Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter and all characters (except Lucy) and some dialogue belong to Yoshihiro Togashi

Special thanks to Cookie Krisp, Snowy-Sonya, Sofia10Soccer, Mimitalind, and AcPa xox~

I wonder how many people noticed Iiawah is Hawaii spelled backwards...

Ten Million Zeni x Kuruta Ship x Pillows

Oh my god, Jesus Christ, it was Iiawah Island all over again. It was humid and scorching hot. The Hunter Committee called this a vacation? Apparently, Lucy was either not very tolerant of heat or they had the wrong idea of what a vacation was. The only good thing about this place was the breeze.

After they had completed the Trick Tower, they had met the third examiner, Lippo, who had taken them on a blimp to this island in the middle of nowhere. Some of the examinees looked relieved about the break. Lucy just wanted the exam over with. But either way, at least now she would have a chance to call Kuroro.

An elderly couple welcomed them as the examinees filed off the ship and then proceeded to explain that they were managers of the hotel (which was actually a ship) that the examinees were now to stay at. Upon sight, Lucy had known they couldn't be their next examiners because of their lack of nen. Their auras were that of almost every other candidate here. They were average people.

Idiot Shiny Head was talking to the couple while blocking the sun in such a way that it reflected off of his bald head and shined in their faces. Lucy grimaced.

"Hey! Shiny Head!" she yelled. "Move! You're blinding us!"

"What was that?" Hanzo shouted in response.

"You're in the way, idiot Shiny Head."

Hanzo glared at her. Lucy smirked.

"…I have a message from the Hunter Committee," the woman of the elderly couple said, turning Lucy and Hanzo's attention to her. "To everyone that has passed: Good job. The Fourth Exam will begin in three days. Please enjoy your break on this island until then."

"A break?" Gon exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh man, that just messes up the rhythm," Leorio complained, even though Lucy could tell he really did appreciate this chance at a vacation. "I was all prepared, too."

"We could use a break," Kurapica said. "It's been constantly stressful until now."

"Maybe you need one, but I don't," Lucy said irritably. The Hunter Exam wasn't that much more stressful that her everyday life. Well, a break wouldn't hurt.

"Here we go," Leorio said as he – and the rest of the crowd – made his way towards the rooms on the ship. "I guess I'll take a shower then…"

"Please wait," the woman said.

Everyone's heads turned.

"Why?" Leorio asked, just as confused as everybody else.

"We'll be charging ten million zeni for the rooms."

Everyone stared at them wide eyed.

"Ten million zeni?" Leorio asked in disbelief.

"You're charging us?" Gon asked, equally surprised.

"That's…" Killua began.

"…Too expensive," Kurapica finished.

"For that kind of money, we could stay at a first class hotel in York Shin City for eight years!" Tonpa said, shocked.

"Whatever," Lucy said, pulling out her bag. If it was money… it wasn't an issue. Several days before the Hunter Exam, Phinks and Feitan had come up with this great idea to rob a bank for its pens. Lucy had taken most of the cash. Finding the money, she started counting it.

"Um… How about children who don't have that much money?" Gon asked innocently.

Alright… hundred thousand ninety zeni…

"For that matter, do we look like a group of nobles?" Leorio asked.

One million, three hundred eighty-seven thousand zeni…

"Not even adults would have that much money!" he continued.

Two million, five hundred sixty-nine thousand, one-hundred fifty-two zeni…

"…Then I can't allow you to stay," the hotel manager said.

Four million ninty-nine zeni…

"Yeah, that's fine!" Leorio said angrily.

Five million, two hundred five thousand, six hundred three zeni…

"I would rather go camping on the island than get ripped off here!" Leorio shouted.

Six million, seven hundred ten thousand, nine hundred forty-three zeni…

"Three days. That's how long you would last without staying here," said Kurapica sensibly.

Eight million, three hundred twenty-one thousand, two hundred eighty-eight zeni…

"The problem is water. We can't expect any spring water from an island this size," he added.

Nine million, one-hundred fifty-nine thousand, twenty zeni…

"Under this sun? We would turn to beef jerky in two days," Kurapica said. "Even if we did survive, we wouldn't have enough strength to make it through the next exam."

Wait, huh?... Fate had got to be kidding her.

"Then what do we do?" Leorio demanded. "I've never even dreamed of having that much money!"

"For people in your situation…" the hotel manager began.

Nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine zeni.

"There is an alternate payment method."

One zeni short. Seriously? Seriously?

"Barter, of course."

And that was how Lucy found herself searching the various sunken ships for treasure. She found herself grumbling at her luck. She should have pick-pocketing some money on the way there. How annoying. Like seriously annoying.

Hanzo burst out of the water holding an ornate golden crown screaming, "Found it!"

"That's the crown of Gera the Third, the king who was lost at sea during his coronation in the 16th Century!" Kurapica explained, sounding like an encyclopedia.

