Chapter 11

"That guy, right behind me," Gon said. The butler behind Gon began to sweat the tiniest bit as he showed them the coin. All the butlers clapped. Sasha laughed.

"Splendid, well done," Gotoh said. Sasha walked behind Gon. She threw her arms around his neck and nuzzled his face.

"You're absolutely adorable!" Sasha said. Gon laughed nervously.

"Lucky kid..." Leorio mumbled. Sasha's nose twitched as she quit nuzzling Gon. She put her head on top of his then turned to the door.

"Huh?" Gon looked in the same direction. As soon as he did, the door opened.

"Hey, Gotoh! Is Gon here yet?" Killua walked in. Sasha's eyes lit up. The white-haired boy noticed Gon.

"Gon! You were already here!" He walked over, pausing when he saw Sasha. She was still leaning on Gon.

"Sasha?!" Killua shouted.

"New friends and you didn't plan on telling your big sis-in-law?" Sasha grinned.

"Get off him!" Killua said. Sasha laughed as she stood up. She wrapped Killua in a hug.

"Good to see you, too," she said.

"Wait, big sis-in-law?" Leorio asked.

"Yeah! My little sister and Killua hang out so much, he's practically family!" Sasha messed up Killua's hair. The cat glared at her, face slightly pink.

"Oh, hey. Kurapika, right?" he noticed the blonde.

"You remembered," Kurapika smiled.

"And Reolio," Killua said.

"It's Leorio!" Leorio shouted.

"Hey, Gotoh, what happened to telling me as soon as they got here, huh?" Killua asked as he frowned.

"Please forgive me. I had them participate in a little game," Gotoh said, bowing.

"A game?" Killua looked to Gon who smiled.

"Hey, it was just a little joke, Killua. Me and Gotoh here were just having some fun," Sasha said.

"If that was a game, you sure had me fooled," Leorio scratched his head.

"Just testing you, old man," Sasha winked to Leorio.

"Hey! I'm not old! I'm nineteen!" the man in the blue suit argued. Sasha blinked as she gave him a blank stare. Within a second, she began laughing.

"We're the same age? Now who's got who fooled?" she said.

"Wait, did they try anything?" Killua asked. Gon shook his head.

"No, they were just keeping us all entertained!" he answered.

"Really? Well, okay. Let's go someplace else. Like, anywhere at all. If we stay here, my mom will chew all of us out," Killua said.

"Oh, hey, can we stop by my house? I have to keep Nyoka from losing her sanity," Sasha said. Killua gave her a confused look and she waved her hand.

"I'll explain on the way. I just promised her I'd bring her to you," she said. Killua's face grew to a light shade of pink.

"Whatever. Let's go," the white-haired boy said.

Back At The Evan's Residence...

"What? Mother?" Nyoka was very confused. The door holding her in the room had been opened. When she saw the figure on the other side, she was met with her mother and not Sasha, as she had expected. Her mother dropped the book she was holding and fell to her knees. She grabbed Nyoka's hands.

"Listen, Honey. I know I haven't been the best mother...I watched your father lock you in this room every time you 'misbehaved'. I hated it but I never had the courage to stand up to him...That is until now," her mother, Saiyaka said.

"Mother...I-" "Your note that you left for me when you left," Nyoka's mother said. When Nyoka was making her escape from her house, she had left a note for her father and her mother.

"You told me to stand up for what I believed in. Well, I believe in the safety of my daughters. I'll make sure you nor Sasha are here when your father awakes and I'll tell him the truth," Saiyaka said. She smiled as she looked at Nyoka's wide eyes and agape mouth. Nyoka had begun to cry. Saiyaka put her hand on her daughter's face, whipping away the tears.

"Don't cry. I got a call from the Zoldyck's. Your sister is with Killua. I know that it takes a lot for her to go over there, knowing about her marriage to Illumi. I was thinking that if she can do that, I can do this," she said as she too began to tear up. She took a shaky breath before pulling Nyoka in for a hug.

"Mama..." Nyoka cried as she hugged her mother tightly. She hadn't called her anything but mother for years. In fact, the two hadn't had a mother-daughter moment in about eight years.

"Honey, I want you to make sure you call sometimes, okay? Take a change of clothes for you and your sister. You both have been in the same set for days and I want you to still be my little ladies," her mother chuckled lightly. Nyoka nodded.

