King of Hearts

🦷

Gon noticed them from across the courtyard early the next morning.

He was slipping his arms through the sleeves of a plain white button up. He shrugged it up onto his shoulders and adjusted the collar as he wandered to the window. The quad was loosely populated with freshmen groups wandering the grounds in packs. The university uniform was a broad topic with looser segments—just the button ups and slacks were the main, go-to outfit on campus. It was rare to see people in the full vest and tie combination, so Gon was surprised to see a group of students wearing the full uniform on a walk down the center, brick path cutting through the courtyard.

That was part of the reason they stood out. Another being the fact that they were partially synchronized in their steps. Same speed, same posture, same unamused affect on their faces that unnerved Gon. He buttoned up his shirt halfway before realizing that he was distracted enough to miss the bottom button. He undid his work and started over again with a curse. By the time he finished, the group of students had left the premises.

He searched the quad for them and came up empty.

He left his dorm shortly after dressing. He kept his tie loose as he locked his dorm door and started for the stairs, only to pause at the curious state of the dorm hallway.

Everyone was out of their rooms, facing the stairwell, and lingering at their doors. Gon lowered his keys to his pockets and looked down the hall to where Canary stood. She met his eyes, and the look on her face told him she was less than eager to chat.

He searched the faces in the hallway, and with each one, he caught them all looking away. Except for—Zushi.

Gon made his way down the hallway to where Zushi was standing, hands behind his back. Zushi stared at him, startled, and looked away the second Gon came to stand beside him and whisper, "What is everyone doing? I didn't get a stand-outside-your-room-and-say-nothing memo."

"It's—uh..." Zushi started, floundering. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Just then, the guy in the dorm next door to Zushi leant over, strawberry-red hair slicked back. "It's the Zoldycks."

"Hisoka," Canary hissed from across the hall.

The red-haired guy—Hisoka, it seemed—straightened up with a shrug and pocketed his hands. He was wearing a half-unbuttoned white shirt and a loose blazer, as if he had just rolled out of bed, threw his clothes on, and called it a day. "I'm not too concerned," he said with a crooked smile. He glanced in Gon's direction, and it felt oddly like Gon was being flirted with.

He swallowed hard and looked away, hoping the heat in his cheeks wasn't visible. He went over the name again, Zoldycks, and never realized that there were kids from that same family attending Yorknew.

They must be stupid rich, he thought, glancing at all five of the scholarship kids in this section of the fourth floor. Were all of them recipients of the Zoldyck scholarship? He wanted to ask, but before he could, the stairwell became occupied by that same group of properly-dressed, uniformed students he had seen walking through the courtyard.

At the head of the group was a lanky, raven-haired man that had to be several years above Gon. His hair was braided down his back, long and silky. Gon had never seen a guy with such long hair before, or eyes that dark. His irises reminded Gon of a cat's—wide, engulfing the whites of his eyes into black pits. Gon openly stared and thought, This guy's family is responsible for my education.

Gon turned to stand alongside Zushi, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and arms crossed over his chest. Gon had been so absorbed by the leader of the pack that he nearly missed the shock of white hair directly behind him.