Hi, minna! Sorry for the long wait. This semester was really stressful. I'm on my summer break now, so I'm gonna make it my goal to finally once and for all finally finish this saga of My Assassin Boyfriend. We're almost there, minna! This chapter is dedicated to @TheVeryLonelyOtaku for reading the entire book in a single day. Impressive! As said before, I will say it again. Stay awesome! Trouble out.

(Killua's P.O.V.)

As I jumped off the catwalk, a strange new feeling came over me. It wasn't fear or anxiety. Normally, when I face an enemy that I know is stronger than me, I repeat the mantra don't get killed. This time, Yuki's words echoed in my mind, making me feel more confident in myself and my heart race. No one's ever said they believed in me before. I can't let her down. I can't afford to lose. If I do, we're all dead.

I landed on my feet from the catwalk, facing Illumi with about thirty feet between us. Illumi gazed at my direction, displeased. I could feel the same for him. He used me as a puppet as he always did. A puppet of darkness. A passionless killing machine. That's how he raised me up to be, and he almost accomplished that. Not only did he alter my memories to force Alluka and I back home, but he used me to harm my own friends without even knowing it. That is unforgivable.

"Killua... have you already forgotten the most important lesson I taught you?"

How could I? He literally had it implanted in my head with a needle. "Never fight an enemy who is stronger than you. Well, I'm done listening to you. You expect me to standby and idle while you hurt my friends? Do you think I'm just gonna let you get away with this?"

"You would choose them over family?"

Illumi, I know in your own twisted mentality, you love me. But you don't truly understand what love is. It's not the same kind of love I feel for my friends, my real family. Sometimes love requires you to let things go, but you could never let me go free. Just like mother, you want to keep me, control me and my own destiny. That's why I could never love you. I used to always be afraid of you, but not anymore, because now I have something worth fighting for.

"My friends have treated me more like a family than you ever did. I told you before. If you consider Something as an object again, I will no longer consider you as my brother."

Illumi paused in silence before he nodded. "So... that's how it's going to be?"

"That's how it has to be." I took my stance, feet apart, one hand in front of me while the other to my side, close to my pocket. Should I go all out and use Godspeed first? However, it has been years since I've last spar with Illumi. I don't know what new tricks he has up his sleeve. If I show all of my cards too soon, I won't have anything against him if this battle takes too long. I have to make him underestimate me if I'm ever going to get the upper hand.

"Then for your own good... don't hold back." Without warning, Illumi sprinted straight toward me. I raised my arms, blocking his rain of punches and kicks. His attacks were pelting against my defenses so fast that I couldn't keep track of when he alternated from fists to feet until I felt the damage delivered.

The moment there was a second break, I took the opportunity to launch a punch. He swiftly dodged it and whispered in my ear, "You're left open." Without thinking I immediately concentrated my aura toward my core just before Illumi punched me in the gut. I felt my stomach lurch, nearly losing my breath. The force pushed me back a few feet, but I was still standing. I covered my mouth and coughed. Looking down at my hand, there was some blood splatter. If it wasn't for Nen, I probably wouldn't be breathing. Although there's now this dull pain in my stomach, I could still move.

I pulled out one of my yo-yos and waved it over my head in a 360 degree rotation. I hurled it, aiming for Illumi's left side of his head. He raised his arm up, letting the coil wrap around his forearm. Good. I cast my other yo-yo to capture his other arm. As I retracted the wires, I rushed at him, yanked on the strings as hard as I could, launching in the air with one leg forward. Without him expecting it, I kicked him in the chest. I retracted my weapons as he stumbled back.

Illumi pressed a hand over his chest where I left my show mark. "Nice toys. Did Miluki have those made for you?"

"Shut up!" I flung one at him again, this time he seized it in his hand.

"Sometimes he buys the cheapest materials online." He clutched his grip, crushing the superalloy in his palm. He dropped it on the floor like a crumpled piece of paper. I clicked my teeth, dropping the handle of the now useless wire, down to one weapon. "Sorry, Kil. But I'm gonna have to take your toys away."

