Time passed. After Killua's twelfth birthday, Saiki Kusuo just waited.

Then one day, as Saiki Kusuo was finishing up a new invention, he found a note that Killua had secretly hidden on his desk.

That guy really is too carefree—he somehow snuck into the room again.

Two years. Saiki Kusuo had lived comfortably for two whole years. Even the speed at which his bracelets were "bleaching" had slowed down. By now, only about one-third had turned white.

Saiki Kusuo opened the note. It said:

"Big bro Kusuo, I'm planning to leave home for a fun trip—with Alluka! I'll injure Mom around 2 PM tomorrow to escape. I'll draw the butlers' attention, so I'll leave it to you to get Alluka to Nabre City!"

So that's what he'd been planning all this time?

He was going to injure his mom? Nabre City? Saiki Kusuo recalled that his own family's Nabre Company was based in that same city.

After reading the letter, Saiki Kusuo noticed his finger was covering part of it. When he moved it, he saw the date—it was from yesterday.

Saiki Kusuo slowly looked up. It was already past two o'clock.

Hopefully Milluki wasn't the one who got hurt.

If not Milluki, then it had to be Mom. And if she got attacked, there'd be a lot of screaming…

Then again, with that mom, she'd probably scream from joy instead…

"Ahhhhhhhh—!"

There it was. Mom's scream. The room was soundproofed pretty well… no, wait. Was that a thought? Her thoughts were screaming so loud he could hear them.

Saiki Kusuo left his room, his white coat fluttering in the breeze. Underneath, he wore a soft suit made by the assassin family's experts, with a black vest on top and regular straight-cut pants.

He wore the suit for protection and the pants for ease of movement and durability.

Don't think he was weak just because his powers were being limited. His psychic abilities were still active—just within a controlled range. He still wasn't good at things like throwing; accidents were way too easy with those.

But even so, it was still a big improvement from before. Much more normal.

He walked down the stairs, basking in the rare Zoldyck sunshine. Alluka, following Killua's instructions, was already waiting at the door.

"Big bro Kusuo, I want Sanmao!"

Go grab him yourself at the door.

Killua could've just ordered Nanika to grant the wish instantly, but he didn't want to do that. So Alluka came to Kusuo instead.

A wish was still a wish. It had to be fulfilled. Saiki Kusuo placed a hand on Alluka's shoulder—and instantly teleported them to where Sanmao was waiting.

[Alluka, do you really want to go out?] Saiki Kusuo asked. It was supposed to be Killua's wish.

"I do!" Alluka nodded hard. "I want to see the outside world. Nanika wants to see it too. We want to go!"

In Saiki Kusuo's glasses, he saw Alluka's face reflected—those sparkling eyes, and in her body, the faint shadow of Nanika nodding along.

I see. So this really is your own wish. I can feel it.

[I'll take you out. But don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this because Killua asked me to, Alluka.]

Saiki Kusuo slowly stood up. With his psychic sense, he saw that Killua was being chased by Tsubone, and Gotoh was already searching for Alluka on Mom's orders. He'd be here any second.

[A long time ago, I told you this, remember? Someday, your big brother would ask you for a favor. And in return, he'd do his best to grant all your wishes and help you grow up safe and healthy. Seeing the outside world is part of that.]

Saiki Kusuo carefully picked up Alluka. Her hair was long, and her dress was fancy—not ideal for running around. But Kusuo didn't see it as a problem.

"Big bro, wish…?" Alluka reached out. Only two more requests to go before Nanika could show up. They were short on time.

Saiki Kusuo's answer was to teleport.

Now they were on the rooftop of Nabre Company. He'd been here before—once he'd been somewhere, he could teleport there instantly.

Killua was still being chased by Tsubone, but soon their mother would tell Tsubone to back off.

Saiki Kusuo set Alluka down and started leading her downstairs. Alluka, who had barely ever been outside, was still staring blankly at the sky. Her breathing was a little unsteady.

Right—coming down from Kukuroo Mountain's high altitude all of a sudden, maybe she wasn't feeling well?

[Alluka, are you feeling okay? You can rest a bit if you need to.] With a change like that, it was normal to feel off. Just a day ago, she'd still been up on that mountain. She needed time to adjust.

I should've given her some buffer time. Yare yare, I didn't think this through.

"I-I'm okay, big bro… This is… this is what the outside looks like?"

[Hmm? What's wrong?]

Alluka stayed quiet for a long time. The only sound was her nervous breathing. "Daddy… will Daddy and Mommy really let me go outside…?"

Poor thing—Alluka had never been outside before. Now, she was actually scared. The outside world felt strange to her, even though Saiki Kusuo had shown her plenty of holograms of it.

[You're only thinking about this now? Don't worry. Killua already decided to take you out, so he's ready to take responsibility.]

"Will it cause trouble for brother Killua?"

Alluka was scared, and her kind heart made her worried. Saiki Kusuo could feel it through telepathy—even Nanika inside her was nervously fidgeting.

[Yare yare, Alluka, think about it—you're family. And there's nothing a family member can't be forgiven for. Mom and Dad only stopped you from going out because they were afraid something might happen to you. But this time…] Saiki Kusuo paused mid-sentence. He was going to say that Killua would protect her—but then remembered that Killua didn't even know how to use Nen yet.

Not exactly reliable.

[I'll protect you,] Saiki Kusuo said. At first, he hadn't planned to come along. But now he remembered how Killua had been after meeting Gon—like he forgot all about his family. He'd even said he wanted to become a Hunter and capture them all. Could that reckless kid really protect his sister? If Nanika's powers were exposed…

"Brother Kusuo will protect me?" Alluka was surprised. Wasn't Brother Kusuo kind of… weak? Though he was really smart.

[Don't believe me? I just brought you all the way from Kukuroo Mountain to here without even using Nanika's powers.]

If he was going to protect Alluka, then there was no point in hiding his strength anymore. Plus, Alluka didn't really have a sense of what strength meant—after all, she could do it too.

Suddenly, Alluka looked around.

Where was Kukuroo Mountain?

Where were she and Brother Kusuo now?

Where was Killua?

Just realizing it now?

Saiki Kusuo pointed southeast. Kukuroo Mountain was far off in the distance—so far it looked like a mirage.

[Killua's still on his way. Do you want to look around a bit while we wait? This is my company, so you can… hmm, well, the only thing here is a game console.]

"Alluka doesn't like video games."

That would break the heart of 95% of kids around the world.

Alluka looked up and suddenly gave a bright smile. "But if I get to play with Brother, then Alluka likes video games!"

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