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The Dark Continent by Xxylo7
Hunter X Hunter & Jujutsu Kaisen Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure & Suspense, Killua Z., Megumi F., Sukuna R., Gojo S., Words: 42k+, Favs: 282, Follows: 344, Published: Feb 14, 2024 Updated: Aug 13, 2024
42Chapter four: Thousand More
Chapter four: Thousand More
"Rare technique, huh?" Killua muses, glancing towards Gojo thoughtfully. He squints as the man only continues to smile widely at him, despite seeming a bit uncertain under Killua's judgemental gaze all of a sudden. Killau doesn't buy the whole bashful act for a second and only squints harder.
It's an interesting premise, even if Killua doesn't really understand it, or fully believe it. To be able to heal somebody by turning this negative energy, the cursed energy, into positive energy.
But from what they've been trying to tell him, it's a 'rare' technique, or at least that's what they want Killua to believe, like for instance, so that they could then try to explain to him that it is a technique that can only be inherited through certain bloodlines, or something.
His knowledge on cursed energy is entirely lacking, so he'll just have to take their word for it, for the moment, and frustratingly enough, they seemed to understand that fact too. Otherwise they never would try to play off what they try to do next, unless these two really are just walking around without brains in their skulls, or they just thought Killua was the one walking around without a brain.
"Well then, onto other, positive news-" Gojo claps his hands together, the corner of his upturned lips twitching, "Or, I guess, negative, depending how you're looking at it, Killua- but I, for one, am trying to remain positive-!"
"We took the liberty of performing a DNA test while you were unconscious, Killua." Ieiri-san seems to be trying to convey some obvious point to Killua as she cuts off Gojo's unhelpful spiel, staring down at him as if the weight of the world was suddenly being foisted upon his young shoulders. "It came back as a one-hundred percent definite. Meaning-"
"Meaning…!" Gojo does a little drumroll with his fingers in the air before flashing his hands out next to his shoulders with pizzazz, smiling so wildly down at Killua, he looks a bit manic. "You are one-hundred percent-oh a Go-Jo! Come, now, Killua, there is no need to be shy, come give your papa a hug!"
Killua only stares at Gojo's outstretched, beckoning arms blankly. Then he snorts. And then he bursts out in ratious laughter.
Okay, okay… I really am dealing with a couple of complete morons. Killua clutches at his sides, and okay he'll give them this one, that was an entertaining performance. Killua hasn't laughed this hard for a while, since he was with Gon, really, and it's kind of nice to let go of all the tension, even if it's just for a moment. Oh man, I can't wait to tell Gon about all this crap! Seriously.
Killua peels off into humored giggles as he peeks back up at the two trying to convince him of this little scheme. Why, Killua still has no idea, perhaps it has something to do with his nen or something, but like hell was it going to work, because Killua does in fact have a damn brain.
They are really serious about trying to pull this bullshit off huh? This is going to get tedious.
Gojo seems a bit put off by his reaction, his arms lowering from trying to lure Killua into an embrace, but there is a small smile tugging at the corner of the man's mouth, and that kind of pisses Killua off. Either Gojo thinks their stupid plan is actually working or he also understands Killua hadn't believed a single word.
Ieiri-san looks like there is an argument brewing in her mind, her narrowed eyes shifting between the both of them as she chain-smokes through her new cigarette with aggression, seemingly entirely unimpressed, and a bit annoyed herself with the situation.
Killua sobers up completely with a short sigh, regarding the two through a lidded gaze, entirely judgmental. The humor has sapped out of him by this point, leaving behind an emptiness in its replacement.
He feels a bit hopeless, and more alone than he's felt since he arrived in Tokyo.
Cursed energy is constantly roving and probing, making a home for itself in his system and he ignores it, Killua is trying to ignore it just like he's ignoring the voice in his head reminding him of The Thousand More.
"And?" His leveled response catches their attention, or at least it hadn't been what they were expecting to hear, heads turning to stare at him simultaneously, surprised. Surprised he was finally going to go along with them, or for some other reason, he doesn't really care.
Killua really wouldn't mind if they both just hurried up and got to the point already.
When neither seem to have a response, Killua rolls his eyes. "So what? Is this supposed to mean something to me?"
Finally, Gojo smiles passively, sharing another not-so subtle glance with his accomplice. "Remember what I was telling you before Killua? You know, that thing about a whole lotta' people wanting to remove your little chibi self from the gene pool? I wasn't exaggerating, unfortunately for you. But fortunately for you, you have your good old pops, the strongest, to protect you now! Isn't it just amazing! Aren't you just the luckiest little guy around?"
