Disclaimer: I don't know anything from Hunter X Hunter all rights belong to Togashi. Imagine if the protagonist was Ging instead of his son? Would the series be called Hunt X Hunt as in how many people he takes down?

Info: Machi tries to weave past the threads around Kurapika along with her own strings centered in her past.


Diebus Solet Aranea: ROA Extras IV Strings

Machi's history with Chrollo wasn't as detailed compared to someone like Pakunoda. Not that she joined him merely on a whim, but her reasons for to follow his lead were not as difficult to fathom when her life began as a girl who wanted to help people. Her father is a well-known doctor along with her other being his assistant nurse made it easy for her to want this kind of job to live up to her parents. Despite learning about the nature of her nen at a young age, she preferred to use the more practical tools in medical care when learning with the help of her mother and father.

Then, her father and mother were laid off from when after failing to save an important political figure's life despite many protesting their work in the field couldn't be replaced so easily. It only became more difficult for the young medical trainee once her mother got into a tragic accident while leaving the workplace as the result of a faulty elevator claiming her life. Naturally, her dad was pretty saddened about this unfortunate incident blaming himself for costing them their jobs, such is the guilt he felt about refusing to accept the death of their last patient.

The worst was yet to come for her family when her father ended being kidnapped by men from the mafia in order to help fix their boss. They ransomed him with the life of his daughter, so he agreed to their terms to save his wife's child not expecting the outcome to result in his own demise. It turned out that woman who died on their watch was the boss of a major drug cartel in Meteor City. Catching wind of this the gang plotted out their revenge by making an example out of Machi's father, his death involved skinning him alive.

"Yo! Those freaking Pyramid guys are insane if carving up that former doctor like a turkey is any indication!"

"Not even I could think about doing something that screwed up to somebody. That poor bastard..." The normally calm child was no struck with fear, sadness, and despair at being the last remaining member of her family with her relatives in other parts of the world. Worse yet, she would likely become a target of this criminal cartel in order to dispose of the only remaining thread from her dead parents. If she wasn't prepared to fight death was certain for the little girl named Machi, so she began to study her prey.

Learning how to use her nen-technique in more gruesome ways she perfected her craft with the strings to entangle a poor mafia grunt, his breathing was slowly being cut off with how tight she weaved her strings around his neck. At the mere age of 11 years old she made her first kill, and with it enclosed her heart under a cold, calculating, and held the persona of an assassin-styled medical ninja that would soon be hired by several different men on the black market.

In her teenage years, she was performing hired murders to get closer and closer to the people that sent her down this path, to begin with, but she wasn't trying to simply kill them for revenge. Her objective was simply to cut the ties keeping her stuck in her previous life since she felt like the old Machi had died along with her parents in order to adjust to this new life.

"Good. You've managed to pass all of your previous assignments with flying colors, but what I have in mind for you is a little different from your other jobs." A rich, booming voice came from the darkness of the room where her next employed was sitting in. Preparing to kill this man if he was trying to get her killed with a trap Machi hadn't ever seen the kind of person who appeared in front of her by lighting up the only lap in the room. His black hair and youthful appearance were something Machi were surprised to see.

'Why isn't he like the other guys who paid me to kill people? He doesn't look like an old criminal like most of my employers...'

He simply pulled out a couple of photos that he's taken over the past couple of months on the table.

"Before we begin, the following images are taken of people I've taken over the last few months. Can you recognize any of these men?" Sure enough, the young assassin for hire could see the men who were part of the Pyramid group responsible for the death of her father. She wanted to kill them all so badly however she became curious as to how this man could find them so easily when she's been working so hard just to get pieces of information about their whereabouts.

"I am well aware of your intentions to find these men, but I wish to earn more than just your services in the foreseeable future rather a long-term relationship to work between the both of us." Her cold eyes blinked at this suggesting considering the fact she usually wants to work on her own for assassination missions and the occasional medical injury.

"Why do you want to help me when I barely even know you? You must be trying to fool me..."

"I can assure you this is no trick of the mind. That being said I only feel it is appropriate we properly introduce ourselves. I am Chrollo Lucifer, the person who wishes to help you on your journey to start a new life..."

