, um. Hey—"

Gon pointed a finger to himself and said, smile wide. "Do you remember my name? If you do, I'll be seriously impressed. I mean, I come in every day but still. That's gotta mean something."

"Y-Yeah, Gon," Killua croaked. All of the heat in his body compressed into the singularity and erupted in his cheeks. It took all of two seconds for his entire face to feel like the high density temperature state just before the Big Bang because by then, Zushi was staring at him and putting two and two together like the stupid, idiotic, ignorant genius he was.

Fuck.

Gon put a hand up with a laugh and said, "Nice! High-five. What're you doing with my buddy Zushi?"

"B-Buddy?" Killua stammered, gingerly touching his hand to Gon's.

"Oh!" Zushi said, voice cracking. He stepped up beside the two of them and gestured broadly, saying, "Gon, meet Killua. Killua, my roommate Gon, whom... you've... already met... at... Starbucks."

"Does this mean I get discounts now?" Gon said.

"No, I charge interest," Killua said before he could stop himself. He slapped a hand over his mouth and thought, Cool it with the sass, mister! "I-I mean, I'm not allowed to give friends discounts. I barely get a discount on my own drinks as it is."

"Fuck Starbucks then. Free drinks for all," Gon said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Solid economic plan. You should run for president," Killua said, as if his humor wasn't already as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Gon stared at him and Killua felt like an alien. His brother always said his sarcasm was unseemly and cold, and Killua never thought he'd care until that moment. He willed a god of some kind to smite him dead right then and there, but alas, he still had a court date to attend to.

His heart was beating so fast he thought he might faint.

When Zushi clapped his hands, it sounded more like a nuclear bomb. Both Gon and Killua jumped at the sound and Gon put a hand to his heart and said, "Jesus, I thought a gun went off."

"No guns here, folks," Zushi said. He slapped his hands onto Killua's shoulder and, likewise, Gon's shoulder. "Killua's joining us for dinner at Ren Hall."

"I am?" Killua squeaked. Zushi gave him a pointedly narrow stare, at which point he regretted accepting the offer. "Oh, no, I should probably just... go back to my dorm."

"Really? Are you a freshmen too, then?" Gon asked.

Killua swallowed hard and tried not to faint. Thankfully, Zushi answered for him. "Yeah, he lives at Hatsu. I go to study with him sometimes."

"Oh! That's who you sneak off to. All this time I thought it was a girl," Gon said.

Zushi rolled his eyes. "He's more into guys, so—"

ZUSHI! Killua's brain screamed. He wondered if Zushi could hear it, because a second later, Zushi flinched. Zushi shrieked and Killua realized it was because he was unaware of the fact that he had Zushi by the arm, pinching him relentlessly with an vice-like grip between his thumb and index finger. He held on until Zushi cried uncle.

"I am this close to beating you with a stick," Killua threatened.

"Bite me," Zushi snapped. Killua took a threatening step towards him.

"Kinky," Gon said.

Zushi recovered long enough to slap Gon in the arm and shove him in the direction of Ren Hall. The heat in Killua's face ruptured in his ears where his heart was already pounding. He put a hand to his hair as he heard Gon ask, "Why do you always go to Hatsu? You've never invited him over!" to which Zushi replied, "This is why I haven't invited him over!"

"Me?!" Gon whined, moaning miserably. "What did I ever do to you?"

Killua hurried after them, pressing the back of his hands to his cheeks to cool them down. It was no use, though. He would never be able to recover. He was certain that in one month's time, his obituary would declare the cause of death to be humiliation in the face of his ultimate crush. It would have been a relatively swift recovery were it not promptly followed by said crush saying the word 'Kinky' in front of him.

Gon walked with an arm around Zushi's shoulders like they were a couple, and Zushi looked as pleased as ever as they walked from the gym to Ren Hall. Ren Hall was the newest dorm facility on campus and therefore, housed the majority of underclassmen athletes. It was close to the gym, had the best dining hall, and the best view of Yorknew's epicenter: The massive, elegant park.