"You, 'The strongest?'" Killua raises a disbelieving brow, his slightly unsettled gaze skipping over the man's casual looking form again, but even Killua cannot deny his instinctive reactions to Gojo and the energy surrounding him, the primal acknowledgement of his lizard brain when he had met Gojo's pin-pricked eyes back out on the street. How two fingers had crossed next to his shoulders, as if making a wish. Lights out. A kill shot.
Gojo clutches at his chest with a wheeze as if he had just intercepted a blow, and this time Killua does roll his eyes at the theatrics. "You wound me, Killua!"
Ieiri-san gives Killua one more, passive look before she tosses her finished cigarette out the window. The woman spins on her heel and walks towards the closed door, hands shoved back into her lab coat pockets.
"Looks like my job's all done here." She waves a hand flippantly over her shoulder as she opens the door for herself, disappearing around the corner without a glance back. "See you around, brat. Don't call me for a while, Satoru."
The door clicks shut behind the woman and Killua turns his full attention back onto Gojo, who grins widely down at him, baring his teeth. "Hey, hey hey hey hey, I have an Idea! How about I give you the grand tour, Killua? Show you the ropes of your new home, yeah?"
"'My new home?' What, you expect me to live here?" Killua frowns deeply at this bit of information, sitting up straighter on the bed as he crosses his arms. "Here. In a lame ass highschool… With you?"
Gojo pouts at his less than enthusiastic response. "Awh, don't be like that Killua, it's really not so bad here! You'll warm up to the place in no time, trust me. In fact, I already have the perfect room for you in mind."
Without waiting for a response, Gojo spins on his heel with a burst of pep and a hum in his tone, and Killua watches with some intrigue as the door slides open on its own for the man. Gojo's hands had been shoved into the pockets of his jacket, he couldn't have opened it on his own. Just how many abilities does Gojo have, exactly?
The seemingly never ending stream of unknowns is keeping Killua on edge, he'll need to find a way to get some leverage, and soon, otherwise he really is going to be trapped here with these morons for however long they decide they need him.
Gojo leans his head back into the open doorway as he notices Killua hadn't moved to follow, lost in his thoughts on the bed. "C'mon, c'mon c'mon c'moooon! Let's go! Unless, don't tell me…"
The man tilts his head, tone shifting into something much more vivacious as he pulls the edge of his mask down to stare at Killua with one, almost fluorescent blue eye. "You scared, Killua?"
Killua can feel his brow twitch violently, glaring at the satisfied looking man as he hops off from the bed and moves to follow. "You're really annoying, you know that?"
"So I've been told, once or twice before." Gojo snickers, disappearing again around the bend of the door and Killua sighs as he follows him out into the hall. By the looks of it, this curse school is a rather traditionally built building, it looks like the kind of place Wing-sensei would make his dojo or something. The most notable thing out here however…
Killua glances at Gojo suspiciously, the man humming as he continues his trek down the barren hallway. "Hey, I thought you said this place was supposed to be a school of some sort, where are all the students?"
"They all died!" Gojo responds cheerily, practically skipping next to him, like he didn't just admit to being the worst teacher in existence.
Eh? Killua doubles a look towards the man, blinking, but Gojo merely laughs him off, waving out a hand as he coos at Killua in a matronly manner. "But, the school year will be starting in just under a month, after all, and I already have some potential prospects in mind. You won't be so lonely forever, Killua, I promise. Ah, this is all so exciting! Aren't you excited? C'mon, tell your papa all about how excited you are, Killua!"
Killua is starting to think he may have been better off jumping out that window when he first woke up.
"They all died, huh?" Thousands… Huh? "I thought you were supposed to be 'the strongest?'" Killua asks a bit skeptically, a bit mocking as he looks away from staring at the school's landscape through the windows and towards Gojo instead. Killua's almost entirely over the man's weirdo, near boastful behavior, debating the merits of attempting an escape the first chance he is given. There's clearly a couple screws loose up in that empty, over-powered head of his. I guess all of your students dying could do that to a person.
Gojo doesn't seem to have any response for that, silently walking next to him down the hall for a few paces. Just when Killua is beginning to appreciate the silence, Gojo laughs lightly, almost too airy to be genuine. "Mah. I can't be everywhere at once, ne? Besides, this year's class is going to be different, Killua, I can feel it."
