wallet out and said, “Traditional espresso macchiato, please. For here.”

Killua plucked a small ceramic cup up and said, “What happened to your triple shot latte?”

Gon tipped his head to the side with a sweet smile and said, “You remembered. I can’t stand dairy this early in the morning.”

“Ah, so an aficionado by morning, basic bitch just in time for brunch.” Killua wanted to strangle himself for saying that out loud, but thankfully, Gon found it amusing.

Gon laughed and said, “Yeah, kind of. So hit me with it, what do I owe?”

Killua read the price out and took the cash from Gon’s hand. He punched in the numbers, swapped the cash out, and handed Gon the change. Gon went to take a seat at the far end of the counter where a group of three bar stools were. He claimed one and set up his homework station in time to slot his macchiato dish in the last remaining open spot.

“Thank you,” he said. Killua put a hand on his hip as Gon took a delighted sip and hummed in content. “This is just what I needed. I usually grab something from the dining hall in the mornings.”

“Consequences of waking up early,” Killua said. He nodded to the open notebook beside Gon’s laptop and said, “What’re you working on?”

Gon slumped with a groan and said, “University writing paper. I came in with next to no credits so I have to take all of the gen eds this year.”

“Sucks.”

“I wish I was as brilliant as you . Then I wouldn’t have to suffer through this shit,” Gon said, swiping up the book beside his computer for Killua to see. He slapped it down on the counter with a laugh.

Killua’s cheeks became inflamed. He really needed to get his blush under control. “You don’t know that I’m brilliant.”

“Oh, right, Mr. I-Turned-Down-Yorknew-Law,” Gon teased.

Killua rolled his eyes. “That’s different. If you’re motivated to get something done, then… it isn’t hard at all.”

“Says you ,” Gon said through a laugh, leaning over the counter to say it.

There were customers to attend to, though, so Killua went back to work and Gon returned to the book at hand. When the morning rush slowed down and the clock ticked closer to seven, Killua returned to the far end of the counter. He knew he’d be a distraction—at least, he hoped he was worthy enough to be. The initial anxiety of being completely ignored vanished, however, when Gon looked up from his computer with a look of relief. His macchiato cup was empty, and the dimness in his eyes had completely vanished now that the sun was up and the caffeine was absorbed into his bloodstream.

Gon beamed widely at him and said, “Hey! How’s it going?”

Killua startled a little, a hand on his chest. “Since when were you awake? I leave and come back and you’re a new person.”

“The proper amount of espresso will do that to a person,” Gon said. He tipped his head to the side with a shrug. “And also excellent company.”

Killua scoffed and muttered, “Don’t be ridiculous,” and walked away. He went to fill an order that his coworker put atop the espresso machine, but the moment he picked up the cup, he glanced back at Gon, who had his chin perched on his hand, a soft smile on his lips. The idiot even went so far as to wave at Killua , like this was some cheesy romcom.

“Idiot,” Killua whispered to himself as he pulled a shot of espresso grounds and locked it into the machine with enough force to knock a man unconscious. More than once he thought about an ideal apocalypse weapon and for him, it’d probably be an espresso filter.

The morning went on and, at the end of Killua’s shift at ten, he made one last drink for Gon—a triple shot latte. When he emerged from the back room with his backpack, Gon had his things packed up and ready to go, sipping idly at his latte with a pleased look on his soft face.

Gon leapt from his stool and led the way out of the building. When he held the door open for Killua, he swept his hand in a broad gesture, leading him forward. Killua didn’t expect him to pull the same maneuver he did at the dining hall, but there was Gon, with his hand hovering against his upper back as they walked.

Gon clasped his hand on Killua’s opposite shoulder suddenly. Killua jumped at the abrupt, aggressive contact and barely managed to recover as Gon said, “So, I figured today was a good day to start you off because it’s a game day for me, which means I can’t go ham even if I wanted to. Coach Mackernasey would have my hide if I was too sore to play at my best.”

Killua swayed against Gon’s side, fully aware of the fact that they were the same height which meant that Killua’s hand was literally inches from Gon’s ass. At this rate, Killua would need blood pressure medication, or maybe a healthy dose of edibles, just to calm down and shut up.

Unfortunately, his doctor never prescribed anything to shut him up (much to his brother’s disappointment).

“There are other ways to get sore outside of working out,” Killua said with a roll of his eyes. He’d go to Hell for this, he was sure of it, and it was almost worth it when he saw the look on Gon’s face. Killua put a hand to his face and said, “Please ignore me.”

“Was that a sexual joke?! ” Gon screamed.

Killua hissed at him to pipe down. It may have been the weekend, but on game days, students were up and about, decked out in Hunter green. People looked at them oddly, wearing their hardly-ironic hunting camouflage suspenders as Gon screamed, “I can’t believe it!”

“I said forget it ,” Killua seethed, ducking out of Gon’s grasp. “We’re ignoring it. It didn’t happen.”

“Talk dirty to me again, please, I beg you,” Gon prompted, teasingly. He pranced after Killua, who was now half-jogging out of the public eye, face red with horrible embarrassment.

Gon chased Killua through the doors of the gym. By then, the gym was just barely opening, and given the weekend and the game, the place was practically empty. Killua knew, as he scanned his card and jogged to the monstrous stairs, that Gon could catch up to him in a breeze if he so choose. Freecss was a running back , for Chrissake, and a good one at that. His sprint could overtake Killua in a second, easy.

Killua spun around the railing and soared down to the basement. He landed on two feet and turned like a gymnast, hands in the air. He didn’t expect Gon to lunge straight at him, though, which put him in the interesting predicament of hugging Gon .

Gon gave him a fond pat on the head and pulled back, holding Killua by the shoulders. Killua swayed, dizzy, as Gon said, “I don’t know why Zushi Roll never introduced us before. Had I known his lab partner had a habit of making sexual jokes, I would have pestered him more about it.”

I really only make sexual jokes when I’m around you , he almost said, but his filter was coming back out of sheer survival instincts.

“Considering that’s the exact reason Zushi said he never wanted to introduce you to me…” Killua started as he brushed Gon’s hands off. He turned on his heels and swept his arms out towards the room and the locker room ahead. “So… what’s the plan?”

“Yoga,” Gon said.

Killua laughed. “Come on, I’m serious. What’re we doing? You gonna teach me how to use the machines upstairs or…?” He glanced over his shoulder, and Gon’s expression didn’t change. Gon was serious. “I have the balance of a newly born giraffe, man.”

“All the more reason to practice,” Gon said.

“If I stand on a bus it’s almost a guarantee that I’ll tip off,” he insisted.

“It means your core needs work! Come on, trust me, it’ll be good for you.”

Killua stared at Gon as the guy walked past him and beat him to the locker room. Killua sighed. All the previous night he had reassured himself that he couldn’t look that stupid on a treadmill or an elliptical… lifting weights, or whatever… But yoga was another story. He couldn’t prepare for the humiliation that would befall him as soon as he set foot on a yoga mat.

There was a yoga class that was due to end just before Gon would have to leave for the game. When they set foot in the second floor room, Killua’s anxiety skyrocketed, only to take an immediate nosedive. There were other people in the room. It wouldn’t just be the two of them.

Gon fetched them mats like he’d done this a dozen times before. He probably had, but the image of the entire Hunter football team doing yoga was almost too much for Killua to handle. He couldn’t fathom Knuckle Bine or linebacker Uvogin doing downward-facing dog or warrior I.

Killua scoffed a little, smiling despite himself when a mat dropped to the ground in front of him and rolled to his feet. He ducked down to flatten it out as Gon rolled his mat out parallel to his own, just a few feet away.

“What’re you laughing at?” Gon said.

“Just thinking about other football players doing this. Doing yoga,” he explained as he took a seat. Gon wasn’t wearing his shoes or socks, so Killua did away with his own and put them at the end of the mat.

Gon took a sip of water from his water bottle before asking, “Like who specifically?”

Killua folded his arms around his knees and hummed. “Specifically… Knuckle Bine and Uvogin.”

Gon smiled and cursed a little, turning away. Killua raised an eyebrow at him and asked what that was about. Gon set his water bottle aside. “I seriously had my doubts that you knew a thing about our team. Does that mean you knew who I was before Zushi Roll introduced us?”

Killua clamped his mouth shut. As if he’d admit to knowing almost all sixty Hunter teammates by name. The freshmen were a little more difficult for him to keep track of, as there were always kids that dropped and kids on the waitlist being put on the roster.

The yoga instructor saved him from having to answer.

The session commenced in tandem with Killua’s ineptitude. He could understand where Gon came from—they were the same height, same build, but Killua looked more like a malnourished, pre-pubescent version of Gon. His limbs felt gangly and even more clumsy on the yoga mat, but he had nothing but praise for his usual posture. Killua sat and walked like an athlete—like his muscles were too big for his body, shoulders back, room to move around. He always thought guys who walked with that level of confidence were douches, but alas, there he was, faking it until he made it.

He wore narrow sweatpants that day after work, when he had the chance to change in the locker room. They worked nicely for yoga, as they were worn in hand-me-downs from Illumi. They were soft, cozy, and comfortable.

The yoga class was mainly comprised of women and one guy who was very obviously as straight as a circle. Killua glanced over all of them when he wasn’t focusing all of his energy into the one foot he had posted on the ground, the other flat against his inner thigh. He glanced over at Gon, who lifted his eyes from where he had been… checking Killua out?

“Your balance is fine, I don’t know why you were complaining,” Gon said.

Killua center of balance flew out from under him. He wavered to the side and, arms swinging, came to a stop with both feet on the ground. Gon laughed at him.

At the end of the session, they were instructed to lie on the ground. Killua felt weird and uncomfortable closing his eyes for so long in a room full of strangers. It was even weirder when the instructor stopped at every one of their mats to give them a gentle neck massage with the most powerful smelling substance on the planet. Killua’s nose hairs were incinerated that day, and the smell followed him out of the room. The lotion dried icy cold—menthol, probably.

He rubbed a hand against his neck and held his fingers out to see if the substance was visible. It wasn’t.

They were interrupted by a girl reaching out for Gon’s shoulder. She was a cute, blonde-haired freshmen with dimples that punctuated her smile as she said, “Good luck today, Gon.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna do great!” her friend said.

“Thanks, guys,” Gon said, beaming. He pat their shoulders as they passed him out into the hallway. He crossed his arms and turned a proud smile onto Killua, who gave him a flat stare. “What?”

“You’re ridiculous, that’s all,” Killua said.

They went to the locker room in the basement where Gon fetched his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. His shoes were back on, and the half-finished latte in his locker was now cold, but he chugged it all without a second thought.

“Heathen,” Killua said. “You’re supposed to drink it warm .”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Gon said, chucking the empty cup in the bin. “I gotta skedaddle. No training tomorrow morning ‘cause I’ll be hungover as fuck , but I might try to hit the gym tomorrow night if you’re down.”

“Y-Yeah, sure.” He had so much homework to finish—there was no reconciling that fact. However, he’d let Freecss fuck his grade over for him and have no regrets. His family would probably thank Freecss for it, quite honestly.

Killua pulled his cutoff shirt over his head and balled it up into his backpack. He slipped his arms into his Starbucks button up, only to stop when he realized that Gon was standing there with more to say. Killua pinched the open front closed with his hand and raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Gon leant against the locker beside him and asked, “So are you coming to the party tonight?”

“I-I didn’t know I was invited,” he confessed. Sure, Zushi mentioned it, but he had seventeen tabs open on his laptop browser for a term paper, and not one of them said Facebook.

“Of course you’re invited,” Gon said, smiling. “And don’t worry about drinking. Cops aren’t allowed to bust frat parties.”

Killua scoffed as he looked down to button up his shirt. “I’ve never heard of that. Sounds fake.”

“Why do you think it’s called Frat Row? If one party got busted, they’d blame the others. Unspoken rule not to call the cops on your neighbors on that street,” he explained. He reached out to nudge Killua in the arm before stepping back. “Sigma Alpha tonight. I’ll see you there.”

The moment Killua was certain Gon was gone, he dropped his forehead onto the locker next to him and whispered, “Fucking Freecss…” in a pained groan under his breath. He twisted around and started to slump. The instant he did, though, he was interrupted by the man himself appearing from around the corner.

Killua scrambled to straighten himself as Gon leaned out from around the corner and pointed at him. “One last thing,” he said. Killua stared at him, eyes wide. “Do you dance?”

“I, uh, I don’t know?”

“We’re finding out tonight. You and me, okay? Got it? Good—see you then!” Gon said, and he was off, running to the exit and out of the gym.

Killua fell onto the bench with a sharp inhale. He let it out with a gasp, hand fisted in his hair.

“I really don’t feel qualified for partying,” Killua confessed, turning around in front of his dorm mirror. It only showed him down to his waist, but he really needed to see how these shoes looked with his pants.

Frustrated, he turned around to where Zushi was reclining on his futon. Zushi had a pencil eraser in his mouth, tapping it against his lip. He looked up from his notebook to see Killua in a panic. Zushi scanned Killua from the head down and said, “You look fine.”

“You’re straight—you don’t know that!” Killua cried.

“I’m serious, dude. Gon asks me for fashion advice all the time. If he didn’t, he’d be wearing salmon pants and salmon shirts all day, every day.”

Killua stopped to stare at him. Zushi nodded, the look on his face saying, “ Yeah, buddy, I know .”

Killua sighed and clasped his hands in front of him. “You are doing the Lord’s work, truly.”

“Thank you,” Zushi said. “As for your outfit, why in the Hell don’t you own a floor length mirror? I thought all gays had one?”

Killua sighed dismally as he flattened a hand over his purple t-shirt. “It broke during move-in. Never got a new one. You know how hard it is to stick a floor-length mirror on a bus?”

“Impossible, I imagine.”

“Yeah, exactly.” He put a hand to his chin and thought about it. He knew one man on this floor that might be able to save him. “But… I think I know someone who owns one.”

He opened his dorm door and propped it with a wooden wedge. Zushi set his homework aside in favor of following Killua, saying, “Don’t tell me it’s the Resident Dad—Oh my God, it is! ”

They journeyed down the hall to the far, opposite side of the corridor where the RA door label was. He approached with Zushi bouncing beside him, smiling wide as Killua reached over and gave a hearty knock on Leorio’s door. The door openly so quickly that Killua had to suspect that Leorio was watching them through the peephole their entire walk down the hallway.

The door swung to a stop where Leorio—tall, dark, and handsome Leorio—leant up against the handle with a hand on his hip and said with a toss of his head, “What can I do for you?”

“Don’t make it weird,” Killua huffed.

“I’m not!” Leorio barked. “You came to me , might I remind you, so shoot! Oh, and hello again, Zushi, lovely to see you around here.”

“Nice to see you again, Dad,” Zushi said with a grin. Leorio held out a hand and Zushi high-fived it.

Killua sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need to borrow your floor-length mirror, if that’s cool.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Come on in,” Leorio said. He swept his hand out in a grand gesture, ushering them inside.

Zushi took one look around the room and let out a startled, draining squeal like a dog just broke his squeaker. Killua had been in Leorio’s room before and therefore, was numb to the sight of Live Laugh Love paraphernalia riddling the walls. Every inch of Leorio’s wall space was covered in Live Laugh love signs, posters, prints—you name it—hung up on 3M Command strip hooks. They were puzzled together and fit just so that two inches of border space remained between the items. It was so precise, so accurate, that Killua had to assume that Leorio spent the better part of the summer organizing it all.

“Right there,” Leorio said, pointing to a spot on the Live Laugh Love wall that was dedicated to a frameless mirror.

“Bingo. Thanks man,” Killua said, sliding up in front of the mirror. He dragged a hand through his hair just to look like a frat guy and gave him reflection finger-guns. He twisted his ankles to the sides to see the high-top basketball sneakers. His joggers had black hems, but the fabric was a dark heather grey, which weren’t exactly applicable to the black-and-white sneakers, but it would do.

Through the reflection, he saw Zushi standing in awe, mouth ajar, staring at the wall across from Leorio’s loft. Leorio stood beside Zushi with his arms crossed, glasses glinting in the fading sunlight casting a warm, orange glow across his collection. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Leorio whispered to Zushi.

Since whispering was a normal voice volume for Leorio,  Zushi matched it by talking normally. “It’s… something, all right. Where did you…?”

“I steal them from the homes of unsuspecting suburban moms,” Leorio explained. Zushi turned to stare at him. “When I visit friends, I mean. A few of the kids on this floor have snatched their parents’ Live Laugh Love paraphernalia this semester, so it’s a growing collection.”

Zushi continued to stare at Leorio as if just now realizing just how sociopathic the Resident Dad truly was.

Killua took Zushi by the arm and dragged him back to the hall. “Okay, that’s all I needed. Let’s get going.”

“Wait—where are you two going?! Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you!” Leorio said, volume raising to a scream that had Killua and Zushi running for safety, laughing and crashing into Killua’s room. Killua kicked the wooden wedge out and slammed the door before Leorio could catch them in the act of prepping for a frat party.

An actual frat party.

Oh, this is gonna be fun , Killua thought as he rubbed his hands together diabolically.

Chapter Text

Sigma Alpha was a notorious frat at Yorknew University. Their reputation wasn’t terrible , but it wasn’t great , either. They boasted a roster of wealthy inheritors of nepotism that Killua despised, but at least their philanthropic attitudes were up to par with charities he supported. It was because of this that it didn’t physically pain him to step past the iron wrought gate attached to a brick hedge lining the Sigma Alpha property.

There was a ceramic crest posted above the doorway. Bright, colored lights flashed in the windows and cast the moving silhouettes of partygoers across the lawn. There were people outside playing lawn games and drinking on the couches that were dragged out from the living room and posted on the lawn.

There was a table blocking the walkway to the door and, sitting there, were Sigma Alpha guys with a sheet of paper filled to the edges with guest names.

“Name, please,” the guy said to Zushi, who put his hand out to the guy’s buddy as he said his name. They crossed his name out and stamped his hand before moving on to Killua.

Killua rubbed his hand over the ink on his hand as they passed the check-in table. There was a group of girls waiting behind them decked out in Hunter gear and green beads that had Killua rolling his eyes. As if camouflage mini skirts were attractive , but the guys at the table seemed to get a kick out of them.

“Are you excited?” Zushi said as they climbed the stoop steps.

The bass was already buzzing in Killua’s chest. He grinned at Zushi, feeling more brazen than anything. He spent the entire semester playing Good—it was time to be an actual, goddamn college student.

“Hell yeah, let’s do this,” Killua said, slapping Zushi on the back and pushing him forward by the shoulders.

The front door was propped open so that when they stepped in, they were transported into the dark foyer and crowds of people on the outskirts of the party room. There was a stairwell to their left that circled up to the second floor, which overlooked the living room with a balcony. They bypassed the stairs in favor of slipping into the masses. Zushi hung onto the hem of Killua’s shirt and Killua, intent on keeping Zushi close, kept his hand on Zushi’s shoulder.

The living room was packed . The tiled floor was slick with fluid and it smelled like smoke, which lingered in the air and cast clouds through the flashing lights, swirling with the heads that jumped to the music. The speakers were on full blast, shaking the floor under Killua’s sneakers and pumping vibrant energy through every vein of Killua’s body.

Underneath the vaulted ceiling and the eyes of people lingering at the second floor balcony, Killua’s borderline manic thrill brought a smile to his face as he and Zushi danced and swayed to the beat. They jumped in at just the right moment when the music blended into the next song and a girl came up to him and reached for his raised hand.

Killua laughed as she spun herself around on his finger and turned to him, bright pink hair swinging to the side with the motion of her hips. He followed the casual sway of her hips in those dark leggings. She slotted her leg between his and, with them both ducked low, they danced as one with her hand guiding his along her hips. Killua glanced at Zushi from over her shoulder, but he already had a partner to dance with, so Killua’s focus went back to the smirk on the girl’s face as the instrumentals shifted and they took the motion forward and back, shoulders swaying, her hand traveling up to his hair.

He didn’t mind dancing with strangers one bit, so he wasn’t at all opposed when he felt someone’s back against his, his shoulder pressed up against another, and the sensation of the music pulsing through his chest.

Three songs went by, blended seamlessly into each other. When the beat shifted again, Killua reached for Zushi’s wrist and, smirking at the look on Zushi’s face, he turned his back to Zushi’s front and rolled back against his chest. Zushi laughed in his ear and said, “Are you drunk? ” over the music. “Are you actually dancing with me?! What is this!”

“It’s called getting turnt !”

Zushi threw his head back and barked out a laugh. Killua grabbed Zushi’s hands and slapped them on his hips. “You sound like a grandpa when you say that!” Zushi said.

“Want me to say it again?” he teased, rolling his hips back against Zushi’s with a laugh at the sound that came out of Zushi’s mouth.

“You’re so embarrassing, oh my God,” Zushi groaned.

They didn’t get to dance much longer than half a minute before the music dimmed before ceasing altogether. The lights came on in the room as the DJ tapped a finger on the mic. People booed and put their middle fingers in the air until the DJ waved his hand to get everyone’s attention, saying, “ Ladies, ladies, relax! It’s that time of the night! ”

Killua straightened up and turned to raise an eyebrow at Zushi. Zushi shrugged, only to jump when a girl next to him screamed and pointed behind them. Killua thought they were about to be murdered by a man with an axe, but instead, everyone was pulling out their phones and recording it?

The stairs were visible from their vantage point, if a bit obscured by the crowd. The DJ slowly turned up the volume, Champions  started playing to the sound of him declaring, “I present to Yorknew—the best fucking team of the CENTURRYYYYY—! ”

The dance floor exploded into cheers. Killua hadn’t expected to have his eardrums blown out of commission, but shit, if that wasn’t what happened.

From the stairs descended the Yorknew Hunters football team in rows of two. Knuckle Bine was at the head of the crew, waving like a princess at a parade. Zushi laughed at the sight, nudging Killua in the arm as he pointed out the wide receiver, Shoot, who followed behind Knuckle wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a gold crown.

Overall, though, they were decked out in formal wear like they were prepping for Homecoming Weekend. Killua grinned at the sight of Freecss pulling up behind the main upperclassmen squad, perched on the shoulders of two linebackers—Uvogin and a junior by the name Zepile. A particularly loud roar went up for him as Freecss put his fists in the air, a wide, goofy smile on his face as he bounded from their shoulders and landed with a jump like some goddamn gymnast.

A round of claps went through the room before Champions shifted to Big Bank . The room warped once more into the scene of a frat party. The dancing commenced around them and, disoriented, Killua barely processed the fact that Zushi was waving frantically to Gon from over the heads of strangers. When Gon spotted them, it completely ripped Killua from the party vibe he’d been in. His confidence went down the drain and would have continued to spiral had he not become distracted by the familiar pink-haired beauty spinning back into his field of vision.

As she spun, she took his hand up and put it over her shoulder. Killua glanced over at where Gon caught sight of Zushi and started in their direction. Shit . She swayed back around, her shoulders grazing against his chest and pushing him to follow the beat with her hips pushed back against his. She hooked her hand on the wrist he leant over her shoulder and he promptly ignored the fact that Gon would see it all if he looked past Zushi at all.

On the speakers, Big Sean was saying, “ Three coins that’ll pay your whole semestaaa but you gotta ride it better than a Teslaaaa— ” and somewhere in the middle, Killua could hear Gon singing with it like this was his anthem or some shit.

“ Big bank take lil’ bank ,” Gon was saying, shaking his shoulders and looking like an infant gangster with his maroon button-up half unbuttoned. He started undoing the buttons and sidling up to Zushi, who looked both embarrassed and amused at the crowd that was watching with their phones out as Gon’s abs started to show inch-by-inch against Zushi. He started singing Nicki Minaj as she blasted on the speakers, “ Diamond chains on my ankles—Young Money in the cut like a shank though—Tell TIP rubber band’s on my BANK ROLL—! Show my ass like a stank— ”

Gon paused in the middle of all the giggling and cheering. Killua didn’t know what he was staring at until he realized that he was staring directly at Gon’s dilated pupils from over the girl’s bright pink hair. The girl gathered it faster than him, though, and reached a hand out to Gon with a little “ come here ” gesture, biting her lip.

Gon took Zushi by the arm and pulled him over. The crowd filled the gap they left behind, and Killua didn’t miss the way girls leant over to see Gon’s exposed chest as he took the girl by the hand and ducked down to kiss it.

“And to who do I owe this pleasure?” Gon said to her, the slur in his voice hinting to his cheeky smirk and that goddamn dimple on his cheek that Killua was so certain didn’t exist before that night.

“I’m Machi, and this is the best dancer on the floor,” the girl said, pointing her thumb back at Killua.

Upbeat, Latin trumpets started blaring on the speakers to the tune of, “Yeeeaah  baby! I like it like that! ” The crowd cheered as Gon met Killua’s eyes again and, tugging on Machi’s hand, spun them around and dipped her. She yelped in his arms before springing back up into Zushi’s arms. Gon took Killua’s now empty hands and yanked him forward.

Their noses nearly touched. Killua blinked, startled, and smelled hard liquor on Gon’s breath as he breathed, “Show me what you can do, Mr. I-Don’t-Know-How-To-Dance.”

Killua’s heart stuttered to an abrupt halt. He looked between Gon’s eyes, but it seemed like Gon was determined. He dragged his arms out of Gon’s grasp in favor of placing them on Gon’s hips and pulling him flush to Killua’s front.

Even if his heart failed him, he’d keep up appearances. If all else failed, he’d die from embarrassment and not have to deal with the consequences.

So, when Cardi B took over the song, he popped their hips together and rolled his hips in a slanted, circular grind that, when Gon followed the lead, brought them low and steady to the beat. Those that had their eyes on them whistled obnoxiously as Gon laughed and gave Killua an encouraging smile when the verse shifted tempo and Killua’s left foot stepped back, pivoting until he was dancing on his own, hands up to his shoulders as he spun, cranking his hands like he was a cog in a machine that jerked to a halt at the Spanish verse.

He rolled his torso nice and slow. He could feel the heat of the room getting to his head where his breath was gone, eyes channeling on the colored lights circling the living room. Gon’s hands curved over his hips, flatting over his abdomen. He felt the clamminess of Gon’s skin against his back as they resumed grinding again. A shuddered breath nearly took Killua out at the knees when Gon’s hand grazed lower to the tingling skin of his inner thigh. Every inch of his skin was quivering at the touch, and the sensation of Gon’s damp breath against his ear, tickling his neck.

They rocked together through the song at the end of which, everyone had went on with their lives and Gon shouted over the music, “Have you gotten something to drink yet?”

Killua turned, shaking his head. He could barely stand straight and, thankfully, Gon steadied him with a hand on his back. He wondered if his lightheadedness was obvious.

Gon gestured towards the archway at the far side of the living room. Killua nodded and reached out to tap Zushi on the shoulder. He waved to get his friend’s attention at which point he pointed over to where Gon was starting to lead the way. “We’re getting something to drink!” Killua explained.

Zushi and the pink-haired girl hurried to follow. The girl held Zushi by the hand and tugged on Killua’s arm to keep the three of them connected. They wove through the crowd as dense electronic music shook the room and flashed the strobe lights over them. The motion through the crowd became choppy, blending together into one vast sheet of silhouettes abruptly overexposed, the lights glistening on the sweaty sheen of their foreheads.

Killua’s head buzzed, vision swaying until they were at last beyond the crowd. The air was distinctly salty on his tongue as he trailed after the sight of Gon’s loose, maroon shirt billowing behind him on his way down the stairs to the basement of the frat house.

People lined the railing of the stairs, sitting, standing, all of the above. Killua passed them by and took Machi’s hand when she offered it. At the base of the stairs, Killua nearly tripped into Gon’s back when he stopped, suddenly distracted by the group of football guys gathered in the dingy basement.

The frat house basement honestly looked like the set of a horror film. From the concrete floors to the cement brick walls, Killua was certain he saw this same scene in a murder mystery before. It likely involved a cellar and a serial killer. Distinctly, he felt Machi squeeze his hand tighter as she shifted closer to Zushi’s side.

The basement had less of a crowd, but a crowd nonetheless. A makeshift bar had been set up at the far side of the basement. A wooden shelf on the wall was lined with liquor bottles and two of the frat guys were playing bartender.

Gon turned back to them, pointing to where Knuckle Bine sat on a makeshift chair made of plastic cartons. “Knuckle brought Jack Daniels if you’re into that, otherwise we can get something from the bar.”

Killua grimaced a little, but Zushi seemed fine with whiskey. Knuckle got up to throw his arms around Zushi and, likewise, Machi. Machi’s eyes went wide as her cheek was pushed up against the quarterback’s massive pec. Her hand dropped from Killua’s.

“Do you like whiskey?” Gon asked.

Killua shook his head. “Nah. I’m not much for hard liquor.”

Gon crossed his arms and leant back against the archway beam. “So what do you like?”

Killua thought about it. Illumi was his designated alcohol provider until the start of the semester. Illumi’s moral ambiguity prevented him from policing what Killua did and didn’t do so long as he followed the family legacy. At Illumi’s college house parties, he’d mix Killua’s drinks and they were always the best damn things he ever tasted.

He never knew the name of them, though.

“I don’t know the name of it,” he confessed, tapping a finger to his chin. “It’s sweet… kind of tastes like soda and coconuts?”

Gon straightened a little and said, “Must be a rum and coke. Come on—I’m paying.”

Killua startled at the suggestion, but Gon was already walking up to the bar and bypassing the line. He hurried after Gon, saying, “You don’t have to—!” but Gon slapped a ten dollar bill into the frat guy’s hand and said, “The best Malibu and coke you’ve ever made, my good sir.”

The frat guy saluted Gon and said, “Can do, captain.”

The instant the solo cup was pushed into Killua’s hands, Gon pulled him off to the side to make room for more customers. The cup was so full, a splash of it sloshed onto the cement. Killua cursed and put his lips to the rim just to relieve a little of it to stop it from overflowing. One sip, though, had him melting a little.

This . This was his kind of drink.

“Good?” Gon said, a hand against the wall as Killua nodded, the sweet, sweet coconut on his tongue. “Good. ‘Cause after you finish that, we’re dancing the entire night.”

“Oh really?” Killua droned, rolling his eyes. “Since when did we decide that?”

“Since you gave me a hard on just watching you on the dance floor,” he said.

Killua snorted. He dragged his eyes back to Gon, but Gon merely raised his eyebrows at Killua. The heat from dancing flooded to his cheeks. “Oh, you’re serious,” Killua huffed, voice cracking. He cleared his throat.

“I’m serious about the dancing. Kind of kidding about the hard on,” Gon said, shifting his weight to his other foot. Killua instinctively looked down, only to snap his eyes back up after his eyes honed in on Gon’s crotch. Gon grinned. “Kind of kidding.”

Before Killua’s head could implode, he was interrupted by Machi appearing at his side. He sighed in relief at the distraction.

Machi held a hand out to him, so he shook it as she said, “I take it you know this superstar then.”

“Uh, yeah, we… met through Zushi,” Killua said, glancing at Gon.

Gon offered a sweet smile and said, “We’re gym buddies.”

Machi let out a loud laugh and nodded, “Yeah, right, ‘gym buddies’. Anyway, you really know how to move.”

“Th-Thanks, I guess,” Killua stammered, eyes wide. He hid his embarrassment behind the rim of his cup as Machi asked for his name.

Zushi answered for her. “Killua Zoldyck, at your service. I’m Zushi.”

“Otherwise known as my dear, sweet Zushi Roll,” Gon chimed in, eyes closed with a content smile on his face. He crossed his arms and tipped his shoulder against the wall as Machi raised an eyebrow at him.

“We’re roommates,” Zushi explained.

“Ah, that explains it then,” she hummed. She produced her phone from the pocket on the side of her leggings and, unlocking it, held it out to him. “Well, in case we don’t see each other again tonight, text me sometime. And Killua—It’s ‘Killua’, right?—You should hit me up sometime. I’m part of a hiphop group on campus and honestly we just scout the frat parties for recruits. Think of it as a weekly Zumba class but more raunchy.”

“Oh, no, I don’t dance,” Killua said.

They all stared at him like he just blurted out a blatant lie. He didn’t know how else to explain that dancing wasn’t something he practiced frequently . He was partly homeschooled most of his life and, in high school, his university classes didn’t exactly warrant school dances. The only experience he had was with Illumi at house parties.

Machi put her phone up to Killua’s face as soon as Zushi was done with it. Killua sighed and tapped his username into her contacts.

She ended with a plastic smile on her doll-like face and said, “Perfect. I’m sure I’ll see you three around again.”

“Hey, what about my snapchat?” Gon whined. He pulled his phone out from his back pocket and brought up his code.

Machi sighed and took a picture of it. “Not really interested in football players, no offense.”

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be,” Gon said.

