Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter or all the characters pertaining to it, except my OCs Merula and Art, and the rest of other characters not pertaining to the Hunter X Hunter anime/manga.
Warning: Referring Kurapika here as female. Some bad language, OOCness (but it's inevitable right? ;P ).
Note: Any corrections to grammar, spelling, typo errors are welcome and will be greatly appreciated. ^^Thank you.
Chapter 13:
The Favour
"Big Brother?"
"Yes, Merula?"
"Do mother and Grandpa hate me?"
"What's makes you say that?"
"(sniff) It's because mother gave me a taboo name. Grandpa said, my name is taboo, as well as the colour of my left eye."
"I think your name is wonderful, Merula. It's a name of a bird. Birds are magnificent creatures. They are gifted with glorious freedom. They can fly high in the sky, touch the clouds and see the mountains and the oceans from above. I believe that one day, you'll grow as splendid as a bird, my beloved little sister."
"Miruki. Brother. I hate you. Why do you have to make me believe all these lies?"
Merula's eyes fluttered, and then opened gradually. At first, everything was covered in white. As her mismatched eyes adjusted in the glare, she realized that it was just the lamp above her that seemed a little too bright in the room at first. She stirred her head and noted that she had been laying her head over her arm that folded over the edge of the bathtub for god knows how long.
She spun suddenly, her feet and hands splashed over the shallow pool of Hydrogen Peroxide (Agua Oxinada), and saw herself naked. She saw streaks of clotted blood on her skin, and remembered everything that had occurred.
Minutes later, she stepped off from the bathtub, fully cleansed, revealing the flawless milky-white skin. Water mixed with agua oxinada was dripping from her wet hair.
She stopped in front of a wooden closet next to a neatly arranged bed, opened it and pulled a black leather ensemble. Soon, Merula was fully covered in leathery again and was facing the mirror back in the bathroom. She leaned a gloved hand over the edge of the sink and examined her countenance carefully. The other gloved hand was hovering next to her face but not touching the skin.
She blinked a couple of times and slowly moved her face towards the mirror. Two pairs of mismatched eyes were staring back at each other in a deafening silence. Suddenly something moved under the skin of her left cheek, which made Merula flinch.
The said movement continued, as if there were tiny snakes crawling over one another beneath her skin. Merula bent over the lavatory when a sudden inexplicable pain surged within her. She could feel her flesh began shuffling under her skin as if they became alive suddenly and had minds of their own. She gritted her teeth, almost making her gums bleed. She was convulsing terribly. It seemed like she was reaching her limit-she could feel that she was close to losing control of her own body and mind.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then gradually, she opened her eyes again and revealed her left iris burning with blood's colour. Purple veins began to spread and swell vividly around her scarlet eyes. Then, in seconds, the convulsion stopped. She slowly lifted her head and looked at the mirror again, panting. Her breath steamed under her nose. She looked at her reflection. A hideous sight-a black haired girl with mismatched eyes, whose face was half mutated into an ugly monster, was staring back at her. Later, the purple veins banished beneath the milk-white skin. Then abruptly, a repulsive purplish liquid burst from Merula's mouth and splashed onto the mirror in front of her, covering the smooth, glassy surface and blurring the reflection in it. Merula coughed several times. Purplish saliva trickled from her mouth and into the lavatory, ruining the smooth, white surface of it for a moment. Later the disgusting substance banished into the lavatory drain with water. After that, Merula felt better. But the conclusion remained in her mind that her body was close to deterioration in which not even a countless amount of Belladonna shots could suppress. She needed to act fast and accomplished what she should do as soon as possible.
"Are you my new mommy?" Lina, Art's daughter, smiled sweetly at Kurapika as she looked up at her with excited sage eyes, her slim and delicate arms still wrapped around her firmly and seemed would not let go until her question was answered.
Kurapika was gaping and was frozen in her position. She did not have the heart to push the kid away nor break the truth to her so suddenly to ruined the joy overwhelming her. The blonde hunter made an awkward smile and almost sweating coldly.
"Um...," the Kuruta said finally to Lina but got interrupted when Art walked towards them and poked her daughter gently on the shoulder.
"Lina, sweetheart?" Art broke in gently, "The two of us need to talk for a minute, okay?"
The girl unwrapped her arms from Kurapika and saw her father boldly put one bare arm around Kurapika's shoulder as he pulled her along with him and away from her and the rest of the people. They stopped at the far end of the porch where it was remote enough for them not to hear their conversation.
