BALANCE: The Collision of Light and Dark
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in this story, so please don't sue. Everyone and everything (HxH characters, etc...) is owned by Togashi Yoshihiro. Furthermore, whatever happens in the story will NEVER affect the original plot of the Anime/Manga.
SUMMARY: Kurapika was captured by the Genei Ryodan two years after the York Shin incident. Now, Kuroro Lucifer used Kurapika's friends – Gon, Leorio and Killua to bring the Kuruta to submission.
WARNINGS: This story happens in an Alternate Universe. Please do not expect it to happen in the original Anime/Manga. Please be warned that this fic may, or rather WILL, contain Yaoi/Shounen Ai stuff... This is my FIRST ever, multi-chaptered piece of writing; expect a LOT of OOCness and errors.
CHAPTER 1: Facing the Bandits
He was lost at thought for a few moments. This seemed to happen a lot more lately. Knowing all the possible consequences and weighing each one of them carefully, he had already memorized each and every step of the process. He had answers to every possible question and countermeasures for every possible event. He knew everything that has to be done when something else happens and had realized all possible substitutes for any mistake. In short he is very well planned, despite the incredibly short time that he was provided by fate to utilize and devise a strategy. He could never go wrong.
He could not afford to go wrong.
Not when his friends lives were at stake.
Not when his vow to those who had long been at an eternal rest should be bent at its slightest.
He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the last day he saw his family. They were happy one moment, the next came to spin in his head as blurred, crimson images. He remembered the smell of his surroundings that day – natural, somewhat grassy and floral at first then bloody and smoky at the afternoon. He recollected the sounds – forest sounds that range from birds to livestock which turned to blood-curling screams and shrieks of pain. He reminded himself of the sights – the terrible sights, of that day. In his mind he saw his kinsmen being shot, slashed, crushed, torn limb by limb, falling one by one. Then he felt a strong hand dragging him despite his resistance. After a moment, he felt that he was being pulled back to their house. After hearing his mother's words he was engulfed darkness. Waking up was the worst since he had to deal with seeing his tribesmen with their eyes gouged out.
His anger resurfaced.
That memory refueled the flames of his vengeance. After the recollection, though very tired because of his sleeplessness and his job, he felt as if his energy was renewed. He noticed his senses becoming keener by the second and his chains rattling with impatience.
He knew that right now that his eyes were redder than ever. And he felt glad that he had enough hatred to continue upon his plan. He felt somewhat confident that his anger was enough to drown all of his fears and strengthen him, giving him more chance to succeed. Although he still cannot assure himself that his confidence should be enough, but he deeply hoped that it is.
He calmed himself a little as he made his way to the hotel where everything should happen. He could not help but utter, again and again, the oath that he had given six years ago to the graves of his fallen kinsfolk. And with the oath, he prayed, almost ceaselessly, from the moment that he had given his final instructions to his friends about the plan up to now.
He realized just now, as he got nearer to the vicinity that his confidence could not reach his desirable level.
'Relax,' his rationality told him so.
He looked very calm, on the outside at least. But his insides were knotting themselves to each other and squeezing almost every hint of confidence he got. After all, this might be his one and only chance. He should not lay it to waste. He had been waiting for this for six years – six long years of being alone, grieving, vengeful.
He loosened a button of the disguise he is wearing and fitted the shoes better. The fact that it belongs to a female would have made him swore not to touch nor to wear it even beyond his death at any other day but now is not the time for such excuses. If he had to wear no skin at all just to perfect this plan, he might have done so.
He stopped for a moment since he was sure that he still has a few minutes to spare. He used those minutes to breathe deeply and compose himself. He closed his eyes and forced them to return to their normal cerulean color. Then he thought of his friends and the time that he can spend with them after this event. Sure enough, in a few seconds, he felt himself smiling. He knew that his whole entity calmed down significantly – just enough to think clearly but still flaming with enough anger to keep his aura at a high level.
'Good, now you can resume to the plan,' he told himself.
His cue came. The stage is on. He cannot turn back anymore.
He prepared his chains to do justice.
He left the leader on a deserted place – some secluded area where he thought that the Head cannot harm anyone else. He had assured himself, again, at least a million times, that now he may live free from the claws of revenge. Free from the weight of his vow and the guilt he felt for taking out two limbs from the Spiders.
'Without the head, the Spider dies.'
That is what he believed.
How very wrong he was.
