AN: I've been thinking about updating this story (and the others on my page) but I was embarrassed w my writing style and there were so many things that I wanted to change in terms of my plot but just never got around to. Recently, I've been listening to hunter x hunter endings to fuel me through finals and it made want to rewrite this.
As always: I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing this.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter. All rights are reserved to .
Chapter 1: A Hero
"Tonight we feast as by this time tomorrow all the heads of the Zoldyck family will belong to us – the Nive Bandits." A hefty and tall man exclaimed while simultaneously raising a large, roasted chicken leg in the air – his version of a toast. Flurries of "hurray," were heard around the bar, which the Nive bandits had proclaimed as theirs for the night. The poor bartender, an old man nearing the age of 60, sunk deeper behind the counter. He was confused, scared and worried.
He was confused because who celebrated before a win? It made no sense to him and he believed that it was a rather foolish action because if they failed than this party would be no for no reason.
He was scared because the 20 or so bandits were extremely loaded with weapons – probably stolen because there was no way they (or most average people) could afford such weapons. They were only fearsome because of what they had. Nothing about them except for the leader was scary. Most of the bandits were of average height and twiggy and although they had scars on their bodies it was the kind that losers were branded after losing, quite severely, a battle. Nive, on the other hand, garnered a battle scar that appeared to be a product from winning a fight.
Lastly, the bartender was worried because smack in the middle of this ridiculous but extremely well loaded group, was a little, scrawny girl. She had to be at least 11 years of age but it wasn't her body that made her appear so – it was the way she was handling this situation. She was clearly a captive taken from some previous place the bandits had visited (robbed?) and she was shackled but she did not cry. A small child would cry and shriek and then pass out from doing so. She did not because she was aware that the repercussions of doing so would be severe – clear indication of someone that was able to rationally think and so must belong in that awkward pre-teen stage. Although she did not cry, she was clearly in extreme despair, rage, sadness and everything in between.
The girl's stomach growled. She did not care or notice but continued to be in that terrible, terrible state. The bandits did not hear her as they still continued to parade around the bar. One of them was even on the counter top, laughing and singing and dear god he was ugly. Oh how the bar tender longed to go and comfort the girl. But at the end of the day he was human and he valued his life more than this child and he knew that any effort to save her would be futile because he would get shot the moment he got up and started walking towards her. But that didn't stop him for worrying about her. He looked around the room and saw the few customers – ones who actually paid for their beer but didn't have a chance to run when the bandits appeared – were also crouching low like him and but they were oblivious to the girl. No…it was more like they were aware of the girl – it was hard not to be – but they simply didn't care. Their calculating eyes looked frantically at the exit and then at the bandits. Everyone's in it for themselves thought the bartender sadly.
The girl's stomach growled again, but louder and more defiantly this time, betraying her quiet composure. The ugly man on the countertop stopped dancing and curiously looked at her. His face filled with joy and his mouth twisted into an evil grin. He quickly hopped off the counter and pranced towards her, his thin, brown braid bouncing against his back as he went.
"Oh pretty little thing are you hungry? Hmmmmmmmmm, do you want something?" He mockingly asked her. Of-course the man knew she was hungry. They had killed her entire family right before lunch. He knew she had not eaten since breakfast. But even if the man did not know this, her stomach growling was a strong indication of hunger, and so, he was completely aware of her hunger but he was a very cruel man and wanted to taunt her about it. The girl did not reply and continued to look dismayed. She was hungry, very hungry. But all she wanted was her mother's food. Her mother had been a terrible cook but she wanted nothing more than her mother's food. If there wasn't any of that then she would die from hunger.
"Oi, when I or anyone else in this group talk to you, you must look at us and listen carefully." The humour was out of the man's voice and he proceeded to grab the girl's face and turn it towards him. She didn't avert her eyes, in fact – her beautiful mauve eyes stared into his cold, grey ones. But to the ugly man it felt like she wasn't there – even though they were making eye contact she wasn't here, she was somewhere else. In a place where he could not do what he wanted with her. The man quickly let go of her and took out the drink from his comrade's hand – a very short man who was sitting adjacent to them– and threw it on the girl. Her white dress was already muddy and tattered but now it was also very wet.
"Nobu, YOU IDIOT. Why did you throw my drink? There's a canister right behind you – dumb*ss. You could have easily taken some from there and splashed the b*tch with it."
The man, whose name was now known to be Nobu, glared at his companion and said bluntly, "This little shit got on my nerves. You can easily pour some more for yourself, Mochi." Mochi got up and his skin started turning an ugly shade of red.
