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Chapter 12
Guilt.
Guilt was reason she was still here and not out searching for her sister. Guilt was why she was actually considering helping the others retrieve their friend.
But guilt was not going to make her wallow like a pathetic fool who doesn't know how to solve their own problems and relies on other to do the job!
Bam! Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam!
"M-Momo, what's wrong!" Kurapika stuttered in surprise.
"Do you find my lecture that boring?" Netero asked mischievously, even though he knew that wasn't the reason.
"Yes." Mishiro replied bluntly. "But that's not why I felt the need to smash my head against this desk. You lecture me all the time anyways, so I'm used to it."
The moment the matches ended, Mishiro went into a bathroom and put in colored contacts so that she wouldn't have to wear her goggles all the time, though she still had them with her. They were now just resting around her neck until she needed them again.
She folded her arms and used them as a pillow, sighing a little. "Tch. This is all so annoying."
She looked up again when she felt Gon approaching and watched the boy intensely the moment he entered the room. She tuned out all words, just focusing on the energy and movements of Gon and Illumi. The moment the older raven moved his free hand and Gon backed away, Mishiro appeared by in front of the younger boy.
She narrowed her eyes at the Zoldyck. "Don't make me your enemy Illumi."
Was she scared? Absolutely terrified, but she wasn't going to move. She remained ready to strike even when the pink blob continued with his lecture.
"Gittarackur!" Gon called out the moment the little man finished. "Tell me where Killua is."
"You'd better renounce," the older boy instructed.
"You think I'm that kind of guy!" Gon defied, sticking out his tongue. "Killua is my friend! Whatever the cost, I'll find him!"
Illumi's eyes trailed from Gon to you, then finally the other two that had come up behind you. "What about the two behind you? They have the same opinion?"
"I think it's obvious," Leorio said confidently.
Mishiro's attention diverted when she caught movement off to the side, noticing that Hisoka was motioning for her to follow. As much as she hated to follow the guy, she knew that he may have something that was actually important for her to know. So she trailed after the fellow, making sure she did in a way that Gon and the other two wouldn't notice.
"What?" She asked somewhat coldly. Momo really wasn't in the mood to play his games.
The clown like man smiled. "There's a rumor that a rather large human trafficking group will be hitting up the harbor that's the most favored and popular for Napaj imports and exports in a month's time."
Mishiro blinked. This…was very useful.
"Really now." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's the catch?"
Hisoka giggled. "I hear Shalnark will be around that area as well."
The blond paled. Not good. A spider hanging around the same area she needed to be could end disastrously if she were to be sighted.
"Well, that's all for now. Ta-ta~!" Hisoka waved goodbye with an entertained smile in place, leaving the other girl behind to ponder what course of action she should take.
"GAH! Why is everything so complicated!" She growled out, rubbing her hands through her hair furiously.
"Hey! Momo!" Gon shouted, running up to the girl. "Do you know where Kukuru mountain is?"
Mishiro blinked, then groaned. "Why? Why, why, why, why, why?" She walked over to a wall and started hitting her head against it.
"What's up with her?" Leorio muttered.
Mishiro sighed and folded her arms, placing a hand over her chin in thought. Her thought process was saved by the arrival of Hanzo and Pokkle coming to say goodbye, not even bothering to look up even when they handed over their contact cards. She was deep in thought that she didn't even notice the three boys dragging her off to look up Killua's most likely location.
She finally came two when she heard a shout and turned her head to see the three gazing at a computer monitor, checking for flights to get to the Republic of Padokia, meaning they had already looked up Gin. "Why didn't you guys just ask me where that mountain was? I could have told you how to get there."
"We did ask!" Leorio shouted.
"Well apparently not or I would have told you," Momo told the boy blandly. She actually remembered them asking, but it was more entertaining to push the limits of Leorio's blood pressure.
But, unfortunately, before the raven could blow his top, Kurapika stepped in. "Are you going to come with us?"
Mishiro wanted to say no. They could take care of this on her own and she'd rather avoid going to that place unless she absolutely had to, or if grandpa forced her. She wanted to…but guilt was welling up within her again. She sighed heavily. "My conscience will kill me if I don't."
"Conscience?" The blond male questioned.