Yorknew University boasted the best of the university experience as well as the city life. They were amidst the hubbub of the best tourist destinations and on the outskirts of the park. In another life, if Killua wasn't allergic to sports, he might have been more keen on taking runs through the park to clear his mind.

The Ren dining hall was across the road from the park, and so as the three of them converged on an empty spot, they took the tall table nearest the windows. Killua paused to stare out past the street rails and over the trees. They were up high, overlooking the park, and there was a group of tourists standing at one of the outlook posts taking pictures.

"Makes you think we're actually special being here," Killua said to Zushi. He glanced over and Zushi shrugged.

"I don't know. I think the only reason I got into Ren Hall is because of dumb luck," he said.

"Dumb luck my ass," Gon said.

Zushi scowled at Gon and barked back, "You're literally an athlete. They're required to give you a room here."

Gon put his nose in the air and beamed. "And I'm proud of it."

Zushi huffed with a roll of his eyes. He dismissed himself to get food, and so Killua watched him march off. Zushi made it to the half wall before turning around and putting his thumb up. And then, he winked.

I'll skin him alive, Killua decided, fists clenched over the back of his seat.

"So have you been to this dining hall before?" Gon asked.

Killua blinked, looking away from where that smug rat disappeared. Gon was watching him, his head tipped to the side like a goddamn puppy. Killua stepped away from the table and Gon followed after him as he said, "No, not really. When I toured they took us through here, but that's about it."

"Then I'll show you around," Gon said. He reached for Killua, and the next thing he knew, Gon's hand was on his elbow like they were about to waltz or some shit. Killua's skin prickled as Gon walked him from one end of the dining hall to the other, naming off the foot spots and dessert plates and, let us not forget, the protein shake bar.

This place really is for athletes, huh? Killua thought as Gon walked away from the counter with a protein shake in hand.

He rejoined Killua and said, "You look like you work out."

"I—what?"

"What? That's not an insult."

"Excuse me?"

"I just said it's not an insult!" Gon cried, and Killua grew flustered the instant he realized that Gon was flustered. Gon removed his hand from where he had it at Killua's upper back, guiding him along down the salad bar line. He put it in his hair and sighed, "I mean that it looks like you work out. We've got, like, the same body shape going on."

Killua stepped back to stare at him, completely flabbergasted. "What's that supposed to mean? And no, I don't work out. I don't think I've ever worked out aside from running to catch the bus."

Gon's eyes brightened as he gasped, "You're serious? Dude, I would be down to show you around the gym some time. I've been looking for a gym buddy but all the guys on the team are absolute bulldozers. We don't run on the same wavelength, if you know what I mean."

Killua's heart was shot. He was certain it wasn't even moving anymore and at this rate, his obituary would be printed in a week's time rather than a month. "No, I really don't."

"I mean, I work out every day but it's no fun when your gym buddy's on the other side of the gym doing a completely different thing because they've got a different regimen. I could just put you on my regimen and we'd, like, build you up from the ground up. You'll be ripped by the end of the semester."

"The end of the semester is in forty-three days," Killua deadpanned. Gon's excitement paused to consider the specificity of Killua's answer. "I keep track. And I eat too much whip cream for working out to make a difference. At that point I'll just be cancelling out my sugar intake in a day."

"I—Wait, how much sugar do you eat?"

"Dude, I work at Starbucks, in case you forgot."

"I didn't forget," Gon said. Before Killua could read into that and twist it into something it absolutely wasn't—Midnight Killua would get to reel over it later that night—Gon added, "Come on, it'll be fun! I'll give you my number, you can text me your schedule, and we'll work something out."

Gon punctuated the end of the discussion by dropping an empty plate into Killua's hands. Killua stared at him and managed a shrill, "O-Okay," because really, he couldn't breathe for shit.