"I should put more in for myself? Listen here you ugly ss punk: YOU threw my drink and so YOU have to go get and get me more. Or else..." Mochi retracted a shiny silver blade from his pocket and licked it. Nobu, completely forgetting about the girl, walked towards Mochi angry.
The girl heeded no attention to this and rather picked up the now empty cup and placed it neatly on the counter, her golden skin shining brightly under the dull light of the bar.
"Men…Men…now, now! Is there ANY reason to be fighting right now? We have had such a glorious day and tomorrow will be EVEN better hahaha! No need to fight! No need. No need at all!" A very drunk Nive interjected, stopping his men immediately from brawling. Nobu and Mochi may have hated each other but both equally loved and respected Nive and would never do anything to anger him. Nive chuckled, it was a rather hearty laugh that seemed like it started from the pit of his stomach. It was so wrong. Bad people just didn't have a laugh like that.
The little girl noticed this. The bartender also noticed this. Something with Nive's laugh told a story of a man who was once good, but something or someone did something that put him on a path of sin and crime. The bartender looked at the girl again, and to his amazement it looked like the little girl almost had pity for the evil leader. It was beyond him how such a small thing could have room in her heart to feel anything other than hate for a man who was responsible for her current condition. But then the pity (?) vanished from her eyes, as if she understood the bartender's thoughts, and hate appeared. Rage. Earlier, it was her body language, dejected and defeated, that suggested to the bar owner that this girl was in a state of despair, and anger. Her eyes were emotionless then. But now her eyes were livid.
Her eyes were such a peculiar colour. He had never seen eyes like that before. The more he looked at them the more they changed colour: from mauve to crystal violet and currently, a dark purple. Nobu, on his way back from his almost face-off with Mochi, took notice of this. He followed the little's girl gaze and saw that it was directed towards…his hencho. Nobu was angry again but not the kind of angry he had been with Mochi – a different kind of anger, one that didn't have potential to kill but the guarantee of it.
"You little b*tch." He grabbed her long ebony tresses, and pulled her up by the, before he continued. "Don't you EVER stare at my captain like that. I will kill you. I don't care how much your eyes are worth." He said this with so much hate and anger that every single person in the bar, stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the two. The little girl was not afraid. She looked at him – this time really looking at him, and spat.
Nobu was speechless for a second. Then immediately erupted in rage and threw her with, all his force, against the wall. He then picked her up again and threw her against the counter top this time. Then he retrieved her again and threw her on the floor. Each time he threw her, her white dress become more and more red until it appeared as if she was wearing a red dress. He stopped throwing her and started punching her…and finally the girl screamed and screamed. She screamed until her mouth tasted like blood and then she began to cry, 11 or not – she was still a child who wanted her mommy.
"SHUT UP YOU F*CKNG B*TCH." Nobu yelled, punching her in the face. A drunk Nive waddled towards them, and gently placed a hand on Nobu.
"Nobu, I care how much her eyes our worth. I want money. I want as much money as I can get and that's why we need her. Obviously she's not worth the same as the Zoldyck family but her eyes can get us 160 K Jenny easily." Nobu stopped punching the – now unconscious girl and began to spit on her. Over and over again. This didn't seem to bother Nive. He just wanted her eyes to be okay.
Nobu spat on her until he started choking from the dryness in his mouth then he went and drank a pint of beer and then swiftly came back and continued to spit on her. He carried on like this for another half hour until he passed out from drinking so much.
It was late when the bandits left. Nive cheerfully turned to the bartender– who was still hiding behind the counter.
"I'm paying you for this lovely evening. I never pay but I'm sooooo happy. I AM GOING TO BE THE KING OF THE WORLD TOMORROW!" Nive proclaimed hysterically, and began to laugh uncontrollably. The rest of the men joined in. Nive took out some coins from his pocket, which were not enough to pay for the damages he did to this place or the people inside, and placed it happily on the bar counter. Then he walked over to the little girl – who was seemingly still unconscious – and picked her up.
The once pretty girl, with golden skin and dark, thick hair was now bloody, and unrecognizable. Her lips were swollen. Numerous cuts were everywhere and were only outnumbered by the bruises that were present on her body. Tears rolled down the bartender's eye as he watched her and the captain slowly disappear into the darkness.
He silently apologized to the girl, "My dear girl, I am sorry that I am an adventure reader and not an adventure hero. I pray that providence or chance – he did not know if he believed in God – will come your way and give you an opportunity to run far."
Before she was completely out of his periphery, her eyes opened and stared into his. The rage was still there, arguably worse than before. But this time it was directed at him – the good guy and not the bandit.
