It's Nerf or Nothing

[12] Dying In Xxtyle II

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for," Palm declares, skimming her eyes over the crowd for approval of the soon-to-be-announced winner. She continues, feigning a professional smile. "Drum roll please," Palm says, trying to put on a demanding endeavor but failing miserably.

The crowd is silent besides someone letting out a strained cough with a little shuffle and Killua swore he heard crickets.

Palm turns her head to the side to glare at Ikalgo who responds with an awkward look of realization, comprehending what Palm was referring to. He shoves his right hand into the pocket of his cargo pants and pulls out his cracked phone, sunlight reflecting off towards his dark eyes in an unpleasant manner.

Ikalgo blinks owlishly, in an attempt of getting rid of the burning sensation in his eyes. He tries to enter his password, tapping vigorously on the number pad of his screen but fails because of his inability to see with the sun in his eyes. His phone lags, forcing him to wait a couple more seconds before he's able to enter his password again.

Well, what is he able to do with his old hand-me-down iPhone 6? Remove his cracked screen protector? Nope, he never bothered to put one on. Use Face ID? Only if he wasn't a broke-ass-bitch.

To his relief, his phone finally unlocks, and at this point, the entire crowd's eyes are laid upon him. He finds the uncomfortable urge to let out an awkward laugh to break the silence but he knows the quicker he does this, the faster Palm will announce the winner; all because Palm is the embodiment of pettiness.

At last, Ikalgo finds the audio recording, tapping on the play button and putting his phone to full volume.

Faint sounds of drums fill the quiet vicinity and Palm gives a look of relief before adjusting herself, and for the first time, Gon felt a sense of second-hand embarrassment.

Palm smiles, "And the winner is... Gon." She rolls her shoulders back, making her stand up straight before skimming the crowd for their reactions.

Killua, who has a mix of shock and denial on his face grits his teeth. "What? Is this some sort of joke?" Killua sneers, blue eyes darkening.

"Well, Gon here, redeemed himself by shooting 5 people during the last 7 minutes including the 5 minutes he had to wait in the main room. That allowed him to become a Challenger again, and of course, he shot them all with the 5 bullets he was given."

"You never said I couldn't use the bullets more than once," Gon shrugs, a lilt of supercilious in his voice.

Killua looks at him like Gon's tactics are inconceivable. "So, he did that in fucking--what? 2 minutes without getting shot? Yeah, sounds like bullshit," Killua hisses in utter terror, finding it unfathomable that he lost the bet he had no doubt in winning. He shifts his eyes to Gon who happens to be sporting a wide grin.

"What can I say? I'm badass," Gon beams, grin growing even wider in which Killua did not think was even possible.

Killua then realizes Gon was simply mocking him because Killua has said the same exact line when they started their game programming project, and at that moment, Killua felt a sense of regret.

He regrets buying Gon that stupidly-cool Fortnite Nerf gun.

He regrets letting Gon into his house.

And most of all, he regrets finding the proud grin on Gon's face endearing.

Ultimately, he was knocked out of his trance by a clueless Ikalgo inconspicuously pointing to the same blonde woman he shot in the boob with his Nerf gun.

"You think I can score her? Ergo... get her number?" Ikalgo questions with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Well, in a way he has scored.

"If she's into guys who look like Bob Ross," Killua scoffs, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"Dude! You know Bob Ross is just a white dude with an afro, right?" Ikalgo looks at Killua questionably.

Killua pauses in thought, soaking in his newly-learned information.

"Deadass?" Killua questions with a look of denial.

"Deadass."