Here's another chapter! YAHOO! No...not the e-mail ;)
Anyway, this is a bit of a cool-down chapter. Ya know, after the whole intense fighting "Badass" stuff (I'm such a dork -crying-).
So...let's see where my mind goes and what my fingers typed.
OH! And! There's a surprise at the end -giggles- Read and find out.
PROPER DISCLAIMERS APPLY! I DO NOT OWN HUNTER X HUNTER! I'm merely writing for entertainment/hobby purposes!
Happy readings and I hope you guys enjoy!
Recap:
"Kurapica! You shouldn't be sitting up!" Emina looked at him with worry in her eyes, though she didn't move away from underneath that man. Kurapica looked past her and into the man's possessive glare.
The man's steel blue eyes were cold and hard and threatening, as if he was challenging the Kuruta.
Start:
"Are you alright Emina?" Declan asked as he gently pulled Emina from the floor. The girl nodded and thanked him. She smiled but left his side as soon as Declan let her hand go. She went to Kurapica; releasing a breath of relief.
"Thank goodness you're awake," she smiled at him and gave him a quick and friendly hug. Though Kurapica was thankful, he couldn't quite stop himself from comparing that "saving action" from that man and the hug he got.
"Where's everybody?" Kurapica decided to divert his attention.
"Well, Leorio went out and Gon and Killua went back to the auction for that ga-" Emina suddenly stopped, her eyes widening in horror; with all the ruckus and life threatening situations, Emina forgot all about the game she promised to Seiji and Kenji. Declan and Kurapica looked at her worriedly.
"Emina?" Declan reached out to touch Emina's shoulder when the girl suddenly bolted up and screamed, "I FORGOT ABOUT THE GAME!"
Kurapica looked at her, confusion in his face. "Game…you mean, the same game that Gon and Killua are after?"
Emina nodded.
"What about it?" Declan started stirring the soup.
"I gotta make a phone call!" and with that, Emina was out of the room, dashing somewhere; desperate to find a phone.
…
Now that she's not in the room, it became morbidly silent. Except for the occasional chopping and stirring of whatever he was cooking and the hiss of the fire, there was nothing else.
Kurapica was not going to make any effort on breaking the silence. In fact, he wanted the silence to be prolonged. Let that man suffer the heavy atmosphere and uncomfortable tension in the room.
But apparently, Declan was doing the same thing. He couldn't care less about the silence and merely waited for the other to crack. "…let him be uncomfortable…"
It would seem that the two of them are actually putting on more negative energy in the room for the sole fact of making the other one uncomfortable.
Yes…a very mature thing to do, especially if you're a man who fought bloodthirsty beings. You'd think that this is the most mature thing that they could think of. Alas, no one spoke.
At least, not until Zachary jumped inside the room and bellowed a greeting, "Oi! Did someone die in here?"
Kurapica twitched at the insensitivity of that comment, "I beg your pardon?"
"Well, considering the atmosphere in here, I'd say someone's grieving," Zachary pointed out rather…teasingly.
"More like a war zone. Don't you know the difference between sadness and hostility?" Declan gave Zachary a side glance.
"Ah, it's so like you to show your hostility to someone so freely eh Lan-chan," Zachary grinned and poked fun of Declan.
"You know how I am and call me that again and this knife will fly to your direction accidentally," Declan didn't glance up from his chore. Zachary just shrugged and Kurapica leaned on the wall; where on earth is Emina?
"Well, if you don't like the guy, why are you still cooking that?" Kurapica glanced up at Zachary's comment.
"Well," Declan added the broth into the pot. "I'm not doing it for him," a smile graced his lips. "Besides, if I let Emina cook…" he paused. "…we don't want to lose our hideout."
As if on cue, Emina arrived with a satisfied expression, "I'm back!"
The three guys chuckled, making the silver haired girl raise eyebrows. She twitched, leave it to the guys to talk about her. Question is, what were they talking about…
"It's good to see that you're all getting along pretty well," she smiled and took the place next to Declan. Him and Kurapica seemed to quiet down and Zachary laughed as if that was the most hilarious thing he's ever heard. Emina looked at him, worried about his mental health, "…don't tell me…you've had too much sugar!" she grinned.
"Nah, just found it quite amusing," was his response.
"What's amusing?"
"Emina, can you stir this please?" Declan grabbed her attention and her hand; much to Kurapica's secret disapproval, and made her stir the soup.
"Hai! It smells great Declan! I didn't think you can cook!" she scooped up a tiny amount of soup with the spatula and tasted it. "Hmm…reminds me of my mom's cooking!" Her smile was blinding.
Zachary laughed, Kurapica "coughed" while Declan smiled…secretly twitching. "Why thank you," Declan ruffled her hair took the spatula from her. "Now, be a good girl and get the bowls."
Emina nodded and stood up, slightly blushing and scowled because of that. "What the hell is wrong with me? Damn it!" She took the Styrofoam bowls and helped Declan serve the chicken soup.
Emina handed Kurapica his and sat next to him. She's really glad the he's awake. If he wasn't, she'd probably continue panicking.
"Hey! Kurapica's the sick little boy," Zachary pointed out much to Kurapica's distaste. "Why are we eating this soup as well? Did you put something in here eh Lan-chan?" Before he could even laugh, Zachary's head was attacked by three packs of instant ramen. "Ow!" he glared.