The fire of my rage surged through my veins. How dare he talk to me so condescendingly like I'm still a kid. I rolled up the yo-yo and sprinted forward, throwing my punches at him. He blocked every blow effortlessly, but I didn't stop. Every effort does damage, no matter how little.

When I spun to deliver a tornado of kicks, Illumi grabbed me by the ankle, flung me high in the air. The world was spinning in my eyes so fast that I couldn't pinpoint where I was heading. It wasn't until my hip hit a metal edge and heard the chains clang and Yuki shriek.

"Ack!" I groaned in pain. My arm hit a box on the way down before my body flopped. As I laid flat looking up, I noticed one of the chains of the catwalk was broken, causing it to sway. Yuki was squatting, holding on to the railing in fear.

My view was blocked when Illumi appeared before me with his fist reeled back. I quickly rolled away before he punched the ground where my head was, cracking the floor. I somersaulted to my feet, wincing at the sharp pain on my hip, but I couldn't stop to care about it. I stepped on cargo and propelled off it, returning a punch to Illumi. He evaded, but I only managed to hit his hair.

I continued the never-ending assault of kicks and punches, focusing on finding the right open spot until my concentration was broken. "Killua!" Yuki yelled. I looked up right at the moment the second chain broke. One end of the catwalk dropped with Yuki's body sliding down. My heart stopped as I watched her grab a bar at the last second. She was now dangling in the air, kicking her feet and holding on to dear life as the platform rocked back and forth.

"Hang on!" I climbed a couple of boxes and leaped up to catch her when Illumi suddenly appeared before me.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said before he kicked me in the stomach, causing me to nearly throw up. Dang it! I got so caught up on Yuki's safety that I forgot about Illumi for a second.

My body rolled on the floor. As I got up on my hands and legs, I was immediately flattened when Illumi slammed my head against the ground.

The third chain snapped, the platform now spiraling uncontrollably. Yuki's shrill of fear was agonizing as I tried to fight to get up, but Illumi was too strong.

"I am disappointed in you, Killua. By now, I thought you might have grown stronger, but you left many open spaces for yourself, and you turned your back on your enemy. You're out of focus and not careful enough. This girl has been nothing but a distraction to you... and now you're gonna watch her die."

"I can't hold on!" Yuki cried. I could see her grip slipping as well as the rusty weak link beginning to strain wide.

That's it! No more playing around. I grabbed Illumi's arm and charged an electrical current into both hands. "Lightning palm!" I shocked Illumi, not that it would inflict pain but would definitely jolt him in surprise. I took advantage of his moment of confusion to swing my legs in the air. He jumped back, but all I needed was space away from him. I flipped back to my feet and leaped upward.

At that moment, the final chain snapped and Yuki let go, screaming as she fell. I snatched her figure into my arms and then grasped the railing of the platform falling on top of us. I kicked my feet off its flat surface and held on to Yuki even tighter as she wrapped her arms around my neck. A loud crash sounded when the platform smashed a dozen crates underneath. I landed safely on the ground, keeping my hand on the back of Yuki's head. She was shaking.

"It's okay, I got you," I hushed. I settled her down. Yuki loosened her arms around me and looked into my eyes with astonishment. She lifted her quivering hand that soon became calm and still when she touched my face, softly rubbing my cheek.

"Killua, your face..."

I haven't had the luxury to look at a mirror so Illumi must have done a number on me. "It's nothing."

"Ah, so you're a Transmuter, are you?" Illumi said. "How fitting... and how unfortunate for you."

I growled before looking back at Yuki. "Yuki..."

"I know. You don't have to tell me. Go get him"

As soon as she ran for cover, I unleashed the stored electricity within me, spreading the surge through every nerve of my body. My skin emitted a white glare that even glowed through my clothes. The strands of my hair spiked out from the electricity.

"So this is the power that you have been sav-" I phased from in front of him to his back view in an instant without giving him the chance to finish. I won't give him a chance to do anything. As soon as I kicked him in the small of his back, I swiftly moved below him, giving a double upper kick to his chin. Moving as fast as lightning, I delivered a blow in every point outside of his peripheral vision with sparks flying.

