Chapter Text
Leorio was nodding off at his till.
Again.
Could anyone blame him though? It was the middle of summer and it was that sort of heat that makes your eye lids droop and ice creams melt. So warm and comforting that you could just doze away into a dream.
Leorio, however, could not fully appreciate the heat.
Why?
Why, for he was working at this shoddy little boutique where no one dared enter for the fear of the ridiculous prices. Well, except the extremely wealthy who had nothing better to do.
Okay, he was being a tiny bit over critical. The shop was really sweet, and the clothes they sold were quite fashionable. And this was coming from Leorio.
Yes, Leorio was slightly annoyed to admit that he had absolutely astounding fashion sense. He didn’t really know how it had happened. One second he’d been a fashion disaster freshman, the next all the girls in his year were coming to him for styling advice. Leorio hadn’t been sure at first whether he liked this new development. Those last few school years had gone in a blur, and before he knew it, Leorio was applying to universities and medical schools with the best grades and high expectations until he realised something.
He was completely broke.
So what was he stuck doing?
Working in a shop.
Said shop’s door opened with a chime, signalling it’s next customer. Leorio begrudgingly turned his head towards it. A kid, what’s-his-name, Killua?, sauntered in, hands in his pockets, a dull look on his face.
Now that was a kid with some style. For his age, at least. Half of pre-teens who came in the store made Leorio want to rip his hair out. Could they not see?! No, Killua was the exception of the rule. He’d come in every now and then and browse for about half an hour, before buying more than the average adult. Leorio had come to the conclusion that the boy must have been filthy rich, the lucky sod, because no other 12 year old boy would want nor be able to spend so much on clothes in one sitting. They sold designer clothes here too.
Today, he was wearing his signature purple trainers with some denim shorts and a sleeveless striped top. Leorio rated it 3.5/5, not his worst but not his best. He was about to turn away again, back to his eternal boredom, when someone else entered behind Killua. Leorio craned his head to see the other person.
His heart skipped a beat.
Killua’s friend was totally hot. How come he got such attractive friends?! In with Killua came this blond babe wearing, well hot damn, a perfectly fitted suit (do you know just how many men came in here wearing suits way too big for them?!) and these piercing blue eyes.
Leorio heard himself sigh aloud. Shit, regain your composure, Leorio. He coughed, pretending to clear his throat, and tried to straighten up, appearing a dedicated and resourceful cashier.
Killua missed none of this.
“Yo, old man-“
“I am not old!” Leorio growled between gritted teeth.
“-I have a job for you.”
“And what’s that, brat?”
“You see,” Killua began, observing both his counter parts. Kurapika seemed a little flushed himself. “We have this friend. His dress sense is…” He paused. “Okay, there’s no way of putting this lightly. It’s shit.”
“How bad?”
Killua held up a hand and then rummaged through his pockets. He withdrew his phone and tapped on it a few times before turning the screen to face Leorio. “This bad.”
Leorio moved closer to the screen. Killua watched as his face went from shocked to horrified to just down right embarrassed. “The green… the red and the jacket… No, no, no, was this boy raised in a cave?!” Leorio’s head shot up and he stared Killua right in the eyes. “What can I do to help?!”
Killua inwardly cheered. “We’re going to bring him tomorrow, around three. Would you mind helping me pick out some clothes that will actually suit him? He’s stupidly stubborn and he won’t take my advice or Kurapika’s here. Maybe he’d take yours.”
Leorio nodded enthusiastically, mentally noting that the older teen’s name was Kurapika. He glanced at the blond and found himself gazing right into his blue eyes. Kurapika went pink and quickly broke eye contact. Leorio was unknowingly just as pink. Killua’s eyes darted between the two men. An evil smirk slid onto his face.
Yes, this would do nicely.
---
Leorio was watching the clock.
It was ten to three.
He began to drill his fingers on the desk in rapid formations.
He tended to a customer.
He looked back to the clock.
It was seven to three.
Leorio groaned in defeat.
It wasn’t like he’d been waiting for Killua and Kurapika all day. Or like he was looking forwards to using his fashion skills. Or like he was eager to see that cute blonde again. But then again, who was Leorio fooling?
He sunk back into his usual position and he waited.
And waited.
Leorio had just finished cleaning his glasses for the hundredth time when he heard the shouts from down the street. Then he saw them.
Killua was forcing a boy around his age with dark, gravity defying hair, down the road. The said boy was squirming around and yelling, but Killua was just dismissing his shouts, calling his friend an idiot and carrying on shoving him forwards.
Leorio sat up straight when he saw Kurapika trailing behind the two.
Killua swung the door open. “Yo, old man.”
“I’m not-!”
“Yeah, yeah, not old.” Killua jabbed a finger in his squirming kid’s direction. He had his hand over the boy’s mouth, leaving the kid’s shouts to be muffled. “This is the kid. His name is Gon. Do your worst.” Killua released Gon.
Said boy took in a large gulp of air. “Killuaaaa…” He moaned. “Why do I have to do this?”
Leorio rose from his station. He glanced Gon up and down. He wrinkled his eyebrows. “Kid, have you seen your clothes? You’re even wearing the same ones that they showed me from the picture…”
Gon pouted. “Is it really that bad?”
Kurapika walked over and placed a hand on Gon’s shoulder. “I’ve seen worse, but you could do with some new clothes. You do wear the same thing an awful lot.”
Leorio felt his heart melt. His voice, his mannerisms, just Kurapika in general… God, he needed to snatch this one up before he got away.
Gon sighed, defeated. “Fiiiiine…”
Killua jumped for joy. “Right!” He swung around and pointed at both Kurapika and Leorio, “Help me pick out clothes!”
