a thread about the subtext in this scene because I want to talk about it for a second since I DO NOT SHUT UP and bc some of y'all wanted it

getting straight to the point, the reason I believe this scene has subtext in it is because of the language that gon uses in the original japanese version, and the reaction killua has to it

the thing about this scene is that after gon says "it can't be anyone but killua!", killuas reaction here is interesting, he appears to be shocked, almost as if the words gon said struck through him in a way, and i'll be explaining what I believe the reason for his reaction is

in the original japanese version gon uses two sentences to say that killua has to be the one to hold the ball for him, which are: "Booru wa Killua ga motte-kurenai to." and "Killua ja nakya dame nan da."

now, the interesting part of this and the main point of this thread is the second sentence, "ja nakya dame nan da", and the way killua reacted to it

the thing about this sentence is that in japanese this sentence is commonly used in the context of a romantic love confession. In fact, if you go and look up the sentence you'll find stuff like romantic songs or forum posts about confessing to someone

and the funny part about this scene is that the sentence "booru wa killua ga motte-kurenai to." and "killua ja nakya dame nan da" essentially mean the same thing, but killua ONLY has a reaction to the second sentence,

he ONLY appears shocked followed by him covering his face and smiling before getting back to the point after the SECOND sentence, not the first, even though they are very similar in meaning

even in the anime they show that killua has a reaction to the second sentence only, in fact, I think the animators tried to emphasize that more than the manga did

and what I think here is that while, yes, the sentence wasnt being used in a romantic context AT ALL, I believe that killua reacted this way because he wanted it to be, even though he KNOWS it wasnt romantic in the slightest, he wishes that it was

even in real life, when we like someone we tend to analyze the things they say to us, and when they say things that aren't used in a romantic context, but CAN be, many of us have a reaction similar to killuas, and we even take those words and fantasize,

thinking of a "what if" situation where they were being used in a romantic context, so its not crazy to say that killua was having this type of reaction to gons words.