Disclaimer: If only I could only own this thing.

A/N: This would be the last installment of the long question-and-answer part of the story. (Swear! It's the last! Really!) Then I'll be going to the next part of the story. (Swear!) If you think the three-chapter Q&A is boring, please tell me so I can start hitting myself. (Naah! Just kidding. I won't do that. I love myself too much to do that! XD)

Another thing, sorry for the delayed update! I kind of enjoyed the vacation too much that I forgot to upload this chapter…ehehe…plus I got a little busy because of work…(yes, I am working even though it was Christmas break! Curse my boss….making me review the reports AGAIN…)

Now with the story…

CHAPTER TEN. ACCEPTANCE

-Flashback: Four years ago-

"Okaasan, where are we going?"

"We have to escape."

"But why?"

"They have come. The people in the prophecy."

"You mean the people who were supposed to kill our clan."

"Yes."

Mikuru released herself from her mother's grasp. "But Okaasan, I made a vow to protect the tribe. I must stay here and fight."

"No Mikuru. You aren't strong enough. You'll just die senselessly." Narumi said to her daughter as she grabbed her hand again and continued running.

"But my master said…"

"He was the one who told me to take you away from here."

"He did? But I thought he didn't know that we've met already."

"He didn't. He just entrusted you to me because he knew I will take care of you. He just gave me directions. I didn't tell him that I already know how to get here."

"But why would he do that? I thought he wanted me to protect the people."

"He did but he knew you weren't strong enough. You have to grow more. He wanted you to continue the mission on your own. You know it fairly well right?"

"Yes." Mikuru said sadly. Her master was truly cruel to her. Training her vigorously and now leaving a totally dangerous mission on her shoulders – alone. "But why do we have to bring him?" She added pointing to a young boy being carried by her mother on her back. "Why is he with us?"

"She's my friend's son. I cannot possibly leave him. Even though he wasn't my real child, I still love him like he was mine." Mikuru suddenly felt hurt. She never wanted to be selfish or anything but she never wanted to share her mother with anyone else. That boy had enough for himself so why would she share her mother.

"I still don't understand it."

"Please, Mikuru. I know it's difficult to understand these things for now but you have to. We have no time left. Let's go." Narumi insisted on her little daughter. Mikuru sighed. She still cannot comprehend why she had to escape from her supposed opponents and why her mother had to bring her master's son with them.

-Back to the timeline-

"That's the part you told me about before." Gon said. "Remember, Oneechan, in the fairytale? The queen's friend escaped. That is Narumi-san. And the two children she brought with her were you, her only child and Kurapika, her friend's child."

Mikuru nodded. "My master's son was unconscious at that time. Okaasan said that my master knocked him unconscious. It seemed that my master's son insisted on staying with the tribe instead of escaping." The group looked from Mikuru to Kurapika.

"But why did Narumi-san died?" Gon asked. "I remember from your fairytale that Narumi-san didn't manage to live long enough. What happened?"

"My mother thought that we managed to run far enough. The place where we stopped to rest was a good few miles away from the village. We thought that we're safe."

"Let me guess." Killua interrupted. "Someone managed to follow you."

Mikuru nodded.

-Continue with the flashback-

"We're safe here, I guess." Narumi said as she put down the sleeping child she carried on her back. "We can rest for awhile." Mikuru just looked at their current location. Even though they were totally far from the tribe now, she felt like danger was still after them.

"Okaasan, please rest yourself. You must have been very tired carrying him all this time. I'll stay awake and be on guard."

"No, Mikuru. You have to rest too. I'll do the guarding."

"But Okaasan…"

Narumi shook her head. "You have to rest my dear. Don't worry about me. I'm fine." She patted her daughter's hair lightly as she started to increase the range of her In. Mikuru was left with no choice but to sit down beside the sleeping boy and rest herself. She felt herself nodding off as exhaustion started to trickle in her body.

"Mikuru, wake up!" Mikuru's eyes flew open. "Someone followed us. Lower your presence. We have to escape." Mikuru nodded and followed her mother's instruction immediately. "This way Mikuru." Her mother motioned to her. They followed the track behind the huge bushes. From afar she could see another village. "We're heading for that village?"

"Yes. It would be easier for us to escape if we reached it."

"Can we manage to get there on time? He's moving fast." She told her mother as she sensed the aura getting closer.

"I think we can. We just have to move stealthily."

"He's not that strong. I can fight him." She told her mother again.

"No Mikuru. You're not fighting him."