Machi flicked him in the forehead before making her escape. Gon slapped a hand over the spot with a moan of agony that sounded obscenely orgasmic. A few people looked in their direction as Zushi slapped a hand over his face to cover his embarrassment up.

When Gon recovered, Killua finished off his Malibu with a few last gulps. He could start to taste the dense alcohol in the back of his throat like cough syrup. After tossing the cup, Gon grabbed him by the hand and started dragging him to the stairs.

They cruised past the football guys as Killua cried, “Where are we going?!”

Gon leapt up one step before turning around to say, “We made a deal—Dancing!”

Killua staggered after him, muttering, “Right, dancing.”

By midnight, Gon asked if he wanted another drink. Killua’s entire body felt like Gon’s hands had been there, done that . It settled in his stomach and twisted his guts into perfect little bows and each tug buzzed in his skull and stirred his brains into a fluffy, foaming concoction of pure bliss . Gon fetched him another Malibu and coke, and when he returned, Killua could be found on the window sill bench over everyone’s heads. He chugged the drink and chucked the cup into the crowd where it nailed someone in the ponytail and ricochetted to the alcohol-soaked floor.

By one in the morning, ‘dancing’ left their radar.

Gon asked if he wanted a tour of the frat house, which, of course, he couldn’t pass up.

It would take more than two cups of Malibu to put Killua out of commission. His head felt like cotton, though—if cotton crackled with electricity, maybe. He couldn’t put the proper words to it, but it felt like the way the skin on his spine felt where Gon had his hand on the small of Killua’s back.

They passed the living room balcony as Gon bypassed all of the closed rooms, naming off the guys who lived in them. Killua wasn’t paying much attention—what he was paying attention to, though, was Gon’s profile as they walked. Gon, with his full head of black hair and sharp, defined hairline. Those cute fucking ears. God. It just made Killua so mad looking at them. He wanted to wring Gon’s perfect neck for defying normal.

They went to the third floor of the frat where, at the first door on the left, Gon pushed it open. It was dark inside until Gon flipped on the switch and said, “This is Knuckle’s room.”

Killua hesitated to step over the threshold, but then Gon was walking in and holding the door open for him. He leant in, eyes scanning over the movie posters on the walls, the somewhat-made bed, and the open closet door on the far side of the room. Used towels were strewn over the hanger hooks on the door, but for the most part, the place was clean. There was a narrow window at the far side of the room overlooking the street behind the frat’s parking lot.

“So this is the room of a quarterback. I’d say I’m impressed, but I’m really not,” Killua said with a laugh, turning back around. The door was closed and Gon was standing right there .

Killua sucked in a sharp breath. Gon’s eyes lifted up to meet his own, hardly wavering. When Killua exhaled, he wondered if Gon could smell the coconut, or maybe the bubblegum from his toothpaste several hours prior before he ever dared hope to be alone in a bedroom with Gon Freecss.

Gon’s eyes drifted down and Killua followed the motion of Gon swallowing hard before Gon cleared his throat and said, “What do you want me to do?” He was staring at Killua’s lips, he fucking knew it .

Killua licked his bottom lip just to get a hint. The flutter of Gon’s eyelids was enough.

“To kiss me,” Killua said.

It was all the prompting Gon needed. Gon’s hands drifted up to capture the sides of Killua’s face, his thumbs brushing against the corners of his mouth before he pushed in and sealed their lips together. Killua responded with his mouth open, a completely unintentional, but maybe intentional, moan spilling from his mouth to Gon’s over the edge of his tongue laving into Gon’s mouth.

The breath in Gon’s chest left him with a shudder that Killua felt against his chest and the hands he splayed on Gon’s exposed abdomen. His skin was hot and trembling as he pushed forward and caught Killua between the wall and his body, Gon’s lips heavy against his own. They moved with an unrefined rhythm but by God, Gon had practice and damn , it showed. Killua soothed his lips against Gon’s, closing them with an audible sucking sound against Gon’s bottom lip. He tipped his head, breathing in sharply so he could go in for more and feel Gon’s heady breath panting against him.

Killua pushed away from the wall. His hands splayed over Gon’s defined and completely illegal ass. Gon stepped back, following Killua’s lead with one hand leaving Killua’s face, the other hooking on the back of his neck. When Gon’s legs hit the bed, he braced his hand on the comforter and fell back.

Killua cursed, breathless and climbing between Gon’s legs with his tongue tingling and all but numb in his mouth. He crushed his lips to Gon’s again, punctuating it with a long, slow kiss that Gon leaned into when he pulled away. Something fluttered in his chest as the sight of Gon’s red lips and bright eyes trained on him .

He was in charge.

And then, all at once, he remembered where the hell they were.

Killua pushed himself up onto his hands, his bangs falling over his eye as he said, “I am not sucking you off on Knuckle Bine’s bed. Fuck that.”

Gon pushed up to his elbows. He put a hand on Killua’s shoulder and, legs hooked around Killua’s thighs, flipped them. Killua bounced on the mattress as Gon said, “I’d suck you off anywhere.”

Killua raised an eyebrow at him. “In your friend’s bed? No thanks.”

Gon sat back on his heels and slapped his hands on his thighs, completely framing the prominent bulge in his jeans that Killua was now staring at. “Well, yeah , duh. It’s what friends do.”

“I’m telling Zushi on you,” Killua pledged.

“Zushi has top bunk. As if I’m going through that extra effort,” Gon said.

Zushi .

Killua bolted up with a curse. “Fuck, I left Zushi at the party. Shit— FUCK , Freecss !”

Gon stilled him with a hand on his crotch. Killua flopped back, the breath completely knocked out of him. Gon squeezed gently, but to his sensitive skin, it felt more like a viselike grip. Killua trembled with another curse, hissing out, “As if I wasn’t already hard .”

Gon leant over him with that devilish smile and said, “Let me take care of you. Then you can go find Zushi.”

As if Killua would say no to that face .

Killua breathed out a needy moan and said, “ Fuck yes—I mean, no—You can’t just ask me that when your hand is on my dick . I’m not rational right now.”

It physically pained him to say it. He grimaced as Gon let go of him, grunting with the effort to sit up when his joggers were rubbing up against him and his boxers felt too tight . He knew it was the right thing to say, but that didn’t make it any fun . In the end, it was better to not jizz his pants before going to hunt Zushi down.

He pulled Gon back down with a fist on the buttons of his ruffled shirt. He kissed the concern off of Gon’s face. When he pulled away, Gon’s lip between his teeth, he looked and saw the tension in Gon’s brow had vanished. He let go with a grin before he pushed off of the bed.

He shoved Gon back by the shoulder and said, “See you later.”

Chapter Text

Gon 🏈🤼 Freakcss added you!

10:15 Gon: Pancakes taste so good when you’re hungover

10:16 Kill: This is not a universal thing, but yes, agreed

10:16 Kill: Also how did you get my snapchat?

10:17 Gon: Zushi Roll 🍣😌

10:18 Kill: Good to know Zushi is not above betrayal

10:19 Gon: If you hurt my dear sweet Zushi Roll, there will be hell to pay 😠👊

10:22 Kill: You’re so fuckin extra dude

10:22 Gon: You should come to Ren

10:24 Kill: Like… for brunch or just in general?

10:24 Gon: Both :)

10:26 Kill: I’ll think about it

10:27 Gon: D:

10:28 Kill: The Ren dining hall makes me feel inferior

10:29 Gon: Why?? I didn’t realize there was a dining hall power dynamic

10:30 Kill: Oh yeah. Ren is basically the King of the Dining Halls

10:31 Kill: It exists to remind me of my poor diet decisions you know?

10:32 Gon: But we have pancakes too D: We are normal D:

10:33 Kill: :T

10:34 Gon: D:

10:35 Kill: I will literally gut you if you make that face again

10:36 Gon: Gut me, huh?

10:37 Gon: Will you torture me too? Maybe with a whip or something?

10:37 Kill: With knives.

10:37 Gon: Hot wax, maybe? :D

10:38 Kill: Only knives.

10:38 Kill: And public humiliation

10:39 Gon: O Great Killua, have thou no mercy?

10:40 Kill: That isn’t how you use ‘thou’, you heathen

10:41 Gon: Teach me your ways ;)

10:41 Gon: And spank me when I get wrong

10:48 Gon: Was that too far

10:50 Call from Kill 🔪 Zold Yack

Killua paced his dorm room as the ringer went on. He pinched his thumb nail between his teeth, eyes wide and drifting from the window to the door, the window to the door. Just as he thought the call would end, the ringer was replaced by a bubble popping up on screen with an audio spectrum spiking to the sound of Gon’s voice saying, “Do my ears deceive me? Is thee Killua Zoldyck calling me?”

“You piece of shit,” Killua said, laughing.

“Gentle, gentle. My poor head is pounding,” Gon said. Killua rolled his eyes. He could practically hear the smirk in Gon’s voice, and then that cheeky little wink as he added, “No regrets, though.”

“Oh really?”

“Oh yeah. I hope last night was as great for you as it was for me…? Possibly?” he said.

Killua bit his lip and nodded to himself, dropping down onto the edge of his futon. He put a hand through his hair as he said, “Yeah. Yeah, it was good.”

“ Just good? Do I have to make it better?” Gon said with a sigh. Killua shivered at the sound, his fingers knotting in his hair. “Would you let me make it better this time? Or do you have to go find my dear, sweet Zushi Roll?”

Killua laughed and said, “Yeah, right. Are you saying all of this with Zushi right next to you?” He wouldn’t have been surprised.

“Nah. We stayed the night at Sigma Alpha, planning on leaving soon. Zushi’s mid-argument with some of my teammates,” Gon said.

“Nothing serious, I hope.”

“No, just something to do with logic or something or other that they don’t have,” he said. If Killua smiled any wider, his face would split in half. “Just me, the frat bathroom, and your voice in my ear.”

“You make that sound like paradise,” Killua breathed into the phone, biting his lip at the sound of Gon groaning on the other end of the phone. He remembered what Gon had said the night before that completely unraveled him. He had a parody of it on the tip of his tongue, so, in the most sultry voice he could manage, he whispered, “ What do you want to hear? ”

His body was on fire, shaking with adrenaline. As if phone calls weren’t already nerve wracking , there he was, leveling up from sexting to straight up phone sex like an absolute champ. At this rate, he’d be dancing at the same level of Gon with his ridiculous serial monogamy.

Killua bit his thumbnail again as he listened to Gon’s breath through the line. “ God , anything. I don’t care.”

“Do you… want to hear about my day?” Killua teased.

“Skip the intro,” Gon said, like Killua was a goddamn Netflix special.

“Do you wanna… go for a walk? ” Killua said in that ridiculous preppy voice people used on dogs.

He didn’t have time to be frustrated with his nonexistent filter because in the next moment, Gon was cursing him out, whining, “That’s not funny! Fuck, okay, maybe it is funny, but fuck you, Killua!” 

“Okay! Okay, sorry. I couldn’t help it,” Killua insisted. “Ignore that. Ignore me. Let’s just forget that ever happened.”

“That just reminds me of when you told me there were other ways to get sore.”

Killua’s cheeks colored bright red. He slapped a hand to his face and groaned. “We don’t talk about that in this household,” Killua said, strained and in pain.

Gon chuckled on the other end of the line. “Fine, we won’t talk about what blissful ways you could make me sore.”

“Agreed. Not a topic of discussion today,” Killua said, flopping back on his futon. He cleared his throat and held the phone up to his mouth.

“But, uh… If we can go back to the intro,” Gon said, softly. “I would like to hear about your day. What’re you doing today?”

“You,” Killua said, once again, his filter off orbiting Earth and not being where it was supposed to be. He nearly dropped his phone on his face when Gon’s response came in the form of a moan of ecstasy akin to the groan Gon made in the frat basement just the night before. “You heard nothing ,” Killua hissed.

“It’s fine. Just get it out, I don’t care,” Gon said. “Lay it on me.”

“ Freecss— ”

“Lay it on me in a nice, thick layer of pure, unadulterated whip cream. Lick it off of me, I beg you,” Gon said.

“Don’t tell this tongue what to do,” Killua said, sitting up. “I lick when and what I want, excuse you.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it. I can take it.”

Killua let out a startled laugh. He shook his head, perching his chin on his knee as he said, “You’re unreal, Freecss. Goodbye.”

“If you lick me, I’ll lick you. It’s only fair—”

“I said good bye , Freecss,” Killua said before ending the call. He threw his phone across the room and onto his bed before flopping back down onto the futon with a groan.

It took more effort than usual to dissolve into his school work, and he blamed it on the residual effects of the party. He spent all night dancing among… other activities… which left his entire body sore as shit . When he stood up, he almost didn’t want to drag his sorry ass to the dining hall, but the throbbing in his temple told him that he needed nourishment.

Overall, though, he spent his Sunday at Hatsu without a reason to leave. Evening came and went without a call from Gon, so Killua assumed their potential gym date was canceled. Still, that didn’t stop Killua’s concentration from breaking every thirty minute interval to check his phone for messages.

Do gym buddies even make out? he wondered, sighing. He tapped his pencil to his lip, his attention branching far, far away from his term paper. Am I qualified to be Gon’s gym buddy? Surely making out cuts me from the running. He never even wanted to go to the gym until now, so what did it matter? If Gon didn’t want to be gym buddies anymore after last night, then Killua could deal with that. It wasn’t like he was the one looking for a gym buddy.

Killua watched the words and numbers on his screen blur into oblivion. He wanted to feel more than just the ghost of Gon’s lips on his own. The memory of it wasn’t enough, but there was no way he could forget it.

Killua thought about it through the night and into the morning and past the start of his shift at Starbucks. It kept him awake, albeit not focused, so work wasn’t as spot on as it usually was. He felt stuck in muck and that muck was dubbed Gon Freecss trash and he was chest deep in that shit . It would take more than a cold shower just to wash it off. He could be found spacing out at the Pike’s Place coffee machine nearly overflowing a dozen different coffee mugs.

In the midst of one such mug, a familiar voice sounded behind him saying, “—also take a… triple shot latte, no foam, please. Thanks!”

Killua startled at the sound. He turned, coffee swishing in the cup, and caught sight of Freecss in line taking his card back from the cashier with a charming smile. Gon glanced at Killua then, and that charming smile brightened tenfold.

Killua hastily finished filling up the cup and brought it to the pick up counter. He called out the name before leaning over to Gon and saying, “What’re you doing here?”

“I always come here,” Gon said.

Killua closed his eyes, thinking, Duh, of course . “I-I mean, what’re you doing today? ”

“You… literally have my schedule.”

“Humor me, dammit,” Killua said.

Gon laughed. He folded his forearms on the high countertop and smiled like it was his day job and he loved it . “I’m just studying some art today.”

“Really,” Killua droned, less impressed.

“Yeah, you,” Gon said.

“Oh. That was a shitty pickup line,” he said.

“You just don’t have taste.”

“According to you, I have excellent taste in Noods,” Killua said. Gon’s smile widened, his eyes sliding away from Killua and to Killua’s coworker, who stared between them with a look of alarm. Killua’s face turned red. “Noodles & Company! Not—never mind,” he said with a dejected sigh.

He turned back to Gon to say, “What are you majoring in, anyway?”

“Physical therapy,” he said.

Killua laughed and said, “I’m serious.”

Gon sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s been decided that I couldn’t get into physical therapy school even if I didn’t devote all my time to sports. So I’m just in the general exploratory studies course here.”

Killua hummed because he really didn’t have a thing to say about that. He supposed it was normal for athletes—especially ones as stellar as Gon Freecss—to funnel all of their energy into their designated sports. Gon was no different. Focusing too heavily on school would only be detrimental to his athletic career, and doing poorly in classes would screw football over as well. An even balance meant that meat-headed athletes at Yorknew tended to major in general studies for the soul purpose of playing football.

“You probably… cover a wide range of topics then, huh?” Killua said. He moved to the far end of the espresso machine, and Gon slid over to follow him. He checked the order on the cup receipt and pulled a shot of espresso and stuck the filter into the machine. He cranked the handle tight and slid a shot glass underneath before flipping the switch.

“Yeah… I don’t really like to talk about school,” he confessed, only to backtrack quickly. “But I mean, I’d love to listen to what your classes are like! And what you’re doing in your major. It’s probably more interesting.”

“It’s really not,” Killua grimaced. “Mostly paying copious amounts of money for competitive suffering. There’s only fifty slots in mine and Zushi’s OChem class for an ‘A’. A hundred seventy five slots for a passing grade, which means that nearly half of the class fails.”

“You’re kidding,” Gon said, shocked. Killua nodded, tipping the espresso shots into the cup. He steamed the milk and poured it in as Gon watched. When that was done, he slid it onto the counter beside the one his coworker made and read off the receipts.

They both said ‘Gon’.

Killua frowned at them before looking up to where Gon smiled sweetly at him. He picked up the drinks and said, “Thanks! I’ll see you after class!”

“Y-Yeah, sure,” Killua said, staring after Gon as the guy went to the exit. Killua continued to watch as Gon put his back to the door and pushed it open, spinning out with a flourish. He held out the cup to someone who rose from the bench outside.

Killua wondered if he should have done a better job cleaning those windows, because he really could not believe his eyes. What were the odds that Gon would bring his date from last Wednesday back?

After they had made out in Knuckle Bine’s bedroom? If that wasn’t a bonding moment, Killua didn’t know what was.

The blonde haired, round glasses guy smiled through the storefront window like he knew Killua was watching. If he knew Killua was watching, though, then he must be aware of the murderous look on his face, plotting a murder. Rationally, he knew he couldn’t be angry at the stranger, so it all funneled to the football idiot walking out of sight.

It was enough to get Killua’s brain back on track, though.

He silently fumed through the rest of work and on his way to class. He wanted to make petty excuses, saying, “ Oh, but we aren’t technically dating so he can do whatever he wants ,” but they just made him feel like shit for not doing a damn thing. “ Was I supposed to make it clear? ”

He grew so frustrated and angry that he took a breather outside of the OChem laboratory facility. He paced the front of the building until he effectively intercepted Kurapika on their way in.

“Oh, Killua—if you linger out here any longer you’re gonna miss the start of class,” they said.

Killua grabbed them by the shoulders and said, “I’m panicking and I can’t let Zushi know.”

“Why? Is it boy trouble? Ooh , count me in. What’s happening? Catch me up,” Kurapika demanded.

Killua gestured to the building.

Kurapika waved a dismissive hand. “Class doesn’t start without me so fuck that. Out with it, man.”

And, so, Killua admitted to the make out session, the almost-but-not-quite phone sex, down to that morning when Freecss bought drinks for two. By then they were outside of the lab room door and Killua could see Zushi fiddling away at his phone, distracted. The commotion in the room drowned out Kurapika’s voice, though, so there was no way for Zushi to hear it.

“Well, he’s a bitch and you deserve better,” Kurapika decided with a firm nod.

“You think everyone’s a bitch, though,” Killua argued.

“He’s the biggest bitch of them all.”

“Gee, thanks,” he sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the room before saying, “I just don’t know how to, like, softly break up with him. I mean, as gym buddies. We aren’t dating, I can’t reiterate that enough. But I don’t think I can be gym buddies with someone who stuck their tongue in my mouth anyway.”

Kurapika nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that sounds distracting. In any case, it’ll deter him from coming back to Starbucks. Maybe you won’t have to see him again? So don’t worry on a gentle…” They made a breaking motion with their two hands before crossing the threshold with a smile, effectively bringing the classroom shenanigans to a screeching halt.

Killua hurried to join Zushi at the lab table. He smiled at Zushi as he sat down, swinging his backpack to the ground. As lab commenced, Killua couldn’t help but study Zushi’s profile and wonder if his best friend had the self control to keep this knowledge to himself.

But he’s roommates with the guy. I don’t want their bro relationship to sour just because I’d punch Freecss for one corn chip .

Killua ignored the tension in his shoulders and let out a sigh. He’d make it through this, eventually, and explain himself to Zushi afterwards. It wasn’t long after that anxiety came swooping in like a hawk going in for the kill.

He might not ruin Zushi’s relationship with Freecss, but what if… Zushi chose Freecss over Killua?

“Hey, Zushi?” Killua said as they left the building after lab. Zushi hummed thoughtfully to let Killua know he was listening. “Are you and Freecss, like… close at all?”

“Define ‘close’.”

“Like, would you room with him next year.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. There’s nothing wrong with him, and he’s not a slob or anything, but he’s gonna be living at Sigma Alpha and I was thinking of maybe… rooming with you?” he said. It wasn’t what Killua expected out of this conversation, but he supposed he set himself up for it.

Killua’s steps stuttered to a halt. Zushi turned back to him in a panic, saying, “But we don’t have to! I mean, just an idea. If we get an apartment together, it’d be cheaper, but if we both get enough scholarships to cover the housing cost, or maybe become RAs—”

“I’d… really like to room with you, too,” Killua confessed. Zushi let out a relieved sigh and slumped back, throwing his arms in the air. Killua almost worried that Zushi would tip back and straight over the concrete ledge overlooking the river.

He reached out as if to stop Zushi from going to far, only to jump when Zushi shouted, “ ROOMMATES FOR LIFE! ”

“We aren’t getting married , Jesus,” Killua cried, floundering to shut Zushi up. He slapped a hand over his friend’s mouth as some students passed and gave them weird looks. Killua smiled apologetically to them before turning a glare onto Zushi.

Zushi smiled as he put his arms around Killua and said, “If I wasn’t straight, I’d propose right here and now.”

“On your knees then, coward,” Killua said as Zushi’s hair tickled his cheek.

They continued walking, Zushi’s arm around Killua’s shoulders, and Killua’s hand on Zushi’s back. “Speaking of being on your knees —How was it at the party?” Zushi asked.

Killua rolled his eyes and said, “Nothing happened . And I’m serious about that—nothing happened.”

“Uh-huh, sure, so that’s why Gon’s got your name on every party list now,” Zushi laughed.

Killua bristled. This was news to him. “It’s… probably just ‘cause I’m OK at dancing. If I wanted to dance, I’d just call up Machi.”

Zushi rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, that’s it.”

Killua scuffed his shoe on a pebble, frowning at the ground. “What do you mean by… ‘every party list’?”

“Sigma Alpha has a party this Thursday since they’re leaving for an out of state game on Friday. And then on Saturday the game day party is at the Republic,” Zushi explained.

The Republic was an apartment complex off of Frat Row, just east of campus. The apartments were brand-spanking-new and expensive as all Hell, which meant that wealthy party goers tended to sign leases there. On game day mornings, they set up tailgates in the central parking lot and hired a DJ to blast throwback tunes.

Killua only knew about it because he could hear Fall Out Boy all the way from Hatsu Hall at eight on a Saturday morning.

“I don’t know,” Killua sighed. “My paper’s due next week and we’ve got an exam coming up in OChem…”

“We’ll get it done,” Zushi promised. “But it was really fun with you there. Usually I don’t know who to talk to if I go to those things so I just sort of stopped at the start of the semester.”

“I’ll think about it,” Killua lied.

They slowed in front of the gym where Zushi bid him farewell and went off back to Ren Hall. Killua waved until the act of waving made his arm feel like jello. He dropped his hand to his side with a sigh and turned to climb the steps up to the gym doors.

Gon wasn’t in the entrance, and Killua was hesitant to even check in. He waited a minute by the doors, hoping that he wouldn’t have to go in at all, but when Gon didn’t show, Killua sighed and scanned his student card. He started down the steps to the locker room, feet all but dragging past the free weight room.

He tugged on the straps of his backpack as he pushed into the men’s locker room. He peered in, a hand on the door. It was quiet aside from one of the showers going off on the far side of the locker room. He let the door creak shut behind him.

He looked down every aisle of lockers. Last time, they had packed their things away past the tiled wall that divided the locker room into sections. He saw Gon’s backpack before the man himself, and he almost turned tail and ran for it.

He hesitated, looking back at the exit, but by then, his shadow had already fallen in Gon’s periphery. He groaned internally when Gon said, “Great! You’re here!”

Killua sucked in a deep breath and held it as he turned the corner. Gon was on the bench lacing up his sneakers, wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a plain white tank top that flattered his defined pecs. His chest was anything but flat, which Killua could appreciate. Like two, muscly pillows —

Killua shook the visual out of his head.

“Y-Yeah, hey, listen—” Killua started.

Gon jumped to his feet and dropped his eyes down the length of Killua’s frame. Killua’s mouth ran dry when Gon put his lip between his teeth on his way back up. “Sometimes I swear I have a leg fettish so pardon my language but fuck , those jeans look good on you,” he said.

Killua swallowed hard. What was he going to say? Oh, right .

“You can cut that out, seriously,” he said, waving his hand dismissively between them, but Gon was stepping closer with a cheeky grin.

“What, you wanna skip the intro?” he said.

Killua shivered. Gon’s fingers grazed over his obliques, sending the skin under his button up shirt trembling. He stilled at the pressure of Gon’s thumbs at the edge of his hips. His eyes were stuck on Gon’s brown irises where the shadows darkened them, and where they dipped below Killua’s eyes and settled lower.

Gon pushed their lips together in a slow, tantalizing motion that Killua leant into despite the way his brain screamed at him for it. He let out an unsteady breath against Gon’s lips, falling into the motion Gon set that put him over the edge of rational thought. They weren’t in the locker room now, in public , and the sound of their chaste, consecutive kisses were the only thing sounding in Killua’s ears.

He licked his tongue between Gon’s lips as he pulled back to breathe. He nearly went in again, but his eyes shot open as he realized what they were doing.

He put a hand on Gon’s chest to stop him from leaning in again. He pushed Gon back, his heart pounding rapidly in his ribcage. He could barely breathe, let alone speak. “I can’t do this,” Killua said.

Gon blinked at him. He reached out for Killua’s waist again, but he took an unsteady step back. His hand fell from Gon’s chest.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

Killua wanted scream a hole on the fabric of the spacetime continuum. He put a hand to his forehead and laughed, gesturing to the locker room. “This is too weird, Freecss. I’m not into it.”

He took another step back as Gon’s brow furrowed and he said, “What do you mean? We don’t have to—I thought—?”

“Yeah, well, don’t think too hard about it. I’ll see you around,” he said. As he walked away, he felt the weight lift off of his chest. He escaped from the locker room with a breath of relief.

He was proud of himself for even walking away. Freecss unknowingly tormented him all semester, but now? He could move on. That was all he needed to obliterate his crush. Deep down, though, he knew some part of him would have kept going, kept on kissing Gon in the locker room and just ignore whatever he saw at work. It was better to cut it off now, before anything became of their proposed gym plan.

Killua hurried back to Hatsu Hall. It wasn’t long enough for him to completely process Gon Freecss, pack him up, and ship him off, but it was long enough for Killua’s attention to return to Earth. With his brain back from the stratosphere, he glazed over a familiar, gaudy red Ferrari parked out front of Hatsu.

Killua skidded to a stop. He did a double-take, frozen in the middle of the sidewalk. He flinched at the sound of the driver’s door popping open. He probably looked like a goddamn Sasquatch caught mid-stride in the viewfinder of his brother’s sniper rifle.

Long black hair emerged from the driver’s seat. Illumi Zoldyck . Killua cursed under his breath, fully prepared to make a break for it. If he ran, he could make it to the dorm door fast enough for it to lock behind him and block Illumi out—

The instant he moved, a hand latched onto his wrist and a taunting, “Ah, ah, ah,” struck a shudder down Killua’s spine.

“Hisoka,” he seethed, turning with a scowl. He came face-to-face with Illumi’s psychopath of a boyfriend. Hisoka’s grin was maniacal as always, his ginger hair windswept and longer since the last Killua saw of him.

When he loosened his grip, Killua yanked his hand out of Hisoka’s hand. It was too late to run—Illumi was already on the curb.

“Lovely to see you again, as always,” Hisoka said.

“Not likely,” Killua huffed. He pegged his brother with a scowl and said, “What’re you guys doing here?”

Illumi was decked out in a suit and tie, an olive green blazer his mark of an alum. Killua really didn’t want to know what event brought Illumi back to campus, but something told him that Illumi wasn’t at all interested in it.

Illumi tugged on the hem of his sleeve as he said, “Just came to visit my favorite brother.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know Milluki had the grades to graduate,” Killua said with a plastic smile.

Illumi rolled his eyes. “Sharp as always. Get in the car, we’re going out.”

“Out?” Killua repeated. He glanced at Hisoka, who put his hands in his pockets and offered an encouraging, serial killer smile. Killua narrowed his eyes at the guy. “Where?”

“Sushi,” Illumi said. Killua glowered at his brother. Screw him for knowing all of Killua’s weak spots.

Grumbling, Killua shoved past Illumi. He swung open the back door of the Ferrari and , fuming, ducked inside.

Illumi took the driver’s side and, tugging his hair over one shoulder, put the car into drive. Killua glared at him when he dared look at Killua through the rearview mirror. He’d come for the sushi, but he wouldn’t be happy about it.

Illumi had a stellar internship with their father at the law firm. It was the sort of opportunity Yorknew Law graduates pined for, and Illumi got it mostly out of good old fashioned nepotism. He’d make bank, Killua was sure of it, so he didn’t think twice about it when Illumi pulled up to valet parking outside of Yorknew’s esteemed Asian Cuisine Marketplace.

The Marketplace was a massive, five-star multilevel food court. They bypassed the first floor in favor of the second where the Zoldycks used to spend their Sunday afternoons splitting bowls of hotpot and arguing over what the Hell to put in it. Their flavor palates could never coincide.

They were silent as they passed the marble archway into the sushi bar. The corner of the bar was empty, so Killua took one edge while Illumi took the adjacent one. Hisoka perched himself on the stool beside Illumi and, waving the waiter over, got them three menus.

Killua put his backpack between his feet and said, “Alright then. Out with it.”

“Straight to the point,” Illumi hummed. He propped his chin on his hand and studied Killua for a moment with those wide, vacant eyes. Killua frowned at him as he leant back in his stool and crossed his arms. “I just want the best for you, Kill.”

“Your ‘best’ is my ‘worst’.”

“So dramatic,” he sighed. “Do our words not have value to you?”

“They do,” Killua said. He looked down at the crimson candle holder in front of him as he said, “They cost about as much as gas station gum.”

“Alluka applied to Yorknew,” he said.

Killua’s breath stilled in his throat. He looked up from the crimson candle. Alluka . Killua knew that some day soon Alluka would pick a university, and given their parents’ track record, Killua knew it’d have to be Yorknew University. Alluka’s grades were good enough for Yorknew Law, too.

The difference, though, was a matter of how much value their parents gave to Alluka.

“How much does that cost to you?” Illumi inquired, tipping his head to the side.

Killua swallowed hard. He clenched his fists against his biceps. His tongue felt numb in his mouth the longer he stared at Illumi’s unblinking eyes. “What does Dad want with her?” he asked.

The waiter interrupted them. Illumi and Killua had both been there enough times to know their orders by heart, and relayed them without taking their eyes off of one another. When the waiter left, Illumi cleared his throat and said:

“Nothing in particular… if you play nice.”

Killua ground his teeth together as Illumi sat forward on his stool.

“He’s willing to pay for Alluka’s education, but the major depends on what you decide to do.”

“Did she make it in?” Killua said. Yorknew Law went unspoken.

“We’ll know by next month.”

Killua relaxed back in his seat. There was a chance that Alluka purposefully bombed the entry exam, but even if that was the case, Alluka’s education wasn’t necessarily paid for . There was no way he could fathom putting Alluka through the bullshit he had to deal with this semester. It’d only get worse from here on out, but Killua could handle the workload.

He didn’t want Alluka to have to handle anything.

He reached for his water glass and said, “We’ll talk next month, then.”

“Registration is happening soon, isn’t it? We should talk now,” Illumi insisted.

“No, we don’t,” Killua bit out, teeth clenched. He eyed Illumi sharply and said, “I liked you better when you didn’t have your nose in my shit.”

“I’m just a concerned brother, is all,” Illumi said.

“Right,” Killua droned. He met eyes with Hisoka, who closed his fist beneath his chin. Hisoka’s calm facade unnerved Killua to an alarming degree. Killua looked away for the sake of his sanity and chugged his glass of water to avoid conversation.

The strange thing about the American education system involved parental income. Socially, Killua was disowned, but on paper? The government didn’t know that and therefore assumed his parents were paying for his education. Their six figure income put Killua’s financial aid down the drain and, as he racked up debt by ten grand every semester, he had a shit ton of scholarships to apply for by the end of the semester if he didn’t want to drown in it.

That meant passing OChem and keeping his GPA up. The second would only be easy if the first wasn’t so fucking hard .

Killua put his hands in his hair to keep his head from falling on his homework. Lecture was tomorrow, which meant homework was due by midnight, and he spent that entire day forcing himself not to dial Alluka up. His mother wasn’t above tapping cell lines and tracking Alluka’s phone activity, and Killua really did not want to deal with his mother.