Tch. I can feel how annoying this façade is already going to be. Killua suppresses a heavy sigh, rubbing his thumb on his yoyo in his pocket absently as they walk further and further into the maze of the apparently studentless highschool. This blows. I wish Gon was here. I wish I knew where the hell I am.
I wish… I was back at Taikyoku.
Killua seems to be wishing for a lot of things he can't have lately. Like some peace of mind, for example. Alluka's missing. Gon is off traveling the world, becoming a full fledged beast hunter. Leorio is off on a sabbatical on Whale Island, performing as a physician for the island people, and Kurapika was still off chasing the remainder of the Phantom Troupe across the continent, hellbent on his path of vengeance for the massacre of the Kurta clan.
And here Killua is, all on his own, stranded in some foreign land, on what he suspects to be an entirely different continent populated with a bunch of curses and assholes that can see curses. Monsters of disgusting likeness, creatures that are somehow even more repulsive than the cinemera ants. Then someone like Killua.
There may be an absence of a Hunter's society, but it seems there has been a parallel created on this continent, a sorcerer's society. A cursed society. He can't help but be curious whether his parents ever knew about such a thing, if the Phantom Troupe knew about such a society, if Hisoka did. That stupid clown is always hiding some card up his sleeve, it wouldn't be that far of a stretch in Killua's mind, that a freak like Hisoka could see curses. A freak- no, a monster like me, too, apparently.
A thousand more, just the same… Killua can just imagine the look that would have overtaken Illumi's face if he had seen Killua earlier in the day, his killing intent reaching unprecedented levels, the boil of a filthy, nasty curse upheaving every negative emotion Killua's ever bottled inside.
How his nen had crackled with overwhelming purpose. How thousands more could have, would have been slaughtered under the thumb of his rage. The Hate that holds onto him.
How Killua would have moved on without so much as a blink.
He can only imagine the absolute joy his brother would have had, as he helped guide Killua's curse flaming claw straight into Gojo's chest, and then the rest of Tokyo.
Good, Kill, very good. Kill them, kill them all.
A thousand more, huh? Little brother? Innocent men, women and children? I am so proud of you, Kill. Kill them.
A Thousand More. Thousands…
Kill kill kill kill kill kill-
Killua shakes his thoughts away with a scowl, glancing towards Gojo only to see the man already observing him, a plain smile on his face, like the man couldn't quite seem to stop.
Killua glares at that and Gojo huffs a laugh, focusing back on the path ahead of them. "What brought you to a brothel in the first place anyway Killua? I will admit I am a little curious how such a sweet, little boy like my son ended up in the red light district, with a bunch of beautiful women at that!"
Killua glances at the man again, at his nonchalant, yet brimming curiosity, before shrugging. Well, my sister, who I am beginning to suspect is cursed, sent me here with a wish to stop our homicidal brother from turning me into a mindless killing slave. Again.
"I ran away from home." Killua responds vaguely, shrugging. Like hell he would tell Gojo the real reason he was wandering the streets of the red light district, in Tokyo, Japan. Though, the man's reaction would probably be a little amusing.
I wonder, would he still smile so, if he knew just how many people I've murdered? That I can't even remember how many? That I don't even care, either.
(A Thousand More, huh?)
"Hmm. And where's that?" Gojo seems to peek at him out of the corner of his eye even though his mask obscurs his vision, his smile having slipped into something more considerate.
Killua shrugs again with an air of flippancy, avoiding looking in the man's general direction. "A mountain."
Interestingly enough Gojo seems to pause at that, lips tipping downward. "A mountain, huh…" The man mutters, seemingly withdrawing into his thoughts momentarily. Killua can't help but raise a brow at the unexpected introspection.
"Yup." Killua pops the word blandly. "Where are you taking me anyway? Some grand tour this is, all you've shown me is some lame hallways."
"Ah, yeah, about that," Gojo laughs a tad sheepishly, pulled from his thoughts, and one of his hands raises to rub at his shaved undercut. "Actually, there's somebody you have to meet before I show you anything else. Surprise!"
Killua hates surprises. He stares at Gojo blandly, irritated. "Who?"
"Why, the principal of course!" Gojo pumps his fist in the air with a little cheer, seemingly wanting to hype Killua up to meet this principal. It doesn't work. "Don't worry, principal Yaga is a good friend of mine, and he will just be thrilled to meet my little offspring! I mean, you're adorable! I expected nothing less from my son! And that nifty little lightning trick of yours," Gojo whistles, seemingly impressed despite the fact Killua had been fully intending to kill the man with said 'nifty little lightning.'
