𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗 | 𝗚𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂 𝗔𝗨

♜Episode 3🂬| Stirrer of the Peace

Two sharp eyes and a smirk up his lips,
Only can be seen under the lids,
Two ears and a tail that slips,
Cheshire the Stirrer of the Peace.
-by WaraKao

      Killua jumped down the window of his room as he landed on fours, bingo. He put his feet on his skateboard and skated down the road, knowing that his brother wouldn't come back home for another couple of hours. The roads were wet, they always were. It frequently rained in the countryside, even in summer. It was also early autumn and the green leaves were all slightly painting themselves in the shades of red and yellow.

      He skated outside the extremely huge gates of the Zoldyck Mansion as he passed the Cricker's House and the cemetery beside. It always spooked him how entering the huge mansion of the Cracker family freaked him out more than he was scared of the idea of needing to sleep in that cemetery which was terrifying as it already was. In his opinion Mr. Cricker was a jealous man who had a self-confidence issue and got it out of others. He had always tried to be better than Aunt Matilda, Killua remembered only slight memories of them yet he was sure of what he saw. There was this time that Aunt Matilda came back after years and Killua remembered how devastated and scared Cracker actually was. Even a month before his daughter's Reign he was terrified. Killua hated those kind of people the most, the kind of people who blamed others and tried to rise up through their failures.

     Even thinking about it made him sick as he stopped beside the bakery and the marvelous smell of cacoa and caramel mixing met his nose, the sweet smell of chocolate. He jumped and caught his board in midair as he stopped, walking towards the shop, knowing so well that he would not be allowed with his board with him so putting his board down. The shop was generally warm and cozy and brownish, old woman house aesthetic. Though it was fine, the food was fine so everything was fine. Killua would usually eat someplace else since, well, he didn't like it when people watched him eat. It was creepy and awkward.

     "Good morning~" Killua said with a wavy voice and a catish smile as he leaned on the counter and smiled at the working girl who stopped and track and cursed under her breath, not this again.

     "It's eight in the evening Killua." Machi said with a straight face as Killua just shrugged.

     "That's my morning. Oh, why so sad? Was your vacation to the Dark Isle not so good?" He said as Machi growled, making Killua smile and raise his hands as if he surrendered. He took the casu from his pocket and put it on the counter.

     "Sorry."

     "Just get your food and go fucker. I hope you choke on it." She said as she started packaging the usual: a chocolate cake, a packet of Turkish delights, a lot of donuts, chocolate chip cocoa cookies, etc...

     "How much you love me touches my heart." Killua said as he just sat down and took the package and opened it, earning a glare from a certain female.

     "What? I can eat anywhere I want." He said and bit into his donut.

     "What do you want?" Machi came right to the point as she watched Killua smirk slightly.

     "Did you hear about the new boy?" Machi looked at him directly as she shook her head. Her arms were crossed. Her pink hair which was usually tied was let down today, just above her shoulders they ended. Above her traditional clothing stood an apron dirtied by flour other ingredients. She seemed tired.

      It must be, though Killua. It must be tiring to always feel the pain of your skin burning. It was already hard to bear the torturous treatment on the Dark Isle but also being able to reflect you own image in the real world? Now that took skill and patience. Killua had always respected Machi. She was such a badass, Killua loved it. He saw her sitting down too as he opened the box even more, letting her take a donut, something he let other people do rarely.

     "Palm called. She said that he is Retz's cousin, half cousin. But still cousin." Machi was interested now. The Cracker family never married someone out of their own little world so this exception had to be little Matilda's son.

     "And?" She asked, trying to make Killua stop stuffing food into his mouth and keep talking.

    "And she said he is hot." He said and licked his fingers clean with a 'pop' sound as he could feel the deadly aura of Machi, that was definitely not what she actually asked.

    "Palm said Pika thinks he may be the next Alice." Now that, was valid information. Something to go with but the little witty Cheshire Cat was the last person to be trusted blindly. Actually, there was a ninety percent chance of him lying. Or maybe could be doing a double bluff, what he would do could not be known or labeled. He was... weirdly madder than the others, in his own ways.

    "I swear to god if you are fucking with me-" Machi said as she imagined the faces of the troupe when they learned this. She had to be sure though, if this was true they hade an advantage towards the Alice family line, an advantage to win.

    "I'm not." Killua said carelessly as Machi suddenly disappeared, off to the Dark Isle. Killua smiled to himself, a genuine smile, as he closed the package of sweets and held it in his hand tightly. He opened the door of the bakery as the bell rang, Killua walked outside. He took his skateboard not being able to skate since he has to go up a  mountain.

     After a long walk he was finally inside the Zoldyck estate, climbing up the tree to his room's window. The window was open just as he left it and he jumped in, bouncing on his bed. Suddenly he heard a sound just outside his door as a silhouette stopped in front of his door. The door creaked open and there stood Gotoh, looking at him with disappointment and dissatisfaction in his eyes.

     "Welcome back, Master Killua. May I ask where you have been?"

      Well, what to say now?