SOUR CANDY | killua z. ✔

46 | undo

tw: slight emotional manipulation

THE NOTE came as a folded paper crane, gossamer and pink. Sen's name was written on the tail in her mother's neat characters.

It was another summons, which meant she couldn't go to the Southernpiece with Gon and Killua. In another reality, Sen would've ditched the woman without a second thought. In this reality, her mother was a centuries-old creature who might kill Sen's siblings out of spite.

"Make sure Kurapika eats these when they're, like, you know. Conscious," Sen handed Leorio a napkin with portioned gummy vitamins.

After the hostage exchange last night, Kurapika passed out and developed a stress fever. Lying under the pale sheets, they looked like a sweating, breathing corpse. 

"Sure thing," Leorio gave her a head-pat.

He was an adult and going into pre-med. He probably knew of better remedies and was humoring her. 

"Do me a favor and make sure the boys aren't tearing up the place, will you, girlie?"

"Sure thing," Sen grinned.

She found Killua swearing lowly as he struggled with a clip-on bowtie.

"Really?" She snickered. "You don't even have to tie it."

He glared at her. "Shut it, woman. You're leaving me dateless."

Sen said nothing and slid into his personal space. Killua sputtered and went red from the proximity, but didn't move away. She was at eye level with his nose.

Sen suppressed a laugh at the mess her boy managed to make of his clip-on. She straightened the collar of his dress shirt and smoothed the button line near his neck before slipping the bowtie in place. She fastened it. 

Killua wasn't breathing, which was a bit concerning.

"I'm done," she took a step back. "You can breathe now."

He tried to exhale subtly. It didn't work.

It was funny, watching him vacillate between assertiveness and shyness around her.

Killua shifted in place. "You sure you can't come?"

"It's my mom and brother," said Sen. "I have to go."

Kotaro finished his 'errand'— of which she was still ignorant— early, so their return trip to Jappon was going to be sooner than planned. However, their mother slipped them the paper cranes before they could make a run for the airport.

"Do you want to go?" Killua raised an eyebrow.

"I want to see my brother."

"But not your mother."

Sen fiddled with the end of her ponytail.

Telling her friends (and boyfriend) that her anonymous kidnapper was her mother, and that she'd gone to meet her the other night, went about as well as she'd expected. Leorio and Killua, predictably, berated her. Kurapika, feverish, snored through the whole thing.

The odd one out was Gon, who had remained silent.

"My brother'll keep me safe," Sen told Killua.

He'd called Sen an hour before and assured her that he would handle most of the talking. Your job is to sit and eat food, Kotaro said. Eat food. She could do that.

Killua sighed. "Just... be safe, okay? You're gonna give me gray hairs."

"But," she glanced at his hair. "Your hair is already—"