"Hey... Ryu?"

"Hmm?"

Senka's head hung low. She was quieter than usual today. Really quiet for someone who just fully recovered from battle.

Ryu raises a brow. "What's up?"

Senka purses her lips. "Do you think... you'll be okay... without me?" she mumbles, though loud enough for Ryu to hear.

"Uh, what?"

"Like, if something were to happen to me... would you be fine?" she asks.

Ryu only raises a brow in confusion. "...Senka, where the hell is this coming from? You literally just said a few days ago that you weren't going anywhere...?"

Senka sighs. "I know, I know... I even told you that you shouldn't worry."

Ryu nods, keeping a watchful eye on Senka's movements.

She catches Ryu's stare, before shaking her head and chuckling softly. "You know what? Nevermind..."

Ryu blinks a couple of times. "Are you sure?" he asks worriedly.

Senka faces him and smiles. "Yeah, of course!" She exclaims. It looks like she's back to her loud, high-energy self.

"Okay then..."

"Yeah! Let's go check on Killua or something," she says, grabbing Ryu's hand and dragging him along.

___________________

'...Did she know what was going to happen to her?' Ryu wondered, looking down on his feet.

He was sitting on a bench outside the hospital, drowning in his thoughts while waiting for Killua to get discharged.

'No, it's impossible to predict something like that.' Ryu rests his forehead on his palm. '...right?'

"Sorry to keep you waiting long." Killua finally arrives.

Ryu looks up and whirls around to face him. "Oh, there you are."

Killua raises a brow. "Yeah... you seemed deep in thought."

"I was just remembering something." Ryu shook his head and stood up. "You ready to go?"

The corners of Killua's lips tug upwards as he puts his hands in his pockets. "I should be the one asking you that."

The tiniest smile could be seen from Ryu as he scoffs. "Hah, of course, I am."

"...I realized, I never answered your question back then, Senka,' he thought. 'There's no way in hell I'll be okay without you. But I sure will once I kick Sanguis' ass.'

_ _ _

"(Y/N)?"

You jumped in your spot, quickly turning around to face your brother. "N-Nii-chan?!"

(B/N) took your hand. "What are you doing so deep in the forest? Do you know how far you've wandered off?" he sighs in disappointment.

"U-Uh..." you gulped. "Sorry! I... I never realized until now..." you reply, smiling sheepishly.

Your brother narrowed his eyes suspiciously for a split second, before shaking his head. "Let's get back, (Y/N)," he says, dragging you back by the hand.

You nod, letting your brother lead as you hung your head low.

"Hey... N-Nii-chan?"

"Hm?"

"I was just wondering," you looked up to gaze at his back. "Do you think... you'll let me see Killua again?"

Sanguis stopped in his tracks. You stopped as well, watching as he ever-so-slightly turned his head until he saw you through the corner of his eye.

"Why are you mentioning this?"

You were tempted to avert your gaze, feeling cold sweat rolling down your back. "I-I just..." you gulped. "I want to see him... A-Alluka wants to see him too..."

"(Y/N), aren't you content with me already?" He turns around to face you.

"I-I am!" you blurt out. "It's just... well... it doesn't feel right to be stuck here like this, surrounded by people like Hisoka and Illumi–"

"If it's Hisoka and Illumi you're worried about, rest assured we won't stay with them for long."

"No, it's not about that, Nii-chan..." you sigh. "I just... don't think this is right... especially since you didn't tell me about any of this..."

As your voice trailed off, a deafening silence follows. You feel your heart pounding against your chest as Sanguis stared straight into your eyes. Saying he was disappointed was an understatement. You could feel something more sinister in that look, but decide to shrug it off as you finally averted your gaze from his.

Finally, he spoke. "I don't know what came over you today, (Y/N)." He continues, gripping your hand so tight it nearly brought you to tears. "You're probably just tired. Let's go back and rest," he says. It struck you as eerie with how calm he sounded.

What bothered you, even more, was how he ignored your concerns, and something tells you he didn't want to hear any of it ever again.

_ _ _

"What are the chances that Illumi and Sanguis are still hanging out in that old warehouse?" Ryu asks, taking a sip of coffee as he and Killua sat at a café.

"100%," Killua replies, gulping down a mouthful of his chocolate drink.

Ryu's eyes widen. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. There's no way Illumi would be leaving without me. He thinks controlling Alluka would only be possible through me."

"That's... pretty messed up..."

Killua looks at Ryu through the corner of his eye. "And I'm pretty sure Sanguis is still in an agreement with Illumi."

Ryu nods. "I see. Then it's safe to assume that Hisoka would be there, too." He frowns, resting his chin on his palm. "So... we may have to battle 3 people, and save (Y/N) and Alluka on top of that."

"Not to mention that we don't exactly know where in that warehouse Alluka and (Y/N) are being held. My guess is that Alluka's being imprisoned in a room far from where (Y/N) would normally stay. She probably wouldn't be able to leave no matter how hard she tries."

Ryu's eyes slowly widen. "I've always wondered how you are able to say such things with a straight face," he adds. 'Zoldycks sure are built different.'

"Yeah? You should get used to it by now." Killua's lips tugged upwards into a smug smirk.

Ryu chuckles. "Yeah, I should. Anyways..." he goes back to a serious tone. "There's probably a higher chance that (Y/N) isn't being imprisoned like Alluka since she trusts Sanguis... way too much."

Killua sighs. "You're right. I'm damn hoping that changes after the stunt he pulled."

Ryu nods. "If I'm being honest here, I don't think it's possible to save the both of them with just the two of us." He stands up after finishing the rest of his coffee. "Let's get back to the inn."

Killua stands up as well, shoving his hands inside his pockets as they left the café. "Yeah. There's no way in hell we could save them right now. Luckily for us, I may have someone who could help," he smirks.

Ryu raises a brow. "Oh? Are they from around here?"

"Nope. He owes me one though, so I'm hoping he can come over." He fishes around his pockets for his phone. "I haven't been messaging him lately due to everything that happened. Geez... I wonder what he's been up to," he wonders, scrolling through the messages on his phone.

"Who is this person anyway? Is he a hunter?"

"You'll see– Oh, found him. God, he really started spamming, huh?" Killua lets out a deep sigh as he put the phone close to his ear.

'Is it another Zoldyck?!' Ryu gulps.

It didn't even take five seconds before the mysterious person picked up the call. "KILLUAAAAA!!" a voice screamed from his phone.

Killua immediately pushed the device away while covering his ear. "Oi, what's with you spamming over 100 messages on my phone, huh?!" he clapped back, an irk mark appearing on his forehead.

'Yeah... that definitely sounds like a worried relative.' Ryu narrows his eyes.

After a few seconds of chatting, Killua finally takes on a more serious tone. "Anyways, Gon, I need your help. Can you come over?"