Chapter 3 Taming the Wild Cat
As a child, he rarely saw the eye-color of his people change into the bright red ones. The Kuruta tribe loved to live in harmony. Finding Kurutas fighting amongst themselves was extremely rare. They built a wall, protecting themselves from people outside, and protecting each other of their own kind.
He never thought he would see so much red on that fateful day.
He was just lying on a comfortable couch, reading his book, feeling glad that there was no self-defense lesson that day. Suddenly, a roar broke outside, followed by a scream. He didn't have a single idea of what was going on. In all of the twelve years since he'd been born, he had never before heard such terrifying screams in his hometown area.
Pacing to the window, he looked outside. What was before him now was the last thing he had ever expected to see on earth.
The people he knew were running for their lives. Their usual brown, sky blue, and ocean green eyes had turned bright scarlet. Woman and children had fear written all over their faces. The men however, held no fear, but rage, trying to guard their families.
Not long after, the sounds of hitting, slashing, bones breaking, and fire cracking broke off.
He was shaking with terror; somehow his hand already made it to the doorknob after he grabbed a pair of double swords he had been training with. Compared to the boys at his age, he was considered weak, but there was no way he would just sit and watch. He sprinted out of the door and saw bodies on the ground. He crouched down beside them, trying to help, but it proved him useless when the injured whispered their last words.
"Run…Kurapika. Take cover." In an instant, they were dead. The boy's ocean green eyes immediately turned red. He tightened his grip on the weapon and headed in the direction of the village's only entrance. But before he made it far, hands pulled him back, holding him in his mother's arms. His father was beside her, guarding both of them.
"Mother…mother…everyone is…" He whimpered, his senses hit by all the violence surrounding them. The sight of blood, the deafening screams, the smell of the smoke from their village burning down. His mouths trembled and his hands were shaking with sweat.
Back in their house, his mother locked him in the cupboard that fit his size.
He shouted, feeling afraid that he wouldn't be able to help anyone; that his parent would be in danger while he himself was the only one who would be safe.
"Keep quiet, Kurapika. You must live, no matter what."
Through the small hole of the cupboard, Kurapika could not see much. He jumped as the sound of the front door being smashed, invaded by a huge man, twice his father's size. The giant man had a bear skin with fur over his shoulder.
Fear gripped Kurapika as he was rendered inaudible. The giant and his father engaged in a short fight before his father went down in a pool of his blood.
Kurapika thought he was crying already, but no sound came out of his throat. His mother already left the cupboard and went the opposite way, trying to lure the giant man away from the cupboard. It wasn't long that his mother also went down, but it seemed she had succeeded in bringing the giant's attention away from the house, as he started moving out of the door.
Kurapika could only stare at the back of the killer. There was a spider-like mark on the back of the killer, with the number of 11 on it. But he could move no more. His body went limp and darkness took over half of his senses.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
After what seemed like forever, the noises had all gone down. When he finally managed to break out of the cupboard, the sight of his mother's prone form gave him that faintest hope that she could still be alive. Shakily, he reached for her, and when he turned her face, he screamed.
Out of the house, he ran and ran. He stumbled upon every bodies with the hollow in their sockets. Each had faced death in different ways. Most were slashed, crushed, and shot to death. Some were hung by some kind of string. He called their names, but none responded. Running, he made it out on the edge of the hometown area in search of his friend who had gone for the field training. There he met with the sight of more dead bodies.
One body that stood out most in his vision was a black-haired boy. The boy was a bit smaller than him. The last time he had seen this boy, he was smiling, waving at him, and shouting back at him that he should get better soon at using his weapon so next time they could be out for the field training together. But now, this black-haired boy lay motionless. Everyone else was the same: dead, with their eyes gone.
"Pairo…" He whimpered his best friend's name, cradling the black-haired boy to him for what seemed like forever. Suddenly he heard a voice. Hoping someone else would have made it, he staggered through the pile of dead bodies. Then he saw one of the tribe's self-defense instructors, lying face up, his eye sockets hollow, but his lips were moving.
