CHAPTER 3: Ging-san misplaced the hammer!
One day, Ging-san asked Kurapika-kun to borrow a hammer from the neighborhood.
"Sorry, Kurapika-kun. I misplaced our hammer and I can't find it anywhere. I have to finish fixing this before Gon-kun wakes up or else he'll cry again," Ging-san said while screwing the loose bolt of their indoor wood swing (they had an indoor playground at their backyard!).
"It's not about the swing you idiot," Mito-san hissed. Mito-san was always pissed off whenever Ging-san went home. "It's because you spend so little time with your son. Seriously. I'm running out of excuses to tell him whenever he asks me about where you are. Be a responsible parent, will you?"
Ging-san tsked. You see, Ging-san was a Hunter. He hunted sort of stuffs all over the world and it was his work. Kurapika-kun thought it was a cool job because Ging-san got to go to places. However, Mito-san was against it because he spent only a little time with his son, Gon-kun. "C'mon, you know the demands of my job as a Hunter."
"Yeah right because Gon-kun was never your priority. When was the last time you visited here? Six months ago?" Mito-san was scary when she was angry like that, but Ging-san just ignored her. "Kurapika-kun, could you do it? Promise them that we will return it afterwards."
Kurapika was okay to do it, but he was a little reluctant because the closest house to them was the small home of the weird Ryodan siblings. They were nasty kids and their onii-chan, Kuroro-kun was a little scary and weird. "Uhm, what if I just help you find the hammer?"
"That will take time, Kurapika-kun. Wait... are you shy to approach our neighborhood?"
Kurapika-kun blushed. "Not really, just that I don't like the kids over that much. They are rude and violent."
"You mean Kuroro-kun and his siblings?"
Kurapika-kun curtly nodded.
"Oh come on, they are not that bad. They are just... a bit weird but they are fine. One time I borrowed a screw driver from them, Kuroro-kun lent it to me. I lost it actually-"
"JUST HOW IRRESPONSIBLE CAN YOU GET, IDIOT!-"
"Buut I bought a new one and replaced it and he didn't notice so no harm done. Go on, Kurapika-kun. We'll go nowhere if we still look for it while listening to your Mito-san's bicker. If you're that shy and scared then get Killua-kun come with you so just in case they eat you there, there'll be a witness to tell us off-"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE SAYING TO THE KID!"
"-But that's just your old Ging-san's joke so don't take it seriously. Off you go."
"I'm not scared of them," Kurapika-kun retorted. "Ne, Killua-kun. Come with me for a while so that I'll have a witness if they become rude to me."
Sitting on the floor while playing yoyo and Luchifurii, Killua-kun heard the entire conversation and pouted but got to his feet anyway. As he did, Luchifurii jumped to him and nestled on his shoulder. Together, they stepped out of their house.
"Konnichiwa," Kurapika-kun knocked gently on the door. He waited until he heard inching footsteps from inside.
His heart jumped a little when the door swung open and there was a boy with dark hair and eyes with cross-shaped tattoo on his forehead. Kuroro-kun.
"Oh, it's the kids from the next door. Hello," Kuroro-kun greeted.
"Uhm, sorry for disturbing you today. We're just wondering if you have a hammer and if we can borrow it?" Kurapika-kun hesitantly asked.
Then suddenly, Luchifurii hopped from Killua-kun's shoulder to the floor and jumped to Kurapika-kun. Kurapika-kun caught him with his arms.
Kuroro-kun looked at Luchifurii. Luchii looked back at him and they seemed to have a staring contest. Kuroro-kun pinched his chin and his brows furrowed like he was thinking hard. After Luchifurii, he looked at Kurapika-kun. "Hmm, your neko-chan is cute, but you are cuter," he said with a plain face.
Kurapika-kun was surprised. "W-What are you talking about!?"
"I have a hammer. Come in and wait while I get it from our store room," Kuroro-kun acted like he didn't hear Kurapika-kun's question and that offended Kurapika-kun.
"No, we are fine waiting here," he wanted to go back home as soon as possible.
