Chapter Text
Killua… Killua was right in front of him. His corpse… the corpse of his friend. The friend he couldn’t protect… He was right there…
„Leorio! “Gon’s voice made Leorio snap out of his thoughts…
Right... considering the situation he had no time to grieve.
“Y-Yeah…”
His voice was still slightly shaky from seeing Killua’s corpse. Gon noticed something was off but didn’t question it, Leorio is probably feeling crushed under the heavy weight. It took Gon a few seconds to pull him out, but he was still successful. Leorio was still a little disturbed by Killua’s corpse.
“Thanks, Gon...“
“Your welcome! Now let’s get Kurapika! I hope he’s ok…”
Leorio didn’t answer, his voice was too weak to form any words, so he just kept silent. Suddenly Gon collapsed. Leorio still managed to catch him, before he fell to the ground. He wanted to say something, ask him if he was alright, but he couldn’t.
“Oh yeah, can you carry Killua for me? I know you might get infected by his virus, but I’ve used up all my Nen trying to locate you.”, Gon said panting.
Leorio almost let go of him. Does he have to… carry Killua…? He got a few flashbacks of Killua’s face, of his dead gaze, it was clear, in the same colors, as if he was looking at his face right at that moment. He had wished that he would never need to see him again, but deep inside he knew that that was impossible. That he had to start to think realistically. But maybe there was a way to avoid him…? Leorio refused to believe the truth. Maybe he should just tell Gon that his best friend… no, he didn’t know how he would react, he didn’t even want to know. Then he realized something. Why not leave Killua there? He is dead anyway, so why should they bring him?
“Let’s just leave him here, what could happen?”, Leorio mumbled out loud without noticing.
It took him some seconds to realize what he had done. But it was too late. Gon flinched. He managed to stand up on his own, even if he staggered a bit.
“Did you just say you want to leave Killua behind? Do you want to abandon a friend?”
“No I-I didn’t mean it like that, I- “, Leorio tried to explain it, but how should he do that, without telling him about his death?
“Leorio, this isn’t like you. You never let a friend behind”
“Gon, no, you got the wrong idea, it’s not- it’s not like that- “
“If you really don’t want to do it, then I will carry him.”
At first Leorio was relieved. He could just let Gon do it, then he didn’t have to have any contact with his corpse. Is this an opportunity to finally escape from the fact that Killua is dead…?
Leorio raised his arm and slapped himself in the face.
“Stop thinking so selfishly. Pull yourself together!”, he thought to himself.
When Gon would carry Killua, he might notice that he is dead. For some reason Leorio had a feeling that that would cause more casualties than Killua. He might be one of them...
Gon almost reached Killua. It was now or never. Leorio took a deep breath and gathered all his courage. Right before Gon knelt to carry Killua, he ran to him and grabbed his arm. The boy stopped abruptly and moved his head toward Leorio, confused about what his friend was doing.
“Gon, I will do it. Sorry for being so selfish before. I- I should have never thought like that”, Leorio said, now slightly calmer hoping Gon won’t catch onto what he’s doing. Luckily Gon didn’t seem that suspicious and seemed rather relieved, thinking Leorio was just stressed about the whole situation. He moved aside without hesitation so Leorio could pick up Killua.
Now Leorio will have to come face to face with Killua. Again…
There are his lifeless eyes staring at him again. Is he actually able to pull it off? Carrying the corpse of his friend? Doesn’t matter if he can or not, he had no choice either way in this matter.
Slowly Leorio approached Killua trying to keep up his calm act, but his fingers were slightly trembling. Does he have to carry Killua? Should he just tell Gon? No. He can’t know, at least not now.
Leorio reached out his arms to pick him up but the moment he came into contact with him he was reminded of how he wasn’t able to save one of his dearest friends.
“I’m sorry, Killua.”, he thought to himself before gently picking him up.
Leorio immediately felt his cold and numb skin. He remembered the first time he had seen Killua’s corpse. He remembered how horrible it had felt, when he had carried him on his back, physically and mentally. Leorio had hopes that he had got used to it. He didn’t. And it was even worse this time. Killua was light. Too light. Leorio could feel his bones, it was as if he carried a skeleton full of holes. Gently he put the corpse’s arms over his shoulder. They were just hanging there, swinging around due to Leorio’s trembling. Killua’s face was next to his. Leorio didn’t dare to look to the right. He didn’t want to look at those eyes again. But he felt it. He felt and he knew that Killua’s head was lying on his shoulder, so light yet so heavy in Leorio’s mind.
“Look out!”