Her gaze communicated this: You are just as bad as them.
The next day the sky was very grey. The bandits had hijacked a bus. Well it was really Mochi who did everything and he took great pride in it. He got on a bus and put a shiny pistol to the head of the driver and demanded that the driver take them where he wanted. The passengers, six old women on their way to the city's market place, ran screaming out of the bus. When the bus was empty the remaining bandits and little girl who was asleep, boarded the bus. To be more accurate, the bandits walked, Nobu dragged the girl by hair – violently waking her up.
"Nobu. You may carry her aggressively, but you may not drag her face down. I will not tolerate any damage to her eyes." Nive said firmly. All merriness was gone from his voice as he was suffering from a headache from drinking so much the night prior.
"Yes, anything you say Hencho." Nobu replied earnestly and immediately picked up the girl roughly and continued to the back of the bus where he threw her against a seat and then sat beside her. Everyone else sat down albeit Mochu who was determined to stand beside the driver and hold his pistol there.
Mochu nudged the pistol on the driver's head and said,
"Drive us to Kukuroo mountain, where the Zoldyck's live." The driver's eyes opened. Were these people insane? But he didn't voice his opinion and swiftly started to drive, eyes occasionally looking at the rear-view mirror to see if the little girl was still alive. He was so worried for the girl and knew that she needed immediate medical attention. Just then, the girl looked at him. Magnificent violet eyes staring into his green ones. Waiting. Waiting for him to do something, to save her from the situation she was in. He could save her, he knew it. There was an emergency button between him and where the short bandit was standing. The button would transmit a signal to the bus headquarters that would notify them that there was a hijacking taking place. Headquarters would immediately send law enforcements to wherever the bus was.
The bus driver could do this. But that would mean gambling his life. There was an extremely high chance that Mochi would see him press it. Mochi was vigilantly watching him, but he was human after all and no expert at this – demonstrated by the erroneous way he was holding the pistol – and so it was possible for him to lose his focus on the driver. And if the driver acted quickly at that precise moment he could save the little girl's life. However, the risk for him to get caught in the act was too high. There was a very good chance that he would be killed trying to save the little girl's life. He too, just like the bartender, was not an adventure hero. So he kept driving.
When they reached the destination, Nive waltzed to the front and kicked open the bus door. The rest of the bandits followed smoothly. Mochi waited till every single person was off the bus, and then whacked the driver hard with his gun.
"I have a feeling that you were thinking of doing something silly but didn't do it. You are a wise man and because of it I'll spare your life for it." Mochi said proudly. He hit the driver once more and then he too left the bus. The driver started crying. He was so happy. He never knew life was so precious. He hastily locked the bus door and began to reverse. He accelerated the bus and began driving down the mountain. He only looked once at the rear-view mirror, and his blood ran cold.
Deep purples eyes, overflowing with hate, anger and extreme disappointment…stared at him. She didn't have to say anything, he knew what she was thinking and he wanted to scream, "No I'm the good guy. They are the bad guys. I just want to live." But no matter how hard he tried to reassure himself that what he did was right, he could almost here her say:
You are worse than them.
Nive walked up to the gate keeper.
"Honey, I'm home." He said sweetly to the old man.
"Whaa?" The old man, whose name was Zebro, replied, clearly taken by suprised. He had a lot of weird encounters here, it came with the job, but this was probably the strangest. Nive grabbed Zebro by the collar, no longer faking to be sweet and said,
"I want in." Before Zebro could give him the keys to the side door of the huge gates. Nive added,
"Oh and don't bother with the keys. I know your trick. There's a wild beast behind that door. The real way to get in is by pushing that gate. Now what I want you to do is notify the Zoldyck's that Nive and his bandits are here. If they want to make things easy they can go down without a fight, or they can die a slow, and extremely painful death by my hands." Nive grinned. There was something eerie about that grin and Zebro couldn't put his finger to it but was familiar one. It was only when Nive turned his back to Zebro, that Zebra remembered what his smile reminded him off – the Cheshire cat. When the Cheshire Cat disappeared from the tree in Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, his grin remained there. Nive's back was to Zebro but he could still feel that grin.
"Ok man, lets push this together. We can open the gates if we push hard , Nobu push the girl to the side and come here." Nobu did as he was told, making sure to push the girl extra hard and spat on her once more. Then he joined his companions. They started pushing. Nothing. The gate didn't budge.
"Again." Commanded Nive. They tried again. The same fate awaited them.
