SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

12 | assure

tw: sen kills a guy (not tonpa unfortunately), it's kinda violent, there's blood and 2+ broken bones

WHAT IF the triplets forgot Sen's face? Or if Mai lost her favorite hairpin and no one was able to find it? Was Kotaro mad at Sen? Sen was certainly mad at Sen.

Every second she sat by herself in that corridor, the thoughts got louder. Sharper. Bustling around like fretting housewives. They flitted by over and over and over. She felt weightless and sick. 

And then, a final, coy suggestion slipped into the cacophony, fluttering its devilish lashes.

What if I never see them again?

She thought of the bloody patches on Umishin's beach. Sen had to suppress an urge to smash her head into the wall. 

She'd done that more when she was little. She'd cry herself dry because her head wouldn't shut up about something and then she would just start... hitting. Moments later, Kotaro's warm hand would be there, standing firm between her forehead and whatever she'd been hurting herself on. Her brother would take her somewhere quiet to calm down, let her cling to him like a baby. He had her fold towels to let the rest of the energy out.

She became really good at folding towels.

Sen placed her hand on her forehead, pretending it was Kotaro's. It's alright, Sen. It's alright.

That group of applicants was taking their sweet fucking time, weren't they?

And then, through the gloom, voices appeared further down the corridor. Real ones this time, not the ones in her head. Familiar voices. Footsteps.

They stopped suddenly.

"SEN-CHAN!" 

She was promptly tackled by a happy green blur. Gon.

"Idiot, we thought you were dead or something," A pale figure slunk toward her, hands behind their head. Killua.

Leorio and Kurapika emerged from the shadows soon after, greeting her in kind.

Their bright figures were overwhelming. How did Sen manage to find such people? Why did such people think she was good company?

Sen wormed her way out of Gon's death hug and was subsequently subjected to Leorio's lecturing. For some reason, he was under the impression that Sen wandered off from them like a lost puppy.

Their voices were akin slipping into a warm bath at the end of the day. The rattling in her soul settled a little. 

"Great," Leorio grinned widely. "Now we can get rid of Tonpa!"

"What?"

Sen became aware of the rotten meat smell that came with chronic liars.

She sucked her teeth loudly when she noticed the fifth figure in the tunnel. It was Orange Juice Fucker, who probably still thought her name was Kalani. Ha.

"Unfortunately, you'll need him," one of the prisoners called from across the chasm. 

They'd been so quiet that Sen forgot they were there. 

She had a near-mental breakdown in front of a bunch of high-risk prisoners. They probably thought she was an easy kill.

"Uncuff me. The other applicants have arrived."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

As a group, they needed to acquire four wins in fights against the prisoners to pass. Tonpa squandered the first one.