The girl sighed again. "It's difficult being able to know so much. I could make changes, but how would that affect the future? Any changes that I do make, makes it impossible for me to know what would happen instead of what originally was going to take place. So do I make the change, or do I let things continue as they were supposed to if I wasn't here? 'Tis a burden, this memory of mine."
The boys just stared, unsure of what to say to that.
Mishiro sighed again and gazed at the boys. "Don't think too much about it. I'll come along to see things through. I owe Killua that much."
"You guys owe me so much for doing this!" Mishiro hissed as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the Door of Verification.
"This is the main entrance. We also call it the door to the other world," the stuck-up, over beautified, prick of a tour guide (at least in Mishiro's opinion) explained. "The reason is simple: once you pass through, you never return."
'Door to Hades indeed.' Mishiro thought dreadfully to herself. 'However, I'm living proof that, that statement is incorrect.'
"To enter, we use the little door on the side, and we see the guardian." The tour guide held out her manicured hand to indicate the small set of double doors. "From this point it's the private domain of the Zoldyck's, so we can't visit."
"What!" Leorio shouted in outrage.
While Leorio argued with the tour guide, Mishiro stared up at the giant doors with a sense of dread.
"Is something wrong?" Kurapika asked, coming up to stand with the girl.
'If you don't consider trying to enter the den of a lion as dangerous, then no, everything's peachy,' Mishiro thought sarcastically. She sighed. "No. I'm just trying to think of all the possible scenarios that can take place. I don't want anything to happen that shouldn't."
The girl walked off before the other could reply so that she could check on Zebulo, who had just been tossed aside. She quietly requested that the old man kept the fact that they knew each other quiet. She then helped the other to his feet and followed when he took the four of them over to his 'guard stand'. She remained quiet the whole duration of the conversation, anticipating the turn of events and hoping that no one noticed her. She was traumatized enough from all the dinner invites as it was.
She remained silent all the way up until all three boys fell over when they tried to walk in the slippers given to them, while she walked on like normal. She quirked an eyebrow at Leorio. "Walk much?"
Leorio growled in frustration. "You must have gotten normal slippers! You cheated!"
Her eyebrow traveled farther up. "You think so? How about I drop it on your head to test it?"
Zebulo chuckled. "Those are actually 50 kilograms. Would all of you like some tea?"
Mishiro followed after the man while the other three returned to an upright position. She decided to 'train' along with the other three, just so that she could keep her cover, but the weights weren't anything new. Gin had put her through a lot worse.
Before she knew it, two weeks had passed and Leorio had successfully opened the first door on his own. And in another flash of time she found herself slowly falling into a panic as the other two could open the door and Leorio could open two.
'I'm not scared. Nope! Not at all!' Mishiro told herself, pushing the denial card in an attempt to get rid of her soon to be overbearing panic. She had her cloak and goggles on, and had even pulled up her turtle neck to cover the lower half of her face. She did not want to be recognized if at all possible. 'Thisisbad, thisisbad, this is very VERY BAD!'
The gate of doom, as Mishiro had dubbed it. She and Canary made eye contact for a split second before blond girl placed a finger to her mouth, indicating that she wanted the other to remain silent. However, that was when everything became rather difficult for the two girls. Canary had to follow her orders and Mishiro couldn't get in the way of a determined Gon.
'Maybe I really should just use my minimum status at this point,' Mishiro considered in guilt and worry. Gon was turning into a horrible mess. On the other hand, Momo knew that even if she revealed that bit of information, Gon would still be determined to go through his own route. She turned her gaze away, unable to stomach to emotions and sight before her.
It was only when she heard the short stone pillar crumble from Gon's frustrated punch, that she looked up.
Canary jerked a little when she heard a curious hum from the raven haired boy. "Uh…"
"My foot crossed the line…" Gon pointed out without looking up. "You didn't hit me?"
"Uh…" The young servant girl blinked, realizing her lapse in attention and tightened her grip on her staff, trying to make herself follow her orders while fighting her inner desire to aid the young master she wished to befriend. But the steady gaze the younger raven haired boy's only opened eye, as the other was swollen shut, was so powerful and moving, so determined that the girl found herself at a loss. She couldn't bring herself to hurt the boy any further.
Gon finally straightened completely. "You're not like mike."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise. No one had ever talked to her like a real person before. Not since…
"You can do whatever you want to hide your feelings…but you still have a heart," Gon continued. "When I pronounced Killua's name, for a fraction of a second…your eyes gave the impression of gentleness."