But, whenever his phone rang, he hoped to God that it was Alluka.

He lunged for his phone, only to sigh when he saw Zushi’s name on the screen. He put his phone to his ear and said, “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Tell me why Gon is interrogating me about you.”

Killua dropped back onto his futon with a groan. He put a hand on his face and shook his head, “It’s complicated. I’m in the middle of OChem, so could we maybe talk about this after the deadline?”

“We talk about it now because we’re literally in the elevator heading to your dorm right now.”

“Please tell me you at least brought homework to work on.”

“Hell yeah. I’m not a complete idiot,” Zushi said.

“Ah, so we agree that you are a partial idiot,” Killua said. Zushi cursed him out and hung up. As soon as the line went dead, Killua stared at his phone only to spew obscenities when he realized what Zushi said. We . He’s in the elevator with someone else and, more likely than not, it was Gon Freecss.

Killua lunged to his feet once again and looked frantically around his dorm room. He threw his comforter over his messy sheets and grabbed his discarded clothes in a flurry. He kicked them into the closet and slid the door shut just as a knock sounded on his room door.

He sprayed his least overwhelming cologne and walked through it on his way to the door. He ran a hand through his hair, frantic and fast, before unlocking the door and swinging it open.

“Now is not the time,” Killua said as he held the door open for Zushi. He dropped his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see Gon’s face as Zushi marched inside and claimed the futon where Killua’s homework was spread out. Zushi stacked the papers up to make room.

“Why not?” Gon said. Killua let the door swing shut after him and, when Gon passed him, he lifted his eyes to watch as Gon took in the sight of his room. Killua’s room was relatively plain in comparison to most of the rooms on this floor. Really, the only form of decoration he had was a dark black and purple mandala tapestry over his bed and the futon. His desk was still decked out with shit from home, which meant an expensive monitor and desktop he planned on selling if need be.

Gon pointed to the tapestry and said, “Nice.”

“You look stressed,” Zushi commented.

“I’m freaking out,” Killua said, throwing his arms out. “My brother stopped by yesterday and I’ve been in existential crisis mode ever since.”

Zushi sat up fast, eyes wide. “You’re kidding.”

Killua put a hand to his hair and said, “I fucking wish I was. He came with his psychotic boy toy and my grandpa’s Ferrari. Shit doesn’t get weirder than that.”

“Wow, I am not caught up,” Gon said. He jumped onto Killua’s bed and kicked off his shoes. “Your brother’s gay and has a Ferrari?”

“ That’s what you got out of this?” Killua said.

Zushi waved his hands in the air and said, “What’d he say?”

Killua dragged his hands over his face and moaned, “My sister applied to YU. My dad’s willing to pay for her education if I switch back to Yorknew Law. She’d get to major in whatever she wants, but—”

“You’d be in criminal law,” Zushi finished.

Killua collapsed into his desk chair with a hand over his eyes. “I spent all afternoon applying to scholarships for next semester. If I can pay off my tuition I could work for Alluka’s, and I know her grades are good, but I just don’t want her to have to deal with this shit.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Zushi confessed, eyes on his lap.

“Have you talked to her?” Gon asked. Killua dropped his hand to look at Gon, who was in the complete draw-me-like-one-of-your-French-girls poses on Killua’s bed. He was sprawled all over Killua’s comforter and fuck it , if Killua wasn’t already planning on never washing that comforter again.

He shook his head, trying to dispel the heat flooding elsewhere . He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he cleared his throat and said, “N-No, I haven’t. I can’t call her. My mom’s recorded mine and Alluka’s phone calls before.”

“Fuck, dude,” Gon breathed, and it sounded so gay coming out of his mouth that Killua looked desperately to Zushi in hopes that he’d play the responsible roommate card.

Zushi shrugged uselessly.

Killua sighed. “So… yeah. I have to pass OChem or else . I’m applying to scholarships that require a 3.8 GPA and if I fail OChem, I’ll be toast and they’ll use my blood for strawberry jam.”

“Then let’s get it done!” Zushi declared. He dropped his backpack between his legs and unzipped it.

Killua moved to join Zushi on the futon, his eyes trailing over to where Gon watched them with those bright, amber eyes. Gon flopped onto his belly and positioned his chin on his folded forearms. His eyes met Killua’s and the silence that stretched between them confirmed Killua’s suspicions. The locker room was still on both of their minds, and Gon wasn’t going to let it go.

For now, he was grateful to have Zushi as a buffer.

They studied late into the night, trying to make the midnight deadline on their OChem homework. When that was done, Killua was back to his paper and, likewise, Zushi was back to writing anatomy notecards. All the while, Gon lounged on Killua’s bed and occasionally Killua would look up and find Gon’s eyes diverting from where they had been focused on the two of them on the futon.

The clock ticked closer to midnight. Eventually, Gon said, “Don’t you need to be up in five hours?”

Killua looked up, startled by the accuracy of that number. Gon was looking at him, and Killua remembered, Oh, right, we swapped schedules .

“Yeah, I do,” Killua said, slowly.

“We should get out of your hair then,” Zushi said. He gathered up his notecards as he added, “Kurapika said there’s gonna be a pop quiz tomorrow to prep for the exam.”

“Oh, joy,” Killua groaned.

“Tell me about it,” Zushi said with a roll of his eyes. He stood up and zipped up his backpack. “I’ll see you tomorrow in Hell.”

“Yeah, see ya,” Killua said, leaning forward over his knees as he watched Zushi tap on Gon’s arm to get him moving. Gon rolled off of Killua’s bed and gracefully landed on his feet.

Killua started to pack his backpack for the morning, if only to distract himself from Gon’s receding ass as it headed to the door. Zushi said goodbye again before the door closed and was promptly punctuated by Zushi crying, “ Hey! ”

Killua looked up as the lock on the door clicked.

Gon was still in the room after having completely slammed the door in Zushi’s face. Killua’s jaw dropped as Gon strode back to him and crouched in front of Killua’s half-zipped backpack, his eyes on Killua’s face.

Killua would have stammered and stuttered for eternity if Gon hadn’t said a word. “I don’t like to have serious conversations over text or on the phone,” Gon said. “I wanted to see you in person.”

Killua clamped his mouth shut and frowned at him. Gon clasped his hands together between his legs and said, “Just—tell me if I did something wrong. I thought we were both into this. Did I misread something?”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Killua said. Gon stared at him expectantly, and Killua couldn’t maintain eye contact without wanting to simultaneously vomit and make out with him. Killua clenched his hands against his knees and stressed again, “I’m serious, Gon. Just leave it be.”

Gon moved as if to stand. Killua’s heart stammered in his chest as Gon leant towards him. They stared each other down, and Killua’s eyes fluttered between Gon’s as he felt the heat of Gon’s arm brushing past his shoulder, his hand clutching at the back cushion of the futon.

Killua’s breath shuddered out. He smelled sharp peppermint on Gon’s breath, which had to mean that at some point, Gon had popped a mint in. He wondered how long ago Gon had done that. Was it when he was finishing OChem or writing his paper?

“Tell me,” Gon breathed, and the rest went unsaid. The inflection in his voice was too similar to the one in Knuckle Bine’s bedroom, and the cheeky way Killua had teased him over the phone.

“Do it,” Killua demanded.

Gon cocked his head to the side. “Do what?”

Killua reached up as if to strangle him. Instead, he clutched onto Gon’s jawline and dragged him forward. He pushed himself to the edge of the seat, meeting Gon’s open mouth with his tongue grazing against the underside of Gon’s when he slipped into Killua’s mouth without hesitation. Killua let out a barely restrained moan of content upon the slow, shaky exhale of his breath into Gon’s mouth. The chill of Gon’s peppermint tasted like candy on Killua’s lips, sticking to the inside of his cheek where Gon’s tongue roamed and scoured every inch of Killua’s mouth in the matter of a minute.

When they let go, Killua felt lightheaded, out of breath, and dizzy. He pushed up after Gon as he straightened to his feet, grabbing Gon by the shoulder and crushing their lips together with enough force to send Gon staggering to the middle of the room. Killua stepped over his backpack, gasping at the touch of Gon’s warm finger against the skin of his stomach.

When their lips separated with an audible sucking sound, Gon stepped back to the door. Killua forced his feet to stay where they were, letting Gon’s hands slip from his waist. He watched as Gon dragged a thumb across his sore bottom lip with a grin.

Gon gave him a slanted, drunken smile before turning back to the door. He unlocked it and swung it open, and they both came face-to-face with the sight of Zushi jumping back from the door where he had been standing with his ear against the wood.

“What’s, uh… What’s going on?” Zushi stammered, clasping his hands behind him innocently.

Gon stepped out and closed the door as he said, “Just clearing something up. Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Freecss was a no-show the next day at Starbucks, which was weird, because Gon was such a religious regular that even Killua’s consistent coworkers commented on it. They had all grown used to the same faces coming in around the same time every day—there was the guy with green hair that was now blue, the biochemical engineer girl with square glasses, the runner that came by every morning fifteen minutes after open, and then there was Gon Freecss.

The day before, Killua had strategically busied himself in the backroom for the duration of Gon’s stop at Starbucks. But now, he was curious to see what Gon would do next.

Gon’s missing person case, however, gave Killua enough fuel to make his decision.

So what if they didn’t date? Killua didn’t have the time or the attention span to dedicate to a longterm partner anyhow. Considering his debt which Gon was now blatantly made aware of, Killua would feel guilty for dragging that into a relationship anyway. If the relationship went well, whoever it was with, and he got married… he didn’t want his partner to pay for his shitty medical school bills. He’d be in school for another eight years, anyway.

And he had fun just fucking with Freecss without consequence. Why did he have to get his panties in a twist about Freecss dating other people? If anything, it was a blessing and a stress-reliever for Killua.

He’d be the same before and after Gon Freecss. They didn’t have to be permanent.

With this decision made, Killua went to OChem more hopeful and more awake than he had been the past week. He beat Zushi and Kurapika to the lecture hall at which point he checked his phone, his thumb nail between his teeth as he saw a notification from Snapchat.

18m ago Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

17m ago from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

14:13 Gon: You think I could fit an entire pancake into my mouth?

14:30 Kill: Excuse me but what?

14:31 Gon: Like, an entire pancake would it fit into my mouth

14:32 Kill: You’re a hazard to society

14:32 Kill: And a coward. Two pancakes, easily.

14:34 Gon: You have so much faith in me

14:34 Gon: So just hypothetically speaking I could probably deep throat

14:35 Kill: I don’t know what life you live don’t ask me

14:35 Gon: You know your dick better than I do

14:37 Kill: So are we now talking about deep throating MY 🍆 specifically?

14:37 Gon is typing…

14:38 Kill: Since when did we go from pancakes to 🍆 ???

14:39 Gon: It was on my mind

14:40 Kill: Of course it was

14:40 Gon: So what’s the truth deep throat or not???

14:41 Kill: I don’t know the stats of your throat dude

14:41 Kill: Class is starting soon

14:42 Gon: To 🍆 or not to 🍆 ?

14:42 Kill: I swear to God, Freecss

14:43 Gon: 🍆🤲🧐???

14:44 Kill: Imma bout to rage karate chop you in the goddamn scrotum

Killua shut off his phone and ignored how it buzzed in his pocket all through lecture. Zushi glanced at him in the middle of class when it vibrated nonstop for a solid few seconds, and Killua pointedly stared ahead and ignored the call and Zushi’s stares. He crossed his arms and sat back in his seat as their professor put a video up on the projector and dimmed the lights.

At the end of class, Kurapika’s prediction was correct. Somehow, Killua survived the pop quiz feeling more or less dejected about his chances of scoring higher than 50%. When he left class, he handed in his paper and waited for Zushi at the entrance to the lecture hall.

When the lecture hall door opened and Zushi stepped out, Killua pushed off of the brick wall and wandered over. Zushi pinned him with a finger to the chest and said, “Mind catching me up on the latest?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ Tell me why Gon is already planning his outfit for tomorrow night? He never plans ahead.”

“What makes you think I know?”

“Maybe because he keeps wondering if it’ll match whatever you wear like we’re going to prom or something?” Zushi said. Killua rolled his eyes and laughed nervously. He sounded giddy, like he was two seconds away from twirling his hair around his finger. Zushi shoved him in the arm as they staggered out of the building.

Killua threw his head back laughing and waved his hands dismissively. “ Nothing ! I swear on my life. He didn’t even come into my work today.”

“Wait, really?” Zushi said. Killua nodded, but Zushi fell behind. Killua slowed to a stop and turned around to find Zushi standing there, staring at him. Zushi put a hand to his chin, brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and slowly said, “But… this morning he said he had plans to see someone. I just… I thought it was you .”

Killua blinked. He bit his lip as Zushi stared him down, concern taking over his expression. Killua shrugged dismissively, but that only caused Zushi to reach for his arm. “It’s not a big deal,” Killua said, shaking his head.

“But—I thought you two were—?”

“We aren’t anything,” Killua insisted, turning away. Zushi still had him by the sleeve of his high-collared sweatshirt. He tugged a hand against the collar, unsure why he felt embarrassed that Zushi know. He didn’t care with Kurapika, but Zushi was different . Zushi was Gon’s roommate .  “I’m serious. I’m not… It doesn’t bother me.”

He could see Zushi staring at him from the corner of his eye. He put a hand up to scratch at his hairline as he sighed and insisted again, “Freecss and I… I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I can handle myself with fuckboys, all right?”

“Yeah, but I just… guess I wanted to think that Gon was better than a fuckboy,” Zushi confessed with a pout.

“I mean, the guy is in a frat.”

“I know…”

“And he wears salmon pants.”

“I know… He’s so fuckboy material. I don’t know why I didn’t think about it before.”

Killua shrugged. “Guess serial monogamist is just a euphemism then,” he said. Zushi laughed and Killua smiled as he clapped Zushi on the shoulder. They were just outside of the gym then, so Killua gave Zushi a squeeze and said, “I’ll see you later. We should get some shit done tomorrow.”

“Yes, agreed,” Zushi said.

As Killua climbed the steps to the gym doors, he glanced over his shoulder to watch Zushi walk off towards Ren Hall. He hooked his thumbs on his backpack straps as he spun back around and pushed into the facility.

He scanned his card and hurried down past the free weights. He hadn’t told Gon that he planned on stopping by the gym, or that he ever even agreed to keep going with this gym buddy bullshit. If he was going to commit himself to Not Caring, by God, he’d handle this shit like a pro.

Killua backed into the locker room and spun around, striding with confidence to the far aisle where he could hear a locker slamming shut. When he turned the corner, he intercepted Freecss himself with his eyes on his smartwatch. When they nearly collided, Gon jumped and looked up, saying, “Sorry, I— Killua! ”

Killua startled when Gon’s voice cracked in surprise. Gon cleared his throat and shook his head, alarmed. “What’re you—? I thought—?”

“Changed my mind,” he said. He glanced back at Gon’s closed locker, hesitating to take his backpack off. He dragged his eyes back to Gon, who was staring at him with wide, amber eyes. “If… that’s okay?”

Gon’s shock dissolved into a bright smile. He nodded quickly and said, “Yeah, definitely. I’ll just wait here for you.”

Gon took a seat at the end of the bench. Killua shrugged his backpack off and went to one of the tall lockers next to Gon’s. The unused lockers were left unlocked until the keypad was activated, so Killua typed in a random code and saved it before pulling his gym clothes out from his backpack. He stuffed the rest into the locker and started unbuttoning his work shirt.

He glanced back at Gon, who he caught turning away.

Gon looked at his hands, his back to Killua. He cleared his throat. “So, um, what made you change your mind?” he asked.

Killua slipped his arms out of his shirt and folded it up into his locker as he said, “Figured I can’t fault you for being an idiot.”

When he looked again, Gon’s eyes were back on him. Killua rolled his eyes and undid the button on his jeans, toeing off his shoes. “Zushi mentioned you were seeing someone today? A date or something?”

He was met with silence. He tugged his jeans down and ignored the way he shivered the longer Gon stayed silent. The locker room wasn’t cold , necessarily, but Killua felt rigid, frosting over so that every movement was jerky as he jumped into his sweats and snapped the elastic waistband on.

When he ducked down to tie his shoes, Gon slid over on the bench, inching closer. He was on his phone and, when Killua sat to put his other shoe on, Gon held his phone out.

Killua frowned at the app he had open. It was his calendar, the same one he had screenshot and sent Killua a week before. This time, though, there was an extra color that colored a red stripe across the days of the month. Killua squinted at it, realizing it was the time he slotted for visiting Starbucks.

Each one had a name.

“I know I have a problem,” Gon said.

Killua looked up and stared at the lockers ahead of him. He remembered what Zushi had said about Gon being a serial monogamist. It so went beyond that.

“You’re…” Killua started, unsure how to word it.

Gon put a hand to his head, leaning over his knees as he groaned, “I’m addicted to Tinder. I started using it over the summer. Knuckle helped me make an account and I have dates blocked out through November.”

“Jesus,” Killua breathed. “Can’t you cancel them?”

Gon glanced over at him. Killua snapped his mouth shut and shook his head quickly. Yet another statement that slipped past his filter. “Never mind. Ignore me,” he said, grabbing his cutoff t-shirt. “It’s your life, dude. I don’t give a shit.”

“I just… can’t break off shit over text or on the phone,” Gon said, shaking his head. He leant back on the bench with a long, pained sigh. “I don’t have social anxiety, but shit like that… I physically can’t do it. It’s why I set up dates to meet up as soon as I start talking to people. You can’t get the full story of someone over text, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Killua said. His head emerged from the shirt and he stood to slam his locker shut. “Can’t say I’ve ever seen the appeal of Tinder, though.”

Gon stared at him, frozen on the bench as Killua walked ahead to leave the locker room. He paused at the end of the aisle to look back at Gon, who scrambled to his feet and all but screamed, “You’ve never used Tinder before?! ”

Killua stared at him in alarm. He startled when Gon came at him, lunging over the bench, and cruising up as he said, “Give me your phone right now . We’re making you an account.”

An incomprehensible squeak came out of Killua’s mouth when Gon assaulted him to yank his phone out of his pocket. Killua staggered, disoriented, as he said, “Y-You’re just saying that because you’re the one addicted to it! ”

Gon took Killua by the hand. As Killua was shookening about that, Gon took the opportunity to press Killua’s thumb to the finger ID button on his phone to unlock it. Thoroughly frazzled, Gon dragged Killua towards the locker room exit, saying, “Today we’re doing core. I’ll take care of your profile for you.”

“O-Okay, but—” Killua started, only to curse when Gon pushed him from behind, urging him to lead the way to the second floor of the gym. And then, as if Killua wasn’t already wiped out by the climb, Gon set him to work at the far, remote corner of the gym where Killua could die in semi-peace.

They stretched together, arms over their heads with Gon holding Killua’s phone in front of him as Tinder loaded. When at long last it was open, Killua relayed his email and suggested password, a little out of breath from doing lunges across the length of the windows overlooking the campus.

On the rubbery ground, Gon put his legs out in front of him and touched Killua’s phone to the tops of his shoes, completely folded over his thighs. Killua could barely touch his shins without wanting to die . It was at this point that Gon asked, “Age?”

“Eighteen,” Killua answered.

Gon put that in, muttering under his breath, “Male… Gender preference?”

“Men, eighteen to twenty-one,” he said.

Gon leant back and spread his legs wide, borderline doing the splits. Killua rolled his eyes away to keep from staring as Gon put his forearms to the rubber mat, idly tapping away at Killua’s profile. “Have you dated before?”

“Is that one of the questions?” Killua asked.

Gon shook his head. “Nah, just curious.”

Killua shrugged and that was that.

“Is there anything specific you want in your bio? Otherwise I’ll just make it plain and simple,” Gon said.

“Literate sci-fi junkies only,” Killua said with a grunt, reaching as far as he could so his fingers hooked on the edge of the mat. “Death becomes me.”

“‘Dead… inside… Please… open…’”

“I swear to God, Freecss,” Killua snarled, trying to reach for the phone, but Gon held it out of his proximity. Thankfully, Gon erased the sexy, edgy Walking Dead reference in favor of the following sentence that Gon held out to get Killua’s approval of:

“‘ Just a small-town boy looking for enlightenment, chocolate, and the next space opera,’ ” Killua read aloud. He hummed, genuinely impressed. “You’ve nailed the memes, the sweets, and the sci-fi. It works.”

“Really?” Gon said, all but glowing. He checked his watch and said, “Okay, planks for two minutes.”

“Planks?” Killua repeated. Gon stared at him, his phone slipping a little from Gon’s hands.

“You don’t… Christ, I really am surrounded by amateurs,” Gon sighed, getting up onto his knees.

Killua laughed and said, “Yeah, no shit. What do you think I meant when I said I’ve never set foot in a gym?”

Planks, as it turned out, were invented by the Devil as a hellish torture device to bring mankind to their knees. Killua could barely make it through thirty seconds, and at the twenty second mark, he thought his soul had left his body, sucked into the unforgiving earth two floors below. Gon was on his elbows, back perfectly straight and legs even straighter. He had Killua’s phone between his hands, checking the time on his watch, as he said, “So I’m looking through your photos.”

“Jesus Christ,” Killua cursed, arms shaking. He put his forehead to his fists where he had them clasped together in front of him.

“Your profile picture on Facebook is pretty okay… I’m gonna use that and then I’ve enlisted Zushi’s help. He’s sent me a screenshot he took of you on Snapchat.” Gon held out the phone for Killua to see. Killua dropped his stomach onto the mat with a gasp, panting as he stared at the photo of himself. It was a profile view of him during the golden hour, the sunset making his eyes crystal clear and shining blue. He looked like a pale, pale Asian angel.

He swallowed hard and said, “Y-Yeah, sounds good.”

Gon cropped out the caption he had had on the photo and stuck it onto Killua’s profile. He pulled another from Facebook, and Killua, foregoing the next minute and a half of planks, came to watch from over Gon’s shoulder. He watched as Gon saved a photo of Killua during a vacation he and his family took the previous summer for Killua’s senior graduation present. They went hiking in the Alps in Switzerland, and the photo of choice was a full body shot of Killua in the sun with the snowy mountains as a backdrop.

Gon sifted through the three photos before saving the profile. “Great. So now we get to look at other peoples’ profiles and decide if we like them or not.”

“‘ We’ ?” Killua said. Gon seemed to realize the error there, and as he tensed, Killua took the chance to steal his phone back.

He sat crosslegged beside Gon, he craned over to watch as Killua went to the main screen of Tinder. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to , but he had to admit, he was a bit fascinated. The entire concept of rating humans and judging profiles evoked some dark, narcissistic part of him that urged him to begin looking.

Gon was explaining which way to swipe. Killua ixnayed the first guy, which brought a new face to the screen that stopped Killua in his tracks.

Gon scrambled up with a gasp. Killua jumped at the sound, his hand stilled over a very familiar face and a very new sense of dismay. Beneath his thumb, at the whim of Killua’s mood, was Knuckle Bine .

“Swipe left!” Gon cried.

“Does that mean I don’t like him?” Killua squeaked. Gon paused the timer on his watch before reaching over to do it for Killua, who yanked his phone out of Gon’s reach.

Gon stared at him and, likewise, Killua stared back. He was shocked that he was suddenly so defensive of Knuckle Bine’s profile. Knuckle Bine, yet another famous face on campus. He didn’t realize that Knuckle was bi , or even gay , but alas, there they were on opposite sides of Tinder.

Gon still had his hand out, almost threateningly. “Don’t—” Gon started.

Killua rolled away from him to read the profile in peace. He stiff-armed Gon when he tried to stop Killua from reading.

“‘ Knuckle, 21. Fun loving dork with a penchant for playing ball (of the football variety). Ask me about my tattoo, ’” he read aloud. He turned back to Gon, who was on his hands and knees behind Killua. Killua’s hand was a few inches from his face, so Killua dropped his hand to see Gon’s expression of pure shock. “He has a tattoo?”

“Please left swipe him, I beg you,” Gon said. He clasped his hands together like he was praying.

Killua looked back at Knuckle’s smiley face on the profile. It looked like a professional photo, taken of him as he was laughing with those cheeky dimples bracketing his smile. His skin was incredibly tan in the photo, so Killua had to assume that it was taken just last summer.

He right-swiped Knuckle.

The screen went dark and Killua’s profile picture popped up next to Knuckle’s. “ It’s a match! ”

“What does that mean?” Killua said, holding it up to Gon.

Gon was inexplicably wordless for a hot second. After a few seconds, he sat back on his heels and rubbed the back of his hand, more confused than anything. “He already…? That—That just means he swiped right on you, too.”

Killua pointed a finger to his chest and said, “He liked my profile?”

Gon nodded, brow furrowed.

“So now what?”

“Now you can… message him, I guess?” Gon said, slowly. He came to sit beside Killua as Killua opened up his DMs with thee Knuckle Bine.

17:23 Killua: Inquiring about your tattoo.

17:23 Knucks: Image attachment

It was a photo of Knuckle pulling his shirt up and revealing a very defined six-pack of caramel, toned skin. Killua bit his thumbnail to keep from chewing his lip to an early grave. He let out a laugh when he found the tattoo at Knuckle’s left hip—a colored, pixel tattoo of good old fashioned Super Mario.

“Wait a minute,” Gon said, leaning over. His shoulder pressed up against Killua’s as he squinted at the photo and pointed to the glimpse of a background behind Knuckle. “He’s… He’s upstairs! Oh, I’m going to kick his nuts!”

Gon was on his feet and running before Killua could stop him. Frantic, Killua pushed himself up and realized that there was no way in hell that he’d beat the Hunter running back to Knuckle, so his thumbs flew across the keyboard in a panic.

17:24 Killua: FREECSS IS ON HIS WAY TO KICK YOUR DICK

17:25 Knucks: O shit are you serious

17:25 Killua: T-2 seconds

17:25 Knucks: Fuck rain check du-a-a;kgjalk;jgalkjagasdgh

Killua jogged up the stairs, legs hot and sore already from stretches—who got sore from stretches, anyway? Evidently him—and emerged at the third floor where he scanned the track in search of Knuckle and Gon. When he did find them, Gon had Knuckle on the ground, his ass on Knuckle’s chest, and tickling him ruthlessly under the armpits.

Knuckle was howling with laughter. He screamed for Gon to stop, trying to buck him off, but it was all to no avail. Gon’s monstrous thighs had him trapped. When Killua jogged up, he felt like someone had dragged his corpse out of the grave. He slumped, gasping for air, and said, “Guys, come on, you’re causing a scene.”

Some runners on the track arced around them and continued on, looking back in amusement as Gon screamed at Knuckle, “ THIS IS WHAT YOU GET! ”

“F-Fuck! Sh-Shit, oh my God,” Knuckle gasped, tears at the corners of his eyes. At last, he grabbed Gon by the wrists and forced him to an abrupt halt. He flung Gon off of him and, on one knee, held Gon still. Gon looked like a cat getting ready to pounce again. Knuckle let out a shuddering breath and said, “Okay! Okay, are we done? Did you get it out of your system?”

“No,” Gon snarled, trying to shake himself out of Knuckle’s grasp. Knuckle retaliated by getting up and, in one fluid motion, stepping behind Gon. He crossed Gon’s arms in front of him and heaved Gon up, kicking and shrieking, from the ground. Killua stepped back to avoid being kicked in the balls.

Gon yelped as Knuckle swung them back and forth before at last coming to a stop, facing Killua. Knuckle grinned at him from over Gon’s head. Gon was scowling furiously like some grumpy cat caught in a less than desirable predicament.

“So I hear you’re an excellent kissing partner,” Knuckle said with a wink.

All of the heat in the universe collided in Killua’s face and threatened to burst. Meanwhile, Gon threw his head back and screamed, “ KNUCKLE! ”

“What’re you doing Thursday night?” Knuckle asked as Gon thrashed wildly in his grasp. At this rate, Killua wouldn’t be surprised to hear on the news that somehow, the star running back had sprained his wrist. “There’s a party as Sigma that night.”

“Y-Yeah, I heard,” Killua squeaked.

“Do you have a date for the party?” Knuckle went on to ask. Using Gon’s own hand, he muffled Gon’s mouth where he was slurring obscenities and calling attention from all corners of the third floor.

Killua laughed, unable to hide his smile as he shook his head. “No, not really,” he said. He looked at Gon, whose eyes widened in his direction. Killua put his hands on his hips, leaning his weight to one hip as he said, “Why, are you asking me something, Bine?”

Knuckle grinned and said, “Maybe I am. You in?”

Killua nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m in.”

Knuckle’s slanted, cocky smile brought a cheeky grin to Killua’s face. Knuckle nodded and said, “That settles it, then. What do you drink? Malibu?”

“According to Freecss, yeah, I drink Malibu.”

“Sweet, I’ll pick some up. Class in the morning?”

“Work, but I can call in sick.”

“I advise that you call off now,” Knuckle said. Killua laughed and said he would. Satisfied, Knuckle let go of the now stunned Gon. Gon staggered to his feet, stuck staring at Killua as Knuckle waved his phone in the air for Killua to see. A silent suggestion to text him if need be.

With that, Knuckle clapped Gon on the shoulder and said, “See you later, dude,” before continuing his run around the track.

Gon swayed under the force of Knuckle’s slap. He rubbed his shoulder and glowered at Knuckle’s back. Killua’s insides felt jittery from the thrill of talking to Knuckle Bine . Last Year Killua would be fangirling on the floor right about now.

Killua didn’t text Knuckle more than a few times the rest of that day and the next before the party. He didn’t mind it—in fact, his ego was just thrilled that the quarterback even swiped right on him. That was really all there was to it (and also, maybe, quite possibly the fact that he had also fantasized about the quarterback annihilating his head with his thighs).

Zushi once again joined Killua at Hatsu Hall and snuck into the dorm tower with every intent of sitting on Killua’s futon and watching the show unravel. When Zushi came to Killua’s door, he found the door propped open with a wooden wedge and the sound of Leorio’s voice booming from in the room.

“You can’t wear a leather jacket to a frat party! You’ll get too hot, take it off, and someone will steal it! ” Leorio shouted.

“But it looks good ,” Killua insisted. The leather jacket was flattering on him, and as he turned to check himself out in the floor length mirror Leorio brought, he found Zushi staring at them from the threshold. Zushi was wearing a plain black polo and light grey skinny jeans. The real star of his outfit, however, happened to be a pair of killer sneakers.

Killua looked him up and down and whistled.

Leorio said, “Damn, looking good, kid.”

Zushi’s cheeks colored pink. “Thanks, man,” he said, smiling shyly. He turned to Killua and said, “You ready?”

“No! Absolutely not! ” Leorio shouted, startling both of them. He pointed at Killua’s brown, ankle-high shoes. “If this man is wearing brown shoes , he cannot wear a black leather jacket. Right?!”

“I-I guess, I don’t… really know,” Zushi confessed.

Leorio turned to Killua for a translation. “He’s straight,” Killua said.

Leorio blinked in alarm. His glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose as he said, “Wait, you befriend straight guys?”

Killua groaned and went back to his closet. He put the leather jacket back and pulled out a light black sweatshirt and said, “Okay, then what about this?”

“Yes.”

“It’s also black! ” Killua shouted.

“It’s not shiny , though!” Leorio insisted. Killua groaned again and started yanking off his shirt and swapping it with the sweatshirt. He was wearing a pair of loose, dark grey pants that rolled up at the hems, showing off a sliver of his purple socks.

Zushi pointed to them and said, “Nice touch.”

“Thanks,” Killua said, turning his heel to the side to put them on display. He put his arms out in a gesture to Leorio and said, “We good?”

Leorio gave him one last once-over before holding up a thumbs up. “Yes, good.”

Leorio carted his mirror back out into the hallway as Killua shut off the light in his room and ushered Zushi out. He locked the door and slipped the keycard into the zipper pocket on the waistband of his pants.

Leorio wished them the best as they stepped into the elevator. Zushi waved until the doors shut at which point Zushi turned to Killua and said in a dull, vaguely angry voice, “What the Hell did you do.”

Killua pretended to busy himself by rolling up the sleeves on his sweatshirt as he said in a sweet voice, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You just like to stir shit up, don’t you? Poke a stick around in it, slosh it around in your mouth a little.”

“Bullshit tastes like candy sometimes,” Killua confessed with a diabolical smile. “It’s oh-so sweet tonight. I can taste it already.”

Zushi looked up at the floor numbers diminishing on the screen as he shook his head, saying, “I can’t believe I’m best friends with a sociopath.”

Killua snickered. “I have empathy—most days.” But that night, he was ready to screw around and, as Zushi put it, stir the shit pot . His ingredients: A healthy dose of Knuckle Bine and a surplus of feeding Gon Freecss his own medicine.