He rushed to the dying man, pleading for the man to hold on as he forced a cloth on the wounds. The man recognized the boy's voice and called his name in response. It wasn't long until he breathed his last breath. Kurapika only heard his last words, "…genei…ryodan…"
As if it was in the movie film that progressed from one event to another, Kurapika then saw himself amidst the graves of his clan in the Rukuso Area. His tears wouldn't stop pouring down from his scarlet eyes.
In his mind, he saw all of the faces of his people. He saw their faces, twisting with anger and fear. The thought of their eyes turning flame-colored just before their eye sockets became empty was engraved in his mind. And that would be the last image Kurapika would always remember about the death of his clan. A promise of retaliation was thick in the air about him. Kurapika had taken everyone's promise. All the wrath and hatred of the whole clan was his to carry alone.
Then he let himself drown into the darkness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
He was between the thin line of dreams and reality. He couldn't move; he could not even open his eyes. He was torn between choosing the path to the conscious world, to escape his childhood nightmare and find himself in another one should he wakes up, or the path which he would let himself drown into the deepest pit of his nightmares and eventually make it to the complete, empty darkness from which he would never be able to wake up again.
He was lost. Never before had he been this lost. It was the very first time he wished his friends were there. He wished Gon and Killua were there, jumping around to cheer him up. He wished Leorio and Senritsu were there, changing the cool cloth on his burning forehead. He unconsciously laughed at himself for how weak and dependent he had become, however, he would never call them; he would never let them step into a harm's way. And that… made him feel something he had learned to forget long ago.
Loneliness…
He felt something hot dripping out from the corner of his eyes, it ran down his cheeks.
Somehow his senses began working at some point, for he heard a voice. He couldn't make out what the voice was telling him nor did he care. The hand was cold and a little rough, but when it was placed just above his eyes and forehead, it helped relieve him from the heat burning his head.
He felt…a little better because of that hand and that voice that sounded calming and almost soothing…if he was not mistaken.
'…pika.'
…
'Kurapika…'
…? …who are you…?
'…up.'
…What…?
'Wake up already…'
…can't
'Try…'
…
'Wake up.' The voice repeated firmly.
'…ok…I'll give it…a try…'
His eyelid felt heavy, but he fought to open them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Red eyes slowly opened, staring straight up and in the dim light he could blurrily make out that it was the ceiling. For quite a long while, his vacant stare remained fixated on the dusty ceiling above. His mind failed to tell him anything of the previous event, or when or why he was here. In addition, he was just too tired to care.
Unaware that he was not alone, Kurapika continued to remain unmoving until a voice asked, "Are you still alive?"
Kurapika's vacant stare slowly turned sideways, his head following. Scarlet eyes widened slightly and his dry lips quivered in uneasiness. Upon seeing this certain person in the close proximity, the prior event came flooding back to him.
Out of instinct, he pushed himself up in one move.
His abrupt movement caused the room in his vision to spin. Clutching his throbbing forehead, he had to wait for a moment before his head cleared up a little. He then realized the position he was in…tucked in bed. A cool wet cloth that must have been on his forehead before was now resting on the blanket that covered his lap. He looked at the man in confusion.
Kuroro was sitting on a small crate next to the mattress that Kurapika occupied, with arms crossed over his chest. "Seems like you're fine now. For a second there, I thought your soul had left the body." His face showed no emotion. He only watched on as the Kuruta fidgeted away, his back now cornered against the wall next to the mattress. The boy was about to say something, but his dry throat wouldn't allow him to.
Kurapika blinked when Kuroro offered him a glass of water. Red eyes studied the man dubiously, his eyes shifted from the man to the glass, and back to the man again. Kuroro finally let out a smile, or more like a smirk. "It's not poisoned."
'I know that, why would I still be here if you wanted me dead?'
"Nor was it a theft." He added as he urged the boy to take the glass. But the Kuruta stayed motionless despite how much his throat was screaming for it. Kuroro sighed, and then approached the exhausted blonde who failed to guard himself due to his poor body condition. At the other end of the mattress Kurapika was cornered, the man pressed the rim of the glass on the boy's lips.
