Kill, Save, or the second option? (Hunter x Hunter)

Chapter 43 - The Good Old Times

Coming out of the corner to look for Pietro, the first thing Leorio witnessed was his friend talking to a stranger wearing a black hoodie. He saw the man hand his friend a wad of cash before his friend shook his head frantically in refusal. Suddenly, a surging terror and anger struck him after coming into a realization that this man might be asking Pietro to sleep with him! With Pietro's pretty face that attracts dirty bastards, this wasn't the first time Leorio has experienced a situation like this. He immediately took action and grabbed an empty alcohol bottle lying around the side of the street before rushing towards the man with full force.

Unluckily, the man dodged his attack, but Leorio didn't insist on trying to hit the man again. Seeing the man was stunned, he took this chance to grab Pietro's arm and run away.

"Let's go, Pietro!" Leorio tugged on his friend's arm, only to receive an opposing force. He felt Pietro pull his hand back. When Leorio turned around, he saw Pietro's petite back running towards the man.

"Hey, mister, are you alright!?" Pietro saw the handsome man was wearing a glum expression as if his parents had given him an avocado for Christmas. Since he didn't want his relationship with the man severed, Pietro immediately apologized for his friend's behavior.

After cursing the system in his heart, Friday focused on the children in front of him. One was apologizing, while the other stared at his friend with confusion. After thinking of something, a mischievous smile appeared on Friday's lips.

"Sorry? You think a sorry would cut it?" His tone of voice was still gentle, but there was a layer of frost underneath. "If I got hit with that bottle, I could've died, you know? I need some sort of compensation." The temperature around Friday suddenly dropped, sending shivers down Pietro's and Leorio's back.

Pietro apologized again, bowing his head this time.

Seeing his friend apologize so submissively like that, Leorio couldn't take it anymore. From his friend's actions, it seemed like he misunderstood the man's intentions. He knew that he was in the wrong, but he was annoyed with the man's cocky nature. "Pietro, let's just go."

Before Leorio could take a step forward to fetch his friend, the man suddenly laughed and ruffled his friend's hair with his unbroken arm. The atmosphere immediately lightened.

"Pietro, is it? Don't worry, I'm not mad." Friday peeped at Leorio and smiled at the other child knowingly. He knew the boy just misunderstood the situation and tried to save his friend. "How about you two help me with something tomorrow? I'll take that as the compensation."

Even without knowing what he needed to help, Pietro nodded his head. Don't get him wrong. He was only acting obedient and sweet to the man he recently met because of money! The man was willing to give him money every day; he wasn't going to pass that up. With that money, they wouldn't starve to death! They also don't need to beg, collect cans, or search in the trash for food for the time being.

"Alright, I'll see you two tomorrow." Friday waved goodbye happily.

Pietro nodded again -and this time, he was the one who pulled the angry Leorio, who was huffing and puffing, back to their sleeping place.

---

Friday woke up the next morning lying on a small hard bed. Frowning due to back pain, Friday got out of bed to freshen up.

Last night after meeting the boys, he directly went to the old lady's place to rent the room. The old lady, María, was just as Pietro described her - nice and poor. After explaining that Pietro informed him about the place, María smiled and welcomed him to see the second-floor room.

The house overall was shabby. Luckily, unlike western-style buildings, they don't make the floors with wood but cement. In other words, there were no creaking wooden floorboards that would pierce your ears at night when you get up to look for a midnight snack.