Hi there. So after more than a year of hibernating, I'm back. Blame college. But hey, I'll be graduating in a few months, so yay.

I decided to update this fic mainly because it's Kurapika's birthday. Unfortunately, the main man of this story will not be on this chapter, though his character will be indirectly mentioned twice.

There'll be a lot of swear words in this chapter since it's written in a point of view of someone who has… a colorful vocabulary. If you're not comfortable with it, just skip those words and you'll be fine. There's nothing too life-changing about it.

Update (041215): Edited some typos and added/changed a few sentences.


A week earlier

High-heeled shoes tapped on the bricked pavement as her footsteps echoed through the maze-like street of the slums. People on the busy sidewalk watched the female figure sprint through the cramped lane, some wasted men from the already closed pub nearby wolf-whistled. Assholes. She would have stopped and flip a finger or maybe give a satisfying slap on the faces of those perverts if she wasn't in a rush.

She sneaked a glance from her small watch- 11:09 AM. Not good. She was late.

Here's a fact: Poppy was never late. She had trained herself to be an efficient worker- punctuality had always been her thing.

Because working for a top global organization had never been an easy job. Hunters Association hires their employees based on their skills and competence, and she was one of the special few, having been discovered by Teradein, who got to have the privilege. She had no problem in keeping up with the 'skills' part; her eidetic memory had proven useful enough for her to be promoted as a director of Human Resources Department at the age of twenty two, making her the one of the youngest directors in the association. The 'competence' part wasn't much of a problem either, but as they say, 'one mistake can lead to another', and Poppy was sure as hell not to make a single mistake lead to a dozen more.

Her feet were starting to feel sore when she turned to the left street and finally, she was there.

Pork n' Beef, the city's infamous steakhouse, rested peacefully at the end of the alley. The smell of grease coming out from the structure made her stomach churn. She absolutely loathed the smell of grease.

Poppy ran a hand through her strawberry-blonde hair as she studied the shabby exterior in front of her with uncertainty. It looked like the typical haunted house one would see in horror movies; its brick walls were dirty and full of vandals, the windows had a few cracks and scratches on it, and the door tag that said 'WELCOME' did not seemed welcoming, instead it made her want to turn back and run away.

What. The. Fuck. Of all places to choose from, that blasted girl chose this stupid shithole.

Several cars were already parked in front of the restaurant, but one vehicle stood out the most: the pink scooter that stood daintily among other cars hinting that she was already waiting inside and Poppy was late and not happy about it.

"Punctuality my ass," she muttered as she smoothed out the non-existent creases out of her black pencil skirt before going into the steakhouse's entrance.

When the blonde walked through the swinging door, she was immediately met by the strong fatty smell of sizzling beef and pork that gave her a wave of nausea. Her gray eyes scanned through the occupied booths and bustling waiters, searching for a familiar face that she had to deal with. The inside of the restaurant wasn't much of an improvement either, looking like a poor imitation of those cowboy bars she had seen in those grainy old movies her chain-smoking granny- God rest her soul- used to watch. She wondered why a lot of people still come here despite its unattractive and unhygienic interior.

Poppy finally spotted a girl, who looked like in her late teens, seated at the far corner of the restaurant. She was looking fine and fucking dandy as usual, with her brown hair naturally styled into messy waves. She sported an oversized flannel shirt that looked so damn comfortable, Poppy wanted to rip it off to pieces to spite her. The girl was fumbling with her phone, eyes furrowed with concentration with whatever she was doing with it.

"Nani, you little bitch," snarled Poppy as she pulled out a chair and sat across the table from the girl. "We could have met at a nice deli, or at some classy veggie place, why did you choose this dingy greasehole?"

"Coupons," replied Nani, looking up from her phone. Upon seeing Poppy, she smiled, humor shining in her dark green eyes. She dropped the device on the table and pulled out a handful of crumpled strips of paper from the chest pocket of her shirt. "I met a grandma at the train station and she gave me these discount coupons, might as well use it before it expires."

