Monsters are People Too (HxH/BNHA Crossover Fic)

16

Seven times.

They had fought seven times in total.

Gon had taken seven hits from Mirio, only becoming more  and more eager the longer they fought. As they continued, the blonde  couldn't ignore the aching in his fist anymore as the boy's reaction  time grew shorter. Gon had already been able to predict Mirio's next  exact location by the second hit. Each attack was more drawn out as he  spent more time dodging when he realized the boy was getting closer to  being able to return one of his punches. For something that felt like it  was taking forever, at the end of each collision the teen was stunned  to find they had only been going at it for barely under a minute.

"Just one more! I promise, this last time then we can  stop." Gon pleaded, throwing his best pair of puppy dog eyes at the  blonde. Mirio took a shaky breath, chest heaving from exertion.

"That's what you said... the last four times! You have... a  surprising amount of stamina." Mirio huffed out. "I think we should  move on from this now."

"One more time, please?"

"Man, how long are you planning on doing this for anyway?"

"Until I can hit you back!"

An exasperated sigh escaped the teen. "I give. But don't  think I'm just gonna let you land a hit on me. If you can't manage it  then we're done, no more retries this time. One and done. Work for you?"

Gon nodded, green spiky hair bouncing from the force of the movement. "Yeah!"

In truth, Mirio truly didn't know what to expect from  the boy and his odd behavior. Every time his fist connected with his  stomach it felt the equivalent to punching a solid wall of stone. No  matter how much force he put behind it, Gon didn't seem much affected  either and that irked him just a bit. Not only that, but he had yet to  confirm what the boy's quirk was as no one had mentioned it and being a  new student, it wasn't something that was well known throughout the  school just yet.

The strength of his body that absorbed the teen's  attacks might have something to do with his quirk, but he had no way to  confirm it just yet. He knew better than to assume what his opponent was  capable of. And Gon had a way with surprising him.

After taking a second to catch his breath, Mirio adjusted his body back into a fighting stance. Then everything shifted.

It felt like the very ground beneath his feet was  slipping away, even though his quirk had not yet been activated. The  world around him, the soft buzzing grumbles of the recovering students,  faded away into darkness. He could feel his pupils shake has they  tunneled in on the boy who hadn't moved a single muscle from where he  stood. A heavy tension coated the air, thick enough to the point his  lungs seemed to struggle to take in oxygen.

Blazing amber eyes watched him. Not a single vein,  muscle, or limb even twitched as the boy's entire being was focused on  Mirio alone. It was different from the past seven times they'd fought.  This... whatever this was... was new. Dangerous.

With a flicker and barest blink of an eye, Gon had  vanished. A small cloud of dust drifted up in the wake up his movement,  so sudden that it didn't lean in any direction to suggest where the boy  could've gone. It was with pure instinct that the blonde startled out of  his stupor and activated his quirk. He was just in time as a green boot  sliced through his head, and the teen's body retreated into the ground.

Gon's jaw was clenched, fists closed tight by his side  to prevent himself from doing something he promised he wouldn't. The  fire searing a hole through his chest didn't help to calm him down any. A  faint smile ghosted his lips, shoulders flinching slightly as he sensed  the figure rising up behind him. Everything from that moment onward  seemed to take place in slow motion. But it only lasted two and a half  seconds.