"Again." Yelled Nive. His patience was running very thin. The men pushed and pushed, but the gate did not move a single inch. The little girl watched quietly from the corner. She had no idea who the Zoldyck's were. But she did not want anyone else to be in the same fate as her. She did not want another family murdered and another child left an orphan. She began to silently cry, but this time they were for someone else.
Zebro did not pick up on this. This poor girl he thought. He believed she was crying for her ill fate. He decided that if she still lived after the bandits failed – which they surely would because the Zoldyck's were the best – then he would tend to her wounds. It was his job to not interfere with visitors, even if they were the kind who came to kill everyone in his master's family.
The girl looked at Zebro, but unlike the bartender or bus driver, she did not feel hate towards him. She didn't know until later why, but he played a part in her freedom.
"I want you to give every single thing you have!" Yelled Nive. He was tired. Everyone was tired. But he worked too damn hard to get to here. He could almost cry with frustration. Why was everyone so weak. It wasn't supposed to be this hard. He was about to cave in with deafeat when…
"COME ONE EVERYONE HENCHO WORKED SO HARD TO GET HERE. LETS DO IT. WE CAN DO THIS." Nobu screamed as loud as he could.
"WE CAN DO THIS GUYS! LET'S KEEP TRYING." Mochi added, equally loud. A chorus of "Hencho," followed and all the men strengthened their resolve and began pushing again. Nive gasped with delight. The men pushed, and pushed and pushed into the early evening. And finally the gate moved an inch. Blistered hands started to fist pump and the bandits started to yell and celebrate – they were almost there.
All the bandits moved back, and with every last bit of energy they had they ran towards the gate, screaming with every step.
A loud thud could be heard from all around the mountain as the gate finally opened. Nive fought back tears and walked in, euphoria making him forget the pains in his arms and legs. The rest followed. Nobu dragged the girl by her hair again, completely forgetting Nive's earlier commandant. They were in. They were finally in.
The early evening sky transformed from one of bright and warm hues to cooler tones. A young boy, 11 years of aged, walked up the mountain. He was a rather tall boy for his age and had short, black hair that contrasted rather ghostly with his pale skin.
"Illumi-san! Welcome back! How was the mission?" Zebro asked, although he knew there were only a handful of things that Illumi found to be difficult and this mission was definitely not one of them but it still felt customary to ask.
"It was alright." The boy answered flatly. Zebro chuckled at this. People who did not know Illumi would think this reply was one filled with no interest and little care. However, this was how Illumi was. The boy did not demonstrate emotions, arguably he did not feel them. Illumi blinked, rather prettily for a boy, and said,
"Well, I'll be going then." He placed his pale hands on the gate but before he pushed Zebro stopped him.
"Oh Illumi-san, I almost forgot. Just a little while ago 20 bandits came through the gate and demanded that I call Silver-sama and say they were coming. When I called, I was told by Silver-sama to tell you to handle this situation as he expected you to return tonight."
"Really?" Illumi questioned. Zebro did not he was reply was to his father expecting him to return tonight, or whether it was his father's instruction or if it was directed to the bandits because it was rare to be able to push the gate. Zebro decided to go with the latter,
"Yes, but it took them more than 6 hours to open the gates. So you should be handle to finish them off within minutes." Zebro chimed. Illumi nodded, and then swiftly pushed opened the gates. Before Illumi walked in, Zebro added, "Oh, there was small girl with them. Please break her shackles when you're done and direct her towards my cabin." Illumi raised an eyebrow but just said, "Okay."
"Hencho…where are we?" Asked Mochi, as his stomach growled for the fifth time.
"Patience Mochi. This place is enormous, but it's not limitlessly enormous – we will get there soon." Nive said soothingly. They were almost there. In a few hours' time they would have the heads of the Zoldyck family and could feast in their mansion.
"How are you so short Mochi? You are always eating." Teased Nive, who long ago had stopped dragging the girl by her hair and had just made her walk in-front of him.
"Shut UP. At least I don't look like a horse." Mochi retorted, he already was a man of little patience but the day's activity had run him dry.
"A horse?" Nobu said, utterly shocked. He pushed the girl aside, and walked briskly towards him. He retracted a pistol from the waistband of his trousers but before he could reach Mochi or even pull the trigger, he started to gag, spewing spit everywhere. Then suddenly, he dropped dead to floor, surrounded by his spit.
"Nobu?!" Screamed 19 men. They all huddled around his lifeless body. He was dead. Just like that. The men started frantically looking around, trying to see who or what did this. Everyone, except for Nive and the little girl went hysterical. The little girl's eyes were elated with joy, her small mouth in a perfect 'O'. It was just right – no it was perfect. Nobu not only deserved to die but he deserved to die surrounded by his spit.
