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It’s Gon who brings up the idea first, because Gon can rarely hold anything back, and he definitely can’t hold himself back when there’s something he’s really excited about.
And Gon must have been really, really excited about this idea, because he blurts it out in the middle of a ten hour train ride to their next Hunter job. It’s exactly when Killua is leaning back in his seat, one cheek resting against Gon’s freckled shoulder and his eyes fluttering shut, that Gon all but shouts in his ear—
“I think we should move in together!”
And that, of course, wakes Killua up immediately.
-o0o-
They talk about it for a long, long time. The whole ten hour train ride, in fact.
Gon knows what he wants. He wanted to find Ging when he was twelve, even left Whale Island with nothing but the clothes on his back and the fishing rod in his fist to do just that. And he’s wanted to be with Killua—with his best, best friend—ever since he found Ging and returned to a home that really wasn’t his home anymore.
Killua is his home now. But Gon wants something more permanent, something that he can point to with pride and say “that’s mine and Killua’s!” He wants something that’s theirs .
And Gon doesn’t need to talk or think about it. It’s simple, what he wants. Convincing Killua is not as simple, though.
“Why are you bringing this up now, of all times?” Killua snaps at his back many hours later. They’re slowly following the line of people down the aisle, finally leaving the train after it’s come to its final stop.
“Because,” Gon says logically, shimmying through the narrow opening between the two rows of seats. “I wanted to! The moment felt right.”
Killua huffs, and Gon doesn’t have to peek behind to know Killua is rolling his bright blue eyes—eyes that never fail to make Gon’s heart soar. Killua always had the prettiest eyes.
“That’s such a you answer,” Killua grumbles. “Did you even wonder how we’re gonna find time to house search? We’re constantly running around the globe, and you’re leaving for Oceana in a week—”
Gon interrupts, “That’s exactly why I want it! I want a place we can both return to, no matter how far we have to travel for work or to visit your sister or see our friends. I want to know I can always find you there, no matter how big distance between us.”
Killua doesn’t say anything to that. When Gon glances behind him, Killua’s pale cheeks are dusted a rosy pink, and Gon grins because he knows he’s won.
Killua doesn’t want to be parted from Gon, either. That was the most important thing they learned during their separation. It was a particularly difficult lesson to learn, but now that they know it, they never, ever will say goodbye again.
-o0o-
The hunt for a place to call their own is long and slow. It takes a whole year, several arguments, and even a few butting-ins on Alluka and Leorio’s part to make Gon and Killua see reason. Because even though the pair is similar in many ways, sometimes they are so different.
Gon wants someplace like Whale Island, far away without a neighbor in sight but close enough that they can walk wherever they need. Killua would rather be in a city, high up that they can see any threat long before it arrives, a place in the middle of everything that is exciting and bright and alive.
But Gon doesn’t want the noise that comes with city life, and Killua doesn’t want to be isolated, as much as he loves Gon’s childhood home. So they settle for something in the middle:
A three story apartment in a small town by the sea, a forest behind them and a port in front. There’s a train stop down the block so their friends can visit easily and a fresh market food stand on every corner.
Gon falls in love with the place easily—his brown eyes sparkle in the sunlight streaming in from the open window, and the freckles across his cheeks pop as he beams. He’s so radiant that Killua can’t look away, and he knows he would agree to living here even if he hadn’t seen the place and loved it for himself. It’s too easy to love whatever Gon loves.
“Yeah, but, do you like it, Killua?” Gon asks pointedly as they share a chocolate shake in a nearby shop. “I don’t want you to love it just because I do.”
Gon’s gotten good at that since they’ve reunited—asking for Killua’s opinion, that is. He wouldn’t have done that before the Ants. Not because Gon was cruel, but because he never had to. He was an only child in his family and on Whale Island, never needing to consider anyone else’s wants or desires.
But Gon has tried so hard to be better since they reunited. And Killua loves him fiercely for it.
