SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

38 | moon

note: here's the mini-arc I was talking about! this takes place after gon and killua visit whale island, but before they go to yorknew. enjoy!!

tw: discussion of past slavery (not graphic)

LATE JULY

"GOOD MORNING, and welcome to Inariyami Island! Here's this week's activity flyer. I hope you enjoy your stay!" Sen bowed, handing a flyer to a group of women.

"Such a sweet child," one of them whispered as they walked off.

Behind Sen, her co-worker snickered. "Look at you, pretending to be nice."

"It's how you get tips," she hissed, smiling sweetly at the next group.

She tried not to fidget too much in her itchy, ill-fitting kimono.

You would think getting paid to sit around and do nothing other than say 'hello' to the new customers was heaven. It was not.

Inariyami's brutal, humid summers were only bearable if you were indoors or under the dense shade of the woods. Sen and her co-worker got stuck doing welcoming duty, which was performed in broad daylight when temperatures soared well over the hundreds. 

The 'heavenly job' was really a cruel punishment devised by her supervisor.

Killua and Gon were set to arrive sometime this morning. Sen was dreading the moment her friends would see her on what was essentially a penalty shift.

"I bet you regret punching that Murasaki guy now, yeah?" Her co-worker Akira chuckled, fanning himself with an activity flyer.

"No," she said. "And I'm gonna do it again the next time I find him."

Being around Akira was weird. They were playmates as little kids; same age, same temper, same penchant for trouble. In another life, they could've been good friends. But in this one, Kotaro put his foot down and told her to stop playing with 'the bad influence'. 

And that had been it, until today.

Fed up with the heat and Akira's taunting snickers, Sen turned to him spitefully. "At least I didn't get caught stealing from inventory."

"Oi, oi," he said, abruptly serious. "Don't go judging now that you're a fancy Hunter. I know you remember what it's like, being scrapped for cash."

Sen had a vivid mental image of herself, younger, hurling a rock at some kid who tried to steal a fish she caught for her sisters. One fish. When money was scarce and you didn't have parents to help out, one fish was the difference between living another day and certain death.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just... sorry."

She couldn't think. The sunlight felt poisonous, strangling her thought processes and leaving her unable to do anything other than smile and greet the customers. Sen felt a bit helpless, hated it, and was more snappish than usual. 

The guilt was almost as stifling. She couldn't quite look at her former friend. 

Sen wished the next group of customers would arrive a little faster.