"Senka...?" Ryu sighs. "What are you planning this time?"

"Uh!" Senka freezes in her tracks, slowly craning her neck to see Ryu standing there in disappointment. She was sitting up from her bed with one leg hanging from the edge. The blanket, which normally covered most of her body, was now thrown to a corner of the bed. She gulped. It was clear what she was trying to do here.

"You know, you're gonna take longer to heal if you keep moving around." Ryu crosses his arms over his chest as he approaches Senka.

Senka laughs sheepishly as she slowly lies back down on the bed. "I was just... I just wanted to touch the floor, you know?"

"You can't lie your way out of this one, Senka," Ryu says, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, it wouldn't hurt for you to just wait."

Senka furrows her brows, sinking deeper into the pillow. "Actually, yes. It would hurt!" She pouts.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Ryu grabs the blanket and tucks Senka in. "At least think about what could have happened back there. You could have died from head injury or blood loss, you know?"

The room goes silent for a while. Oddly silent.

Ryu raises a brow and peers at Senka's face, seeing her hand covering her mouth as her eyes crinkle mischievously. He could clearly hear her trying to hold back her laughter.

"Wh–"

"You!" Senka finally bursts into laughter. "You were scared, weren't you?" She points at him, a smug smirk tugging at her lips.

"Excuse me?? I'm being serious here!"

Senka laughs some more, much to Ryu's annoyance.

"You're so dumb, Ryu!" Senka finally calms down, wiping off tears of laughter from her eyes.

Ryu glares at her. "Uh-huh, sure. Who was the one who got injured again?"

"Oh come on!" Senka grabs Ryu's hand and laughs. "Stop worrying! I'm not going anywhere, okay? I still gotta help you catch Sanguis, after all!"

Ryu's glare persists for a few seconds before he finally sighs in defeat. "You're such a handful, you know that?" He grips her hand back, a small smile tugging at his lips.

...

Well, he wasn't smiling now.

"...Senka, you liar..." he mumbles. A deep frown was etched on his face as his lips twisted into a crooked, thin line. He sighs, covering his face with one arm, not even daring to look at the figure that lay in front of him.

Even so, he stood in that spot for hours.

_____________

Killua shot his eyes open as if waking from a nightmare. All that greeted him was the sight of white ceilings, along with the strong scent of antiseptic.

'Where...?'

He turned his head to the side rather groggily, only to see more white walls, and a closed, white door.

'A hospital room, huh? How long was I out?' he thought to himself, sitting up and getting off the bed. Feeling a slight sting behind his shoulder, he instinctively reached out to inspect it, only to feel it was completely and tightly patched up.

"That was no ordinary dart for it to be able to worsen my wounds like that," he sneers, getting up and making his way towards the door.

As soon as Killua opened it, the sound of slight chatter, coughing, and sneezing filled his ears. He raises a brow, scanning his surroundings for anything... or anyone familiar.

It didn't take long for a nurse to take notice. "Oh, you're awake? You shouldn't be standing out here," he says, ushering Killua back to his room.

"How long was I out?" was Killua's immediate question.

It took a second for the nurse to think, before replying with "3 days."

'What?!'

"Wait here, I'll get the doctor and your friend," he says, rushing outside and leaving Killua to his thoughts.

_ _ _

"Excuse me, sir?"

Ryu stirred, trying to ignore the voice calling out to him. He sunk deeper into the chair, letting his head lean against the backrest.

Eventually, he felt a hand shaking his shoulder rather urgently. He tiredly opens his eyes, seeing the face of a slightly worried nurse.

"Your friend is awake," he says.

At those words, Ryu's eyes immediately widened. He shot up from his seat, almost running towards Killua's hospital room.

"Killua?" He hoarsely called out as he approaches Killua's room.

Upon opening the door, he finds Killua and the doctor having a conversation. Killua immediately notices him. "Oh, you're alive," he said.

"Hey! That is not something you say to the one who saved you!" he sighs rather shakily, before turning to the doctor. "So, how is he?"

"He's almost completely healed. Quite impressive considering what we found on his puncture wound."

Ryu lets out another sigh in relief. "Thanks, doc," he dips his head in a slight bow. The doctor does the same, before leaving the room.

Killua sits up from the bed as soon as the door closes. "So, who is he? I get the feeling this isn't the first time he treated patients like me." He crosses his arms.

Ryu turns to Killua. "He's a colleague of mine and Se–" he immediately pauses. "–a colleague of mine. He specializes in taking care of Hunters, so you won't have to worry about a thing here."

Killua narrows his eyes. "I see, that's good," he replies, noticing Ryu's pale complexion and soulless, bloodshot eyes. Something was off about him, and it didn't take much for Killua to figure out.

'Maybe I shouldn't ask about her for now.'

"How far are we from that forest? This hospital is in a different city, right?" Killua continues asking.

Ryu nods, shuffling his way towards the window. "Yeah... I couldn't figure out a way to treat you so I brought you here. We should be a few hours away from... from that forest."

Killua hums in acknowledgment, and the room falls into silence.

Slowly, Ryu turned to face Killua once more. "...You're quite strong, you know that?" he began. "You have everyone taken away from you, but you don't look too disturbed by it at all. In fact, you look ready to face it head-on." He chuckles bitterly.

Killua widens his eyes slightly, before looking down at his cold hands. The events of 3 days ago start playing on his head. He remembered every detail of it, even the lingering warmth of your hand as he held it one last time.

It wasn't that he wasn't disturbed, he was just good at hiding it. But even so...

"I need to be strong," Killua replies, looking at Ryu in the eye. "For her. For both of them. They're waiting for me, after all." He clenches his hands into fists.

'I'll get you back, (Y/N), Alluka.'

Ryu widens his eyes. This wasn't the first time Killua has experienced this kind of loss, he could tell.

"How about you, Ryu?" Killua asks, looking him in the eye. "What are you planning to do now?"