SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

40 | her

PUTTING THE five-day memory gap out of Sen's mind was easier said than done.

The headache went away after she put food and water in her system. With that hindrance gone, a few slow, blurry memories rose to the surface. Nothing helpful; just the sensation of wind and some sort of shadow.

Those memories could've been fake, conjured by her mind as a form of self-comfort or as some reassurance that she wasn't going nuts. 

Sen fixated on those images, analyzing each one down to the bones. 

She tried to see it as a puzzle. A hard puzzle that would take a while to solve. The thought settled her stomach somewhat, but not enough. Mainly because she was used to solving puzzles in minutes.

Because of that, Sen only half-listened to Leorio's rundown of their current funds (eight million jenny) which needed to become nine billion jenny in a few days. 

"That's not mathematically possible," she told them.

Sen gained a pout from Gon and a temple-flick from her boyfriend.

"Stop being so negative," Killua chastised.

"We have better chances of stealing Greed Island," said Sen. "Just saying."

"We are not making enemies of the mafia, you little shit," Leorio pointed at her. 

"No, no, she has a point," Killua tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Did either of you hear what I just said—"

"We're not stealing it!" Gon whined. "Let's set up the arm-wrestling competition before it gets too late. No. Stealing."

Sen made a face. Goodie two-shoes.

"Swiper, no swiping," Killua snickered, nudging her.

"You agreed with me, stupid."

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

The arm-wrestling competition hadn't even started when a pair of suited men approached their group. Both of them had squashed, pug-like faces and grins that made Sen want to hiss.

This was how kids got trafficked. The older girls back home warned Sen about this.

"We heard about the kid," one man addressed Leorio, gesturing at Gon. "He has the chance to make millions. How about I show you where the real money is?"

Leorio and Killua had to bodily drag Sen along because she thought the men were about to sell them off overseas. 

Instead, they were taken to an underground arm-wrestling tournament. It may or may not have been legal. She felt irritated.

"You were worried over nothing," Killua noted. 

"Shut up. It was not nothing," she gave his shoulder a harsh whack, still keeping her distance from the man who led them there.

"I won't let some creep get you," he said seriously. "Not again."

Sen was taken aback by the intensity in Killua's tone. She supposed boyfriends were supposed to be protective, but she was only used to that behavior from her brother. Everyone else expected her to handle herself.

She didn't know what to do with the odd feelings scraping around in her chest. 

"Fuck you," was what Sen ended up saying. "I can kill the creeps myself."