Disclaimer: I don't own HunterxHunter...

Story so far: Machi decided that the matter concerning the blond 4-years-old little boy called Meta was to be discussed among the Spiders. What would they decide upon the matter? Also, what about Leorio and the others who were rushing to find Meta? Most importantly, what about Kurapika? Kuroro, despite everything, seemed to be none the wiser but that was about to change as well.


Chapter 1

RACE


The night she had met and left Meta in the harbour, she had immediately rushed to Yorkshin City to meet up with the other Spiders before Kuroro reached the metropolitan city. She had something urgent to discuss with the others; a topic that they all had well known that the Spider Head was not too fond to talk about as of late. In the end, she only discussed it with two other people: Shalnark and—surprisingly again—Nobunaga.

"Are you sure of it, Machi?" Shalnark asked with dubious voice. "He has Scarlet Eyes?"

"Damn sure." She responded flatly. She could have not mistaken it, since the eyes blazed brilliantly in the dim light of the night harbour.

"And what exactly are you suggesting we do, by telling us all those?" Nobunaga asked with his brows knitted. "Even if the Kuruta really has a brat, it doesn't concern us, right?"

At his last statement, Machi and Shalnark rolled their eyes heavenwards in unison. They did not even bother extrapolating their—Machi's and Shalnark's, that is—mutual-yet-silent assumption that the boy might be related to their Danchou in many ways.

"Your girlfriend didn't tell you anything?" Machi asked Shalnark rather distractedly.

"Nope." Came the almost-too-immediate-that-it-was-suspicious answer.

Machi bit her lower lip, too distracted to notice Shalnark's hasty reply. Frankly, she wanted to dig out some information about that little blond boy. She was absolutely certain that Meta was a Kuruta by means of his Scarlet Eyes, but she was only almost certain that the boy was really related to the last living Kuruta they all knew: Kurapika Kuruta. Machi did not want to jump to conclusions—that was the mother of many grave mistakes that most people commit throughout history—and that was the life lesson that Kuroro Lucifer had taught his Spiders over and over again.

Jumping into conclusions and making unsubstantiated guesses are destructive habits, Kuroro had once told them in a meeting. In our case, it may as well be life-costing.

Of course. The Genei Ryodan had to be most meticulous and careful about planning and decision-making, especially ones that took place in the heat of battles. Right after the official birth of the Genei Ryodan in Ryuusei-gai, Kuroro had taken the liberty of drilling them with an 'effective decision-making through observation'. At that time, he had said that considering the organization's future main activities, they would be involved in many life-threatening battles with many underhanded tactics prepared against them. To deal with such situations, Kuroro had made a clear point that his Spiders had to have adequate (by his standard, of course) quick observation skills that would let them observe in one glance and stimulate a plan in a blink of an eye.

Well, Machi had been a special exception because of her top-notch intuition that Kuroro had approved of. He had strong faith in her intuition; one that even made her feel slightly guilty for some reasons.

The corner of Machi's mouth twitched as she remembered those training regimes. They were more hellish than any training sessions that her Ryuusei-gai combat tutor had ever subjected her to. Ah, yes. The original members of the Genei Ryodan that hailed from Ryuusei-gai were children who were raised for combats; groomed to be future elite-force for the Mafia in the outside world.

Their whole childhood had been worse than the ordinary street children of the Ryuusei-gai. They were nurtured to be a cold-blooded killing machine, to obey their masters in the future—the Mafia—with absolute loyalty. Loyalty was perhaps the only virtue ever instilled into their minds since their birth. All of them had never thought or imagined living another life than being an elite force. Some of them were not even aware that there was another form of lifestyle out there since they were isolated further in the cruel embrace of Ryuusei-gai, hidden further from the surface of humanity.

Everything changed when Kuroro had come to them. He had barged in; most rudely and disrespectfully, and demanded the custody of the teenager fighters. Everything happened in a hazy blurs of memories, and the only important thing Machi remembered was the first feeling of freedom and real life.

Kuroro Lucifer had offered them freedom and a new life. He introduced them to the world, letting them roam the world and have their funs so long as they stayed loyal to him. It had been unnecessary for him to state the loyalty part. The moment he had taken off the imaginary shackles around their necks and wrists, and getting them out of the cold cage of Ryuusei-gai training ground, they all had unanimously pledged their oath of undying loyalty to Kuroro Lucifer and nobody else. Not even to Ishtar of Ryuusei-gai.

"Machi?" Nobunaga called out to her, breaking her from her trance-like recollection of the past.