"Believe me Okaasan. I can really fight him."

"I said no Mikuru,"

Mikuru didn't insist anymore. She knew from her mother's tone that she would not be convinced. She looked back at the direction of the aura. She could sense that their pursuer was getting closer and faster. She looked at her mother in front of her. She didn't seem aware that the distance between them was narrowing. She took in a deep breath and prepared herself for battle.

Gomen ne, Okaasan. I will protect you. I have to fight him.

-Back to the timeline-

"You wanted to fight a Ryodan member? Are you insane?" Killua asked incredulously. "Even Gon and I couldn't match up to them."

"I am more powerful than I look." Mikuru simply said.

Killua suddenly stopped talking not knowing what to say next. Gon then said, "We know you're powerful Oneechan. Demo, you were only thirteen or fourteen at that time, almost the same age as Killua and I." He explained. "Even so, we weren't able to fight them head on."

"Like I said, I am more powerful than I look." Mikuru repeated. "Even though, I am just a small girl at that time, my nen abilities can be compared to that of a grown up. I was trained that way by my master."

"So you really did fight a Ryodan?" Leorio asked.

"Yes."

-Continue with the flashback-

Mikuru started to analyze their situation. Open your senses. Analyze your situation. Look for the enemy's loopholes and attack from there. That's what her master always tells her during their mock battles. She looked at their current location. Long-ranged combat wasn't an option. Her master said that her long-ranged combat skills weren't good enough for battles. Besides, long-ranged battle wouldn't be advantageous for her in their current location. She'll just die senselessly. Attacking from point-blank was a little dangerous. Gathering that much nen to bombard the opponent from point-blank could hurt those within her radius which means her mother could get hurt as well.

"Guess I have no choice but to fight him head-on." Mikuru said.

"Mikuru, you say something?" Her mother asked in a rush voice.

Mikuru shook her head. "Nothing Okaasan." She lied. I'm sorry, Okaasan. I never wanted to lie to you. But I wanted to protect you. Whatever happens, I will protect you.

Few more minutes passed, Mikuru continued to think of the best way to defeat the enemy once he reached them. Then something hit her making her stopped walking.

"What's wrong Mikuru?" Her mother asked when she saw the little girl stopped.

"Okaasan, are we sure it's not just a trap?" Mikuru asked. If one of those spider-tattooed killers was following them, how come he was letting them feel his presence? "Isn't it peculiar that he didn't hide his presence?"

Narumi stopped as well thinking. "I am not sure Mikuru. I've encountered the names of those people once before. They were quite famous in the hunter world. It was said that they are the type of people who have great confidence in their abilities. I think this person following us is just like that. I think he was that confident in his skill. Like he didn't really mind if we know his location."

Mikuru looked back. "I have a bad feeling Okaasan. I don't know. His aura seems a little different. It's not strong. But I can feel something strange in it."

"In any case, Mikuru, let's just head for the village. It would be safer if we reached it."

Mikuru didn't talk anymore and continued walking. But she was still bothered. Something's definitely wrong.

-Back to the timeline-

"What do you mean wrong?" Basho asked.

"How do I explain this?" Mikuru thought. "It was like his aura was moving towards our direction but wasn't actually following us. Something like that."

"Is that possible?" Leorio said. "If the aura is moving to your direction, then it means that it was following you right?"

Mikuru shook her head. "That's not what it actually is."

-Continue with the flashback-

Mikuru, her mother Narumi and her master's son Kurapika almost reached the nearest village in view. They just have to cross a river in front of them and they'll make it to that place. Mikuru monitored their distance with the pursuer when the aura suddenly disappeared.

"Okaasan! The aura!"

But it was too late. There in front of them stood a tall man with black hair and frightening murderous eyes. He held in his hand a pair of twin knives. Narumi made a move of attacking the man but he was faster. In seconds, Narumi was thrown in the air together with the boy she's carrying and landed on her back.

"Okaasan! Are you alright?" Mikuru could feel her eyes burning with tears. Narumi lay unconscious on the ground. The boy was beside her. She took in a deep breath and pulled out her weapon. It was a small quartz crystal shaped like a flower. It has four crystal petals which glows in a brilliant lavender color.

"What you did was unforgivable? I won't let you hurt my mother any more than what you did." With that said she raised the little crystal in the air and allowed her nen to flow through it. Within seconds, a black glass handle appeared at the end of the small flower-shaped crystal making it look like a staff.

