Hello readers! Sorry about the late update (and the abnormally short chapter, not even 2k words) I ran into a mini authors block (a.k.a. I was just a lazy brat). Just to make things clear, this chapter is set three years before the beginning of the Hunter X Hunter plot.

Titbit of info: Kurapika's clan was murdered when he was 13.

Thanks a lot for reading up to here!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter. If I did the story would not have gone on year-long hiatuses and would not be released at a slow pace of 10 chaps per year... But we all know that's a lie.

Here is chapter 2: Five Years Later: A Change in Plans

TURNS CANON NEXT CHAPTER

Kelsi's PoV

Being a leader was hard. One week of being in charge of an entire clan had shown her that. No wonder Naedir had a few loose screws.

As most of the Kaikos had expected, the werewolves had eventually attacked the Kaikos. The size of the attack was off-charts compared to their previous raids, leading to the attack to be called a 'war'. Unlike most other wars, this one was no test of endurance and was more of a test of quick thinking and power. The battles that took place were usually decided in a matter of minutes and just as vicious and bloody. Each side had one goal, capture as many Kaikos as possible or to kill as many werewolves as possible and to destroy their supplies.

The Kaikos had ran on a system of ranks, which were decided on a person's ability to both lead a team and at the same time accomplish the most. Rank no. 1 became leader, No. 2 to no. 10 were the generals and so on and so forth. Kelsi had been no. 21, giving her the title of a leader of 12 (including her). There were a few exceptions were a lower rank would be appointed to a higher position but that usually happened when a Kaiko in a higher position gave up their spot to someone in the lower ranks because the position didn't suit them. Kelsi was thinking about appointing a council consisting of the remaining top 5 as she believed that all five of them working together would be better than just having her be the only leader.

Kelsi shoved through a stack of papers until she found the new list of the rankings that she had spent several days making.

Finding the next in line on a list of mostly dead members was an incredibly tedious task.

Then she had to re-rank the members because many had shown their true potential over the course of the war, making their previous ranking unfit for them. During the course of re-listing the members of the Kaikos, she had realized that the werewolves had been primarily targeting the higher-ups, which was why the title of leader had jumped down to her. Out of the previous 172 members, only 48 survived, making the survival rate only slightly higher than 1 out of 4. Kelsi sighed heavily as she read the list.

(previously 21) Kelsi

(34) Takuya

(29) Lennex

(32) Karima

(19) Keiron

(44) Hikaoki

(71) Ruki

(62) Luna

(53) Akiryuu

(56) Masaru

She skipped half a page.

21. (161) Tricia

What a coincidence, her old spot had been given to Tricia, the person who had jumped the most ranks during the war. If she remembered correctly, Tricia's nen type had been previously been conjuration but changed to manipulation. However, she had found a way to tweak her Hatsu, which had been conjuring mirrors and crystals to bend light and nen into directly manipulating opponents within range of her En.

Of course, there was a lot more to her Hatsu than just that, but Kelsi found Tricia's new version of her old Hatsu not only was that extremely risky but mentally straining as well. She would have to constantly imagine what her opponent was seeing and focus on the battle at the same time. Dividing your attention among two difficult tasks left a lot of room for error, but Tricia claimed that doing it wasn't difficult. She had also said that the best thing about her Hatsu was that her as long as the illusions were believable, her opponent wouldn't know she was using her Hatsu.

Before the war, the ranking list there had always had a silent line between those who could actually become leader and those who were good followers. The line was usually between no. 20 and 25, with it varying from year to year and with the few debatable members. Right now, Kelsi would very generously say that the line would be between 5 and 6. Keiron was most comfortable as a general (he had been one of the few exceptions of a rank 19 being appointed to a much higher position) but when push came to shove, he could take the position as leader. Hikaoki rivaled her in terms of strategy, but she lacked the charisma and communication skills to become a leader.

"Kelsi, I've got the area report." said No. 8. Luna, who came in with a stack of papers and shut the door with her own spirit, Draikio. To others, it might seem rather demoralizing that no. 8 was a twelve-year-old scout, but said twelve year old also had the highest werewolf kill count and was rather vicious with two katanas.

Kelsi looked up at the looming stack of papers, which towered over the raven-haired prodigy. Not that it said much though; the girl was only 4'3". " I've never seen a report more than 5 pages."