"What?" She asked rather snappishly.

The samurai twitched a bit upon being regarded with such hostile response. Nevertheless, it was nothing new. Machi was always like that anyway.

"What do we do now?" He asked again, eyeing the blue-haired woman with questioning eyes, daring her to speak her mind.

Machi frowned at him. She sifted through her choice of words, before speaking calmly with trained voice.

"I'm not Danchou. You do what you want to do."

"Then what are you going to do?" Nobunaga asked pointedly.

Machi gave a scowl that was saying: Nobunaga, you are such a dumb excuse of a samurai. With a sharp turn of her heels, Machi headed towards the exit of their dingy headquarter.

"I'm going after the boy."

"Do you know where he is?" Shalnark chirped curiously.

"…He will be here in Yorkshin City by tonight."

Not in the mood of giving a further explanation whatsoever, Machi simply strolled out of the dilapidated building that was their somewhat permanent headquarter in Yorkshin City.

Meta did mention something about trucks in his monologue, so she assumed that he and the children would be taking a truck to escape from the harbour. If they had gone by top-speed; which depended entirely on the driver's driving skill—was it the oldest girl of the group?—they really would have reached the city by nightfall. She would have to keep watch on the streets.

Little did she know that such measure would be unnecessary.


"Wait! Where do you think you are going?"

Yorn's yell fell on deaf ears as Kurapika made a mad dash towards the exit of the village, to where Una had been waiting for her return. The only thing she had in mind was a planned sequence of actions she had to take: get away from the wretchedly isolated forest, go back to civilization with airport, take the fastest blimp to wherever Meta is and get him out of dangers.

The Unicorn girl was still standing in a daze as she witnessed the Kuruta running off like she was chased by some demons.

"Sheesh! What recklessness!" She commented while shaking her head in incredulity.

"Look who's talking." Lazmorgh said with slight mocking tone. "Besides, her hastiness is understandable."

Yorn spun on her heels to glare at Lazmorgh.

"You always defend her against me! What's this? Are you smitten by her?" Yorn kicked the dirt with her shoes, a pout of dissatisfaction gracing her face.

"No. I'm merely stating facts," responded Lazmorgh evenly, but an evilly amused smirk graced his face. "Then again, maybe you're right. I'm defending everything against you."

Yorn's jaws fell most unceremoniously and un-ladylike, her eyes as wide as a saucer plate, and her expression positively shocked and stunned. When she had recovered from her shock—which lasted quite long enough for Lazmorgh to lazily count until five—she kicked him on the shin with such speed that the older man did not see it coming.

"HOW COULD YOU? YOU, YOU—"

THUNK.

Something hard and thankfully blunt hit her in the head with a force that was enough to send her doubling up.

"Awch!" She complained while rubbing her sore head.

"Be quite, girl! You and your loudspeaker mouth." The Chief; a large man built to be a hunter, emerged from his dwelling. "And you too, Lazmorgh!"

The said man; who had been snickering upon seeing the young girl getting abused by her own father, stopped his snigger and stood in attention. The Chief poked his stomach with the blunt end of his chiefdom sceptre that he had employed earlier to thwack his loudmouthed daughter's head.

"Stop bullying Yorn. How old do you think you two are?"

Yorn stuck her tongue rudely to Lazmorgh, but quickly withdrew it into the safe enclosure of her mouth before her father noticed it. The Chief turned his attention back to Yorn as she kept her tongue in her mouth just in time.

"By the way, Yorn. You haven't treated her wounds yet," said he with disapproving tone.

"Pfft. She doesn't look like she needs any treatments." Yorn shrugged uncaringly.

"It is unheard of for the creator to forget the nature of her own creation." Druid Olaf, who had been standing there since the beginning, reprimanded her. "Have you forgotten that the property of your poison is so vicious that it can stay dormant in the victim's system for so long before it emerges at the right time again?"

"But—" She began protesting, but was cut off by the Chief.

"If she died by your poison, Yorn, you will be charged with the crime of killing the last Kuruta alive." Her father said in a death-threat voice.

"But you said she's not the only Kuruta anymore!" Yorn stomped her foot in impatience.

"The fact remains that she is the only pure-blooded Kuruta alive." The Druid explained to her. "You were not paying attention, Yorn."

"W—wait! If she's the last pure-blooded one, then the other Kuruta is half-blooded?"

"How clever of you." Lazmorgh said sarcastically.

"You shut up." She snapped to him but he only shrugged. "So, that half-blooded Kuruta is?"

The Druid nodded his head solemnly.

