ꜱᴛᴜᴄᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ- ᴋɪʟʟᴜᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [OLD]

46- 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘹 𝘜𝘱

"I'll tell you in just a minute, there's no need to be so impatient." The guard frowned.

"Sorry, sorry." I chuckled. "Continue, please. I'll try not to interrupt again."

"As I was saying, they just take the key from the poor defenseless security guard. And then Mike eats them! It's as simple as that." He explained. 

"That's it!" Kurapika gasped, his eyes widening slightly.

"As you just realized, I'm not a security guard." He grinned.

"What?" I whispered.

"I'm just the janitor who cleans up after Mike." He continued.

"So the front gate isn't actually locked after all!" Kurapika stated.

"Exactly." The janitor smiled.

"What?" Leorio gasped, turning around.

"So this whole time, we've just been sitting here when we could've gone through?" Quinn grunted.

We all rushed outside and Leorio began to wind up his arm, preparing to open the door. "Hey, I should help too!" I walked up. "The door might have some sort of trick to it, so I wanna help you figure it out."

"That's sweet of you, but I don't think that's a good idea." Leorio frowned. "You could get seriously injured."

"I'll be okay. You're only in this mess because of me, so I should help out more." I smiled.

"Y/n." He sighed. "How about you go sit by Quinn?"

"Why? Let me help. I can do it." I huffed.

"I'd rather have you relax. Save your strength, y'know?"

"I'm strong enough to help, so let me!" I shouted, glaring at him. "I wanna be strong enough to help Killua, so just let me do this!"

"No." He said after a while of silence. "I can't ask you to hurt yourself for someone else."

"I won't get hurt!" I shouted.

"Y/n, I'm not arguing with you about this! Just go sit down!" He shouted back.

"Fine!" I yelled, standing next to Quinn. I sat on the ground and glared at the ants marching in a line. I didn't cry, I was too exhausted. I only let out little sniffs and my throat hurt like all hell. Whether that was from yelling or from wanting to cry, I couldn't tell. I felt like screaming my lungs out and crying. I wanted to hit something, beat something into a pulp, but I stayed quiet and looked down.

"The ants look kinda cool. We don't have these kinds from where I'm from. We've only got the red ones." Quinn whispered, taking a seat next to me. "What about the bugs from where you're from? What're they like?"

"Ah, they're normal I guess. We got ants like these down there, but I don't know. Never paid much attention to them." I sighed, not looking at them.

"Hm. Where'd you live before?" Quinn asked, leaning their head on my shoulder.

"Ah, a small town. It was by Yorknew, you've heard of Yorknew, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. I always wanted to go. Seemed fun." They replied, sitting down with their knees leaning against their chest.

"It's actually way more boring than you think. Nothing ever happens, unless you've got friends, which I didn't. Until..." I sighed.

"Until Killua?" They smiled.

"Yeah. Until Killua." I chuckled.

"I've pushed and pulled, but it won't budge!" Leorio gasped after several minutes of trying to open the door. "Are you sure the gate isn't locked?!"

"Well, maybe if you had let me help-" I started.

"Y/n." Kurapika said sternly.

"I'm afraid you're just not strong enough." The janitor said.

"Shut up! I was giving it everything I've got!" Leorio yelled.

The janitor took off his suit, revealing a white tank top. "Stand back and watch." He demanded, walking up to the door. "This gate is officially known as the testing gate because anyone who's not strong enough to open it is considered unworthy of entering the Zoldyck estate." He put out his arms. He began to push on the door and opened a few at once, letting out a loud grunt. He let go, and the gates began to close. "You can see that the door closes automatically, so you'll wanna slip inside as soon as it opens. Oh, and you won't need to worry about Mike! He has strict orders not to attack anyone through the testing gate."

"Once we get through the testing gate, what happens? How do we find the house?" I asked, standing up.

"I'll take you as far as the butler's quarters." He explained, smiling.

"Thank you, sir!" I grinned.

"Why, you're very welcome." He chuckled. "Whoo, the older I get, the tougher this seems to become. But they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so I need to stay fit! And I should mention, the first doors weigh two tons each."

"What?" Leorio and Quinn shouted at the same time.

"That's ludicrous!" Quinn whined.

"You're really not supposed to be able to-" Leorio chimed in. "Wait, what did you say? Did you say the first doors?"

"Yeah, take a look. There are seven doors in all and keep in mind, each set is twice as heavy as the set of doors before it." The janitor explained.

"Well, it'd make sense there's more than one set of doors. Just for extra protection." I sighed. "I hate this gate."

"Twice?" Leorio shouted.

"The more force you put into it, the more doors you open. Gotta be pretty strong to get all of 'em." The man continued. "Incidentally, when young master Killua returned to the estate he opened three of them. Just like that."

'He's really that strong?' I thought, gazing up at the gate.

"Three? That's like 12 tons!" Gon shouted.

"Uhm...no." Quinn chuckled.

"It's 16 tons, Gon." Kurapika affirmed. Gon just chuckled nervously.

"Starting to get it now? This is what it takes just to get through the door. They live in a completely different world." The old man sighed.

"Mm. I don't like this." Gon frowned. "May I borrow the key? We didn't come all this way to be tested. Y/n and I came so we could see our friend!"

"Gon, you could die if you go through that door!" Quinn huffed.

"It'll be worth it. Like I said, we're gonna do whatever it takes to see Killua again." I smiled.