'Hiking boots probably aren't the best choice of footwear in this heat,' Misaki pondered dismally from beneath the shade of her alternately grey and black parasol.
Admittedly the girl was presently miserable more so due to her lack of having found Killua Zoldyck than from the sweltering wave of heat hanging densely in the air. She supposed there were simpler ways to locate the boy than by aimlessly wandering the busy streets in the continent of Berraudney* (where she'd been instructed that he was last sighted). Nevertheless if she wanted their encounter to seem authentically random, perhaps this was the best way to approach it.
Besides, these were her old stomping grounds. If anyone knew their way around the fairly small continent, it was Misaki.
"Excuse me," a young male's voice called out politely from behind her, "I just wanted to ask where you got that umbrella?"
She turned with only half interest, a neutral expression on her face, to see a young, tanned boy with spiky hair and green shorts. His smile was genuine and wide, and in spite of herself Misaki nearly returned the sentiment before catching herself. Regardless, the boy resonated with her as reasonably harmless, if not fairly naïve.
"Oh, you like it, do you?" she asked blankly, nodding upwards at the parasol.
"Well, it's just that it's really sunny and hot, and that seems like a really good idea to stay cool," he explained with bright eyes.
"Gon! There you are! I told you to stay close or we'll get separated in this crowd," grumbled a new voice from within the rustling mass of people, struggling to see over the sea of heads.
Gon…
The name quickly connected in the woman's brain as the travelling 'friend' of Killua. This certainly had taken a turn in her favor, and she was determined to complete her mission at any cost. This was her honor; she accepted only contracts which she would finish.
"Gon Freecss?" she asked suddenly, and the tanned boy looked astonished.
"How did you know?"
"Don't be modest. You're quite well known for making it to the two hundredth floor at the Heaven's Arena," Misaki lied with a wink, putting to use those tidbits of information she received prior.
Finally the silver haired boy who had cried out earlier managed to weave his way through the crowd and over to his friend. Misaki immediately found satisfaction in the recognition that this had to be Killua, as he matched the description she'd been given almost exactly. Illumi had offered her a photograph, but that was for amateurs, as far as she was concerned.
She could effectively create a distinct mental image based on a good physical description, and that was her way.
"Gon, didn't you hear me calling?" Killua scolded.
"Sorry, Killua," he apologized rapidly, "but I was just talking to…"
"Tanoh, Misaki," she filled in for him, bowing slightly to the boys.
"Misaki-san knows about me from the Heavens Arena," Gon relayed excitedly.
"Is that so?" Killua replied unenthusiastically.
His crystal blue eyes scanned her from the sheer, blackened bandana hanging around her neck to the fingerless leather gloves adorning her hands and down to her tan and brown hiking boots with the coral laces. By the time he met her gaze, his eyes had hardened some with suspicion.
It was this suspicion that further revealed to Misaki the relation of the boy to her client, as she had personally spent years of tireless urging in her youth to persuade Illumi that she was even a possible ally to him. Even now she wasn't particularly convinced that he believed so, but that was hardly a topic she found worth exploring at the moment.
'Work comes first,' she reminded herself.
"Well, it was nice to meet you but we have things to do," Killua told her in a fairly bored tone of voice. Turning on his heel, he called back, "Let's go, Gon."
"You don't want to know where to buy one of these?" she asked seriously, twirling the umbrella in her fingers once.
"Yes, ple-"
"We'll find it ourselves," Killua interrupted, grasping his friends' wrist and dragging him away from the plum haired girl.
With an apologetic smile, Gon waved back at her and shouted out, "Bye, Misaki-san! Maybe we'll see each other again sometime!"
Misaki nodded politely as the boys vanished in to the group.
Reaching in to the back pocket of her mid-thigh length denim shorts, she retrieved her small, silvery cellular phone and flipped it open. Nonchalantly, she scrolled to her text messaging screen, located the number she sought, and typed, "Found him" before touching her thumb to the 'send' button and snapping the device shut with ease.
"You can count on it, Gon," she mumbled under her breath as she retracted her aura and milled her way through the busy streets, keeping her target in appropriate stalking distance from her.
* Berraudney: A fictional name for a presently unnamed continent in the Hunter x Hunter world I made by combining the names of Canberra and Sydney- two cities in Australia. FYI, I am not personally from Australia.