"Her son."


The moment they had reached the edge of the forest that was nearest to the airport, Kurapika had bid a hasty good-bye to Una—who understood the whole circumstances as she patchily explained to her in their express gallop to the airport—and had bolted to the ticket counter.

"I am buying a ticket for the fastest blimp!" She told the woman sitting behind the ticket counter.

The pretty brunette was shocked at first, since Kurapika came in a huff and was utterly dishevelled. There were leaves on her hair and outfit, her hair was unruly, her breathing shallow and uneven as if she had just run a marathon; but she cared no less about it. Meta was top-priority in her mind.

"Um… Sure. Your destination, Miss?"

"I—"

Shoot.

Kurapika only then belatedly realised that she did not know where Meta was presently. Mumbling a string of soft, mild curses beneath her breath and muttering a "give me a minute" to the ticket clerk, Kurapika took out her portable map from her pocket and summoned her Dowsing Chain. With strained patience, she scanned the whole map until the pendulum began to swing to indicate the location of the little boy.

Her heart skipped a bit and she froze when she noticed the name of the place.

Yorkshin City—the place where it all started.


Without further complaints, Yorn effectively and efficiently packed her necessities into a small leather travelling bag. With one decisive pull, she closed the bag and slung it across her shoulder on the opposite direction of her quiver. She had not forgotten to slip a small dirk into the empty slot of her belt, in case she needed to fight in close combat.

"I'd say that you look more like you're going for a journey across the world than to go after that Kuruta." Lazmorgh commented from the doorway of her bedroom.

"Better be prepared now than sorry later." Yorn said deadpan as she rechecked her equipment for the last time.

"Hmm…" Lazmorgh only hummed a vague response.

Yorn had said nothing against the Chief's order for her to go after the Kuruta to deliver the antidote and treated her in case the worse—severe case of poisoning—happened. He figured that Yorn might have empathised with the Kuruta. Yorn had lost her fiancé as well; she would understand the dread of losing a loved one, not to mention that the Kuruta's concern was her son; her flesh and blood.

How sweet of her. The thought made Lazmorgh gave away a small gentle smile.

"Say…" Yorn muttered with small voice. "You aren't coming with me?"

"No," he answered while shaking his head minutely. "They need me to defend the village in case something happened."

"So they don't need me, huh?" Yorn clicked her tongue in irritation but it was not heartfelt.

"Manpower problem." Lazmorgh corrected her. He reached out and ruffled her wild hair with a gentleness that was not expected from a warrior such as him. "Come back soon and safe."

Yorn gave a vague hum. Lazmorgh then bent down a bit and rubbed the side of his horn against hers; it was a sign of affection between the Unicorn Tribe people. Yorn looked up and her chrome diopside eyes met his jade eyes. Though his face remained almost expressionless, his lips were curled up slightly and his eyes shone gently.

"I will miss my loud sister."

"And I will miss my obnoxious brother."

She gave him a genuine smile of thankfulness, before she exited her room and went out of the village to begin her own supposedly short journey.


Definitely a magnet for troubles. That was Machi's personal opinion of the blond boy called Meta, as she concluded from her observation and experience.

Just as Machi had scarcely perched herself on top of the tallest building in the vicinity, she heard a loud crashing sound from the streets below. Curiously, she had looked down and found herself surprised yet again by that boy.

There, on the outskirt of the city that bordered the city from the slums was an extraordinary traffic accident. A truck had crashed into a fountain, inflicting quite a heavy damage on the public property. Judging from the extent of the damage, it was highly probable that the driver had lost control of the truck—or rather, as Machi's strong gut was telling her, the driver had not known the proper method of driving a truck. The vehicle had obviously gone on top speed while crashing against the fountain.

Bunch of children of all races poured from the pick-up trucks like ants spreading out of their nest. With unmistakably childish, high-pitched squeals and shrieks, those children invaded the city like a wild tidal wave. Soon enough the glaring sounds of the sirens of the police cars, coupled with the noisy sounds of the reporter's vans gathering around the vicinity, added into the cacophony of the whole accident.

Happy to see the policemen; as they might presume that the good policemen would bring them back to their respective homes, the children rushed towards those poor men who were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of the children. With the advantage of a broad line of view due to the high altitude she was in, Machi could spot the blond boy Meta stealthily taking retreat from the crowds into the dark recess of the forest nearby.

The boy's behaviour bewildered Machi. Children usually shunned away from dark places, especially places like forests, however Meta seemed to prefer the quietness and solitude of the night forest. More curious than ever, Machi decided to stalk the kid. When she was close enough to have him in her earshot, she could hear him engaging in a monologue again.

