Never in my life would I have thought I'd be chased down like this. Anyone else would have given up by now, and I know that for a fact! It's not my first time being chased out of a city, I can tell you that, but no one's ever kept up with me like this before!
Carefully, I skate along the rooftops of buildings in York New, trying to lose my predators. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up because my nen reserves are almost at their limit. At this rate, I'll have to begin rollerblading on the rooftops, and God knows I haven't had to resort to doing such a thing in almost seven years! Hell, I haven't even bothered using my rollerblades in seven years!
I don't dare look back at the fearsome predators chasing after me as I run. If I do that, I'll screw up and fall of a building. All I try to focus on is getting away. Looking straight ahead, I squint my eyes to prevent them from drying out due to the harsh wind thats from moving so quickly. My hair whips around furiously in the wind as I find myself coming to a halt. It seems that I've reached the end of the city, the only thing below is a port to the ocean. I look down to check out my odds of jumping down safely. I don't have enough nen to cushion my landing with an emission. I gasp when I feel someone's arms wrap around my torso.
"Let go of me, you freak!" I struggle against his strong hold and try to break free. "Stop it!" I stomp on his foot, using the limited knowledge I know of enhancement to enhance the strength of my stomp. He pulls me into a choke hold as I attempt to dig my nails into his arm.
"This kid is pissing me off..." He mutters as I continue struggling against him. How can someone so small be so strong?! He tightens his grip on my throat, forcing me to fight for oxygen rather than fight against him. He snickers menacingly as I struggle. He's like a snake who's trapped a mouse to feed. The mouse is me.
"As much as you and I want to kill her, we were told to bring her back." A tall man with no eyebrows and a green jumpsuit looks down at me. My saliva's beginning to foam at my mouth, I probably look rabid.
"She has such a cute little fear-filled face, though." The black-haired man releases me, causing me to gasp for air. "I can knock her out though, right?" His eyes narrow, his aura becoming dark and sinister as he awaits approval from the other man. I find myself coughing and hyperventilating, trying to pull air into my lungs. I wipe my face of the bubbly saliva and find my body becoming slightly more relaxed.
"He never said how we should knock her out though." The green jumpsuited freak smirks and the caped hooligan grabs me as he says that. He throws me onto the roof so that I'm laying down. Pinning me down, he begins to choke me with a satisfied and wicked smile on his face.
Trying to fight against him, I place my hands on his, clawing at them to try and break free. Tears well up in my eyes, causing my vision to become blurry. These guys are insane... I try fighting back. It all seems so useless. I feel my body go limp as I'm forced to give up breathing for this long period of time.
All of my will to fight is gone. My throat is in so much pain that I can barely feel any other part of my body. The two men towering over me are just silhouettes at this point. I swear that I'll kill them... My vision fades to black on that last thought.
...Cat and Mouse...
Gasping for air, I force myself to wake. I cough a few times, remembering the pain that I just went through. It's not hard due to the heavy bruising that must be around my neck. Glancing around, there's a group of people staring at me. Some look annoyed and some look interested in me whereas the rest of the crew look at me with disinterest. I don't know what to do, so I look to the floor.
Swallowing my fear, I try to be brave. "Who are you sick freaks and why am I here?!" I shout, forcing myself to stand up only to realize that my wrists are tied back. I look back to see nothing, but with a bit of gyo, I can see nen aura in the form of threads. "Let me go!"
I glare at the group of people who don't seem to be fazed by me at all. "I would love to torture her..." The black haired man from before glares at me. I can feel his malicious intent through his aura emanating from him. The intent is strong, needless to say.
A man in all black with slicked back hair tilts my chin upward. I swallow and stare into his hollow eyes. They're so black. It might be a little cliche to say this; but they're as black as the abyss. Now I understand what people mean by stare into the abyss long enough and the abyss stares back into you. Okay, so maybe that isn't what they meant, but his eyes still remind me of it.
"You have quite a large nen capacity, don't you?" He smiles and I avert my gaze from his. My heart is beating quickly with fear. I can't really tell if his answer is rhetorical or not, but I'm not really inclined to answer either way.
He continues examining me. I'm a helpless little mouse in this situation. Different predatory animals are looking at me and deciding how to devour me. I have a feeling that as a whole, they're like a pitcher plant... Trapping it's prey within it's cup. The walls are too slippery and steep for me to climb out. Slowly, I will await my death as I'm being eaten alive. A slow and painful death. Is that what awaits me?
Separately, there's no telling the possible ways they would kill me.