The boy flinched but he had nowhere else to run.
He gulped down the fluids as he was half-urged, half-forced to drink. He still was more than aware that he was actually sitting in this close range with the Spider head. This time, it was even closer than the time when they were in the car. His mind rumbled and he ended up choking on the water.
Kurapika clasped both hands over his mouth, coughing. The impact added to his headache. But his half-closed eyes didn't miss the sight of the feared Genei Ryodan leader, taken aback, although in a slightest movement.
"Sorry." Kuroro said in a faint whisper, retreating with the glass and backing off to give the boy some space.
'Sorry…?' The word echoed in the boy's head and he thought he must have heard it wrong.
After the coughing was over, the boy wearily observed the surroundings; they were still in the same room of an old abandoned warehouse. Kurapika's eyes traveled to a bunch of books Kuroro had previously stole scattered about the room. He must have finished a lot already. So did it mean that the man had been sitting here? Kurapika felt he had so much to ask and so much to shout about, but the other began speaking before him.
"How are you feeling?"
"…Bad." The boy blurted off without thinking.
"OK, if disregard of seeing me?" Kuroro altered.
"…Not that bad…I suppose." Kurapika knew he wasn't thinking straight. He believed that, because how else could he feel otherwise, when he woke up with a headache and to his lifetime enemy's presence. Yet the situation was completely different from what he'd expected.
His hatred towards the man failed to blind him, and he acknowledged that the man had actually been watching over him while he was out cold.
'So…that voice…it was him? How can it be? And that hand too…?'
"Nightmares…I suppose?" The man asked in bland tone.
"…Yeah…" Kurapika looked anywhere but at the man. It couldn't be helped. He didn't feel like putting up a fight when he had no energy left. Better go with the flow…for now.
"I have no doubt; you were crying in your sleep." Kuroro stated monotonously.
"WHAT!?" The blond head snapped to the man, looking into Kuroro's eyes in disbelief.
"About your clan's death, wasn't it?"
And Kurapika recalled something. That hot 'something' that had dripped out from his eyes and stained his cheeks, those were his tears. He had mistaken it for being his sweat. He fidgeted nervously. He hadn't cried in five years, but here and now he had just cried in front of a person who he was never supposed to show that kind of emotion.
"...Don't speak like you know everything…" He retorted with a glare. "It was all because of you…you're the cause of my nightmares."
Kuroro raised both of his hands in surrender, though his eyes suggested the opposite. He watched as Kurapika shoved the blanket off and climbed off of the mattress. When his feet touched the floor, he staggered. The man caught Kurapika by the arms and gestured him back toward the mattress.
"Stay still." The man placed his cold hands on the boy's forehead. "Your fever's still high."
Kurapika pushed the hands away, and he, himself, fell backwards in the progress, hissing in pain. Kuroro wasn't surprised. "Move around, and you'll hurt yourself even more."
"Are you trying to be…kind to me?" Kurapika blurted out. "Why…?"
'Because if you died now, then your nen will kill me.' The answer was there but giving it away was a bad idea. Kuroro had to put it another way. "Your fever is unlike any normal illness or fatigue, you could have died. As far as I am concern, Kuruta get exhausted easily when their eyes turn flame-colored. Notwithstanding how good they are in surviving battles, some are not born to be a fighter or a warrior." He paused, taking caution at the boy's possible outburst. Kurapika only frowned. "For your information, you were out for two days. Obviously, that is not normal. And to answer your question: you're still of use to us. I don't want you dead for now."
Kurapika rolled his eyes, but the man was right. Never once in his life time, had his eyes remained flame-colored up for this long, until two days ago. And fainting, in spite of the pain he had inflicted upon himself back then confirmed this fact. But hell, who could be saving himself from the anger when the bane of the existence was right in front of him?
"Stop using your eyes." Kuroro's voice took on a demanding tone.