Kurapika, on the other hand, as much as she wanted to punch the agent on the gut, she restrained herself from doing so. She did not want the agent's relatives to see her doing such uncouth thing to Art in his own home, right? So she thought of just snarling a warning to him. She was about to do that when the agent bent his arm around her even more adding weight on it, enough to make Kurapika bent down a bit and be drawn closer to Art. Surprised, she squirmed and was about to elbow the agent when...
"Listen, Kurapika," the agent began, "I got a big favour to ask." Art glanced over his shoulder and saw that Lina and the others were suspiciously watching the two of them.
"Favour? Will you please get off your arm from me first?" Kurapika snarled at him in a whisper, her eyes shut tight. She did not want to look at the agent's face up close. The current physical contact with him was giving her enough shivers. The agent ignored her complaint though.
"Ehem...er...Kurapika," Art continued in a whisper with slight hesitation and in a hoarse voice, "Will you please...er..." the agent stopped for a moment and blushed faintly.
"What?" Kurapika inquired impatiently, her eyes opened halfway; scarlet hue flickered on those irises.
"This is for Lina's sake. So it's really a big favour I'm asking you," the agent added.
"Just go direct to the point, will you?" Kurapika answered exasperatedly, squirming and trying to pull away from the agent but failed. The Kuruta thought that Art might be using Zetsu on her again. Damn it! She got caught off guard again!
"Will you...pretend...to be my girlfriend for the meantime?"
"Are you kidding me!"
"Sssssshhhhh...Minimize you voice. Listen, Lina grew without a mother since she was just almost two years old. And I was always away from home. Every time I get home, she kept asking me if I could find a new mother for her. My uncle was bugging me about getting a new fiancé and Marj, my niece too, and Marj-isn't really motherly enough for Lina, as what my daughter always whine. I mean she knows she's her cousin and Marj's a really busy person too and-".
"And you think I'm the ideal mother type for Lina, is that it?" Kurapika scowled.
"All I ask is that you PRETEND to be my girlfriend for the meantime."
"And how long exactly is that 'meantime'?"
"While we're still here, that's all."
"You think I don't realize the possible mechanics of this whole 'pretending' thing do you?"
"Please...?"
"I don't think it's a good idea, really?"
"Please? Princess? Would you dare to break my daughter's heart?"
"You know I could be a good friend for her without pretending to be-"
The cheerfulness gradually left Lina's face as she watched her father and the blonde guest for more than three minutes. Some conclusions started to dawn on her when she saw that they were not really intimate to each other, and she did not like those conclusions. She pouted, bent her head and looked down with a dispirited countenance. Her hand began to play the hem of her oversized t-shirt.
The agent was not finished explaining when Kurapika pulled violently away from Art. She craned to look at Lina. Seeing the girl in such a sad pose, the blonde hunter felt compunction and eventually changed her mind.
Soon Kurpika was rubbing her nape, looking reluctant about something she was about to do. Then the agent smiled and was about to embrace her when the Kuruta brought him up short by her glare. The agent hesitated, then just warily and slowly put a hand on Kurapika's shoulder and the two of them walked towards Lina like a parent visiting their child in her bedroom. Kurapika, however, struggled not to fidget while Art's hand was on her shoulder and their bodies pressed together side by side. Lina, seeing this, a wide grin returned on her face.
"Lina? Everyone?" the agent also acknowledge his uncle and niece, "This is Kurapika. And YES, she's...er..." the agent wiped his nose by a finger, a manner signifying his nervousness, his cheek flushed faintly, "...my...girlfriend."
Kurapika's cheek burned, an eyebrow was twitching while she forced a smile to greet Art's family.
Lina's grin became wider; Marj raised a suspicious eyebrow while Art's uncle jerked his head up in surprised and was chuckling like Santa Clause while his fingers ran through his beard in amusement.
"Nice Uncle Art. You sure have a thing for blondes, haven't you?" Marj teased.
"How long had it been since your relationship started?" Art's Uncle and niece began throwing questions at the two of them consecutively afterwards.
"How did you meet each other?"
"When?"
"Where?"
"How old are you Kurapika?"
"Uncle, have you already scored?" Marj asked practically in a whisper but her question reached everyone's earshot otherwise, which made Art blushed hotter, but apparently, Kurapika and Lina seemed to miss its meaning.
"Dad," Lina interjected, "If she really is your girlfriend, then how about you kiss her right here right now?"