"Materialization, I see." The man said in a low voice. He stood in a stance ready for battle. Mikuru observed him closely. With his stance and weapon, he must be from the reinforcement group or manipulation group. Still, I must be careful. He might have been a special person too, just like me. With a swift motion, Mikuru swung her staff to hit the man which was blocked by his knives. He was good and quick but he was still weak. She focused her nen at the end of her staff and released a huge aura in the face of the man. Direct hit from point blank. That must have hurt him even a little. I can't use that much nen with Okaasan around.

"Not bad. You can also use your reinforcement skills quite well. I'm impressed."

Mikuru was surprised. The man was still standing in the same place where he appeared. Although his face was burned a little, his aura was still ready and unwavering. He blocked my attack with his aura. Focusing them on his face to make a variable shield. Shifting his aura that fast would mean he was good. But that would trigger his weak point. I just have to test my theory. If it works, I can defeat him easily. Constantly trained with high-speed combat, she easily managed to initiate a surprise attack against the man. Although it was quick, the man was still able to dodge it. Mikuru continued to give simultaneous attacks against the man using her staff.

"You're not going to win by just randomly hitting your opponent?" The man said as he dodged Mikuru's blows. "They're powerful but they're just a waste of nen if you can't give me a direct hit."

Mikuru smirked at this. "Got you." With a small flick of her staff, a bright lavender rope made of her own aura appeared. It was already tied tightly around the man up to his fingers. Being good at shifting nen at will made him weak against hidden bindings. My master trained me to maximize my In ability. The level of my In is way above other people. He won't be able to escape my bind. The man tried to wiggle the rope off his body using nen but the ropes were wound so many times around him that escape was not possible. He stopped struggling and laughed aloud.

"What's funny?"

"Now I know why dancho wanted to get you badly."

"What do you mean?"

Mikuru was confused. Her master said that no one knows of her existence other than him, the tribe's council, her master's wife and her mother.

"You're different. You're powerful even without your eyes turning scarlet."

Mikuru looked at him suspiciously. Her master said that her nen can reached it maximum when her scarlet eyes were activated. She was trained to control that. But she also knew that it was dangerous to let these people knew of her real abilities. "You're mistaken. I am not from the tribe of Kuruta." She lied to the man. "My eyes won't turn scarlet at all."

"But you call that woman you're mother. She's a Kuruta."

"She is. But she's not related to me by blood." She continued to lie.

The man laughed at her. "At a very young age, you knew how to lie perfectly! Dancho will be so proud of you! Hahaha!"

Mikuru disliked where their conversation was going. She closed her eyes and gathered her nen. I'm going to bombard him with the maximum amount of nen I could create without my scarlet eyes. I'm hitting him in mid-range to allow the surge of nen to accelerate and to focus on him alone. A huge focusing-nen bombardment.

She opened her eyes and looked at the man. He was still laughing hysterically giving out comments Mikuru couldn't understand. "Farewell then." She said. The huge ball of nen she created using her staff fired directly at the bound man. It created a powerful explosion within the man's radius. Mikuru could still hear him laughing before her nen hit him. "What a strange human."

-Back to the timeline-

Basho and Leorio swallowed hard while the rest was speechless. It was Gon who talked first. "That's amazing Oneechan!" He said with his eyes blinking brightly. "Maybe you could be our nen master!"

"Yeah!" Killua agreed with a bright expression on his face. "If you become our master, we could easily upgrade our nen ability!"

"That's selfish, Gon, Killua." Senritsu commented.

"But she's great at nen. If she teaches us, we could be stronger too." Killua insisted. Then his expression changed. "Although there are things I can't understand."

"Things?"

"Like how come you can materialize lots of stuff at the same time? I thought materialization people can only materialize a single thing. Just like Kurapika who only materializes chains."

Mikuru looked at him and smiled. "It was true that I am a materialization nen user. And this," She pulled out something from her pocket and showed it to them. It was the flower-shaped crystal. "was the only thing I can materialize."

"The flower crystal?"

"Not only the crystal but whole staff itself." She said as the handle of the flower crystal staff appeared.

"How about those balls of nen? How did you make it? I thought reinforcement types like Gon are the only ones who can do that?" Leorio asked.

"That is true. It would be difficult for materialization users to create offensive attacks like that." Mikuru said as her staff returned to its crystal form. "This is where the ability of my scarlet eyes comes in." She said as her eyes turned scarlet red.

Everyone fell silent. It was the first time the group saw another person other than Kurapika whose eyes are blood red. It was kind of strange and eerie.

