Oh My God, They Were Roommates

[ 3 ] Maneater

First day of classes and Gon was already losing his mind again. It was the car ride all over again—dreamy, full of hopeful, lovely scenarios only to be crushed incessantly by his brain's inability to filter out the Worst Case Scenarios Of The Century. Gon, with his hair looking stunning (it was his best feature, by far, right next to his p e r s o n a l i t y) and brand new book bag to boot.

Ah, yes, Gon Freecss was ready to kick his Official, Actual First Semester of Freshmen Year in the ass.

Gon swept his backpack onto his shoulders and swung open the bedroom door. The instant he did, Killua's door opened and Gon was reminded that he had a roommate he hadn't anticipated. He didn't expect that news to be so refreshing. A roommate. While it cancelled out every chance he had of calling this apartment a bachelor pad, it was still a relief to have a place occupied by someone else—anyone else.

He was sick of spending every morning, day, and evening alone. It wasn't at the fault of his aunt, by any means. Ever since his grandmother passed away—the soul subject of Gon's attention before and after grade school—Gon realized how much time Aunt Mito spent away.

And, so, Gon stepped out with a cheery, "Good morning—!" like he was on a radio talkshow. He spun to the side and found Killua dressed in his everyday best, one strap of a backpack over his shoulder.

In that moment, Gon wondered why Killua being a student never crossed his mind.

"Wait—You're—" Gon started, and Killua sighed, walking ahead. Clearly, he was already done with the day. "You're going to class? You're a student?"

"Yes, I'm a student. I'm a freshmen, dude."

"What?!" Gon screamed, and Killua flinched. It was far too loud for the morning, but Gon's energy levels were skyrocketing faster than he anticipated that day. "What college?"

"USFC."

Gon's heart leapt into his throat. They went to the same college. Gon was so shocked by this that he didn't say a damn thing, not even as Killua started for the foyer and opened the door to leave.

Gon kicked back into gear. He leapt across the pathetically empty living room and to the door where he slipped on his sneakers and said, "Since we go to the same college, we should—"

"I'm not commuting with you," Killua said all matterof-factly. It came out in such a way that Gon felt borderline offended by it. Was there something wrong with him? Why wouldn't Killua want to commute together?

Killua turned to him, his hand on the door handle. Gon straightened, dropping his foot to the floor as Killua said, "And if you see me on campus, do me a favor and don't talk to me."

Killua punctuated the request by opening the door and promptly shutting it in Gon's face.

Gon collected every last shard of his self-worth that Killua shattered right then and then. With it, he mustered up his fury and muttered under his breath, "Well fine, wasn't like I wanted to walk with you anyway."

Campus wasn't all that far from their apartment, but in San Francisco's January temperatures, the Pacific brought a morbidly cold breeze through the city's streets. Gon was certain his car privileges would come in handy in winter and, for that reason and that reason alone, he was grateful to have brought it to the city. Traffic may have been shit and parking may have been even shittier, but at least he'd be warm.

Internally, Gon was just waiting for the day Killua would decide that he couldn't stand the cold walks anymore. Killua would have to depend on him to get to classes without freezing his butt off.