So my little sister has animal crossing new leaf, and I have an account on it. She's the mayor, and I play the role of the disruptive citizen trying to raise a rebellion. We keep leaving messages on the bulletin board dissing each other, and it's honestly hilarious. It makes the game so much better! And then there's my brother, who just goes around and gets rich on that game... He's playing it right, but I think we're having way more fun.

Anywho, I present to you chapter ten.

After many days and many nights, the two of them finally reached civilization. A town, larger than a village, but notably smaller than a city. The first thing that Chrollo did was search out a place to stay. It's not like he had money, but he merely had to pickpocket a few unsuspecting passersby until he could come up with a handful of bills. All the way through the wilderness, his lack of Nen had been somewhat inconvenient, but only now did he truly long to be able to use it again. Particularly, he wanted back his ability to use Zetsu. He and Ilya were drawing too many eyes with their scruffed up appearances.

When they entered their room, he immediately discarded his coat on the bed and went to wash his face. Without a brush, all he could do was drag his finger through his hair until it looked somewhat less like a rat's nest.

Ilya waited outside the bathroom, seating herself softly on the room's single bed. When she heard the sound of rushing water, it took her a minute to figure out what it was. A shower.

Words had been coming back to her quicker now. Every night, she would awake from a dream with a graduated understanding of how to speak, and what normal things were. It wasn't like she could debate in depth with anyone, but surface level conversations were now possible. She realized, however, that she was far from adept at language. As Chrollo took his shower, Ilya spoke to herself, running through things that had happened since they'd arrived in town.

She was repeating the directions to the inn that they had received from a townsperson when her fingers brushed absently against Chrollo's coat. Her words slowly got quieter as she gazed at it, until she faded into silence. She ran her fingers over the white fur lining the inside of the clothing piece, smiling. It was soft, and fluffy! She really hadn't gotten the chance to touch it very often, but the more she did it, the more she liked it.

She shifted it into her lap, running both of her hands through the fluff. Then she stopped, glancing from the coat to the bathroom door. Would he mind if...no, surely he wouldn't. She'd never seen him get mad, anyway. Still, it was with caution that she slipped her own arms through the coat's armholes. Oh, it felt amazing! She could see why he wore it so much! And as a bonus, it was still warm from when he had been wearing it. She snuggled into it and laid back on the bed, nuzzling the fur by her nose.

Achoo!

She paused, then giggled at the sound of her sneeze. Then she paused again. She had laughed. When was the last time she'd done that? She couldn't recall. No, wait. She had done it before, in those dreams of hers. It was so natural, though. Why hadn't she ever done it awake until now? For some reason, the thought displeased her.

She groaned and turned her face completely into the fluff. Although she hadn't meant it when she'd put on the coat, the comfort of it around her soon lulled her into the abyss of sleep.

Chrollo came out soon after, redressed after his shower and drying his hair, when he saw her and stopped. Still rubbing the towel against his head, he watched as she quietly clutched his coat around her. He couldn't help but smile. He had been planning on cleaning her up since they no longer had to move about, but that could wait until she woke up. No need to bother her.

Then...a presence. A presence that shouldn't have been where it was. He had to stop himself from reaching out with En, very nearly slipping up and killing himself. Throwing the towel aside, he rushed to the window and searched. Sure enough, the back of a familiar figure was disappearing down the block. With a quick glance back at Ilya, who was unconscious and undisturbed on the bed, he flew from the room and out of the inn, tying around his head the bandage he kept with him to cover the cross on his forehead. It was a pain to keep track of the person since he couldn't use his Nen, but to add acid to the cut, his target was in a near state of Zetsu. On multiple occasions he lost the aura in the crowd, only to briefly pick it up again when he darted forward. After awhile, the destination of his target was clear.

He followed her into the old factory, which he deemed to have long been shut down and abandoned. Hinges were rusted, cobwebs scattered for decor, and dust coated everything like a fine polish. He trailed after her and emerged into a large room, with motionless, falling apart machines. It was there that he lost her trail.

He didn't breathe. Holding his breath, he listened for the faintest trace of footsteps. He didn't hear them, though, until they were a mere few feet behind him. Whirling, he grabbed the blade that she had been aiming for his heart. She lept back immediately and sunk into the shadows, but not before he had identified her face. He had been right, it was the same presence. But how could it be her?

"Who hired you?" she hissed, her silhouette crouched and ready to dash at a single wrong note.

"No one," he answered in truth.

"Why are you following me?"

"Because I recognized you."

He didn't miss it when her breathing momentarily hitched. "Who are you?"

"My friends call me Boss."

"Boss?" He didn't move as she contemplated this, well aware that she'd flee if he so much as began to take a step towards her. "You're the boss? Not an underling?"

"Correct."