"Now, go quickly. Say goodbye to Socrates and Orion before you leave. I know how much you love those snakes," her mother sniffled before hugging Nyoka once more.

"I will, Mama," Nyoka whipped her eyes. She was about to run to her room when she remembered something. She lifted up her sleeve, showing her spider tattoo. Her mother gasped. Nyoka felt like she had to tell her. She wasn't going to say anything to anyone else but wanted to share something with her mother before leaving again.

"Don't tell anyone..." she said, looking to the ground. Her mother's gaze softened.

"Just be careful," she kissed Nyoka. The raven-haired girl nodded before going to her room. She grabbed a black backpack, putting in a change of clothes for Sasha. While going through her own drawer, Nyoka found the picture Sasha had shown her, along with another one. The new picture was of four-year-old Killua and Nyoka dressed up. Nyoka was in a little dress, laughing as she leaned onto Killua's back, head on top of his. She had her arms around Killua's neck. Eleven-year-old Sasha was holding the camera. She was smiling as her fingers were positioned into a peace sign on Nyoka's head. There was a caption on the photograph.

"Sasha's handwriting," Nyoka said.

'Bunny ears on a mission!'

"That was the mission where I met Kill..." Nyoka smiled to herself as she remembered the mission. The two families had been sent to infiltrate a banquet and keep the host safe. Killua and Nyoka were bonding as well as making sure no one was hurt. Nyoka remembered the task her mother gave her. She carefully put the photo in a pocket in her bag. She zipped up that pocket then began to put in other items. After getting a hairbrush, hair ties, and Sasha's phone into her bag, Nyoka found herself a change of clothes.

"Mama was right...I look like crap," Nyoka said. She made the decision to take a quick shower. She looked at the digital clock in her room once she finished. She found she had been in the room for a total of four days. She put on a sweater after silently cursing her father. The sweater was light grey with darker sleeves and had a blue diamond on the top left corner of the chest area. It fell down her right shoulder and the sleeves stopped at the base of Nyoka's fingers. It was a little too big.

"I'm pretty sure this was a hand me down from Sasha..." Nyoka sighed, glad it only showed her tank top strap. She grabbed a pair of dark grey shorts then put on some deep blue colored socks that stopped halfway on her calves. She slipped on her black shoes and brushed her hair before walking out of the house. She took one last look at it before walking farther away. She put her fingers to her lips and let out a long whistle. There was a pause then a rumble. Nyoka looked up and was met with two large snakes. One was named Socrates and the other was Orion.

"Don't miss me too much, okay you two?" Nyoka asked, looking the snakes in the eyes as they lowered their heads. Both snakes were genetically modified and had grown to ten meters! Their creator said they would keep growing until they reached twenty meters and would live for hundreds of years. Nyoka had grown up with them. Socrates was a Golden Lancehead Viper and Orion was a Blue Racer Snake.

"I gotta go, but I'll make sure that Sami feeds you extra tonight!" Nyoka rubbed the underneath of their heads and they hissed, flicking their tongues out. The raven-haired girl knew it was a loving gesture. She hugged both of them tightly.

"Be nice to mom," she said as she began to get teary eyed. She sniffled. Socrates suddenly slithered up to her, making her fall over.

"Hey!" she shouted as Orion used his tail to put her on Socrates' back. She held on tight as the two danced around with her. Soon she was giggling. Her snake eyes overflowed with tears when the two stopped.

"I wish I didn't have to go," she said as she clung to Socrates. Orion slithered over and gave her a sort of sympathetic look. No one else would have known it was sympathetic, however, but Nyoka knew. She slid off Socrates and whipped her tears.

"Goodbye," she kissed their snouts before walking to the front gate. When she reached the outside of the gate, she looked to Sami. He nodded a silent goodbye to her.

"Miss Saiyaka has informed me," he said. She smiled.

"You know, when you came back, you looked different. You looked like something had been taken from you..." Sami said. Nyoka's eyes softened.

"Or something bad had been given," Sami narrowed his eyes as Nyoka looked to the ground.

"Make sure to feed them extra, okay? I promised them," she said. Sami sighed.

"I feed them about two herds of deer a day. That's got to be bad for their population," he said. Nyoka waved goodbye as she walked to the Zoldyck Estate.