Knuckle stood tall before his audience with the smell of cigar smoke hanging heavily in the air. After the defeat of the Chimera Ants and the revival of Gon, Knuckle didn't really have a whole lot to do. On top of that, he was low on money and stranded in an unfamiliar city, so when the offer to make some cash fighting in some shady club came his way, he didn't hesitate to take it. Now he stood alone in a small fighting ring, looking out over a large crowd of shadowy people as his final fight of the night approached. None of the opponents facing off against him posed any real challenge, and he had yet to even see another Nen user during his entire time spent in the city.
His opponent stepped into the ring and gave a confident smirk in the Hunter's direction. When the fighting commenced, the man charged Knuckle, only to be hit by a series of powerful strikes, ending the match as quickly as it had started. With his rounds completed, Knuckle went to a back stage area of the club so that he could be payed by his manager.
"Jeez, could you not try to knock 'em out so fast, you know that a fight is supposed to be something dramatic, right?" the club manager said in an annoyed tone.
Knuckle wasted no time with his response, "I don't like this either, the moment you bring in someone that can actually fight, you'll get drama."
"Can't you just kind of fake it a little? You know, just take a hit or two and don't knock the guy out so fast."
"Absolutely not! A man gives his all in a fight, nothing less!"
The manager sighed before continuing, "Well look, despite your boring fights, you seem to have gotten some attention somehow. One of the high rollers here asked if they could see you, I'll give you a bonus if you just spend a bit of time with them."
Knuckle weighed his options carefully before responding, "Alright, have someone take me there, I'll shake his hand and then I get paid."
The club manager snapped his fingers and an assistant emerged from the back of the room ready to guide Knuckle through the club.
After weaving his way through the many tables of gamblers, he eventually stopped at a large booth seat that was slightly raised above the rest of the club. Sitting in it, he saw not a shady mobster like he was expecting, but a beautiful young woman with long brown hair. When their eyes met, she shot him a warm smile, causing him to blush and look away nervously.
"I'm glad you could come, please sit down." She said, ushering the young Hunter forward.
"A-Alright..." Knuckle answered with a degree of hesitation, still unsure about her motives. "So, why do you want to see me?"
"I saw how strong you were, knocking out all those long time fighters in a few hits like that, and I wanted to know more about you, I've always found strong men to be very... interesting."
Knuckle was thrown off by the implications present in that last line, throwing him off a bit, "Well, I'm a Pro-Hunter."
"Pro-Hunter? You mean one of those professional adventurers?"
"You could say that. Not all of us do big stuff like that."
"Are you one of the one's who go on adventures?"
Knuckle laughed a bit, now able to return to his usual, confident attitude, "Of course! I've been all over the place fighting! I even did a job in East Gorteau once!"
"Wow, that's very impressive, I've heard that place is sealed off like a fortress. So, what did you do over there?"
Knuckle recounted most of his time fighting against the Chimera Ants to the woman, making sure to include all the secondhand details he had heard about, like the Chairman's sacrifice and Gon's terrifying transformation. The only part he left out was the King's final fate, as he didn't feel like bringing up something so sad during what was supposed to be a triumphant tale.
When he finished his side of the story, the woman began to actually tell him a few things about herself. She revealed that her name was Shizuru, and that today was her last night coming to this club, as she was going to start looking after an old house on the behalf of an old woman. From the way she described the old woman, she sounded as if she was a powerful fighter despite her age, and Knuckle even suspected that she could be a Nen user. What was more, Shizuru even said that her brother and his friends were strong fighters that had been through their own fare share of adventures together.
"Well, it's nice to have met you, but it's getting late and I need to go home." Shizuru said after finishing her story.
"Wait." Knuckle responded. "At least let me walk you home, it's the least I can do."
"Alright then." Shizuru replied, a faint smile forming across her face.
She lead him out of the club, and the two walked alongside each other through the dark and empty street for some time before being stopped by a strange man shouting at them.
