Chapter Three
The sun creeped thru the bedroom's curtains leaving a singular line of light across Akuro's face. Slowly, his eyes opened, blurry, but able to make out the room. In one corner sat a table with a lap with some stationary on it. Across the way was the bathroom: tile floors, latest shower system, and a cozy bathtub lined toiletries. Sluggishly, he began to sit up, his body still hurting from the fight. A low grumble came from his stomach,
"Time to eat, I suppose, but I don't know what I want to eat…" He drifts off in thought. Akuro removes his nightwear and showers, he wouldn't mind to bathe but now he's almost sick from not eating. Sporting his baggy clothing, face shield, and cloak, he makes his way down the corridor to the elevator. As he waits, there is a scuffle in the distance, a person runs passed him but is then caught by a man. Akuro recognizes the man as the one he ran into his first day at Heaven's Arena. The person in his grasps was a small boy…with white hair and blue eyes.
"You should know not to sneak around where you don't belong kid!" The man sneered, "You might get in trouble, or even hurt!"
The boy just looked at him, unconcerned.
"Returned what you've stolen you little brat! My patience has run out!" The man winds up a punch but was unexpectedly unable to bring it forward. Looking behind him, he sees Akuro tugging back at his wrist. "This isn't any of your business! Let go!"
"Actually, I do find this to be my business. That child there is my little brother…would you be so kind to put him down?"
"Your brother? I doubt that!" The man goes to free himself and continued to swing at the child, but was once again stopped in mid-action. The boy's eye's narrowed. The sun passed by a cloud shown into the hallway, the man's shadow collapsed to the ground. The young boy lightly steps onto the ground, and nonchalantly started to walk away.
"I didn't need your help you know…" The boy stopped and turned back to Akuro.
"I wasn't implying you did, I just decided to get involved is all."
"As long as you know it…" The boy's eyes grew wide as his stomach growled in hunger, Akuro's responded with a slightly quieter grumble.
"How bout we get something to eat?" Akuro laughed.
"Why would I get something to eat with you?" He stammered, embarrassed.
"My treat, whatever you want." Replied Akuro. The boy thought for a moment, there was a restaurant down the block that had a dessert he really wanted, he glared back at Akuro. "No dirty tricks I promise. My name's Akuro." He bends over to shake the young boy's hand.
"My name's Killua…" He spoke, begrudgingly offering his hand.
The restaurant wasn't too far from the stadium, just a few blocks away. Killua was in a much better mood, his feet swinging freely as he scooped some delicious sweets into his mouth. The waiter came out with some hot tea and a dish of sliced steak, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Akuro pulled his hood forward and removed his face shield, taking a small bit from his plate. Killua glanced up from his plate, a rose blush imprinted upon his cheeks, looking across the table. The waiter returned with a small plate for Killua,
"But I didn't order…"
"I did." Akuro said in between bites, "Growing boys should eat healthy you know."
"Oh, right, I guess so." Killua pushes over his dessert and eats the meal.
After their meal they start to head back to Heaven's Arena. Killua explains that he came to test his abilities at the Arena, but is now bored. Akuro asks if he came here alone, Killua says yes, but he's now waiting on his brother to come pick him up. Apparently, his mother worries a lot about him. Killua changes the subject,
"What about you?"
"I was bored and needed some money, heard this was a good place to solve both problems."
"I suppose."
"When's your brother coming?"
"He'll be here tomorrow." Killua responded with discontent.
"I see, and do you have a place to stay in the mean time?"
"Oh…no, I don't. I quit the Arena, so..." Killua pondered for a moment.
"That's okay, why don't you stay in my room for tonight why you wait for your brother. There's plenty of room." Killua nodded in agreement.
Back at the room, Killua is letting his age show, jumping up and down on the bed. Akuro can't help but notice all his energy. Killua mentions that he watched one of Akuro's fights and was really impressed with his match against Kastro. He admitted that he snuck in to the upper floors to watch a few fights but was only able to see the one. When they ran into each other, that man falsely accused him of stealing. The sun started to set below the horizon, Killua showered and now is relaxing in the bath, steam filling the air. Akuro slips into the bathroom to leave Killua a towel and some fresh clothes.
"Ah, what are you doing?!" Killua hollers, splashing the water on the ground.
"Just giving you a change of clothes." Akuro laughes, looking away from the tub, "I'm not some kind of pervert y'know."
Killua blushes and sits back into the bath, the small wash cloth on his head falls into the hot water. He finishes his bath and gets ready for bed, Akuro readied a cup of hot milk. He explains that his older brother would give him hot milk to help him sleep. Killua takes a sip and almost immediately gets sleeply,
"Don't try anything funny," Killua warns, "My family is full of skilled killers." He finishes his glass.