20:45 Knucks: We’re pre-gaming if you and Zushi Roll wanna join

21:22 Killua: Sorry just saw this

21:32 Killua: Enroute to Sigma Alpha

21:40 Killua: Be my first dance partner? 😘

21:42 Knucks: Wouldn’t have it any other way 😎

19:30 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

19:32 Gon: Are you really coming to the party tonight? I didn’t think you were into it

20:35 Read ✔︎

20:46 Gon: I’m worried D: Killuaaaa

20:57 Read ✔︎

20:58 Gon: STOP LEAVING ME ON READ D:

21:01 Read ✔︎

21:22 Killua: O Sorry just saw this

21:22 Gon: 😡

21:23 Gon: You’re gonna get it 😤

21:26 Killua: Get what? 😘

21:27 Killua: You gonna spank me for being naughty?

21:28 Gon: 😳🤭

21:55 Killua: Hot wax, perhaps?

22:01 Killua: Freecss?

22:10 Killua: Comin’ in hot (and sexy as hell) 🥳

Chapter Text

Killua was already at Sigma by the time he texted Freecss that he was arriving soon. In fact, he was already on the dance floor, hips bouncing to the rhythm of his heels tapping on the tiles, hands clapping and raising over his head with the lights flashing over him and the circle of onlookers cheering him on.

He rocked his hips with sharp, measured jerks that made his flat ass look at least a little flattering. Given the whistles and the chants, he had to have been doing a good job. He popped his knees in and straightened up, heels clicking together before he bounced to the beat and summoned the circle to close in once again.

His ass rocked back against Knuckle Bine, who had his hands back on Killua’s hips as he laughed and shouted, “ Fuck! You’ve got moves, dude!”

The instrumentals took a low, quick beat that rocked them back and forth, Killua half-turned towards Knuckle so he could shout, “I’ve been going to house parties since I was a freshmen in high school!” It was when Illumi was accepted into Yorknew Law and started his own party phase. House parties were different, though. The ones Illumi went to often ended in low-key vibes and a drugged haze.

Frat parties, though? They were all high-strung, unadulterated energy .

Knuckle laughed in his ear as they swayed low and rocked back up. Killua liked it because he was the one setting the pace, not Knuckle, and it gave him a power high.

A girl stopped them with a hand tapping on Knuckle’s arm. Knuckle nodded to her and touched her on the shoulder—a promise for the next dance. Killua turned around to face Knuckle,  his foot slotted between Knuckle’s braced sneakers and straddling his knee as they rolled their hips to the side and back again. As they went, Knuckle said over the music, “I was surprised when you messaged me!”

Killua rolled his eyes and said, “Freecss set up my profile. I don’t think he realized what that meant at all until your profile came up.”

Knuckle threw his head back and laughed. “I still don’t think he fully grasps the concept of Tinder. Almost regret showing it to him, you know?”

Killua tipped his head curiously to the side. Knuckle asked if Gon mentioned that, and Killua said, “Sort of. I thought you endorsed it!”

Knuckle shrugged a little. Their hips rubbed together, the friction burning in Killua’s muscles like hot water trickling down his spine. He shivered at the touch of Knuckle’s hand against his lower back. He leant in close to say in Killua’s ear, “Is it just me, or is this an intervention?”

Killua leant back, surprised. Knuckle smiled at him and said, “I don’t mind it, just figured I’d ask before asking if you wanna take this upstairs.”

Heat flushed to Killua’s face, flooding his skin bright red. Thankfully, with all of the flashing lights, there was no way for Knuckle to know that. “Y-yeah, it’s an intervention,” he confessed with a grimace. “Sorry for dragging you into it.”

“No apology necessary,” Knuckle said. “You can’t apologize for an ass that moves like that, you know.”

“I know, but—” Killua started, biting his lip. He sighed and said, “I do think you’re date material. I was sincere about it when I messaged you.”

“Asking about my tattoo?” Knuckle laughed.

Killua could barely contain his giggle as he nodded. “Yeah, asking about your tattoo. Which, by the way, I was very impressed by. That is the most badass prison tattoo I’ve ever seen.”

Knuckle burst out laughing so hard they stopped dancing. Killua let out a startled laugh when Knuckle grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “ God , you kill me. Have you gotten something to drink yet?”

Killua shook his head, at which point Knuckle took him by the hand and paved the way through the crowd. People parted for them and Killua felt famous just existing near Knuckle. They were stopped more than once and Knuckle introduced him to people Killua likely would never see again. When the clock ticked closer to ten, they managed to escape to the outskirts of the crowds and hurry up to Knuckle’s room for the bottle of Malibu.

Killua felt odd already being familiar with the place. He said nothing about it, though, as he stood near the threshold while Knuckle fetched the Malibu bottle from under his bed along with a case of Coke. Just as Knuckle was cracking open a can, a loud knock sounded behind Killua.

Killua jumped, cursing under his breath as he turned and came face-to-face with a set of hulking pectorals. Killua put his hands out as if to stop them from colliding with his face. He dragged his eyes up to the broad smile of the linebacker, Uvogin.

“Who’s this squirt?” Uvogin said, pointing at Killua.

“Ah, Gon’s toy,” Knuckle said.

“Wow, subtle,” Killua droned, turning back around with a flat stare.

“Well, Gon’s Toy,” Uvogin said. Killua audibly sighed, shoulders slumping as he turned back around. Uvogin held out a hand, so Killua clasped onto it. “Welcome to Sigma Alpha. I think the runt’s in the basement.”

“Thanks, but I’m in the middle of an undercover operation,” Killua said. Uvogin raised an eyebrow at him and reached a hand up to scratch at his thick, black cornrows.

Uvogin pointed at him again and said, “Is he serious?”

“Very… serious…” Knuckle said as he poured a hefty amount of Malibu into Killua’s drink. He held the solo cup out to Killua, who took it and took a sip. There was nothing subtle about the alcohol.

Killua gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks Knuckle,” he said.

“Fuck my boy Gon up,” Knuckle said.

Killua laughed as Uvogin said, “I didn’t know we were plotting to get Gon laid. I didn’t know he was into guys?”

“Dude, your gaydar is nonexistent,” Knuckle said, and as Uvogin argued against it, Killua slipped out of the room and down the hall.

He pulled out his phone to text Gon. He waited at the top of the stairs for a response and when he received none, he left another breadcrumb trail for Gon to pick up on, but he wasn’t catching it. Killua sighed against the rim of his solo cup.

Might as well just let him know I’m here , he thought.

He could feel the music pulsing through the floorboards two stories up. It vibrated against the soles of his feet and drummed with his heartbeat in his chest. He watched as people came and went up the steps before finish off his solo cup. By then, Knuckle and Uvogin were on their way elsewhere, so Killua snuck into Knuckle’s room once more to pour his own drink. The soda and alcohol were still out, so he poured a can of Coke in and topped it off with Malibu.

He made sure to close the door behind him before hurrying to the stairs. He paused at the second floor to sip his drink, his back to the wall across the balcony. The balcony railing was claimed by onlookers, but Killua could still see the party between their silhouetted figures against the colored lights swirling across the room and sending glittered spots across the vaulted ceiling.

Killua sipped his drink idly and texted Zushi to make sure the guy was still alive and well. The response had him grinning. “ Are YOU still alive?! ”

He ran his tongue over his teeth as he tapped in his response and sent it off. He grinned as he pocketed his phone and walked down the length of the railings. He leant against the wall blocking him from the main view from below. It was just enough for him to scan without being seen. He could see Knuckle and Uvogin in the thick of things, close to the speakers at the front where the DJ was, accompanying some girls who were standing on the floor speakers and shaking their asses.

And then, he could see Freecss at the archway near the basement stairs. Arms crossed, brooding—as if Freecss was even capable of brooding—looking disinterested in the party.

Killua could feel the first cup buzzing in his skull. He finished off the majority of his second cup before twisting around and heading down the stairs that deposited him at the edge of the dance floor. He bounded forward with a half-skip in his step, bouncing into the song with his eyes lingering at the archway where he saw Gon’s eyes scanning the crowd.

Killua spun around and flattened his back to the shoulder blades of a beefy-looking athletic guy grinding against a girl bent over and twerking. He waited a few seconds before glancing around the guy to see that Gon’s attention had shifted away from his general direction.

Successfully averted.

Killua wove through the crowd like this. He made accidental partners of guys and girls he used as cover. He slipped into a grinding line (not really by accident, but it seemed like fun until he was a part of it) and rocked his way between couples making out in the middle of the dance floor. He dodged spilled cups and spied Zushi near the windowsills talking to pink-haired Machi. Killua hid behind a basketball player as Zushi spied him and waved. He grinned devilishly, and Zushi’s wave turned into a middle finger.

And then, Killua was at the speakers.

The song shifted to a bright, upbeat tune as Killua dragged his hand along Knuckle’s back, turning him around with just a grazing touch. Knuckle leant down and Killua shouted over the music blasting their eardrums into oblivion, “ Dance with me! ”

“Aye, aye!” Knuckle said with a laugh, taking Killua by the hand and spinning him around like they were in a goddamn ballet.

Killua dropped to the side in a sweeping motion, his heels bouncing to the preppy guitar solo. Knuckle—bless his soul—caught the gist of it and went along for the ride as Killua raised his half-empty solo cup up and down the rest of it in two solid gulps.

As he drank, he looked to the empty archway where Gon had been.

Bingo .

The empty solo cup was swept out of his hand. Killua turned towards it and found Gon standing next to them, looking ticked and wearing a threatening smile as he addressed Knuckle. Knuckle raised his hands in surrender.

Killua stepped forward and, likewise, Knuckle backed off. Killua looked back at him and raised a hand to him. Knuckle clapped onto it and gave him a tight squeeze before passing behind him, back to where Uvogin was sandwiched between the two girls from the speakers.

Killua looked back at Gon, who was sniffing the empty solo cup. Killua flicked it out of Gon’s hand before leaning back to take in the sight of Gon looking absolutely baller .

Gon’s black hair was spiked that evening, adding a solid three inches to his height. Not only that, but his legs were flattered with a pair of high-waisted green slacks synched at the waist by a black belt. As if that wasn’t enough to get Killua’s mouth watering, the white shirt he tucked in was collared, elbow-length, and unbuttoned down to his pecs.

Overall, the look should have been made illegal .

It was too loud to talk, so Gon took him by the hand and dragged him around the outskirts of the crowd. Killua staggered after him, grinning as they passed Knuckle. Knuckle discretely high-fived him.

At the basement archway, Gon took them on a detour elsewhere. Killua hadn’t exactly “toured” the place, so the kitchen was new to him. It was, somehow, empty. Gon slid the doors to the kitchen closed behind them.

Over the bass thumping through the walls, Gon said, “Why did you come with Knuckle?”

Killua leant back against the island counter and said, shrugging, “Why’d you set up Tinder on my phone?”

Gon stared at him like he was crazy. Killua raised his eyebrows at Gon, who had his back in front of the door like he expected Killua to make a break for it. Gon ran a hand through his hair and looked away. The tension in his face faded a little, replaced with just plain stress.

“Do you want me to delete it?” Killua said.

“I—” Gon started, strained. He shook his head and said, eyes on the ground, “You can do whatever you want.”

“Be realistic,” Killua hissed. The sharp edge to his voice had Gon looking up and meeting his eyes. “Do you want me to go dance with Knuckle?”

“ No , fuck no!” Gon cried, only to realize what it meant for Killua to be in possession of a dating app. Gon cursed again and said, “I-I don’t… I don’t know, Killua. Could you just—delete it? Please?”

Killua hid his relief. He caught his breath in his throat before clearing it and saying, “No.” Gon’s shoulders tensed and, honestly, it looked like he was about to cry. “I’m not getting rid of it unless you delete yours.”

“ What? ” Gon cried, and Killua jumped at the severity of it. Realizing that he had completely screamed it, Gon put a hand to his chest and cursed, relaxing a fraction. He looked away and said, “I’m not—! I’m not deleting it . It’s a messaging app, too—I talk to people on it—”

“You’re making excuses for it! It’s a fucking dating app , Freecss!” Killua shouted. Gon flinched. “It’s no different than me using it to message Knuckle.”

“It is different—”

“No it fucking isn’t,” Killua seethed, jabbing a finger in Gon’s direction. “I’m attracted to him, but we’re just talking . What bothers you is the first part. It’s no different than how I feel about your fucked up date schedule. The only reason you talked to anyone on that app is because you’re attracted to them , Freecss.”

Gon’s eyes were the size of Mars by the time Killua finished. Killua straightened his sweatshirt with a furious huff before putting his hands back on the edge of the countertop. Killua stared Gon down, the alcohol in his system making him feel precisely like his power complex had amplified into a full-blown dominatrix. Honestly, he was getting a little hot thinking about Gon on his hands and knees begging for forgiveness. All he needed were a pair of stiletto heels to finish his own look.

Gon took a step towards him, a hand out to reach for him.

Killua put a hand out to stop him. “No. I’m not touching you until you message all of them. You’re leading them on, they deserve to know.”

Gon curled his hand into a fist. He dropped his hands to his sides. His expression twisted to borderline anguish before he smothered it with a sneer. He pegged Killua with middle finger and hissed, “ Fuck you .”

He turned around and flung the sliding door open. It bounced off of the frame as Gon stormed around the corner and out of view. Killua stared at the spot where he disappeared, mouth slightly ajar.

Well, I guess I wasn’t expecting a tantrum , he thought, heart hammering in his chest.

Killua was effectively frozen in the kitchen until he was interrupted by some party goers stumbling in giggling and drunk. Killua blinked and resumed motion. When he left the kitchen, he looked curiously in the direction Gon escaped to. Willing himself not to follow, he returned to the dance floor, however, less inclined to party than before.

His heart fluttered in his chest when his eyes honed in on the image of Freecss in the mosh pit. He would have kept staring at Freecss and sorority girl had he not felt a tap on his shoulder and Knuckle’s voice in his ear saying, “How’d it go?”

Killua cleared his throat and said, “He won’t delete the app. So I’m not talking to him until he does.”

“Well then,” Knuckle sighed, hands on his hips. Killua eyed him up and down before a slow grin came to his lips. Knuckle leant towards him and said with a wicked smile. “ Make him want to talk to you.”

Killua laughed and accepted the hand Knuckle lent him. “Finally, a man who speaks my language,” Killua teased as he followed Knuckle to the front of the crowd.

Since the room was a living room at some point, some furniture was left behind and pushed to the outskirts. The coffee table was no exception, and on it strewn dozens of empty cups and cans that Knuckle kicked aside as he jumped onto the table. They were on the fringes of the party where the speakers deafened everything and numbed Killua’s insides with their steady, rhythmic pulses.

They were right next to the DJ stand where Knuckle leant over to get the DJ’s attention. Killua looked out at the crowd until his eyes settled on Freecss staring in his direction with a look that said, “ Don’t you fucking dare .”

A hand tapped his leg.

He looked down and grinned at the sight of a familiar pink-haired girl raising her eyebrows at him. Killua held a hand out to her and helped her onto the table. She leant into him and shouted over the music, “First the running back and now the quarterback?!”

Killua felt Knuckle push up against his back, saying, “Entertainment for the night!”

An amused grin spread over Machi’s face as the DJ cut the current song short. Annoyed boos sounded across the crowd until a familiar, jazzy saxophone played through the speakers. Thrilled screams spread, and Killua watched as people hyped themselves up for the bass and then, Fifth Harmony blasting on the speakers.

Machi tossed her hair to the side and it fell over her shoulder as she swayed in front of Killua. Killua licked his lip as she hooked her wrists over his shoulders and he felt Knuckle’s hands on his hips, his fingers grazing the V of his hipbone. He shivered at the sensation of Knuckle’s thumb hooking on the waistband of his pants as they dropped to the beat and the three of them rocked the coffee table.

Halfway through the song, Knuckle said something that Killua couldn’t quite hear—it sounded like a question. Killua nodded and less than a second later, at the harmonic vocals, he felt Knuckle drag his tongue up the column of his throat.

Killua shivered. Some people whistled near them, and Machi snickered from in front of Killua as he laughed and elbowed Knuckle in the ribcage. He could feel Knuckle’s smile against his hair where his cheek was pressed against the side of Killua’s head, his grin against Killua’s ear.

“That does it!” Knuckle said over the lull in the music. He started to say something else, but was jerked off balance by someone next to them. Killua staggered to keep his balance, holding onto Machi as he watched Knuckle stagger away, laughing, as Gon-fucking-Freecss stole his spot on the coffee table.

Killua turned to him with a raised eyebrow. When Gon reached for him, Killua instinctively slapped his hand aside. A scandalous “ Ooo !” sounded through the onlookers.

They stared each other down as a peppy guitar riff shook the table beneath them. Gon, with that perfect fucking unbuttoned white shirt, looking entirely too frazzled to function, stared Killua down with a strand of his black hair curled against his forehead. He looked like he was straight out of Grease the musical, and Killua was the star of the show.

Gon leant forward, pointing to himself as he shouted, “Okay!”

Killua went on staring at him. Maybe it was the alcohol, but the world was spinning and blurring at the edges. Gon leant towards him and he didn’t move away. He could feel Machi’s hands on his hips, like she knew he was cruising through vertigo with a purpose. Gon put his hand to Killua’s damp neck, clammy with sweat, and an instant later, he tasted salt on Gon’s lips.

Killua was floating. He clutched onto the waistband of Gon’s green slacks and shivered against his mouth, gasping at the sensation of Gon’s tongue dragging across his bottom lip before he crushed their open mouths together, splitting away with an audible pop . Killua felt Gon’s saliva dry cold on his lip.

Killua staggered a little. Machi still had him by the waist, which helped, but he needed to get off of that fucking coffee table or risk a broken ankle.

Machi hopped off of the table, knocking over a few solo cups. She had Killua by the hand then, helping him down. He more or less tripped off of the coffee table, at which point, Gon steadied him with his hands on his shoulders as he jumped down.

Gon shouted over the music, “Did you hear me?”

Killua straightened a little, a little nauseous, but mostly there. “Did you message them?”

Gon put a hand to Killua’s arm as he furrowed his brow and said, “ What? ”

Killua jabbed him in the chest as he said, slowly and loudly, “Did you. Message them?! ”

Gon shook his head. White-hot fury spiked through him. He made himself clear, didn’t he? What in God’s name gave Gon the impression that he could kiss him, then? His stomach churned, skin tingling, as he brushed Gon’s hand off and seethed, “ Don’t fuck with me until you’re done fucking with them.”

“But—”

“I’m fucking serious , Freecss. Lay off,” Killua snapped. When he turned, Machi was there staring at them, eyes wide. He brushed past her and left, rubbing the back of his hand against his mouth.

Killua might have been hungover, but he was alive and didn’t feel godawful . He already felt guilty for calling in sick, so when he called in again, it was to go back on his word. His manager said, “If you’re feeling sick—”

“I lied,” Killua sighed. “I’m fine this morning, really. I’d just like to work today, if that’s okay?”

His manager hummed through the phone. Killua bit his lip as she said, “Well… you’re already up at the ass-crack of dawn. Might as well.”

“ Thank you ,” Killua breathed. “I’ll call the girl who was supposed to cover for me, let her know she doesn’t have to come in.”

Thus was how Killua spent his Friday morning, pulling shots and mixing tea. He was grateful for the distraction. His OChem exam was that afternoon and he found that it was easier to focus on it when he didn’t spend the entire morning cramming for it. Starbucks was a welcome distraction, even if the throbbing in his head said otherwise.

He crouched in front of the cashier, tearing open a fresh bag of cups. As he refilled the cup holder, he stopped at the sound of Freecss’ voice on the other side of the counter.

“Large matcha latte, light ice, and…”

“No foam?” a girl said.

Killua twisted the bag like he was wringing someone’s neck.

“Right. And a triple shot latte, no foam, please.”

Gon was sticking his card into the machine when Killua emerged from beneath the counter. The instant he came into view, both Gon and the girl jumped like they were in a goddamn haunted house. Killua stared blankly at them until the card machine beeped and Gon scrambled to put his card away.

“K-Killua! I thought—I thought you called in sick?” Gon said.

Killua yanked the knot on the bag tight. His coworker flinched and smiled apologetically for him as Killua went to the backroom to put it away.

He wished he could slam the backroom door shut—he probably could, but that’d be suspicious. When he was out of view of the counter, Killua put his hand to his hair and let out a shuddering breath. It felt like someone had his esophagus in their fist and was shaking it. He swallowed hard.

He checked the clock on the wall and realized that Gon had come in earlier than usual. Gon’s comment confirmed it—he wouldn’t have come in with his date had he known Killua was there. That just makes it worse , Killua thought, furious. Why did it even matter to him? He had gone a few days thinking that he’d be able to handle it if Gon dated other people, but…

They’d only known each other for two weeks. I have to stop acting entitled , he told himself, but Kurapika’s still right: Gon’s still a bitch .

When Killua emerged from the backroom, he resumed his place in the espresso assembly line. He picked up Gon’s cup and set to work. He dumped out the used grounds from the last shot and pulled fresh grounds out. He latched it into the machine, aware that Gon was standing in front of him, peering over the espresso machine at him.

“I’m… going to Colorado after this,” Gon said.

Killua kept his eyes on the machine switch. Yorknew University was going up against Denver on Saturday, he knew that. In fact, his parents had tickets to that game, one of which was withheld from him. Killua figured that if he was still at Yorknew Law, he would have been spending this weekend in Colorado, too.

Killua wiped down the steamer spout and drizzled milk into Gon’s drink. He held the foam back before sliding the drink across the counter to where his coworker called Gon’s name. Killua met Gon’s eyes before the idiot moved to claim the drink. The girl stood there looking between the two of them before picking up her green tea with a frown.

As they walked away, he caught wind of the girl whispering, “Do you know that guy?”

Killua scoffed to himself, rolling his eyes away from where Gon held the door for the girl and walked out.

Chapter Text

11:35 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

11:36 Gon: Good luck on your exam!

11:40 Read ✔︎

13:35 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

13:37 Gon: What’re you doing tonight?

13:38 Read ✔︎

13:45 Gon: Killuaaaa D:

13:50 Gon: Sorry about this morning D:

13:51 Gon: I didn’t want to cancel the date last minute like an asshole D:

13:53 Gon: I told her I’m seeing someone else

13:54 Read ✔︎

19:24 Call from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

19:25 Missed call from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

19:27 Gon is typing…

19:30 Gon: I messaged all of them

19:31 Gon: Image attached

18:45 Knucks: Jesus Christ

18:48 Killua: What

18:49 Knucks: Gon is getting emotional

18:49 Knucks: This is not a drill I REPEAT NOT A DRILL

18:50 Killua: Why tho

18:52 Knucks: Uvogin is cuddling with him

18:53 Knucks: I think he’s crying

18:54 Knucks: Do you have Snapchat? I’ll add you so I can send you a video of this.

Knucks Deep 👊 added you!

19:02 Kill 🔪 Zold Yack is typing…

19:03 Kill: Jesus Christ what is your username

19:04 Knucks: It seemed relevant at the time

19:04 Open video snap

“Uvo, you do it! I can’t do it—”

"We’ll do it together, give me your hand.”

“NO! I can’t do it!”

“Don’t make me physically restrain yo—FREECSS! Shit!”

“Jesus Christ—”

“KNUCKLE ARE YOU RECORDING THIS?!”

“SHIT DUDE HE’S COMIN’ FOR YOU—”

— incomprehensible screaming, shaky escape camera work —

“GOTTA BLAST!”

19:06 Kill: I’m—

19:06 Kill: Speechless

19:08 Kill: Knuckle??

19:09 Knucks: You added him on snapchat D:

19:09 Read ✔︎

19:10 Knucks: D:

19:11 Knucks: He made your nickname “Gon’s Toy” :D

19:13 Knucks: Hey I’m back

19:13 Kill: Jesus Christ

19:14 Knucks: Tricked ya :D

19:14 Knucks: Still Gon :D

19:14 Read ✔︎

19:15 Knucks: Killuaaaa D:

19:20 Knucks: Okay I’m back Jesus Christ on a ten-speed bike

19:20 Knucks: Gon is slippery as fuck lemme tell ya

19:21 Read ✔︎

19:22 Knucks: Dude I got my phone back what’s up

19:22 Read ✔︎

19:23 Knucks: Whatever :T Not like I wanted to talk to you anyway smh

19:35 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

19:35 Gon: I deleted Tinder

19:35 Gon: Image attached

19:36 Gon: Image attached

19:37 Call from Kill 🔪 Zold Yack

Killua paced his dorm room for the few seconds it took for Gon to answer the phone. The screenshots of Gon’s phone’s home screen were still visible in the chat when the audio spectrum spiked at the ruffled sound on the other end of the line. There were some muffled voices mingling incomprehensibly before a door slammed shut. Killua heard the lock click.

Killua folded his arm over his chest, perching his elbow on his wrist as he held his phone close to his mouth, his breath caught in his throat. The tingling excitement rippled through every twisted fiber of his nervous system like it had during their last phone call.

“Sorry about that—I had to get away from the guys,” Gon’s voice broke through the call.

Killua sat on the edge of his bed with a huff of amusement. “Yeah, sounds like it.”

A beat of silence passed between them before Gon was saying, “You’re talking to me.”

“Yeah, I am. I said I would.”

“I know. I just… guess I wasn’t sure. If you’d want to talk to me after this morning,” he said.

Killua dropped his gaze to his lap as he cleared his throat. He rubbed his heel into the rug and said, “I get it. Sorry for being an asshole to you about it.”

“It’s over now,” Gon said, quickly. “You don’t have to worry about it. I’m… done with all that, is what I’m trying to say.”

Killua smiled to himself as he said, “For me? Or is this where you tell me I’m secretly a part of your Tinder message hit list?”

Gon laughed. “No, you’re not on the message list. Promise.”

Killua rolled his eyes, leaning on his bed until his back hit the comforter and he could feel the weight on his chest exhaling with his breath. The silence was thin but obvious, like a film of saran wrap stretched over their conversation. They could feel each other though they couldn’t see one another, and Killua was content. He simmered in the anticipation churning in his chest, setting his nerves on fire the longer they existed in the quiet.

At last, Gon whispered, “How was your exam?”

“As good as can be expected,” Killua sighed. “Where are you now?”

“At the hotel,” Gon said and, after a moment, added, “In the bathroom. Everyone’s at the waterpark now.” Alone .

Killua sat up with a shiver and said, “Skip the intro?”

“Do it,” Gon said.

“How pissed were you when you saw me dancing with Knuckle?” he asked.

Gon sucked in a sharp breath. Killua snickered as Gon breathed, “ So pissed.”

Killua feigned a pitying, “Aw, poor you.” Gon whined incomprehensibly before Killua interrupted him to whisper, “Did you wish that was you up there with me?”

He bit his lip as Gon said, “ Yes ,” like the answer was obvious. “You looked so good up there—”

“I’d probably get you hard just grinding,” Killua said. “My ass on your—”

“ Fuck . Have you done this before?”

“What specifically?”

“All of it. Have you done it before?”

Killua recalled Gon’s question has they were setting up his Tinder profile. Just out of curiosity. He bit his lip and said, “That depends.”

“Do you know what you like?” Gon said.

Killua shifted to the side, his sweats becoming more uncomfortable the longer they talked. He rubbed a hand against his waistband as he hummed and said, “Yeah, I’d say so.”

“Tell me what you want, then,” he said.

“To be in charge,” Killua answered. He didn’t even need to think about it. He crawled across his bed to lean down and rifle through his desk drawer. “To top. I’d fuck you open with my fingers, Freecss, I swear to God—”

“ Seriously?! ” Gon shrieked. Killua startled, the bottle in his hand slipping from his fingers. He cursed as Gon said, “I guess that makes sense. You kind of exude a dominatrix vibe.”

“Did—Did you just call me a dom? ” Killua squeaked, sitting up on his knees. “That’s fucked, dude. I’m not—I mean—”

His power complex might have something to do with that…

He shook his head as Gon said, “It’s kinda hot, not gonna lie. If you got me a collar, I’d wear it.”

“I am not getting you a fucking collar,” Killua laughed. “I have loans to pay off, idiot.”

“Then when I’m in the NFL I’ll buy my own diamond-studded collar and it’ll have your name on it and everything—”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. You’ll wear it to all the games,” Killua said, falling back with a shocked laugh. His stomach hurt from giggling. He rolled to the side and flopped onto his stomach, ignoring the friction against his hard on as he said, “But seriously, I’m not into that scene, contrary to what our sexual banter says.”

“So no hot wax? Damn,” Gon said.

Killua bit his tongue to keep from demolishing his lip any further.

“I can’t wait to see you when I get back,” Gon said, quietly. A beat of silence. “Could I visit you Sunday night?”

Killua swallowed hard and nodded. “Y-Yeah, sure.”

He could feel the smile in Gon’s voice as he said, “Okay. Well, I’ll let you go. I’ll see you later?”

Killua agreed and a moment later, Gon hung up on him. Killua put his phone down, mildly in shock, and continued to lay frozen on his bed. He stayed that way for another several minutes before turning his head to stare at his backpack. He had a short while to get his shit together, and by God, he’d do it all before the Hunters returned from Colorado.

He had plans with Zushi the following day, which meant spending the afternoon and evening far, far away from the Republic. After Thirsty Thursday, Zushi seemed far less inclined to drink another day away. The Republic started day drinking at seven in the morning and powered through the entire football game. Killua and Zushi, instead, split a pot of tea at a tea shop and watched the highlights on Killua’s computer in between quizzing each other on anatomy.

Football felt different now that Killua knew several of the faces on the field personally. He felt an intense rush of pride when they paused studying, enrapt, watching Knuckle Bine pass the football down the field dozens of yards to where one of their wide receivers, Shoot, tackled an oncoming Denver player to make way for Freecss. Freecss lunged over the body of a linebacker skidding to take his legs out, and on the landing, he pivoted and caught Knuckle’s pass.

Killua sat there, his closed fist against his mouth as Zushi whispered, “Did you see that?” Had they been in any other setting, Killua was certain the both of them would have been screaming and throwing their arms in the air.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I swear Achilles is his ancestor or something.”

Zushi snorted and said, “Yeah, and you’re Pátroklos.”

Killua blinked and said, “Wasn’t Pátroklos a physician?”

“Shit, you’re right. You are Pátroklos.” He put up a hand to tick off the evidence. “Gay as Hell, premed, and same size—could totally wear his armor and helmet and pass for him.”

Killua laughed and said, “Yeah, ‘ armor ’.”

They resumed studying, but Killua’s mind was stuck on Zushi’s last point. Gon had said that they had the same build—albeit, Killua looked more like pre-pubescent Gon with his severe lack of muscle mass . If this was true, then they could potentially share clothes, right? Gon’s Hunter sweatshirts were his armor, and Killua couldn’t deny just how much he wanted to snatch one .

He hadn’t been around Gon long enough to have his cologne committed to memory. He wondered if all of Gon’s sweatshirts smelled like his shampoo or soap, maybe his aftershave.

He tugged the sleeves of his shirt over his palms and tucked them between his knees. He could think about that later, but for now, he needed to keep his eyes on the notecards Zushi held up. It was just barely enough to keep himself from falling into the mental spiral shaped like Freecss.

After they finished their teapot and the game ended, Killua and Zushi called it quits on studying. Killua’s stomach was growling for food, so they packed up and walked across campus to Hatsu Hall. Distantly, they could hear the hum of an afterparty in the Republic’s general direction. Zushi balanced on the river’s concrete ledge, walking with his arms out with Killua walking beside him, intent on dragging him back onto land if he got too careless.

Hatsu Hall was at the end of the riverwalk. The walkway was populated with college students leaving Frat Row. There were girls in neon bralettes underneath Hunter green overalls and shirtless guys in camo pants. Killua ignored them and the obnoxious music on someone’s speakers, but he couldn’t ignore the sight of someone familiar sitting on one of the benches outside of Hatsu Hall, watching the river.

Killua paused for a moment, steps slowing. They were too far to see the girl properly, but Killua would recognize those hair beads anywhere.

“Alluka?” he said, calling Zushi’s attention.

Zushi hopped off of the ledge as Killua started forward at a jog, and then a sprint. He ducked around students taking the riverwalk, weaving through with Zushi at his heels. The girl glanced in their direction, and Killua threw an arm up and shouted, “Alluka!”

Alluka bounded to her feet. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that bobbed when she walked forward, her smile bright and wide. “Killua!” she said, giggling as she slammed into Killua. She jumped, feet sweeping off of the ground.

Killua swung her around. His eyes were wide, his heart still frozen in shock from finding her there, outside of Hatsu Hall. When he set her down, he held her at arm’s length and shook his head, mouth ajar. “How did you…?”

“I took a bus,” she said, smiling. “I left my phone at home to throw Milluki off my trail.”