A thousand more, remember? Killua is beginning to wonder if he'll ever be able to forget.
"Talk about a shocking power, eh, eh?"
Killua blanches as he watches Gojo peel off into laughter at his own pathetic joke. That's totally something Gon would have said, in fact, he might already have. And here I thought that idiot was his own special brand of stupid.
"Why do I need to see this principal?" Are they finally going to get to the real reason why they are lying to him? The real reason Killua was even in this stupid school in the first place.
"To get you officially enrolled into Jujutsu High of course! Every new student must first speak with the principal before being enrolled into any classes, it's just protical."
Killua stares at the man blankly, fists clenching at his sides as he follows the whistling man around a bend in the corner, towards a wide set of tall doors that rest at the end of the new corridor. He never agreed to enroll in this stupid school of theirs, just like he never agreed to get teleported to a dark continent. Just like he never asked to have this pool of cursed energy chewing at his resolve, his carefully constructed tact over his bloodlust. His want- His need to kill.
Kill kill kill kill- A needle had whispered between his brows for years, and he had had no choice but to listen. And Killua even enjoyed it, for a little while.
THOUSANDS! Innocent men, women and children have taken their final breath because of him. Killua has stared into the face of death more times than he can even remember, and it had stared directly back.
Who was he even kidding anymore? He'd become a goddamn Blacklist Hunter after all. Chasing down fugitives and murderers alike for hefty bounties, and while he tells himself it's for the Robo-chocolate and to support his sister as they traveled the world, Killua knows the real reason why. The real reason he can't just ignore the words bombarding in his head. Burning at him.
That even though he tells himself he's retired, that he's no longer an assassin, bodies still drop around him like the plague. Only now, the people he kills deserved it a little more than the hits his family used to have him doing before he ran away from home. Before I met Gon, and wanted to be better for him. For myself. For my sister.
Before he finally stood up to his family and decided to show Alluka the world she's been missing out on, the world he was too much of a coward to show her, to show Nanika.
The wide set doors creak open on their own as they approach, the glare of the setting sun cascades along the wooden floorboards along with the growing shadows. It should be night soon.
Killua follows Gojo outside the building, looking curiously at the tall statues, looking remarkably like stone totems, that line the outside pathways, leading in various directions, towards other buildings that almost looked like shrines, or temples of some sort.
Kalluto was always fond of the traditional prayers, as if it were his devotion to them and the ancient practices that helped him to succeed in assassination and not his annoying paper dolls or training. Killua used to make fun of him for it, but Killua still thinks his little hobbies are less embarrassing than Milluki's lame ass manga obsession.
"You do understand that I'm not old enough to be a highschool student, right?"
The glow of the settling sun reflects against the man's white hair like a flame, and Killua absently wonder's if his own looks the same. Gojo smiles slightly, not even glancing in his direction as they continue their pace down the cobbled path.
"Yup." Gojo pops the word in a way reminiscent of how Killua had a few moments previous. "But there's no need to worry about that, let's just say… You're a special case. You are my son after all, the higher ups are probably just going to be disappointed they hadn't been able to enroll you when you were still in diapers."
"Right," Killua agrees skeptically if only to move on from the subject, "And these 'higher ups' of yours, what, exactly, are they supposed to be?"
Gojo smirks, and it's undeniably haughty. He sends a glance towards Killua, the only giveaway being the slight tilt of the man's head in his direction as the strip of fabric is still fastened securely over the man's eyes. "A bunch of old geezers who like to pretend they control jujutsu society, moving around sorcerer's as they please like pieces on a chess board. But do you wanna know the real truth, Killua?"
Gojo goes on to explain anyway without giving Killua a chance to respond. "It's all bullshit." The man sticks out his tongue, his words slurring at the end because of it.
Killua raises his eyebrow, a little underwhelmed, a little intrigued nonetheless. "So what does that make you, The Strongest, if it's all 'bullshit?' The top of the hierarchy? The higher up of the higher ups?" Or a pathological, lying, unstable moron?
Gojo pauses, giving Killua another, slightly prolonged look, belying how impressed the man suddenly seems to be by his question. "You know, you're pretty smart for a ten year old."
