Foreign Lands (BC X HxH)

11 Nero's secret

Killua woke up to someone poking him sharply. He growled, then waved away the offender. It happened again, and this time Killua felt the distinctive sharpness of a beak. "Nero?" He mumbled, then sat up with a yawn. "Chirp!" He opened his eyes and held a finger out, Killua smiled a little as Nero perched on it. "Good morning" Nero poked his nose with her beak in a greeting, he chuckled a little. "I missed you too" he didn't feel the need to keep up fronts around the understanding bird, it was a bird. Birds couldn't spill secrets. Nero hopped down onto his lap, then pecked once at the pin. He sighed. "Yep, I chose the bulls." He smirked. "every squad captain wanted me, but I didn't want to have that high expectations" Killua shrugged, "Prissy ass nobles and cocky royal bitches telling me what to do" He scowled. "imagine being placed with Uno's squad. For some reason I feel like his'd be the worst"

Killua spoke to Nero for quite some time, when he heard something. Killua's eyes snapped over to the hideout, and his eyes widened. It was moving. "What the fu-" Rooms were shifting, changing, moving around. Killua stiffened, then Nero hopped onto his head with a passive expression. Wait... He activated Gyo, and he blinked. The entire thing's got magic threaded through it. Is it...a magic building? That seemed entirely possible to him, at first he thought that they were being attacked. But Nero seemed to be strangely alert to danger and other people, so when she didn't react he got the feeling that wasn't the case. "Moving building" He muttered. "Weird ass magic" He heard voices, so he put on his monotone expression. "You might not like the others, their rowdy and loud." Nero chirped and rested on his shoulder, Killua sighed and got himself ready for the day.

5 minutes later he slid down from the tree, only to hear; "KILLUA!" He blinked over his shoulder, then had to dodge almost immediately as a blast of purple energy came flying at him. "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU ASTA!" For fuck's sake. Killua let out a wave of bloodlust, both Asta and Gauche froze. He narrowed his eyes as he let it fade. "Aim better, you almost hit Nero" They both blinked in confusion, then Asta's eyes lit upon his shoulder where the bird rested. "Nero!" Killua thought for a moment. Was he the one who drew the sketch? He's from Hage. Asta ran over, then paused. "Wait, how do you know Nero! Did she tell you her name?" Killua blinked, "Birds...can't talk" He said slowly. Nero fluttered her wings, then moved her perch from his shoulder, to his finger. Killua brought her closer to his face. "Unless you are sentient, you always seem to understand what I'm saying" Nero poked her break into his nose, then flew away a few meters.

"Did she just, boop him on the nose? Was that a bird kiss?" Asta muttered. Killua watched as Nero landed, then began glowing. His eyes widened slightly as her form shifted, and suddenly Nero, was a human. She still had the horns, and the same expression. But it was still Nero. "My real name is Secre, but everybody calls me Nero" Killua blinked. "I always thought you were a little too human to be a bird" The way she always answered his questions, the way- Nero walked over, then booped him on the nose. Ok, now that might get annoying. "Just so you remember, I know all your secrets" Killua stiffened slightly, only for a moment. Then he relaxed his stance, looking her cooly in the eyes. She stared back at him with a relatively blank look of her own. "What need is there to-" She grabbed his grimoire, which was in its satchel. Gauche and Asta were silent, until Nero broke it in half "Nero! You can't just-" Killua saw her eyes narrow slightly. "It wasn't his in the first place"

"wait, WHAT?" Asta yelled. Killua put his hands behind his head, a small smirk on his face. "I intended to reveal myself for what I was after integrating myself with the squad, but it looks like you forced my hand Nero" His ear twitched, and he activated En. Killua sensed Noelle, Charmy, and Luck in the trees. He chuckled. "Noelle, Charmy, and Luck. You aren't so great at hiding yourselves " There was dead silence, before Luck poked his head out from behind some leaves. "Your super perceptive! Did you sense our mana? Your pretty strong too!" he hopped down, an eager look in his eyes and his fists up. "Wanna fight?" He blinked. "Maybe later" the two females also climbed down, and everybody was looking at him. "Are you going to speak, or do I need to?" Nero started. Killua sighed, then decided on what to say. "So, I don't have a grimoire"

There was some muttering, which was pretty rude. "You didn't get one?" Asta asked. He blinked. "I'm 13" that got him a few gasps, shocked exclamations, the works. "B-But, you're really strong! Like, almost as strong as me!" Asta yelled. Killua narrowed his eyes slightly, the air grew tense. "never compare yourself to me in strength" this little idiot was nowhere near him, he needed to know his place. Nero gave him a look, and he let his intense air fade. As much as he was kind of hating her right now, she had been his only companion for a few weeks.

"but how'd you pass the exam!" Killua shrugged. "Needed the grimoire to register, talk high enough and nobody'll question it." He looked down his nose, putting on the same faux aloof expression he'd used to get into the exam. "Ah, that explains a lot" His eyes snapped over to Finral, who had his head poking out of a portal. How didn't I sense him? Damn it. "You had this frilly top layer on your outfit that made you look like a noble, as soon as you got in you cast it aside and proceeded to talk absolute shit about nobles and royalty" Finral said dryly. Then his eyes narrowed slightly. "But tell me why, why did you pick the bulls? Everybody else wanted you" There were some gasped. "W-Wait, all of them raised their hands?" Asta yelled, he did that a lot. Killua nodded briskly. "Just like Yuno-"

Killua shot him a glare. "I despise that guy" He hissed. Before Asta could ask why, Gauche spoke. "If you had the pathway to the golden dawn, silver eagles, and the crimson lions. Why the hell would you pick us?" He sighed at the questioning silence. "Attention's not my thing" and my goals don't align with yours. Then he left, just straight up walked away. This might be more hassle than it's worth.

1143 words

To be continued...