"Lightning-" I was about to bring down the thunder when I was stopped. He caught me. He grabbed my arm before I could bring it down. How did he know where I was? My movements should be invisible to the naked eye. I was moving at the speed of light unless he predicted his next opening.

"Too slow," he said as he flung me over his head. His yank on my arm was so strong and abrupt that I felt my shoulder pop, pulled out of its socket. I screamed in agony once I was thrown at the wall. The sharp pain from my right upper arm coursing through my chest, rendering me to barely move. The spark within me receded as the glow faded away.

"Killua!" Yuki yelled, running toward me and putting her hands on my back.

"No! Stay away!" I yelled through gritted teeth, though proven to be futile. I hissed in pain as she turned my body over. Before I knew it, Illumi was already standing behind her. Yuki looked over her shoulder and immediately wrapped her arms around me in response. If only I could do the same.

"Don't come any closer!" she threatened.

"Incompetent girl," Illumi said. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

Yuki stood up, about to hit him but was immediately slapped across the face, spinning her whole body. I gasped as I watch her body thump on the floor. With just one hit she already fell unconscious.

"How dare you!" I forced myself up with my good arm and charged him with my right arm dangling in the wind. Illumi stopped my punch with a single hand and tossed it aside. He grabbed my neck and raised me off the ground.

My throat tightened as I clenched my jaws, glaring Illumi in the eyes. My aura kept flaring up. Even though its strength was fleeting, I did everything I can to make it flicker. "What are you... going to do... kill me?" I wheezed with a grin. "I know... you can't... do it."

Illumi kept a straight face. "No. Instead, I'm going to break your other arm, and then both your legs... and then I'll kill all of your friends."

I could feel the veins on my temple popping. "That won't... happen..." All I could do to struggle was grab his arm with my good arm and twitch my bad arm. My aura was fading. No... not yet. My head was feeling dizzy as it ran out of oxygen.

"Face it, Killua. You're all alone."

I sucked in as much air as I could. "No... I'm... not." As the world around me started blacking out, I caught a glimpse of a warm light behind Illumi. That light was coming from the Nen channeling into Gon's hand while he charged up in his form.

"...Rock!" he yelled, punching Illumi straight in the back. The look of shock in Illumi's expression was pleasing to see as he let go of my neck. I gasped for air as I  flopped on the ground, still unable to move my shoulder without causing further excruciating pain. I simply turned my head to look at Gon.

"What took you so long?" I coughed, rubbing my throat.

"Sorry, guy who beat me up five minutes ago. I was taking a coffee break," Gon retorted.

"Fair point. Sorry about-"

"It's fine. We'll talk about that later. You okay?" He asked as he knelt down next to me.

"I... I think I dislocated my shoulder," I admitted, embarrassed.

Gon turned me over on my back with my right arm resting across my stomach. I winced at the pain once he palpated my shoulder. I could feel that there was a deformed bump on the front of my shoulder.

Gon looked me seriously in the eyes. "This will hurt like hell," he said, determined.

I understood what he meant. There was no way that I could go on in this condition. Gon places one hand over my elbow with the other holding my wrist. I took a deep breath and gave him a nod of willingness. He started to slowly move my rigid arm outward from my body. I bit down, bearing the pain. As much as I wanted to pull my arm back, I gave full control to Gon. Once my wrist was just at my side, he began to rotate my arm upward a bit faster. "Ahh!" That's when I heard the cracking. I let out a huge gasp of relief once the tension was released from my shoulder and I could move it freely again. It still hurt, but better than the way it was before.

"Thanks," I said, sitting up.

"No problem, pal," Gon said with a toothy grin. Taking a good look at his battered face, I immediately felt the guilt and shame. Even though I wasn't in control, I still could have done something to prevent this if I was more careful. I know Gon is too nice to hold a grudge and has already forgiven me, but I still can't help but feel that I betrayed him in some way.

