Twenty odd minutes of walking found the group at the base of the Tanzanite Volcano, which was located in alarming proximity to the city considering the possibility of eruption looming inside it. It was almost wider than it was tall, with a seemingly gargantuan crater that dipped low across the diameter. For the most part, Tanzanite's outer shell appeared discouragingly smooth, with little option as to where one might actually be able to plant their feet without the risk of slipping down its length to their doom.
"Well, this is it," Haku announced uncomfortably as he ran his hand awkwardly through his thick, short, black hair.
"Climbing this manually will be impossible," Killua assessed as his eyes continued to trace hypothetical trails up the side.
"There's got to be a way," Gon insisted, clenching his little hands into fists in determination.
"Rope," Misaki commanded suddenly.
Her hooked umbrella handle was clasped in her left hand, though the parasol itself was closed and pointed down. The boys looked on curiously as they noticed that her right hand was extended toward Haku, to whom she must have uttered the order to, despite her eyes avoiding him momentarily. Haku stared at the girl a moment before sighing.
"You're not giving me a choice, are you?" he asked miserably.
"Rope," she repeated with only mild conviction, her hand still hovering before him.
"I'm not going up there with you," Haku warned.
He reached into his back pocket and retrieved an unbelievable amount of thick, woven rope considering the space it would have needed to be contained in. The boys' eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight.
"Thanks," Misaki said as she received the large coil of rope in her palm.
"How did you do that?" Gon finally gasped out to the man.
"Oh, um… I… inherited it from my father," Haku responded, shifting and twitching with obvious unease.
"You inherited the ability to keep an impossible amount of rope in your pants pockets?" Killua stated, clearly unconvinced.
Haku nodded, but his hands were trembling vigorously.
"There's no time for this right now," Misaki interjected.
Stepping back on her right foot, she swung a generously sized section of rope in rapidly accelerating circles at her side, the slack end running through her opposite hand. The umbrella was fastened securely at the rotating end by a multitude of crafted knots. She released her grasp once the momentum had reached a desirable point, launching the umbrella and the line attached to it upwards the volcano. As it began its descent, the parasol suddenly opened and the wires of the spine spiked in to a narrow ledge.
"Hope you two are in good shape," she said somewhat condescendingly as she tugged at the base of the cord a few times to ensure that it was successfully anchored.
Before Killua could mention that he had been in top physical shape since he was old enough to walk, Gon rushed forward and grasped the line in both hands. Without a word, he heaved himself up the line, using his feet to assist his ascension.
"Ladies first," Misaki teased as she gestured to Killua.
The former assassin shot her an intense glare before he finally approached the swaying end of the rope and clutched it in a tight fist. With his temporarily unoccupied hand, he pointed a finger of warning mere inches from her face.
"I'm on to you," he snapped, and then proceeded to follow Gon in both action and method up the volcano.
Misaki smiled once she was certain that neither boy was free to notice her doing so. Perhaps it was her occult fondness for his eldest brother which fueled it, but she quite appreciated Killua's determinedly stubborn nature, especially when it came to her personally.
'If only you knew…' she thought as she gripped the rope, climbing it vertically without the aid of her feet against the rock…
"That was hard!" Gon whined as he collapsed on to his back once he'd completed the fourth stretch of climbing, miles upon miles from their original starting point.
Killua joined him on the ledge, which was slightly larger than the others they'd encountered up to now. He sat with his back propped up against the volcano as his profusely sweating friend panted and fought to steady his breath. The heat of the late afternoon was almost unbearable now and in truth, the blue eyed boy's limbs were also feeling moderately fatigued, but he disliked showing weakness- particularly in front of someone he did not trust with such information…
'Speak of the devil…' Killua thought sourly as Misaki joined them, retrieving her umbrella from its fixed position.
"You're not tired already?" she asked with apparent surprise in her voice.
"Just… five…more… minutes…" Gon begged between breaths.
"Five and only five," Misaski obliged in an authoritative tone.
"Hey," Killua said suddenly, gaining the immediate attention of the remaining two, "is it just me or does it look like Tanzanite is smoking?"
Misaki withdrew a few steps and craned her neck. She had to admit, from this angle it did appear that there was a thin, discolored roll of steam-like emissions winding just off-center of the massive crater. She narrowed her eyes.
"I…smell something… funny," Gon announced, attempting to sniff the air despite his still slightly offset respiratory pattern.
"What does it smell like?" Killua asked, turning to face his comrade abruptly.
"Kind of like… boiling water, but not exactly," he explained, forcibly inhaling deeply. "It's like if water was burning."
"We're going back down," Misaki announced with a forced calm.
"Huh?" Gon asked.
"This volcano is going to erupt," Killua explained, catching on quickly.
"What?" the tanned boy exclaimed. "You mean it's going to explode lava?"
"It'll explode, alright," Misaki answered, "but it won't be lava."
"What's going to happen?" he persisted.
"That's steam," she said, pointing above the apex, "and it's growing fast. It'll probably explode poison gases and we'll suffocate. That's if we don't get killed by volcanic bombs first."
"We'll be safe if we get back to the city then?" Killua questioned, deciding to save his curiosity as to how Misaki knew all this for a better time.
"Not likely. The gases might take a while to spread, but they'll eventually reach the city, too."
"…But then everyone will die!" Gon cried out.
"Not before us they won't if we don't get moving," the girl insisted.
She advanced toward the edge of the small plateau, parasol open.
"Grab on if you value your lives," Misaki warned.
Gon wasted no time in clutching on to the available space on the handle, but Killua seemed hesitant.
"Come on, Killua!" Gon urged.
"There isn't room," he argued, eyeing the occupied handle.
The earth began to rumble slightly, though seconds later it calmed considerably despite the steam above Tanzanite increasing noticeably.
"For heaven's sake!" Misaki growled.
She slipped her free arm around Killua's waist and drew him in firmly against her body.
"Wha-" he attempted to protest with burning, crimson cheeks.
Before he had a chance to complete the sentiment, Misaki pushed off and the umbrella expanded much the way it had during the initial fight with the bandits. The three gracefully began to sail downwards, as if the parasol were actually more of a parachute.
"Wow, amazing!" Gon chirped as he enjoyed the scenery below slowly coming back in to focus the nearer they came.
Killua however, was silent now. His limbs were awkwardly dangling mid-air, as he wasn't quite certain what he ought to do with them while Misaki continued to press him against her. Rather than take in the lovely view that Gon was currently fascinated with, he was forced to, more or less, stare at the plum haired girl who held him so fixedly.
He secretly hoped with all of his collected willpower that she did not notice his body's involuntary reaction to the friction she was inadvertently providing against it. The mere thought of such was horrifying to him even on the best of terms, but in a situation with this wretched girl on the opposing end, it was nearly enough to kill him with the sheer embarrassment of it! He practically despised his body for forsaking him this way…
Killua lowered his overwhelmingly flushed face, tilting slightly away from Misaki as he squeezed his eyelids shut and simply prayed that they would reach the base of the volcano sooner rather than later for more than one reason now…
A/N: Thanks to Nanako for commenting, and again to Ria D'Arcy :)