"W-what? Nothing! Nothing at all!" You say frantically, avoiding eye contact from him. Killua sighs in exasperation. "You're a really bad liar, you know that?" He says.

You sigh despondently, mumbling incoherently to yourself. Killua raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"It's just... I didn't want to get in the way. I mean, you and Alluka are already so happy. Plus, you guys already did so much for me. You kept me company yesterday when we met and you even let me come with you guys. I don't... deserve anything more," you mumble, loud enough for him to hear.

Killua's eyes widen in realization. "I see," he paused, as if in thought. "Well, do you want it?" he finally asked.

"What?"

"Do you want to be closer and travel the world with us?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter.

You pause for a bit, before nodding. "Yeah, I do, but--"

"Then I don't see why you don't deserve it," he said, quite simply. "Alluka's really fond of you, a-and... I don't mind being around you a lot..." He trails off, stuttering. He breaks eye contact with you for a bit. "Anyways, you're not getting in the way at all. No one should feel as if they don't deserve friends. Everyone does," he shrugs coolly.

Your eyes widen as your breath hitched. These were the words you didn't know you needed to hear all along. A small smile slowly tugged at the corner of your lips, as droplets of tears flowed from the corner of your eyes.

"Oi, (Y/N)?"

"I've been so stupid... this entire time," you cover your face with both your hands, yet you couldn't stop yourself from shaking in quiet laughter. "All my life, I've had this mindset. I've been so selfish... I didn't even think of how they would feel. I just... distanced myself before I got too attached," you say through muffled sounds, yet he understood.

Killua smiles warmly and genuinely at you, only because you weren't able to see it. Eventually, you removed your hands from your face, wiping away your tears in the process. "My head feels so clear now, and my shoulders feel way lighter!" You declare, a bright, genuine smile in your face. You raised your arms high above you, stretching them.

"Yeah, you're finally back to normal," he says, leaning back into the couch with a smug look on his face.

You giggle, sticking your tongue out at him.

_ _ _

It just so happened that near the waterfall you visited with Alluka and Killua, there was a mountain range and a huge forest at its base. So the next day, you set off with the siblings to check them out.

With the weight lifted off your shoulders, you were able to walk right next to them without worrying as much. Alluka seemed to notice this as she smiled brightly at you.

"Hehe, welcome back Onee-chan!" She giggles, taking hold of your hand with her free one, as Killua was holding the other.

You smile warmly at her, "'Welcome back?' What do you mean?"

"Well, you're not standing so far away from us anymore!" She cheers, "You're still kinda quiet, but that's okay!" she adds

You laugh. "I'm still getting used to it, I just never had these kinds of relationships with people before," you say as you begin swinging the arm used to hold Alluka's hand back and forth.

Killua chuckles at the sight. "(Y/N), I won't be surprised if Alluka starts calling you 'mom' instead of Onee-chan."

You stare at him in shock as heat slowly rose to your cheeks. "What's that supposed to mean? Just yesterday, you were scolding her for trying to run off on her own! You deserve to be called an overprotective dad more than I deserve to be called mom, Killua!" You playfully glare at him.

Now it was Killua's turn to blush and get flustered. "Wh-What?! I was only trying to not get Alluka hurt. She didn't get the same training that I did, it's only natural!" He argued back.

Amidst your bickering, Alluka could only sweatdrop as she stood there, right in the middle. 'It sure is lively here,' she thought.

Eventually, you reached the mountain range area. There was a path there for tourists to follow, so the three of you used it.

"Onii-chan! I don't wanna stay in this path, I wanna go explore more!" Alluka says, tugging on her brother's hand.

He sighs, "You can't, Alluka. It's much safer here."

You look back and forth at them, before saying. "C'mon, Killua. We're here to watch over anyways. I don't see the harm in letting Alluka explore."

Alluka's face brightened as she heard you say that, "Please, Onii-chan, please?" she pleads to Killua hopefully.

Killua sighs once more as he thinks about it carefully. "Fine, but if Alluka gets hurt in any way, I'm taking her home right away. Got that?"

You smile, "Don't worry about it!" You then turn to Alluka, who's now jumping up and down in joy. "Yay! I love you Onii-chan! Let's goooo!" She cheers, pulling both you and Killua's hands.

"Oi, Alluka. Be careful!" You hear Killua panic, while you had the biggest grin in your face.

_ _ _

"Hey guys, you wanna check out the forests here?" You ask them eagerly. As soon as they agreed, you excitedly dragged them to the forest just at the base of the mountains.

"You know... I think it would be really cool if we camped out here for the night," you suggest. Looking hopefully at Killua for approval. You half-expected him to say no faster than you can even blink, but surprisingly, he asked Alluka. "You wanna stay here for the night?"

Alluka nodded excitedly, "Yeah, can we?"

Killua smiled a small smile, before saying. "Fine, let's stay here."

You squeal, "I can't wait to teach you guys to hunt here for food and stuff!"

Killua only smirked. "You won't have to teach me anything. I know exactly how to survive in this kind of environment. I'm a hunter after all," he said smugly.

A vein popped in your head. "Oh, really now?"

Killua only smirked even wider, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Let's go hunting together. I'll show you how it's done."

"Fine, bring it on!"