Gon pushed Leorio to the side, before a robot jumped down right at the spot where he stood. He fell and slid some centimeters across the room. He had been so carried away because of Killua that he had forgotten about the robots. Now he was wide awake. Slowly Leorio stood up, still carrying Killua and looked around. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. The whole room was in ruins; shattered furniture lay everywhere and even blocked the door. The floor and walls were full of cracks and holes, and glass shards filled the entire floor. Robots swarmed the room and Leorio swore that there were fewer before. However, that wasn’t his biggest concern. When he looked at the wall next to him, he gasped for air. Kurapika was defending himself from several enemies, but he was staggering while standing and Leorio knew that he always got weaker. He was barely swinging his arms and always fell. The robots, however, didn’t show any mercy. They just kept coming and attacking, surrounding Kurapika and making it a hopeless fight. His body was full of wounds, and his clothes were soaked in blood. Leorio was about to go and help him, but then he saw Gon. He was kneeling on the floor and pressing his hand on his shoulder. Blood was pouring out of it. Leorio froze. Wait, wasn’t that the spot where he was? Did Gon push him away, but sacrifice himself for Leorio’s safety? The wound was very deep and the boy kept grunting in pain. Some robots were approaching him from all directions.
“Gon!”, Leorio shouted and was about to run towards him.
But then he looked back to Kurapika. He was now lying on the ground crawling backwards, facing the robots above him. They slowly approached him, knowing that victory was secured for them. Kurapika could only go backwards, but he would soon hit the wall. Then there would be no more escape. Leorio looked to Gon. He was still helplessly sitting there, unable to move. The robots were also coming towards him. Leorio looked back and forth to Kurapika and Gon. What should he do? Did he have time to save them both? Unlike Kurapika and Gon he couldn’t use Nen, he never had someone to teach him. Despite that he still somehow had to help his friends. But how? Without further thought Leorio ran towards Gon, running purely on adrenaline. When he reached Gon he grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar and put him over his shoulder. By the time Gon realized he was on Leorio’s shoulder he was already running towards Kurapika. Kurapika had already reached the end. He pressed himself against the wall, while the bots were moving slowly. A drop of sweat ran down his face, he had already lost his weapons.
“This is the end”, Kurapika mumbled.
The enemies have reached him. They raised their tong-like hands, which immediately transformed to spikes. One of them pointed its hand to Kurapika’s neck, while the other ones prepared for an attack. He was trembling and his clothes were soaked in sweat and stuck to his body. Was he going to… die?
But then he realized something. When he would die… does that mean he could see Killua? Killua was probably all alone there and he would surely be happy about some company. Kurapika relaxed a bit. That eased his mind. He knew that a robot was swinging his hand towards his neck, but he couldn’t care less. He even smiled. Finally, Killua isn’t lonely anymore…
“Outta the way!”
Leorio’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Just when a spike touched Kurapika’s neck, Leorio was only some centimeters away. With Gon on one and Killua on the other shoulder Leorio kicked a robot so hard, that its “head” fell off and rolled to Kurapika’s feet.
“L-Leorio!”, he stuttered surprised.
Now the attention of all the bots were laying on Leorio, also the ones who were trying to kill Gon before. Kurapika took this chance to crawl some meters away.
“Kurapika, can you walk?”, Leorio asked him, without taking his eyes off the bots.
“Yes”
“Good, because I have a plan. You won’t like it, though.”
“Just say it, we don’t have any other option”, Kurapika had to shout a bit, because the robots started to make a weird noise.
Leorio took a deep breath, before continuing. Was it really worth it? He knew that it was a dangerous idea and that they could die in the process…
“Well, since the door is blocked, we are going to run to the window and jump.”
It took some seconds for Kurapika to digest the information. They were on the sixth floor, jumping down from that height would be suicide. There was no way they would survive that. However, was there a way to survive staying in the room? Kurapika and Gon were badly injured and Leorio had no fighting experience and had to carry Killua. The room was swarmed by enemies. No chance of surviving. Kurapika sighed. He couldn’t think of something better.
“Understood”, he replied shortly.
Leorio didn’t know if he should be relieved or frightened. He knew that the plan probably meant certain death. But was there another option?
“On my sign”, Leorio commanded.
He looked around, waiting for the perfect timing. Why weren’t the robots attacking? They were just standing there staring at the three friends (?). Leorio was sure that they were very aggressive before. But they didn’t move an inch. And that sound they were making… What was that? It sounded like something ticking… like a clock, a timer or…
“A bomb!”, Kurapika shouted, “They have a bomb!”
Wait a bomb? What are they gonna do now? Are they even gonna make it out alive? No. They have to make it out alive, but how? If only that bastard Milluki would have never existed in the first place they wouldn’t have been in this situation…
Leorio looked to Kurapika, then to the window. He wasn’t far away. Again, Leorio took a deep breath.
“Kurapika, now!”, he shouted across the room.
Immediately the two of them ran to the window. The robots still didn’t move; they were probably too busy preparing the bomb. They climbed over furniture, dodged standing bots and jumped over cracks and holes. It wasn’t easy, but determination wouldn’t let them look back or stop. At some point they both arrived at the window. Leorio looked down. The bottom was so far, all the people and cars looked so small. But there was no turning back anymore. He quickly opened it widely and a strong wind blew into the room. At first, they both hesitated. But when they heard the ticking of the robots getting louder, Kurapika climbed to the window… and jumped. Leorio had to follow him, even though he was shivering. While carrying Gon and Killua he did the same as Kurapika and jumped. At that moment the room exploded.