"Mom must be worried…" The boy said huskily as he easily navigated himself in the thin forest.

He fell silent for a while, as if listening to a response of some sort.

"No. I hope she yells at me. When Mom's giving me the silent treatment, it's waaaaay scarier…"

Another pause.

"I'm not a bad boy!" He suddenly protested, his childish voice ringing loudly in the dead silent forest. "You told me to do this!"

You? Who's 'you'? Machi pondered as she crept in the shadows of the forest while staying in perfect Zetsu state. The boy ducked his head with a sad look on his Kurapika-look-alike face.

"But I really want to see him…"

Machi felt her heart stopped beating for a long second. For the first time, Meta mentioned a 'him', and with an emphasis on the word no less. Come to think of it, he had only mentioned his mother so far. A surge of unfamiliar excitement engulfed Machi as she felt that she was really on the right track. Now she was really determined to let her Danchou know about this Meta boy.

Meta wandered in the forest in a seemingly aimless way, but after a while Machi realised that the boy had not been just taking random turns in his walk. As she took in her surroundings and tried to take the bearing of her current location, only then she realised that the boy had taken a shortcut through the forestry towards the Genei Ryodan headquarter at the outskirt of the metropolitan city.

"I'm hungry…" The boy suddenly declared.

He began looking around the surrounding. Machi figured that the boy would not be able to do anything since the forest was practically pitch-black. She was only able to see vaguely because she had adjusted her sight in darkness and because she had been trained to do it quick. However, again to her utmost surprise, the boy had little problems finding the abundant ripe fruits that were dangling from the branches of the trees. Even his tree-climbing skill was remarkable.

What is this boy? Machi wondered with more urgency. The boy was too versatile to be just an ordinary little boy, even for a Kuruta. For a four-years-old boy, he had a frighteningly extraordinary motoric coordination of limbs—that in itself was already unnatural.

Speaking of unnatural…Machi suddenly gave herself a silent dry laugh. Come to think of it, this kind of precocious motoric development is common in Ryuusei-gai.

That thought made her even more intrigued about Meta. His general development as a child matched that of a Ryuusei-gai child, albeit a more refined way.

Not long after the boy had finished his food-hunting and had his meagre dinner, Meta fell asleep on the grass among the shrub that obscured him from vision. Thinking that she did not want to waste her time watching over a 'sleeping beauty', Machi decided to leave.

She had not forgotten to attach her Nen string to him, though, so that she could track him down again whenever she wanted to.


Rotten luck. Kurapika Kuruta was really convinced that the fate was really mocking her. The first flight to Yorkshin City would depart from the God-forsakenly remote place only the next day at noon, and the flight would take at least 12 hours to reach the metropolitan city. Even if she was to take other immediate flights with transits, they would take far more hours than this direct flight anyway. Thus, she had no choice but to wait.

And waiting was never pleasant.

Deciding to spend the long stretching hours to calm down, Kurapika purchased the simplest outfit she could find around the airport. Her present outfit had been ragged from the mad horse-riding all the way from the Unicorn Tribe Village to the airport. She also took her time grooming her hair though in actuality she put little to no effort in it.

At least, she had reasoned, I look decent enough and unlike some street beggars.

She washed her face with the cold water from the tap in the public toilet. She had always done it to calm herself down. When she had acquired her first Scarlet Eyes back then in Yorkshin City (though it was later discovered to be a copy made by Coltopi), she had done the same thing. At that time, she was trying to quell the mixture of nervous excitement and sorrow. This time, what was she trying to quell?

Belatedly, Kurapika noticed that her hands had been shaking. She frowned at it. True that she had not been eating anything for who knew how long, but she could feel that the shaking was not due to hunger. It was from overwhelming anxiety and apprehension.

Kurapika turned off the tap and closed her eyes tight. She willed her minds to turn blank, to give it a short respite from the accumulating tension. After a few minutes had passed, she opened her eyes after she felt the trembling easing up but not entirely gone yet. She cast one glance at the mirror, and noticed how horrible she looked.

Though it was true that she had looked better than the previous hours, but still she looked painfully plain. Her skin was as pale as a white blank sheet of paper, her white shirt hanging loosely around her body as she could not find a better clothing there, her lips were pale and thin, while there were dark circles under her eyes. Kurapika gave a soft snort.