She leant over, peering around Killua. Killua glanced back at where Zushi was just now approaching, a bit out of breath. Zushi waved and said, “Hey, I’m Zushi—Killua’s friend.”

“Future roommate,” Killua added, dropping his hands to pull Zushi over by the shoulder. Zushi laughed.

Alluka put her hand out to him. “Nice to meet you, Zushi, friend and future roommate,” she said. She gave him a firm shake and said, “Any friend of Killua’s is a friend of mine.”

She leant back and pushed her sunglasses back and, likewise, tucked a loose braid behind her ear. Her bangs were fluffy and combed neatly to one side, framing her bright, steely blue eyes. Killua felt compelled to hug her again, so he did, squeezing her tightly around the shoulders. She tucked her cheek to his shoulder, her hands settling lightly on his back.

Alluka’s hair smelled like home, and Killua closed his eyes against the aroma of lavender incense and the warmth bubbling in his chest. “I missed you too,” she said, patting his shoulder.

“What’re you doing here?” he said, leaning back.

She went back to the bench and sat down. Killua ducked down beside her. He had too much energy to sit still on a bench, so Zushi took her other side and put his elbow on the backrest, facing Alluka as she scratched a finger against her cheek and smiled weakly.

“Well… I wanted to talk to you,” she said. She pouted then and muttered, “And Ma has been more unbearable than usual. I needed to get out of the house.”

She glanced at Zushi, who leant his head against his hand and said, “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m all caught up.”

“Illumi came to visit me,” Killua said. Alluka turned back, eyes wide in surprise. Her ponytail flicked back and smacked Zushi in the face. As Zushi sputtered and flicked hair out of his mouth, Killua said, “How was the Yorknew Law entry exam?”

Alluka gave a firm nod and said, “It went well. I turned in my essay last month and they were quick to get back to me.”

“Are you… seriously planning on attending?” he asked.

Alluka tucked her hands between her legs, shoulders pushed up to her ears. She looked guiltily out to the water and said, “I don’t know… I just really want to go to school here and be with you.”

“Aw…” Zushi sang. Both Alluka and Killua turned to look at him, and Zushi turned away, cheeks puffed out, “What? That was really sweet…”

“You shouldn’t pick your major based on whether or not it’ll be paid for,” Killua told her. “I thought you were into psychology?”

“I am!” she insisted, only to wither a little. “It isn’t that I’m not interested in criminal justice. I really like prison psychiatry, so I’m thinking that if I go into criminal law, I’ll get to go back to school for psychiatry.”

Killua opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw Zushi mouthing to him in alarm, “ Prison psychiatry? ” and pointing to Alluka. Alluka followed Killua’s gaze back to Zushi, who resumed his casual, innocent position back against the bench seat.

Alluka took Killua’s hand from where he held the edge of the bench. She squeezed it affectionately and said, “You’ve been watching out for me for so long. Let me watch out for you, okay? I tried my best on the entrance exam, and I’ll be really happy just to get accepted.”

Killua frowned down at their joined hands. When he looked up again, Alluka was smiling softly. She shook her head, chin up, and said, “Consider this my biggest Fuck You to Dad.”

Killua laughed. He rubbed a hand under his eye and said, “Well, I can’t argue with staging a rebellion.”

“Usurp the throne,” she said.

“I’ll have to kill Illumi to do that,” he said.

“You hold him down and I’ll punch. How does that sound?”

They leant together, giggling. Killua threw his head back and laughed, pushing to his feet. Meanwhile, Zushi stared at them in mild alarm over all of the talk surrounding a family murder. Killua pulled Alluka up next to him and threw his arm around her shoulders. “You can stay the night if Ma doesn’t send Illumi after you anytime soon,” he told her.

She nodded with a hum of excitement.

His stomach growled again. He put a hand to it as Zushi laughed. “Well, I’ll leave you two here. I’m sure you two need to catch up.”

“It was nice meeting you, Zushi,” Alluka said with a bright smile. She reached out to him, and Killua blinked in surprise at the sight of a blush on his friend’s cheeks as he wrapped his arms around Alluka for a chaste hug. As Zushi pulled back, she pointed to him and said, “Keep an eye on my brother for me, okay?”

Zushi laughed and saluted her. “Aye, aye, captain.”

Alluka took Killua by the hand then and started towards Hatsu Hall. As they went, Killua linked their fingers together and laughed when Alluka rambled on, saying, “I was planning on sneaking into the building but I got so distracted—it’s such a beautiful day outside! I don’t even know your dorm number, so I figured if I knocked on enough doors, you’d be on the other side of one, right?”

They ate an early dinner at the Hatsu dining hall. They abused the ice cream station which Killua was certain Gon would have something to say about. He didn’t care, though, not when Alluka was sitting across from him with a pleased smile rounding out her cheeks. Alluka was the only person in the world who made him so giddy. He felt like a kid again, immature, stupid—he wasn’t a stressed-out college kid juggling work and school when Alluka was there ranting about silly bullshit.

Alluka settled her arms on the table and leant over, grinning. Killua raised an eyebrow at her and said, “It looks like you’ve got some tea.”

“I do have tea,” she said, nose in the air. “You wanna hear it?”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“I’ve got a date. To prom.”

Killua snorted and said, “Prom’s in the spring.” Alluka’s smile widened. Killua lowered his spoon and said, “Who is he.” He didn’t mean for it to come out as a threat, but then again, it did, and Alluka was leaning back with an amused laugh.

She laid her hands flat on the table and said, ponytail swishing, “ She is from a different school. We met at the last school dance.”

Killua’s eyes widened. He leant forward and said, “ She? I thought—! Oh! Oh, that’s great, Alluka.”

“You sound like a grandpa,” she muttered.

“I’m serious, though! That’s great!”

“Why are you so surprised?” she whined, slumping to the side. Killua startled, reaching across the table for her hand. She sprung up then, suddenly eager, and said, “We’re thinking purple for our color scheme! She’s gonna wear a tux and I’m so excited I could just vomit .”

“Please don’t vomit,” Killua laughed. “Does Ma know?”

Alluka nodded, sobering a little. She put her chin on her hand, her free hand tapping Killua’s as she said, “Yeah. As you can imagine she’s pretty hyped that my date’s a girl… So I’m not worried about them sabotaging the dance.”

The previous year, Alluka had been banned from prom. Prom was never Killua’s schtick, but Alluka had been devastated. Their mother used the lame excuse of grounding Alluka for some insignificant argument they had several days before the dance.

“I just have to… stay on their good sides,” she said with a resolute nod.

“Which… includes sneaking off to YU?” Killua droned.

Alluka grinned, her cheeky nature simmering with guilt as she said, “Yeah… perhaps not my best plan ever…” She perked up a moment later, though, scooping up a dose of fudge and ice cream as she said, “But tell me about the college life! Have you gone to any parties?”

Killua smiled and scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, but not until recently. Zushi’s roommate is in a frat so he’s been getting us into parties on the weekends.”

“Sounds fun! What’re they like? Better than Illumi’s house parties, I hope,” she said with a nervous giggle. Illumi never liked Alluka enough to take her to YU for social events, but Dad’s insistence on acclimating Killua to YU gave him more of an excuse to take Killua instead.

Suffice to say that Alluka had taken the brunt of Killua’s rants and stories about the parties.

“Definitely better,” he said. He described the atmosphere of it—the lights, the mosh pit, the couches on the front lawn. It was all fast-paced and vivacious, the sort of place that blended well with Malibu and a killer soundtrack.

They finished their ice cream and went to Killua’s dorm. There, Killua ignored his homework in favor of watching a movie with Alluka on his bed, the lights off and the city commotion blinking through his open window. Passing cars spread their headlights across the walls of his dorm room as they fell asleep without a care in the world.

When morning came, though, Killua’s phone woke them up. He startled with a groan, pushing himself up by the elbow. Alluka had her back to him, facing the room. She squinted at the early morning light streaming in through the window and looked back at where Killua held his phone out and read Illumi’s name on the screen.

“Fuck,” he sighed, answering the call. He put his phone to his ear and said, “Hello?”

“I’m outside your dorm,” Illumi said. “Alluka with you?”

Killua sighed, rubbing a hand over the side of his face. Alluka sat up and, when Killua nodded, Alluka got up and put her shoes on. “Yeah, we’re coming down. Don’t get your thong in a twist,” he said.

His laptop was still open from eight hours before. He closed it and followed Alluka out of the bed with a groan reminiscent of an elderly man three times his age. Alluka looked up from her boots and said, “You don’t have to walk down with me.”

“I absolutely do need to walk down with you,” he said, grabbing a sweatshirt from his closet. He tugged it on and rubbed his sleeves over his greasy face before saying, “Okay, I’m good. Let’s go.”

Killua walked Alluka to the elevator where, as the doors closed, Alluka put her arms around Killua’s torso. He squeezed her back, watching the number drop on the screen until they were at last on the ground floor. The door pinged and opened.

They could see the Ferrari through the lobby windows as Killua walked Alluka across the building. When they stepped outside, there was a light drizzle in the air. They found Illumi leant up against the hood of the car, arms crossed, an umbrella in one hand. Killua scowled at his brother as he dropped his arm from around Alluka’s shoulders as they drew near the car.

Alluka spared Illumi a brief glance before claiming the passenger’s seat. Illumi held the umbrella over her before he shut the door. He stepped up to where Killua watched from the sidewalk. Illumi came to a stop, tall, slim legs crossing at the ankles, the umbrella deflecting the rain over Killua’s dampened hair.

“Well, I hope you had fun,” Illumi hummed.

“It was torture,” Killua droned sarcastically. “Make sure she gets home all right, and that Mom doesn’t tear her to pieces.”

“How could she? We have another three weeks,” he said, tipping his head to the side.

Killua ground his teeth together. He crossed his arms and watched as Illumi glimpsed him over before turning on his heels and heading for the driver’s side. Illumi didn’t spare him a second glance as he ducked into the driver’s side and shut the door. The engine roared to life, rumbling to a purr as Illumi pulled away from the curb. Alluka waved to Killua from the passenger’s seat until they were out on the road.

The rain trickled down Killua’s dorm room window as the day went on. When the light began to fade outside, Killua remained too focused on his homework to bother turning on a light. A square of light from the window sent a patchwork of shadows from the raindrops across his desk. After a while, he rubbed his strained eyes and looked up at the time on his computer screen. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

He checked his phone. There weren’t any messages from Freecss and he really needed a shower. He got up with a sigh and gathered the necessary bullshit for the shared showers on the floor. Shared restrooms were the downfall of dorm life, but he supposed that was just a product of being raised in a mansion where he had an ensuite restroom.

He wouldn’t go back to that for shit, though, so he’d deal with wearing flip-flops in the showers even if he looked like an absolute douche in them. Flip-flops . As if he wasn’t chaotic enough.

He set his phone up on the concrete ledge between the shower stalls. He cranked up his music and turned the hot water. With the curtain closed, he stripped—aside from his flip-flops, duh—and hung his shit up on the hooks outside of the water stream.

Killua wasn’t one for ridiculously long showers, so he made quick work of it, brushed his teeth, and spat the foam out down the drain. After all was said and done, his hair smelled like cherries and he was hopping into a fresh pair of sweatpants. He went to the automatic hand-dryers and ducked his head under them to dry his hair out a tad bit so that when he straightened up, he was all curly fluff.

He shut off his music and returned to his dorm. He had left the door unlocked, but he never expected anyone to actually waltz in during his shower session.

His bedroom light was on and, standing in the middle of the room, was a very wet-looking Gon Freecss.

Gon turned at the sound of the door opening. Killua jolted sharply, cussing under his breath with relief when he realized that it was just Gon. Gon dropped his duffle on the ground then, water dripping from his messy, post-travel hair.

“You just decided to invite yourself in? ” Killua said, exasperated. His heart was still thudding in his chest from the fright. He tossed his towel into his closet along with his shower caddy. “Christ, Freecss, I thought you were a murderer or some shit.”

“Just me,” Gon said.

Killua kicked the door shut behind him and locked it. He glanced at the duffle on the ground as Gon stepped towards him from across the room. “Did you… come straight from the airport?”

“Yeah,” he said, slowing in front of Killua with his eyes still and focusing heavily on Killua’s lips. The realization of this made it impossible for Killua to block the temptation to lick his lip. His eyelids fluttered as he caught sight of Gon’s hands reaching up from his periphery. He trembled as Gon’s fingers grazed his neck, just barely. “Tell me what to do,” Gon whispered.

“Kiss me, you idiot,” Killua said, and Gon eagerly complied.

Gon crushed his lips to Killua’s. He ducked low, his hands dropping fast to Killua’s thighs, passing over his ass, and hooking Killua’s legs to his hips. Killua’s mouth fell open against the grunt that fell from Gon’s lips.

Killua’s back hit the wall. He dragged his tongue across Gon’s and curled it in his mouth, panting as he closed his arms over Gon’s shoulders and combed his fingers through Gon’s damp hair. He lapped his tongue against Gon’s lips as they parted, their breaths hot and moist against their skin. Killua closed his mouth to Gon’s before kissing the corner of his lips, his jaw, and laving open-mouthed kisses down his throat.

His back left the wall. His world went horizontal before he collided with the comforter, gasping out a curse when Gon leant back, shedding his jacket and grabbing the hem of his shirt. Killua stared at the muscles of Gon’s abdomen shift as he dragged his arms over his head, his hair tousled from the shirt. He flicked the shirt over to his duffle before putting a knee to the mattress, next to Killua’s thigh.

Gon pushed his hands up past Killua’s hips, lifting his shirt with a breathless, “ Off .”

Killua sat up, nose mere inches from Gon’s as he pulled his shirt up over his head and chucked it across the room.

Gon mouthed at his neck as Killua fell back against the blankets. He hooked his arms around Gon’s neck, his fingers in Gon’s hair. His skin felt impossibly hot, his cheeks flushed pink when Gon’s teeth grazed his neck and pinched the juncture of his neck to his trapezius muscle, hard enough to elicit a half-pained groan from Killua.

“ Fuck ,” Killua gasped, fists closing in Gon’s hair.

Gon’s hot tongue licked a trail between Killua’s pecs. He marked the skin above his abdomen and, all the while, Killua reveled in it. Gon’s thumbs were rolling gloriously over his hipbones, and Killua preened, rolling his hips up, his knees pushed tight together as he tried to keep some semblance of control when Gon’s ass was on his thighs.

Gon slipped his knee between Killua’s legs. Killua pushed his leg up to Gon’s crotch and rubbed his knee against the very obvious bulge in Gon’s sweatpants. Gon groaned, his mouth leaving the sensitive skin just above Killua’s waistband.

Killua brought his hands down to Gon’s and, hooking his thumbs on his waistband, lowered them an inch. He watched Gon’s eyes travel lower, stilling on the soft, pale skin under the waistband of Killua’s exposed boxers. Gon caught his lip between his teeth, his hands hooking on Killua’s hips and raising them to drag the fabric off of his narrow hips and shuck his sweatpants off of the bed. When Gon came back, Killua pushed himself up onto his hands, his bare legs pulled up.

He nearly asked Gon to turn the damn light off, but Gon came forward, eyes traveling up Killua’s legs as he said, “You look amazing . Fuck, dude.”

“I’m literally naked and you’re calling me ‘ dude ’?” Killua scoffed, heat swelling in his cheeks.

Gon kissed his knee, his hands gently tugging his legs apart. His knee grazed Gon’s bare chest, trembling under Gon’s touch as his attention went to the star of the show.

“I haven’t actually done this before,” Killua blurted out. He wanted to punch himself repeatedly in the nuts for saying it. And here he had been playing the coy but experienced imbecile.

Gon didn’t hesitate. He grasped hold of Killua’s crotch like he’d done at Sigma Alpha, but there was nothing between them aside from Killua’s social and sexual incompetence. Killua choked on whatever he might have said next—it was probably embarrassing, knowing him—and cursed against Gon’s lips.

Gon pulled away with a slow, tempting kiss. His deep, minty breath fanned across Killua’s mouth as he sighed, “I’ll make you feel good, I promise.”

With that, he put his head between Killua’s legs and went on to prove that he could, in fact, deep throat.

Chapter Text

Killua was aware of the bare skin pressed against his cheek the next morning. He blinked away, his eyelashes fluttering against Gon’s exposed chest, heart stammering in his chest. Gon Freecss, thee Freecss, spent the night in his dorm .

He had to be dreaming, but that was not his leg hair he felt under the covers. He rubbed his foot over it just to be sure. Unless his other leg had completely fallen asleep, that leg hair was not his. A soft moan vibrated against his cheek. Gon shifted, the arm he had around Killua’s shoulders squeezing tighter. Killua sucked in a deep breath, eyes wide. He took the flat of his foot off of Gon’s calf.

Killua pushed up a little, reaching across Gon to grab his phone off of the end table. His alarm was due to go off in another few minutes.

Gon’s hand lifted off of Killua’s back. Killua froze, completely caught leaning over Gon. Gon grazed his fingers over Killua’s hair before pushing through, nails running across his scalp. Killua shivered and leant back to look down at where Gon’s sleepy, lidded eyes were watching him.

“Bedhead,” Gon whispered, his palm now cradling Killua’s head.

“You’re such a goddamn sap,” Killua said, breathless.

Gon pulled him forward by the back of his head. Killua should have seen it coming—it was so fucking obvious, damn him for being completely out of it after seeing Gon’s naked chest first thing in the morning. It really was not healthy, getting a dose of Toned Pecs and Abs so early in the morning, but fuck it, if he wasn’t going to kiss the Hell out of Gon for screwing him over.

It was a languid kiss that moved and felt like the early dawn seeping into the dorm room. Killua put his hand against the pillow beside Gon’s head, moving his lips to the gentle motion Gon set. Somehow, they kept their tongues to themselves and Killua appreciated it. He didn’t particularly like the taste of his own mouth at five-thirty in the morning, anyway.

“Do you have to go to work?” Gon asked, but it sounded more like a request to stay.

Killua settled on his back. Gon hooked his arm behind Killua’s head as Killua checked the time again. They had two minutes before his alarm would go off. Killua set it on his flat, exposed stomach and looked at the pockmarked ceiling. The bed definitely wasn’t made for two people, but he didn’t mind the proximity.

He turned his head to the side to look at Gon. Gon was studying him, exhaustion smudging shadows under his eyes. Killua tipped forward to press his lips to Gon’s shoulder.

“Yeah. We have a minute and a half,” Killua said.

Gon grinned sleepily, turning to face Killua. He propped his head on his hand and said, “I could do a lot with a minute and a half. If I had caffeine.” His other hand trailed over Killua’s waist, his thumb soothing a hickey Gon had made under Killua’s left pectoral.

Killua pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. “Oh really? What makes you so sure I’d be that easy?”

Gon smiled gently, lifting his eyes up from where his fingers had trailed down to the waistband of Killua’s boxers. He leaned over to pluck something off of the end table. Killua wasn’t sure exactly what it was until Gon put it on his face and turned back. Killua stared in alarm at the pair of glasses on Gon’s face. It was the biggest Fuck You to what Ignorant Killua thought was sexy at the time. He never thought he’d fall for a bespectacled man, but there was Gon looking like a damn snacc in a pair of thick-rimmed glasses.

He also looked a little bit like death this early in the morning, but Killua’s mouth was watering anyway.

“I—” want you to fuck me , his brain said, but his voice wasn’t even in this dimension anymore.

Gon shifted a little, scooting up until their eyes were level with one another—Killua, lying back on the pillow, and Gon, leaning over him. “Were you serious? Last night, when you said you’d never done this before,” Gon whispered.

Killua nodded. He was afraid his voice would crack if he said anything. Eventually, though, he cleared his throat and managed to rasp out, “I don’t… You don’t have to feel obligated or anything. I’m not sentimental, and I’ve always thought virginity was a ploy developed by the patriarchy.”

Gon snorted, nudging his glasses up a tad before letting his hand fall to Killua’s collarbone. He dragged a line across it as he said, “For what purpose?”

Killua rolled his eyes. “Why else are there social constructs? To lump humans into neat little boxes and punish them for stepping out of it.” Gon stared at him, mouth ajar. He looked cute, all confused like that, so Killua brought his hand up to press his thumb to the wrinkle that formed on Gon’s forehead. “Don’t think too hard about it or else you’ll hurt yourself,” he said.

And then, his alarm went off.

Killua groaned as he pushed himself up and rolled over Gon. He landed nimbly on his feet and, in his search for the clothes he threw around the night before, came upon Gon’s shirt. It was a long sleeve, plain black shirt with the Hunters mascot on the front. Killua kicked it a little, to see what was on the back. It had Gon’s jersey number and last name on it.

Killua gathered it up with his dirty clothes and, after tossing the rest in his hamper, he bundled it up into his backpack. Gon was already half asleep on the bed, anyway, oblivious to his missing shirt. In any case, his glasses where now on his chest, so Killua was certain he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway.

After putting on jeans and buttoning up his work shirt, Killua leant out into the open to say, “You can stay here, if you want. I’ll give you my keys and you can just give them to me when you stop by for coffee.”

“Good. I wasn’t planning on moving until practice,” Gon said, voice muffled by the blankets.

Killua scoffed on his way out of the dorm. He went to the restroom where he took extra care in brushing his teeth and washing his face. His nerves felt jittery in a satisfying sort of way—it was a sensation he had never experienced and therefore was at a loss for words. When he returned to the dorm, he zipped up his backpack and shouldered it.

Before leaving, he stopped next to the bed. He leant over and, likewise, Gon turned back so that when Killua went to kiss his stubbled cheek, he wound up kissing Gon’s lips instead.

Gon snickered like it was all a part of his grand master plan. “See you later,” he said.

“Y-Yeah,” Killua breathed, stunned. He pushed off of the mattress and, after taking one last look at Gon, dropped his keys on the end table and left.

“Gon never came home last night,” Zushi said.

Killua hummed curiously as he unpacked his notebook, shoving down his work shirt.. Discretely, he tugged his jacket closed to hide the Hunter’s logo on his shirt. “Has he done that before?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zushi shook his head. “No, not really. If he does stay out, he usually texts me. I guess I get worried sometimes ever since I was mugged that one time…”

“What, you were mugged?” Killua said.

“Whoa, whoa, wait—Take a step back, rewind. When were you mugged?” Kurapika said, leaning forward in their seat.

“Yeah… really weird circumstances. Three guys and they all had prosthetics. That was when I was a junior in high school,” he said, rubbing a hand over the side of his face. He shrugged and said, “Ah, well, I saw he stopped by your work on his Snap story, so he must be okay.”

“I’m still hung up on this mugging situation,” Kurapika said.

“Did he stay at your place?” Zushi asked, looking at Killua.

Killua swallowed hard and said, “Um, no? What makes you say that?”

“Well, I know you guys were going through a rough patch, but I thought you cleared that up?”

Killua shrugged. Zushi frowned and looked ahead as the professor walked in. Killua turned to him and said, “Well, if he hasn’t deleted Tinder, then maybe he was with someone else?”

“If he was, I’ll pinch his dick off,” Kurapika said.

Zushi turned around with a pained look on his face and a viscerally affected, “ Ow , wow, okay .”

Killua put a hand over his crotch with a grimace and said, “That visual is more effective than any punch in the nuts, I’ll tell you that much.”

After class, Killua told Zushi to go ahead since he had to ask the TA (Kurapika) a question. Zushi gave him a weird look and said, “Whatever dude. See you later,” and left. Killua waited until Zushi was down the stairs and around the corner before turning back to Kurapika.

Kurapika clasped their hands together expectantly and said, “What’s your quest—”

“Freecss sucked my dick and spent the night,” Killua blurted out. He meant to ease that into the conversation, and the fact that the dick-sucking was at the forefront had both of them bewildered, and a student at the stairs waiting to ask Kurapika a question promptly turned around and walked away.

Kurapika blinked, startled. They leant forward in their seat and said, slowly and quietly, “Excuse me, but what? ”

Killua groaned, rolling his eyes. He put his knees to his lecture seat and faced Kurapika, arms resting on the back of the chair. He unzipped his jacket so Kurapika could see the shirt as he said, “He stayed the night at my place.”

“So you said, but what was that first part? I didn’t quite catch that,” Kurapika said, cupping a hand to their ear.

Killua hissed, “He— gave me a blowjob .”

Kurapika gasped like it was the first time they were hearing this. Killua slapped a hand to his forehead as Kurapika exclaimed, “You’re kidding! After what he did to you— ”

“I know you’re not surprised,” Killua sighed.

“I’m surprised that you’re such a dumbass . You really think he deleted Tinder?”

“He sent me screenshots—”

“Photoshop is a thing, hun, so is iCloud. How much do you want to bet he reinstalled it?”

Killua glared at them. Kurapika sat back with a shrug. Killua had thought about it, but he had also thought about how clingy and overprotective he’d seem if he asked to see Gon’s phone to confirm it. Since adding Knuckle on Snapchat, Killua had no reason for Tinder and therefore deleted it. Gon hadn’t asked to see his phone, so why should Killua ask to see his?

Kurapika sighed and said, “I’m happy for you, I guess.”

“Wow, you sound so happy,” Killua laughed. “It’s fine, honestly. I’d give him a harder time if I wasn’t getting laid now, apparently.”

“Why not tell Zushi?” Kurapika asked.

Killua looked down at his hands with a frown. He picked at a hangnail as he said, “It’s different with Zushi. I don’t want things to be weird between Zushi and Freecss, you know? I know that if I had a roommate screwing my best friend, I’d be a little frazzled.”

“Yeah, that’s a little weird,” Kurapika agreed with a grimace. “Good choice.”

Killua sighed, drumming his hands on the seat before pushing himself up. “Yeah, so… just figured I’d catch you up. I’ll pass on your threat to Freecss.”

Killua made his way across campus to the gym. His heart beat faster in his chest as he scanned his card and hurried down the steps. He felt lighter on his feet as he passed the free weights, his mind drifting to Cloud Nine just thinking about it . Of Gon’s mouth on him, hot and wet and fuck . Killua couldn’t keep the blush off of his cheeks as he pushed into the locker room. He could keep his expression neutral, but inside, his brain was on fire.

He turned the corner where he often found Gon.

Gon was on the bench lacing up his sneakers. For a moment, Killua felt like nothing had happened between them. It was so exceedingly normal to see him there that Killua became, for a moment, convinced that the previous night never happened. Perhaps it was all a dream—it felt like one now, in hindsight—but then Gon was standing up.

“Fuck me—get over here,” he said. Killua rose an eyebrow at the demand and stayed put so that Gon had to jump the bench and close the gap himself.

Gon’s eyes were on Killua’s chest. “That—That’s my shirt,” he said, plucking at it. He circled around behind Killua as he took off his backpack and tossed it aside. Gon’s hand trailed over the flat of his stomach through the fabric of the shirt, and Killua’s breath was gone , ausente. Gon squeezed his sides and pulled him flush against Gon’s chest.

“You… want it back?” Killua said, tugging at the hem. Gon’s hand stopped him.

“No, you keep it,” he hummed, his lips warm and soft against the side of Killua’s neck. Killua shivered as Gon passed his lips over the hickey that was just barely covered by the hem of the shirt. His work shirt had a high collar, but this? He was amazed Zushi hadn’t poked him in the neck and asked about it.

Gon kissed up his throat before putting his lips to Killua’s ear. He swallowed hard as Gon whispered, “I’d wear anything you gave me.”

“If only lingerie was in the budget,” Killua scoffed, and Gon laughed, wrapping his arms securely around Killua’s midsection. “I’ll find something to offer up to the gods. Right now I have to change out of my jeans.”

“Right—sorry,” Gon said.

Killua snickered as he undid the fly on his jeans. He took his sweats out of his backpack, fully aware of where Gon was looking. Since Gon’s eyes were elsewhere , Killua couldn’t help but smirk and watch Gon’s tongue roll along his bottom lips, eyes stuck on the exposed edge of Killua’s boxers.

Someone passed by their aisle.

Gon jumped as if shocked, the realization that they were technically in public had him spinning around and facing away from Killua. Killua bit back a laugh as he shimmied out of his jeans and into his sweats.

They stopped at the first floor where all of the equipment was foreign and weird and looked vaguely like torture devices. Gon walked around the floor with Killua just to name and explain each one, but in doing so, they ran into people Gon knew and wound up distracted by conversation. Killua didn’t mind it, nor when some guys came up to them while Gon was helping Killua figure out the weights. Gon chatted when them and adjusted the weights as Killua pulled on the handle so the cord stretched over his front.

By the end of that day, Killua’s arms felt like noodles. The muscles in his biceps quivered like a goddam leaf in the wind. He could barely close his hands around the straps of his backpack as he shrugged them on with a pained groan.

“You’ll feel worse tomorrow,” Gon said.

“ Joy ,” Killua seethed through clenched teeth.

“Are you gonna eat with me and Zushi at Ren?” he asked, and Killua didn’t miss the note of hope on Gon’s face.

Killua let out a shuddering breath. His chest felt tight and his throat was still burning, so he cleared it and said, “I don’t know. I kind of don’t want Zushi to know about us?”

Gon tipped his head to the side and said, “Why not?”

Killua rolled his eyes. “Because we’re best friends. It’s kinda weird when your roommate’s boning your best friend.”

“We haven’t boned, but I can change that.”

Killua’s cheeks were painted red in a matter of seconds. He could feel it throbbing in his temple where an oncoming headache wrote itself in Gon’s name. “You—You can’t just say shit like that , Freecss! B-Besides, Zushi already commented on the fact that you weren’t in your dorm last night.”

Gon smiled a little and said, “Aw, he keeps track of that?” Killua rolled his eyes, only to halt and stutter when Gon said, “But back to the boning part—shouldn’t it be the other way around? I thought you liked to top.”

Killua’s shoulders bunched up to his ears and he exclaimed, “That—! Stop talking about it! Come back to me when my arms don’t feel like they’re about to fall off!”

Gon merely smiled as he backed out of the aisle and started for the exit. Killua, face red with embarrassment, stormed after him to give him a shove in the back.

On the way to the gym protein shake bar, it was decided that Gon couldn’t stay the night at Hatsu without wrecking his own sleep schedule. Hatsu Hall was farther from the athletic complex than Ren, which made the morning even more grueling for Gon than it already was. Killua didn’t mind, especially considering the lump of homework he pushed off in favor of spending Saturday with Alluka. If Gon was in his dorm all the time, he’d never get anything done—at least not homework .

Other things… he’d definitely get done.

Killua shook his head from where he was now neck deep in homework. He really shouldn’t be thinking about that, not when he had spent the last hour staring at the same problem without making so much as a dent in it.

He looked at where his phone sat on the desk next to him. He picked it up. He stared it down so intensely that he felt the world spinning and spiraling around it like they were on some epic crime show—Killua, the investigator; his phone, the criminal in custody. If he started shit with it now, he wouldn’t be able to stop until he had the answers he needed.

He got up and put his phone on the end table before returning to his desk. Approximately five minutes later, he got up and rolled onto his bed, phone in hand.

I am weak , he thought to himself as he opened Snapchat.

20:13 Kill 🔪 Zold Yack is typing…

20:13 Kill: What’re you doing rn

20:13 Gon: Jerking off to the thought of you

20:14 Kill 🔪 Zold Yack is typing…

20:15 Kill: Wow you really didn’t hesitate there did you

20:15 Open snap from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

— A bag of beef jerky —

20:16 Kill: Fuck that’s sexy

20:17 Gon: 👅🤫

20:17 Gon: What’re you doin

20:18 Kill: Right now?

20:18 Gon: Yessss

20:19 Kill: Thinking about you blowing me

20:19 Gon: 😚😜🤭

20:19 Gon: Pics or it didn’t happen

20:20 Open snap from Kill 🔪 Zold Yack

20:20 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss screenshot your snap!

20:21 Kill: You’re fucking LUCKY that was just a pic of my face I swear to God

20:21 Gon: ;P

20:21 Gon: I have the reflexes of a CAT

20:22 Gon: Hoped for a bit more sauce, tho but damn new lock screen pic or what ???

20:22 Kill: I’ll kill you

20:23 Gon: You already have considering you stole my heart 😚

20:23 Kill: I have a hitman on the phone right now

20:23 Kill: He’s coming to get you, fool

20:24 Gon: I’ll use you as my meat shield

20:24 Gon: Either that or I’ll kick his ass 🤺

20:25 Kill: I’d like to see you try

20:25 Gon: I’m a blackbelt

20:25 Kill: What

20:26 Kill: I legitimately don’t believe you

20:26 Gon: Image attached

20:27 Kill: Holy Mother Theresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz

20:27 Kill: New lock screen photo: you in a karategi

20:27 Gon: Ya like that???

20:28 Kill: Hell yeah I like that

20:28 Kill: Fuck do you have any videos from tournaments?