He reaches across their small table for two to squeeze Gon’s hand.
“I do like it,” he confesses. “It’s perfect. So, so perfect.” He pauses. “Let’s get it.”
Gon’s answering beam is blinding.
-o0o-
The day they move in it’s pouring rain. Lighting lights up the sky in flashes followed by roars of thunder that make the windows rattle, and Gon and Killua run down the stairs and outside as soon as the finishing dragging everything inside. They throw handfuls of mud at each other for hours and laugh until they’re gasping for air and sliding on wet grass.
Then they shower and order Chinese food.
“Doesn’t look like much of a home,” Killua says as he looks around their empty living room. His voice bounces off blank walls and hardwood floors. It sounds kind of weird, but Gon doesn’t mind. He loves the sound of Killua’s voice, even when it’s echoing hundreds of times in his ears.
“It’s not really a home yet—not when there’s nothing in it except moving boxes,” Gon says logically and swirls lo mein around his plastic fork. “But it will be once we’re finished packing.”
Killua looks at him. His pajama shirt is hanging off one shoulder, and his mess of white curls is sticking out in every direction. It hasn’t dried yet, making Killua look almost like dandelions Gon used to pick off the side of the road and make wishes on.
His best friend says, “Do you really believe that?”
Gon nods, trying to chew his lo mein and talk at the same time. “Jus’ oo waiht, Ki-woo-ah. It ‘ill be perfect.”
Killua’s lips twitch into a begrudging smile. “Don’t talk while you eat, stupid. It would suck if you died and left me to unpack all your stuff.”
Gon finally swallowed before sticking his tongue out. “Haha, funny Killua...I really do think it’ll be great, though. We just need to make it more home-y. And it’ll get like that as soon as we finish unpacking.”
He lifted up another spoonful of his lo mein. “Do you wanna try?”
Killua eyes Gon’s offering skeptically and Gon adds, “It’s just noodles. No veggies for you to pick out, I promise.”
Killua relents at that. He leans forward and takes his bite of Chinese food. The pleased, happy look on Killua’s face is something Gon wants to remember for the rest of his life.
-o0o-
True to Gon’s word, their apartment does become more them.
They unpack what little furniture they’ve already brought, buy new things from downtown, print out pictures off their phones and pin them all over the walls. They collect shells from the beach and carefully place their souvenirs from their Hunter jobs around the apartment. Gon’s fishing rod and Killua’s skateboard are leaning on the wall next to the door, and their Hunter badges from their first Exam are hanging over their beds.
And slowly but surely, the empty apartment fills.
“Oh, Brother! It’s so cute!” Alluka gasps when Killua calls her on video chat and takes her on a tour.
“You really think so?” It’s hard not to be proud. It had taken a lot of work to find this place and fill it. They were still working on it—they’d only been here for a month.
Alluka nods and Killua can hear the beads in her hair clacking over the phone. “Of course! It’s got a little bit of you and Gon in it. It makes sense why you’d pick it.”
Killua’s cheeks grow warm. “W-Well, me and Gon live here, of course it’s gonna have a bit of us in it!”
Alluka hums. “Yeah, but...there’s something special about the fact you two get to build a home together.” She smiles at him, blue eyes going soft. “It’s good that you two get to live together again. You must be happy, Brother.”
Killua’s face is blazing now. If he were still twelve years old, he would stammer and change the topic, maybe even throw his phone at the wall. But Killua’s not twelve anymore. He’s different, and that’s okay.
So he just returns Alluka’s smile with one of his own. “I am, Alluka.” He looks over toward the kitchen, where he can hear Gon’s cheerful humming echoing off the walls. Knowing his best friend is right there , that Killua can call out to him anytime he wants or ask him to play video games or race to the beach...it’s something he didn’t know he missed until they were here.
“I really, really am.”
