If you ever want to know what it feels like to be professionally judged by someone who can't pronounce the word "banana," grow up in the Zoldyck estate with Killua for a twin.
By now, we were maybe nine months old. Old enough to crawl like demons, stand for more than five seconds, and throw food with tactical intent. Killua had recently figured out how to twist the caps off feeding bottles. I'd caught him trying to pour one down a heating vent like it was acid.
It probably was.
We hadn't been officially introduced to the rest of the family yet. But the butlers had changed—more of them now, always nearby, always watching with those soft-footed, absolutely-would-kill-you-in-silence eyes.
And then there was him.
The quiet one.
Zebra tie. Black suit. Dead eyes. Always carried a tray.
He never spoke. Never smiled. I didn't even know his name at first.
But he knew mine.
He'd appear at exactly the same time every day, like he was synced to my internal clock. Always 6:17 AM. Not a minute before. Not a minute after.
He'd wheel in a small tray, open it, and reveal the same offering: a cup, a cloth, and something strange.
A needle.
Tiny, capped. Silver.
Sometimes it was blood red.
Sometimes dark blue.
Sometimes pale gray.
I never touched it.
Neither did Killua.
But we watched.
📿 Zodiac Core System
📌 System Note: Stimulus Ignored – 3 Consecutive Days
📈 SE: 1.0
📌 Dormant
It had officially become a game.
What would make us break?
They tried smells.
Scents laced into our pillows, soft chemicals that stuck to skin like secrets. One week, I couldn't stop twitching. Another, Killua bit me during a nap. We both blamed the incense.
Then came the toys again.
Not harmless this time.
Spheres that pulsed faintly with warmth. Weighted cubes that rolled differently every time. Killua swallowed a bead once and scared three nurses into filing paperwork.
He smiled for a full hour after that.
I started naming the experiments in my head:
Puzzle Day. Sedation Test. Blood Trigger. Isolation Hour.
And then came The Silence.
It started as a routine day.
Crawl, balance, fake nap, throw pacifier at Killua, retrieve pacifier with foot like a ninja.
But then... no breakfast.
No butlers.
No cameras blinking.
Just... stillness.
No one came for an hour.
Then two.
I didn't panic. Not yet. But I noticed.
Killua did too.
At exactly 11:00, he stood up, walked to the wall, and punched it.
Nothing happened.
Not a sound.
He turned to me and grinned.
"Finally."
I stared.
That was his second word.
📿 Zodiac Core System
📌 Milestone Logged: Isolation Response
📈 SE: 1.2
📌 Core Tension Detected – Rooster, Monkey, Goat (Low)
Another trio.
Still sealed.
Still flickering behind the wall like strangers in a dream.
But the system was watching again. Every moment, every heartbeat. Like it was grading a test I didn't remember taking.
We slept that night in the same room—two floor mats, one cold lamp, no guards.
I didn't trust it.
Neither did Killua.
But we didn't say anything.
Not with words.
Just glances.
His said: Stay sharp.
Mine said: I never stopped.
The next morning, the zebra-tie butler returned.
He didn't bring the tray.
Instead, he opened a panel in the wall and out rolled a small crate.
It clicked softly as it opened.
Inside?
A mask.
Black. Smooth. Featureless. Just big enough to fit a child's face.
He didn't say anything.
Just placed it on the ground between us.
Then walked away.
Killua picked it up first.
Tried it on.
Stared at me through the blank shell.
Then tossed it at my feet.
I stared at it.
Waited.
Then slowly placed it on the mat in front of me.
We never wore the mask.
But that was the moment we realized something important:
We weren't being trained.
We were being chosen.
Filtered.
Matched against each other like candidates for a role neither of us had auditioned for.
Whatever it was they wanted from Killua, I was Plan B.
Or maybe... a backup Killua.
Worse.
That night, I didn't sleep.
Not because I was scared.
Because I was thinking.
If they wanted to see which of us broke first…
I had news for them.
I was already broken.
But I was also rebuilt.
And I had twelve locked gods behind my eyes.
Let them test me.