Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Hunter X Hunter.
Kiriki watched as the two doors that led to the room she and her brother were staying in opened. Two men came in. One was strongly built; the other looked like a frail old man. But she knew better than to underestimate him.
I see, so they're the Zoaldyeck assassins… Amazing, their aura surpasses even that of an expert assassin, Kiriki thought. She turned to Kuroro who had positioned himself at the center of the stage. Nii-chan, please be careful…
Both members of Killua's family noticed the girl standing at the side.
"Take caution, father," Silver said as they walked to the middle of the room. "That guy can steal other's people's abilities."
Kuroro jumped down and approached the two men. "I hope you don't mind," he began. "About a little audience."
"It's fine. Just don't blame me if she gets caught in the crossfire" Zeno replied.
Kiriki pouted indignantly but didn't say anything. Kuroro had made her promise to behave.
Once the three males were near enough, they started.
Her eyes could barely keep up with their movements. She had no choice but to use Gyo. One attack after another... Kuroro received a cut on his left cheek… Silva punched him, which he blocked with his arms… Then, Zeno fired a Nen-powered beam…
Nii-chan! Kiriki's mind screamed as he slammed into the wall. She fought the impulse to come to his aid while he immediately had to move away from another attack.
He had told her earlier. 'No matter what happens, you will stay in the sidelines. The next people we'll be meeting aren't like the other assassins, they're going to take a little more time and quite a bit of effort. Do you understand?' After a few protests, she finally agreed.
Kuroro took out a knife and swiped at Silva.
Two against one is a little bit difficult for him, Kiriki realized. Especially against those kind of people…
Silva pressed part of his arm so blood came out from the wound. Taking a stand of his hair, he tied it somewhere above his elbow.
"Is it okay?" Zeno questioned.
"No problem" he answered.
That's cocky, Kiriki thought. I'm sure the poison on that knife nii-chan had stolen from one of the earlier assassins must be one of the very lethal ones or something…
"You can steal other people's abilities, right? You're from Specialization then," Zeno said to Kuroro. "You'll truly be a threat if you can freely use the abilities you stole. But the stronger the ability you try to steal, the more risks you'll have to take. Otherwise, you won't be able to steal the abilities that match up to that of your opponent's," he paused. "At least 4 or 5 more… That's my estimate to how many more hardships you'll have to face before you can steal our abilities."
Kiriki blinked and stared at her brother. He was smiling. He's agreeing to what the old man said…? No way…
"If you fight with both of us at the same time," Zeno continued. "You'll have more difficulty overcoming those hardships. In other words, it's impossible to fight with us both and to steal our abilities at the same time. Your use of the poisonous knife to attack us is the best proof."
Amazing, Kiriki thought, awed. He saw right through nii-chan's strategy.
Kuroro threw away his knife and got into a stance, his body sending out his Nen.
Zeno approached; his own Nen emitting.
The Spider's head brought out his book. He turned to a page before a red cloth appeared on his hand.
Kiriki was surprised.
Zeno attacked with what looked to be a Nen dragon. Kuroro could only evade.
What a scary old man, Kiriki found herself thinking. Scary but amazing… It doesn't look like nii-chan will be able to capture him alive…
Kuroro, apparently sharing her thoughts, closed his book and the cloth vanished.
Kiriki continued watching him dodge the attacks of Zeno. Then, she felt the Nen of another person. She turned her head sharply.
Silva was getting ready to attack.
Kuroro had stolen a glance at Killua's father. As a result, he got caught in Zeno's next attack. Using a kick, he tried to block Zeno as the assassin came closer. However, Zeno only took hold of his leg.
"Now! Do it!" the older Zoaldyeckyelled.
Silva came from above.
Kiriki couldn't hold herself any longer. She ran towards her brother.
ooooo
BOOM!
Kurapika heard the explosion from the lowest floor.
What was that? He gazed from the window to the scene below. I wonder if that girl had anything to do with it… That girl… I couldn't get a good look at her… Could she really be…?
ooooo
Ring Ring… Ring Ring…
Silva answered his phone. "Illumi?"
"Yes. Where's my client?"
"Still here."
When the smoke cleared, he saw a small figure standing with arms raised. It was Kiriki. Around her was a barrier made of her Nen. Kuroro was sitting on the floor, also within the barrier.
Only after Zeno came out from the debris did she put off her shield and kneeled down beside her brother.
"Are you guys still fighting?" Illumi questioned. "You haven't returned yet. Ah, thank goodness," he said when his father explained to him what happened. "Tell him this for me. I've already taken care of the 10 godfathers. Tell him to transfer the money to the account as signed in the contract."
Silva conveyed this to the Spider's head. Kuroro nodded.
"Well well," Zeno said, standing up. "We've both managed to keep our lives. Though I supposed you have this young lady to partially thank for." He indicated Kiriki who hung her head.
"Sorry, I know you told me not to interfere but…" she murmured. "I couldn't help myself."
Kuroro touched the top of her head. "It's fine. I should have known better than to leave you out."
She nodded and touched his cheek. At once, the cut healed.
"The ability to use Nen as a forcefield and to mend wounds in an instant? My, that's quite a nice talent," Zeno remarked. "You have quite the Emission abilities, don't you? But I highly doubt that's the end of it. In fact, that's not even your real ability, is it?"
She pouted at how he figured her out so quickly. "Lucky guess."
"Who said anything about guessing?"
She stuck out her tongue at him. He chuckled at her childish antics.
Kuroro looked at Killua's grandfather. "You're not going to kill me?"
"Our client was the 10 godfathers," he replied. "Since they're all dead now, you're no longer our target."
"I see." Kuroro stood up. Kiriki followed. "That's unexpected. You won't get this chance again."
"Don't mistake us as assassins you kill for leisure. This is business. There's no way I'd risk my life if there's no profit."
"… May I ask you a question?"
Zeno looked over his shoulder. "What?"
"If we had a fight, between you and I, who will win?"
The silver-haired old man scoffed. "Me, of course" he responded. Kiriki opened her mouth to argue but he had already spoken again, "But if you're really determined to kill me, that's another story." He walked away.
When the two men left the room, Kuroro smirked then allowed himself to fall on the ground. "That was close! I couldn't steal anything at all!"
Kiriki looked at him but didn't reply.
The Spider's head turned to her. "What's wrong? Weren't you able to do what you wanted?"
"Nii-chan, there's something I need to tell you…"
"I see," was Kuroro's first comment when she finished. "A person with a familiar yet nonetheless strange aura that you can feel…" He placed his fingers to his chin, thinking. "That's quite interesting…"
It's a possibility that Kiri might actually be related to this guy, he thought. That means there was another survivor from the Scarlet Eyes… Well, this doesn't look too good. I know she doesn't want to but it looks like she might actually be forced to know the truth of the people who caused her to become an orphan… Another interesting detail is that the guy could also be the chain-user. It's not impossible. He probably has a grudge against us, that's why he was able to kill Ubo. I have no doubt he'll be after us next… My, this is getting ironic… Kiri will not like this.
"I don't understand," the blond said, breaking his train of thought. "I don't want to. I've never felt anything like this before." She stared at him with upset eyes. "It troubles me…"
"And Kiri don't want to be troubled, does she?" Kuroro stated.
She looked away. "It's irritating…"
Sighing, he stood up. "Let's go back to the base."