"Like hell I can, I have no control over it." Kurapika snapped; his hands tightened on the blanket.
"Try. It's for your own good." The man pushed.
"I can't!" The boy shouted, eyes drew shut in annoyance.
"…Think of your friends. Ignore that I'm here; think of them."
Kuroro paused as he noted the slightest change in the Kuruta's eyes. Seconds later, they softened. They closed, and Kurapika concentrated. For a long while, the man only watched in silence. When the eyes opened again, they were green. A hint of red remained but soon turned completely green.
'I hope it won't turn red again when he looks at me.'
Ocean green eyes kept staring ahead in weariness, not turning to the man at his side. Kuroro however, was capable of seeing more than weariness in those green depths; he saw sadness.
"Why are you being this way?" The boy asked, slowly turning at him. "You should know I won't die easily, you don't actually have to…look after me…if I'm not mistaken."
"Nobunaga might have killed you, so I have to watch." The answer was already prepared. Then again, how was he to respond if the boy hit the nail that Nobunaga was reckless but not stupid enough to risk his Danchou's life with it.
Then why was he watching over the Kuruta?
The idea of the boy's death and possibly leading to his own death was out of the question. He was certain the boy wouldn't die so easily, as the boy himself had claimed.
Ye the Spider head recalled the time he carelessly put the boy on the mattress and was about to leave. Upon seeing the boy twist and turn in his sleep, he just changed his mind.
"I'll get something for you to eat." Kuroro brushed off the thought, along with the conversation, and got up. He looked back at the boy one last time. The boy didn't show confusion as he would expect, it showed that he was thinking, comprehending, and analyzing.
'This boy is certainly a smart one.'
Kurapika watched as the man left.
His mother's words came back to him. 'Live on, Kurapika no matter what happens, you have to survive.' Kurapika tightened his hold on the blanket. He knew well that his life was saved by the death of his parents. That was why he couldn't' kill himself even though the idea was so tempting when he was forced to join the Ryodan. What was more important than pride was to get all the flame-colored eyes back. No matter how long he would have to suffer being with the Ryodan.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next day, Kurapika stumbled down the stairs trying to head out of the building to get some fresh air. His arm was caught by a firm grip. Still exhausted, he shuddered slightly as he eyed the hand then at the owner. The boy didn't jerk away; didn't have the energy to. But it didn't mean he'd give in.
"Let go."
"You'll fall." Came a curt and firm reply.
Too tired to continue protesting, the boy unwillingly let the man help him down the stairs. Kuroro led him to the back exit, avoiding the other Spider members on their way out. Both actually wondered what their comrades would think if they saw the Kuruta letting the Spider head support him. Eventually, they made it out of the abandoned building and into the open air.
"You can't let me die, can you? No…in fact, you can't kill me just yet." Kurapika started as the man turned baffled at him. He shrugged Kuroro's hands off of him. Despite the situation, he couldn't help his lips turning upward.
Kurapika almost smiled, making it known he was mocking him.
"Was it because my nen bound on you hasn't been lifted entirely? The conditions have been lifted, but my hatred towards you stayed, that's what makes nen strong. I haven't heard of such case, I'm afraid that I might be the first."
However, Kuroro failed to satisfy him with how he responded. The man stared at him with slightly wide eyes, but they held amusement. "You got it all figured out, boy. Now I have no doubt why a kid like you had been the first to actually take me down…once. I thought I could use you for a while before I killed you." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in a laid back manner. "Now that you figured it out, it can't be helped. But I was right to put you in the Ryodan." He pointed to the Kurapika, stating the last point. "You're a smart kid."
Kurapika felt like he had been hit by a truck. He didn't know how to react. Had the man just given him a compliment? Somehow, this man was behaving differently from first time they met. "If my memory serves me right, back then you were saying that I, capturing you was just a small accident. You don't think I am really capable of capturing the Spiders, do you?"
