Linked [killua x reader]

five | life and death

"I can't," you panted with exhaustion, a drop of blood flowing from the wound on your head, "there's just too many of them. I need-need to recharge or else I won't be able to-"

You let out a gasp at the sudden sting you felt from your father's hand striking against your cheek. Your eyes trailed to the litter of wounded men laying around you in the concrete of your cell. Their chests rose and fell unevenly, some of them whimpered and groaned in pain.

"You're weak," he spat at you, "just like your mother. That stupid bitch didn't train you hard enough."

His hand clenched around your neck and lifted you from the floor, "It's time for you to toughen up, rat. Are you really going to let all of these people die when you have the power to heal them? Your mother would be so disappointed in the waste of space you've become."

Your dirty hands clawed at the hands squeezing your neck as you desperately gasped for air. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes as you thrashed in his grasp.

His (e/c) eyes bore into yours, "You're pathetic. You're lucky you have me. Without me, you would be nothing. You need me to survive. Nobody would stay with a weakling like you, (Y/N),"

I can't breathe.

"(Y/N)..."

I can't breathe.

"(Y/N)!"

Your eyes shot open to meet a pair of sleepy royal blue ones looking down into yours with concern. His pale hands were gripping your shoulders hard and his snowy hair laid disheveled on his forehead. He appeared to be shirtless. Tears still rimmed your eyes as you squinted to focus your vision.

"Killua?"

The boy flushed a little at your closeness before letting go of your shoulders and sitting back on his mat and looking away from you, "You were sobbing in your sleep."

Damn. Nightmares like this weren't something new to you, but you hoped that you wouldn't have a bad one while you were with Gon and Killua. You blinked at him before rubbing the tears away from your eyes and sitting up, "I'm sorry, I had a nightmare. Did I wake you?"

He shook his head, "No, I was awake. But I figured I should wake you before you woke up Gon or Alluka."

"Right, of course," your eyes trailed across his pale, toned chest and over his collarbone where his soulmate mark was neatly stamped.

A moment of heavy silence floated between the two of you. An unspoken understanding lingered in the air. Killua knew what it was like to have nightmares. He knew that what happened in nightmares lingered like a poison in your mind every day. He decided against asking you about yours for now.

The moonlight shimmered through the window of Gon's room and bathed the two of you in a silver glow.

"Hey, Killua?" You whispered.

"What?"

"Can I...look at your soulmate mark?"

He looked at you curiously while furrowing his eyebrows, "W-Why do you want to look at it? You can see it from there."

You shrugged and looked down at your mat while playing with your fingers, "I don't know. I just want to look at it. For my whole life, I've always seen my own in the mirror, I guess I've been wondering what... you've been looking at all of this time."

He sighed in agitation before whispering back, "Fine."

You used your knees to crawl forward and sit directly in front of him on his mat. You leaned forward to get a better look at his right collarbone. His blue irises shimmered in the moonlight as he watched you read the mark slowly in your head.