And thus, it began.
All three of the team began to succour the shelves, with Gon sitting on the shop counter, swinging his legs back and forth. Leorio was just glad that today had been, and hopefully would continue to be, uneventful; hardly anyone else come in today, other than this rabble of a group. Perhaps all other potential customers had just sensed that today would not have been the best day to go clothes shopping. Not here at least.
It didn’t look like the store was going to lose any profit today though. The three worker bees were pulling more clothes off the shelves than any one person could wear in a year. Killua, Leorio observed, was grabbing anything remotely reminiscent of what he liked to wear. There were lots of shorts and scarfs, and lots of whites and blues.
Kurapika, in contrast, seemed to be taking the task more thoughtfully. Every now and then, he’d pop his head up from between the racks and ask Gon’s opinion on a particular piece of clothing. Were these shorts the right size? How did he like the colour? Did he think that these two things would go together? Gon would always reply with a beam and a cheerful answer.
Leorio, finally, was trying to take as much of an objective stand point as possible and do what he always did, meaning he would just pick out whatever he thought would suit Gon the most.
It was a surprisingly fun activity, and even more fun when it slowly transitioned into a race of who could get to the items first. More than once, Leorio had found himself reaching for the same item of clothing that one of his competitors had also been considering.
When they were done, even Leorio was intimidated by the almost mountain like collection of clothing that they had accumulated, but Gon looked like he was going to overheat at the sheer mass of what he was going to have to try on. Yet, before he had time to even say a word, Killua grabbed Gon by the arm, all the clothes in his other arm (that kid was scarily strong), and thrust the two into a changing room, telling Gon that he’d be waiting outside so that he could give Gon his opinion when it was needed.
This left Kurapika and Leorio alone.
Everything was going exactly as Killua had planned.
Leorio shuffled awkwardly on the spot. He glanced in Kurapika’s direction. The other man was watching Killua and Gon from down the corridor. He had a small smile on his lips.
“Eh, ah, Kurapika, right?” Leorio mumbled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
Kurapika looked towards him, surprised. “Ah, yes. I… am afraid I don’t seem to know yours.”
‘…Know what?’ Leorio wondered.
…
“Oh!” Leorio said after a moment. “My name, right?” You idiot, he mentally chastened. “It’s Leorio.” Yeah, good save, Leorio. Good save. He tried to wink smoothly at Kurapika but just ended up blinking gracelessly.
Kurapika, thankfully, ignored this.“Oh. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Leorio.” Kurapika smiled wider and held out his hand.
Leorio desperately hoped that his cheeks weren’t as hot as they felt. He vigorously shook Kurapika’s hand before facing the other way and removing his glasses to furiously wipe them. Perhaps he could just wipe all of these stupid, boyish nerves away…
“So… What are you doing working here?” Kurapika asked.
“Hmm?” Leorio turned back.
“Well…” Kurapika began. He pushed some stray strands of hair behind his ear. “You don’t seem like stereotypical shop boy material, pardon the pun.”
Leorio grinned, reckless as usual. He kicked the air. “I need the money. Medical school.” He elaborated when Kurapika looked briefly confused.
Kurapika made an ‘o’ with his mouth. “So you want to be a doctor?”
“’Course! Why else would I go to medical school?” He teased. “What about you? What do you do when you’re not chaperoning these brats?”
“I’m a… body guard.”
Leorio raised an eyebrow. Well, that explained the suit, at least. “No offence but you don’t look like the body guarding type.”
Kurapika chuckled. “None taken. People believe that due to my small stature that I must be weak, but I assure you that I can pack a good punch if I need too.”
Leorio rose his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t doubting that. Still, doesn’t explain why a body guard is hanging around with two 12 year olds.”
“I’m Killua’s body guard.”
Leorio felt his mouth drop. “Whaaaaat?! Why haven’t I seen you with him before then? Wait, why does the kid need a body guard in the first place?!”
“I’m new. All of the previous body guards were not… adequate enough.” He paused. “That means Killua always managed to ditch them somehow.” Leorio snorted. “Exactly. Killua, however, seems to like me, and as long as I stay my distance when he asks, he won’t run off without good reason. What may have led to their termination, I have a theory. I believe that Killua reported them as feeble to his mother after they discouraged his friendship with Gon.”
Leorio frowned. “Why would anyone discourage a friendship with that spunky little kid? From what I’ve seen so far, he has a good influence on Killua…”
“He’s not exactly wealthy, however,” Kurapika elaborated. He had furrowed brows himself. “My clients tend to have a singular minded view of the world, and Gon doesn’t exactly fit into it. I, on the other hand, can see how this relationship is benefiting both him and Killua. I’ll keep it going as long as it’s in my power.”
Leorio glanced down the corridor. There stood Gon and Killua, eagerly chatting, Gon twisting and turning to check out his latest outfit. They both seemed happy. “…You’re doing a good thing.”
“Thank you,” Kurapika replied quietly.
Just then, Killua caught them staring. “Oi! Kurapika! Come help me out here!”
“Coming.” Kurapika smiled once more at Leorio before walking in Killua’s direction.
“Hey!” Leorio called out suddenly. He was even surprised by his own outburst. Kurapika swivelled round. Leorio scratched his cheek timidly, avoiding eye contact. “Feel free to pop by whenever, even without Killua. We might sell something you like…”
Kurapika smiled warmly. “Of course.”
When Leorio’s manager arrived back later that evening, Leorio was still hanging up the remaining discarded clothes, but was whistling happily to himself as he worked.