Lucy looked towards the scene and froze. The idiot Shiny Head was… was… he was only wearing a loin cloth… "That's great," Lucy muttered. "He found the crown of some big important fancy king. Now all he's got to do is find his pants…"

Half an hour later, Lucy was sulking in her new-found hotel room. She had found some perfectly good treasures, even though she really only needed one more zeni to pay for one of these stupid rooms. But for some reason, since there weren't enough rooms, she had ended up sharing a room with two other people – Gon and Killua. Why… Why… did she always end up stuck with Killua?

But now she was alone because Gon and Killua had gone out fishing. She took out her phone to dial Kuroro, since he preferred not to call people himself. He was rather secretive with his number and typically had people call him, rather than the other way around. She dialed… 9-1-1…

"We're sorry; your call cannot be completed as dialed…"

Lucy shut off her phone and checked the signal. No bars. So she still couldn't call him.

Kurapica poured oil onto the sunken ship he had found while searching for treasure. It was a former ship from the Kuruta clan, presumably that of some clansmen trying to escape the Phantom Troupe. Several dead bodies lay strewn throughout the ship, but there was no sign of the ship being attacked. He clutched the protective golden lizard pendant he had found tighter in his sweaty palm. It was odd how he probably knew who these people were but could no longer recognize them. All that remained of them were a few rags of clothing and their skeletons.

Alerted by her footsteps, Kurapica turned to see Lucy standing behind him. She looked a little surprised to see him there but then explained that she had gotten bored of being inside the ship and had come outside to explore now that it was cooler.

"So how 'bout you?" she continued. "What are you up to here?"

"…Cleaning up," Kurapica answered, turning around to face her. "This is one of my clan's… the Kuruta clan's… ships…"

Lucy had a bizarre expression on her face when he mentioned the name of his clan. Recognition… perhaps? He wondered if she had heard of them before. "Is it from before the massacre?" she asked.

"…I'd say it was an escaping ship," Kurapica explained. "Probably people fleeing from the attack."

Lucy looked visibly surprised at this. "So there were actually more people, other than just you, who survived the massacre?"

"Yeah…" Kurapica said. "But from the looks of it, they all perished from dehydration and starvation. At least they weren't attacked for their eyes of fire like the rest of us..."

Lucy stared at him with those strange, pale green eyes of hers. They were depthless and clear, but at the same time, tainted. "…Do you know why the Kuruta clan's eyes turn scarlet?"

Kurapica was a bit taken aback by that question. He had never really thought about it. He had just assumed it was some kind of genetic trait. "Do you?" he asked, answering Lucy's question with another question.

"Hmm… just wondering," she said, avoiding the question he had just asked. Sometimes Lucy would say the weirdest things. "I'm shocked that the Spiders would have been careless enough to leave one of you behind… let alone an entire shipload, even if they did die."

It was almost spiteful the way she said it. Of course what she said made sense, but her tone of voice and the way she worded it bugged him. The last time he had mentioned the Spiders to her, she had said "As if the Spiders would lose to you." It made perfect sense that she would think that. Everybody knew the Spiders were more than formidable enemies. But at the same time, it sounded spiteful. Again, he felt like there was something he didn't know about her. He chose to overlook it, lighting a match.

"The glitter of our eyes is regarded as one of the most beautiful things in the world," Kurapica said. He stared into the flickering flame before tossing the match onto the oil sodden floor. "That's why they were killed."

It was already late at night so Gon, Killua, and Lucy had all returned to the hotel room. Lucy lay on one of the two beds (even though there were three of them, they somehow had to share two beds) of the hotel room, thinking about what Kurapica had said. She remembered when the Spiders had gone to kill the Kuruta clan. It wasn't because they had been after wealth or the beauty of the eyes… The slaughter of the Kuruta tribe had been of the Phantom Troupe's earliest exploits. It was one of the main reasons they had become as they were now…

"Gon and I get the beds," Killua declared.

Jolted from her thoughts, Lucy glared at him. "And who decided to let you make up the rules?"

"I did," he said, grinning.

"Well, too bad," Lucy said. "'Cause I'm definitely sleeping on a bed tonight."

"Wait, what about me?" Gon whined. Poor Gon.

"You can have the other bed if you force this stupid Gray Hair out of it," Lucy said playfully.

"Stupid Gray Hair? You dumb Mop Head!" Killua teased.

Lucy's face met rather violently with a pillow. She glared at its hurler.

"Hm? Whatcha gonna do about it?" Killua's smirk was spread from ear to ear. She flung the pillow back but hit Gon instead.

"What was that for?" Gon shouted, throwing another pillow.

"Haha!" Killua laughed, pointing at Lucy. "You missed m – "

Gon's pillow had hit him smack in the face.

"Why you…"

Pretty soon, the pillows were flying. Lucy found herself laughing so much her stomach hurt. Being with Gon and Killua was so much fun. It took almost no time at all for them to make her forget whatever serious things she was thinking about.

That night, they went to bed, all sprawled on top of each other.

I hope I can make this part of the story interesting... I'm having difficultly making it different enough from the original story D;

But anyways, I really love reviews, so anyone who's taking the time to read this should leave me one! Don't be lazy D; I want feedback~