DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HxH.
As usual, special thanks to aionwatha-san for the hard work as my beta XD!
Chapter 11: A Stranger.
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"Who would be the most mysterious, the person whose brain you understand but whose name you do not know? Or the person whose name, looks and age you know, but no more than that?
Kurapika was astonished with one of the questions he had read from a book. It was one of the questions that he found so easy to answer but didn't actually know how to. Or rather, he wasn't sure of his answer.
He and the old, suited man were walking into a corridor. There were doors of the same design along the path, but at the very end of it, was an enormous and grandiose one.
"This way, please." the old man gestured the Kuruta to enter the door as he opened it. Kurapika went inside, and he was stunned with what he saw. He was too amazed that he forgot to say thanks to the man as the butler bowed behind him before closing the door.
Dusk was approaching. Yet inside the room, it looked like it was late at night. He could see how the sun had almost set, looking through a huge, glass window on a nearby. The view was fascinating. What more, he could see nothing but shelves filled with leather-bounded books, comfy looking couches and an old-looking yet luxurious desk matched with an old-fashioned lamp on it. Kurapika remained rooted in his spot as he admired the room that seemed to have been left behind in some faraway past. He was about to let his eyes linger around the place some more when the dark room was suddenly lit by dim lights fixed on the walls, and a familiar coarse voice echoed in the room.
"You are Kurapika, am I right?"
Kurapika managed to suppress a gasp of surprise.
"Yes, sir."
"I didn't expect there to be a pure-breed Kuruta who has been lurking around inside the Mafia community. Now, I wonder. What are you up to?"
Kurapika was a bit at a loss for words. He decided to keep his thoughts to himself for a while.
"Taka-san said that you took an hour and a half to pass the Life Mirror. It sounds like you can't handle your own emotional turmoils that much. I wonder... it looks to me that it has something to do with your clan's death." the voice continued.
Kurapika tensed a bit. The man was surely sharp.
"Grief and thirst for revenge, I suppose?"
It was obvious. He couldn't think of anything to say to the man. He'd rather bow his head to gesture his silent 'yes,' since the man's assumptions were right, anyway.
"Are you the only living Kuruta as of now?"
"Yes, as far as I know, sir."
"And I heard you already met my daughter, Clario. And you found out that she's a Kuruta as well, a half-breed, specifically. Is that right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then I'm pretty sure that you know that I'm looking for a bodyguard for her, don't you?"
Kurapika slightly nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Then will you mind to tell me what are you up to for showing yourself here in my manor? Did my Kuruta eyes collection catch your attention?"
"... Yes, sir," he said truthfully. "I heard that you already had a number of pairs gathered. I won't deny that I'm interested in them. My clan owns those eyes, no matter what. I don't want to be rude, sir. But I do believe that I have some right to those eyes; they belong to my family. I'm so sorry for being so straight-forward, but I want to know why you want to collect all of them. What are you going to do with them once you get them all? And specially, it sounds to me that you know about the 37th Kuruta eyes pair, which would be my eyes. Now that you already know who I am, what are you going to do with me?" No more beating around the bush.
Silence took over for a while, before the coarse voice broke into a hearty laugh.
"Woah! What a fierce kid you are! Chill down, boy. Let's talk this over.
"First: Don't worry. Believe it or not, I didn't know that there's another living Kuruta around. I was referring to Clario as my 37th pair. Second: the reason why I want the eyes is personal. Third: Since I have the upper hand here, I want to hear you out first. Now, what are you up to? What is the desperate reason why you risked your life and decided to enter my mansion?"
"I want the eyes. That is all," Kurapika bravely stated.
"And what are you going to do with them?"
"I'll bring them back to the real owners."
"You mean, you'll bury them along with the corpses on your village?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how much a pair of those eyes costs?"
"Yes."
"Do you know that my mansion got the highest quality of security?"
"Yes."
"Do you know that I'm a part of the Mafia, a Hunter and a Nen-user as well?"
"Yes."
"Are you that crazy when it comes to your clan's precious eyes?"
Kurapika's eyes slowly looked straight ahead, holding their brightest shade of scarlet, containing no fear. "Yes."
"How wonderful your eyes are..." the coarse voice complimented. "They are the only second to the brightest pair I've ever seen. No doubt— Scarlet eyes inside a container are nothing compared to a Crimson pair attached to a living Kuruta. Eyes filled with such emotion are priceless. Timeless, for lack of a better term. They are one of the wonders of this world that no one could ever explain. I could see the pain and wrath behind yours. It brings chills down my spine, yet it brings pleasure to my eyes."
Kurapika stood still. He didn't care what might happen next. He didn't care anymore if even he couldn't make it out of this room alive.
"Okay, calm down. No need to fret. Think: if I'm only interested in the eyes, then I should have killed Clario and should have taken her eyes out, right?"
Kurapika was confused with that question.
"Clario's my adopted child. Her mother" was a pure Kuruta. I met them along with that old woman, Miho-san, several months ago, in a village far from here. They were scavengers. Hopeless beings."
The Kuruta was surprised as the coarse voice suddenly narrated. But he listened, anyway.
"I was amused with her mother's eyes. Of course, Clario's too. Then I decided to take them home as maids, and some nice display too, sometimes. Those two were so kind, they'll comply when I ask them to turn their eyes to scarlet to entertain me.