"Shizuru! Hey Shizuru! Where's my damn money!" he shouted insistently.
"Do you know that guy, or is he just some drunk?" Knuckle asked Shizuru quietly.
"You can see him?" she asked before he suddenly lept in front of them brandishing a flip knife.
"You're gonna give me the money you owe me now!" he said threateningly. As Knuckle got a closer look at the figure, he saw that his skin was a strange shade of bluish purple, and that he had small horns protruding from his forehead.
"Chimera Ant! I don't know how you managed to escape, but you'd better get lost or I'll make you wish you'd died in Gorteau!" Knuckle replied, readying himself for a major fight.
"What? What's a Chimera Ant?" the man replied.
"He's a demon Knuckle, from the Demon Realm, and I don't owe him anything." Shizuru said, a sense of disgust audible in her voice.
"Look you're gonna give me the money whether you want to or not!"
Knuckle stepped forward to face the demon, "Look I don't know what this is all about or what a Demon Realm is, but I won't let you keep this up anymore, just get lost!"
The demon rushed forward with his knife firmly in hand only for knuckle to quickly sidestep the attack, taking a firm grasp of the demon's arm before slamming down on it hard with his free elbow. The demon cried out in pain, dropping his weapon as the sound of bones breaking resounded across the empty street. With a single hard hit to the neck, the greatly outmatched demon collapsed on the ground, the strength of a Professional Hunter being too much for him to take.
"Are you alright?" Knuckle asked, moving over to where Shizuru was.
"Yes, he never even got close to me. I guess that really goes to show what Hunters are really like." she replied.
"Just another day at work." he bragged.
"Oh that reminds me, you said you didn't have anywhere to go right? Well how about you come down to the dojo I'll be watching over tomorrow. I'd love to have you there." Shizuru said, moving closer and closer to Knuckle.
"I'd love to." He replied, looking into her eyes.
The two slowly drifted closer and closer together, until they embraced and their lips met for a single tender moment. That moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of another voice reverberating off of all the surrounding buildings, causing the two to suddenly break from the kiss.
"Sis! Sis are you okay!" the voice shouted. Soon, Knuckle could see the source of the sound, a man with red hair that was styled not too different from his own. Based on what he was saying, this must have been Shizuru's younger brother Kazuma. "Sis, I'm so glad you're okay. We just got word that some crazy demon got over here and that he was looking for you. I guess I made it in ti-" Kuwabara was stopped in his tracks as he first noticed the demon lying unconscious on the ground, followed by the unfamiliar man still locked in an embrace with his older sister. "What's going on here, who are you and why are you so close to my older sis!"
"I'm Knuckle Bine, a Pro-Hunter, I just came here from-" Knuckle said, being released from Shizuru's embrace before being suddenly interrupted.
"Shut up! I don't know who you are, but I won't let you get away with this, you'll have to get through me first!"
"Kuwa!" Shizuru said, frustration audible in her voice.
"Heh, fine then. I'll fight you near Genki's dojo tomorrow!" Knuckle replied.
"Hm, you'd better get ready then, 'cause tomorrow I'll wipe that smirk off your face for good!" Kuwabara yelled back while picking up the unconscious demon and heading back down the street.
"Kuwa! Oh I'm so sorry about that, it's just that he's such an idiot." Shizuru said, first speaking towards her little brother before turning to Knuckle.
"Don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm happy that this just happened, I've been dying for a good fight for a while now, and he looks like he knows how to throw a punch. Besides, I get the feeling that he's a lot like me, fighting's in his blood, this sort of thing's just how we do things." the Hunter clarified.
"Well that's a relief. So, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?"
"Not really, but I can find somewhere pretty easily."
"Well if you don't have anywhere in mind yet, how about staying with me for the night? Kazu's hanging out with his friend Yusuke tonight, so it'll just be us."
Knuckle blushed heavily upon realizing just what she was suggesting before smiling and responding, "I'd love to."
The two of them then walked home as a warm feeling overtook Knuckle's heart.