Shuffle The Deck

Chapter 14 - Friendship

"Gon sure seems to think so, anyway!" Leorio ended, shoving his hand in his pockets.

Killua was shaken, eyes wide and his breath staggered. Lilah watched his brain try to contemplate what was happening and clutched her hand to her heart in agony.

"Is that true?" Illumi asked, rather rattled.

"Hell yeah, it's true, you idiot," Leorio sneered at him.

"Oh no, that isn't good. So he already considers Kill a friend," the assassin tapped his cheek lightly and then came to a conclusion. "Fine, then I'll just kill Gon."

She couldn't take this anymore.

With a brisk movement, she began walking towards Illumi, all eyes glued on her. She was pissed.

No, even more. She was completely pushed over her limit. Seeing Killua like this, especially when Illumi was the one doing this, was too much for anyone to handle.

But she was stopped in her tracks, and her mouth was covered by some sort of substance. She tried to scream but was unable to with the pink aura stuck to her mouth. She was being dragged back to her spot, and rendered unable to move. She shot a dark glare in Hisoka's direction, who directed her attention back to Illumi and Killua.

"Assassins have no use for friends, they only get in the way. Where can I find him?"

"Please, wait a second, the match is still-"

Illumi shot needles in the man's direction, paralyzing his face and causing excruciating pain. He cried out in agony, clutching his face in pure pain.

"Where?" Illumi curtly asked again, this time receiving an answer.

"He's..in the waiting room...right over there!" Came the staggered and painful voice of the man he had pinned, pointing a shaking finger in the room's direction.

"Thank you."

But right as he was about to reach the door, Leorio, Kurapika, and Hanzo blocked it, all having furious expressions at him. Lilah would have raced over to their aid but was still stuck in place from Hisoka's Nen that he had attached to her. She hadn't even known when he had, but he seemed to have glued shut all the movement and speech points.

"Oh, what a pain. I need to acquire a Hunter's license right now so I can do my job, but if I kill them, I'll fail, and then Kill will pass automatically. Oh no, the same thing will happen if I kill Gon." he stared blankly and tapped his chin once again. "Hm...Wait... I'll pass the Exam and then kill Gon!"

Leorio and Kuarpika gritted their teeth, angrily clutching their hands into fists.

"You bastard."

He turned to the Chairman and locked eyes with him.

"If I pass the Exam first, I can kill everyone here and still keep my license, isn't that right?"

"Well, yes, according to the rulebook," he answered, not shaken at all.

"Did you hear that Kill? If you really want to save Gon, you're going to have to beat me. Will you fight me to save your friend?"

Killua didn't move, he was still so overtaken with fear. A pale expression was plastered on his petrified face.

"You can't do it, can you? Because deep down, you're more worried about whether you can defeat me than anything else, aren't you? And, you already know the answer. 'I'm not strong enough to beat my big brother.' Remember the lesson I drilled into you? Never go up against a superior opponent."

Killua backed up a small step, and Illumi activated his aura once more.

"Don't move. Move one more inch, and I'll assume the fight has begun. The same goes for if our bodies come in contact with each other. The fight starts. There is only one way to stop me, and you know it. But don't forget. If you decide you won't fight me, your dear Gon will certainly die."