Everyone fell silent after hearing Lina's suggestion. Kurapika's face became redder and her mouth opened as wide as it could go. She wanted to protest but it occurred to her quickly that it might ruin the first minute of their charade. Art, on the other hand, pondered where her daughter got such idea.
The two felt silently awkward for a moment, almost spazzing out.
"What's wrong with you two?" Marj scowled at them, "It's just a kiss. It wouldn't hurt for lovers like you, right?"
Lina's eyes sparkled. She moved her head from left to right and vice versa while waiting patiently for her father and his undercover girlfriend to do what they had been asked to. Kurapika and Art realized that they would not let them be unless they get on with it.
The agent faced Kurapika. Apparently, the agent did not look as nervous as the blonde hunter did, but evidently, he was blushing. He gave Kurapika that meaningful look implying that they had no choice but to do it. Kurapika, on the other hand, forced a fake smile but the agent could feel the aura of animosity emitting from her. The Kuruta was smiling in a manner where her eyes were narrowed to prevent the people around her to see her irises, which she knew, were already glowing scarlet due to controlled rage.
"Well?" Marj inquired impatiently, "Get on with it!"
Kurapika turned her head to the side to look at Marj, and smiled at her while she struggled to hide her reluctance and nervousness. She was hoping that the earth suddenly gapes open and swallows her so she could just escape this awkward situation. On that moment, the agent thought of giving the blonde hunter a quick peck on the cheek when Kurapika suddenly whirled back her head, thus Art's lips ended up meeting half of her's. Two pairs of shocked eyes stared at each other in a frozen moment. Either Kurapika blushed more hotly because of the kiss or because of a pair of lovely sage eyes that were staring back at her own, so close, almost enough to make her melt.
"Ehem!" Marj coughed, interrupting everyone, waving off the awkward atmosphere, "That will do nicely. Thank you very much."
Marj told Lina to lend her room to Kurapika for the meantime and that she could share her room with her. Lina agreed without hesitation. Soon, Kurapika was trailing behind Art and his daughter upstairs leading to a hallway with a series of rooms along it. Lina's room was the second one from the stairs, between Art's and Marj room. Minutes later, Lina stepped off her room carrying her stuff.
"Lina, is this really okay?" Kurapika asked the girl anxiously. Lina nodded with great enthusiasm and enthusiastically.
"It's fine, really, Mommy Kurapika, unless you want to share the room with dad," the Kuruta was taken aback by girl's address to her and especially with her latter suggestion. Lina saw her reaction and the cheerfulness left her countenance suddenly, "Is it okay to call you Mommy?"
"Lina," her father, who stood next to the entrance of his room, interjected, "Just call her Miss Kurapika or Aunt Kurapika, okay?"
[N/A:In the Philippines, Aunt, although it is the formal honorific for sister of a parent by the parent's child, it is also usually use as honorific for stepmother or to an older woman that is a close friend of a parent-at least that's what I know ^^']
Seeing his father giving her that look which was almost a glare, Lina had no choice but to agreed.
"O...okay," Lina announced as she turned her back at them to hide her pouting mouth, and banished inside Marj's room to settle her stuff.
"Feel at home, princess. Treat Lina's room like it's yours. It's not as lavish and as elegant as that of a hotel room from the big city but I hope that you'll make yourself comfortable," Art told the Kuruta. His voice was almost laborious implying that he was indeed exhausted already and that his body was craving for a long rest.
"It's fine. Thank you," Kurapika replied gratefully, "But I need to go downtown first. I need to buy new proper clothes." This leather jacket is too hot for me, she could have added since she had been sweating a lot since the said jacket was put on her, and the tropical temperature of the province made it worse.
"No," The agent replied firmly.
"What?"
"It's almost dark. I can't let you go there alone."
"Art. I'm a hunter. You think I could easily be-
"Exactly! You're a hunter...You got cash to spend with you?"
"I got a Hunter's License Card."
"It won't work here. This is a province after all. Hunter's Card won't buy anything here. It's not like the big city that we've been before with ATMs, credit cards, and Hunter's License Cards. Everything here is acquired by cash. Peso bill to be exact. Everything is traded here through old fashion way. You've seen everything while we were on our way towards here right?"
Realizing that the agent was right, the blonde hunter heaved an annoyed sigh in defeat.
"What am I supposed to do now?" she grumbled.
"You can burrow some of Marj's clothes for the time being," Art suggested.
"That's right!" Lina, who had been eavesdropping, suddenly poked out her head at the door of Marj's room, seconded the motion.