"I'm not too concerned, so is mine…" Akuro's voice lowers, tucking Killua into the covers.
Chapter Four
Killua sleeps soundly through the night, snuggled into the sheets of the giant bed. Akuro, covers himself with a light sheet on the coach on the opposite side of the room. Still feeling exhausted but unable to sleep, he glances over at Killua thinking, What a brave child to come here by himself. I wonder what his family is like, it doesn't seem like he's fond of them. Sleep finally overcame him. A familiar dream crept across his mind of dark shadows and loud screams, his fingers twitch, his face grimaced. He could smell the dirt, sitting in a hole, hiding, scared. A dark figure appeared at the entrance, noticed the young child sitting there. He was like a demon, ready to pounce. Tears streamed down the child's face, he closed his eyes tightly. However, instead of feeling a sharp gutting pain, the child hears the gurgling noise of the 'demon' choking, he sees blood spewing from his neck, then collapsing on the ground. Another figure appears behind the lifeless body, eyes piercing through the darkness.
Akuro jerks awake with sweat down his face, breathing heavy and heart racing. He scanned the room transversely, ensuring there was no danger then fell back into the pillow. He wiped his forehead and took a sigh of relief. It's been many years since that day, yet it still haunts him. Akuro rolls from the couch onto the floor, the sheets descending with him. He ruffled himself free, stepping lighting on the carpet, barefooted. His shirt is slightly disheveled over his shorts, hair is messy and sticking up in the back. Peering through the curtain, Akuro can see that it's not yet dawn, the lights of the city reflecting in his eyes. He doesn't realize that Killua is awake, eyes gleaming over his shoulders watching him.
The cold water rushes over his head, lining down his jaw, watching it circle into the drain. Akuro turns off the water and dries his hair, knowing that he won't be able to sleep anymore. At least it's close to morning, only missing a few hours of sleep he thinks to himself. He combs his hair and gets ready for the day, Killua is sleeping half out of the covers, snoring and with some drool. Akuro chuckled to himself as he pulled the curtains back. The room flooded with the morning light, instantly waking up Killua. Killua pulled the pillow over his face,
"It's too early!" He whines.
"Come on, up and 'adam. Breakfast will be here soon." Akuro leans over the bed. Killua can again see his face, those green eyes almost memorizing.
"Fine!" Killua rolls over and throws the pillow in Akuro's face, he pretends to be hit and falls to the ground. Killua brushes his teeth and changes, leaving his hair all tangled. Disapproving, Akuro takes a comb and begins to work out the knots. Before too long breakfast was there and both are eating.
"When's your next fight?" Killua asks.
"In a few days…"
"Excited?"
"I am. This guy scares me but I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure it'll be fun."
"Hm, well, good luck."
"Thank you."
Killua's phone rings and explains that his brother is here to pick him up. They finish up and head down to the main galley. There by the entrance is a tall slender man with long black hair. The young man thanks Akuro for looking after his little brother and they both say goodbye. As they walked away, Killua turns back and waves, Akuro returns the wave until they disappear from sight. There are only a few days to go before his next fight, this Hisoka person gave off a tremendous amount of aura, enough to reach to his bones. It's time to keep in mind the seriousness of this next fight.
The day of the fight has finally came, the wait felt shorter than a week. The spectators are starting to fill the arena, everyone is eager to watch. Hisoka is a veteran favorite, known for his confidence and remarkable skills. Akuro is a rookie favorite, but most bid against him as they think he is severely out matched. The tension builds, even backstage Akuro can feel the electricity. He begins to shake uncontrollability, his nervous has gotten him wide-eyed, his breath shallow and harsh. Akuro grabs either side of his hood, closing his eyes, controlling his breath. Hisoka was already out on stage, one hand on his hip and the other stroking back his hair.
Akuro was announced and he makes his way down the path to the stage, accompanied mostly by jeers. His feet make a solid stand in the ring, slowly bringing his gaze from Hisoka's feet to his face. Hisoka leisurely opens his eyes, the glare shot thru Akuro, freezing him in place.
Announcer: "Begin!"
The crowd roared with excitement and expectation, however, they slowly got quiet as neither fighter made a move. They all exchanged looks to one another, almost confused as to why nothing was happening yet. Hisoka seemed to stick his nose in the air as to look down on Akuro, sternly walking towards him. It only seemed like a blink before Hisoka was face-to-face with him, sweat notably dripping down Akuro's face.
"Well, that is quite disappointing…" Hisoka began, "I thought you would be worth a fight, but you seem petrified in place."