"Don't take it too seriously. It's just the comment that the head gives to the arms and legs." Then he paused, bringing up his hand to his chin, eyes turning sideways in contemplation. "Right, that time I thought it was just a small accident. I knew you wouldn't kill me for sure in order to ensure your friends' safety. But I didn't expect that Paku wouldn't know that." He took his hand off his chin and turned to the boy. "Although at last, things eventually turned out the way you wanted. Unfortunately, things didn't stay that way."
"I'm not Spider, and never will be. If you expect me to call you 'Danchou' like your comrades do someday, then you're sorely mistaken."
"Do it what you will. For your information, my comrades called me 'Danchou' by themselves. And I don't mind if you call me by my name. Kurapika."
Kurapika's eyes twitched. "But I'll mind if you call me by my name."
Kuroro cocked his head to the side. "You don't seem to mind me calling you that several times before. Why an uproar now?"
'What? Several times before?' The Kuruta boy faltered, trying to recall that memory.
Suddenly, Kuroro let out a chuckle. The boy gave him a what's-so-funny glare, again. Kuroro couldn't possibly reveal that he was actually having fun. To be able to draw such reactions from the boy, when he blocked every path that the boy tried to escape with or when challenged to win against him, felt like he was cornering a little strayed kitten. The expression the boy gave, being so hard on himself, it was just quite amusing.
Upon seeing that, Kuroro grinned and brushed that topic away. "Let's not worry over such insignificant thing." He put his hands in his coat pocket in casual manner. "Say, what do you think about the pre-history of the Attique City?"
"What?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kuroro easily opened a mundane conversation. His discussions ranged from the subject of political affairs and governments, to archeology and history of antiques, or even the forgotten folklores in each city. And he came to learn that the boy had several interesting ideas over such matters.
Kuroro couldn't recall how long had it been since he had a conversation considering the matter of the subject he enjoyed the most. And Kurapika was the first one who could debate with him with such equivalent reasoning. Although he had to push the boy to talk about it and the boy's answers to his questions came out more like a snapping disagreement. Kuroro couldn't help but like it.
Then again, talking with the boy gave him another sudden thought of plan.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
This time, there were only two of them. Kuroro informed his fellow Spiders that he would go 'grab some books.' From the easy-going response the comrades gave, Kurapika could tell that this was the man's usual unaccompanied activity.
"Books!? You're robbing books!?" Kurapika's expression troubled as Kuroro dragged him out of the warehouse.
"Yeah, why?" Kuroro asked innocuously, wondered why the Kuruta sounded so shocked.
'Committing another crime, I have to go steal the thing I appreciate most. What a bane…' The Kuruta's gaze dropped downward to the ground.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kurapika fretted at the man's plan. The bastard didn't have the blueprint of the mansion, and he wanted Kurapika to locate the object. But an order was an order. Out of annoyance, Kurapika gave an exasperate sigh and conjured his dowsing chain in. "Name your objects."
"Curiosities of Occult Sciences, Antiquities of the Temple, and Handbook of the Useful Arts." Kuroro then noticed the look on the boy's face. "You know those books, don't you?" Most of the time, the boy's expression was almost easy to read.
Kurapika mused to himself. On his first time stealing, he had to go for the classification of books he liked most. On the top of that, they were the books that he had been searching for. Never in his life had he think he'd find these books by this turn of event.
"Great. That'll be easier," the man commented, albeit Kurapika's lack of response.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The two of them were now in a secret passage, something that the Spider head had known all too well of, and he knew how to activate it. He was familiar with the location.
It led to an underground chamber that contained a small library consisting of antiquities and priceless books. The furniture and everything else were covered with a thick sheath of dust. Kuroro briskly walked in, brushing off some small spider's web that stood in his way. Meanwhile, Kurapika eyed the web with revulsion.
Despite the frustration of their current activity, the boy's eyes didn't betray his feelings.
"I suppose you like books?" The man said as he lifted a hand, summoning his Skill Book. He briskly flipped through the pages and used one of the abilities, Fun Fun Cloth. The boy gave no response but Kuroro didn't really need one as it was so obvious. He urged the boy in talking so much about so many things that could only be found in books and solely by the means of reading.
