Never Grow Up

3. Pirates

Previously:

Hearing a whistling sound above, Killua looks up. There's something flying over head, slowly declining in altitude. Heading straight for them. When Killua looks closer...

He sees it's a cannon ball.

No... it has a lit fuse.

A bomb.

"Go! Run!" Gon screams, standing up with Killua as they bolt out of the alley. It goes off behind them, the shockwave knocking them off their feet.

Gon's ears ring and Killua's head spins as they feel hands lift them up. "Kids?" The captain asks.

"What should we do with them?"

"Ha..." The captain sighs. "Bring them aboard. Lock em up in the nicer cell."
_________

Killua tenses up a little. "A spider sort of thing... they were called the Crimson Phantom."

"I think that's who took us..." Gon sighs. Killua's eyes widen.

"You saw the flag?"

"Yeah."

A tall slender man with long black hair and big black eyes stops in front of their cell. The flag symbol tattooed on his shoulder blades, the cropping of his shirt exposing it. Killua glares, holding tightly onto Gon's shoulders.

"Killua?" The man speaks, almost shocked.

Gon glares. "Why do you ask?"

The man softens his gaze. He turns around and lifts his hair up, showing off the Zoldyck family crest embedded into the nape of his neck.

Killua's eyes widen. It couldn't be. His brother has been dead for six years. "W-what..." Killua's voice shakes.

The man smiles, unlocking the cell and opening it up wide. "Why don't you boys join us on deck?"

Gon looks at Killua, who nods in approval. Killua has to know if it's true.

When Killua walks up to the man, he asks. "Illumi..?"

"Yeh." Illumi nods. Killua's eyes widen and he tightly hugs his older brother.

"But they said you were dead!" Killua cries.

Illumi sighs, rubbing circles into his brother's back. "I'll explain it all, okay? Come up and have some food."

Killua nods. He holds Gon's hand as they follow Illumi up. They see several other pirates on deck, all turning their heads to look at them.

"So I guess he really is your brother then?" One woman with wild pink hair asks.

Illumi nods. "Sure is."

She walks over and Killua notices she has a mechanical arm. "Nice to meet you kid, I'm Machi. The medic and forensics expert."

"... Yeah..." Killua holds Gon's hand a little tighter.

"Who's the other one?" Machi asks.

"His soulmate." Illumi answers. Gon and Killua instinctively take a step backwards. They didn't tell him who Gon was. "Gon, right?"

Neither Killua nor Gon answer.

"It's alright." Illumi tells them. "No one here cares about law, especially that law."

Gon sighs. "Yeah... we're soulmates..."

Machi grins. "Birds of a feather."

"Huh?"