"Killua, it wasn't your fault," Gon said. I was surprised as if he read my mind. Gon may not be very sharp, but he can somehow always read a person's emotions.

"Very clever, Killua," Gon and I stood up as we watched Illumi slowly get back on his feet, his hair covering his face. When Illumi had me by the choke hold, that was when Gon snuck up behind him. Even under Zetsu, Illumi would still sense Gon's energy powering up. I had to raise my aura as much as I could to distract Illumi to give Gon time to charge. I couldn't believe it actually worked. I could tell that he was pissed. "Gon... you always get in the way. You think you can really defeat me?"

"Alone, not a chance, but together we can." Gon looked at me with a confident smile. That smile that always gives me hope.

I nodded and smiled back at him before I faced Illumi with my own confidence. "It's always been Gon and me, and that's how it's gonna stay."

"We'll see about that." Illumi pulled out three needles from his back pocket and threw it at us.

"Look out!" Gon shouted. We split and dodged the needles, one missing my ear by mere centimeters. Illumi phased out and reappeared at Gon's side. As Illumi spun to swing his leg around, Gon raised his forearm and blocked it, sending him back several feet.

[Press Play]

I ran to Yuki and scooped her up in my arms, running far away from Illumi while Gon kept him busy. Once I created a safe enough distance from the battle, I carefully sat Yuki against a crate, placing her hands on her lap and tucking her hair behind her ears. Not that I plan on losing everything today, but I took another long last glance at her for good measure. I want to make sure that I won't ever forget that beautiful face again.

I ran back to where I last saw Gon and Illumi. Loud crashing sounds of wooden crates shattering came from around the corner. I made a sharp turn to that direction. Gon was throwing crates at Illumi who kicked and punched each container to pieces as he advanced closer. When it came to the last box within reach, Illumi punched through and reached out to Gon. By that time I already had my yo-yo pulled out and slung at Illumi. With his focus on Gon, he only noticed it too late. The toy hit Illumi's cheekbone. Not wasting the opportunity, Gon kicked him from under the jaw.

Illumi flew back in a backflip, landing on his feet but unsteadily. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Gon, you remember how to Helicopter?" I asked.

Gon looked at me in surprise and grinned. "How could I forget? It was always fun."

"Then go!"

Gon made a dash, circling around Illumi and I. I unrolled my yo-yo again. "That won't work twice, Kil," Illumi said, taking a stance. I grinned as I hurled my yo-yo, but not at Illumi. The end of the toy coiled around Gon's arm. When I tugged at the end of the cord tight, Gon used the centrifugal force to glide off the ground and started skipping across the stacked boxes around Illumi. At the peak of the momentum, I pulled the cord hard. Gon came close and swung his foot at Illumi, kicking him in the head once again.

Gon's feet skidded on the ground as he landed, untangling the yo-yo from his arm as I rushed forward to combat Illumi. My kicks and punches were slow this time due to injury and exhaustion, but Illumi has been driven to just as slow. Illumi stopped my movement by grabbing my foot. I quickly picked up a block of wooden crate debris from the ground and threw it at Illumi's face. As expected, he dodged it, distracting him as I swung my other leg around. He stopped it at ease with his other hand. That was also as expected.

With both his hands occupied, Gon rushed in and aimed his fist at Illumi. Illumi jerked his head back to evade. After he missed, Gon grabbed both of my wrists and pulled me out of Illumi's grip as he pushed him off with his foot.

"Gon, boost me!" I yelled. This was our only chance. Illumi has a short open window while he is out of balance. We can only get one shot at this. Gon nodded.

In mid-air, Gon let go of me and I fixed myself to aim at Illumi. I bent my knees and kept my feet together as Gon charged up all the energy he could in such a short amount of time. Channeling Ken to focus all of my aura to protect my feet, Gon punched the soles of my shoes, launching me with great force toward Illumi. "Go, Killua!" By absorbing all of the circulating electricity from my surroundings, the light bulbs and the machine cranes and lifts, I had enough power to activate Godspeed one more time. My arm shot forward with my nails sharp like the nose of a missile.