He only realized that when he faced the leader again. This time he had no cards at hand. This time his life is under the leader's mercy – his and his friends' for this matter.
He would have killed himself over and over again for the slight error that he had committed which led to all of these. He should have been more careful with his actions. He should not have laid his guard down.
Now he and his friends are paying for it.
And his hatred was restored.
He regained consciousness as soon as he reached the interior of a ruined building. His eyes opened wide as soon as he realized the situation. However, before he could react, the man carrying him had already thrown him hard to the ground. It must be because of great shock that he did not feel much pain but he knew that there must be some damage in his body when he could not stand as soon as he wanted.
"Keep still!" a woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail was first to remark as soon as he and the leader arrived. He could see her fingers twitch a little to reveal a thin bluish thread around them. She glared a warning at him before turning her gaze back to the leader. Everyone else in the area surrounded themselves with enormous amount of deadly aura. All of them stared tensely at him, as if warning him not to make a single move: as if preparing to attack and kill him as soon as the order had been released. However, they remained on their positions, auras lashing threateningly around them.
"Bind him," the leader ordered instantly even before he could regain balance from being thrown to the ground.
The woman did so without another word and in less than a second, he felt himself bound by the threads of Nen that he had seen earlier.
'What the-?' he thought, feeling the threads around his body instantly immobilizing him.
"Where are his friends?" the leader inquired as he walked to one end of the hall and left the bound Kuruta on another.
A small man whose lower part of the face was covered, replied in a very menacing manner, "Nobunaga, Shizuku and Franklin are taking really good care at them Danchou, do not worry." This one eyed him with such evil that it sent him shivering for a moment.
His eyes widened and he glared at the small man as angrily as his facial muscles can handle.
"I hope you had not hurt any of them, had you Feitan?" the leader asked, his dark eyes narrowed a bit as the question ended.
The leader got a very short and nasty laugh as a reply.
His heart sank. He can feel the fist-sized organ furiously pumping blood in his chest. The beats were so loud and so deep they hurt. Anger overflowed from the small organ all throughout his body, seeping in his veins, fueling the act of vengeance he had forgotten long ago.
He struggled hard within the relatively tight grip of the threads and decided to die fighting than die there without doing anything. His muscles tensed and he felt the threads grip tighter at his neck.
The woman gave him a blazing glare that simply said, "Don't you dare!"
The look would not have been enough to stop him, but his more hopeful side kicked him not to push his luck. He simply returned the look before cursing himself for failing to do more.
"Are they still alive?" the leader asked again, now taking a quick emotionless look at him before finishing the question.
Surprisingly, he felt that the leader somehow wished that they still are.
"Yes, yes, Danchou," the small man replied with a rather disappointed voice. "After all, I was not ordered to kill them, even though it would have been a lot of fun."
He tore away his gaze from the leader to the small man. He could have jumped with glee at the first word, but he knew that there must always be something lurking behind it – torture perhaps. His assumption was clarified by the second statement and the vileness incorporated in the small man's voice. Then he swore that the moment he is free, that man will be the first one to feel his wrath.
"Shalnark, take the captives here," the leader then ordered the brown-haired man beside him.
"Right away!" the other replied, his voice full of childlike exuberance, as if he was simply ordered to do something incredibly mundane, like walk the dog or get the morning paper.
He resumed glaring at the small man – who glared back as well, until a noise made him turn to the direction where the brown-haired Ryodan disappeared to. After a few moments, the Ryodan member emerged, with his friends and their captors.
Gon came out first, followed by a girl wearing glasses and holding what seems to be a living, red, vacuum cleaner. Kurapika felt that the vacuum cleaner would not try to eat Gon alive though, he deeply felt that the girl plans to hit Gon with it if need be. He was still suspicious of the vacuum cleaner until he was cut off his thoughts with a loud juvenile voice.
"Kurapika!" the boy called, his feet turning to him, at the verge of dashing to his side any moment now.
His eyes widened for a moment of surprise then narrowed again. He nearly rushed to the source of the voice if he had not been bound because he sensed panic, fear and deep worry in it. But right now, in his helplessness, he could not do anything but look back at the boy and shake his head. He knew that if Gon tries to reach him, the other silent but alert Ryodan will surely shred the spiky-haired kid to pieces.
Gon seemed to decode the message and simply sighed and nodded back to him. Then he yielded as the girl pushed him forward.