Kuroro was about to used his nen ability on the large bookcase. Kurapika, knowing the use of that certain nen ability, interrupted him, again.
"You're going to take all that? Didn't you aim for the three books?"
Kuroro came to abrupt halt, astonished. "You didn't tell me where the three books are located."
The boy's eyebrows twitched in irritation. "Can't you just look at it yourself? The three antique books stood out prominently, and they're right in front of you!"
Just as the angry boy claimed, Kuroro set his eyes on the bookcase, and the thick three old books stood out in front of him. "…Right." But he used the ability cover the whole bookcase anyway. The size of the bookcase decreased behind the clothes until it fit his palm. Then he started working on the other bookcases as Kurapika hissed.
"Greedy monster."
"Believe me, the owner of this house hasn't touched his bookcase more than a year. Look at all the dust. The precious books will only be wasted if I don't take it."
Kurapika suppressed the urge to talk back to the man. But this had been definitely better than what he had expected. To see him rob forgotten items was better than to see him kill, at least.
After he was done with the bookcase, Kuroro stopped when he noticed the boy wasn't following after him when he headed towards the only exit. He turned back and saw the boy's gaze resting on the reading table nearby. The book on it wrote the title of "Memorial of the Quiet Road and Sleepy Village." The man closed the distance between them and Kurapika jerked away.
"Take it."
The boy shot him a glare. "No way." With that, Kurapika started to head for the exit. Kuroro only sighed and reached for the book.
"Leave it! You've already taken more than enough." Then he stomped off angrily, wondering how long he had to stay this way.
He still had a hell to look forward to anyway.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been about a week since the Kuruta was forced to join the Ryodan. Most of the raiding to restore the Ryodan's assets and cash had gone well, except for some raids resulting in the boy's outburst at the Spiders whenever he smelled blood from someone's hands. Their daily lives were just not-in-a-bad-shape, save for a quarrelsome between hot-headed swordsman and a reckless chain-boy.
And this day was one of those days.
It all started from a small disagreement, which led to a big commotion. Kuroro sighed with brow knitted. It was Nobunaga and Kurapika, as usual.
Nobunaga was having his normal conversation with Phinx and Feitan, over the matter of killing. Kurapika had overheard it; his eyes couldn't help but glare at the man. By chance, Nobunaga took it as a challenge and sneered, "Maybe I should bring him some pretty head next time."
That spiked the boy's anger; Kurapika clenched his fist and returned, "Someday your own head will be placed on a platter."
Nobunaga's vein made itself visible on his forehead, hand moving to the sword's handle. "What!?"
"Nobunaga…" Kuroro warned.
"Danchou. I'm not gonna kill him, but a lesson would certainly do!" the swordsman shouted as he leaped from his position towards the Kuruta boy.
And here they were now, fighting. Kuroro had given up on stopping them, since both seemed to be willingly engaged in it. Now, he merely seated himself and watched, like all the others. On a second thought, this fight was interesting. He'd get to see how the Kuruta fight from this point of view.
Their level of combat were close, both managed to bleed the other.
"You're such a prick. I should have killed you along with your clan five years ago! If it wasn't because of you loitering around, Uvo and Paku would still be alive."
That did it. Green eyes instantly shifted to the color of flames. Kurapika charged in with a punch across Nobunaga's face, this time he became so much faster and fiercer. The older man was sent flying through the debris but Kurapika didn't give him a chance to regain his posture.
"Your friend was contemptible, he deserved it!" Obviously, Kurapika had only meant Uvogin, not Pakunoda. "The hell with you, you wiped out my entire clan and you want revenge on me for killing one of you!? Do you think I would want anything to do with you if not for my people!? You're the ones who caused it; you all are the ones who deserve death!" This time, he meant all of them.
Loud shouts of anger filled the room as Kurapika stood above the prone form of the bleeding Nobunaga, preparing to land one last blow. Before Kurapika's fist found its mark, it was stopped by a hand paler than his own. Nobunaga took the chance to jump off and regain himself, directing a glare towards the boy.