"Coupons?" She snatched the coupons from the girl's hand and discarded them on the floor. "Why would you fucking take some fucking coupons from a fucking old woman? What are you, nine?"

Nani retained the smile. "Your mouth never ceases to amaze me. What's with the bad mood?"

"I'm tired, I'm stressed, I haven't gotten enough sleep and you made me run across the city in heels for this?" She pointed a finger at her. "I've seen the worst of your antics, but this is worse than worst."

The younger girl furrowed her eyebrows. "You know, a sane person would not go running around the city in designer heels. You could have taken a cab."

"You told me to meet you here at exactly 11 o'clock. There's no way I'd be able to make it in time in a fucking cab with this traffic at this hour."

"Jesus Christ, Poppy," sighed Nani. "It wouldn't have had much difference, you just made things harder for yourself." She gave her a teasing grin. "You seriously need to work on your issues."

Poppy dropped her head on the table and groaned. "Nani, fuck you."

"Oh my." Nani put a hand on her mouth in a feigned surprise. "As tempting as it is, I'm not gonna do it with you."

A seemingly bored waiter arrived to take their orders. Poppy took time studying the given menu, mentally calculating the possible calorie content and the percentage of health risks in every recipe. She eventually settled for a salad and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade, which did not fail to garner a funny look from Nani. "Seriously, a salad?" she asked. "Why would you order a salad in a steakhouse?"

"It was your stupid idea to have me here at this steakhouse when you know in fact that I'm vegan," countered Poppy haughtily.

After voicing out their individual orders (with Nani ordering almost everything listed on the menu), the waiter quickly scurried towards the kitchen door, giving the two girls some privacy.

"By the way, I have it all here." Poppy pulled out a flash disk from her bag. "I did what you asked me to."

The flash disk- red and made of light metal- had a strip of paper wrapped around it with the words 'For Nani Maliekai' scrawled in her messy handwriting. "You totally owe me for this," muttered Poppy, sliding the small contraption across the table.

"Good job Pop, I always know I can count on you!" beamed Nani. She fiddled with the flash disk gleefully, reminding Poppy of a kid who just received her first cellphone.

Poppy first met Nani roughly four years ago, back when she was still trying to sink all the weird crap of Hunters Association in her head. Nani, at the time, had just received her Hunter's License and was on her first few steps of her career as a treasure hunter. It was Poppy herself that became the first target of the young hunter, since one of the perks of working within the association includes the access in all kinds of information, including the ones that rookie hunters couldn't have. And so Nani, being an opportunist that she is, worked her way out to charm Poppy, asking her to be the Harley Quinn to her Joker. Eventually, she reluctantly gave in due to the kid's forceful nature and constant sweet-talking. With her huge green eyes and overly freckled face that gives her the look of innocence, the girl knows how to use her charm.

Since then, she came to like playing the role of Nani's mysterious informant, as much as she hated to admit it. Because being involved with whatever shenanigans Nani came up with was much better than dealing with her conflicting loyalties for her superiors. The different factions of Hunters Association had their own disputes and her batshit crazy supervisor Pariston just loves adding fuel to the fire. Another downer of being stuck in this whole hunter business was working for those bizzare'o bosses, she'll never figure out their way of thinking.

"I find it strange," began Poppy as the waiter brought in their drinks. "You've always had a thing for rare antiques, especially those with cultural value. And now, not only you're after a pair of Scarlet Eyes, but you're going to get the rest of them as well." She took a sip from her iced lemonade. "Since when did you develop that weird taste?"

Nani idly twirled her untouched drink with a straw in contemplation. "The Scarlet Eyes are of cultural value, "she finally said. "The Kuruta had always been an elusive clan, not much is known about them. The remnants of their civilization and most of their historical records were also destroyed during the genocide- their eyes are the only proof that they ever existed." She looked at Poppy with a faint smile. "Pretty tragic, isn't it?"