20:29 Gon: Yeah hang on

20:29 Gon: When I wasn’t in football or track season I’d be in martial arts

20:30 Kill: That’s sick as hell

20:33 Gon: Video attached

20:33 Gon: Video attached

20:34 Gon: tbh before Zushi and I even moved into Ren we met at a Karate club meeting 😆 Kind of coincidental

20:35 Kill: I am

20:35 Kill: So overwhelmed

20:36 Kill: And hot as hell right now

20:36 Gon: God I want to see you

20:37 Kill: I’m not sure God will allow that

20:37 Gon: Can I come over?

20:38 Kill: Fuck no I work at 6 and you have practice

20:38 Gon: I’ll leave by 11 :D

20:38 Kill: 😤

20:38 Kill: NO

20:39 Kill: SOMEONE has to have the self-control in this relationship

20:39 Gon: Just sneak into my room then :D Zushi will never notice

20:40 Kill: I’m convinced that if you so much as SLEEP in my bed one more time

20:40 Kill: I’ll end up tying you to it so you never leave

20:41 Gon: Sexy 😚

20:41 Gon: Will you strip me first

20:41 Gon: Rough me up a bit?

20:42 Kill: I’m this close 👌 to destroying you

20:42 Gon: Destroy my ass first 🤗

20:42 Kill: You’re ridiculous

20:43 Gon: RiDICKulous 🍆

20:43 Gon: I’m leaving Ren rn I could be at Hatsu in like 10 min?

20:44 Kill: …

20:45 Kill: Fine, sounds good

20:46 Gon: :D

 

“ Fuck! Shit—Freecss—” Killua gasped, panting. He was out of his mind—his soul was no longer tethered to this world or the next. He groaned, head thrown back, heart racing in his chest.

“You’re doing so good—come on—”

Killua cursed. Gon leant over him, eyes bright and wild like this wasn’t torture for Killua. The air felt like acid in his lungs, burning its way through his esophagus.

They were at the gym.

Gon braced his hands underneath the bar as it shook in Killua’s white-knuckled grip. Killua seethed as he pushed it with all his might into the air, arms shaking and wavering as he lowered it into the hooks. Gon eased some of the weight from Killua’s now-deceased arms. Killua dropped his hands and they flopped towards the ground, off of the bench.

“ Shit ,” Killua cursed, barely able to move. His arms were still sore from two days ago . At this rate, Freecss was bound to kill him. The day before they had worked on legs, which meant that work that morning was torture. As if his knees didn’t already hate him for standing for hours on end at Starbucks.

When Killua was on his feet once more, Gon swapped the barbell weights. Killua folded his arms over his head, watching as the weights he’d used clanked onto the storage set nearby. Gon heaved up two disks twice the size Killua had lifted and spun them onto the bar without wasting time.

“When you’re spotting someone,” Gon said, straddling the bench, “you’re basically there to let the other person bench more than they usually would without a spotter. It’d be dangerous to bench more without someone there to assist if it gets to be too much.”

Killua pointed to the weights and said, “There’s no way I can assist with that.”

Gon smiled at him, his hands on his thighs. “You’d be surprised,” he said. He leant back and braced his hands on the bar. Killua took position behind him, more or less wary about his own shaking arms. His muscles were still spasming. “I’ll be doing three sets of eight reps.”

“Yes, because I know exactly what that means,” Killua said.

Gon laughed as he pushed the bar off the rack. His biceps were the actual size of Kentucky and Killua couldn’t believe he never noticed it. He’d always been too focused on those damn legs and those fucking back muscles that he completely brushed over the fact that Gon was sporting two perfectly shaped guns that could annihilate Killua with one punch square in the jaw.

It was, quite honestly, the first time Killua had seen Gon seriously work out. It felt like they had just been playing before—at least, for Gon it was “just playing”, but for Killua it was torture. He figured Gon was going a little slow for Killua’s sake, and that became abundantly clear when Gon went in for the second set, already sweating.

They were nearly through the third set when a shadow fell over Gon and Killua turned to see Knuckle standing there, hands on his hips. “Lookin’ good, dude,” Knuckle said.

“Thanks,” Gon ground out through clenched teeth. He huffed out a deep breath on the lift before sucking it back in when he lowered it to his chest. The weights clanked a little on the ends of the barbell.

Knuckle turned to Killua, who was stuck between being seriously worried and seriously impressed. “You coming to the party Friday?”

“There’s a party Friday?” Killua droned.

“Hell yeah there is,” Knuckle said. “We’re going to Kappa Epsilon.”

Gon grunted as he dropped the bar in the rack. It rattled as he ducked out from underneath it and turned back to them. He rubbed his face on the collar of shirt, and Killua got a perfect window to his glistening abs. “We aren’t going straight away,” Gon explained. “I invited you to the pregame on Facebook.”

“Oh, um…” Killua hummed, thinking back to it. He did recall an invite, but it wasn’t from Gon. He never spent enough time on Facebook to bother seriously looking at his notifications. “I think… Machi might have invited me to that.”

“To Kappa?” Gon said, still out of breath. He glanced at Knuckle, who whistled low.

“Then dude, you should take her up,” Knuckle said.

“Why?”

“‘Cause we can’t smoke. There’s a drug test coming up soon,” he said. Killua raised an eyebrow at him, and Knuckle rolled his eyes. “Kappa supplies weed at their parties. For twenty bucks you can get the best damn brownie of your life—I mean, it’ll still taste like ass, but that shit’s strong. But since athletes are invited, smoking is limited to the first hour of the party.”

“Oh,” Killua said dumbly. “I’ll… think about it.”

Truthfully, edibles and smoking didn’t appeal to him. He didn’t mind marijuana, though. In fact, he preferred it to other vices, but that didn’t change the fact that he spent his visits to YU getting high at Illumi’s parties. On top of that, he wasn’t all that interested in getting high with people he didn’t know .

I know Machi though… sort of , he thought as he followed Knuckle and Gon across the room. He studied Gon’s back and wondered what he would be like high. Killua supposed he wouldn’t know—at least, not any time soon—considering Gon’s status as a university athlete. If he went to the Kappa Epsilon party, he’d be perfectly fine if Zushi or Gon were there.

Perhaps I could convince Zushi to come with? he wondered. He was tempted to text Zushi, but his phone was trapped in the locker room, far from where Gon was now thrusting dumbbells into his hands and telling him to start curling.

Knuckle pestered them for an hour before Killua’s timer went off. Considering his class schedule, he couldn’t afford to spend more than the allotted time he and Gon agreed on. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure what an appropriate gym time was, especially considering how Gon’s time spent in the gym with Killua was in addition to practice. Killua couldn’t imagine making the gym his life priority, and as they left Knuckle in the free weights room, Killua turned to Gon to ask.

Gon shrugged and said, “I’ve thought about it and at this point I think it’s more of an addiction.”

“How so? Just getting high on endorphins or something?”

“Yeah, pretty much. And I get so into it that everything else just sort of vanishes ,” Gon said as he opened his locker. He gestured with it, and met Killua’s eyes for a moment before turning away with a shake of his head. “I don’t know if that makes sense. I know it’s something a lot of runners experience as an escape.”

Killua hummed, pulling off his shirt. “It makes sense to me,” he said.

“Hey, Killua,” Gon said.

Killua glanced over as Gon balled up a shirt and chucked it at him. Killua startled and floundered like a octopus ejected through a canon. He just barely saved it from the floor and by then, he realized that the weight of it, the texture of it, and the size of it… was closer to a sweatshirt than just a plain shirt .

Killua’s heart thudded in his throat where it felt like someone had tied his esophagus into a neat bow. He swallowed hard as he held up to the light and underwent an existential crisis in the span of two entire seconds when he realized that Gon had given Killua his Hunter brand sweatshirt . It was the type of immaculate material that brand gigs provided for players as a part of their team gear.

Killua looked up over the hood of the sweatshirt. Gon was putting his arms through the sleeves of a clean shirt, watching Killua from over the bench. Gon stuck his head through the shirt and tugged it over his abdomen. The shirt was fitted in every perfect way, which just made his biceps look twice their normal size.

“Wear it,” Gon said with a vague gesture of encouragement.

Killua somehow managed to unknot his esophagus and swallow his heart. With that taken care of, he willed his cheeks not to blush as he put his arms through the sleeves of Gon’s sweatshirt. Was it just him, or was it still warm ? Perhaps it was just the stellar quality of the fabric. It was so soft on every inch of his skin and, as he pushed his head through, he got a whiff of a scent that was very on-brand Gon Freecss.

There was no way to describe it without having the exact can of cologne in his hand to do the hard work for him. Killua turned away, pretending to be focused on the contents of his own locker when actually, secretly, he just had his nose to the collar of Gon’s sweatshirt inhaling it like some goddamn junkie snorting up a line of cocaine on a sorority girl’s breast implants.

He shut his locker after retrieving his backpack. His arms felt more like noodles now than before and it was all he could do to keep from slumping to the ground and slinking his way home like an inch worm. Thankfully, though, Gon was there to straighten him up with an arm around his shoulders.

At the protein shake bar, Gon went up to the cashier and ordered two shakes—one chocolate and one vanilla. He walked the shakes over to where Killua was sitting at the bar stools with his head on the counter, more or less dead to the world.

Gon had a straw in his mouth as he said, “You should stop by the quad between your classes tomorrow.”

“And why would I do that?” Killua said, rising just enough to slurp up a mouthful of chocolate shake. The protein powder was chalky on his tongue, but not entirely unpleasant when masked with pure, sweet chocolate.

Gon leant against the counter beside him. Their shoulders were flush with one another, and Killua felt the fabric of Gon’s sweatshirt like a second skin, warming his entire body until his cheeks were flushed pink.

“I dunno. Uvogin is getting some of the guys together to hang out in the quad and I think you should come,” he said.

Killua started chugging the shake in hopes that it would calm down his flushed cheeks. It didn’t. “I-I guess I could stop by,” he confessed. It was during the one hour he had between calculus and anatomy, which was his usual lunch period. It wouldn’t take long to nab something from the campus café and bring it out to the quad…

He gave Gon a more certain nod and said, “Yeah, I’ll come.” When he looked, Gon’s nose came within a centimeter of his own.

Killua inhaled sharply, eyes wide, as Gon smiled and kissed his cheek. His lips lingered on Killua’s skin as he whispered, “Good. And wear my sweatshirt.”

Chapter Text

11:03 Kill 🔪 Zold Yack is typing…

11:04 Kill: Omw

11:04 Kill: O fuck sorry wrong person

11:05 Knucks: Thoroughly disappointed now

11:05 Kill: Yeah right dude

11:06 Kill: Are you going to the quad today?

11:06 Knucks: Girl I’m already there where are YOU?

11:07 Kill: Your inner drag queen is showing

11:07 Kill: And I’m stopping by. I have 45min before my next class

11:08 Knucks: Excellent

11:08 Knucks: You should play washers with us like a bunch of Midwestern folks Up Nort’

11:08 Knucks: #LakeLife4Life

11:09 Kill: What about me SCREAMS Midwestern

11:09 Knucks: Your pale skin

11:10 Kill: I’m literally Japanese

11:10 Knucks: Killua, I hate to break it to you

11:11 Knucks: But not all Asian people have asses as pale as yours

11:11 Kill: 🤦♂️

11:12 Kill: Why are we friends

11:12 Kill: AND I’M NOT /THAT/ PALE

11:12 Kill: I TAN. KIND OF.

11:13 Knucks: Serious question

11:13 Kill: Ok

11:14 Knucks Deep 👊 is typing…

11:14 Knucks: When you go out tanning

11:15 Knucks: Do you or do you not tan in the nude

11:16 Kill: I thought this was a serious question

11:16 Knucks: It’s serious because I can’t be the only one

11:17 Kill: 🤭

11:17 Kill: As a premed student I cannot endorse intentional tanning

11:18 Knucks: Damn I knew it

When Killua left Panda Express and crossed the campus, he didn’t expect to hear music along the way. It echoed between YU buildings and hummed down the side streets Killua took to avoid student traffic. He shoveled lo mein in his mouth as he went in between texting Knuckle, laughing to himself and almost choking in the middle of the street.

He coughed into his elbow and laughed again. He turned the corner to the quad steps, looking up from his phone just long enough to realize that shit , if Sigma Alpha hadn’t completely taken over the quad or what?

From Killua’s high ground, he overlooked the quad space. It was a grassy knoll area between YU buildings and filled with tall, colorful trees. Cherry blossoms and crab apple trees were in bloom and their white and pink petals fluttered across the grass and between the stripes of hammocks strung between the trees. It smelled like a barbecue and Killua realized that those idiots were really cooking out in the middle of campus and throwing a Hammock Jamboree.

Killua hurried down the steps. He pocketed his phone in the back of his jeans and, upon reaching the ground, he realized that it would be harder to find Gon than he anticipated.

There had to be about thirty hammocks—some double-deckered, others triple-deckered, which would be impossible for Killua to check anyway. The sight alone was alarming. The quad was a hot spot, sure, but never for this magnitude of tomfoolery . It was normal to say maybe two or three set up, and Killua’s brain couldn’t quite handle the sheer excess of this endeavor.

He walked down the knoll feeling distinctly like he was at a campground exclusively for hammock enthusiasts. He discretely peered into the hammocks that were close to the ground, in search of Gon, but came up empty until he followed the scent of the barbecue to the other side of the quad. There, he found a triad of hammocks where Uvogin was standing, shirtless, in a pair of banana-printed teal shorts. He was at the grill flipping burgers.

Killua slowed to the edge of their little campsite. He stood on the outskirts of the ribbon of smoke drifting from the grill as meat sizzled on the grill. Music was blasting on the speakers at the neighboring site. Killua barely stood there for two seconds before a familiar head peeked out from behind the hem of a ground-level hammock.

“Killua!” Gon cried. In an instant, he flipped the entire hammock over. Killua jumped in surprised, only to sigh in relief when Gon landed on his feet, no problem.

Uvogin turned around and, after meeting Killua’s eyes, took in the sight of Gon’s sweatshirt. It would have just been an average Hunter shirt if it didn’t have Freecss’ last name in bold, white type slapped down the length of the sleeves.

Killua managed a weak smile as Uvogin rose an eyebrow at him. Gon tugged on the sleeve, pulling Killua past the tendrils of smoke and over to his hammock. It was a plain blue hammock that, when stretched out, could fit two people easily. Gon pulled the gap open and sat perpendicular with it, like it was a porch swing. He patted the spot next to him, so Killua set his backpack aside and dropped down.

The hammock swayed and wobbled. Killua clutched at the edge of it, eyes wide, Panda Express in his other hand. Gon laughed and said, “Have you ever been in a hammock before?”

“Not really, no,” he confessed. He felt like someone had just suspended him in the air on a sheet of saran wrap. He did not like it one bit.

Just as he was just preparing to get off, Gon stretched his arms up and over the back of the hammock sling. He grasped onto the hem on their far side and with the other, he set his hand on Killua’s opposite shoulder. It effectively put Killua flat against Gon’s side and with the dip in the hammock, there was no avoiding it. They were… cuddling?

Weird , Killua thought as he popped a piece of sweet fire chicken into his mouth.

“So you have anatomy after this?” Gon said, and Killua hummed his ascent. “Do they have nude models in that class?”

Killua snorted. “No, that’s figure drawing.”

“Oh. Then have you taken a figure drawing course?”

“Fuck no,” he laughed. Gon seemed disappointed. “Why?”

“Don’t you think it’d be fun to be a nude model?” he said.

Killua almost choked on his lo mein again. He put the back of his hand to his mouth to keep his giggles in when Knuckle’s head popped out of the hammock next to them. “I heard it pays well,” Knuckle said.

“Yeah, but I also heard old white dudes with beer guts do it,” Uvogin said.

“Where did you hear that ?” Knuckle said.

“My old man does it,” he said, flipping a burger over. As the meat sizzled and popped, Killua felt like he was choking. He couldn’t swallow his food when the risk of vomiting was so high.

“No way,” someone said from the hammock above them. When they leant over, Killua recognized the braid—it was one of the few long-haired players on the team, Shoot. “I feel like this is something you would have advertised sooner.”

“I’ve known you for three years and I never knew this about you,” Knuckle added.

“You say that like my dad nude modeling is about me, ” Uvogin said, hands out in an exasperated fashion. “My mom got him into it. She’s been modeling since her college days, ya know. Got her through uni.”

Knuckle hooked his elbows over the edge of his hammock and settled his chin on his hands. He shook his head, saying, “You never cease to amaze me.”

Uvogin exploded with a passionate, “It’s not about me , you bitch!”

“It’s kinda sweet how your parents became nudists to support your college education, dude,” Shoot said.

Uvogin picked up a steaming hot burger with his tongs and reeled back as if to chuck it. Gon shrieked and flung himself in front of Killua as the burger went flying. Their hammock shook and Killua screamed like a bat out of Hell as Shoot cursed above them, deflecting the burger with his class textbook. It went flying towards the grill where it kicked up embers and started an open flame.

Killua’s heart was pounding so hard he thought it might rupture his ribcage. Eventually, their hammock steadied, but the entire situation put him on the edge of pissing himself. They may have only been a few feet from the ground, but Killua’s innate fear of heights made swinging in a hammock pure torture.

Gon leant back with a curse in Uvogin’s direction. “Nice first impression, asshat.”

Uvogin had the grill under control once more. “Oh, Killua and I have already met,” he said.

Gon turned to Killua, who blinked, still startled and clutching his half-finished Panda Express to his chest. When Killua said nothing, Gon said, “You’ve already met Uvo? Since when? ”

“Since Knuckle mixed me a drink in his room,” Killua said.

“Knucks mixed you a drink ?”

“Relax, dude, not like we sucked each other off,” Knuckle said, no longer visible now that his hammock was mostly zipped up.

Gon looked like he was about to lunge off of the hammock to kick Knuckle into the atmosphere. Killua reached back to hold Gon still with a hand on the back of his shirt collar. Gon dropped back down with a huff. Uvogin was laughing at the grill, hands on the hips of his teal, banana printed shorts. 

Shoot leant over his hammock again to look down at them. His braid fell over the edge as he asked, “So are you two dating or something?”

“Yeah,” Gon said.

Killua stuck a piece of chicken in his mouth to stop his internal screaming from escaping. Dating . They never talked about that, but he supposed it made sense considering… well, everything . If anything, Gon’s sweatshirt said it all.

Shoot put a hand out to Killua, who reached up to give it a light shake. “Nice to finally meet you, Killua. You can call me Shoot.”

“‘ Finally ’?” Killua laughed. “What’ve you heard?”

“All good things,” Shoot said.

“He was present for the Denver Debacle,” Uvogin said. He shook the tongs in Killua’s direction and said, “Which, by the way, I have to thank you for because that shit was priceless. And also apologize on behalf of Knucks for even endorsing that shit.”

“It’s not shit,” Gon muttered as Killua sat back against his side.

“Oh really?” Killua said around a mouthful of rice. “I hope you realize how easy it is for me to stand up and walk away right now.”

Gon leaned over to put his chin on Killua’s shoulder, his arm tightening around Killua’s shoulders. “I take it back,” he whined. “Forgive me?”

“You can beg on your knees later,” Killua said and it wasn’t until the words all left his mouth that he realized what he was saying. His eyes widened at the sound of Uvogin whistling. He could see Knuckle’s entire hammock shaking with barely restrained laughter. Killua put a hand to his forehead and moaned, “Ignore me, please…”

Uvogin slapped his hands together and threw his head back laughing.

Gon put his lips close to Killua’s bright red ear and said, “Oh, I absolutely will. Tonight?”

Killua shoved him away and hissed, “I was kidding .”

“Oh my God,” Uvogin gasped. “It all makes sense now. I like this one, Freecss.”

Killua leant over to set his empty Panda container down. When his feet touched the ground, he moved as if to stand, but Gon’s hand caught him. “Aw, don’t go,” he said.

Killua sighed. He looked back to where Gon was staring up at him with those wide, round eyes that were light enough to be gold in the sunlight. Killua checked the time on his phone. He had at least twenty minutes before he absolutely needed to leave.

“Fine,” he said.

When he sat back down, Gon shifted over so that they could lie down side-by-side. Killua tensed until the hammock settled. Where the blue fabric touched the sunlight, it cast a vibrant blue filter over them in their little bubble in the middle of the Sigma Alpha makeshift campgrounds. Killua let his head loll to Gon’s shoulder when Gon finished wrapping the hammock up over them. It was cozy in there, insulated by the elastic fabric.

Gon touched their noses together. “You good?” he whispered.

Killua nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Gon smiled, an eyebrow quirked. “‘ Think so’?” he repeated with a little laugh.

“I have a fear of heights,” he confessed. He glanced down before meeting Gon’s eyes again to say, “When I was little, my brother would hold me over the edge of whatever—a pool, the steps, the balcony.”

“That’s fucked up,” Gon said. “If this makes you uncomfortable, we can get out and chill in the grass or something.”

Killua laughed. “No, it’s fine when it’s not moving. I’m fine, really.”

Gon relaxed a little. They were squished together by the natural shape of the hammock, and Killua didn’t mind it one bit. If he kept lying there half-on top of Gon, he’d fall asleep and miss class. Killua set an alarm on his phone then before stuffing it in the front pocket of the sweatshirt.

He put his hand to Gon’s opposite shoulder and ran his thumb along the line of Gon’s collarbone. He watched as Gon swallowed and he wondered if he made Gon feel hot and bothered at the most inopportune moments of the day like Gon did for him as well. He glanced up from where his chin had been settled on Gon’s shoulder and Gon blinked his eyes over to meet Killua’s.

Killua laid an experimental kiss to Gon’s shoulder. Gon’s fingers were running circles on his back until that moment, at which point Gon clutched at his arm. Killua moved his lips to Gon’s neck where he laid a quiet, soft kiss to the skin there, and again beneath Gon’s jaw. Gon tipped his head back as Killua took Gon’s skin between his teeth.

Even with the music playing in the distance, Killua kept the sound of his lips and tongue as quiet as possible. He licked across the mark before sucking it back between his teeth. He could hear the hitch in Gon’s voice as he bit intentionally hard into it. It would leave a dark and obvious bruise that Killua was more than happy to leave behind.

Gon let out a low, whispered curse as Killua dragged his fingers through Gon’s hair. He kissed up along Gon’s jaw to his ear where he took Gon’s earlobe between his teeth. He licked the outside of it before ending it by whispering, “ Don’t make a sound. ”

“What’re you—” Gon started, only to break off when Killua slipped his fingers under the hem of Gon’s sweatpants.

Gon’s breath hitched again, tensing with a curse. Killua stopped, his fingers grazing over the soft fabric of Gon’s boxers. Gon put his hand to Killua’s wrist, stilling them both. Killua waited, breath tight in his chest where his heartbeat sped up at the sight of the blush on Gon’s cheeks. Killua G. Zoldyck, first of his name, made Gon Freecss blush .

A devilish grin spread across Killua’s lips when Gon nodded. His hand didn’t leave Killua’s wrist, though—not even when Killua’s fingertips grazed over the soft skin on Gon’s pelvis to the heat between Gon’s legs.

Killua could feel Gon’s skin trembling. Gon bit his lip, breath shuddering out as Killua dragged his fingers along Gon’s length before grasping hold of it. Contrary to popular belief, Killua had never once jerked a guy off in a hammock, but the flush of confidence in his system and the high of adrenaline from the fact that they were in the middle of the quad really got him going.

Thank God for obnoxious frat boys, though. The music was loud, Uvogin and Knuckle were yodeling about whatever , and so Gon’s gasps and cussing flew under the radar. Watching Gon break apart in ecstasy was the highlight of Killua’s day.

When Gon finished, Killua realized, once again, why he didn’t want Gon to suck him off in Knuckle Bine’s bedroom. His hand was sticky with cum as he pulled out of Gon’s sweatpants.

“Shit—sorry,” Gon whispered, out of breath.

Killua brought his fingers to his lips and gave them an experimental lick. It was salty and weird , and he kind of felt like hot ice cream had dripped all over his hand. He imagined it was ice cream as he licked his hand clean and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Jesus Christ—” Gon was saying.

“Worry about your pants, though,” Killua said. The timer on his phone went off. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

Gon just stared at him as he opened up the hammock and hooked his legs over the edge. He almost wondered if Gon was disgusted, but he figured that’d be a more obvious expression. Instead, Gon just stared at him with those round eyes, cheeks flushed, ears pink, looking absolutely stunned and stunning.

Killua leant out of the hammock and staggered to his feet. It was a miracle that he hadn’t popped a boner, but he did feel a little something tingling down there as he shouldered his backpack, dried his hand off, and prepared to leave.

When he turned, he came face-to-face with the sight of Uvogin over at Knuckle’s hammock, spinning the idiot around and around. Knuckle was screaming inside the hammock as it circled around like a goddamn double dutch jump rope and Shoot was recording it from over Gon’s hammock.

He didn’t really want to bring attention to himself, all things considered, but he felt odd ditching without saying a thing. “I’ll see you later, guys,” Killua said, loud enough for them to hear over the music.

Uvogin stopped the makeshift rollercoaster. As Knuckle’s hammock swung to a slow halt, Uvogin threw his arms up and said, “You’re leaving?! You just got here!”

“Yeah, like, thirty minutes ago,” Killua deadpanned. “I have class, unlike some of you, apparently.”

“Whoa, fighting words,” Shoot said.

Uvogin walked up to Killua and offered his hand for a bro-hug. Killua didn’t think twice as he used his right hand to slap onto Uvogin’s and bump their shoulders together. “Nice seeing you again, dude,” Uvogin said, slapping him on the shoulder. “I’ll definitely be seeing more of you.”

“Y-Yeah, you will,” Killua said, his brain in an ever-evolving constant stream of screaming as he let go of Uvogin’s hand and walked away. Thankfully, his hand had dried since getting out of the hammock, but he had, by no means, used his clean hand just then.

Killua rubbed his hand idly on the front of his jeans. I really need to wash my hands , he thought, hurrying his steps as he escaped from of the quad.

Killua didn’t see Gon the next morning. He assumed Gon died and that he’d find, “Man Dies After Orgasm, Body Found Wrapped in Hammock in the York River,” printed in the newspapers. However, an hour after his shift started, Gon messaged him the following: “ Deceased and trapped with the team this morning. See you at Kappa when we get back? ” to which he replied, “ RIP your pants dude .”

Killua snickered at Gon’s reply to his snarky comment. He pocketed his phone as he set back to work at the cash register. It was Friday and he was due to work through the morning before OChem, but with the game, he’d be missing the first half of the Hunters’ game against Eugene, Oregon. It was a short, three hour bus ride which meant Gon was likely on a coach bus through North California to get there and back.

Their exam results were in and, at the end of their Friday lecture, Zushi followed Killua up to the front table where all of the tests were safeguarded by their respective TAs. Kurapika had a stack of test packets in their hand and, when Killua stepped up, they offered an encouraging smile as they presented the packet. For Zushi, Kurapika gave him a wink and said, “You guys are sticking around after, right?”

“Yeah. We have to finish the prep for lab on Monday,” Zushi said. When he hurried over to where Killua had his packet pressed flat to his chest, Zushi let out a deep breath and said, “Shit—makes you feel like you did terrible and Pika’s gotta smack some sense into us.”

“I doubt their brains would be passed on with one smack,” Killua sighed. He was convinced that any TA for OChem had secretly sold their souls to the devil.

They raced up the steps back to their lecture seats. The hall was clearing out all except for students inquiring about their test results with the professor and the TAs. After dropping down into their designated seats, Zushi turned to face Killua and said, “Ready?”

Killua sucked in a deep breath and nodded. “Ready. One—two— three .”

They flipped their test packets over and plucked off the post-it note over their scores.

Killua’s sinking heart soared in an instant. Flying colors , he thought to himself at the sight of a low 90 on his paper.

“Eight-five, not bad, not bad at all,” Zushi hummed, pleased. “How about you?”

“Good. I passed,” Killua said with a firm nod. He flipped through the packet so the score turned to the back. He searched for the questions he got wrong and together they compared their answers. They made notes, correcting their wrong answers, and aiming for a perfect score next time around.

After that was said and done and they turned over to their lab assignment, Kurapika was back from handing out test scores. They slapped their hands on Killua and Zushi’s shoulders, causing them both to leap in their seats.

“Way to go, guys,” they said. “After the last lab, you two are in the top half of the class.”

“Well, I guess this is evidence that my deal with Satan was worth it,” Killua said.

Zushi slapped him on the arm and laughed. “When did you do that and why didn’t you refer Satan to me?” he said.

“Just before I emerged from the womb Satan came up to me and said: ‘Now is the time for you to decide whether or not you’ll pass organic chemistry,’” he said, his lab papers to his heart and his eyes facing forward. He glanced back at Zushi, who was just barely containing his laughter. “So to answer you: I was -2 minutes old.”

Kurapika had their things packed up and stood with an amazed, “Wow, this explains so much about you. On that lovely note, I’ll be off.”

“Oh—hold on,” Killua said. He went to his phone where he opened up the invite Machi sent him. He held it out to Kurapika and Zushi, who leant over to squint at it. “There’s a party going on tonight at Kappa. You guys should come.”

“How’d you get invited to Kappa? ” Zushi said.

“Machi,” Killua said, but in the back of his mind, Knuckle and Gon were there, too. “It’d be more fun if I went with people I actually know, though.”

“I’m not allowed to party with students,” Kurapika sighed. “I pretty much relinquished frat parties when I took this position.”

“Then our first goal after the OChem final is to take you out to Sigma Alpha,” Zushi said. He gestured to Killua as he added, “Since, I mean, after spring semester, we’ll probably never see Gon again. We gotta milk his Sigma privileges.”

“Please never use the verb ‘milk’ in correlation with Freecss,” Killua sighed, rubbing his temple.

“That’d be fun, though. I’d be down for that,” Kurapika said. “I’ll be swamped with grading until the twentieth of December. Are you two going home for winter break?”

“Hell no,” Killua said.

“We’re supposed to be out of the dorms until after New Years,” Zushi said. “I’ll be going home to SoCal.”

Killua hadn’t bothered to think about Winter Break because he knew that crushing anxiety would come with it. So when Kurapika left them and Zushi directed their attention back to OChem, Killua was trying desperately to ignore the nagging sensation in the back of his head that told him he couldn’t afford an AirBnb for all of Winter Break.

I have another three weeks to worry about it , he told himself. Save it for after finals. Who knows—I might be able to work something out with Leorio . It was unlikely, but the university might exempt him from the rules of the room checks over Winter Break.

It was on his mind even as a janitor came into the lecture hall and told them he was closing up the room for the night. Killua thought about it as he and Zushi left the building together, considering his chances with Leorio. If he could convince Leorio, then he could just stay out of the dorms all break for cleaning and room checks. Leorio would let him into the building at night and in the morning, he’d be off. He’d have to pay for all of his meals, but it would be better than going back home for break.

Illumi probably knows I’m plotting something , he realized. Illumi had lived in the dorms one year and therefore knew the regulations. He wondered if Winter Break would begin and Illumi, knowing that Killua was panicking, would be out front with the car trunk open for his luggage to drag him home.

He wouldn’t let that happen.

So when he and Zushi arrived at Hatsu Hall, Killua dropped Zushi off in his room before heading down the hall to talk with Leorio. He only needed to knock once before Leorio was swinging the door open.

“My liege,” Leorio said with a low bow.

“I need your help,” Killua said. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Leorio sat him in the bean bag across from the Live Laugh Love wall. There was a new addition, which Killua knew given the fact that it wasn’t even on the wall yet. He picked it up from the stool in front of him and read it off. “ 'Laugh. Live, laugh, love, well, often, much.’ What the hell is this?”

“Oh, some kids down the hall found it at an antique store. I think it was printed wrong, but it counts,” Leorio said with a grunt as he collapsed into his desk chair and said, “Tell me: What is on your mind, my dear Zoldyck.”

“I can’t go home for break,” Killua said. “I was wondering if I could stay in my dorm. I know the dining hall won’t be open and y’all are doing room checks but—”

“Whoa, slow down there, partner,” Leorio said, waving his hands. “I can’t—I’m sorry, dude, but I can’t let you stay in the dorms. Ya know we cut the electricity to save energy over break. I’m not even staying at Hatsu—we’ve all got training at some resort in Yorknew.”

Killua tried not to slump in defeat, but he felt it in his bones. His backup plan was to ask Zushi, but he didn’t want to depend on Zushi any more than he already was. Zushi was the one to recommend that they room together over next year—what if Killua stayed at his parents house and Zushi’s parents wound up hating him? Would they let Zushi sign a lease with Killua?

“Oh, okay,” Killua said in the calmest voice he could manage. “I’ll figure something out.”