And I do not accept you walking around in such ridiculous fashion when you are with me, he had said when her boy-disguise had been shattered and he first found out that Kurapika was really a girl. Then he had forced her to buy new sets of girls outfit.

Actually, I'm helping you fix your fashion sense, he had once said when he was taking her to buy dress for attending Abelard Constantin's party.

"Looks like…" she muttered to her reflection on the toilet mirror with a small smile of irony gracing her pale visage, "you have failed, Kuroro."

At the same time, Kurapika failed to notice that her trembling had completely gone.


He heard it. He swore that he really heard it and it was not just his imagination or hallucination.

Master…

There it was again—those voices; those devilish voices that prickled his skin in the most eerie manner. The last time he heard them was five years ago, so why was he starting to hear them now, of all time?

Master is nearby…Reunion…

Kuroro stood rigid in the middle of the crowded street of Yorkshin City. He had just arrived there after taking a blimp. The moment he stepped out of the airport and blended with the crowds of the metropolitan city, a familiar consciousness started brushing against his minds. Following his instinct as he tracked down the source of that voice, he found himself walking towards the temporary headquarter of the Genei Ryodan.

The Spider Head frowned at this. Why was he hearing the voices of the demons of the Solomon Ring here in Yorkshin City; from the Genei Ryodan Headquarter, no less?

Kurapika can't be here… he vaguely pondered. Knowing Kurapika, he was sure that she would want to stay away from the city that had hosted too many memories for her—for them.

Nonetheless, he was determined to find out what was going on. He remembered the last time when he had phoned Machi, she had sounded strange. With more sure and firm steps, Kuroro advanced towards the outskirt of the city, to the slum which was the Headquarter of the Genei Ryodan. Whatever was going on, he was going to deal with it.

That was all there was to it.


"I can't believe this is all happening…" She muttered pitifully while burying her face in her hands.

Fino sat behind the counter desk of her father's inn, wallowing in regret and guilt for allowing the disaster to happen. Kurapika had asked her to look after Meta while she was away to finish a certain job, but he had to disappear while in her custody. How would she face Kurapika later?

"Fino, this is not your fault… Meta went off without telling you." Her mother tried to soothe her.

"He could not!" Fino snapped back at her mother, her voice shaky and her eyes tearful. "He was kidnapped, Mom! Besides, he is only four years old!"

Fino then started sobbing furiously again as she blamed herself over and over again for Meta's disappearance. Really, she had nothing to say in her defence to Kurapika. If the Kuruta hated her for it, she could only accept the bitter truth because she really had been too reckless.

"Fino, you haven't been eating and sleeping properly. You can fall sick if you continue this way…" Her mother said while tugging at her sleeve gently.

"Let it happen. I don't care…" She muttered between her sobs.

Her parents exchanged worried glances with each other. Ever since they discovered that the little boy had gone missing, Fino had skipped most of her meals and had scarcely taken any sleeps. She could barely help around the inn as she had been so distraught she could not concentrate on her works.

The constricting silence in the room was suddenly and rudely broken by the ringing of Fino's cell phone. Hastily, Fino took out the gadget and read the message she had just gotten. It was short but it meant the world for her.

Sender: Shalnark

Message: We found him.

Without any warnings whatsoever, Fino fainted out of immense relief.


"You slimy little liar." Machi hissed at the sandy-brown haired young man so belligerently that the latter was convinced that the former really intended to mutilate him on the spot.

"Chill, Machi. Chill! Relax! Calm down!" Shalnark inched away from the seething mad blue-haired young woman whose aura was practically screaming MURDER.

"How can I freaking relax when I know that all these could have been prevented if you just had told us the truth!" She yelled at him.

"Err…" Shalnark cringed as her high-pitched yell assaulted his rather delicate eardrums. "Sorry?"

He could not possibly tell her that he had promised Fino not to tell anyone in the Genei Ryodan about Meta, could he?

"If saying sorry can resolve things, there won't be wars throughout history." She growled fiercely at him, but did not make any concrete move of trying to strangle him to death with her Nen strings.

"Rather than arguing about that, I think the best thing you do right now is to keep your volumes down." Franklin said with unbelievably gentle voice.

Machi gave Shalnark a dirty look and an ugly scowl but keep her mouth shut. The muscles around Shalnark's mouth twitched nervously upon receiving such hostility from the female Spider, but he too kept his mouth close. They both averted their gazes to the door that separated them with two certain people. All of the Spiders—even including Coltopi and Bonolenov who usually seemed like they did not give a damn about whatever was happening around them unless Kuroro said anything to them—had their eyes trained to that particular door. If looks and gazes could be materialised, the door would have been a beehive by then.

