ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ- ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [OLD]

20- 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘹 𝘊𝘢𝘵 𝘹 𝘉𝘰𝘺

Killua and I left the gymnasium pretty quickly. Killua was very quick in pace and was muttering under his breath like crazy. For some odd reason, he had taken his shirt off. "Killua, are you alright?" I asked, reaching out to touch his bare shoulder.

"Fine. Don't worry about me." Killua sighed.

"Liar." I hissed. Why was everyone hiding so much? At this point, it seemed like Gon and I were the only ones telling the truth. "Why are you trying to avoid a conversation about your feelings? If you keep bottling it up, nothing's gonna get better." I sighed.

"Just don't worry about me. Seems like something pretty simple." He scoffed. 

"I want to worry about you. Because I want to care about you." I replied.

"Why?" He asked, after a while of silence.

"Because I want to be your friend." I smiled sympathetically. He turned around and looked at me.

"Why?" I could see tears prick his eyes. "Assasins aren't raised to care for people...so why do you care about me? And why...Why do I care about you?" He sniffed.

"Oh, Killua." I smiled, pulling him into a tight hug. "I don't know why someone like you would care about me, but I know that you're my first friend, so I'd do anything for you." I could feel his warm tears dripping down my shoulder. He didn't say anything, but that was okay. I rubbed my hand in a circular pattern on his back.

"I shouldn't be crying in front of you." He sniffled.

"And why do you think that?" I asked.

"Because..." He stopped for a moment. "Because I need to prove to you that I'm strong." His voice cracked in sadness and pain.

"But I already know you're strong. You're the strongest person I know, Kil." I now moved on to stroke his hair.

"But what about Quinn?"

"Quinn's strong too. But not as strong as you." 

The hallway of the airship was only filled with the sound of Killua's small cries and sniffles. It was nice to see that Killua felt he could be vulnerable with me. I continued playing with his fluffy hair, which helped me feel a bit better about Quinn's outrage. "Killua..." I whispered.

"Yeah?" He sniffed. He was doing better, but there were still a few tears.

"Crying doesn't make you weak. Denying the fact that you're human and aren't happy all the time does." I held him a bit tighter. His crying continued, this time more tears fell. I continued rubbing his back and playing with his hair at the same time. "So to me, this vulnerability proves you're strong. So much stronger than you think." Killua got out of the hug and looked at me with his teary sapphire eyes. He gripped my shoulders tightly. I reached out to touch his face, wiping some remaining tears off his pale cheek.

"Thank you...for helping me feel better." Killua smiled slightly.

"What're friends for? I know you'd do the same for me." I grinned back at him. "And I'm assuming you don't want me to mention this to Gon, right?" I chuckled a bit.

"That'd be appreciated." His smile grew.

"Just promise me you aren't gonna keep your emotions all locked up like this, okay? I don't wanna lose you just because you feel like you couldn't talk to me. I know it's hard sometimes, but I just wanna see you happy. You mean a lot to me ya know." We were no longer holding each other and were just kind of staring into each other's eyes. I never realized how pretty Killua's eyes were. They were light, yet dark at the same time. It was a strange, yet beautiful contrast.

"Yeah. But, say the same to me. I don't think you're being all that honest either." Killua's smile turned into a stern expression. I stayed silent. "Y/n." He said, his tone a bit angry.

"Fine. So we won't keep emotions bottled up and we'll tell each other absolutely everything. Swear?" I held out my hand, sticking out my pinkie. Killua did the same and we made a pinkie promise.

"Swear on your life?" Killua proposed.

"Yup! And you know I'll follow through, cuz you could definitely kill me." I chuckled a little.

"I could, but I won't." Killua smiled.

"Well, should we go to bed? I'm getting kinda sleepy." I yawned.

"I think I'll stay up." Killua looked tired too. I grabbed his arm. "What're you-"

"Nope! You're coming with me Killua Zoldyck. You're gonna get some good sleep and be energized and prepared for the exam in the morning. Ya hear me?" I smiled.

"Fine," Killua grunted. He thought I didn't notice, but I saw a small smile appear on his face when I looked up at him. It was so nice just seeing him happy. It was nice knowing I was the one who made him happy. 'Killua made a pinkie promise with me.' I happily thought to myself on the way to the room. 'He made a pinkie promise with me before he did with Gon.' I didn't know why it made me so happy to know that he promised me something, but it did.

I liked knowing I was the one who cheered him up and not anyone else. I liked making Killua feel better. I wanted to do it again. The only thing I wanted was to see Killua happy. "Killua?" I said, in my half-asleep state.

"Yeah?" 

"Thank you for letting me make you feel better." I smiled, shutting my eyes.

~~

I woke up to a pillow slapping me in the face.

"Wake up!" Quinn shouted.

"Alright, Alright! You didn't have to hit me!" I sighed. I got up and walked over to Quinn. 

"Hey, you're not mad at me for last night, are you?" Their tone seemed cautious but urgent at the same time.

"No, I'm completely fine," I said sarcastically. They opened their mouth to say something, but I walked off before they could say anything. I was really really mad at Quinn. I was trying to help them, but they smacked me and walked off before anything else. It was aggravating, to say the least. I just sighed and tried my best to stay calm for the next phase of the exam.