"That doesn't make any sense," she refuted.

"I answered your question," Chrollo started, "so I'll return it. What do they call you?" She stayed silent, so he went ahead and asked, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but is your name, by any chance, Ilya?"

A glint of light indicated she'd drawn another dagger. "How," she growled, "do you know that?"

He kept his disbelief off his face, but even though it was hard to take in, he'd expected it to be true. She was Ilya. She wasn't the Ilya Feitan and Phinx had found in Yorknew, but she had the same appearance, the same aura, and the same name. A doppleganger. And this one was seemingly much more versed in the ways of the world. As he thought about it, it seemed much more likely that his Ilya was the fake. She, after all, was the one who lacked memories, who had to learn even the most basic of things from the ground up. It would also make sense as to why her fortune was able to be read, because if she was a copy, it's entirely possible that the date of her creation actually was the thirteenth of April last year.

"I told you," he replied. "I recognized you."

"Where from?" she demanded.

That was complicated. "I can't say."

"Tell me!"

"I won't."

"Then die!"

The words weren't even entirely out of her mouth before she lunged. As he'd thought, she only had a single knife since he'd taken her other. He flipped the weapon in his hand to clutch the handle instead of the blade and blocked, swinging her arm away along with the attacking knife. She persisted, though, as slippery as a snake as she struck at him from every imaginable angle. She couldn't force him to move an inch, but her attacks made it clear to him that she was a veteran fighter. In total, he counted fifteen feints and sixteen jabs that would have been lethal hand he let them land. And that wasn't counting all the attempts she made at disarming him, or disabling him.

What's more was that she had endurance. She never began to pant, her limbs never slipping in exhaustion. A curiosity crossed him, and while he was blocking one of her attacks, he swiped his arm forward.

The knife sliced her skin as he'd meant it to, and only then did she retreat. However, her reason clearly wasn't pain. She gaped at her bleeding arm, then glared up at Chrollo with rage in her eyes. It wasn't her reaction he'd wanted to see, though. It was the way that her arm's skin wrapped itself over to cover the break in the skin. It was to see the blood that stained the blade in his hand slip off the metal and swim across the floor to return to its body. Just like the Ilya he knew, her body was immortal.

He'd also noticed, while they fought, that she never once used Nen. Her aura had remained dormant, only fluctuating slightly towards Zetsu when she tried to hide, and growing gradually aggravated when she attacked. Like his Ilya, she couldn't properly wield her Nen. Perhaps she had never been taught, but if that were the case, her aura should have responded more dramatically to her emotions. Her aura should have surged with her anger, and when she was trying to hide her presence, she behaved like someone who'd gone entirely into Zetsu. And yet, she wasn't. It was like her aura resisted her command, or perhaps, wouldn't listen to her at all. Perhaps it merely reacted mutedly to its holder's state of being. Perhaps it couldn't be wielded, because it wouldn't listen. That seemed to sound right, because it would explain why Ilya would never repeat whatever he did with his Nen despite the fact that she was able to see it. This was new. He'd never seen someone unable to learn their own aura before.

This Ilya bared her teeth and positioned to launch another attack. A quick rundown of the facts, though, had Chrollo frown at the idea of continuing. Right now, he couldn't fight her or restrain her with his Nen, and she was immortal. She would never get tired unless it was to sleep, and no one like him or like her could relax enough to sleep with someone hostile about. Although his Ilya slept regularly, he didn't know how long this one could last. If he was unlucky, she would be able to last longer than him.

So he fled.

He was quicker than her, and slyer, too, so it wasn't long before he'd lost her. He returned to the inn only after wandering, and triple checking that she wasn't following after him. When he reached the room he and Ilya had reserved, he found his Ilya, still inside his coat, still sleeping soundly.

Closing the door softly behind him, he went and shook her.

She smiled, playfully pushing his hand aside in her sleep and moaning, "A little longer."

"Ilya?"

Her lips twitched, and her smile faded. She cracked open her eyes to find Chrollo standing beside the bed, peering down a her. Somehow, she had expected someone else. She then realized the fluffiness surrounding her. Eyes wide, she rushed to slip out of his coat and shove it back in his hands. He accepted it, a little startled by her sudden reaction.

"Sorry," she grumbled. "I...I like it." She cringed at her words. It was true, she was fond of his coat, but even she could recognize the poor excuse when she heard it.

He brought the crook of his finger to his lips, letting a huff of laughter escape him before recomposing himself. "That's fine," he assured her, setting the coat aside. "Let's get you cleaned up so we can go get something to eat."

Wow, so, okay. There were a lot of hints in this chapter. A doppelganger, strange Nen...what do you make of it? Does it support your suspicions, or have you had to adjust your theory? I can't wait to hear what you think, because things are going to be getting...a little strange from now on.

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!