Moving her hands across the ink, she knew that there were no signs of a festering wound or infection in the tattoo covering the blonde's backside. Despite knowing this Chrollo was still inspecting the dried tattoo along with Machi to the annoyance of the Kurta sitting on the small made-up bed in his shared room with the head of the spiders.

"I must say each time I look at this tattoo my appreciation for your handiwork improves, Machi." Remember when he asked her to provide the founding members with a tattoo except for herself because he wanted to give her that personally near her left foot. Kurapika were enthralled in another reading book provided from Chrollo's personal library, his interest now was about wars and the nature of such conflicts.

'I swear Boss has everything that Kurta could ever wish to read.' Machi spoke to herself while inspecting the other injuries he's had that slowly healed over his time in the small, but deadly organization they both worked for now.

"It looks fully healed now, but if you want any more tattoos don't ask me unless you want to give me a ton of Jenny, Kurapika."

"Trust me I doubt he will even considering putting on another piece of ink on his body, Machi. Of course, I would not mind having another one although it would have to be on my arms considering my forehead gets a lot of attention by the media." His comment brought a small glare of anger from his subordinates who knew how easily he could draw the authorities when he wasn't disguising his appearance. Speaking of which another small heist would be necessary for food meaning some of the spiders would need to volunteer for this mission. Closing his book the Kurta sighed to himself while Machi put her needles back onto the yellow storing area on her hand.

"I'll guess that I can go. This factory's been keeping me locked down for too long anyway that is unless you have a problem with it, Boss." Kurapika spoke with a smugness to his tone with that last bit. Chrollo merely hummed at this offer as he felt like the newer member deserved some amount of freedom.

"Mind if you take Machi with you since she's been wanting to head somewhere ever since we've come here."

"Boss, I'm not exactly ready to just go there with Kurapika...it is something personal to me." She couldn't let anyone else go with her during her private trip to meet someone who only recently arrived in this harbor.

"By all means go on your little trip, so long as Kurapika can remain by you is all that I will ask of you." She closed her eyes to considering what this means for her personal objective before slowly nodding with hesitation in her voice.

"As you wish Boss." The awkward walk up across the wooden floor on the pier was bad enough, but having to walk with a disguised Kurta in black and red clothing along the way made this all the more strange for the young assassin. Being in a different outfit along with letting go of her ponytail to help make it less obvious what her real identity is choosing to wear her casual attire from Yorknew City feeling a bit nostalgic about such times when Uvo was still around them. The night was rather young with many teens hanging out with their pals or trying to hit on the local girls.

"Do you know where this target or person will be?" The whisper from Kurapika was nearly impossible for most people to hear, but Machi figured he would start asking questions when he didn't get any real answers from Chrollo except you will understand once you see for yourself.

"Of course, but don't make it too obvious that we're on the same side kid." She knew prying eyes might suspect them if they didn't remain like two normal ordinary people rather than wanted murderers. Looking at everyone staring at them, the Kurta agreed with such logic but he knew that there was only one way to turn attention away from the public...become like the public.

"Hey! Hey, you wanna go on a roller coaster?!" Machi blinked a few times at this sudden mood-swing Kurapika underwent despite knowing it was simply a facade.

"Oh, we could even get some cotton candy or go on a boat ride!"

She hissed that he was being too on the nose, but also noticed some were beginning to laugh at their little interactions. Despite having the personality of a cold, harden woman she wasn't used to the concept of behaving like a normal girl who would be into boys or hang out with their own girlfriends, so all of this was certainly strange to her considering the lack of a good childhood.

"Aww, they look so cute together! I wonder if she is gonna return his feelings or remain stubborn..." She quickly stormed off while Kurapika knew she must have been feeling somewhat embarrassed with what just happened, and he knew he was kinda making an ass out of himself meaning he had to set things right for the sake of their assignment. He saw Machi hanging out in a back alley in the small town they were near after running after her incredible speed she used to get away from the pier area.

"Look, the whole reason I'm here is to learn about a target I've been wanting to kill lately," She knew he was being a prick to her, which is understandable considering they were and still could be enemies. "I'm pretty sure you can just go rob a small store or bother to pay for the food we need, so why are you following me like this?"