Kurapika snapped his head at Kuroro, his eyes bright red. "Let go! I'll finish him off!"
"You're losing yourself, consuming by anger. That's enough. I don't need both of you ending up killing yourselves." Kuroro warned with a tone void of emotion.
Kurapika's eyes directed his hatred toward the swordsman who now was held back by Franklin. Nobunaga seemed to have difficulty breathing, clutching his stomach where the two broken ribs were. Kuroro stepped and blocked the boy's vision from his comrade. "Go to your room…and tend your wounds."
The Kuruta's breathing became harsher. "Remember you must obey me. Go now." Kuroro urged the seething boy by putting his hand against the boy's chest and pushing him to go. Kurapika fisted until his hand bled before he delivered that barely refrained final blow on the metal stacker happening to be the object closest to him. The built up anger just had to go somewhere. The poor thing was thoroughly crushed.
"Fuck," he cursed before turning to leave.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Spiders watched on with interest as Kuroro talked to Nobunaga who had his two broken ribs being tended to by Machi. From Shalnark's point of view, it seemed like his Danchou was taking the boy's side, saying that Nobunaga was the one who started it first. The samurai argued it was their everyday conversation but Kurapika just had to take it offensively.
"One day, I'll make him beg for his life." The injured man sputtered incredulously.
Kuroro eyed him, "That's not going to happen."
"What!? What do you mean Danchou!? You seem to be taking his side. What's wrong with you?"
"I'm not taking his side; I'm talking about fact." He paused. "Nobu, do you recall five years ago when we attacked the Kuruta clan? Not one of them begged for their own life, even the children. They fought us, stood their ground. Some of them only did the begging but only for one another's life. The Kuruta we have here is no different."
Nobunaga only stared dumbfounded at his leader, who advanced towards the stairs.
"Damn it, what is he thinking?"
Machi, being the one in a near range, answered coldly. "Who knows?" Then she held up her palm, "Billion zenny for your wounds."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Do you think I would want anything to do with you at all if not for my people!?'
The boy's word had Kuroro thinking as he made his way to the room. What the boy said was of the same principle as the Ryuuseigai's, the place of his origin.
'We're no enemy to anyone, so don't harm any of us.'
His eyes narrowed as his own thought. 'And since when did I forget that, and turn it the other way around?'
Once he pushed the door opened, he saw the boy seated on the floor in the corner of the room, knees drawn up to his chin, still bleeding from a wound on his head, soaking the blonde strands red, so did his troubled eyes.
"Why don't you heal yourself?" He stepped into the room.
"Can't you just knock or something?" The boy snapped.
"So you've been brooding and moping?" Kuroro mocked as he approached the fuming boy. "Stay still, I'm not going to bite." He reached out and touched the boy's head. Kurapika gasped in pain, but moving too much made his head spin so he decided to stay put. Kuroro turned the blond head to the side and studied it. "Not that bad, I suppose."
"You said so. It's not that bad, leave it be. I won't die anyway, so don't worry about your life."
Something in the boy's words made Kuroro twitched. He couldn't exactly tell why it had an effect on him but he knew he did not like it one bit. Perhaps because it wasn't the truth.
"I'm not worrying over my life. I know you won't die anyway." The man got up and paced to the cupboard, pulling out some bandages he had stored earlier. He crouched down in front of the silent boy and started wrapping the bandage around the blond's head.
Kurapika was somewhat baffled by Kuroro's behavior. By now, he'd learned all too well that the man wasn't someone who would worry over his own life, as was revealed by Senritsu that Kuroro was living as if he was half in and half out of the grave. Then what was it? What was it that made the man known as Spider head who doomed his family now tending his wounds?
"We'll have work soon; I need your skills."
'Is that it?' Kurapika mulled.
"I suggest you be more in control, Kurapika. Anger can kill you." Kuroro was already on his feet, looking down at the sitting boy.
"Don't speak as if you know about it." Kurapika growled.
"I speak of the things I know of. I understand that hatred and anger will only lead to your own destruction."
