Another one I don't know how to feel about... Not to mention not one of my best.

"… Good night, Mina."

=oOo=

It was a weird way to wake up, you know. Your eyes suddenly just opening and you just feel… awake. It was like I had just closed my eyes then opened them, then boom. It was morning. I kept still for while, a bit confused why everything was so white before I realized I was completely under my blanket. The reason why dawned me a few seconds later and I immediately felt the heat rush up my face.

Goddamit.

His lips on mine, surprisingly warm and soft, and the way my heart raced when he kissed me. How breathless he had left me the few short seconds before I freaked out and shut him out. The memory sent chills down my spine and I didn't know whether that was good or bad. But I guess the worst part of it was the small, tiny, little neglected voice I kept pushing to back of my mind that whispered to me that I liked it.

I inwardly groaned.

I wake up and that's the first thing on my mind?

Lo and behold, I was suddenly very aware that I was sharing the same room with that guy and though I was pretty sure he was still asleep, I couldn't take any chances of him calling me out, just in case he was awake. So I needed to calm the hell down before I suffocated myself with my own blanket.

Breathe, Demina. Just keep breathing and calm down.

It wasn't like it was the end of the world. It wasn't like I was gonna fumble and blush and hyperventilate every single time I saw him. No. I was much more mature, and composed, and rational than that.

"…Kurapika has a thing for you."

My eyes grew wide and I couldn't help but cover my ears. Thank you Killua's voice for helping out. Gods. Why did I keep remembering the wrong things at the wrong time? I shifted a bit on my bed and heard a small crunch. An eyebrow raised, I let one hand feel around for the source of the sound and pulled out two photos from beneath my pillow and just like that, I had another problem.

I had to leave tonight and I still hadn't said a word to Kurapika.

A new wave of heat rushed to my cheeks and for the love of humanity, I couldn't even think of his name without making myself look like a fool. Why couldn't the gods above just kill me now if this was how it was gonna be? Those sick, sick bastards. And now I had the feeling I wouldn't be able to tell him. What? Was I just gonna disappear? Please. I couldn't do that to him.

That was just plain old cruel.

Frowning, I rolled over and lifted my sheets a bit. From where I was, I could see he had his back turned to me, but judging by the way he was breathing, he was pretty much asleep. Unless he could just quietly lie there knowing that the girl he kissed was right here. Please, I couldn't be the only rattled one.

Finding a bit of comfort in knowing he was asleep, I quickly and quietly got myself onto my feet and grabbed my bag. A nice bath should do me some good so I tried to make my way out – the bathroom was down the hall – but I made the mistake of looking the Kurta's way. My eyebrows pulled together when I noticed the troubled look on his face. He was having a bad dream.

My legs moved on their own and I found myself standing by his bed, watching him sleep. It was creepy, really, and I couldn't help but frown at that fact. "Why did you have to do that?" I bitterly asked, a hand of mine reaching out to push away the hair covering his face. It was a little too late when I realized what I did and the overly sensitive blonde stirred and woke up.

Heat rushed up to my cheeks as I watched him slowly make sense of his surroundings, and when he did, I saw him his face grow red and his eyes go wide. See, I wasn't the only one who's rattled.

"A-Ah…" I lamely began as I took a step back. "Uh… I-I was just gonna take a bath and… uh… Good morning!" I exclaimed just before running out the room and slamming the door beside me. Real smooth, Demina. Real smooth. My face felt like it was as hot as the sun and my heart was racing like never before. Gods, I could hear every single, hurried beat in my ears.

"Mina? You're up early," came Elsa's amused voice. "Is Kurapika awake as well?"

Blinking, I turned towards the old woman – still in her sleeping clothes – and nodded. "G-Good morning, Elsa," I stammered. "Yeah, h-he's awake. I was just planning on taking a bath is all…"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "I see… You look feverish, honey," she commented. "Are you feeling well?"

"No! I mean yes!" I quickly replied. "I'm fine. Absolutely, perfectly fine." The woman gave me an odd look and before she could even open her mouth to ask any more questions, I spoke up. "The bathroom… Is right down this way, right?" Elsa pulled her eyebrows together before nodding. "Thank you." And with that, I made a not-so-obvious run for it.