"I want to understand Chrollo Lucifer, his intentions, and purpose by keeping me in his group besides eliminating an enemy."

He knew that by requesting him to join her on this assignment was another test being done by his "Boss" to evaluate him, but he could also learn more about this man through one of his closest associates as he did with Pakunoda and even with Nobunaga. The samurai spoke about him giving the man who wanted to become the world's most fearsome warrior a few ways to achieve that goal by finding new opponents to duel from other parts of the world, such as when he encountered and befriended Uvogin later on. As for Pakunoda, she was able to find someone who gave her life purpose, and when she read some of his memories the mind-reader knew he was someone who would not lie or deceive her without a good reason.

"Then, you're only here to find out my reason for joining with Chrollo's brigade. Honestly, you could have just asked me even if I now and would have told you that it is none of your business." She was an enigma to his mind who refused to open up about herself even the slightest bit. He wondered if he could untangle the strings around the medical ninja's heart that kept her distance from mostly everyone.

"Well, if I'm supposed to be helping out with this job this is my business actually..." Observing her glare Kurapika tried to make her understand he wasn't looking forward to whatever problems Machi was about to get herself into with this person or people.

"Whatever! Just don't get in my way because I don't need a babysitter." Huffing, she quickly found the small garage where the informant wanted to meet with her, but even someone like Kurapika could sense this seemed a little too easy. It could have been a trap by the authorities or the mafia, and perhaps even Hisoka who likely would try to kill them for nearly getting him killed in Heavens Arena.

"Stay right here and don't act like a dumbass. This will be over in a little while..." She demanded to her traveling companion while walking into the garage area leaving the sulking Kurta to figure out how to figure out what is going on here without being seen. He felt a familiar nen presence come near him causing him to draw out his chains to battle someone, but instead, he found two people he didn't expect to be following him.

"There ya are, Pika!"

"We figured you wouldn't be hunting for any food in the store, and so we decided to get the supplies ourselves only to see you and Machi running off in a different direction." Kurapika could tell there was more to the story than either Shalnark and Kalluto were both letting on, but he could use their help in trying to figure out what could be going on with Machi. To his surprise, Shalnark and Kalluto had an idea on how they could become a "fly on the wall" in that garage area with the help of a "magic trick" on the part of the Zoldyck.

A shambling man suddenly wondered into the garage area noticing a few men in black looking at him like he shouldn't be here while the puppeteer was grateful that Kalluto finally explained how to him the true potential of his Manipulation skill, his Surveillance Paper Doll trick combined with his Black Voice made the pool sap wondering into the meeting spot the perfect listening device. His conscious would have felt guilty about putting an innocent man under the control of a sadist like Shalnark, but on the other hand, the man was pissed drunk so why not make him contribute something to the world today?

"You know what I want half-pint, and I know that you are desperate for this kind of info?"

"Why can't you get other girls to screw, you perverted fu-"

"Because you AREN'T like other girls. That is the reason you're wanted throughout nearly the entire world; a girl like you should be living like a queen and not like a peasant on the run. How's about you do this for me, then when you get what you want I give you a bunch of clothes and give you the life that you deserve."

"...No, that isn't who I am..." Shalnark was surprised to hear that kind of defense about who she was considering this guy was apparently well connected in the black market. He knew she would and could have abandoned Chrollo and this group several years ago when things were getting more harder for them, the girl remained with the spiders through the rough and tough days along with the better times when everything worked out for the gang.

"Her dedication must be as strong as Pakunoda's will to obey Chrollo." Kalluto hadn't expected others to have this much respect for their leader. He knew to climb up the ranks he would have to put in a lot more effort by helping out more often.

"You stupid bitch! Here you are just moments ago offering sex just to find out where this old man you wanna snuff out lives, and instead of taking up a golden opportunity you're still gonna suck that guy's dick?!"

The trio could easily hear the loud protest from Machi's information while beginning to piece together what her intentions were to meet him tonight.

"Are you gonna tell me where that old bastard is or not? I'm not going to be here all night with a dumb asshole looking to bitch at me instead of screwing me."

"You certainly are getting screwed for sure one way or the other!" Suddenly, a lot of commotion were being heard through their living ears in the area making them concerned about Machi's safety despite knowing how tough she could act. Kurapika saw that the drunk man was still up and most of all still alive compared to the other dead guards on the floor.