"You understand nothing! No one will ever understand!" Kurapika now stood his ground, despite the throbbing in his head that threatened to bring him down that instant. "I AM THE LAST ONE!"
"…Hmm, you sure? There may be someone who survived, like you did." Kuroro offered, expecting this idea to calm the other down.
Kurapika went quiet all of the sudden, before his eyes flashed a brighter hue of red. "I remembered…everyone's face. And I buried…every single one of them with my own hands."
'Oh.'
The Kuruta grabbed the lapel of the man's coat. "You say that again, and I'll make sure you regret it."
Kuroro only gazed down at him emotionlessly, observing the boy. The way those Scarlet eyes burned with resentment, the expression on his face and his overall features giving off the oppressive air of hatred: all of those emotions built on the surface of what hid only one absolute truth under: sorrow. The man knew what it was like, theoretically. But he didn't understand it, emotionally. Out of nowhere, he felt like he wanted to understand it.
'If I did, will I be able to manipulate him better?' He asked himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next day, Nobunaga never lay a gaze on Kurapika again, at least not intentionally. It was better for them this way at least.
Mind the slightest bit at ease, Kuroro handed him a book which made Kurapika blink. It was the book he stopped to look back then at the small library tucked away in an underground passage. He glared up at the man. "So you took it anyway."
"It's now yours." Kuroro said, urging the boy to take it. "Come on, there's no use if you don't take it." The boy looked at the man, then at the book, then back at the man again. Before he could hesitate to take it, Kuroro already dropped the book in his lap and retreated to his own seating spot, continuing with his own reading.
'Well, if he insists…' Kurapika started flipping through the pages, deep down feeling more at ease. Books always brought about him the comfortable feelings, even more so it was the book he'd want to read for a very long time. He didn't forget to make a mental note of returning the book to its owner once he had a chance.
Most of the time, while the others formed a small group of conversation or play cards, the Spider head would sit alone in silence amidst the piles of thick books, engaged in reading.
When Kurapika finished reading some books offered by Kuroro, the man would occasionally ask for his opinion. He was surprised that both of them held similar analysis of certain books or contents, for the most part. Less of the time, their ideas clashed. And when it did, it pulled almost every Spider members in the circle. It wasn't everyday they get to see a boy even younger than them impose a coherent debate with the feared leader of Genei Ryodan. Although from time to time, Nobunaga and Uvogin had stirred an argument, but they usually didn't last long. Kurapika, on the other hand, was more logical, his arguments were so definite and practical that sometimes Kuroro had to pause and seemingly think.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"We're going back to Ryuuseigai." Kuroro announced on the next day.
"Back?" Shalnark repeated while Kurapika turned half of his attention on them as the young man seemed to realize something. "Oh, it should be the time. But do you think we have enough already?" He asked the Spider head. Basing upon what matter, Kurapika couldn't really make out.
"We have enough, at least enough for it. We should have been back months ago," Kuroro replied blandly, and turned his glance sideways to the Kuruta, "if not for some avenger getting in our way." Then he looked back to his comrades. "Now we can, so we have to."
Kurapika tried his best to ignore the man as the Spider head continued to inform his comrades of their means to travel back.
While the others were getting themselves together, a hand laid on the Kuruta's shoulder. "You're coming with me." Kurapika only sighed and complied; he knew this was coming anyway.
"We'll be traveling together, let's call it a truce." Kuroro stated, face as poker as ever.
To be continued…
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Note: Deleted as of 13/2/19 because I'm ashamed of my outburst, lol. Still my appreciation for everyone who reviewed and cheered me on still remains. And I'm extending my appreciation for readers who mocked me of my bad writing too. Seriously, if it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't be able to withstand more harsh comments I continued to receive in my life out there.
I wrote this story long before HxH manga vol. 0 (Kurapika's past) came out, so this fic was my assumption. Totally wrong from canon, lol; Kurapika kicked people's asses since when he was a kid and Pairo was the weak one, but this was already written so :P