"But-"
"It's okay. Marj won't mind. She got spared, unused clothes and I know where she hid them." Lina continued.
"That's great!" Art commented, "Why don't you get some for your Aunt Kurapika here so that she could be ready for dinner."
"Sure. Leave it to me!"
Lina banished again into Marj's room. Kurapika looked uncomfortable about it though.
"Don't worry I'll buy you new clothes tomorrow," Art announced.
"I appreciate it. I'll just pay you back when I acquired cash," Kurapika replied conceitedly.
"No need. It was my fault anyway," Art quipped as he unlocked the door to his room.
Kurapika mused it for a moment, then something dawned on her.
"That's right!" she proclaimed suddenly in a firm tone that made Art stopped halfway through the door of his room and looked at Kurapika's direction with a raised eyebrow. The agent saw the blonde hunter walking closer towards him with a slight grin. She stopped just a foot away from Art, her eyes fixed on his.
"It was YOUR FAULT," the Kuruta repeated in a pleasant tone, not breaking the direct eye contact with the agent. The agent, on the other hand was frozen, and baffled; his eyes moved nervously in several directions, as if he was trying to figure out what was the blonde hunter going to say or do next. This rather too short distance between them, which Kurapika created herself, made the agent think. Actually, deep inside, Art concluded, that probably a turning point abruptly occurred in the Kuruta, that made her do this unusual behaviour of hers that he considered intimate. Art waited as both of them stared silently at each other. He stared back at Kurapika who was still grinning amiably at him. He was wishing that the Kuruta's next move would actually be something like that in his mind. Or was that even possible?
"And you know what?" Kurapika continued.
A grin flourished on the agent's face, "What?"
The Kuruta curled a finger at him. The agent drew his face closer to Kurapika and her knuckles met his nose.
"Ow!" Art exclaimed as he faltered backwards while both hands covered his nose, wincing from the pain he just gained. He straightened up and pressed his back against the wall, cringing from the Kuruta who advanced a step closer to him. The agent kept his hands covering his nose protectively though.
"That's for stealing kisses from me and wrecking my clothes and for this ridiculous role-playing game you involved me into," Kurapika explained in a whisper, not loud enough for Lina to hear. Art looked up and saw Kurapika still grinning, but he could feel the animosity still emanating from her.
"In fact, I should give you two more hits since you did three things to me," the blonde hunter continued, "But I'll save the rest later." Kurapika whirled and began to walk inside the room given to her and away from the agent
"Kisses?" Art inquired in a muffled voice. The blonde hunter stopped halfway through the door of her assigned room and glared at the agent, "How many kisses do you remember exactly?"
Art pulled away from the wall and tottered towards the middle of the hallway. He looked down on both of his hands and saw a tiny smear of blood on his fingers. Kurapika did make his nose bleed literally. He wiped his hands against his jeans and scowled at the Kuruta.
"Don't tell me you're conscious when I gave you that CPR underwater?"
Kurapika looked away to hide his burning eyes and the heat on his cheeks.
"Why are you so worked up about it?" The agent added with annoyed tone. Then he froze, his eyes fluttered as if contemplating about something, then that something finally dawned on him, "Don't tell me..." a mocking grin drew on his face, "...that was your first kiss?"
Kurapika stirred to give the agent another blow but a voice brought her up short.
"Dad! What happened to your nose!" Lina exclaimed in horror. Some feminine clothes were hanging on her arms.
Kurapika shut her eyes tight, hiding the vivid scarlet colour of her irises. Thank god her back was facing the girl or else god knows how Lina would react if she sees her in such a state. She slowly opened her eyes again to reveal that the cerulean colour returned on her orbs.
"I'm fine sweetie, Dad just slipped, that's all," Art replied reassuringly.
"I'm sorry Aunt Kurapika," Lina said to the blonde apologetically as she approached her to reach out the clothes, "Dad is so clumsy sometimes."
"It's okay. I already know it," Kurapika smiled at Lina, taking the clothes gratefully. Before she entered to her room, she darted a sharp glare at the agent, which made him flinch. Then the door slammed shut.
Lina looked baffled about it though.
"Is she okay?" the little girl inquired.
"She's more than fine," Art replied while examining his nose. He was thankful that it was not totally broken.
Marj decided to go back to the greenhouse to continue what she was doing. She pulled several Belladonna shrubs from the soil, clipped the roots and put then in a small transparent bottle. She stood up, wiped a sweat from her forehead and sighed. She looked up and realized that it was already dark. She was not done yet though. She still needed to feed her babies.
