One warm night four boys stood in front of a bakery. No one knew them. No one knew where they had come from.
The baker's wife saw them first, as they stood looking in at the window of her store. The youngest boy with spiky black hair and brown eyes was looking at the cakes. The two older boys, one wearing a suit and the other with long golden locks were pointing at the loaves of bread, discussing something. The last boy was looking at the chocolate candies with his hands in his pockets.
Now the baker's wife did not like children. She did not like boys at all. So she came to the front of the bakery and listened, looking very cross.
"The cake is good, Kurapika," the youngest boy said. He was about 11 years old.
"Yes, Gon," said the blond boy. "But bread is better for you. Isn't it, Leorio?" It wasn't really a question. The blond boy was intelligent, and had a way of making his commands sound more like suggestions.
"Oh, yes," said the oldest boy, adjusting his red tie nervously. "We must have some bread, and cake is not good for Gon and Killua."
"Bread is fine, anyway," said Killua nonchalantly. He was also 11, and he had silver hair and blue eyes.
"You are always so mature, Killua," said Gon smiling at him. Killua faced the other direction with a mild "hmph" in response to Gon's complement.
"Let's go into the bakery," said Leorio. "Maybe they will let us stay here for the night."
The baker's wife looked at them as they came in.
"We would like three loaves of bread, please," said Kurapika. Gon smiled politely up at the woman, but the woman did not smile. She looked at Leorio as he put his hand in his pocket for the money. She looked cross, but she sold them the bread.
Kurapika was looking around and he saw four red benches under each window of the bakery. The benches had flat red pillows on them.
"Will you let us stay here for the night?" Kurapika asked. "We could sleep on those benches, and tomorrow we would help you wash the dishes and do things for you."
Now the woman liked this. She did not like to wash dishes very well. She would like to have older boys to help her with her work.
"Where are your families?" she asked. They all looked extremely different from one another so she knew they could not be related to each other.
"They are dead," said Kurapika, flatly.
"I have a father, but we can't find him," said Gon.
Killua put a hand over Gon's mouth before he could say more. "Gon, keep still," he said.
"Why can't you find your father?" the woman asked Gon.
"Gon was separated from his father at a very young age," Leorio answered in Gon's place.
"Did you know what he looks like?" asked the woman.
"No," said Kurapika. This was a lie. Gon had a photo of his father tucked away in his brown backpack. "He never came back to find Gon, and so we are searching for him."
"Where did you live before you came here?" asked the woman.
But not one of the four boys would tell her.
"We will be fine," said Kurapika, eager to get back to the topic on hand. "We want to stay here for only one night."
"You may stay here tonight," said the woman at last. "And tomorrow we will see what we can do."
Leorio thanked her politely. "We are all pretty tired and hungry," he said.
The boys sat down on the floor. Leorio cut one of the loaves of bread into four pieces with his knife, and they all began to eat.
"Delicious!" said Gon, happily.
"Well, I never!" said the woman.
She went into the next room and shut the door.
"I'm glad she is gone," said Killua rather coldly. "She doesn't like us."
"She is good to let us sleep here," said Kurapika, taking a bite of his bread with his eyes closed.
After supper the boys lay down on their red benches, and Gon and Killua soon went to sleep.
But Leorio and Kurapika could hear the woman talking to the baker.
She said, "I'll keep the two older boys. They can help me. But the two little boys must go to the Children's Home. They are too little. I cannot take care of them."
The baker answered, "Very well. Tomorrow I'll take the little boys to the Children's Home. We'll keep the other two for a while, but we must make them tell us who the youngest boy's father is." The baker was not fooled by their lies and suspected that they were hiding something.
Kurapika and Leorio waited until the baker and his wife had gone to bed. Then they sat up. In the darkness, Kurapika's eyes glowed bright red, the way they did when he was experiencing intense emotion. "Let's get out of here," he finally commanded.
"Yeah," said Leorio. "We will never let Gon or Killua go to a Children's Home. We must be far away by morning, or they will find us. But we must not leave any evidence that we were here."
Kurapika sat still, thinking. He liked to strategize and organize every detail first. Leorio was very patient.
"Our clothes and a cake of soap and towels are in my bag," he said. "Gon has his backpack. And we have two loaves of bread left. Do you have your suitcase, knife and the money?"
"Yes," said Leorio. "I have almost forty jennies."
"You must carry Gon," said Kurapika. "He will complain loudly if we wake him up. But we will wake Killua."
Killua however woke up at once. He sat up and rolled off the bench with his hands in his pocket. He did not make any noise.
"I'm tired of moving around so much," he said calmly. His eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Should I kill the baker and his wife? Then we could stay here forever."
Kurapika shook his head, tossing Gon's backpack towards Killua who caught it effortlessly. "Unfortunately this is a business establishment, not a home. The townsfolk would notice if their local bakery never opened again. Killing them would only alert people to our presence even faster."
Killua tsked, throwing Gon's backpack around his shoulders in irritation. Kurapika wasn't mad at Killua for his suggestion. He and Leorio knew that even though Killua was very strong, he was also very young. Everyone just wanted Killua to stay on the right path. All Killua wanted to do was protect Gon. And have fun of course.
Kurapika put the two loaves of bread into his bag, and then he looked around the room.
"All right," he said to Leorio. "Pick up Gon now."
Leorio took Gon into his arms and carried him to the door of the bakery. Kurapika took Leorio's suitcase and opened the door very softly. All the boys went out quietly. They did not say a word. Kurapika shut the door, and then they all listened. Everything was very quiet. So the four boys went down the street.