"Nee, can you tell me what happens to your nen type when your eyes turn like this?" Mikuru asked Kurapika looking at him directly. It was the first sentence she ever said to Kurapika that evening.

Kurapika sighed a little and said. "Originally I am a materialization nen user. With the scarlet eyes, my nen type becomes specialization."

Mikuru nodded. "It was pretty much like that. With my eyes like this, my abilities switch to that of a specialization user."

"But you didn't use your scarlet eyes during your battle, did you?" Kurapika asked.

"No I didn't. That's not the way I used my scarlet eyes. It was through this." Mikuru said as she closed her eyes. "Oh, try to use Gyo." The rest followed what she said. Everyone was speechless at what they saw.

"You're transferring you nen in the crystal?" Killua asked.

Mikuru opened her eyes and looked at them. "Every night before I go to sleep, I concentrate my nen inside this crystal. It was pretty much like compressed nen."

"How does that differ from ordinary nen?" Gon asked.

"I think I get it." Killua suddenly said. "I think it's like this Gon. Whenever you used your Jaken technique, you also compressed your nen into your fist right?" Gon nodded. "I think Mikuru-sama is doing the same thing. The only difference is that she compresses it into another material rather than in a part of her body."

"But why does it have to be in a separate thing?" Gon asked again.

"Think about it Gon. It puts a lot of pressure in your body whenever you used that technique right? Holding it within your right fist uses up lots of energy too. But if you compress it into something else, something that is made of nen as well, it wouldn't build up any stress or pressure into your body and at the same time, you can store it up."

"Ah!" Gon exclaimed. "And when that stored nen is released, it will be much more powerful than a nen which is piled up for a shorter time!"

"Exactly!"

Mikuru smiled at two who seemed to forget that they have an audience listening to them. "Excellent observation. A compressed nen has a lot more power in it because it was piled up with tremendous amount of pressure. When controlled properly, the impact it creates is larger than the usual nen bombardments reinforcement users make."

"That's really amazing!"

"It was amazing but not amazing enough to defeat my enemy."

-Continued with the flashback-

Mikuru inspected the scene. The man lay unconscious on the ground. She checked his vital signs. "I won't kill you now. I need not kill you anyway." She turned away and checked on her mother. "Okaasan, please wake up. Are you alright?" Mikuru saw her mother stirred. "Okaasan?"

Narumi opened her eyes to see her worried looking daughter. "Mikuru?"

"It's alright now, Okaasan. We can go now. Can you still walk?" Mikuru said as she supported her mother to sit up.

"I think I'm fine."

"Thank goodness." Mikuru smiled. "No one's following us now. We can escape now, Okaasan and lived happily." She smiled again at her mother.

Narumi looked around and saw a man's body lying unconscious on the ground. "You fought him?"

"I'm sorry Okaasan. I knew you said that I shouldn't but I have to. Please forgive me."

"It's alright. As long as you're safe." Narumi said as she hugged her daughter. "Wait, where is Kurapika?" Mikuru's face turned to a frown.

"He's over there." She pointed to the boy who lay unconscious beside the river.

"Is he alright?" Mikuru nodded.

"We should hurry now and go." Mikuru nodded again and followed her mother. Narumi checked on the boy. "He acquired a small injury but he'll be alright. Mikuru, could you get some-"Her mother's words was cut.

"Mikuru!"

-Back to the timeline-

"That event made me realize that I was still incompetent compared to Genei Ryodan." Mikuru said sadly. "I thought the man was already unconscious. I let my guard down." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I can't remember how it happened exactly. I can recall that my mother protected me and my master's son shielding both of us from the attack of the man. I also remember falling in the river together with my master's son. The current was strong that I didn't manage to swim to safety. My mind was a total blur at that time. When I woke up I was already in a hospital without my mother and without my master's son."

Everyone fell silent at the conclusion of Mikuru's story.

"So that's what really happened." Leorio said breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry Oneechan." Gon said sheepishly. "Is it proper for me to say that?"

Mikuru smiled. "No need to be sorry Gon. It's all in the past." Gon smiled back at her.

"Saying something like that, I don't think you don't have any more reason to hate Kurapika. Your mother and Kurapika's father are both dead anyway."

"Leorio?" Senritsu scolded.

"Don't misunderstand me!" Leorio explained defensively. "What I'm trying to point here is that you two are the only living survivors of your clan. Why not try to befriend each other? I can't see anything wrong in that anyway."