The languid reply irks him, and given by the sudden satisfied tilt to Gojo's mouth, the man had clearly done it on purpose. Killua corrects him anyway, his tone agitated. "I'm twelve."
"Semantics. Anywho, here we are!" Gojo removes his hands from his pockets and places them both against the wide set of doors they had stopped beside. Killua has to crane his neck to peer up at the top of them, and without further prompting Gojo shoves them open with a light push.
The doors creek with their age and weight, and Killua squints as the interior of the shrine looking building is revealed bit by bit. Wooden support beams seem to line the edges of the large, darkened room. It would almost be pitch black inside if it weren't for the candles lighting up the way, sitting atop shelves dug into the support beams.
Gojo walks into the shrine without a word and after a moment of hesitation, Killua follows. And then he almost immediately turns around and walks back out the way they had come. Seriously?
"You're late." There, sitting cross-legged on a tatami mat, is a delinquent looking man, surrounded by a bunch of… Stuffed animals?
Killua blankly regards the man and his cute plushies, feeling somewhat like a slab of stone. Ah. So they're all insane. Got it. Because of this revelation, he hardly acknowledges the closing of the doors behind them, as if some invisible force had forced them back shut.
"How many times must I remind you…?" The man pauses in his stabbing of a sewing needle in the head of one of his stuffed animals, and Killua can't help but twitch at the imagery, narrowing his eyes. Killua has already met his quota for needle obsessed freaks in his life, and it's one higher than his preferred amount of none. "You…?"
"Me." Gojo responds, a bit arrogantly as he smirks at the man, the apparent principal of this goddamn school of freaks.
"That's the boy." There is no question in the man's suddenly serious tone, lowering the plush in his grasp as he appears to attempt to stare directly into Killua's soul. "Your son."
"Yup." Gojo replies, seemingly at ease despite the odd circumstance and the principal's seeming growing hostility. "Turns out the report from the window wasn't just a hoax. Shoko did a DNA test and everything. Cool, right?"
A moment of silence stretches between the three of them, wherein Killua easily meets the principal's gaze hidden behind the man's sunglasses, curious how the man will react, and Gojo watches the exchange lazily, like he had nowhere better to be at the moment. What's the deal with sorcerer's and covering their eyes?
"Cool?" The principal finally bites out the word like it's foreign, before the tidal wave crashes upon the shore. "COOL? YOU THINK THIS IS GODDAMN COOL, SATORU? YOU HAVE A SON!"
Killua blinks at the loud outburst, watching the plushie soar across the room in the direction the man had abruptly chucked it. He takes a slight step back, in case this turns physical and he needs to flee, but with one glance towards Gojo's unmoving, smiling form, Killua settles back to his place at the man's side, warily eyeing the two.
"Gojo Killua, at your service." Gojo happily introduces him, and Killua sends a heavy glare in the man's direction at that stupid ass introduction. He wasn't a Gojo, and he never would be, no matter how beneficial it is for Killua to just go along with their dumbass trick for the meantime. As much as Killua despises his family, the name Zoldyck carried weight and power within the world, and he had gotten used to reaping its benefits, and paying for its disadvantages. At least it used to carry weight, before.
The fight seems to drain out of the principal, the man resettling in his spot sitting on the tatami mat. The principal folds his hands together, holding them under his chin and then resting his elbows on his knees as he regards the both of them sternly. "What are you even doing here?"
"Killua is here to enroll." Gojo replies for him, again, and it would probably annoy Killua more if he had any intention of acknowledging the principal's presence. As it were, Killua was thinking about how much he wished this current conversation wasn't even happening.
"Oh, yeah? And why the hell would he want to do that?"
"Hm. Well, about that, hahaha, I didn't exactly give him any choice but that's a good question. Say, Killua, why are you going along with all this? Why are you here?"
Killua looks at the man with shock, his hands dropping from his pockets at his own disbelief. "Is that a serious question? You kidnapped me!"
The accusation doesn't bother the man like Killua thought it would, instead Gojo continues to simply smile at him, awaiting his response. Killua looks back towards the principal, and being met with only a stony-face, also patiently awaiting his response, Killua clenches his hands into fists and glares.
"I'm here because you said I have no choice. Because you said, and I quote, a whole lotta people are going to want to kill me because we look alike. Because you said you would teach me about the curses, and the cursed energy stuff." Because a lot of this curse stuff reminds me of my sister. Because I don't have anywhere else to go. Because even if I did, I probably wouldn't even be able to escape you. "Do I need any other reason?"