"Seems like Machi's handiwork alright, the red lines on the necks and arms, her signature moves with those strings she loves." Shalnark quipped before they heard a feminine voice cry out in pain along with some loud slaps.

"Hah! Best you weren't expecting me to have a Zetsu-user in my back pocket were you dumb bitch?! True, the ropes keeping those nasty strings in place aren't like that Kurta's chains but they will keep you from doing more harm. The funniest part is that old bastard who skinned your dear daddy is already six feet under, so all of your time plotting revenge has been a waste!"

Moving near the door where Machi was being held captive, a large obese man began to rub his fingers through her pink hair nearly getting bitten by her.

"The only reason I drew you here was to have some glorious sex with you before handing the captive spider here in my hands to the mafia. They are gonna hand over a fortune when they hear about you!"

The man was pulling out his gun to help make Machi weaker until he felt a needle get stuck inside of his head with the signature wings belonging to Shalnark's nen ability.

"Hey, boss?! What's the matter with y-" His gun was suddenly turned on his own subordinates, and his mind was no longer under his control. As the others were confused paper began to float around their faces while the other spider cut them down with mere pieces of paper confetti while the rest felt their stomachs get cut open by a sharp object; like a cat scaring them with its claws but instead it was the cold steel of chains that could be used on anyone from Kurapika's arm.

"Who are these people boss? Wait...if they are like Machi then..." The nen-user holding Machi down with his ropes suddenly looked into the scarlet eyes of the man who should be fighting with them against the spiders.

"You...are still alive? Why?! Why are you helping the people who killed your clan? Don't you have any shame in yourself and want someone like this girl to die! Say something! Anything you stupid asshole!" The elderly man tried putting Kurapika in his Zetsu-ensnaring ropes, but with a simple swing of his chains, the ropes were cut apart leaving him helpless as a bullet from the man who hired him came into his skull.

"It shouldn't be too hard to cover up this scene to make it look like these guys were involved in a misunderstanding that leads to their deaths." While Shalnark and Kalluto covered up their tracks by having the large man kill himself and ordering the drunk man to contact the police once they were gone Kurapika tended to Machi, his steel cutting the girl free of the ropes on her hands and waist. Nothing was spoken between each other, but Machi had a look of shame mixed in with guilt considering she accepted this offer that led to being captured.

Later back in the factory Kurapika was looking at the sky from his small room shared with Chrollo Lucifer while he was speaking with Machi about what happened tonight. While no witnesses were alive to tell anyone the spiders were in town, his concern grew about sticking around this place for much longer despite needing to be in this area when the Dark Continent voyage starts.

"Look at me." The cold, stiff voice belonging to Machi stirred Kurapika from his thoughts as she was standing in front of the door to his room, her eyes were tired from having to admit to earning retribution for her previous life.

"You helped me out even when I said not to do so, and you haven't treated me like crap in a while so...I guess you have the right to know what the hell happened back there."

She told him about learning what happened to the cartel that ruined her life, and the man who tried raping her was a relative to one of the men who used to be in said group. Machi had planned on visiting the grave of her parents to tell them that she would be gone after killing him, her idea was to remove the threads binding her to a past life. Her voice sounded a lot more human and genuine compared to when she was performing a mission, she rarely let someone see her in this state besides people like Hisoka, Pakunoda, and her own leader.

"Listen, the debt I owe you is something I can pay back with mere Jenny and while I don't want you coming to save my ass all of the time you handled yourself pretty well back there."

"You have a favorite book?" She blinked when he asked her about that question, his mind already forming a way to get to learn more from her about Chrollo and her own backstory.

"If you have a favorite kind of reading material I wouldn't mind hearing about it from you, Machi."

"Well, I'm not...really a reading kind of person," She snapped her fingers as she did know something that she's read before when learning about the human body from her parents. "Hold on a second! Ever heard of a book called Pinocchio?"


[ Afterwords: I hope Machi didn't seem too human here, but I feel like underneath her cold facade lies a girl who has endured a lot in her life. The suggestions about her being like a sister to Kurapika suddenly make a little more sense now right? We explore more about Feitan's life next time... ]