Killua…or her masters…Killua and his friends…or her masters…
Who was she kidding. She wanted them to save Killua. She was on their side the entire time.
"Please…" Tears started to stream down Canary's pained features. "Save Killua-san!"
PAN!
A small projectile slammed into the girl's head and knocked her to the side.
"Really. What could this employee have told you?"
The three boys snapped out of their shock from the sudden attack to turn toward the speaker, a woman in a super frilly Victorian style dress, bandages, and an electronic visor with a small…girl(?) beside her. Conversely, Mishiro reached up and tugged the hood of her cloak farther down in the hopes to remain unrecognized.
"It makes it seem like we really do handle Killua roughly. You know, it's not very polite to come here and behave childishly." The red dot of the visor swiveled around to focus on the youngest member. "You are Gon, aren't you? I heard about you from Illumi. We told Killua that you entered the domain about three weeks ago. I'm going to repeat to you word by word what Killua requested me to tell you. 'It's a real pleasure that you came…But…Right now I can't meet you…Sorry. I've waited to present myself. I'm Killua's mother and his name is Kalluto."
Gon stared for a bit before turning around to check with Kurapika and Leorio to make sure Canary was alright. Mishiro could only twitch a little at their complacency to show their backs to a dangerous opponent.
"And how are you doing, Mishiro my dear?" Kikyo asked, turning her attention to the only female of the group. "You should have just come up, I would have had some tea prepared."
Mishiro only just barely kept a grimace from crossing her face. She knew she was hoping too much, but how she wished she went unnoticed. Not to mention, the others were definitely going to interrogate her later about this. "My apologies ma'am, but I'm on assignment to make sure these three return unharmed."
"Is that so? How sad, and you seldom come to visit us too. Have you taken into account our offer to train your abilities? We rarely find someone with such potential, it would be a waste to let it pass."
"Ah, yes. "Mishiro's stomach churned in memory of their request. She could only just imagine what these people would undoubtedly put her through if she agreed. She might not be the most unemotional of the bunch, but that didn't mean she wanted to kill off the rest of her sometimes snarky attitude. "As I said before, your offer is most kind, but I don't think I could burden your family with such a task and I don't know where such training could come to use as I am now."
The woman hummed in disappointment. "Perhaps next time then. We should really start as soon as possible, but we can wait a little bit longer."
This time Mishiro really did grimace. This was the third time she had declined and told that they would wait for her to change her mind. It was extremely disturbing. There was also the matter that she could only politely decline so many times before she would inevitably reach her boiling point.
She was saved as Gon finally returned his attention to the two newcomers once Leorio had confirmed that the girl would be alright. "Why can't Killua see us?"
"Because he's in an isolation room," the Zoldyck matron explained. "Killua hit me and his brother, an then ran away. But he regrets his actions and has come back on his own volition. He imposed the isolation upon himself. Consequently, when will he decide to go out…?" The woman stiffened for a moment as a message came through on her device. "But! Father, why are you disturbing me?...No, you shouldn't untie him!...No, really!...What does that mean!...? I have an important matter to settle," the woman informed the group suddenly, turning to leave. "Good bye. Come back when you want."
"One moment please," Gon spoke up again, halting the woman. "We'll stay in the surroundings for about ten days. Could you please tell Killua that?"
The visual device focused on the boy one last time. "Alright, I'll tell him. Good bye…"
The woman hurried away back into the darkness of the forest, leaving only Kalluto behind who glared at the three boys. He left soon after when Kikyo called out for him, finally leaving just the ragtag four to their own devices.
"Momo," Kurapika said sternly, crossing his arms. His tone sent a shiver up the girl's back. "Do you have anything you would like to tell us?"
Mishiro looked around warily. "It would be better to wait until we have left the compound."
The three boys gave the girl a suspicious look, but eventually gave their consent to move on. The blond female sighed in relief, watching as Canary stood up and directed the boy's toward the attendants quarters. Mishiro gave one last glance toward the location the two Zoldycks had vanished before following the others once more, all the while reconsidering her choice of tagging along. They didn't need her, and her presence wasn't making a difference. All she was to the three boys was dead weight.
'I should have gone straight to Kimiko after all…'
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