"Nee, Danchou. Who is our visitor?" A voice came from behind Kuroro-kun. A girl with black hair and eyeglasses came nearer and saw their visitors. Her eyes fell straight to the neko-chan in Kurapika-kun's arms. "WAAAAHH~!"
"What are you shrieking about, Shizuku-chan?" Another girl who had pink hair and knitting sticks and woven cloth on her hands joined them.
"Machi-chan, look! The neko-chan looks like Danchou!" Shizuku-chan pointed a finger to Luchifurii. That made Kurapika-kun remember the origin of Luchifurii's name. Ugh, it would be embarrassing if they found it out. Why did he let Killua-kun bring him along!?
Machi-chan looked closer and agreed. "Wow, even the cross-shape mark. What a weird cat."
"Hello there, neko-chan!" Shizuku-chan reached out and patted Luchifurii. Luchii purred and meowed happily. "Nee, can we play with him?"
Kurapika-kun didn't want to lend them Luchii but the girls were looking so happy to see the neko-chan, and Luchifurii was purring like he wanted to play with them too.
"Hey girls, greet our visitors first," Kuroro-kun told them. Machi-chan and Shizuku-chan bowed in unison, Shizuku-chan said 'Konnichiwa' while Machi-chan mumbled 'Hm.' "Sorry, we are not allowed to have a cat but the girls want to have one. If you let them play with the neko-chan, I will let you borrow the hammer."
Kurapika-kun was caught off-guard with the sudden bargaining. Then again, it was them who came with a favor. And Luchifurii's already squirming on his arms. "Okay, if Luchii doesn't mind."
"His name is Luchii?" Shizuku-chan chirped.
"Luchifurii," Killua-kun informed her. "Kurapika-kun named him after your onii-chan."
"Killua-kun!" Damn it, this runt was just so tactless! He didn't have to say that!
Shizuku-chan giggled "Kyaa! Kawaii!" while Machi-chan whistled. Surprisingly, Kuroro-kun's expression didn't change at all. "Come in," he simply beckoned them inside.
Their house wasn't as messy and cramped as Kurapika-kun expected. They had a lot of stuffs all around but everything was orderly. The Ryodan siblings led them into their living room, which was another story.
The living room was littered with all sorts of toys scattered here and there. Also, there were a lot of kids inside: in front of the TV and playing a video game was a big boy with mushy thick hair and scary face. He was playing with a long haired boy with a toy samurai slung on his back. On the sofa was a mop-haired kid with one eye peeking out and boy who was bandaged all over. They were watching the game. On a side was a blond who was playing on a Nintendo DS game. A blonde girl was on a corner, she looked older than the two girls, and she was playing a toy gun and holding it like a pro. Kurapika-kun thought that was a strange toy to be played by a girl.
"Waaah!" Killua-kun suddenly squealed. "Is that the limited edition Chorobo X action figure!?" He excitedly stepped closer to an action display placed next to the TV. "Wooow, so awesome! This is hard to get!"
"It took me quite a bunch from my allowance to buy a mountain of Chocorobo dark chocolate flavor to get all the Patch and complete the Puzzle. Sugoi ne?" The boy with the DS approached Killua-kun and explained.
"Yeah... And you actually went for Chocorobo X, huh. I don't like dark choco," Killua-kun slipped both hands inside his short pockets.
"They're fine in my opinion, and I like CX than the original one."
Woah, Killua-kun was a type of boy who spoke like he was a grown up. He was a more old man acting than Gon-kun and they were just the same age. Kurapika-kun was surprised that the blond boy spoke the same way as he did. "You play the Chocorobo Saga?"
"Yeah, but mostly alone. Gon-kun and Leorio-kun don't give me much of a fight and it's boring. Kurapika-kun rarely plays 'coz he's all busy with his books."
"Same here," the blond boy pointed his thumb towards the video game players. As Kurapika-kun watched, they really weren't good fighters. Whenever one was trying to deliver combo attacks, the other would distract him by elbowing his side or slamming him on his shoulder. In Kurapika-kun's opinion, they would make a much good fight if they just take each other on than fight virtually. They weren't only weird, also violent. "You wanna game?"
"Sure!"
"Pretty chaotic, aren't we?" Kuroro-kun commented as he noticed that Kurapika-kun was watching.