However, just a few paces behind Gon, the samurai who follows Killua nearly burst out to flames at the mention of his name. Killua on the other hand seemed silent, but he did notice that the boy's face lit up a little at the sight of him. They quickly exchanged looks that simply said, 'I'm OK, don't worry'. And afterwards, just like Gon, Killua stared at him, calm and wordless. He thanked God that Killua showed no attempt to rush to him because the samurai behind the boy looks grumpy enough to kill without question.
"Kura-! W-what are you doing here?" the oldest one, Leorio, blurted out after he was slightly pushed by the giant behind him.
'Leorio…' he frowned with sorrow, worry and pity. 'They managed to track you down too.'
He felt his fists clenching tightly behind him. Ages ago he was certain that even if the Spiders could track the younger boys, they will never get their hands on the normal-living Leorio. He knew that being active with their Hunter lives, Gon and Killua could be found easily – judging by the amount of information available about active Hunters. However, Leorio, who was the one living a normal life as a medical student, the one who was doing nothing to attract any attention, the person who barely uses his Nen ability that it barely registers in a Nen-user's built-in radar… He could not believe that the Spiders will be eager enough to destroy him – the Chain-Guy, that they even extended their efforts to the usually peaceful world of non-Nen-users.
Again, Kurapika shook his head to stop the giant from breaking Leorio's neck then and there. Fortunately, Leorio was able to understand the gesture and though still gaping at him with disbelief, the older man simply sighed and resigned.
Kurapika secretly thanked Leorio for being so understanding of the critical situation.
The captives were pushed to the center of the huge area. Their guards behind them, but it was not so soon when the samurai decided to switch places with the silent small guy nearest to him. But instead of taking the samurai's place as Killua's guard, little guy guarded Leorio and the giant got hold of Killua. The samurai, on the other hand, walked towards him, as near as the leader allowed the man. Shortly, the samurai's sword was unsheathed.
'How very hospitable…' he restrained himself from uttering the sarcasm then concentrated on breaking the Nen threads instead as he inspected his friends for injuries from afar.
Kurapika was silently rejoicing that his friends were alive but he felt much worry at the same time because all three of them seemed to be covered with light injuries. They do not seem to be very hurt, at least, although he strongly felt that they might have been tortured in some way or the other by their captors.
'Once my hands are free I'll tear every one of you apart!'
The leader turned towards him and smiled. Kurapika flinched when he saw that because the smile looked so… genuine. He shook himself, literally, to rid himself of such thoughts. Moments later, the leader was still smiling at him and he could not take it anymore.
Kurapika dearly wished that he could crush that head right now.
"In case you haven't noticed, you do not have any choice but to obey everything I say," the leader started, his smile was not fading.
It was very difficult to just try and roll helplessly about as the leader smiled at him like a little boy would at a newly bought toy. He certainly could not do anything right now – even without the Nen threads, as he will never do anything to endanger his friends in any way. So he simply gritted his teeth and wished that he may find a way to plead his friends out of this mess.
"Choose one of them," the leader ordered at him.
Kurapika would have lunged at him now if only he had the ability to do so. He hated being toyed at, and would never hate it worse than being toyed by his most loathed creature in the entire universe. But he also knew very well that such actions will only lead to their – his and his friends', deaths. He instantly discarded the thought of doing something to annoy their captors and focused on calming himself and struggling out of the Nen threads.
"Why?" came as his reply, accompanied by a few deep breaths which resulted from his fruitless struggle at being bound. He deeply planned to curse the leader afterwards but his more rational side had fortunately won inside his head and instead of hastening their lives at the seemingly hopeless condition, he somewhat hoped for a little pity – not for him but for the sake of his friends.
"How dare you question-," the samurai shouted just a few feet on his right. But he was stopped at midsentence by the leader. He gritted his teeth in reply.
"Because I would want to offer you a chance to live," the leader replied straightforwardly.
A/N: I just came up with this story because I really, really, really love KuroKura fics. Furthermore, it is my goal to fuel the flames of the Hunter X Hunter fandom and to keep those flames burning. To those who may ask, YES, this story IS inspired by most KuroKura fanfics in this site. Reviews, comments, suggestions, violent reactions, flames, thunderbolts, throwing and hurling of lethal weapons and the like, are all very much appreciated.
Also, please be reminded that this is the edited version. NOTHING IN THE STORY-LINE HAD BEEN CHANGED as that may cause a lot of confusion on my part since the story had already been written and there is only the need of filling it with details. So, I only edited the punctuation marks, spellings and other typos. Thank you.