=oOo=

Kurapika had tried talking to me all morning and I did everything to avoid him. Sure, it was my fault for dragging this out like this, but none of this was supposed to happen if he hadn't done what he did. He shouldn't have done that. I mean, I didn't entirely hate it, but he still shouldn't have.

I spared the boy in question a glance and he was busying himself with a few papers he had managed to get from the locals. Before everything went out of hand yesterday, he had told me that the residents had heard of something like an agency not too far away from here and right now, we were trying to figure out where exactly that was.

The blonde then suddenly looked up from his papers and glanced at me. Our gazes locked for a split second before I tore my eyes away from his and I focused my attention back to the map in front of me. Gods, this was difficult.

"Mina."

"Shush," I hissed. "I'm concentrating."

He heaved a sigh. "You aren't," he pointed out.

"I'm trying."

"And failing."

"I wonder why," I grunted, flicking a stray lock of hair away from my face. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. With him around, I wouldn't be able to get anything done. All my thoughts were going back to what happened last night and it was just getting me feel all weird again. Shaking my head, I got up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting something to drink. Want anything?"

"No, thank you," he quietly replied. "I'm fine."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself," I huffed as I made my way to the counter.

"What would the little miss like?" the bartender asked, grinning at me.

I met him with a straight face. "Got anything that'd kill me?"

The man's expression immediately dropped. "Actually…"

Rolling my eyes, I sat on the barstool. "Just give me something very cold and non-alcoholic."

"Alls we got is soda." I waved a hand to let him know I was fine with that and he went away to fix something up for me. I heaved as sigh and propped an elbow on the counter and let my head rest on my open palm. This game I was playing was wearing me out. I'd have to face Kurapika properly sooner or later. I couldn't keep giving him the cold shoulder. "Here you go missy," the man grunted as he handed me a glass of what I assumed was soda.

"Thanks," I grumbled as I paid for the stuff and headed back to my table. "Any progress?"

Kurapika shook his head. "Nothing conclusive, though these prove to be an interesting read."

I raised an eyebrow. "Lemme see," I hummed, putting down my drink and reaching over to snatch the papers from him. But when I grazed his hand, heat suddenly came rushing up my face and I quickly sat back down on my chair and turned back to my map, finding it very interesting all of a sudden. "I'll take a look after you're done."

A sigh escaped from the Kurta's lips. "Demina…"

I flinched. "I told you not to call me that."

Another sigh. "Mina, can't we talk?"

"We're talking."

"You're being a smartass, Mina," he replied.

"And so are you," I huffed. "Now aren't we just a swell couple?" At that moment, we caught each other's eyes and I didn't know how I should feel. Embarrassed, or totally annoyed. "I'm going back to Elsa's place," I grumbled, getting back up. I couldn't even breathe the same air with that guy without getting so… messed up.

"I'll stay here for a while."

You better. "See ya later."

=oOo=

"Trouble in paradise, I see," Rin hummed as soon as I passed by him on my way up to the room Kurapika and I were sharing.

"There's trouble," I grunted, pausing at the stairs, "but I'm not sure if paradise is where it's at."

"Is that so little missy?" the old man asked, leaning against the banister. "Care to update an old man?"

A huff escaped my lips. "Sorry, Rin," I grumbled. "Even I don't know what's going on," I bitterly admitted.

"Ah young love," I heard Elsa coo from somewhere and with a little bit of searching on my part, I found her peeking from their living room. "Quite a rollercoaster ride, isn't it?" An eyebrow of mine twitched. What was with these people?

"A rollercoaster ride? Yes," I huffed. "Young-" – shudder – "-love? I doubt it." The old couple gave me a look and it was all I could do to not roll my eyes at them. It was rude, you know. "Excuse me for a while… I just gotta do something." With that, I made my way up the remaining steps and locked myself inside the room, annoyed and frustrated.

Annoyingly frustrated and frustratingly annoyed.

A sigh escaped my lips as I slid down to floor, my head in my hands. It was annoying that I had to keep running away from this and it was frustrating that I knew I was running. I needed to pull myself together somehow. I needed to stop getting all screwed up when he was around. I knew what I needed to do, but exactly how to do it was a bit of tricky one.