"I suppose not," The principal eventually mutters after presumably staring Killua down, however it was a bit difficult to tell given the tinted shades obscuring the man's eyes. "However…"
Killua's eyes widen and the only warning he receives is the slight brush of wind on the nape of his neck before something hard, and heavy whacks across the middle of his back. To avoid another stinging blow, Killua jumps to the side, reminiscent of the time he and Gon had escaped Nobunaga's En by a similar maneuver.
He spins on the spot, and to his surprise, it was the discarded stuffed animal who had managed to sneak up on him. The plushie, no creature, was lime green with a toothy smile, and it was currently hopping back and forth from foot to foot, like a boxer looking for his next opening as it stared at him with its beady, black eyes.
"That's not a good enough reason! At this rate, you'll die before you even see another curse!" The principal bellows, and Killua looks at the man as if he's lost his mind, and given the current circumstance he's not entirely sure why he's surprised the freak is acting like a freak.
"Haaaaah?" Killua exclaims, annoyed, and briefly sends another glance over his shoulder towards the emboldened principal. The plushie creature takes his momentary lapse in attention as an opening and lunges, attempting to strike him with another right hook but Killua easily jumps out of the way this time.
Activating Gyo, now that he's focusing on the thing, he can detect the wafting curse aura that seems to permeate the creature down to its core. Is it running on curse energy, or is it cursed energy? Is it a curse? It feels different from the other curses.
"So you're saying you'll become a sorcerer and fight against curses because someone else told you that you have to?" The principal slowly stands from his spot, hands in his jacket pockets, a uniform similar to Gojo's, as he stares down his nose at Killua without feeling. "You fail."
"Fine! Whatever, I don't need to enroll in your dumbass school anyway!" Killua barks back, glaring between the three faces staring at him contemplatively. "From what I've been hearing, I'd die anyway if I stuck around here with you losers!"
"Good riddance, as far as I'm concerned, you'd make a terrible jujutsu sorcerer." The principal dismisses. "You'd sooner become a curse user at the rate you're going. People like you aren't welcome here at jujutsu high."
"Yaga." Gojo interrupts suddenly, and his lowered, warning tone catches Killua's attention like the highbeam of a lighthouse in the middle of the night. Suddenly, the present conversation gets set on the back burner, it's drawn out of importance. Killua's entire focus abruptly shifts from one threat to the other, the scales tip once more and Killua is once again reminded of the company he has been keeping for the past couple of hours. Gojo Satoru is a monster. The type of man Killua is sure even his grandfather would be wary of turning his back on.
However the principal merely glances towards the other man, as if indifferent to the sheer power Gojo exudes simply by existing.
While cursed energy clings to sorcerers, a mark of their ability to wield cursed energy it seems, it envelops Gojo unlike any other sorcerer Killua has seen. It's a second layer of skin, it hovers around the man like a Ten, but it almost appears as though if Killua were to reach forward, he would be held back, like a barrier. Ken works in a remarkably similar way, but there are reasons why nen users do not have a constant barrier of Ken protecting them, and that is because the expense of aura was simply not feasible. You would run out quickly, and the depletion would leave you worse off than before.
The theory of Gojo using this cursed version of Ken is daunting, it's a clear power scale, it once again defines the man's place in this continent, at least in Tokyo, Japan, at least in this shrine, right now. The Strongest.
Seeming to amend himself at Gojo's shift in attitude, the principal stares down at Killua with levity. "Do you think you can prove it to me then? Prove you have what it takes to become a jujutsu sorcerer- Not because Gojo Satoru said you have to, not because you feel as if you have no other choice, but because it is what you want."
Killua ignores the part of his brain that screams to keep eyes on the threat, and manages a quick, tight glance towards the principal at his almost goading words, as if he didn't believe Killua could actually manage such a feat. Killua could hardly care at this point, the pressure of Gojo's aura settles across the room like a physical weight, however…
There's a specific memory that comes unbidden to Killua's mind. He and Alluka were heading towards Yorknew so he could show her the sights, like Heaven's Arena and the Southernpiece Auction house, not that he would allow her to participate in either, of course, but they were still staples of the city.
The memory of Alluka's face pressed up against the window of the airship as they flew over the city will forever be ingrained in his mind. She had looked so happy, he couldn't help but feel it himself. He remembers vowing then to protect that innocence of hers, that light, he remembers even envying it a little.
