Bungou stray dogs x Killua {Uninvited guest}

4 - Once Upon A Time...

The next thing Killua knew, his back had slammed against the train's wall.

"Gah!" He coughed. Judging by the grunt beside him, Atsushi was shoved as well.

The hunter expected to be strangled, to be slaughtered, to be chopped into Killua spaghetti by the girl's ability, anything to protect the bomb strap onto her tiny chest. 

Instead, he watched in mixed fascination and dread as the girl clutched both sides of the hole Demon Snow made in the train, facing them, with tears streaming from both of her eyes. Her indigo hair whipped around her face as her feet hovered dangerously by the edge.

"My name is Kyouka. I've killed 35 people. I don't want to kill anymore!" She cried in frustration.

'I don't want to kill anymore!'

His eyes widened as she jumped, plummeting to her death, a last resort of desperation to make amends for all of her murders. 

"No!" A ring of blue light illuminated beside him, and before Killua can even register it, Atsushi bound with renewed strength after her. 

The hunter ran to the edge, just in time when the tiger tore out the ticking bomb midair, and used his body to wrap around the girl's fragile frame in the hope to shield her from the worst of the blast.

'I don't want to kill anymore!'

The explosion transformed the entire sky gold, filling those stunned royal blue orbs.

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"You brought trouble with you yet again."

Atsushi slumps on the floor outside the infirmary, with Killua leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and his eyes closed. Despite the silence, the atmosphere was tense and heavy.

Atsushi raised his head to meet Kunikida's stern ones, but Killua was still deep in thought. Meeting your doppelganger would do that to you.

"Kunikida-san," the weretiger greeted solemnly.

"She's a hopeless case," the man nodded at the door as if reading Atsushi's mind. "The girl's an infamous assassin. She deceives others with her young appearance and takes that advantage to annihilate her victims. She has achieved too much, too quickly."

"So you're going to turn her in." It sounded more like a declaration than a question when the hunter said it.

Silence. Again. And when Kunikida replies, his words are carefully put.

"As a law enforcer, that is my job."

Killua opened an eyelid, examing the man with curiosity. He could almost imagine Leorio in his place, restraining himself to save the girl.

"Huh? You're really like a friend of mine. Such a tsundere."

"What's that supposed to mean, brat?!"

"The girl," Atsushi began, interrupting their slaphappy time. "It's not her fault for being used..."

"Ability doesn't necessarily bring the wielder happiness," said Kunikida. "You know that better than most."

Just then, the door creaked open and Yosano poked her head out. "She's awake."

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The red bean mochi was exceptional.

Killua had five bowls, and he was currently digging into his sixth, blissfully ignorant of the total price he and Kyouka's tofu had piled up. He tried asking for chocolate robots but only got confused looks from the waitress.