Kurapika just had a bath and was now staring at the garments laid on a bed. She was hesitant whether she should wear them or not. They were obviously new, clean, and apparently, had not been used yet. Lina gave her a decent clothes-a brown trousers cut below the knee, clean underwear, a bra (Kurapika frowned on this), but the problem was the top-it was a spaghetti top.
"I can't wear this!" she complained thoughtfully with an angry swagger. But then she had no choice, had she?"
Art just had his bath, too, and was now shaving the hair that had grown dispersedly on his chin in front of the bathroom mirror, half-naked. He also shaved the almost visible beard under his nose. When he was all done, he smiled at himself, satisfied. He declared thoughtfully that he was proud of his handsome face.
Eventually, Kurapika wore what was given to her, only that she could not leave the room comfortably. She also ventured on wearing a bra, since everyone knows that she is female, there was no point of hiding it. Besides, the garment that she had been using to suppress the bulk on her upper torso was ruined already together with her former shirt. She remembered what happened back in the cave where Art slit opened her clothes when he was trying to...
Kurapika snapped to reality. She shook her head violently and patted her flushed face with both palms to clear away the mortifying memory.
Then someone knocked on her door.
"Aunt Kurapika?" Lina called, "Are you done?"
The Kuruta slowly opened the door but did not open it all the way. She just allowed an inch and peered through the opening. Lina tilted her confused head.
"Hello? Are you done?" Lina repeated while she peered back at Kurapika with perplexed expression.
"Well...sort of," was Kurapika's soft answer.
"May I come in?" Lina inquired.
The Kuruta opened the door wide enough to let Lina in then closed it gently. She did not dare ventured into exposing herself into the open yet.
Lina noticed that Kurapika did not turn on the light. It was rather dark in the room. The only illumination was a faint light coming from a lampshade settled on a small sideboard beside the bed.
Lina could not see exactly whether the clothes she gave to the blonde looked nice on her or not, since she could not see her clearly except her silhouette. She wanted to compliment her though if the clothes do look nice on her.
"Aren't you coming down for dinner?" Lina inquired finally.
"Um...well, Lina, you see, I'm not really comfortable going out..."
"Why?"
"Er...I just need one more thing you see. If you don't mind getting it for me."
"Sure!"
Seconds later, Lina and Kurapika stepped out of the room. Kurapika was wearing a sweatshirt to cover her bare shoulder. The said garment, unfortunately, had a severed zipper, that was why she could not zipper it up to cover the almost visible cleavage that the spaghetti top practically failed to cover. She was prowling with Lina towards the stairs when Art also stepped out of his room.
"Hey!" The agent greeted both of them with a wave. Lina and Kurapika whirled to look. Immediately, Kurapika noticed that something had changed on Art. He looked younger...and more handsome. His hair was nicely combed backward with only a few short strands falling to the side of his forehead. He was wearing a clean sleeveless navy-blue shirt and a pair of old jeans with slits on the knees. In addition, the perfume from him filled the entire hallway. Kurapika failed to notice immediately that she had been gazing at the agent until she finally realized that Art was standing in front of her already, just a foot away, and was making a puzzled countenance as he stared back at the Kuruta's blank expression.
"Hello? Kurapika on earth?" Art prompted as he waved a hand in front of Kurapika's face. Finally, the blonde hunter snapped back to reality, eyes fluttered heavily, "I said, is dinner ready?"
"Er..." was Kurapika's only reply. Realizing that Art's face was too close to hers, and that a pair of those captivating sage orbs was staring closely at her, she flinched, and then her cheeks flushed faintly.
"Are you alright?" the agent inquired considerately.
"Yes. I'm fine," she answered, then she turned her back suddenly and walked away to the stairs.
Art and Lina were left standing in the hallway, confused. "Is she really okay. She's so weird, or is she always like that, Dad?" Lina asked.
The agent shrugged, "Must be because of hunger. Let's go fetch some dinner."
Everyone was seated along the dinning table-Art, Lina, Kurapika, and Art's Uncle Rudy, on the other hand, had been walking in and out of the kitchen to get the dishes and arrange them on the table.
"Where's Marj?" Art inquired.
"Aww...She's still in the greenhouse. Bet she's not done there yet." Uncle Rudy replied with a sigh.