"Don't think anything bad― I was only interested in their eyes. It was so fun to have them in this lonely house.
"I came to learn that Clario's father died from an accident. And Clario's mother left your region, Rukuso province, to live alone with her non-Kuruta husband. But in the same year that Clario was born, her dad died while all of the Kurutas were reported to be annihilated. Two tragedies in one go. And Rio was so lost of what to do. It led them to be beggars, scavenging food while running away from those who wanted their eyes.
"Then months later, Clario's mom was diagnosed with a serious illness. She died in a matter of a week. Rio didn't want me to look for any remedies for her sickness. She said she wanted to die without escaping her fate. She only wished for me to take good care of her only child, and begged to me to take her eyes as a payment.
"She felt so useless at that time. She wanted to seek revenge against the killers of her clan. But I found out that she had been suffering from that disease long time ago, even before she gave birth to Clario. She couldn't take good care of herself and Clario. How could she manage to chase after the assassins of her family? She decided to set aside revenge, and focused on Clario instead.
"It was so late when... when I found out that I already hold feeling for her. I thought it was only for her eyes. But no— I loved her not because she's a Kuruta. But because she's the only girl who brought colors to my life and reached out to touch my heart. I didn't have much chance to show that to her. Only on that week before she left.
"I declined her eyes when she offered them. Instead, I promised that I'll leave her eyes with her in the grave. I promised that I'll take very good care of Clario 'til my soul departs from my body. And I promised that I'll bring the stolen Kuruta eyes of her beloved family back to their real owners.
"Yes, Kurapika. You came to the right place. We have the same aim—I, too, will bury the eyes on the Rukuso grounds once I have acquired them all."
Kurapika's eyes slowly turned on their normal hue on their own. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He unconsciously let go of the breath that he wasn't aware he was holding. He told himself that today must be his day. He let a small smile grace on his lips.
"Clario's the most important thing in my life. Sadly, I can't take good care of her by now, for I am having a contagious skin disease. I bet you heard something about me being a mystery writer. I went on a hiatus because of this.
"Now that Clario's growing up, she needs more care and attention. She needs more protection and love, as her parents left her alone at a very young age. Now, can you promise me that you'll protect her no matter what?"
Kurapika turned his scarlet eyes on.
"Yes, sir. Even if it costs my own life."
"Can you promise me that you'll help me regarding the Kuruta eyes with all of your heart?"
"Yes, sir."
"Can you promise me that you'll not let your hatred and thirst of revenge to interfere your job for me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very well then, Kurapika." The coarse voice audibly said. "You're hired."
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"Sino nga ba ang misteryoso: Ang taong alam mo na ang talambuhay at takbo ng isip pero hindi ang pangalan, o ang taong alam mo ang mukha, tirahan, edad at pangalan pero bukod pa doon, wala na?"
— Stainless Longganisa by Bob Ong.
P.S.: Hello guys! Hisashiburi! Sorry for the laaate and short update XD. Well I got two fics to work with (and I just... did another thing over there on the M-rate section. Haha.) And life is so busy... but I won't bore you anymore since I already poured some of my flames over LJ.
Remember when I mentioned that I actually bought a book for the sake of this fic? Yeah, I really did. In fact, this fic won't be possible at all if it wasn't for that book. And sorry for those who think that I"m a genius, because clearly, I'm not.
The book was titled "Stainless Longganisa" (Longganisa is a native food here in the Phil. that was like sausage. It's a mix of ground pork and spices stuck inside pork belly's skin. In the book, it kinda resembles a 'pen'), written by my most favorite (and one and only) Filipino mystery humor author, Bob Ong. It was all about his experiences and views as a writer, and how he came with his very first books and his adventure on the printing press and human-eating editors. Haha. Yeah, it's so humorous and my most favorite. I came to read it from the library on high school, but since I'm a beggar back then *til now,* I can't buy my own copy. So when I had the chance to buy it, I did it: This time with a reason, to work in here.
So yeah. You got it right. I'LL BE BORROWING LINES FROM THIS BOOK. I'm won't simply get ideas, I'l seriously translate his lines because I can't work on my own by now and I really love them. And I got another valid reason anyway: The book was written in my language, Filipino. I want to share them to everyone since the author didn't want to write his stuffs in English since his books usually tackles bad things and systems about my country (for my Filipino readers out there, if you haven't read this then you should! Bongga sya, promise!). He wanted to keep those only to us Filipinos. But I saw so many good lines that I think I ought to share to everyone, whether they are Pinoy or not.
I was never a person to claim something that wasn't mine. I promise that I will credit every single line that I will borrow from anyone.
So... Here's the end of my long flashback— the first batch! So for those who are still reading, I'm happy to tell you that Clario is a half-breed Kuruta: Kurapika's still the one! And I hope you are all getting all the necessary pieces of the puzzle that we're trying to form. Yeah; skin disease. Can everyone see through that?!
There are 3 keys for this fan fiction: One is Abengane and Genthro, if you still clearly remember them. Second is the truth behind Kurapika's index finger, which is yet to be revealed too. And last but not the least... HISOKA.
Up next! More pieces for this backwards, goddamn story, some fragments of the truth, and the fluffs all over the place to make up for being so late! And sorry if the rants is longer than the chapter itself! Haha! Please don't forget to review! I've been feeling bad these days, and comments are magical for me X3