Chapter Text
In retrospect, she could have maybe put that less bluntly, as Nanika gently points out after he has stormed out of the door.
However. the deed is done, and Onii’chan was probably sulking in Central Park by now, and really, he should know better than to give her the perfect opportunity to escape. She feels a little guilty, really, but there are some ways in which their blood will always remind them where they came from, and the mile-wide protective streak he has is honestly perhaps one of the most annoying things he’s capable of.
And honestly, she’s sixteen, she’s perfectly capable of trying out the exam at this point. Onii’chan can’t protect her forever. not from him. Nanika agrees with her on this - they can’t take him lightly anymore.
The license is going to be just another incentive to stop...him...from trying anything. The backing of the entire Hunter Association counts.
She leaves the note in their favorite stuffed toy, the one Onii’chan had bought for them three years ago, letting it absorb her Nen before she neatly tucks it into the stitches of the fluffy tiger. He’ll have to pick it apart to find it, but it’s okay. They both can sleep without it now, even when he’s on missions and she can’t cuddle someone at night when she has those nightmares. She’s grown up.
Alluka’s stronger now. much stronger than she had been years ago. Nanika is too.
She casually exits the flat, coming face to face with Mrs Hill, who lives across them. “Killua’s out?”
She’s prepared for this, fortunately. “Yes, I’m going to his office to drag him home, he needs some sleep.” It’s not a complete lie, which is why it’s easy to school her expression into something resembling worry. “He overworks himself so much.”
“Oh, boys - back in my days, they used to fairly follow us about, moony-eyed, not like that brother of yours - so dedicated to his work and his family.”
Alluka is tempted, just for a moment, to talk about the days when Killua did follow someone about, fairly moony-eyed himself, but she doesn’t have time - the train leaves in twenty minutes, and Mrs Hill will keep her talking for forty if given a chance. Instead, she smiles and does an affected eye-roll. That apparently satisfies Mrs Hill, because she tuts and tells her to get her brother to date, and when she turns to open the door, Alluka takes her chance to escape.
I’m sorry Onii’chan, but I have to try.