-o0o-
They have everyone over, eventually. Gon invites Wing and Zushi and Mito and Kite, Killua calls Alluka and Palm and Bisky and Ikalgo. They both text Leorio, and Kurapika, and only get a reply from Leorio. Gon wishes Kurapika still wasn’t on a chase around the world for a revenge that would never satisfy him, but...sometimes you have to live through that sort of thing to understand that lesson. Gon would know.
All in all, it’s a crowded night with lots of laughter and shouting and fun. Everyone brings food—so much so that Gon and Killua don’t need to lift a finger. Zushi talks to Alluka with a blush lingering on his face, Bisky is pulling on Wing’s cheek like he’d still her pupil. Kite shows Ikalgo his tail and Leorio ruffles Gon’s hair more times than he can count.
And Killua...is happy. Gon can’t remember the last time he saw Killu smile so much, or laugh like that. Gon is one of the few people who can tell when Killua’s grins are genuine and all the work of finding a place for them to stay and buying furniture suddenly is worth it.
Because as long as they’re together, Gon knows they can do anything in the world. And if Killua is happy, in their apartment, with their friends, then Gon is happy, too.
-o0o-
They still have their different jobs and assignments, but Killua has to admit that Gon was right: it’s nice to have someplace to come back to, someone to come back to.
Killua is the first one to be gone for a long stretch of time. He returns from a week-long mission in Azia chasing after some crazy thief with enough stolen jewels to make even Bisky’s eyes pop out of her head. He gets to the apartment at exactly 1:32 in the morning and he’s so tired that he drops his keys—twice.
He throws his head back and groans before squatting to pick the keys up. Thank god this week is over, thank god he’s home, thank god he can collapse on the couch and complain loudly to Gon tomorrow morning about the insanity that had been this mission.
But the couch is already occupied when Killua opens the door.
Killua blinks. He wasn’t expecting the lights to be on, or for Gon to be draped over the side cushion. The freckled Hunter is sleeping, eyes closed and mouth open, a peaceful expression on his face that Killua can only remember seeing a handful of times. The television is on and the remote lays in his best friend’s limp hand.
Killua carefully drops his luggage onto the doorstep before inching closer. What is Gon still doing up? Killua is the night person out of the two of them, Gon usually passes out by ten and wakes up before eight the next morning. Seeing him up at this hour is...kind of weird.
He pokes Gon’s freckled cheek gently. “Hey, Gon. Hey.”
Gon stirs. It takes a few more pokes from Killua before he’s fully awake and blinking bleary gold eyes. But then those same eyes fly open wide in recognition.
That’s all the warning Killua gets before Gon is tackling Killua into the couch with a happy cry. He squeezes Killua in a bear-like hug and Killua wheezes, not at all expecting this kind of reaction and wholly unprepared to deal with it.
“G-Gon,” he croaks out as Gon buries his face into the crook of Killua’s neck. Killua can feel Gon’s smile imprinting into his skin. “What—What are you d-doing, why are you still up?”
Gon hugs him even tighter, if possible. “I was waiting for you! I wanted to be awake when you got home.”
He pulls back with a beam, hands still gripping Killua’s shoulders, and heat blooms across Killua’s cheeks.
“You didn’t have to—”
“I know! But I wanted to.” Gon pauses, then straightens. “Oh! Killua, are you hungry? I made dinner but I put some leftovers in the fridge for you.”
“Uh, sure?” Killua is so surprised that Gon went through the effort to do all this that he doesn’t stop Gon from leaping off the couch and running towards the kitchen.
“I’ll put it in the microwave, then! Just hang on a sec, I’ll be right back.”
Killua stares after him, stunned at the flurry of activity that had just taken place. He can’t push down the happy flutter in his chest—he’s home, he’s with Gon, and he can sleep in his very own bed tonight.
“Oh, and—Killua?”
Killua looks up to see Gon’s head sticking out of the kitchen, a dazzling smile on his face and a plate of food in his hands.
“Welcome home!”