The blonde could only let out a lazy shrug in response. "Guess so. I was never interested in those stuff anyway."

"I wonder how this hunt will go?" mused Nani. "This definitely won't be an easy one. Considering how they're only being circulated in the black market, looks like I have to go with illegal means to have them. And not to mention, hundreds of flesh enthusiasts would want their grubby hands on them."

"Ah, that reminds me-"

She was immediatley cut off by the waiter chose that exact moment of bringing the meals they had ordered. Annoyed by his sudden appearance, she glared daggers at the waiter who nonchalantly mumbled, "Enjoy your meal ladies," before bustling off to attend to the nearby booth.

"As I was saying," continued Poppy as soon as the waiter took off. "There's someone from the mafia who's after all of the Scarlet Eyes as well."

"The mafia? Must be Nostrad's daughter, she's a notorious flesh collector after all." Then Nani's face scrunched into confusion. "But then again, the Nostrads are goners now, right?"

"The family's head committed suicide a few months ago, after being buried in debts," recalled the blonde. "And that's the last time I've heard of them."

"Then who could the mystery person be?"

Poppy let out a snorted laughter. "Probably an extreme fetishist who's into those kind of things."

"I know right?" said the girl, snickering at the implied joke. "What kind of a sick weirdo would want all of those anyway?"

It's funny how she does not consider herself a sick weirdo, she thought sardonically. Poppy squirted some dressing onto her salad and probed the leaves with a fork. "Anyway, there's an auction at Vezelka this coming weekend. There's no doubt your mystery person would be there." She paused, shifting her attention back to Nani. "Have you at least came up with a plan?"

"Nope, I haven't really thought about it actually," said Nani, clasping her hands together on the table. "But wouldn't it be much more interesting if things go unplanned? Unlike you, who obsessively plans on every detail, I'd rather let things go with the flow. Let's just see what fate has in store for me." She grinned and Poppy can definitely tell she was bullshitting her. As chatty as she is, Nani could also be as sneaky.

Lunch went by as most lunches do, with the two women spending the time talking about what they have missed out on each other. Nani recounted the tales of her previous travels- sleeping inside the Pleatoleuin temple to pass the night off, traveling through the labyrinth of Taethner ruins in search for the lost sculptures of the taethneran gods and living with the Frokayan tribe for several weeks. As she talked, Poppy could not help but wonder how wandering from one place to another would be like- the very idea intrigued her so much mainly because of how effective of a storyteller Nani could be.

In turn, Poppy told her how everyone from the association had been busy ever since those Chimera Ants started spreading like herpes and how Beans have been freaking out about it the whole time. She also updated her about Netero's extermination team and Nani was very much surprised and amazed to hear that some of the ants have chosen to fight alongside the hunters. Now, Poppy complained, she had to process a lot of documents- from insurances for the casualties resulted from the incident, to the compensation and benefits given to the 'reformed' Chimera Ants and the hunters who participated in the extermination. Oh, and Pariston is still a twisted asshole, she later added.

The check was presented soon after the waiter took their almost empty platters and Nani reached for her purse and paid with a certain amount of money and discount coupons. The pair then shuffled their way to the exit and Poppy let out a gasp of relief once they stepped outside where the air was now free of the greasy smell.

It had rained while they'd been inside, she noticed, judging by the dampened asphalt road and the distinctive after-rain smell that loomed over them. Nani stopped in her steps, her gaze rising into the grey sky and said, "Do you ever get tired of what you're doing?"

"What the hell do you mean?" asked Poppy, unsure where the conversation was going.

"In mornings, you prep yourself up. You go to work then come home at the end of the day. You prepare yourself dinner and then finally get some sleep. And the same cycle runs again the next day. Doesn't it ever get tiring, doing the same menial tasks every day?"