Nive coolly stood beside Nobu's lifeless body and said, "show yourself." The men froze – their leader, their strong and powerful and brave leader was still here and he would make things right. They started calming down and walking towards Nive. Nive displayed the same, Cheshire Cat grin and put his arms to his side, daring whoever killed Nobu to try and do the same as him.
A needle flew the air and then Nive was on the floor, lifeless, grin still plastered on his face.
"HENCHOOOOOOOOOO," the remaining men wailed. They began to cry around his body but then realized that if their strong captain was killed so easily then they stood no chance, so they deserted their leader and ran in various directions. Everyone except for Mochi, who had peed his pants, was gone within seconds.
The girl let out a giggle. Nive's lifeless body was the best present anyone could have given her. Mochi took note of the girl and ran towards, grabbing her. He had heard Nive say that she was worth something. He desperately looked into the trees, trying to locate the person responsible for this and cried,
"P-please don't kill me." Mochi begged. A slim boy finally appeared from the clearings, and with one swift movement 17 needles went flying in various directions and thuds could be heard repeatedly.
"P-PLEASE STOP. PLEASE listen to me." Mochi hysterically sobbed, not expecting the boy to stop. Mochi never stopped when the girl's brothers' had asked him, so why would this boy. But to Mochi's surprise the boy did.
"Yes?" He asked.
Mochi was stunned. What was this boy?
"Please, PLEASE spare me. I'll give you this girl…her eyes…LOOK at them. They will get you 100k Jenny. Please she will be yours if you just leave me be – pLease please. JUSt look at her eyes," he begged.
"Ok." Answered Illumi.
"Y-you will spare my life? Oh THANK YOU, thank you – thank you. I WILL NEVer forget you – thank youu!" Mochi exclaimed hysterically.
"No, I agreed to look at her eyes. Yes, they are a rare colour. But they are not worth 100k Jenny. She's not from an almost extinct clan, at most they would be 60 k Jenny." The boy replied flatly. He had experience with this kind of market.
"W-w-w-what? Please spare my life! Even if they are only worth 60 K – that's a lot, especially for a little boy like you! Please spare my life." Mochi begged, on the floor now sobbing. Illumi thought about this for a few seconds and then said,
"I can make that much with one mission though." Then he snapped his fingers and just like that Mochi fell to the floor, lifeless, hand still clasped erroneously around his pistol.
Illumi began walking towards the girl, but before he reached her, she said,
"I am not a bandit."
"Ok," Illumi said and proceeded to come closer. Tears came down her face, but this time they were of relief. I'm going to die she thought. But it was by the hands of someone who killed the Nive bandits' – someone who avenged her family, by a hero. If she was in a right state of mind she would question, why a hero would kill her – someone who was only ever the victim.
"I just wanted you to know that. I can now die happy because 1) you killed them all, and 2) you know that I'm not with them." She said comfortably and closed her eyes.
She felt him in-front of her. Then she felt a strong gush of wind and heard a crack – but felt no pain. She opened her eyes and below her feet were her shackles. The boy was a good meter in-front of her already.
"Wait," She yelled. He stopped and turned around. His eyes didn't not show any interest, but yet he obediently waited for her to say what she wanted.
"Why?" She cried. This was the second time she cried during their short encounter but Illumi did not seem to care that she was crying. Illumi was interested though, he was interested in her tears. He had never cried before and wondered what it felt like.
"Why, what?" He asked, his voice was monotone but he was still curious about her tears. Tears supposedly had three layers: an outer hydrophobic layer, a middle aqueous layer and inner mucus layer. But her tears were just wet and fat and slipped down her heavily bruised face. He wondered how they tasted.
"Why didn't you kill me?"
"I was told to kill 20 bandits and so I killed 20 bandits. You are not a bandit, and even if you were, killing you would make it 21 bandits and that was not what I was instructed to do." He replied, almost robotically.
"And Zebro-san asked me to free you. He lives by the cabin on the south side of the gate. He will be waiting there for you." He added.
"W-wait. What. I-I…" The girl began. She was speechless. She cleared her throat, and tried again.
"What did you say your name was?"
"I never said what my name was, but it is Illumi."
"Illumi, they killed my family. And now you killed them – which I am ever so thankful for – but what do I do now? Where do I go?" She almost begged, tears threatening to pour for a third time.
"Well like I just said, you can go to Zebro-san. Or somewhere else, I don't know." Illumi replied, almost heartlessly. He took a final look at her tears and then turned around and continued walking away. Leaving her completely stunned by his indifference.