"Go to hell!" Akuro yelled while swinging a right hook. Before he could make contact to the outer most layer of Hisoka's clothes, a swift palm strike landed solid into Akuro's abdomen sending him to the other side of the ring. He was able to move to his hands and knees, coughing trying to catch his breath. Droplets of blood ejected onto the tile floor.
Announcer: "Critical Hit, Knockdown! Three Points!"
"So you do have some fight in you then?" Hisoka voice perked up. Akuro removed his cloak, stood to face Hisoka,
"Angel's Form"
"Oh my, that's very pret-" Hisoka's taunt was interrupted part way through. Akuro swiftly transverse the ring landing a solid punch, smashing Hisoka's face into the floor.
Announcer: "Clean Hit! Two Points!"
"How's that for a fight?" remarked Akuro, the crowd cheers uncontrollably. Hisoka gently wipes his face clean, with a smile on his face.
"Well, well." He laughs, "I'm so happy to see the game's still on."
"Don't mock me!"
"How 'bout this…?" Hisoka takes out a deck of cards and begins to shuffle, when he's done he shows the cards facing Akuro, "Pick any number card you see, keep it a secret."
"We're in the middle of a match!" Akuro exclaimed.
"Face cards are as follows: aces are 1, jacks are 11, queens are 12, and kings are 13." Hisoka continues, "Whatever your card number was, double it and add 3."
"Are…are you joking aright now?" Akuro felt puzzled, but noting that Hisoka looks like a jester, this all could be a distraction.
"Now, multiple that number by 5."
Akuro drops his guard slightly, as wanting to play, quickly thinks of a number. From memory he recalls seeing the Queen of Hearts….queens are 12…times 2, add 3 is…times 5 is 135.
"Now add 1 if it was clubs, 2 if diamonds, 3 if hearts, and 4 if spades…"
Hearts, add 3, gives 138.
"What number did you come up with?" Hisoka asks.
"138." Akuro replied.
"That means…" Hisoka paused, bundling up the cards and turning them into confetti, leaving only one card left in his hand. Slowly he turned the card over to reveal it, "That this is your card…" as if in slow motion, Akuro could faintly see a red queen. Just as he could make out the hearts on the card, he could feel multiple sharp and stinging cuts radiating over his body collapsing him to his knees.
Announcer: "Clean Hit! 2 Points!"
When…?! How?! Akuro tries to think of where he missed the attack.
"You don't seem quite able to see Nen? Or at least not very well."
"Why you…!" Akuro stands up and prepares another attack, flying straight towards Hisoka in a blind rage. Just as he moves, Akuro's baggy shirt slides from his body, shredded by Hisoka's attack, revealing his black rash guard: long sleeved, covering only down to his ribs, showing his mid-drift. Hisoka slightly dodges Akuro's punch but becomes frozen as Akuro's face shield clamors to the ground, leaving a distinct echo.
Hisoka seemed in a mild state of stock as Akuro's body continues forward. His eyes locked on Akuro's chest,
"Angel's Burst!" An explosion engulfs both fighters and the crowd waits for the smoke to settle. In time the smoke begins to settle: Akuro is standing over Hisoka, with legs on either side of him. Hisoka is sitting on the ground, one arm wrapped around Akuro's torso. For the first time, Akuro's face is visible to the public. Awes and gasps come from the crowd,
"I didn't expect this…" Hisoka whispers as he peers upwards from between Akuro's breasts, still holding tight. Akuro's face turned bright red, let out a scream and proceeded to kick Hisoka to the opposite side of the ring and glared back to the referee.
Announcer: "Clean Hit…Knockdown! 3 Points!" he stammered.
It was plain to see now, Akuro used her clothes in an attempt to disguise herself. No longer able to hide the truth, she cleaned her face and brushed her hair from her face. She winced slightly as she noticed scratch marks on her back, must have been from Hisoka's nails when she kicked him away. Hisoka stood back up, and started walking back towards his opponent,
"This is quite a surprise," Hisoka paused, "if it's any consolation, you have a very fit body." He smiled. Akuro was all but embarrassed by this point: I've never had a man in my bosom before! She thought to herself. The crowd is still in disbelief and a hush mummer begins, each person questioning if anyone could tell that he was a she before this moment. Akuro's embarrassment grew,
"Why don't you all shut up!" She screams into the crowd, as if they had a right to judge her.
"Akuro. Akur…o. Aku…ro?" Hisoka mutters to himself, "Can't that be translated into 'Bad road' or 'bad path', or something?" Hisoka's gaze falls back to Akuro. "I think that's a very adequate statement for your time here…"
When Akuro awoke, she was in the infirmary. Slowly her vision came into focus only to see Hisoka staring back at her, she tensed up,
"Would you like to have dinner with me?" He spoke.