In a split second, I passed Illumi and softly landed on the ground. We both stopped in our tracks. I looked down at my hand where there was this soft organ pulsating in the palm of my hand, and then I looked back at Illumi. One step after another, he slowly turned around, revealing a clean hole in his chest, his skin gone ghastly pale. Illumi smiled.

"Heh... not a single drop of blood. Just like father." He trudged forward with every ounce of strength he had left, gradually seeping away. "You truly would've made... a great... assassin."

I took a deep breath and shuttered, my throat tightening. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not what I am anymore."

"I can see it... in your eyes. The eyes... of a... a killer." Illumi murmured. He leaned forward. I caught him when his legs could no longer support him. "I am... so proud... of you." In that instant, his heart stopped beating. The life left his eyes as his body slid away from my arms and dropped to the ground.

I stared at his body, waiting for him to get back up, but after a minute passed, the reality finally sank in. Illumi is dead. I killed my brother. I turned over my hand to look at his heart again. He was right. Not a single drop. It was like looking at my father's hands. Feeling sick, I threw the heart away and gagged, covering my mouth.

"Killua!" Gon said, concerned as he rubbed his hand on my back.

Oh, my gosh. I did it. "I really killed him..." My legs felt like jello as I fell and sat down, not turning my gaze away from Illumi's corpse. I actually defeated him. No, I killed him. This is what he wanted: a final statement. I could hear him laughing at me now. No matter what you do, you'll always be a killer. How could I have succumbed to kill so easily? He gave me no choice. Did I prove him right? Did he have the last laugh?

"Killua." I felt a familiar, soft warmth wrap around me. Yuki's calm heart beat against my back. She locked her hands in front of my chest. "Everything's fine now."

I swallowed hard and put my hand over her hands, gently pulling them down. "Are you really fine with this?" I turned around to face her. I held my breath in shock to see the bruise on her cheek that already turned grape purple. I raised my hand to touch it but hesitated. "This is my fault..." I stared a hole into my lap.

"Killua..." Gon muttered, empathetically.

"This happened all because of me." This happened because I brought Yuki into my messed up life. Why do I always put her in danger? Even as a trained assassin and a licensed Hunter, I still can't manage to protect the girl I love. How can I be so useless?

"No, Killua." Yuki cupped both of my cheeks and raised my head to face her. "This happened because of me."

"Yuki, no. Don't blame yourself for-"

"This happened because I made a choice. I chose to stay by your side no matter what because that's what my heart tells me. Even though I could've forgotten, I refused to forget you. I chose to come after you. But if you resent me for this-"

"Resent you?!"

"I'm sorry if I caused this much hardship for you, and I made you make an unfair choice you can never take back."

"I wouldn't change it for the world. Don't be sorry, Yuki. Don't be sorry." If it means I get to save everyone who matters to me, then I'm not sorry for what happened. I made my choice, and Illumi made his, I may be a killer, but I'm not a monster. I'm not heartless. If there's one person in the entire world who still loves me for who I am, then I don't mind. I won't kill for power. I'll only do what I can to protect the ones I love. "I'm the one causing you so much hardship. If anyone's being unfair, it's me. How can you still choose me after all of this? Ouch!" Yuki pinched me on the cheek, hurting ten times worse after being slammed.

"Dummy... you still don't remember, do you? I told you before and I'll say it again. I want to be with you no matter what. I love you, Killua.

I remembered. It was right after that time Illumi took Yuki's brother. I gave her an out, but she refused. It felt like ages ago since then.

Tears began to well up behind my eyes, a lump forming in my throat. "I just feel so useless," I croaked.

"Killua, don't ever think that you're powerless. I'm alive today because of you."

I couldn't hold back any longer. I pulled Yuki in an embrace, her arms wrapping around me as well. I cried, waling at the top of my lungs, telling on the mountain how grateful I am to have her. With all the dangers I faced and concerns I had today, I forgot the most important part; something I don't usually give myself credit for. I saved her.