“I can ask the head RA if there’s anything we can do. It sounds like students who can’t go home for break are given discounted rates at nearby hotels. I know it’s not ideal, but…”

“I understand,” Killua said with a firm nod. “I’ll be fine. Thanks, though.”

Killua stood up then to leave. Leorio jumped up after him and, before he could leave, Leorio tugged him back by the hand. Killua faced him and the pitying look on Leorio’s face that said, “ If I could break the rules for you, I would .”

Killua gave him a pat on the arm and said, “I got this, dude. Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay,” Leorio agreed with a nod. “I’ll message you once I know anything more.”

With that, Killua left and began to formulate what he’d say to Zushi. It took him the entire walk from OChem to decide on what to say to Leorio, so he expected nothing less for Zushi. When he returned to his room, he pushed it to the back of his mind and threw his arms up, saying, “Ready for Kappa?”

Chapter Text

Zushi had never had weed in any state of matter—edibles, smoking, or otherwise. Based on experience, Killua kept Zushi to his side after they forked over thirty bucks for two Strong As Hell brownies. A full brownie for Killua and half of one for Zushi.

The lights were dim and the air was clearer and less hazy. The smoking section was on the top floor of the building. Killua and Zushi left the vendor room on the second floor where a line of people stood in the hallway chatting and mingling.

“Since this is your first time,” Killua started as they stepped down the narrow corridor to the balcony, “you’re probably just gonna get sleepy. It’ll take forty-five minutes for you to even feel anything, got it?”

“Geez, you know a lot about weed. I don’t know why I’m surprised,” Zushi said as he accepted the half-brownie from Killua.

They leant up against the brick siding of the house with their feet pushed to the base of the iron railing. Killua unwrapped his brownie—it was still warm from the oven and soft and moist against his fingertips. Zushi and Killua tipped their brownies together like they were cheering the New Year before taking their first bites.

Knuckle wasn’t wrong—it did taste like ass. Killua preferred edibles over smoking any day, though, so he downed it fast and gagged a little at the taste. He brushed his hands off on his jeans and looked to Zushi, who looked entirely too disgusted to finish the last half of his brownie piece.

Zushi stuck his tongue out and held it out to Killua. “Don’t like that,” he rasped out, coughing.

Killua laughed and said, “What, so you want me to take it?” Zushi nodded. Killua took it and popped it in his mouth. “Whatever, dude,” he said, mouth full.

They stood on the balcony for a while longer overlooking Frat Row. There was music playing from the first floor, and they could hear people shouting excitedly upstairs. It sounded like some karaoke was going on, and Killua and Zushi laughed at the tone-deaf singers that were out of view.

Eventually, Killua turned to Zushi and said, “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”

Zushi folded his arms and said, “Sure, what’s up?”

Killua opened his mouth but his voice was drowned out by a bright-haired girl popping out of the balcony door. Zushi startled with a curse, turning to where Machi leaned out with a hand on the doorframe and a serious frown on her face. Killua was almost certain she was incapable of smiling without looking like a psychopath anyway.

She narrowed her eyes at them and said, “How come you two didn’t come find me when you got here.”

Killua held up his empty brownie wrapper and said, “Got distracted.”

Machi snapped her fingers at him and said, “How long ago did you take that.”

“Like, fifteen minutes?”

“Good. We’ve got thirty for you to show off in the basement. I brought some girls from the club, and there’s a pole downstairs. I wanna see what you can do.”

“A pole? As in pole dancing ?” Zushi said, amazed. Machi was already marching off, fully expecting them to follow. Zushi put a hand to his forehead and staggered into the hallway. He turned back to Killua to whisper, “This is crazy! First weed and now pole dancing .”

“Parties aren’t usually like this,” Killua said, but then again, he had a weird-ass high school experience, what with Illumi as his older brother.

They followed after Machi’s pink hair as went down the stairs and down a black lit hallway. Her hair turned a vibrant magenta in the light, glowing brilliantly in the bluish dark. Killua’s hair and Zushi’s t-shirt under his flannel glowed bright white. Zushi hurried alongside Killua, a giddy smile on his face. Killua elbowed him in the side with a laugh as they turned down the stairwell heading to the basement.

Kappa kept their dance floor to the basement. There were bedrooms on the far side of the basement, separated by a corridor that ended with the stairwell on one side and a door to the backyard at the other. They broke away through an archway to the dance floor where the music consolidated into a constant, drumming pulse in Killua’s chest.

True to Machi’s word, there was indeed a pole up near the DJ and there was a girl already tearing it up. It was obvious that she knew what she was doing, as Killua knew the amount of core strength required to be able to flip around the pole like that. He had never been able to do it and never attempted after his first failure as a pole dancer several years prior when Illumi took him to a gay strip club with a fake ID. Killua had went mostly against his will, but had tried out the poles fully on his own voluntary will.

Killua crossed his arms as they lingered at the outskirts of the people dancing. It was tamer at Kappa, but no less exciting. Killua could see actual space between the people, and it looked as though a crowd and formed around a select few taking turns as the star of the dance floor.

Machi emerged from the crowd with a select few girls from her dancing club. Killua was startled by the intrusion and barely managed to grasp the things that were said or the things he agreed to. Before he knew it, they were dragging him by both hands to the center of the circle and expecting him to dance to a song he’d never heard in his life.

Killua staggered out amidst the chaos of people chanting and cheering encouragingly. He smiled weakly to all of them before at last circling around to where Machi stood with him.

And then, the bass dropped.

I can get down to this , he thought, stretching his arms up over his head.

Killua spread his feet apart and dropped his arms back. He rocked his shoulders to the motion of his ankles rolling, his feet shifting fluidly in place with all the elements of the moonwalk. He rotated around before tipping to the side when the chorus picked up with the motion of his hands over his head. When he looked at Machi, she was nodded in approval and sidling in to join him.

They swapped dance moves and, likewise, Machi and the girls taught him entirely new shit he’d never attempted before. Zushi joined in and the dance floor commenced as it had before the circle formed. They all laughed and giggled over their failed attempts before ever realizing that it was because they were giddy from the high.

Killua didn’t fully realize he was being affected until it hit him like a brick to the face. One moment he was dancing with one of the girls and the next he couldn’t stop smiling . If he didn’t look like such a crazed maniac when he smiled like that, it might have been sweet, but then again, holding Zushi’s head to his and giggling made him look more or less deranged. He felt so light and fluffy inside, like his brain was made of cotton.

He and Zushi swayed together on the dance floor during some hardcore rap song. Killua had his arms around Zushi’s neck while Zushi hugged his torso. They rocked back and forth as the lights flashed around them and spiraled in colors of blue and yellow, red and green. Zushi put his head to Killua’s shoulder and it felt like they were one slow song away from melting and dribbling into the cracks in the concrete under their feet.

“Oh, hey Gon,” Zushi hummed near Killua’s ear.

Killua pulled away a little, eyes bleary. He glanced over at where Gon Freecss was standing, staring at them with wide, energetic eyes. Gon beamed at him and Killua’s wide smile spread wider.

“Hey guys, what’re you two up to?” Gon said.

In that moment, Killua wanted to hug the shit out of Gon. He wanted to put his arms around Gon’s neck and his legs around Gon’s waist and hold on as tightly as his poor, sore arms and legs could manage.

But for now, Killua was hugging Zushi.

“I had a quarter of a brownie and Killua had one and a quarter,” Zushi explained.

Gon’s eyes widened and he leant forward saying, “Wait, are you serious? Dude, I heard they put the wrong ratio in.”

“What do you mean?” Zushi asked.

“Someone put the whole stash into the brownies. There’s, like, three hundred dollars worth of weed in the first batch,” he explained.

“Holy shit, who fucked that up?” Zushi said. He tried backing away from Killua, but Killua would have none of it. The fear of losing Zushi in the crowd was compounded by the spike in his anxiety that had been numbed by the comfort of Zushi’s arms around him. He felt it tingling up his spine like nails on a chalkboard, urging him to hold on and never let go.

Zushi whined for him to stop, but Killua’s smile was gone and replaced with a teary-eyed frown. His throat felt tight as he clutch onto Zushi’s arm and said, “Don’t leave me—Zushi, I don’t want you to disappear—”

“Is—Is he okay?” Gon said, brow furrowed with concern.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Zushi said, giving Killua a pat on the hand and a discrete nudge to get his hands off.

Heat put pressure on Killua’s eyes. He could feel the moving bodies around him, crushing in now that the smoking period was over and done with. There were so many people tightening his lungs and wringing his nerves into knots. If Zushi walked away, he’d disappear and Killua would never see him again.

Before he could stop it, tears started to drip from his eyelashes.

Zushi startled forward, his hands going to Killua’s cheeks. “Oh, fuck, dude—It’s okay, I’m right here—”

“Y-You’re gonna disappear,” Killua stammered, lips quivering.

“What happened? Why’s he crying?” Gon demanded, pushing up beside Zushi as Killua rubbed his eyes dry on his sweater. Gon put his hand on Killua’s back.

“I’m gonna disappear?” Zushi whispered, eyes wide and dilated.

Killua nodded as he put his head to Zushi’s shoulder. Zushi put his arm around Killua’s back as Killua said, “If you leave me, you’ll be gone. Thin air— poof .”

“Shit, no way,” Zushi breathed against Killua’s hair. “Dude, don’t let me go.”

Killua sniffled and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He felt Gon’s hand gently nudging him forward, and eventually, he realized that they were moving through the crowd and out of the middle of the mosh pit where he and Zushi had been slow dancing to Nicki Minaj.

Gon walked them down the black lit hallway. Killua felt the spacetime continuum warping around them and spinning the world into a web around them. It clung to his skin and reminded him that he needed to hold onto Zushi or risk losing him forever to the black hole void of the party. Somehow, they arrived at the first floor after a treacherous journey up the stairs in which Zushi had to physically prompt Killua to even take a step. The third dimension felt so unreal and unfathomable that to transfer his weight up a Y-axis was just too much for his mind to comprehend. Eventually he closed his eyes and let Gon and Zushi take the wheel.

When they at last collapsed onto the living room couch, Killua pulled his knees up to his chest and huddled into Zushi. Over his head, Zushi said to Gon, “Dude, you don’t have to stick around us. I can take care of Killua.”

“I don’t mind,” Gon said. “How are you feeling?”

“Sleepy but okay.”

Zushi pressed his cheek to Killua’s hair and glanced over at Gon. Gon had his arm around the back cushion, looking at Zushi expectantly, like he was anticipating something . Zushi was, by no means, going to relinquish Killua into the hands of his fuck boy of a roommate. Besides, Zushi was exhausted. The dancing coupled with the smash effect of the edibles made him feel as though he had partied for a dozen hours before just now sitting down.

Zushi looked down and found Killua’s eyes closed. He glanced over at Gon again, nibbling on his bottom lip. Gon drew his eyes up from where he had been watching Killua. Zushi narrowed his eyes at Gon.

“What?” Gon said.

“Stop looking at him,” Zushi said, defensively. It made him feel queazy thinking about the way Killua looked when he admitted that he and Gon would never be a “thing”. Truthfully, it broke his heart to realize that Killua had spent all semester pining over his idiot of a roommate, only for it to end before it ever could begin because of Gon’s superficial dating life.

Gon rolled his eyes away and said, “Fine, I won’t look at him if you tell me why.” With that, his eyes landed on Zushi again.

It was Zushi’s turn to roll his eyes. “‘Cause I don’t want you to hurt him. I know your tendencies and I know Killua’s a longterm type of guy. I don’t know what happened between you guys but I know you really pissed Killua off.”

“What makes you think I pissed him off?”

Zushi looked down from where Gon’s eyes never wavered on his. He swallowed hard and shook his head. “When he’s upset he doesn’t like to show it. He said he was fine but I just… don’t believe him, I guess?” He yawned then, slumping back in the cushions with Killua at his shoulder. “You going on dates with other people when you’ve got a perfectly good specimen right here is fucked up, dude. I’m sorry, but it is.”

He hesitated to look up at Gon. When he did, though, he found Gon’s eyes had settled at his lap. The hand he had over the back cushion rubbed idly at the seam, and Zushi could feel the guilt in all this and more. Gon lifted his eyes to meet Zushi’s as he said, “I know I fucked up.”

Zushi nodded. He didn’t know what to say to that. He almost wished Gon had been more of an insincere fuck boy who Zushi could despise without consequence. He wanted Gon to say, “ Yeah, yeah, I know, I know ,” like Zushi was his mom nagging him about cleaning the dishes just so he could call Gon out for being an asshole to his best friend.

Instead, Gon held up his phone and swiped through the screens for Zushi to see. “I deleted Tinder. I’m working on it,” he promised.

Zushi nodded again. “Good. I’ll… hold you accountable.”

Gon laughed softly, lowering his phone. “Okay. I’m depending on you, then,” he said.

Gon walked Zushi and Killua to Hatsu Hall around midnight. The street lamps were on and the sky was dark aside from the city lights collecting on dust particles in the air. Killua felt exhausted—the type of exhausted that put bags under his eyes from sheer stress. He swiped into the hall and, with the door propped open, he turned back to Gon and Zushi.

“Sorry about being such a mess,” he said. His head still felt like cotton, but it was more sleepy than anything. He wouldn’t be surprised if he knocked out the rest of the night and slept through his alarms. He rubbed the back of his head with a small, apologetic smile as he added, “I don’t usually get paranoid when I’m high. So sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Zushi said, smiling. “It was kinda cute.”

“Sh-Shut up,” Killua stammered, cheeks flushed pink.

Zushi beamed at him. Killua glanced at Gon, who stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants. He still felt the strong, magnetic urge to cling to Gon and not let go. Instead of doing that, though, he raised a hand and said, “Congrats on the win. Are you two heading back to the party?”

“I’m exhausted, so I’ll be going back to Ren,” Zushi said.

“The guys are still at Kappa, so I’ll be over there,” Gon said.

With that, they went their separate ways. Killua slumped to the Hatsu tower elevator and as he waited for it to drop, he checked his phone. There was a message from Gon asking that Killua let him into the building. Killua rolled his eyes and slumped back to the main door. The student worker at the front desk watched him all the way as he let Gon through the locked door.

“Did you hide in a bush or something until Zushi left?” Killua said.

Gon put his arm around Killua’s back as they walked to the elevator together. “Maybe,” he hummed in Killua’s ear.

When they stood in the elevator together, Killua let himself, for a moment, hug his arms around Gon’s neck and hold on tightly. He could feel Gon breathing against him—the rise and fall of his chest, his breath against Killua’s hair. Killua tucked his face in close, hiding his eyes against the fabric of his oversized sweater. Gon’s sweatshirt smelled like this—like the cologne Gon had dabbed onto his neck and the fabric softener on his clothes.

Killua’s throat became tight with emotion. He tried to swallow it down but couldn’t. When the elevator door slid open, Gon moved as if to pull away, but Killua couldn’t budge. Gon put his hand out to stop the elevator door, his other arm holding Killua securely to his chest.

“Don’t let me go,” Killua whispered. Any louder and he feared his voice would crack.

“Do you want me to carry you?” he asked. After a moment spent considering it, Killua nodded his head. Gon ducked down and hooked his free hand under Killua’s knees. He tipped Killua back and into his arms just in time to sneak out of the elevator before the doors could close on them.

At Killua’s door, Gon set his feet on the ground once more. Killua felt like a kid again—and not in the best way possible, since the floor was lava and Gon was immune to it. He couldn’t control the way his feet danced impatiently like the carpet was burning the soles of his feet. Thankfully, Gon was quick to unlock the door and drag Killua inside. He locked the door behind them as Killua lunged for the bed and nestled in.

“No lights,” Killua said when Gon reached for the switch.

Gon tossed the keys onto the end table and crawled up alongside Killua. He kicked his shoes off before reaching down and unlacing Killua’s sneakers. Killua pushed himself up so that when Gon finished, he could hug his arms around Gon.

“So you’ve done this before?” Gon asked, a hint of amusement tugging at his lips.

Killua nodded, letting out a shaky breath. His throat still felt tight. “I used to party a lot with my brother. Just smaller house parties. Local bands, live music, that sort of thing,” he said. He slipped his knees up, hooking his legs over Gon’s lap. Gon leant back against the headboard and rubbed his hand idly up and down Killua’s back. Killua closed his eyes and whispered, “I missed you.”

“We saw each other yesterday,” Gon said, which only brought to mind what Killua had done in the hammock.

Killua groaned and held on tighter, clasping his hand on his arm so his nails dug in through the knitted sweater sleeve. “You were so fucking hot,” he breathed, eyes closed against Gon’s neck. He brought his fingers up to the hickey on the opposite side of Gon’s neck, just below the juncture of his jawline.

Gon shivered underneath him and said, “Don’t tempt me. I can’t believe you fucking did that with Uvo and Knuckle right there.”

Killua smiled sleepily and hummed, “It’s why I did that.”

“You get off to public sex?”

Killua giggled a little. Gon cursed and rolled his eyes. The sound of Gon’s laughter, though, lightened his chest. However, the subject that had been in the back of his mind all that night reared its ugly head once more. He bit his wavering lip, the bubbly sensation cutting off abruptly.

Gon seemed to notice it. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Killua pulled his head back a little. He rubbed his cheek against his shoulder and said, “I’m worried about asking Zushi to let me stay in SoCal with him.”

“When’s he going to SoCal?” Gon said. It took too long for Killua’s brain to catch up with the question, but Gon gathered the information himself. “ Oh , Winter Break. You aren’t going home?”

Killua shook his head. “I can’t go home. It’s better for Alluka if I’m not there. She’s able to handle herself better when I’m not collateral.”

“Your sister?” Gon said, and Killua nodded. “Shit, I’m sorry. So you’re gonna ask Zushi if you can stay with him?” Killua nodded again. “Well, why don’t you just stay with me?”

Killua stared at him. It was dark in the dorm, but the streetlights provided ample glow to capture Gon’s attentive look, studying Killua and his reaction. Killua never even considered that Gon’s family lived anywhere in the area. YU recruited from all over the country and for good reason, and Killua wouldn’t have been surprised if Gon came all the way from the East Coast.

“Wh-Where?” Killua stammered.

“I have to stay on campus for Bowl Week. I’ll be gone after the twenty-sixth, but before that I’ll mostly be with the guys. Some of us are staying at Sigma Alpha, and Knuckle’s giving me his room since his family doesn’t live all that far away,” he explained.

Living at Sigma Alpha all Break… with a dozen football players , Killua mused, dizzying at the thought.

“You can think about it,” Gon said when Killua remained quiet, the shock still rippling through his system. “It’ll be crazy there for sure, but just know that I have no problem sharing a bed with you over break. And the guys won’t care since you’re pretty low-key, and I’m guessing you’d be working over break anyway.”

“Y-Yeah,” Killua stammered, bewildered that Gon had put that all together. It sounded like a solid plan—to have Killua stay at Sigma Alpha. He nodded again and said, “Yeah, that sounds good. If… you’re sure you don’t mind.”

Gon shook his head, smiling. “Not at all. It’ll be fun. We already have movie nights lined up through the holidays when we’re in North Cali.”

That does sound nice , Killua thought. He settled in against Gon’s chest, relieved now that he had his Winter Break secured. Now, he only had to deal with the end of the semester.

Since the last exam in OChem, the rest of the semester crushed together with enough force to demolish two colliding galaxies. Killua’s semester came to a grueling head when a total of five research papers, four exams, and a comprehensive lab report were due by December twelfth. It meant that the last two weeks were accurately defined as unusual and cruel.

The torture, however, was interspersed with the hours he spent almost religiously at the gym after every OChem lecture and lab. It became both easier and more difficult after each session with Gon—he could lift more but at the consequence of his aching muscles, he could run longer but at the consequence of his poor, burning lungs, and he could hold a plank for more than two minutes.

And those torturous endeavors were interspersed with the return to the locker room where, if the empty locker room permitted it, Killua spent with his tongue in Gon’s delicious mouth.

Killua shoved Gon back against the lockers, his hands on the metal and his mouth on Gon’s. Gon moaned between his lips, sinking against the door to his locker as Killua licked along the side of Gon’s tongue and along his teeth. Killua panted against him, gasping as they parted with hot, heady breaths. Killua sucked his lips against Gon’s and shivered when he felt Gon’s fingers under his cutoff t-shirt. Gon flattened his hot hands against Killua’s abdomen and pushed up, dragging the shirt off in one fluid movement. Killua chucked it towards his locker, uncaring and fully focused on Gon’s red lips and glittering eyes, sweaty hair and the dark, sweat-stained collar of Gon’s shirt.

His skin tasted like salt as Killua licked up the column of Gon’s throat. His breath hitched when Gon’s wandering fingers passed beneath the hem of his sweats. His eyelids fluttered shut as a curse slipped between his lips.

And then, they heard the locker room door open.

“ Fuck ,” Gon swore.

Killua’s breath left him as Gon pulled his hands back and brushed them over the front of his shirt as if to calm himself down. Killua’s lungs still burned like a motherfucker from cardio training, but he was totally willing to demolish his throat right then and there at the look Gon gave him. As if Killua could ever hold back when Gon was hot and sweaty against him like that.

The footsteps were heading in their direction, though, so Killua backed off and went to his locker, his eyes stuck on Gon. Gon, who was still flat against the lockers like if he moved, he’d fall over. Killua snickered a little as the guy passed by their aisle on the way to the showers.

Killua looked Gon up and down before turning back to his locker with a little scoff of amusement.

Workouts were the only time Killua allotted to their “distractions”. If he let it leave the locker room like he did just two weeks ago in the quad, he’d be screwing Gon up and down the YU campus. His grades didn’t have time for that. They had yet to explore beyond tasks allocated to the hands and mouth regions, but fuck it , if Killua wasn’t thinking about it every damn day.

He was still catching his breath as he put on deodorant and slipped on a sweater. Gon had somehow managed to solidify his wobbly legs and set to work unlocking his door.

Gon cleared his throat and rasped out, “What, uh… what do you have to work on tonight?”

“Lab report. And then calculus is due at midnight,” Killua said. God, it felt like there were needles in his lungs. He couldn’t catch his breath. He glanced over at Gon and said, “What about you?”

“I’m just working on my sexual fantasies, you know, the usual,” Gon said.

Killua chucked his deodorant at Gon’s back. It smacked him dead center on the spine. Gon swore and jumped around to peg Killua with smug grin, snapping his towel in Killua’s direction. Killua caught it and, since the showers on the other end of the room were running, he yanked the towel forward.

Gon followed the tug with a grin. Killua met him halfway and, leaning over the bench, touched their foreheads together. “You’ll tell me all about them, right?” he whispered, glancing down at Gon’s swollen lips. Gon had his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.

“I’ll tell you all about what I’m planning to do to you after you’re done with finals,” Gon breathed against his lips, the mint on his breath intoxicating. Killua never considered himself a minty guy before he met Gon. Bubblegum toothpaste just didn’t do it these days.

“Shit,” Killua whispered. “If only you knew what I was thinking.”

“I would if you told me once in a while,” he said.

Killua laughed, cheeks flushing. As if he could ever say any of that out loud. His brain was a cesspool when he wasn’t dead set on finishing his homework and passing classes—and the epicenter of it all? Fucking Freecss.

It certainly didn’t help knowing that, by this time next week, he’d be temporarily moving in with Freecss.

Before leaving, Gon walked Killua to the scale on the far side of the locker room, just outside of the shower area. Steam from the showers rolled out over the tiled floor as Killua dropped his shoes and backpack off to the side and stepped onto the scale. He shifted the weights around as Gon watched, arms folded, shoulder up against the wall beside the scale.

They had checked his weight at the start of November, back when they had started this entire endeavor. It was a given expectation that Killua would have gained more muscle mass by now. With all of the protein shakes after workouts on top of healthy meals at Ren Hall, Killua didn’t doubt that there was a difference.

The scale evened out.

Killua was holding his breath until that point. He let out a gasp of relief and said, “Thank God. One-sixty-five.”

“Nice, dude,” Gon said, giving him a high five. Killua stepped off of the scale and up against Gon’s side for a half-hug.

Off in the distance they heard someone’s shout echo across the locker room in the shape of the words, “Sounds GAY! ”

Killua snorted, covering his mouth as Gon perked up and said, “Uvo?!”

“ GAY! ” Uvogin hollered from the opposite side of the locker room. Someone was snickering in the background.

Gon cupped a hand over his mouth and shouted, “You bet your ass it is, whore!”

“Jesus Christ,” Killua muttered under his breath.

“You two comparing sizes over there?!” Uvogin bellowed back.

“Yeah, the size of your tits ,” Gon said. He sucked in a deep breath before screaming so loud his voice cracked: “You’ve got nice titties for a little boy! ”

A locker slammed in the general direction of where Uvogin had been taunting Gon.

Gon cursed and ran for it, dragging Killua with him through the shower room. Killua swiped his backpack up, laughing as they skidded through the steam room to the beat of Uvogin’s feet thundering across the locker room after them. Killua swore he heard Uvogin snarl, “You bitch-ass cunt! ”

Killua barely got the straps of his backpack on before they were slamming through the pool room door at the far side of the showers. They hit the hot, thick air of the pool room, sneakers slipping across the damp tiles. Gon swore, his hand touching the ground as he pivoted and took off for the opposite side of the pool room. Killua shrieked when the men’s locker room door slammed open behind them.

Gon dropped Killua’s hand, chucked his backpack, and braced for impact. Killua startled when Uvogin came flying out of his periphery and slammed into Gon, who had his arms up like he was on the frontline. The lifeguard was on his feet, blaring the whistle as Uvogin and Gon collided with the water.

A massive wave splashed up after them, crashing with the lane floaters and sloshing onto the tiles at Killua’s feet. Killua scrambled back, taking Gon’s backpack with him and staring in horror at the lifeguard who threw his arms up at them. One of the swimmers in the nearby lane snapped their goggles up to watch as Gon and Uvogin resurfaced, sputtering curses at one another until Uvogin dunked Gon under again. Bubbles splattered up after him.

Killua waved to the lifeguard guy with a guilty grimace, saying, “Sorry! Sorry about this!”

“Just get out of the pool, guys!” the lifeguard shouted, blowing the whistle again.

Uvogin reached down and pulled Gon up by the collar of his shirt. Gon tossed his head back, black hair flinging a spray of water around as he shook it out into spikes. He pushed his hair back with a gasp, sputtering up water and coughing as Uvogin thrust him into the edge of the pool with a nudge to get him going. Gon rolled onto the tiles, cursing and pushing himself up onto one elbow. He looked back at Uvogin, who braced two hands on the ledge and heaved himself up in one fluid motion.

Their clothes were absolutely sopping wet as Uvogin slapped his hand onto Gon’s back and waved to Killua. “Hey man,” he said. Killua recalled the last time they had seriously seen each other. He recalled the fact that he had Gon’s cum all over his hand when he bro-hugged Uvogin.

Heat flushed to his cheeks as he stammered out, “H-Hey dude, what’s… goin’ on?”

“Just kicking a little freshmen ass,” Uvogin said, flicking his middle finger at Gon on his way to the locker room. Uvogin shook his head, laughing as Gon stuck his tongue out at Uvogin’s back.

Gon’s shirt was now sticking to him like a second skin and it would have been fine if Gon didn’t have rippling abs . Killua swallowed hard and turned away as Gon plucked at his shirt in a feeble attempt to dry it off. He lumbered towards the exit, sneakers squeaking and squishing up a storm as he said, “Let’s get out of here before the lifeguard wrings my neck.”

“Yeah, agreed,” Killua said, glancing over at his shoulder where the lifeguard was now out of his stand and staring them down from across the pool. The look on the man’s face said, “ I fucking dare you to run in the pool room. I dare you to do it. I want you to do it. I want you to do it so I can snipe you from over here, I swear to God .”

Soon, they were out of the gym after leaving a trail of pool water through the lobby. Gon walked unabashedly over the carpet, not a care in the world, holding his backpack by the top handle with one hand and Killua’s hand with the other.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what we’ll do over break,” Gon said.

“Same here. Mostly about founding our own nudist colony but the only two citizens are you and me and the territory is just Knuckle’s bedroom,” Killua said.

Gon threw his hand up, emulating an explosion from his skull that had Killua laughing. “You read my fucking mind,” he said.

“Oh really?”

“Yes really. And as the first order of our colony amendment, we have to go on a date,” Gon said. A laugh bubbled out of Killua because it sounded so ridiculous, but then when he looked, Gon was watching him expectantly, smiling like always.

Killua cleared his throat and said, “Oh, you’re serious.”

“Yeah. I want to take you out. For real.”

Gon’s hand returned to Killua’s. Killua clasped onto it out of habit, and when he did, he squeezed hard and gave Gon a firm nod. “Y-Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good,” he said, watching with wide eyes as Gon leant forward and kissed his cheek. His skin was still damp from the pool, and he smelled like chlorine now. His hair was swept back, his hairline straight and broad across his forehead. Killua wanted to rub his thumb across it, so he did.

Gon’s smile faltered. His wide, curious eyes searched Killua’s face. Killua’s eyes returned to Gon’s after a moment, and he realized that they had stopped walking altogether in the middle of the bridge to Hatsu Hall. YU was divided by a channel of the York River and over it, they could see the stretch of campus buildings down for several blocks. Their long, narrow windows and elegant architecture made it feel like they were in Europe instead of just simply the West Coast.

Killua dropped his hand and said, “Sorry. I got distracted.”

“Am I distracting?” Gon asked with a grin.

Killua looked back at him with a sneer and said, “Yeah, ‘cause of how butt-ugly you are.”

Gon shoved him and said, “Piss off! I can’t believe you!”

Killua laughed and scurried ahead, but Gon wouldn’t let go of his hand. He turned around and said, “Yeah, ‘cause your egotistical, narcissistic ass is too big to see it.”

Gon went for his hair. Killua shrieked, laughing as Gon tried to wrangle him into a headlock. He probably could have, too, if Killua didn’t play dirty. He went for Gon’s crotch and grabbed it without a second thought. Long ago he came to the conclusion that, if he ever got into a fight, he’d go for the dick first.

Gon swore and dropped him. Killua elbowed him in the gut before making his escape, laughing all the way across the bridge. Behind him, he heard Gon cry, “No fair!” before booking it after Killua. Killua cursed and pumped his legs harder, faster, until Gon took him out from behind and sent them sprawling into the grass just beyond the bridge.

As if Killua could ever beat a Yorknew running back, anyway.

Chapter Text

If Killua dragged his dorm desk around the room at the start of the semester, he would have laughed and died of a heart attack during the first shove. But now? Now he could drag it across the floor himself. He pivoted it away from the radiator and shoved it out into the open, off of the wall along with his dorm bed. And he did it all on his own.

When that was said and done, he stepped back, hands on his hips. He looked down at his twig arms that were still scrawny but somehow… fuller . He felt fuller . Like he was less likely to let the wind knock him down.

In the midst of packing his duffle for Break, a knock sounded on his dorm door. He leaned over to unlock it and said, “It’s open now.”

He went back to folding up his prime selection of sweaters when the door creaked open. He looked over and found Zushi peering in at the mess of his room. Zushi dragged his eyes across the mis-matched furniture strewn hazardously across the floor. “Dude… I thought we were studying.”

“We are,” Killua said. “I just—Getting things in order.”

“The opposite of order, more like,” Zushi laughed. “Shit, Gon and I haven’t even gotten this far yet and I’m leaving tonight .”

He wandered into the room and sat on the edge of the futon as Killua finished folding clothes and stuffing them into his bag. He tucked his toiletry bag in with it all because after OChem, Killua had a date with the gym and then a short journey to Sigma Alpha. Gon would be at Sigma during that time, battling it out with Knuckle during a frat dinner party.

It would be the first time Killua visited the gym on his own accord, with no expectation of Gon being there, waiting for him. Killua was both thrilled and terrified. He wasn’t one to get anxiety over public situations—if the hammock incident was anything to go by—but something about the gym was different . He didn’t feel like he “owned the place” like he did any other corner of campus. He was comfortable in the library, in the labs, the lecture halls—but the gym felt almost… predatory . Like Killua was going there to defeat some great evil dubbed Being In Shape.

Killua and Zushi walked to the lecture hall. Killua had his duffle tossed over one shoulder, feeling bright, chaotic energy from pre-exam anxiety. Their exam time was that Saturday at four in the evening, which meant that they would be done by six in time for Zushi’s bus to SoCal. It was the very last exam day of the semester, and, likely, the very last exam scheduled on campus.

They studied in the empty lecture hall together as students gradually began to filter in. Killua could hear Zushi mumbling equations under his breath, tapping his pen to the edge of the desk. Killua glanced over at him, once again distracted by Zushi. Best friend and future roommate.

I don’t deserve him , Killua thought. He smiled a little as Zushi put his highlighter to his bottom lip and pulled down on it, making a face at his notebook.