"Still, she needed to eat on time," Art chided to no one in specific, "Lina, how about you fetch your cousin, tell her to stop working for a while and have some dinner here."
"Okay, Dad" Lina replied obediently, "Can Aunt Kurapika go with me?"
Art turned and look at the Kuruta questioningly.
"Okay, I'll go with you." Kurapika stood from her seat and Lina excitedly clung onto her arm. Art and his Uncle watched them with amusement as they stepped out to the door and walked towards the greenhouse as seen through the kitchen's windows. Suddenly, Art felt something odd. A sort of unpleasant feeling, like something bad was about to happen. He contemplated about it for a moment but failed to make it out, so he just ignored it.
The greenhouse was already lit with electronic lamps and Marj was still there and already feeling hungry. She stripped off her gloves, and the back of her left hand revealed a tattoo of eight-legged spider. Her right hand pulled out a cellphone from the right pocket of her trousers, the screen revealed the time to be 7:02 of the evening. She was probably already late for dinner, she thought.
Marj dropped the gloves on the baskets containing transparent glass bottles of plant roots, various plant juices and other undistinguishable substances. She began to walk her way towards the exit of the greenhouse carrying the basket with her, when she heard a shrill scream of a girl-it was Lina-followed by consecutive breaking sound of glass.
Alarmed, Marj dropped the basket and rushed towards where the noise came from. When she made a sharp turn, she saw a blonde young woman, with a pair of burning red orbs, trashing around with a chain, breaking the glass wall of the greenhouse in frenzy. She was devastated to see that some of her pet spiders of various species, her babies, were lying dead on the ground. Her own fury began to flourish within her.
Not far away from the wild Kuruta was Lina, sprawled on the ground, trembling with terror as she watched Kurapika went berserk and throw her dowsing chain at the spiders that kept falling around her in numbers.
Marj dared to run towards the blonde hunter to restrain her physically, but Kurapika only ended up catching her spider-tattooed left hand. The Kuruta slowly turned her head towards her and revealed the burning scarlet orbs up-close. The eyes were almost void of any emotion except rage. On that moment, something became cleared to Marj.
Marj could feel the pain in her wrist as Kurapika tightened her grip.
"Damn it! Let go of me!" Marj snarled. Soon she was thrown away in incredible force that she rolled several feet away after her body hit the ground.
"Shit! You'll pay for all of these, bitch!" Marj growled in a whisper. "You'll pay for hurting my babies!"
Abruptly, a metal ball attached to a chain flung towards her direction. Marj rolled to the side to avoid it and ended up crouching. Then quickly she set off in a run heading towards Kurapika's direction again. The blonde hunter hauled the dowsing chain and whipped it towards Marj's direction. The latter bravely used her left arm to shield her self.
The chain coiled violently around Marj's left arm. The frenzied Kuruta jerked the chain violently and Marj was thrown in mid air and was lunging towards Kurapika.
While airborne, Marj managed to pull three needles, as long and as thin as an ordinary sewing needle, from the back of her right ear, and threw them towards Kurapika, aiming to her head. Unfortunately, the vivid lustre of the said needles gave an early warning to the chained woman and she was early enough to block those needles with her left arm. The needles pierce into her flesh though.
"Got 'ya!" Marj grinned triumphantly.
In split seconds, Kurapika was abruptly surprised when her vision began to blur and her body started to feel numb. Marj was practically 3 meters above the ground and from the Kuruta when she spun in mid air and landed behind her. Then Marj gave the blonde hunter a violent kick on the spine and Kurapika was flung into the ground, practically eating dirt.
Kurapika tried to get up but the numbness of her body became worse and her sight started to dim. Marj, who was watching her with caution from behind pulled another three needles, preparing them to throw at the Kuruta if ever she was able to stand again and attack.
Gradually, the red glow of the blonde hunter's orbs faded back into cerulean colour, but emptied and void with life. Finally, Kurapika's body fell immobile on the earthy ground, then everything in her sight banished into the darkness.
...to be continued...
Author's Note:
To be honest, I don't know what's going on in this fic anymore. (-_-)" I guess I put too much emphasis on Art and Kurapika's blossoming romance (and it's slowing down the pace of the story towards the 'important revelation' part; and I think Kurapika is turning too OOC in here *sigh*) Oh well. *shrug*
Sorry for the grammar and spelling errors as usual (if there's still any)
Wew! It's hard to write when you are too distracted by projects, projects and a lot of things...*sigh* I couldn't even think of a proper title for this chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter though.