"Can we have Luchichii now?" Shizuku-chan asked, looking more than ready to snatch Luchifurii and eat him up. Kurapika-kun gave the neko-chan to her.
Together with Machi-chan, they cuddled and fiddled with Luchifurii, and the cat seemed to be a willing victim. "Wheee~ it's like tickling Danchou!"
"You may wait here while I get the hammer if you want," Kuroro-kun pointed a couch near the boys.
"No, I'll come with you if you don't mind. I'll get the hammer fast so that I won't bother you more than we already have since it looks like Killua-kun and Luchii will stay."
"Okay, suit yourself. Please follow me," Kuroro-kun stepped out from the living room and Kurapika-kun was behind him. They went to the kitchen and inside it was a small door next to the fridge that Kurapika-kun guessed as the store room.
"Sit for a while, I'll get the hammer for you. Have some cookies if you want," Kuroro-kun brought him to the dining table and pulled a seat for him. "They are freshly baked," he said, looking at the a tray in the middle of the table filled with yummy looking choco cookies.
"Uhm, thank you," Kurapika-kun sheepishly bowed his head and sat on the chair.
Kuroro-kun left for the small door and Kurapika-kun was left alone with the yummy smelling cookies. Kurapika-kun was shy at first and he thought he really shouldn't take advantage of Kuroro-kun's kindness but the waft of the cookies was... no, calling wasn't the word to use... hmm, what do you call that one... ah, inviting. The cookies were inviting him.
Kurapika-kun gingerly reached one hand and took a piece of cookie which was still warm. He bit and oohhh, it was very tasty! Mito-san's cookies were yummier that this of course, but it tasted different. The choco bits melted in his mouth and hmm, there was marshmallow and choco fudge in it. He munched it whole and purred contentedly.
Kurapika-kun sat back straight when he finished the cookie. He wanted to have another one but that would be taking advantage of their kindness so no more. Buuut...
Why was Kuroro-kun taking so long? Was the hammer missing? Kurapika-kun waited more, not looking at the yummy cookies.
Ugh. He really wanted more...
Quickly, he looked to the kitchen door and the store room, trying to hear if someone was coming. No one was around, so he swiped another cookie and nibbled it.
"Sorry for waiting, I can't find the hammer in the store room. Maybe someone used it and didn't return to the tool box," Kurapika-kun jumped in surprise when Kuroro-kun appeared next to him all of a sudden. The cookie crumbled while in his mouth and hands and he had to hold it to stop the bits to fall and dirty the floor. He looked at Kuroro-kun, blushing and embarrassed.
Kuroro-kun looked back at him, blushing too. He didn't understand why. Wasn't he the one he caught eating another cookie and dirtying the table? Kurapika-kun meant to say gommen when Kuroro-kun closed in on him, lowered his head and put his lips on his.
Kurapika-kun was shocked and so embarrassed that his eyes turned scarlet.
Oh no, his secret! This was bad! Kuroro-kun would surely be scared and freak out... then he would throw him away of their house and call him freak and worse, tell all neighbors that he had two eye colors and he was weird and he and his siblings would make fun out of him. This was not good, not really good... his eyes became watery.
Kuroro-kun finally pulled away, looked at him and blushed even more, but his face was still blank. "Ahh, you have cookie crumbles all over your face," he gentle wiped the crumbles off of Kurapika-kun's face.
"W-W-What do you think you're doing!?" Kurapika-kun bellowed.
"Chuu you."
"I KNOW THAT MUCH!"
"Then why do you ask? Ah, the hammer. Wait, I'll look inside the cupboards. Geez, Phinks-kun or Feitan-kun must have used it to make traps to pull pranks at people. I should stop them."
Wait. Hadn't Kuroro-kun noticed his new eye color? "Why did you kiss me!?"
"Eh?" Kuroro-kun asked as if it was a weird question. He answered normally. "Because you are cute, of course."
THIS GUY WAS THE WEIRDEST OF THE WEIRDEST! "THAT'S NOT AN ENOUGH REASON TO KISS ANOTHER BOY!"
It was Kuroro-kun's turn to become disbelieving. "You're a boy?"
