Chapter Text
High schoolers are stupid, Killua thinks to himself with a scowl. High schoolers are stupid, and that’s not even a lie his mother or Illumi made up to keep him locked up in their stuffy mansion and under their claws for the past ten years. No, high schoolers are just naturally stupid, plain and simple, and the proof is right in front of his very two eyes.
“Wanna try, Killua?” Gon asks, breathless and grinning despite being tossed to the dirt less than thirty seconds ago.
Killua tears his gaze away from Gon’s bright face to the open field in front of him. A crowd of students are scattered around in an uneven circle, all cheering loudly as a boy and girl take their places on opposite sides of the ring. The boy is stretching his legs, the girl already squatting low with her palms pressed flat against the grass.
“I’d need to know what the hell is even going on before I agree to anything,” Killua says, exasperated, and Gon’s grin only grows. “Why are you all hurling yourselves at each other like that?! You’re lucky you didn’t get your front two teeth knocked out!”
Gon laughs. “Don’t be silly, Killua! It’d be impossible to hit each other.”
Killua raises an eyebrow at him. He knows Gon isn’t the smartest kid in their grade but really? “How’d you figure that out? Physics work the same for everyone, Gon.”
Those golden eyes are shinning with mirth now. “Physics doesn’t work when it comes to people who aren’t soulmates, Ki-llu-a."
Killua’s jaw drops. “Oh.”
He feels his cheeks warm in embarrassment at the realization- how could he have forgotten something so obvious- but Gon doesn’t mention his mistake. The sun-kissed teen just rocks on his heels as a warm breeze sweeps around them, humming in confirmation what Killua already knows. “Mhm.”
They don’t say anything for a while after that. The crowd of students start to countdown for ten, both the boy and girl from earlier in their places now. They take off at a sprint when the countdown hits zero and fly towards at each other at a break-neck speed.
They make it until they’re about a foot apart. And then—
BANG!
The crowd shrieks as the boy and girl go flying back towards the directions they came. Laughter erupts in all directions, followed closely by cheers, and then Gon turns to Killua.
“So?” he says, all excitement and adrenaline-flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. “Wanna try it out?”
Killua’s heart stutters, then kicks into overdrive. “I, uh…”
What should he say? If he goes along with this, what will it prove? What if they’re repelled from each other like everyone else, and the connection Killua’s felt for the past year since the day he met Gon was all made up in his head? What if they weren’t repelled? What would that mean?!
Just thinking about it makes Killua’s head spin in dizzy circles. But that’s nothing new—Gon did that to him just about every day.
Gon’s expression sharpens and narrows, his lips twisting into a smirk. “What’s wrong, huh? You scared?”
And just like that, Killua’s hesitance evaporates.
“Shut up and get to the other side of the circle before I toss you over there myself,” he snaps and stomps away. He can hear Gon’s startled laughter behind him and ignores the rush of heat through his body.
He’s just going to do this and be done with it. No big deal. If everyone else could do it, so could Killua. The fact that Gon was the person he was running to shouldn’t make a difference.
Killua pushes his way past the rows of students until he breaks through to the center of the circle. He can see Gon on the opposite side, still smiling that idiotic smile. His friend waves and Killua sticks up his middle finger in response, making Gon double over in laughter once more.
“TEN!”
Killua jolts. Shit. They're starting already?
“NINE! EIGHT—”
Killua curses under his breath. He rolls his shoulders, drops the jacket tied around his waist and lowers himself into a starting position.
“—SIX—”
He watches Gon do a few quick stretches before jumping down to mirror Killua. He grins at Killua and Killua narrows his eyes. Gon better be ready to run like his life depends on it, because there is no way in hell Killua is holding back.
“—THREE!”
Energy rushes through Killua’s limbs.
”TWO! ONE!”
Blue locks on gold. Then—
“ZEROOOOO!”
Killua takes off. Wind tears at his hair and the ground flies under his feet. He can’t even feel the impact of his sneakers hitting the dirt he’s moving so fast. All he can see is Gon’s blurry outline zooming towards him at the speed of light.
Killua squeezes his eyes shut and readies himself for the repel.
BANG!
Pain explodes in Killua’s nose and forehead. He crashes to the ground, head slamming against the hard surface with enough force for him to see stars. The sharp, iron taste of blood is in his mouth and his ears ring. Everything hurts and Killua is gasping for air—he didn’t expect pain to be involved with the repel, why is this happening, what—
His vision focuses and then he stops breathing at all.
Because Gon is on the ground with him, not even a foot away. His tan skin is smeared with scarlet blood oozing from his nose and his golden eyes are blown wide in shock. A bruise is already forming between his eyes and Killua’s heart stops.
Gon isn’t on the other side of the circle.
Gon hadn’t been thrown away from Killua like all the other kids who weren’t soulmates had been.
Gon is hurt, like Killua is hurt, because they had run at each other, expecting to be repelled but they weren’t, they hadn’t, they had collided into each other head first, and that could only mean…
Killua whispers between barely moving lips, “Holy shit.”