With the memories of his sister guiding him, Killua settles, and without warning he launches himself towards the cursed plushie. It's as simple as breathing as he guides 90% of his aura into his fist, a layer of Zetsu keeps the curse energy clawing to be released at bay like a piece of duct tape over a burst pipe, but it still holds.
His nen infused fist connects directly in the center of the plushie's face and the power behind the blow sends the creature hurtling through the air until it smashes its way through the closed doors at the end of the room. The doors burst open and apart into splinters at the force of the plushes impact, its green body propelled like a bullet shot out of a chamber.
Killua turns away from the circle shaped hole burst into the center of the swinging, broken doors, lowering his fist as he turns once again to face the observing principal. With thought's of his sister's innocent smile, he replies. "I know I have what it takes."
Gojo stands just within the edges of his peripheral, his expression out of Killua's current line of sight, and while it buzzes at Killua that he should turn and focus before he dies, the other part of him, the more rational part acknowledges the fact that that was just his primal instincts speaking, that Gojo had proved time and time again that he still had a purpose for Killua at the moment, a reason to keep him alive.
"I see you have the strength," The principal mutters. The man raises his palm out to the side, as if gripping onto a basketball, and Killua watches with slightly widening eyes as all the stuffed animals the man had surrounded himself with began to rise up and move, much like the grinning, lime green one had. "But do you have the will? Do you have the mindset it takes- To survive as a jujutsu sorcerer!"
With the flick of his hand, three out of the several stuffed animals charge towards Killua. Gritting his teeth, Killua focuses on honing his aura and he activates a dome of En, ensuring that he could follow the moves of anything that stepped within its radius. He narrows it down from its wider circumference, making the moves of his opponent easier to catch, easier to react to with speed.
"These are my cursed corpses. Dolls infused with my curse." The principal explains as Killua dodges a tinier, blue looking doll that attempts to bite at his ankle. He kicks the creature, the cursed doll, across the room with a Ko infused foot. It bounces off into the shadowed recesses of the corner of the room. "They feel no pain, no fear."
Cursed dolls? So that must mean… Killua dodges the lunge of one of the dolls by bending forward at his waist, and it goes flying over him completely. He looks up at the other doll with determination. They can be exorcized!
He moves to punch the remaining doll, only to be surprised as three objects suddenly cling to his back and legs. Flashes of green, brown and blue surprise him and Killua realizes a moment too late that he hadn't actually incapacitated any of them, the lime green doll, the tinier, blue doll, and the one that had flown over him had come back.
His momentary immobile state is enough for the other cursed doll to land a heavy sucker punch on his face, and the weight behind it surprises Killua, although it's nothing compared to Bisky's clobbering, that's for sure.
"A person's true nature reveals itself during crisis." The doll that had punched him joins the pile and Killua struggles against them, holding up his En radius, keeping up a layer of Ken against the blows, all the while struggling to withhold the cursed energy threatening to burst free from his core, bucking wildly alongside the turbulence of his emotions.
Unaffected by his obvious struggle, the principal continues to monologue at him, sending more of his cursed dolls in his direction. "I'll keep attacking you until I get an acceptable answer."
"Tch." Nearing the last fraying bits of his patience, Killua drops his Ken shields and his En, he instead focuses on conducting through his nen. Because of his earlier confrontation with Gojo, his electricity stores have reached unprecedented levels, so much so that Killua suspects, if it weren't for the addition of the cursed energy swirling in his core, emboldening his nen, he may have fried himself then and there on the street.
"Why is your word the law?" Electricity crackles at Killua's fingertips, pins and needles springing in the appendages like static, as if the limbs had fallen asleep. Killua struggles to lift his head up against the chokehold of the dolls, suppressing a wince as the blue one bites on his cheek and refuses to let go, hanging on like a flea. "Why does it matter if I have what it takes or not?"
Yaga feels as his eyes widen despite himself at the display, hidden from the boy's narrowed gaze behind his glasses, the tinted shades now reflecting a sheen of a blue glow as electricity begins to spark up the boy's form. Impossible… This boy…
The rest of the remaining dolls all jump towards Killua, landing on top of him in a dogpile of colorful, twig-like elbows and clown-like grins as they attempt to restrain him, seemingly indifferent to the current of electricity hovering around him.