"YES I AM! Do I look like a girl to you?"
"Yes, and I think you are lying," Kurapika-kun's eyes became red brighter with Kuroro-kun's next move: he went close to him again, pushed Kurapika-kun's shirt up, pulled the waistband of his shorts and underwear and peered down. When he saw what he was looking for, he said "Ooohhhh..." and released his hold on the waistband. "I see. Sorry, I mistook you for a girl because you are so cute."
He wanted to run to Mito-san and cry out because this boy's weirdness was freaking him out. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Kurapika-kun wanted to cry, but he held it back because after being kissed by a boy because he mistook him for a girl, the last thing he wanted was to cry like a baby.
"I already said sorry. And that kiss meant nothing serious. I just adore you because you're cute."
"STOP CALLING ME CUTE!"
"Nice. Your eyes are becoming redder when you become angrier."
Kurapika-kun forgot about that. Damn it! "W-What are you going to do now that you've seen my eyes? Are you going to mock me and tell the others that I'm a freak?" This time, Kurapika-kun could feel himself about to cry.
"No. Should I?" Kuroro-kun deadpanned.
"You... are not scared of my eyes?"
"No. They are very pretty. Why should I be scared?"
This kid's weirdness was beyond imagination. This was the very first time someone didn't freak out about his eyes. Also, he was the sixth person who complimented them, next to Gon-kun, Killua-kun, Leorio-kun, Mito-san and Ging-san (with a remark that he should be careful to show them to other people because they looked like rubies and they might steal them away from him. Mito-san was so furious that he didn't let him eat dinner that night).
They said his eyes looked as if they were demon's. His family told him they were pretty because they didn't want him to be offended with their true opinion (but Kurapika-kun could feel that they were sincere). But this onii-chan here...
"Did my chuu activate your eyes?" It took some seconds for that to register that Kurapika-kun didn't answer quick. "So that means if I chuu you all the time, I can see your pretty eyes?"
There was something wrong with this runt. Definitely. "EHH!?"
"I see. You are afraid to let others see them. Okay, next time I chuu you, I'll make sure that we'll only be alone."
"I'M GOING TO TELL MITO-SAN THAT YOU'RE SCARING ME AND FREAKING ME OUT!"
"Chill, Kurapichii. I'm only teasing you because you are tense," Kuroro-kun rummaged inside a cupboard and took some utensils out of the way. Then he pulled out a tool box. Several tools were in there, including a hammer. "Ugh. Those two even made their own tool box and added more tools. I'll have this confiscated," he took the hammer and straightened up. He placed it on the sink then pulled out a zip loc pouch from a cabinet. He went to the table, swiped some cookies from the tray and placed them inside. He gave them to Kurapika-kun along with the hammer. "Sorry again if I thought you were a girl. You can share these cookies to your other brothers. Pick Killua-kun and your neko-chan later and then let's play if you want, okay?"
Even though Kuroro-kun already apologized, Kurapika-kun was still a little furious. He said sorry for his wrong thought of his gender, but not with the kiss! "Do you kiss all girls that you think are cute?"
"No. I chuu everything cute because I want to."
WHAT. THE. HELL. "You are weird, do you know that?"
"Ah, you're calm now and your eyes are normal again. They change when you're angry, I see."
"Uhm," even though he was still a bit angry, Kurapika-kun tried his best to calm to ask Kuroro-kun a request. "Can I ask a favor? Would you please not tell anybody about my eyes?"
"Okay." Kuroro-kun easily agreed with nonchalant nod. Kurapika-kun then realized something. Kuroro-kun was weird, but not bad. He blushed and bow his head a bit. "Thank you."
"Sure."
Even if he was kind of anxious if Kuroro-kun's compliance was sincere, he left their small, noisy but warm house and promised to pick-up Killua-kun and Luchifurii later.
P.S.: I'd like you to know that I've worked on this fic using the Writer writing app I installed on my android phone. I am writing it while on my way to work and home and all thanks to this country's insufferable traffic that I made it in time, so before anyone asks if there would a sequel... seeing that it might take some more 687278 years for the SkyWay Project 3 in A. Bonifacio Avenue to finish... malamang.