"Demina Lovell?"

I froze. Someone was in the room? Steadily, I looked up and saw a woman I had never seen before in my life. Jet black hair with a pair of blond locks framing her face. Sharp gray eyes. Red lips curving downwards into a small frown. A crisp white shirt under a black, leather jacket, a pair of skin-tight jeans and ankle-high boots. If there was a person in the world that wasn't convinced with just how intimidating she was just by her looks, then the air handing around her sealed the deal.

The stranger's frown deepened. "Are you Demina Lovell?"

Geez, talk about impatient. "Y-Yeah… I'm Demina."

The lady raised an eyebrow. "The name's Ylana, Ranno's associate," she quietly began in a tone that meant business. "I'm here to pick you up."

I blinked. "But I thought-"

"There has been a change of plans. Ranno and another associate of ours have been compromised and our top priority now is to escape," she explained. "If there aren't any more questions, then please collect your things so we can leave immediately."

For some reason, my blood ran cold. "But I haven't even said goodbye to-"

"The Kurta?" she asked. "Then that is your loss. Now please, hurry before I resort to force."

Biting down on my lip, I slowly nodded and got up. "Just… Just give me a few minutes." I quickly grabbed my bag and began shoving my stuff back in, which wasn't really much. I was done in a little under five minutes and was about to zip my backpack close when I noticed the pile of photos on the bedside table between mine and Kurapika's beds. The top most photo was the one we were fighting over about last night and after making a split second decision, I took it and slipped it into the pocket of my bag that held my old embarrassing photo, and the photo the five of us took when we went and got Killua back.

"Is that everything?"

"I… I guess," I quietly said.

Ylana nodded. "Very well then," she hummed as she made her way to the window and easily slid it open. "You can jump from this height, right?"

"Of course."

"Then let's-"

"Wait."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Forgot something?"

I pulled my eyebrows together. I couldn't just leave. It was cruel. The timing of it all looked like I ran away and though technically I was, I wasn't at the same time. "Can I ask you for something?"

"It depends."

"We've been looking for a Hunters' Agency for a long time now and…" It was stupid to ask this woman for a favor, but I had a feeling that she at least knew something about it.

Ylana was quiet for a few moments before she sighed. "There's such an agency not a few miles from here," she answered as she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her jacket and tossed it over to me. "Write the address down. Your friend might not read it if it's not your handwriting." It took me a few moments before I realized she was gonna help me out and I fumbled a bit. "It's a town called Tanbur, in the country of Clarines. It's home to several groups of thieves and assassins… Your friend better be careful."

Tanbur… I've read that name somewhere. It was one of the towns I had circled on our map. "Got it. Thank you very much."

A huff came from the woman. "It's nothing," she grunted. "Now hurry up. We've got a flight to catch."

I nodded. "Just about done," I murmured, writing one last thing on the note before placing it on the bedside table. "I'm ready." I inwardly frowned. What a lie that was.

Ylana gave me a once over before humming to herself. "Let's go."

=oOo=

"I understand," Ylana replied, her phone near her ear. "Of course. I'll do what I can." With that, she ended the call and turned back to me. "That was Ranno."

The sound of the man's name immediately dampened my already bad mood. "What did he want?" After almost half a day of travelling with the woman, it seemed like Ylana didn't have any plans of eating me alive, so I did my best to be at least polite to her. Besides, I was mad at Ranno for putting up the stunt, not Ylana. Which had my thoughts flutter away for a split second to Kurapika, wondering how he was.

"He just called in to make sure you're alright," she easily answered as she slipped her phone back into her jacket.

"Tell him I appreciate the sentiment," I hissed, causing Ylana to give me an odd look.

"He also wanted me to train you, since he had the impression you would die first before he'd teach you," she continued and that caught my attention.

"Train me?"

Ylana nodded. "Nen training, to be exact," she stated. "Our file on you states that you're already quite adept with using your abilities, but due to certain events, you've forgotten how to use even the simplest of techniques." A small frown appeared on the woman's pale face. "But from what I can tell, you've just put yourself in an unconscious state of Zetsu."

"Nen?" I echoed. That word keeps popping up somehow. First with Aster, then with this lady.