"A jujutsu sorcerer is constantly facing death, and not just their own death." Yaga speaks up to be overheard above the commotion, wondering if he should pull his dolls back as they completely cover the kid's form, having managed to knock him down to floor by sheer numbers. "Sometimes you must ignore those murdered by a curse to rend the flesh from it. It's an unpleasant job. You have to be a little crazy and highly motivated to handle it."
Yaga sends a glance towards Satoru, however the man merely continues to watch the struggle from a few feet away, face blank as he looks down at the wriggling pile of dolls obscuring his son from view. Peeks of glowing blue electricity flash through the mob, like cracks of sunlight through the leaves of a treetop.
"You would do this job just because someone else told you to? Don't make me laugh." Yaga continues to goad without inflection in his tone, despite the whirring of his internal thoughts, and his growing reluctance to continue this test. Surely Satoru had expected this outcome?
Beneath the pile, the words strike a chord within Killua. You would do this job just because someone else told you to?
Killua thinks of his family, of the job he ran away from, of the life he ran away from. He quit. He quit being an assassin, he quit listening to his family, to his brother, and he chose to become a Hunter. He chose his sister. He chose Gon.
You would do this job just because someone else told you to? Killua thinks of the needle that had been planted between his brows for years, that took his choice away from him, a choice he only realized later when he was free from Illumi's compulsion, a choice he had made long, long before he ran away from home.
You would do this job just because someone else told you to? A thousand more. Innocent men, women, and children, little brother. Isn't it wonderful? A Thousand More, huh?
I am so proud of you, kill.
Screw that. Killua thinks as he takes the blows from the cursed dolls like nothing. It's building inside of him again, the reason why he wanted to quit being an assassin even before his sister, even before Gon. The Hate.
Screw that. A thousand more just the same? A Thousand More? For the past couple of hours Killua has contemplated whether he wanted such a future, whether he could even withstand such a future, such a life, such a hate. He thinks now… He might have found his answer.
You would do this job just because someone else told you to? "No." Killua finally responds, too quiet to be heard above the commotion, but so loud to him, it may as well have been the strike of a massive gong, it reverberates that deeply within him. "I won't. I won't live like that anymore. I quit."
"Hmm? What was that, I couldn't quite catch what you said." The principal asks, like he couldn't care either way.
Ever since he began the Hunter's exam, ever since the friends he met along the way so completely, and irrevocably changed the way he looked at the world, the way he looked at himself, Killua has been wondering what kind of man he wants to be. If he wasn't an assassin, then what was he?
He learned though. Day by day Killua began to realize the type of man, the type of Hunter he wanted to be. And now, he thinks he might have finally reached his answer.
A Thousand More.
Killua quit being an assassin, and instead he became a Blacklist Hunter, a bounty hunter, he became someone's best friend, he became a good brother, or at least, a better one than before.
He became the type of man who wanted, who hoped he could be the type of man…
"I said," Killua replies, projecting his voice loud enough to be heard this time around. All that emotion, all the hate that's been building since the beginning of this confrontation snaps, and this time when Killua releases his curse, he isn't afraid of losing control. He isn't afraid of 'The Thousand More.' He simply feels and he knows what he intends to do. "Screw. That."
Cursed energy bursts forth from his core at once, released like a bull escaping the confines of the matador. Electricity mixes with the abundant cursed energy, the hate fuses alongside the light of his soul and all of the dolls crowding upon him are forced away at the explosion, flung outwards at all angles.
This boy… Yaga stares at the sight, at the electrified, white haired boy now standing up in place with a countenance of pure determination, seemingly indifferent to the wounds that litter his body as he meets his gaze without a hint of fear or trepidation. This boy is the child of Gojo Satoru, there is no doubt.
"I'll ask you again," Yaga intones, raising his palm and holding his cursed dolls at bay momentarily. The dolls watch the proceedings from the shadows of the sidelines alongside the child's father, hair sticking on its ends from the friction of the electricity. "Why have you come here to jujutsu high?"
With ultimate conviction, Killua tells them the type of man he wants to be, he tells them the answer. "I want to learn how to use cursed energy to save people, from curses or otherwise. I want to use it to save more people than I've killed. I want to save A Thousand More!"
And in light of this shouted response, of the unshakable conviction and truth that shines in Killua's eyes, all Yaga and Satoru can say is-
"Eh?"
Uncaring at the exclaimed response from the two men, Killua stares down at his clenched fist and nods his head. Yosh. I'll do it. I'll save a thousand more. I'll unbalance the scale.
He'll become the type of man who saves a life rather than taking it.
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