My Enigma

Not a Dead END

  "I'm glad to see you're okay." Gon laughed.

  "Mm?"

  "You haven't responded to any of my text messages on Sunday, did something happen to your phone?"

  Killua sighed, "No uh, they must not have gone through. Sorry."

  "Don't worry about it." Gon reassured.

  The day played out like a typical Monday. Nothing was out of the ordinary, or rather, everything was routine until the lunch break of the day.

  "No Leorio?" Gon asked with concern.

  "Don't worry about him. He's just 'sick,' that's all." Kurapika stated, calm and content. Killua let out a faint giggle.

  "Shouldn't we check on him?" Gon insisted, clearly not understanding the blonde's intonation.

  "Leorio isn't always here on Mondays. Sometimes the thrill of the weekend gets to him and in an effort to extend it, he fakes illness so he won't have to come in. It's been like this ever since we started middle school." Kurapika explained.

  "Oh, I get it," Gon sighed, feeling a little embarrassed that Kurapika had to feed him an entire explanation. Failing to notice a reaction, he turned his view towards Killua, only to see him invested in his own activity, "Oh! What's that?"

  Killua jumped back to reality and perked his head up, "Oh um, it's just a journal. No biggie."

  "Cool! Can I see it?"

  "No!" Killua almost yelled without a second thought, "Sorry, it's just very... personal, that's all. I'm just touching it up right now."

  "Oh, I understand."

  Moments later, the pale boy closed the diary and returned it to his bag. Gon took this opportunity to engage in conversation, "Killua, you've been awfully quiet today. Is everything okay?"

  "Yes, Gon. I'm fine," he assured, voice faint.

  "Are you su-"

  "Gon," Kurapika interjected, "you two hung out this weekend, right? His social battery could just be drained.

  Kurapika's theory felt logical to Gon as he could tell Killua was very introverted. Either way, it didn't necessarily tame his concern. Despite only knowing him for a short time, Gon could tell something was off. Something was different.

  After their break, the day resumed to being completely uneventful. Killua kept his input to a minimum, and Gon tried not to get in his way. He figured that something might have suddenly happened and he may just need time to himself. However, Killua remained like this the next day—and the next—and the next. It grew to a point where Gon was at a point of utmost concern and worry. Sure, the two engaged in regular conversations like usual, but they were much more dry. On top of that, they barely interacted with one another outside of school hours. He honestly didn't know what to do—until the second-to-last period on Friday.

  "Killua, you're getting dismissed."

  "Dismissed? Why?"

  "Didn't say. They said you can leave your belongings here though for convenience."

  "Oh uhm, alright then." Killua headed out the door, still with a look of confusion on his face.

  It wasn't in line with his morals, but Gon was willing to do anything to get some insight on why his so-called 'best friend' was being so avoidant. When he got the chance, Gon slipped away to Killua's bag, and retrieved the mysterious yet captivating journal. The smooth ebony hardcover let Gon know that Killua took care of this. There were no stains, dents, or any imperfections whatsoever. It must've been important to him.

  On his way out of the room, Gon turned the corner to see a familiar face.

  "Oh, hi Gon, I didn't expect to see you here."

  "Hi Retz. Do you need anything?"

  "N-no, not at all. It's been a while since I've talked to you." Retz stuttered; She talked fast and nervous.

  "Cool." Gon said blatantly before walking away.

  "There goes that plan." Retz broke the news to Neon.

  "Yes I saw the whole thing happen. What were you even planning on doing with that, anyway?"

  "I could do anything, really. It would be a great way to blackmail though."

  "I'm still surprised you even picked up on it. He only had it out for like 5 seconds," Neon exaggerated, "you must look in that direction a lot."

  "Whatever," Retz scoffed, "at least it had the potential to pay off."

  Killua was still confused on why he could've been dismissed. There were a bunch of reasons for any teenager to get pulled out of school early, but the reasons were much more scarce when it came to him. There was usually nobody around to pull him out, anyways. Still pondering the reason as he opened the front door to his residence, a voice broke his train of thought. "Hello, Kil."

  "Illumi! You're-"

  "Who is that boy you are always with?"

  The albino paused, "Why are you home?"

  "Don't you know? I recently picked up a temporary job at your school for reasons relating to the family business. Mom also requested that I keep an eye on you while I'm there. Now, who is that boy?"

  "H-his name is-"

  "Kil."

  Killua gasped. He felt cornered in his own home by his own brother.

  "You know you have no need for friendship. They will only serve as a distraction. You are supposed to be the heir to our business, after all."

  "I don't even know what you guys do! You never tell me anything!" Killua snapped.

  "It doesn't matter," Illumi stated, completely calm and emotionless, "What matters is you do what is best. Friends are not a good choice for you, so think wisely about your decisions. I'll always be here to keep watch."

  In this very moment during the confrontation with his big brother, Killua felt at a loss, but he knew one thing for certain. Gon, I won't lose you. I may be cornered, but it's not a dead end.