You stare at Senka for a bit with wide eyes.

She tilts her head in slight confusion. "(Y/N)? Earth to (Y/N)!" She leans forward and tries to wave a hand in front of your face.

Ryu immediately tries to stop her. "Hey, Senka! Don't move so quickly–"

"Oww!" Senka exclaims, gripping her shoulder in pain.

That seemed to snap you out of your trance again. "Senka! Be careful!" You run to her and help her lay back down on the bed

Senka still manages to squeeze out a small laugh. "Almost forgot I'm bedridden and injured. Oops!"

Ryu sighs. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?" he says, facepalming.

Senka playfully rolls her eyes at Ryu before turning to you once more. "But are you okay, (Y/N)? You look like you haven't slept much."

'Is it that obvious?!' you thought to yourself, smiling sheepishly at Senka. "I just had trouble sleeping! That's all," you replied. "Uh, how about you?! How are you feeling?"

She giggles. "I'm fine! I just need a little more time before I can move around again!" She says. "Oh! By the way, where's Alluka?" Senka tries to look past your and Ryu's shoulders.

Killua steps in. "Alluka's sleeping right now. She was here hours ago watching over you."

"Oh... that's too bad... but that's also really sweet of her!" Senka smiles, leaning back onto the pillow. "You should be more like her, Ryu!"

"Wh– Excuse me?"

You raised a brow. "Huh? But Ryu was worried sick for you the entire t–" you were immediately cut off by Ryu grabbing your wrist and dragging you by the door.

"Hey!" You looked up at Ryu but you couldn't really see his face very well. Though, you did notice his ears had a red tinge to it.

"You should rest more, Senka. You have a lot to catch up on," Ryu says, opening the door. "Let's go, (Y/N), Killua."

"Oh uh, okay! Get well soon, Senka!" you give her a small wave before being dragged out of the room by Ryu.

An irk mark appears on Senka's forehead. "Hey! Don't leave me here!" She exclaims, before sighing and sinking further into her pillow. "Geez... I pass out for three days and he still acts like this."

Killua gives her a small smile before shrugging and leaving the room as well.

_ _ _

Later that night, you snuck out again to meet with your brother deep in the forest.

"Oh? Senka's awake now?" Sanguis raised a brow while you flashed him an excited grin.

"Yeah! And she seemed full of energy, too!" you exclaimed. "Too bad Ryu dragged me out so fast... was it something I said?"

Your brother hummed in amusement. "So, what are those two hunters gonna do now?"

"Huh? Oh, Senka will need a bit more time to fully heal. After that, I guess they're gonna..." you trailed off, realizing what their next plan might be.

(B/N) smirked. "They're gonna what?"

You looked down. "I guess they're gonna start looking for you again, Nii-chan."

(B/N) chuckled. "Well, that can't be good," he says, crouching down to meet your gaze. "What do you plan to do about that, (Y/N)?"

Your eyes widened as you scrambled to think of something. "U-Uh... m-maybe I can convince them to give up on you! Or maybe..." You looked down, swallowing a lump in your throat. "Maybe I should tell them that we're siblings..."

An eerie silence follows. The rustle of leaves and the sound of the wind grew louder for some reason.

Then, you heard another chuckle from your brother, followed by a pat on your head.

You look back up at him, tilting your head in confusion. "Nii-chan?"

"I'm just messing with you, (Y/N). No need to do that." He says with an amused smile.

You sighed deeply as you slumped your shoulders. "That's not funny... I was seriously gonna try, you know?"

"Oh? You'd go that far for me?" He stops smiling as he looks you directly in the eye.

You felt a chill go down your spine at (B/N)'s gaze. "O-Of course I would! You're my brother!"

After all, he was your only companion as a child. He took care of you, played with you, and protected you. Even when his life was in danger, he made sure you were okay. You would never forget that about him.

(B/N) hummed in response. "That's really sweet of you, (Y/N)." He gives you another pat on the head. "But you don't have to go that far. In fact, I have something else I'd like you to do," he smiles, telling you his plan.

_ _ _

You were in shock by the time he finished. You took a step back, thinking about everything he just said. "Nii-chan... are you sure about this? I'm not sure Killua would want that..."

(B/N) glared at you for a second, before chuckling softly. "Come on, (Y/N). Just trust me, okay? Everything will work out better this way," he says, giving you a reassuring smile.

You hesitated a bit, before nodding slowly. "Okay..."

"Oh, and why don't you start coming during the afternoons? I feel bad for messing up your sleep schedule."

Your eyes widened. "What? If Killua sees me, he'll definitely tell me to stay."

(B/N) tilted his head. "But you're healed enough to start walking on your own, right? And plus–" He leans down to meet your gaze. "–he has no right to stop you, does he?" His lips quirked upwards into a smile.

You frowned. "But he gets worried about me a lot..."

"It will be okay, (Y/N). You already sneak out in secret anyways, so what's the difference?"

"Oh, uh..." you looked down, feeling an odd, sinking feeling in your chest.

(B/N) places both hands on your shoulders. "Come on, (Y/N). There's still a lot we have to catch up on, right?"

The sinking feeling grew worse and worse. You weren't sure if you wanted to hide something like this from Killua, but–

"(Y/N)?" he shook your shoulders a little

You looked up at him, snapping out of your thoughts. "Y-Yeah! Okay, I'll be there tomorrow!" You forced a smile, pushing that sinking feeling away.

Your brother smiled back. "Good! Now go along and get a good night's rest. You have a long day ahead of you," he says, standing up straight and giving you a little push on the back.

When you gave him a small wave goodbye, you didn't realize just how hard you've been clenching your fists the entire time.

"S-See you, Nii-chan!" you said, before hurrying off. The air was stuffy for some reason, and you couldn't breathe. Oddly enough, the forest breeze was the opposite of stuffy, so how could that be?

The moment you were left alone, you felt like you could breathe again.