Beyond the Grave [ILLUMI X CHROLLO]

[7] DAAAARLING Guess Who's Back From JAAAAIL

After the longest, restless sleep of Gon's entire life, he woke up Friday morning anxious for Killua's impending wellness check. The desperate part of him begged to call Killua and let him know where he was, and that he'd be back in time for work, but the bag of worms that would open would be too painful to put back.

Admitting where he was would mean admitting where Illumi was. Illumi had asked him not to say as his dying wish, and so Gon would keep that promise.

Hisoka left shortly after Gon awoke for, what Gon realized, was his job.

"You work?" Gon deadpanned, unconvinced.

"Of course," Hisoka purred. "I'm the best salesmen a business could have." He worked at a local thrift store, which explained the insane amount of clothes Gon had seen through the crack in Hisoka's bedroom door.

After the demon left, Gon caught up on some real sleep.

Not Killua didn't have classes on Fridays and spent the morning catching up on grading and cleaning. When at long last Gon shuffled down, sleepy and shirtless, Not Killua was emerging from the laundry room.

"Did you do this?" He was pointing at the dryer.

"Oh. Yeah," Gon said. "I noticed the driveway gate is wonky. I could fix that today too, if you want?"

"Please don't."

"Okay."

An hour later, Gon had snuck the tool box out of the closet again and was tip-toeing out the door. He was caught, of course, by Not Killua having a perfect visual of him through his office door, glaring past the foyer to the door leading to the Pontiac's overhang.

"Don't bother with it. Seriously," Not Killua called, leaning back in his chair with a packet of papers in hand.

"I'm just gonna take a look!"

As the door shut, Not Killua scoffed to himself, muttering, "Idiot."

After dismantling the hinges and leaning the doors against the brick siding, Gon tossed the hardware into a bin of chemicals to soak while he hopped along back to the hardware store.

He reacquainted his torso with his shirt. He popped the front collar in and out to get a breeze through, but the heat was really starting to get to his head. The worker at the front desk, recognizing him from the day prior, pushed ajar the door thirty minutes early to relieve Gon of his suffering.

He sifted through oiling sprays for the hinges. He didn't recognize any of the brands, but he settled on one and paid for it. When he returned, Not Killua was lingering out on the overhang stoop, hands on his hips, surveying Gon's damage.

"Are you... gonna fix that?" Not Killua asked.

"Yeah, totally."

"... Totally."

"That's what I said," he said, beaming as he stepped past Killua and back into the house to check on the hardware.

One thorough scrubbing with a wire brush later and Gon was back outside, shirtless, and bent down on one knee to secure the hardware back in place. It was then that Killua's brother emerged from the side door with a freeze pop in hand, another between his teeth.

He held out the plastic rapped purple bliss with a disheveled, unimpressed look on his face. "You didn't need to do this, but thank you."

Gon took the freeze pop and immediately put it to the back of his neck where it dripped condensation down his spine. "It's no problem. I like doing this sort of thing."