Tale as Old as Time

2

Throughout the entire year, Killua hardly spoke another word. Occasionally, he would nod his head or make some sort of gesture indicating that he was listening, but aside from that he never contributed to Gon’s one-sided conversations. Maybe this way, it didn’t count as interacting with someone, it didn’t break any of his parent’s rules to stay away from others at all costs. Of course, Killua knew that wasn’t the case, but it’s a safer excuse if he were to ever get caught allowing this to happen.

First grade came and went, and nothing changed besides Killua’s surprise that his acquaintance hadn’t flunked and stayed behind. Even if he had managed to pass, Killua half expected Gon to have forgotten about him over the summer. After all, who wouldn’t after talking to a blank wall most of the time?

He wouldn’t. Of course he wouldn’t. Killua couldn’t tell whether the feeling was disappointment or relief to see him again, though the next year he was sure it was more the latter. Why? Hadn’t he been doing such a good job of pushing him away?

Not to Gon, as he still saw Killua slowly becoming less cold towards him each day that went by, whether it was intentional or not. And finally, after two long years, it paid off when on the first day of second grade, Gon was greeted first this time with almost half of a smile; that was just the start of relentless teasing on how Gon believed he wasn’t capable of doing so.

Killua still rarely talked to anyone else, of course, he wasn’t willing to risk anything to become a social butterfly had he even had the desire to do so. That was Gon’s job, growing more and more popular as time went on with his natural ability to make friends out of anyone. And yet, he still came to sit with Killua at lunch, he still kept a seat open next to him in all their shared classes. Even after all this time, with all the friends he made, Gon still made time for Killua.

Only once middle school came around did they slowly start to drift apart. Not on purpose, of course. But Killua had his head stuck in books for studying and Gon was always off participating in some club or sport that he couldn’t keep track of. He was always too busy, too busy to even greet him in the mornings or say goodbye going home. It wasn’t surprising, it shouldn’t be surprising. It was only a matter of time.

What a miracle that Killua never noticed that Gon hadn’t forgotten about him, always talking to his teammates about how wonderful and kind his best friend was. Time apart didn’t feel like a friendship’s deterioration, but making it stronger that they *could* be away from each other like this. Losing track of time became easier and easier.

Then Killua stopped showing up for school.