The exam went as expected: It was pure torture. The instant he got his booklet and was allowed to flip it over, he took one look at the first question and swore under his breath. He took the entire two hours to finish it and even then it was a stretch. He definitely BSed one question and left the lecture hall thinking, There better be an epic curve or else I’m fucked, but at least it’s over with .

He waited for Zushi to come out. Zushi looked no better, but he smiled nonetheless as he saw Killua waiting across the lecture hall corridor with his duffle. Zushi walked straight up to him and held his arms out for a hug.

“I need love and support in these trying times, my friend,” Zushi fake-sobbed against Killua’s shoulder.

“You’re a seventeen-year-old genius. You did fine,” Killua said. Unlike Killua and most of the freshmen year class, Zushi had come to YU as a sixteen-year-old going on seventeen. He had skipped a grade in middle school and wound up as one of the youngest kids in Kurapika’s lab.

Zushi fake-sobbed again, dissolving into a whine as he slumped towards the ground. Killua held him up and put his arm around Zushi’s shoulders. They walked to the exit together where Zushi put himself back together.

“Well, this is where I leave you, buddy, old friend, ol’ pal o’ mine,” Zushi said, patting Killua on the head.

Killua snickered as he pulled away and gave Zushi a pat on the cheek. “I’ll miss you dearly, Zushi Roll.”

“God, you sound like Gon,” Zushi laughed.

Killua rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and every other frat guy who calls you that. But seriously, text me and shit. Send me pics of the beach so I can drool over it from afar.”

“Will do,” he promised with a salute. He hurried down the steps then in the direction of the bus that would take him to the Greyhound heading south.

Killua went in the opposite direction along the river walk. With a deep, slow exhale, he expelled the tension and the stress from that week. He was almost relieved enough to cry. OChem is over , he told himself. He and Zushi had done well on every single lab and, even if their individual homework suffered, their exam scores brought them up to the top half of the class. They would certainly pass.

At the gym, he set to work on abs.

It was harder to keep motivation when Gon wasn’t going full out next to him, stoking his competitive fire. It took approximately five minutes for Killua to decided that he hated the gym all over again and wound up just lying on his back and staring at the fans overhead until a familiar shadow leant over him. He thought God was looking down at him—that would make more sense—but instead he saw the Resident Dad.

“Dad?” Killua said.

Leorio put his hands on his hips as Killua sat up. “I saw you sprawled out like a starfish and figured I’d check on you. Did you finish finals?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty beat.”

“Explains the starfish then,” he hummed. Killua nodded, hooking his arms around his knees. Leorio crossed his legs at the ankles and hunkered down in front of him on the rubber mat. He was wearing workout gear and his usual pair of rectangular glasses.

He nudged them up and looked out over the gym equipment before turning back to say, “Did you figure something out for Break?”

“Yeah, I did. It worked out,” Killua said, nodded quickly. “When do you leave for the resort?”

“Monday. You?”

“Tonight,” he said. Leorio said nothing—a silent invitation for Killua to expand upon it. “I’m… staying at a friend’s place.” Boyfriend, more like .

“That’ll be fun, huh? Glad it worked out,” he said. He pushed himself up then with a sigh. “Well, then, I’ll let you go. Keep up the good work. Your starfish is looking top.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Killua said with a meager wave. Leorio saluted him before heading off to the stairs. Killua figured he was in view of the stairs—Leorio likely saw him lying on the ground when he emerged from the basement locker rooms.

It doesn’t make sense to stay here without Gon , he decided, so he got up and went back to the locker rooms.

He took a shower, got his shit together, and left for Frat Row. Gon’s date plans were weaseling their way back to the forefront of his mind. His curiosity got the better of him—what would they do? Perhaps Gon bought tickets to see a movie—but the Sigma crew already had a movie marathon lined up, so that didn’t make sense. Perhaps they would go out to eat—Killua did enjoy eating out, even if his wallet hated it. However, Gon had dietary restrictions due to football, so perhaps they would adventure to the biomes. Neither of them were major environmental enthusiasts even if Gon owned an entire pack of reusable straws. Killua was certain he did it for the aesthetic, and also to impress people on dates.

Killua laughed. As if reusable straws would impress dates. He couldn’t stop smiling after that thought, though, and his smile followed him all the way to the front door of Sigma Alpha.

He rang the doorbell and a moment later, Shoot answered. “Oh, hey Killua. Gon’s upstairs—you know where Knuckle’s room is?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Killua said as he passed Shoot in the foyer and went for the stairs.

He jogged up to the second floor where he crossed the hall and ascended to the third. The place was relatively quiet—the frat dinner was happening at a diner in Yorknew, so Killua wouldn’t have been surprised if those old enough were now barhopping (unbeknownst to Coach Mackernasey). Killua snickered, thinking to himself, Good, that means the neighboring rooms will be vacant. No one to hear us .

Killua mounted the last step and strolled across the carpet, his duffle slung over one shoulder over his backpack strap. He slowed near Knuckle’s open bedroom door and stopped at the silhouette of a visitor preparing to exit.

“—believe you—”

“I didn’t realize,” Gon was saying. Killua stilled, out of view. He spent enough years eavesdropping on his parents to know how to do it properly. He held his breath, minimizing motion, erasing all sound of his existence from the hallway. He flattened himself against the wall that shared Knuckle’s bedroom door. “I’m serious. I thought—you helped me out so much in—”

“Just goes to show I shouldn’t have tried at all.”

“Don’t say that—”

“So are you saying you like me, too?” A beat of silence. Killua sucked in a deep breath and shuffled through his mental profile of every guy who knew who had that voice . That light, preppy voice that was borderline posh . The kind of voice Killua hated hearing in the back of the class asking a dozen questions in one lecture.

But bless his brilliant memory. He pinned it to the blonde guy with the round glasses, the one Freecss brought to his work on more than one occasion.

What the Hell is he doing here? Killua thought.

Gon cleared his throat. “You know I like you, but I told you—Shal, wait. Let me finish.”

Killua’s mind slowed to an alarming degree. He almost didn’t recognize the sound he was hearing—obvious kissing— that churned his stomach inside out and threatened to buck his lunch out through his mouth. He clenched his teeth tight and turned away before he could bother straining to hear what Gon had to say next. Besides, one of them had closed Knuckle’s bedroom door.

Killua padded down the steps and hesitated near the foyer stairs. He could see from the balcony that Shoot was still in the living room, and he didn’t want to deal with questions. He snuck to the kitchen stairs then and slipped to the basement where he recalled there being a backyard door. He took it out to the back packing lot and walked until he realized that he had no clue where he was planning to go.

He checked his watch. He had a backup—a back backup—that he never even inquired about. Zushi . By now, Zushi was on his bus to SoCal, so with shaking hands, Killua put him on the phone. They had had each others’ phone numbers since the first week of classes when lab partners were assigned. Like most people on his contacts, though, Killua mainly contacted Zushi via Snapchats and memes.

Therefore, he wasn’t surprised when Zushi didn’t pick up on the first try. He called again, and on the second ring, Zushi answered.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Zushi said.

Killua managed a small but strained smile. “Hey, big favor to ask of you.” He heard his voice shaking but hoped the bus and the reception would cover it up.

He ran a hand over his forehead as Zushi took more than a few seconds to answer. “Uh… sure? What’s up?”

“If you gave me your parents’ address, would you be entirely pissed if I showed up at some ungodly hour of the night?” he asked, forcing a laugh. He looked down the street from where he now stood at the cusp of the basketball stadium. The road was empty and campus was quiet now that finals were over and done with. Well, all except a party going on far down Frat Row several blocks over.

“Dude, no, I wouldn’t be mad. Not at all,” Zushi said, quickly. Killua let out a relieved sigh and thought he might cry. “I just—Can you tell me why? Did something happen?”

“I, uh… I can’t go back to my parents place. Long story. I’ll tell you when I get there,” Killua said.

Zushi agreed. Killua thanked him and hung up shortly after in order to figure out his own impromptu bus ticket south. He took a seat on a campus bench, knees pulled up, duffle at his feet, and sifted through prices with an aching, gut-wrenching feeling twisting knots in the back of his throat.

You know I like you .

Killua ground his teeth together, brow furrowed, as his thumb hovered over the pay button on the Greyhound website. When he hesitated, he wanted to punch himself. He couldn’t be a wuss, not over this, so under his breath he seethed, “Fuck you,” and purchased the ticket for an overnight bus to San Diego.

Meanwhile, just as Gon shut the hallway door, he turned to classmate who he had spent the entire semester working with. Shalnark, his presentation partner who had done, quite literally, all of the work on their final project. Gon had been eternally grateful and also knew full well that he was an asshole for putting that on Shalnark. Spanish wasn’t… exactly Gon’s strong suit.

In fact, he wasn’t really sure why he decided to take a language in the first place. He could speak it and pronounce it but he didn’t know a lick of what he was saying.

Shalnark, on the other hand, was fluent, handsome, and (unfortunately) crushing on Gon. He was Gon’s chance at passing Spanish, so of course Gon had schmoozed him up a bit, bought him a couple coffees on their study dates, and maybe made out with him in the back of the lecture hall once, but they weren’t in view of the security cameras so there was no evidence of that day ever happening.

Gon rubbed a hand over his mouth where Shal had kissed him. That motion was enough to slump Shal’s shoulders.

“You know I like you,” Gon whispered, quieter now, “and I really appreciate everything. I do. But I told you—I’m seeing someone else right now.”

“That hasn’t stopped you before—”

“That’s because I had a problem before,” Gon insisted. “I’m not going to do that to him.”

“Him,” Shal repeated, like this situation would have been better to cope with had Gon been talking about a girl. Shal looked away with a scoff and said, “Whatever. Hope the grade was worth it, then.”

“I don’t want us to be on bad terms, Shal,” Gon insisted. “Not everything we do has to be a date . I still like you— ”

“But not the way I like you,” Shal said.

“Is there something wrong with being friends with a guy? Why can’t we just be friends?” Gon demanded. He could see now why Killua was so repulsed by the idea of looking at everyone like a potential love interest in a goddamn rom com. Friends were just as meaningful, weren’t they? And Gon realized now that he wanted that—he wanted that with every date he went on.

It just took Killua to realize it.

Gon tensed, his heart stuttering in his chest at the disgusted way Shal looked at him. “I can’t be friends with you. Even if you can’t respect me, respect that. Bye, Gon.”

With that, Shal shoved past him and swung open the bedroom door.

Gon stared after Shal before at last putting a hand to his hair and thinking, Yeah, I deserved that . He perched his hands on his hips and sighed. In that same pose, he tipped back and collapsed onto Knuckle’s comforter. He stared at the ceiling as the guilt from using Shalnark all semester ate him away into a husk that would surely be filled when Killua finished up at the gym. Their usual ab schedule pushed Killua’s arrival time closer to eight, especially if Killua decided to shower afterwards. But, since he wouldn’t have Gon as a distraction, perhaps Killua would arrive sooner than expected.

Gon perked up. He pushed up to his elbows and looked around the room for something to do in the meantime.

He started watching Netflix for a while, but thinking about Killua made him too giddy to function. It was a quarter to eight, which meant that Killua was probably leaving the gym now. He checked his phone for any notifications, but when it came up empty, he went ahead and snapped Killua the following message: “ Hurry up I miss you :D ” and laid it over a photo of his face.

He checked periodically for a reply as the clock ticked past eight and Killua didn’t so much as open Gon’s snap. Gon paused the show and got up, swinging his legs off of the bed and heading for the door.

He padded out in a pair of sandals since the frat house floorboards weren’t exactly the cleanest . As he went, he tapped away a message to Killua. He was on the landing when the message screen glitched and kicked him to the main screen.

Killua’s profile sprite turned grey.

“What the fuck,” Gon said, hurrying down the remaining stairs. He lunged over the railing and skidded into the living room where Shoot was lounging with one of the sophomores on the team.

Shoot looked up, startled by Gon’s explosive entrance. “Killua hasn’t come by, has he?” Gon asked.

Shoot straightened a little, leaning over his knees as he said, “I thought he went up to Knuckle’s room? That was, like, forty-five minutes ago, dude.”

Gon stared at him. His hand tightened around his phone as he swallowed hard and looked back at Killua’s greyed-out sprite. He’d seen it once before when his aunt decided that Snapchat just wasn’t for her.

He deleted his Snapchat , Gon thought.

Forty-five minutes ago .

“Fuck—Shoot, did you see him leave?” Gon said, gesturing to the front door.

Shoot shook his head, eyes wide. Gon put a hand to his head and swore again, pivoting, and sprinting to the front door. He was on the stoop when he opened his phone contacts and realized one crucial detail: He and Killua never once swapped numbers. He flew down the steps, a back-up plan already in the making. If Killua wasn’t staying with him, he still had two days at the dorms, which meant that he’d probably be figuring out a plan there in the meantime if he really didn’t want to stay with Gon.

Gon wanted to punch himself for even letting Shalnark into Knuckle’s room. He hadn’t intended to, but that was where he kept Shalnark’s rented textbook near the end of the semester. Considering the stunt Shal pulled on him, he didn’t doubt just how terrible it looked.

He needed to fix this. From everything Killua said about his family, Gon didn’t want him to go back home. Where was home, anyway? Gon would never be able to find him if it came to that.

As Gon cruised up to Hatsu Hall, he did so at the same time as a freshmen idly unlocking the dorm building door. Gon pushed faster, shouting, “Hold the door!” The girl startled with a shriek as Gon flew through the first set of doors and slipped past the door she held open. “Thanks—I owe you my life,” Gon said, giving her shoulder a fast squeeze before high-tailing it to the tower elevator.

On the way, he passed the stairs.

Fuck it , he thought, and swung through the door and flew two steps at a time. It must have sounded like a rhinoceros stampeding through the dorm because when he made it to Killua’s floor, the RA was out of his room saying, “Who the Hell’s making all that racket?!”

Gon emerged, hardly out of breath, the door banging against the wall. The RA jumped in surprise—Gon recalled his name from all the stories Killua shared about him at the gym.

Gon reached for that beast of a man and grabbed him by the arms. “Dude, Leorio, I need your help.”

“Don’t ‘dude’ me, I don’t know you,” Leorio said, brushing Gon’s hands off.

“I’m Killua’s boyfriend,” Gon said.

Leorio softened then and said, “Well, why didn’tchya say so? Start with that next time, yeah?”

Gon let out a relieved sigh. He glanced down the hallway to where Killua’s room was. If Killua was in there, Gon doubted he’d open the door just for him at this point, and knocking repeatedly would just piss him off. “Do you know if Killua’s come back yet?” he asked.

“Nah, said he’s staying with a friend,” Leorio said.

“Friend? Which friend?” Gon demanded.

Leorio raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. “Dunno. Figured it’s my boy Zushi. Love that kid.”

“Zushi! Fuck, yes, thank you so much,” Gon gasped, flinging himself at Leorio. He latched onto the man and gave him a mighty squeeze before backing off and heading to the elevators. Leorio staggered, off balance and shocked by the rapid turn of events.

20:33 GON: Dude what’s Killua’s number

20:33 ZUSHI: … Why…?

20:33 GON: It’s important

20:33 GON: Please?

20:34 ZUSHI: Dude I’m not giving you Killua’s number

20:34 ZUSHI: Imma ask if he wants me to give it out

20:34 GON: NO

20:34 GON: I mean fine it’s whatever

20:35 ZUSHI: 😑

20:35 ZUSHI: He says you can’t have it

20:35 GON: Plz Zushi Roll it’s important D:

20:35 GON: I have to explain something to him

20:38 ZUSHI: I am Killua’s official messenger owl

20:38 ZUSHI: We have a contract

20:38 GON: Yeah right D:

20:42 ZUSHI: Image attached

20:42 GON: Fuck okay wHATEVER

20:42 GON: I didn’t NEED YOU ANYWAY

20:55 GON: Okay fine I lost my temper D: plz forgive me

21:02 GON: ZUSHI ROLL D:

21:04 GON: Is Killua with you??

21:06 ZUSHI: No why?

21:06 GON: You’re so cryptic sometimes D: I can’t stand it

21:08 ZUSHI: I told you to stop fuck-boying Killua D:

21:08 GON: I don’t fuck boy Killua D:

21:08 GON: Is that even a verb

21:09 ZUSHI: IT IS NOW BECAUSE OF YOU D:

21:09 GON: ZUSHI ROLL D: D: D:

21:10 ZUSHI: D:

21:10 GON: I’m sowy D:

21:11 ZUSHI: Stop acting like a weeb D:

21:11 GON: I sowwy ( >д<)

21:11 ZUSHI: Jesus Christ

21:11 ZUSHI: Tell me why Gon is acting like a toddler rn

21:11 KILLUA: I dunno I’m not his mom

21:12 ZUSHI: I feel like you aren’t telling me the whole story

21:12 KILLUA: I’ll tell you at 3AM when my bus comes in

21:12 ZUSHI: UGH

21:12 ZUSHI: Just GIVE ME THE TEA

21:13 KILLUA: NO

21:13 ZUSHI: COUGH IT UP, ZOLDYCK

21:14 KILLUA: NO!!

22:24 ZUSHI: I am bored give me entertainment

22:25 KILLUA: You’re telling me

22:26 KILLUA: What kind of entertainment

22:26 ZUSHI: I have an idea

22:27 KILLUA: Is it saucy entertainment

22:27 KILLUA: If so I’m in

22:28 ZUSHI: It’s

22:28 KILLUA: Yeah?

22:28 ZUSHI: THE TEA!!!!!!!!!

22:28 KILLUA: NOOOOOO

00:02 KILLUA: God I’m so ready for the beach

00:05 KILLUA: Are you sure your parents are okay with me staying over?

00:06 ZUSHI: Idk I guess we’ll find out

00:06 ZUSHI: I’m sure they’ll love you :D You’re the reason I passed OChem

00:07 KILLUA: Bit too early to determine that lol

00:08 ZUSHI: But yeah they’ll be chill about it

00:08 ZUSHI: As long as we don’t share a bed ;P

00:08 KILLUA: 😘

00:10 ZUSHI: They might ask prying questions tho

00:10 KILLUA: I am very vocal about my daddy issues

00:10 ZUSHI: Not that prying

00:11 KILLUA: O then nm

00:11 ZUSHI: I’m talking, like…

00:12 KILLUA: Yeah?

00:12 ZUSHI: Shit like…

00:12 ZUSHI: The fuckin TEA, BITCH!

00:13 KILLUA: I’M NOT TELLIN THEM SHIT !!!!

At three in the morning, Killua stepped off the bus in San Diego and into the dry, dense heat of SoCal. He breathed it in and felt like his lungs were collapsing, but it was fine because there were palm trees. Palm trees made the grueling heat worth it, Killua thought, but then again, no amount of cardio could prepare him for the weight of winter in SoCal on his chest. He was prepared for sweater weather— not this.

Killua shouldered his backpack and duffle. He wandered over to the Greyhound facility doors and crossed the tiled flooring. The place was grimy and overall unpleasant, and after a bus ride spent festering in emotional turmoil, it was just about the most depressing place he could be. He drowned it, though, at the water fountain where he guzzled down a solid gallon of water before stepping back with a gasp, pushing the back of his hand over his mouth to dry it.

He checked his phone. Zushi had texted him to say that he was on his way with the family car— without the family. Killua could have praised the Lord. He was in no position to make a striking first impression on Zushi’s family at that moment. In fact, he felt closer to bursting into tears.

Killua went to the restroom where he splashed cold water over his burning eyes. They felt tight and swollen even though he hadn’t cried at all. It just felt like he’d been squeezed dry of every spec of moisture in his being to water the garden of his contempt.

His phone buzzed on the counter. He answered the call with a pathetic, “Hello?”

“God, I hope I don’t sound as dead as you do right now,” Zushi’s voice hummed in his ear.

Killua laughed. He turned his back to the mirror and leant against the counter. “No, you sound fine, trust me. Where are you?”

“Pulling up out front. Look for the silver Morano suburban moms upgrade to when they retired their mini vans.”

Killua hung up on him and left the restroom. He dried his face on a towel as he went to the front entrance and left, chucking the paper towel in the bin as he went. There, on the mostly deserted curb, was the silver vehicle Zushi described. Killua opened the back door and tossed his duffle in before joining Zushi in the front.

The car remained in park.

Killua sighed as he dropped in and slammed the door shut behind him. He propped his elbow up on the window ledge and rubbed a hand over his forehead. He could feel Zushi’s eyes burning into him.

Killua sighed again and glanced at Zushi, who had one hand on the wheel, the other propped on the back of his seat, fully facing Killua. Killua cursed and looked away, a hand over his mouth. “If you were wearing sunglasses it’d look like you were a suburban mom dropping me off at the soccer field,” he said, voice partly muffled by his hand.

When Zushi snorted, Killua smiled. He dropped his hands to his lap and shifted, grateful that the discomfort was gone. Zushi reached over and shoved him in the arm and said, “What the fuck happened , dude? How much was that fucking ticket anyway?”

“Like, fifty,” Killua confessed. His heart ached at the thought of that fifty down the drain.

“Are you gonna tell me why or are you just gonna keep me hanging here?” Zushi said, and Killua didn’t miss the bite in his voice. It was three AM and they had both just spent sleepless hours on a bus. He was emotional and Zushi was likely trying not to be terse with Killua for both of their sakes.

“I—” Killua started, voice wavering. He passed a hesitant look over Zushi and cursed, looking away out through the window. The Greyhound facility lights were on, glowing florescent and white across the pavement. It looked so fucking depressing—it made him want to give up holding back on his tears. “I’ve been seeing Freecss—I’ve been seeing… Gon for the past month.”

Zushi said nothing as Killua caught his breath and explained, “I was supposed to spend Break at Sigma with him.”

“Are you serious?” Zushi said, the shock widening his eyes and making Killua feel like he was stupid for agreeing to anything with Gon. “I’m—I mean, that’s cool. But what… happened?”

Killua scoffed. Zushi laughed a little and tipped his head back against the driver’s seat, facing him with a pitying look as Killua explained what he had heard and more or less witnessed in Knuckle’s room just hours before. It felt good to rant about it, and with that off of his chest, he just felt hollow. The cotton in his head that was saturated with the grief of being betrayed started to dissolve.

Zushi sighed at the end of it and said, “Well, that explains it then. Gon’s been texting me asking for your number.”

Killua stared at him, heart stammering in his chest, and said, “You didn’t give it to him, did you?”

Zushi snorted and said, “No, fuck no.”

Killua sighed in relief. He put a hand to his forehead as if to keep his brain from sloshing out. “I was so stupid. I don’t know why—? Why do people feel like they can fix their partners problems? I don’t want to be responsible for that shit, you know?”

“Because we care about them,” Zushi said. He shook his head and said, “It’s fucked. We should be able to trust that people can change themselves without needing to be dragged around on a leash.”

“Yeah,” Killua whispered, eyes on his lap. “So I’m just feeling… stupid right now.”

“You aren’t stupid.”

“I’m not book stupid. I’m street stupid,” he sighed.

Zushi reached over and ruffled Killua’s freshly washed hair. Killua smiled softly and was surprised when it didn’t feel strained. Zushi turned to the wheel then and started up the car. “Well, lesson learned and you’re one step closer to street smart .”

Zushi peeled away from the curb. Killua buckled up as the air conditioning started up and reminded him that it was hot and summery here in San Diego with his best friend.

10:26 ZUSHI: Open snap

— Killua shirtless, knee-deep in the ocean —

10:27 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss screenshot your snap!

10:27 GON: Could I talk to Killua?

10:28 GON: Please?

10:30 Missed call from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

10:32 ZUSHI: O sorry got distracted talking to Killua

10:28 GON: 😡

12:06 ZUSHI: Open snap

— Killua sitting on the back porch railing, already sunburnt —

“Dude, you look like Rudolph.”

“Fuck you, I look amazing—Oh, shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to cuss.”

“I’m sure you didn’t, mister. Best keep that language to yourself.”

“Right, sorry Miss Umi, won’t happen again.”

— Zushi snickering behind the camera as his mother closes the patio door. Killua leaps off of the railing to attack him. —

“I swear to God—”

— The video cuts off —

12:10 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss replayed your snap!

12:12 GON: Give me his number Zushi Roll 😡

12:13 ZUSHI: O sorry can’t hear you over me not giving a fuck

12:13 GON: 😡 Zushi Rolllllll

12:14 ZUSHI: 🥳💃🕺

13:46 ZUSHI: Open snap

— Killua through the glass of a shop door, flipping the camera off. He’s wearing a sunhat and sunglasses —

“Mr. Zoldyck, tell me, how does it feel being a celebrity?”

“Feels like I don’t give a fuck that’s what it feels like. Quit taking videos of me.”

“But Mr. Zoldyck, what do you have to say to your adoring fans?”

— Killua leans in close, takes a sip from his drink straw, and lowers his sunglasses —

“The only thing you should get high on is life.”

“Hypocrite.”

— Killua shoves his hand into the camera and Zushi screams bloody murder —

13:51 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss replayed your snap!

13:52 GON: Let me talk to him D:

13:52 GON: Plz Zushi D:

13:53 GON: Did he tell you what happened??

13:54 GON: I swear to God I didn’t do anything I’ve never lied to you before so why would I now? Shal was my presentation partner in Spanish I borrowed his textbook and bought him coffee to make up for doing most of the work in our projects. It was shitty of me to use him for that but I haven’t taken him out since I started seeing Killua

13:55 ZUSHI: O shit you were seeing Killua

13:55 ZUSHI: Like, Sexy Times seeing??

13:55 GON: 🤭

13:56 ZUSHI: Lmao I’m just pulling your leg

13:56 ZUSHI: So this is about Shal? Wasn’t he, like, super into you?

13:57 GON: Yeah D:

13:57 GON: I also… never apologized for that time you walked in on us making out…

13:58 ZUSHI: Yeah tell that to my therapist when you pay for my next appointment 🤲

13:58 ZUSHI: I’ll consult with Killua

13:58 GON: THANK YOU

14:00 GON: And tell him that Shal kissed me and that I imMEDIATELY told him I just wanted to be friends. I doubt Shal’s ever gonna talk to me again tho D:

14:00 GON: He made a lot of good memes imma miss em

14:01 ZUSHI: Yeah Shal’s memes were pretty fire

14:01 GON: Who will be my meme dealer now D:

14:03 ZUSHI: LMAO Killua’s got lit memes too bruh

14:03 ZUSHI: Guess you guys never talked memes tho huh 👅🍆

14:04 GON: Fuck off 😆 I’m an angel excuse you 😇

Killua had his lips around the straw of a Long Island ice tea mixed by one of Zushi’s moms. He reclined back in the low beach chair he had pulled from the back of the Umis’ jeep. With the sun on his sunscreen-lathered skin, he felt like he was in Heaven. The pulse of heat along his arms had him ascending into a blissful, calming sigh as he tipped his head to look at Zushi.

Zushi, with his partially Hispanic genes, had the olive skin tone that made for easy tanning. He was lying in the sand on his stomach, his head and arms perched on a rolled-up towel. Zushi blinked open one eye at him and smiled. “This is the dream, huh?” Zushi said.

“I can’t believe you grew up here,” Killua said. “This is…”

“Amazing.”

“Yeah.”

They lulled into silence. The ocean waves were crashing in and washing over Killua’s muddled mind. He let it all fade away until Zushi asked, “Where did you grow up then?”

“Kukuroo, Oregon,” he replied, clearing his throat. He pulled his knees up so that he could pinch his ice tea between them. The alcohol made his head swim a little when he turned to face Zushi. He needed more water but was too relaxed to get up for it. “Rainy all the time and cloudy. Pretty much sums up my family.”

“Damn. Pretty area, though. Branch off of the Rockies, national forests… the works,” Zushi said.

“I guess, yeah. My family’s always been big hikers, so… I really got to know the trails in the area,” he confessed. He shook his head then, frowning. “But I hate being so close. I’d rather be on the East Coast, I think. I wouldn’t mind going to school in Seattle if it wasn’t so damn expensive and if my parents didn’t have a firm there.”

“So you’ve been to Seattle?”

“Oh, yeah, I spent a lot of my summers there,” he confessed. He adjusted the rim of the sunhat Zushi’s mother gave him and smiled. “Alluka and I would just hang out at Pike’s Place all day long. Spent my summers at the first ever Starbucks, you know. People watching.”

“Now that is the dream. This here? Basic bitch dream,” Zushi said, gesturing to the beach. Killua laughed, looking out over at where the back of the jeep was propped open and Zushi’s mothers watched from afar. They were to far to hear them cussing.

Killua turned back to Zushi with a smile. Zushi sat up a little, his entire front now caked with sand. “Well, I’m gonna go for a swim to wash all this off.”

“Sounds good. I’ll hold down the fort,” Killua promised.

Zushi pushed off and wandered up to the waves. Killua put his sunglasses down then and waved when Zushi turned back to face him. Zushi waved back before tipping back into the water. Killua tucked his hand against his mouth, hiding his giddy smile.

Zushi’s phone lit on the towel next to him.

Snap from Gon Freecss .

Killua frowned at it. He reached over to pick up Zushi’s phone, squinting at the dimmed screen where Gon’s username was. The sight of it was so familiar on his own phone that, for a second, he smiled. The feel of it on his face—light, easy, energetic—reminded him that he wasn’t supposed to feel like this when he saw Gon’s name on his phone. It wasn’t even his phone.

He set it down but, a moment later, he picked it up again and typed in Zushi’s passcode.

Zushi had saved his chat with Gon and Gon had let him. Killua read through it, biting his thumbnail between his teeth as he did. He furrowed his brow at the name— Shal . So that was the rat bastard who Gon took out for coffee. Knowing it didn’t change what Gon had said to Shal.

For a moment, he wanted an explanation. He had been so dead set on ignoring everything to do with Gon that an explanation never crossed his mind.

His thumbs hesitated over Zushi’s keyboard.

14:11 Zushi Roll 🍣 is typing…

14:12 ZUSHI: Why did you tell Shal you liked him?

14:12 GON: Killua???

14:12 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is calling

14:12 Missed call from Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss

14:13 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

14:13 ZUSHI: Just answer the fucking question

14:13 GON: You know I don’t like serious talks over text D:

14:14 ZUSHI: Well suck it up and deal with it

14:14 ZUSHI: I’m not fucking talking to you answer the question

14:15 GON: OKAY okay give me a hot second

14:15 Gon 🏈🤼♂️ Freakcss is typing…

14:17 GON: I still LIKE other people I can’t stop liking people but it’s different when I’m with you. With Shal I liked him as a friend but I abused his grades to keep mine up. It wasn’t until I met you that I even realized that I just liked him as a friend. That whole line between friends and WHATEVER was blurred before you and I would up letting people fuck with me and I didn’t even realize it.

14:18 GON: And if that makes me a fuck boy then fuck it yeah I screwed around with people but I always did it consensually. But bottom line I don’t like Shal the same way he likes me, but I like him AS A FRIEND.

14:19 Zushi Roll 🍣 is typing…

14:19 ZUSHI: Did you fuck with Zushi

14:19 GON: WHAT

14:20 GON: NO what gave you that idea??

14:20 ZUSHI: Well since your line was blurred or whatever

14:21 GON: Zushi’s STRAIGHT I don’t I wouldn’t do that

14:21 GON: I mean it’d be kinda hot if my roommate was gay… I thought about it before like back in high school wouldn’t that be cool??

14:22 ZUSHI: Not every gay guy would fuck you Freecss

14:22 ZUSHI: Take me for example

14:22 GON: D:

14:23 GON: You don’t mean that do you??

14:25 GON: Can I call you? What’s your number?

14:34 ZUSHI: Killua’s gonna call you later dude

14:34 GON: How later???

14:35 GON: I have a team get together tonight but I’ll send you my schedule

14:35 ZUSHI: He said and I quote: “Fuck his schedule. My terms, bitch” and then walked away

14:35 GON: Shit okay his terms

14:36 GON: Is he royally pissed at me?? I told him everything D:

14:36 ZUSHI: He’s screaming at the ocean

14:36 ZUSHI: He just threw the lawn chair

14:37 GON: D:

14:37 GON: Tell him not to pull anything

14:38 ZUSHI: He said (and again, I quote) “I’ll pull what I want when I want where I want”

14:38 ZUSHI: I’m assuming it’s a euphemism

14:40 GON: God that’s sexy

14:40 GON: He’s so hot when he knows what he wants if ya know what I’m saying

14:41 ZUSHI: I’m trying not to know what you’re saying

14:41 ZUSHI: brb Kill’s on the run he’s sprinting down the beach at top speed

14:41 ZUSHI: the guy’s like a fucking greyhound dude shit’s made for running

14:42 GON: Yeah I noticed he has especially good stamina

14:42 GON: 😳🗣