"I see you're a bit confused," she sighed. Really? A bit? "Would you like me to explain?" I gave her a look. Did she need to even ask? "Simply put, Nen is the ability to control, manipulate and use aura, the life force of all living things. But before you actually get to use Nen, you have to learn Ten, Zetsu, Ren and Hatsu." I frowned a bit. "Did I lose you yet?"

I shook my head. "No, not really."

Ylana smiled, the first I've seen her do so for the short period of time we've spent together. "Good. Basically, Ten is the ability to control your flow of aura. Zetsu is the ability to hide your aura. Ren is the ability to intensify your aura. And Hatsu is the ability to actually use your aura."

I nodded. "Ten is control, Zetsu is hide, Ren is intensify and Hatsu is use," I mumbled. "Got it."

An amused-sounding huff came from my companion. "No need stress over the basics though. You should be a natural once you get the hang of it," she hummed. "However, there are six divisions under Hatsu, depending on the type of aura you posses."

"There are types?" I asked, honestly curious.

Ylana nodded. "A person can either be an Enhancer, a Transmuter, a Conjurer, an Emitter, a Manipulator or a Specialist," she continued. "Enhancers, as the name suggests, enhance the properties of objects around them, or themselves. Transmuters-"

"Transmute?" I guessed. "Like… Transform something from one thing into another, right?"

A chuckle escaped the woman. I guess she was beginning to like me. "You've grasped to concept, but Transmuters cannot simply change anything into something. Transmuters change the properties of their aura to copy the properties of an aura. Is that clear enough?" I nodded. "Then next are Conjurers. They create objects using their aura."

"So I guess Emitters emit and Manipulators manipulate?"

Ylana grinned and nodded. "Yes. Emitters project their aura, and Manipulators use their aura to manipulate objects."

"Then what about Specialists?"

"Specialists… They're the vaguest of the types," she sighed. "Anything that doesn't fall under the first five categories fall under the Specialization class."

I made a face. "That's vague alright…" I grumbled. "So how do you find out what type you are?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you getting way too ahead of yourself?" she chuckled, shaking her head. "But to answer your question, there are a lot of ways to determine which type you fall under, but the most commonly use is Water Divination. Once you get the hang of Ren, I'm going to let you do that."

"I see…"

A sigh escaped Ylana as she leaned back on her seat and closed her eyes. "To be honest, Ranno's giving us two months to get you back to your former – and I quote – Nen-using self, but I believe you can accomplish it in half the time, given your background."

"You give me way too much credit," I grunted.

"I suppose so," she agreed. "Your grandfather was the one who spent a large amount of time into training you, after all…"

"My grandfather?" The woman nodded. "Are you sure you should be saying information like that?"

Ylana shrugged. "Unlike Ranno, I don't care about the rules," she admitted, crossing her arms. "Don't get me wrong though. I spent a lot of time and effort to get the information you want and I want my cut, but I don't care when it comes. As long I know you'll pay, I'm fine with telling you what I want."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She was pretty lax compared to Ranno. I was beginning to like this lady. "So if I ask-"

"No."

I winced. My hopes of getting info shot down, just like that. "So… do you use Nen?"

The woman took her time before answering. "Yes, but I cannot show you."

"Why?"

"First of all, I doubt you'll be able to see it, given that you are in Zetsu," she replied. "Second, in this world, the less people know about your abilities, the better."

"And why again do I have to learn Nen?"

Ylana opened her eyes and looked up in thought before raising two fingers. "One, most of the people we cross with are already Nen users and we cannot always keep an eye on you. Second, it's a requirement before you can become a Pro Hunter."

My eyebrows furrowed at that. "But I'm already a Hunter."

"On paper, but in terms of skill, you're not," she told me and the way she had bluntly put it kinda put me of. "It's a sort of secret test for the applicants who passed the Hunter Exam and I shouldn't really be telling you this, but like I had said earlier, I'm neither a fan of rules, nor protocol."

"You seem to know a lot about this stuff," I quietly murmured.

"I should," she confidently said as she slipped something out form her jacket. It was a thick card of plastic that looked a lot like the one I had in my bag, with the exception of the name. It read Ylana Lates. "I'm a Pro Hunter."