All of them could scarcely believe that a very strange incident had just happened there in front of the doorstep of their Headquarter.

Most of the Spiders had been staying inside the dilapidated building of the abandoned compound at the slum of the metropolitan city, waiting for their Danchou to arrive to mark the start of their meeting. However, instead of the raven-haired man with jet-black coat and cross birthmark on his forehead, a little blond boy had barged into the place.

xXx

The Spiders had been lax with his presence in the vicinity because they knew by the quality of the Nen that it was only a little kid that had gotten lost in the building. Ordinary children would never be able to find their specific meeting room—which was a kind of spacious storage room—because not only that the entrance was most obscured in the entire building, the Spiders had also taken the initiative to conceal the entrance even more. The boy's invasion into their space was of course something that set off their alarms.

Out of reflex, all of them sprung to their feet; startling the poor boy even more. He already had a frightened-to-death expression on his face when he dramatically entered the room, but all colour was drained from his face the moment he saw slightly-less-than-a-dozen people on their feet on stand-by mode, ready to pounce at him at any given time.

For a moment the boy stopped and hesitated, but when he heard the loud shouts and yells from behind him, he seemed to make up his mind and bolted right into the heart of the room. Soon enough, a bunch of grown-up men invaded the room as well.

"Get that fucking boy!"

"He's cornered! Get 'im!"

As if sensing that they were not actually part of this little drama, all of the Spiders had wisely retreated into the depth of the shadows of the dingy room. They all went into Zetsu state in order to avoid getting detected, despite recognising that none of the brawny men were any Nen-users. It was always better to be prudent despite the hassle now than sorry later.

"Where to hide? What to do?" The little blond boy squeaked as he cast panicky glances around the place. "Use the Shadow Steps technique? Are you sure?"

Then, much to the surprise of the Spiders that were present in the room, the boy did a move that they recognised as the trademark technique of the underworld assassins. It was a move that allowed the user to blend with the surroundings and melting into the shadows of the room to avoid being detected. However, the little boy had yet to master it completely. For the Spiders' trained eyes, they all could see clearly where he was and where he was going, but for the untrained eyes of those non-Nen-users, the best they could see of him was fleeting, passing shadows.

In silence the Spiders observed the boy's actions. He had moved past most of the men, and was heading to the only exit of the room. However, he had barely reached the door when suddenly a new wave of Nen surged into the room. The Spiders then knew that the Nen-users of that rowdy group had arrived. Talk about bad timing.

The only thing that Meta recognised before he collided against the concrete wall was a sharp pain in his ribs. He fell into a heap into the dirty floor of the storage room and found himself gasping frantically for air. Meta writhed and curled into a tight ball as he clutched his abused side. After a while of absorbing the pain and shock, tears started falling from his eyes as he openly whimpered and sobbed. He was only four years old; all those were almost too much for him.

"Ye bunch of incompetent fools! He almost got away if not for me!" A man entered the room with a highty-mighty air around him.

The other small fries quickly scampered away as he barked at them to go get the other stray children in the streets.

The man was practically a walking mass of muscles. Everyone in the world was free to see the full texture of his muscles bulging all over his body. Another man entered the room with derisive snickers. He was thin like a twig, his body bent in an odd angle that gave him the impression of a haunting figure. He glided on the floor, his feet shuffling almost noiselessly as he approached the blond boy sprawled on the dirt.

"You are one slimy little boy, aren't you? Like an eel." The thin, spectre-like man said while nudging the boy's head with the tip of his shiny-polished shoe.

His companion; the bulky man, approached him and stared at him disinterestedly before sending another kick on Meta's stomach. Meta doubled up and vomited the content of his stomach inadvertently. The men gave a disgusted snort. The hulk of a man then bent down and picked him up by grabbing a handful of Meta's soft golden hair. He lifted him up like lifting a mere bag.

"Careful, or you'll damage him beyond repair and his value will decrease." The lanky sceptre-like man said uncaringly but the other man paid no mind to his words as if the content was insignificant and inconsequential.

Meta futilely tried to pry the man's rough fingers off his hair and his tiny legs flailed frantically in the air. He kept yelling and shouting at the man to let go of him, his tears still streaming down his plump cheeks ceaselessly and his sobs making his words almost incoherent. The men sniggered at the boy's attempt.

"Give it a rest, lad. Yer comin' with us. That's final." The man said while scrutinising the boy. "He's pretty. He's gonna fetch us a handsome price, eh?"