Mikuru looked at him curiously without saying anything. Leorio found this a little scary as he saw their other companions looking at him the same way too. "Hey guys. It's also alright if you don't reconcile at all. Just don't look at me like that. You're all scaring the hell out of me." He said nervously.

"You always sound like an old man Leorio." Killua said. "But I think I will agree with you."

Gon nodded agreeing as well.

"Mikuru-sama?" Maria asked her mistress. Mikuru just looked at her not knowing what to say. Senritsu, on the other hand, tried to motion Kurapika to say something. Kurapika noticed this but continued to be silent. Like Mikuru, he didn't know what to say or what to do.

Finally, after what seemed like years of silence, Mikuru moved her wheelchair towards the direction of Kurapika. Everyone watched her until she was just in front where Kurapika was seated. Kurapika, for the first time, looked at her mistress in her eyes trying to read what she's planning to do. What came next utterly surprised him.

"Hajimemashite." Mikuru said as she held out her right hand in front of Kurapika. "Asahina Mikuru to imasu. Asahina Narumi-san no musume desu. Juunana-sai desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." She was looking directly into his eyes which were tinted black because of his contacts.

Gon and the others were surprised yet were glad as they heard their mistress introduced herself formally to Kurapika, not as their mistress Akai Mikuru but as one of the members of the Kuruta clan Asahina Mikuru. Senritsu who was beside Kurapika nudged his elbow motioning him to say something.

When everything settled into Kurapika's head, he stood up from his seat as he let out a little smile and accepted Mikuru's hand. "Kochira koso."

A/N: There! Done! The longest chapter I made! I tried to make the fight scenes more vivid but my descriptions are just too shallow. (Sorry…ehehe…) But I hope you managed to imagine how it happened. Ehehe…If you have questions or if I made mistakes or stuff, feel free to inform me. I would appreciate them so much!

I'm sorry I used Japanese sentences. I don't know but I can feel the emotion of the story better when it is that way. (Translation: Please to meet you. I'm Mikuru Asahina. Narumi Asahina's daughter. Seventeen years old. I'm glad to be in your care. - I'm pleased to meet you too.) No worries. I made sure I didn't use Japanese words incorrectly. It's just a simple formal self-introduction.

To Stelra Etnae-san and complicatedmind21-san, thank you so much for continuously reviewing my fic. I really appreciate it! Please look forward to the next chapters. Hope you'll like them!

To BabyCherish-san and Bob Is Hawt but I'm Hawter-san, thank you for your reviews! Hope you'll like what's gonna happen next in the story!

To -X-Takoyaki-X-san, thanks for your review! I updated the previous chapter for grammar. Please do tell me if there are still errors in them. Eheh…I'm not really good in grammar and I will appreciate it if you could help me with that…Eheh…I've uploaded the next chapter and I will really really be grateful if you could help me fix the grammar! Pretty please! *pout inserted here* Thanks so much!

To White Alchemist Taya–san (and to those who wanted a little explanation for chapters8-10), your question really got me frazzled for a few days or so. (Swear! No kidding!) It was a very good question so I had to rack my brain for a very good answer as well. Hhmmm…Because we're living in a free world where we could think of anything we want, I'll let you choose which of those two (because she was thrown to the responsibility of fighting or because of her mother) is the answer to why she hated Kurapika. But for me, it's the second. Hhmmm…how do I explain this. Chapters 8-10 were basically Mikuru's history. It also introduced the idea on how she met Kurapika. And yes, there are two possible reasons on why she hated Kurapika. The first is that because she was thrown into a fate of fighting and protecting the tribe who isolated her – a fate bestowed to her by the council whose leader happened to be Kurapika's father. The second is because of the truth that Kurapika's father took her away from her mother. Now why did I choose the second one? I think the best way I could explain this is by an analogy with myself. I mean, if you try to take away my Mom from me, I'll definitely throw you to hell. I was thinking when she saw Kurapika with his family; it kind of triggered her jealousy over him. While she was being trained and isolated from her mother, here he was having fun and living a wonderful life. I think, Mikuru, in some way is similar to me. I don't really hate people around me even if they bully me or hurt me or whatever. I don't really care. And I don't mind doing good deeds for those who hurt me, either. I think it was a privilege and like I said, I don't really mind. But taking my Mom from me is a totally different issue. I think it was something like that. Sorry it was so long. But this is the best answer I can come up with. Sorry! Really! But I hope I answered your question.