"Well," Luna started, almost tripping over pieces of pencil and instant ramen on the floor. "It's a collection of reports along with some bills, paperwork, job requests of potential clients, along with serval death threats from the Zoldyck family."

"Can you give the job requests to Takuya?" Or maybe Hikaoki for that manner.

"He specifically said to mention that he had over 15 jobs to do in the next week." Darn, Takuya found out about her procrastination habits.

"Can you take them?" After all, Kelsi still didn't feel like finding Kaikos suitable for the individual jobs.

"I have several missions to do as well." The creator sighed. Welp, there went her second most useful member.

"Then see if you can get someone to check out Meteor City." Ever since Rina had been injured and unable to continue as a scout, it had proven to be nearly impossible to continue the Kaiko's nomadic tendencies. Although the entire clan could fit in her realm now, there were still plenty of things that couldn't be achieved in a nen-created space.

"Ok, I'll see if Takuya can spare some time." Luna dropped the stack of papers on the table in front of her. So he has time to go sightseeing, but not missions? Kelsi's sighed in distaste at the loud noise the stack made when it hit the table, reminding her of the work that was in store for her.

Several Hours Later

Later that night, Kelsi left her realm in favor of a deserted alley in Yorknew City.

The creator headed toward that particular alley, checking the time as she made her way around the busy streets and shops that were still open despite the late hour. Two minutes before the clock struck midnight, Kelsi came to a halt in front of the alley. Having reached her destination early, she waited for the remaining two minutes.

The clock struck twelve.

A dagger flew towards her.

"As sharp as ever, Kelsi!" A familiar voice echoed through the alley as the creator tossed the knife back.

"And as you're as rude as ever, Katsu!" She yelled back. A tall figure emerged from the shadows of the alley. Katsu's overgrown dirty blonde hair was tied back in his usual low ponytail, and Kelsi could tell that he still carried the same worn rapier under his cloak.

"Don't tell me that dagger actually caught you off guard." The blonde scoffed, knowing that such a simple trick wouldn't cause as much as a scratch on her.

"Typical of you to greet your childhood friend by almost killing her." Kelsi replied, ponytail mimicking her annoyed state, "And you still haven't cut your hair."

"I never got the time to." The swordsman shrugged.

"Cut it which your sword or something. Maybe with a dagger since you seem to have so many." Katsu replied with a smirk. Kelsi paused for a moment. "How's the search for your clan going?" She continued, changing the subject.

"Pretty well actually. I did some digging around the site, and guess what?"

"Just tell me already."

"Kurapika left the clan six weeks before the massacre." Kelsi resisted the urge to smirk, He takes after his older brother….

"Do you think you'll be able to find him?"

"I'm not too sure. I left when he was five so I'm practically a stranger to him. Also, everyone in the clan kind of erased me from the records because I kind of cut all ties with them."

"So many 'kind of's. You ditched the clan in favor of the outside world."

"That's one way to put it."

"Hn..." Kelsi trailed on, finally remembering the purpose of the meeting. "Oh yeah, I need you to infiltrate the werewolves as a healer. Just let yourself get caught or something and then work your way up." She estimated that the werewolves would come back to attack them in a few years or so. With only 48 members, they needed a spy to keep them updated on their movements.

Katsu stared at the creator in disbelief. "You want me to infiltrate a whole group of paranoid wolves right after a war."

The Kaiko leader shrugged, "Pretty much."

"You have way too much faith in me…."

"You're not my personal punching bag for nothing."

"True true…"

Somewhere under a cherry tree

Hikaoki's PoV

"Hey, Shadow, do you have anything to say?" Hikaoki

Her spirit gave no reply.

Hikaoki held her left hand up, looking the tattoos that covered her left arm.

"What did you mean when you said that I was the next gatekeeper?" the head of her spirit twisted out of her arm, staring at her with cold, calculating eyes.

"You simply play a larger part in this world than you think."

"Did you meant what you said before?" The amber-eyed Kaiko said, recalling their past conversations.

"You could have saved the ones that your dead younger sister called 'friends'."

"What do you mean?" Hikaoki said, sinking to her knees.

"You simply play a larger part in this world than you think."

"What do you mean?" She whispered. She looked at the stones that were placed under that tree, sneaking a glance that she would normally never let herself take.

"Killuko Zoldyck"

"Sakiris Kaiko"

"Shiro" They read.

And they were only 3 of the 124. 124 lives that she could have saved.

"What do you mean?"

PLOT TWIST

^^;;;