"Sis, c'mon!" A dark-haired teen called, following a slightly-older girl into a house. "Don't leave me hanging! What's wrong with you?"

The girl stormed into the kitchen and slammed her hands on the counter in frustration. "That Kurapika, darn him!"

The boy calmed down a little and sighed. "It's about Kurapika, then?"

"I… I still couldn't get a hold of him, Wren. I don't even know where he is!" The girl said shakily, her hands balling into fists. "What if… what if he's gone and gotten himself killed out there, somewhere? What if he died long ago and I just didn't know?"

"Oh, come on, Lyra, don't say that! It hasn't been all that long since he came back to the harbor, right?" Wren asked, glancing at a picture on the desk, showing him with Lyra and Kurapika. Wren was grinning widely at the camera, and so was Lyra, who had her arm around Kurapika's shoulders. Kurapika glared at the camera, wringing his hands in embarrassment. Wren figured Giz must've taken that photo, probably six or seven years ago. It might not have been that long since we've seen Kurapika, but it certainly has been a while since that time… things were a lot different then.

"It's been two and a half years since I've seen him, and almost that long since he's called. Maybe that's not a lot to you, but to me it's… it's different…" Lyra's voice broke and her shoulders began to tremble.

Wren turned back to Lyra, realizing she was crying. "Aw, sis! Don't cry!" he said, walking over to stand beside his sister. "You wouldn't want Kurapika to see you worked up like that, right?"

Lyra crossed her arms, turning away stubbornly. "That doesn't work anymore."

Wren arched an eyebrow. "Geez, it's like you're eighteen, going on six. Now that's a side of you I'm sure Kurapika's not gonna want to see."

Lyra huffed, wiping her eyes. "Kurapika this, Kurapika that! Why do you keep mentioning him? You know what? I'm done with that guy! I'll be better off without him!" she said, heading briskly into her room and shutting the door.

Wren blinked, dumbfounded. "Wh-? Hey! You don't mean that! Weren't you the one whining about him a second ago? Lyra!"


No, no, no… Killua repeated this in his head as he followed the droplets of blood on the sidewalk. That's not Alluka's blood. It can't be…

He'd find that monster. He'd find him and he'd rip him apart.

"Hey. Shorty."

Killua almost ignored the voice, but he was stopped when the figure slid in front of him.

"Get out of my way, or I'll kill you first."

"Hold on a second. You're the assassin from that gang of kids, right?" The figure asked, his face barely visible from the shadows.

Killua gritted his teeth, shoving past the stranger. He didn't even have time to kill him. Alluka was the top priority.

"If you can't locate him with your En, you're already too late. Once Phoenix gets a victim, the moment he can't sense you anymore, he kills them."

Killua stopped, his blood running cold.

"That girl was a feisty one, though. She didn't fight back, but Phoenix told me she insisted you would come save her. That he'd be sorry." The stranger laughed. "She had a lot of faith in you."

Killua, virtually blinded by the tears that sprang into his eyes, whirled around and plunged his nails into the stranger's stomach.

The figure, now looking to be about eighteen, coughed a spray of blood onto the concrete and dropped to his knees.

"Remember that." Killua hissed. "And if I ever see your ugly mug again, you won't live to remember it." And with that, he took off again.

There was more blood. Drop by drop, it made a trail to the fence a few yards ahead. Blue sparks crackled through the air as Killua bolted to the fence, seeing that it was an overlook to the waterway. But another thing he noticed was the bigger splatter of blood on the bank. Biting his lip, Killua jumped the fence and skidded to the stain.

There, in the large scarlet spot, was a little, cracked, pink smiley face. The same one that Alluka wore in her hair. It smiled up at him through the beads of scarlet that clung to it.

Killua's breathing caught in his throat. As the blue sparks died in midair, he ran knee-deep into the waterway, looking around wildly.

"Alluka! Alluka! Please, Alluka, please answer me! Big Brother's here, just like you said I'd be! Alluka! Alluka, please…" Clenching his teeth, he dove into the frigid water, reaching into the blackness to locate something, anything...

His hand closed around a small object, and he immediately swam to the surface, shaking his head and examining the item. Another smiley face. With his heart thundering in his chest, Killua ducked back under the water, but it was no use. He couldn't see anything, and his hands only touched hard-packed earth when his hands brushed the bottom.