"Sure he will." The spectre-like man said with ghostly voice.

Fear and anger welled up inside the four-years-old, and he could not contain himself any longer. Snapping his eyes open in attention, he directed his blazing Scarlet Eyes in the direction of those two men. It was both a bad and good move.

It was a bad move because the men gasped in surprise, and their surprise very soon enough turned into joy. They had not expected to catch a Kuruta boy! Not to mention that rumours had it that the Kuruta Tribe had already perished from the surface of the Earth. They would be multi-millionaire by selling this boy!

It was a good move because his Scarlet Eyes pushed the Spiders into action. The first one to make a move had been Franklin.

"Hold it." He said to the men with his deep calm voice.

Franklin's sudden presence in the room startled the lives out of the two Nen-users. They both spun around on their heels and all colours were drenched from their faces. Franklin regarded them with even eyes.

"I'm afraid that we have some business with that little boy. I advise you to let go of him and leave this place." He stated without advancing towards them.

The spectre-like man recovered from his shock first. He then laughed at Franklin in the most mocking way.

"Who do you think you are? You don't talk to us like that. You might have caught us by surprise, but that's all. We don't take orders from anyone else." The man said while waving an impatient, dismissive hand.

Franklin frowned unhappily at him.

"I'm suggesting so for your own good. But since you are not listening…"

Answering to their cue, the other Spiders stepped out of the shelter of the dark shadows of the storage room. The two men stood frigid in their spots. They were so many of them and the two of them had failed to detect all of them?

"People like you are really a pain in the butt." Phinks said while cracking his knuckles.

"You are here just in time. I'm already getting bored to death of waiting for Danchou." Feitan said with a cruel snicker as he stepped forward.

Shizuku was already readying her Deme-chan for final clean-up. Kalluto, Coltopi and Bonolenov opted to stay out of the ruckus and became silent observers, as they usually were. Silently Nobunaga unsheathed and brandished his katana while his eyes were fixed on the blond boy in the huge man's grip. He could not deny the fact that the little boy was almost like a tiny doppelganger of the Kuruta. They were unnervingly alike.

Seeing that they were surrounded and clearly outnumbered, the huge man decided to use the little boy as their hostage. He curled his calloused hand around the fragile neck of Meta.

"S—stay back or I'll kill this boy!" He yelled, trying to be as convincing as possible but his voice still faltered.

"You will do no such thing." Nobunaga let out a nasty growl. If the boy was really who he suspected he really was; like Machi had once stated, then he was not going to let the boy die—at least not before he had confirmed his identity and pedigree.

He looked at the boy again; who happened to be looking in his direction as well. With tearful Scarlet Eyes, the boy was giving him the plea of SOS. Meta chocked as he sobbed since the man's hand around his neck prevented him from breathing properly. Nobunaga frowned at this. He did not feel good seeing the boy in such state. That was weird; usually he did not give a damn about others outside the Genei Ryodan circle, but the little boy…

"Hands off."

A voice as cold as the frozen water of the South Pole reached the two Nen-users' ears, whispering underlying death-threat to them. When the men spun around, they found themselves facing a small blue-haired woman with sharp merciless eyes. One of her hands was raised and seemed like holding something invisible. She gave them murderous look. Upon getting no response whatsoever from them, Machi frowned even deeper in displeasure.

"I said." She stated again, her voice steely. "Hands. Off."

Then she made a slight pulling motion with her raised hand. The hulk of a man did not feel a thing until he heard the loud thud of something landing on the floor below him. When he looked down, he saw a dismembered arm lying uselessly on the floor, with the half-conscious boy whom he had been holding just a moment before. That arm looked familiar.

"EAAARRGGH!"

The man then let out a howl of agony as he realised the endless stream of deep red blood flowing out of what remained of his arm. That blood showered Meta, dyeing him completely crimson. His companion stared in horror as he witnessed the terrible amount of blood that was coming out of his friend's dismemberment. Without even trying to act all highty-mighty as he had done just a moment ago, the spectre-like man tried to dash out of the premise.

He had scarcely stepped out of the doorstep when suddenly he found himself inside the storage room again. He looked around and noticed the same faces that were looking at him with empty expressions. If anything, he caught the sentence "you are done for" written on their faces, directed for him. Panicking, he ran towards the door again, ignoring the fact that he might look ridiculous in their eyes.

Again, he found himself back in the same spot as before. The Spiders were already looking bored at his attempt of escaping. His companion; that hulk of a man, was still writhing in the floor, cradling his severed arm like cradling his child. The small woman from earlier was looming like an intimidating statue towards before him, the look on her face showing that she was contemplating whether to reward him with a quick death or torture him to death.