Poppy thought for a moment. "I know that you think that my life is pretty boring," she replied eventually, "and yes, I do think of that sometimes and it does get tiring every once in a while. But when it all comes down to it, I don't see myself doing anything else other than what I'm doing right now, and it's something I already accepted. I'm not some idiot who does whatever the hell they want." She threw Nani a knowing look.

"But," she insisted, "Are you really happy with the way things are right now?

"Shit Nani, don't get all existential on me."

The younger girl only frowned, expecting an elaborate answer.

"Look, I'm happy that I'm luckier than some other people if that's what you're asking. If you wanted a deep, philosophical shit of an answer, you're totally barking at the wrong tree." She let out a long sigh, thinking about how ridiculous this talk was. "Besides, it's not something you should be bothered about. I wouldn't be surprised if you can't understand anything I'd say- the way we think are just way too different."

Nani seemed to be contented with what she had said and walked over to where her scooter was parked. "You need to go on a vacation," she said soon after she had put on her helmet and goggles. "Looks like you could use some."

"I can't. I have a lot of work to do," said Poppy, crossing her arms across her chest as she watched the girl settle herself on the seat of her small vehicle.

"Right. Work," muttered Nani. She turned the key to ignition and the engine grumbled to life.

"Wanna take a ride?" she asked. "I could drop you off by the HQ."

Poppy regarded the scooter with hesitation. It was capable of carrying two people and seemed safe, but it's not the vehicle she had issues with. Knowing Nani, she's most likely the very type of driver who wouldn't comprehend to traffic rules. "No thanks, I'll take a cab now."

"Oh well, I'll see ya then," said Nani before speeding out into adjacent road. "Thanks again Pop!"

Poppy called out her goodbye as the pink color of the scooter grew smaller and smaller in distance until it can no longer be seen. And then a passing thought hit her.

"Oh fuck," she mumbled, "I totally forgot to tell her about the Kuruta boy." For someone who has a photographic memory, she could be such a scatterbrain at times.

Whatever, it's not like telling her about him would change anything, she thought to herself. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way to the main street to hail a cab, looking forward to spending the rest of the day answering calls and working a shitload of paperwork.


A/N: There you go, two OCs are introduced: Poppy the potty-mouthed and Nani the go-getter.

Poppy is more of a supporting character but I wrote chapter 2 in her point of view simply because I love her (favoritism much?) and writing the weird hunter world through the eyes of someone who's rather normal seemed kinda fun. And I also wanted to show the business side of Hunters Association through her character.

Teradein is a minor canon character introduced in the Chairman Election Arc and was killed by Hisoka later on. He is a double star head hunter who specializes in discovering and cultivating talents (direct quote from hunterpedia), and the sole reason why Poppy works at Hunters Association was because of Teradein who encouraged her to join the association's workforce after discovering her talent (her eidetic memory).

And yes, her name is Nani, as in "what" in Japanese, though the Japanese meaning doesn't have anything to do with her name or character or personality. I gave her the name because it's Hawaiian. Haha. I actually changed her name a lot of times (from Nora to Lani to Eileen to Lulu), and I eventually settled for Nani after rewatching Lilo and Stitch. 'Malie' in Hawaiian means calm and 'Kai' means sea. Nani's surname, 'Maliekai', literally means 'calm sea'. And as to why there is a lot of Hawaiian stuff regarding her, let's just say that her hometown would be the fictional counterpart of Hawaii.

I honestly felt bad for Kurapika when the two girls unknowingly called him "an extreme fetishist" and "a sick weirdo". Oh man, I wonder how he would react if he heard their small talk. Though I think he would be unfazed by it. Probably. Anyways, expect some brooding Kurapika in the next chapter. So yeah, see you by then.

Oh, if you spotted some grammatical errors, please inform me. Reviews are amazing source of motivation and I'd be glad to hear from you!

**Poppies- symbolizes death (more like resurrection after death) and sleep. In Victorian Floriography, red poppies are a symbol of pleasure.