When he rose to the surface again, he mustered all of his voice to call out Alluka's name. The yell bounced off the nearby buildings back to him, carrying no reply. He strained every sense for some sign of his sister or the boy who took her away, but there was nothing. "Alluka, why'd you give yourself for Kalluto? It's not fair…"

"The moment he can't sense you anymore, he kills them."

Killua's eyes darkened as he swam further out. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that monster! I'll kill all of them!"

He would've dove underwater again if he hadn't been grabbed by the back of his jacket and pulled out from the water, further and further back until he was put on the shore. He looked up to see Leorio standing over him, panting. With a growl of frustration he tried to leap into the water again, but the doctor held him back.

"Killua, it's no use!"

"Let me go! They took Alluka! I'll kill them and bring her back!"

"If that guy had meant to kill Alluka, he would've killed her and Kalluto both in the alley before you got there!"

Killua wouldn't listen to a single word. "No! Let me go!"

Leorio's grip held firm. "Alluka isn't dead, and she won't be if we don't go rushing in blindly! They must want something from us, so let's figure that out before we jump straight to killing them."

Killua gave one last angry yell before covering his face with his hands, sobbing with frustration.

Leorio put a supportive hand on his back. "I promise, as soon as this auction thing settles down, we'll come up with a way to get your sister back. We just have to find out where they're all coming from…"

Suddenly, Killua's phone buzzed, but he made no move to answer it. Instead, Leorio slipped the phone out of Killua's coat pocket. The call was from Gon.

"Hello?"

"Leorio! Where's Killua?!" Gon asked frantically.

"He's safe, but we lost track of Alluka…"

"What?!" Anger rose in Gon's voice.

"Listen, Gon, I think these guys are picking a fight with us for a reason. We need to find a way to get to them and get her back safely."

Gon took a deep breath before continuing, sounding a little calmer. "Leorio, I called because on my way back, I found someone else that guy must've attacked."

"Really? What do they look like?" Leorio asked.

"I… I know who she is… It's Canary!"


For someone who had no eyes, Pairo had one of the hardest, most serious stares I'd ever seen. Right now, the looks he and Hugo were giving each other seemed to be doing the fighting for them.

Right now we stood in the empty parking lot of a closed-down supermarket. The street lights were old and dim, and they flickered on and off once in a while. Nobody was around to see the fight about to unfold.

"Tell me something, Hugo." Pairo spoke, still not thinning the tension. "Have you ever heard of the Kuruta?"

"Yeah. Machi told me about 'em." Hugo replied. "Too bad you don't have those glowing eyes anymore. I really won't get any fun out of killing you, huh? Now, sorry, but I've got a short attention span, so let's speak with our actions!" And with that, he took off, moving so fast he seemed to vanish.

Then, quick as a flash, he appeared in the air high above Pairo. "How about it, No-Eyes?" he called, pulling a big knife from his pocket.

Pairo launched himself into the air to meet Hugo, clenching his first striking fist.

"Pairo, don't!" I called, realizing Hugo's strategy. Since Pairo had to rely on his other four senses, Hugo was at an advantage in the air.

Pairo tensed, realizing the strategy, too.

"Here's my greeting to you!" Hugo declared.

Pairo moved, up rather than down. He passed over Hugo's head, delivering a kick between the young Viper's eyes. Then, once behind Hugo, he dipped down, delivering a barrage of punches between Hugo's shoulders. With the final crushing blow, Hugo was sent hurtling into the front wall of the supermarket, creating a large cloud of dust as chunks of stone rained down onto the pavement.

Got 'im! I thought with a grin. That's my Pairo!

Hugo emerged from the pile of rubble, spitting a splatter of blood onto the sidewalk. Pairo had caught him off guard. "Well, if you're that straight-forward, we can skip the formalities." Hugo said, pointing his knife in Pairo's direction.

My eyebrows furrowed. Pairo had managed to deal the first major blow, but the fight was only just beginning.

Would he continue to be this lucky?


A.N.: I DID IT. Wow, it's been over a year since I updated this fic! So sorry for the delay! This is the first part of the final chapter, but the story for Pairo, Aiko, and their friends is far from over! There will be sequels to this fic, but I'd better not get ahead of myself just yet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!