"Little girl, what is your name?" He asks, his voice warm and inviting. Letting go of me, he backs up to give me a little bit of space. What's with this sudden change of atmosphere? I feel more uncomfortable than I did before, though I probably shouldn't.
"I'm not a little girl." I mutter. I love small rodents and comparing myself to them, but I'm not a little girl. Just as I would think, they assume me to be weak and helpless. It hurts my ego a bit. "My name's Hibiki Eclaire. That's Hibiki-san to you." I'm not really one to use honorifics in such cases, but just to have a little bit of respect at the moment would be nice. That, and I want a bit more of an ego-boost. I don't even really like honorifics, but if I feel someone should deserve one, I will give them one.
"Alright, Hibiki-san. My name is Chrollo Lucifer." He responds, gesturing at himself. I smile at the use of an honorific while speaking to me and I nod my head.
"So we've already decided what to do with you. However, you'll still undergo an investigation." Chrollo smiles pleasantly and continues sizing me up- or down. "Your hatsu type is emission, correct?" He asks, and I hesitate before nodding. Although I've known of nen for half of my life, I've only mastered emission. I only dabble slightly in enhancement and know a bit of transmutation. It's a bit of an embarrassment but on the bright side, my capacity is above average for anyone else my age, though.
"Your ability? If you have one, that is."
I hesitate. Should I really answer to him? If I don't, I have a feeling he'll kill me. Being slightly more cautious in that sense, I think it'd be a better idea to answer. "I call it nen skates, but it really isn't much of an ability." I say it modestly before continuing to explain further how they work. "I emit bursts of aura in the direction I wish to go. The bigger the burst, the faster the movement. I can walk on water or air if I apply it correctly, though." Explaining it makes it seem even less so. It's nothing special at all, just a simple application that any emitter could do.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You've obviously got something special if you had my colleagues chasing after you all day." He places a hand on my head and pats it lightly. I can't help but feel uneasy as he does so. So this is a group of hardened criminals?
"Wait, wait, wait." I pull away from Chrollo and glance at each member before continuing. "So you guys are supposed to be the bad guys, right? I'm guessing some sort of criminal organization, right? If you're so bad, why aren't I dead yet? Are you really a bunch of pansies...?"
I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow. They don't seem impressed. "Perhaps I ought to kill you." The boy who strangled me earlier speaks up. His aura has such a violent air around it. I almost regret what I just said. Almost.
"Now now, Hibiki-san. I don't think you fully understand the situation you're in at the moment." He raises a finger and I feel the restraints on my wrist disappear. Looking carefully, it seems to have been a pink-haired girl with an updo. I turn away so that I don't gawk at her. She's really pretty... "You either decide to help us with transportation, thievery, and murder... Or we murder you." He smiles a smile that is no less than eerie.
I look to the ground. If I try leaving, they'll catch me and kill me this time. What should I do? It seems that the only obvious thing to do would be to give in, but do they really want me to do that stuff? I have to kill? I shudder at the thought of me killing someone. I know I probably shouldn't... But... "I... I don't..." I swallow hard. Sweat begins beading on my forehead and probably other places as well. Why do I have to make such a decision?! "I don't want to kill anyone..." I mutter. Not after what happened.
Chrollo looks at me with a comforting feel to his eyes. It completely changes the mood for me. Maybe he understands the way I feel about such a thing? "Don't worry. We'll teach you to enjoy it" My eyes widen and I feel tears well up in my eyes.
To kill someone... I just couldn't think of how I'd be afterwards. I know I shouldn't hate it... he killed for my sake, so I should be strong enough to kill, too! It's been years and I've grown up since then- I have to. I have to be strong enough and having the ability to kill someone is a strength that I don't yet have.
"Please promise me that you won't kill anyone I care about as long as I'm with you!" I manage to say it as I hold back my tears. I look up to Chrollo who nods in response. "You're going to train me too, right?" I ask, looking at the ground. A simple yes from Chrollo is all it takes for me to not hate myself at the moment.
If they're training me, I can become stronger. I'll get stronger before I run away. I can't do it now and God knows that I have to escape. "P-Please make me one of you..." I mutter, giving into them.
PitaBunJello, here!
So I've decided to rewrite the fanfiction and have removed ALL~ chapters except for the updated ones. Hopefully these ones are better. I will be adding things, taking away things, fixing things... All that good stuff...
I hope that the new chapters keep Hibiki more consistent and "emitter-like" now that I have a template for her figured out.
Hopefully the new improved version is better! Please rate and review and I hope to keep my old followers and gain new ones as well as I update! Thank you all~
... Oh, and I also changed the title to Cat and Mouse as you can see~