For the third time, the sceptre-like man attempted escape and again he found himself in the same room. The difference this time was that his companion was already a goner, and there was an extra person in the room. The person—a raven-haired man donning a black coat with white furs on the collar, a peculiar insignia on his forehead, and slick-back hair—was staring at him with his cold, polished obsidian eyes of his. In his hand was a red bounded book. The sceptre-man noticed the subtle surge of Nen that was emitting from that newcomer. That raven-haired man was the one who had been making a fool out of him, but since when and from where?

Suddenly, he felt like he was such a foolish kid who was trying to show off to the adults around him but failed miserably and pathetically.

Kuroro eyed the sceptre-like man with calculating eyes, no expression whatsoever on his stony face. The sceptre-like man shrunk a bit upon being graced by his penetrating glare. Kuroro looked at the dead boy of the huge man on the floor, and then to him. Finally, the Spider Head turned to his Spiders; who had been waiting for his order, and nodded his head.

"You can have him."

The last thing that the sceptre-like man remembered before eternal oblivion swallowed him and before the brief sensation of his body being ripped apart was the evil smirks that graced the people surrounding him.

As his Spiders did their job of tearing the man apart, Kuroro turned to the little blond boy lying unconsciously on the floor. Meta had seemed to pass out from the pain. Machi observed silently as her Danchou knelt before the small figure and hoisted him into his arms; him never minding the blood that stained his perfectly clean outfit. With one sweep of his hand, he wiped away the blood that smeared the pale face of the boy.

His face betrayed nothing of the gnawing emotion in his heart. He could not put a name on it, but he knew that he would go over it soon enough—as soon as he had proven that his suspicion was right. With one hand, he searched the boy for one item. He checked his fingers, his pockets, and finally around his neck. When he felt the cold touch of metals around the boy's neck, Kuroro smiled grimly.

Bingo.

As he pulled the metal, the necklace stumbled out of the shirt that had been concealing it from attention. The metal chains clinked softly in his hand while his dark eyes were fixed at the Solomon Ring that seemed like glaring to him.


Kurapika could not stop fidgeting in her seat inside the blimp that was flying leagues above the sea level. She cast anxious glances over the window, but the only thing she could see was the endless stretching ocean and the puffy clusters of clouds that were scattered all over the clear blue sky. Despite the marvellous weather outside, inside of her was a thunderstorm and hurricane of worry and restlessness.

Yorkshin…Why does it have to be Yorkshin? She muttered to herself.

Yorkshin City was a place that she wished to avoid at all costs if possible. It was where she first met Kuroro, and that was the start of her bad lucks. The place hosted too many memories for her, she would not want to relive them again. However, what could she do now? Meta was there, and she had to come for him.

Kurapika looked down at the onyx-silver ring on her ring finger. The dim light of the small private room of the blimp was reflected dully by the dark stone. No matter how much she changed the angle of the ring, the reflection was always dull. It was never brilliant, as if the black stone absorbed all light that fell on it.

Just like him…Kurapika mused. A being that takes everything for itself but scarcely gives away anything…

Absentmindedly, Kurapika turned to gaze through the glass wall of the airport. There was nothing interesting outside at all, but she simply felt the need to distract herself with anything. After a while, she sighed heavily.

She wondered vaguely if this coming visit to the metropolitan city would create yet other memories or not.


Author's Note: The title of the chapter is "Race" because it seems like everyone is racing, in a sense, to get to Meta at the same time. Couldn't think of any other better titles, so there it goes. What do you think? Too much of the story revolving around Meta? Can you relate to Meta or is he too out of the picture in this fic? I dunno, give me feedbacks, people. Personally, I think he's a sweet little boy. A real angel ^^ especially in Kurapika's life. The poor little boy actually went out his way to search for his father…Anyway, as for Meta's versatility in so many things, the reason behind it will be explained in the coming chapters. Don't worry, he won't be the 'Gary Stu' kind of character (male version of Mary Sue, if I'm not wrong) Though you are free to speculate the reasons behind it and tell me in your reviews ^^

And for reviewers… Dear, dear reviewers…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORTS! Your supportive words for me and my studies and this fic really touch me *tearful* Thanks a lot!

Next: Kuroro finally found the Solomon Ring, and it was worn as a necklace by Meta. By that fact alone, he seemed to know who the little boy was. What would he do about it? Denial or acceptance?