"That's what you get for being rude," she held up another pack of instant ramen; ready for the next round. "Eat it." Her eyes glistened with something scary and Zachary stiffened up. "Hai!"
Her expression changed and the 'ax murderer glare' was completely gone. She smiled brightly and said, "Good! Itadekimasu!"
"…"
Scary girl indeed…
~O~
The night seemed endless. Emina, though she was glad that Zachary and Declan kept her company, couldn't wait until they left. Senritsu was invited as well, turns out the guy was fixing some medicine for Kurapica as well. Despite the fact that their stay only lasted for about 3 hours, it seemed packed with…confusing scenes.
For one, Kurapica and Zachary seemed to be getting along but when Emina pointed that out, Kurapica declined. Was it sadness or was it really hostility that she felt between Declan and Kurapica.
Emina couldn't quite put a finger on it and she decided to shrug it off.
One would think that they would stop at the hostility, but no. Not only were they hostile, they seemed to deliberately mock each other. Was it a guy thing? Emina didn't know.
After the whole tension though, the guys seemed to be tired and decided to call it a night. Even Senritsu volunteered to go back to the hotel; keep Mr. Nostrad informed and all. Kurapica was eager on getting some peace time, he's still recuperating and the stress that their visitors gave him was enough to make his fever hike up again.
Emina was worried but this time, with all the supplies she bought, she was a bit more confident. Declan also gave her some handy advices on how to handle a sick person.
"That or just stick to my underwear advice," Zachary winked at Kurapica and Emina still didn't get it. She shook her head and shooed the men out then saying goodbye to Senritsu.
When the room was finally quiet, Emina let out a heavy sigh of relief and sat down next to Kurapica.
"I don't suppose you've gotten any rest?" Kurapica asked. Emina almost jumped at the sound of his voice. After all that has happened, she realized that it's been a while since she heard his voice.
…that sweet voice…
Emina shook her head and gave Kurapica a serious answer, "Didn't have time to rest while someone I care for is in trouble now do I?"
"Seems like you're a bit sarcastic too," Kurapica pointed out as he leaned against the cold stone wall.
"I am not! I'm just answering," she said while she rummaged through some plastic bags. "Besides, you're the one who needs rest, not me," she scooted over towards him and Kurapica stiffened a bit.
"For Christ's sake, I won't bite!" she lifted a damp towel. He figured she used the hot water from the pot. Slowly, she lowered the towel and wiped his face. "Now if you just take off your shirt then we'll be done."
Emina started tugging at his shirt and Kurapica caught her hand immediately, "What do you think you're doing?" His face was red and Emina worried that it was due to his fever.
"Taking off your shirt so I can wipe off that sweat," she said coolly. "You need to be free of grime so you could rest better."
Kurapica gawked at her. Was she really this indifferent about him not having a shirt in front of her? Now that's a bit disappointing.
"It's not like I haven't seen you already," well that and she really was curious!
"…you haven't" he said hesitantly.
"…" Emina twitched and threw the hand towel on his face, "Then clean your self. You could've said so in the first place."
She turned around and started fiddling with something else. Kurapica shook his head, and tried to ignore her tone. Was that really disappointment?
~O~
Emina couldn't believe what she just tried to do!
You just tried to strip him and check out his pectorals because you had a slight glimpse ear-
Emina crushed the small voice by pinching her wrist. That ought to do it…
But one glance back at Kurapica who was sponging his upper chest made her almost have a nosebleed. The guy was hot, that's for sure. Emina made a defeated face and pouted. Something is wrong with her and if she doesn't fix it soon then she'd probably end up in trouble.
"How's the sister search?" Kurapica's voice was a bit calmer and Emina took this as her cue. She stood up with a small paper plate that contained tablets and a bottled water. She kneeled in front of him when she reached where he was sitting.
Kurapica offered a small smile when she handed him his medicine, "Not very good actually," she admitted. "In fact…I have no idea where to start looking."
"No leads at all?" Kurapica noted the irritated expression on her face as she shook her head; no.
He reached out and ruffled her hair. Emina moved her gaze and landed on Kurapica's own blue eyes. She returned the smile and blushed slightly at their close proximity. There was a part of her mind that still couldn't believe that Kurapica, the one who attacked the leader of the Brigade head on, was alive and sitting in front of her.
Not that she doubted him, but she was still aware of all the possibilities. Now that she let her mind wander about the 'what-ifs', Emina found herself astounded by the sheer list of it.
What if he didn't manage to defeat Ubogin?
What if he got injured and didn't heal?
What if one of the Brigade members managed to capture him?
What if he died?
What if he doesn't survive?
And the most recent one:
What if they find us?
Of course, there's a lot more where that came from, but the ideas where merely floating and she didn't want to grasp them yet.
Or maybe she didn't want to grasp them.
Who knows?
It scared her…
"I'm sorry…" were the words she spoke. Kurapica looked at her, confused at her statement.
"Excuse me?"
Emina looked at him squarely in the eyes. It finally dawned on her; what she wanted to tell him. Everything… But of course, there should be limits. Can she set those limits?
Emina took in a lungful of breath and continued, "I'm sorry for being an ass and an inconsiderate brat."
Kurapica merely stared at her, eyes wide and unbelieving. What?
"Before everything happened, I had a tantrum. I should've realized that you were just worried. I didn't say sorry. I waited too late and you could've gotten in deep trouble before I could apologize and then Gon and Ki-"
Kurapica touched her lips with his index finger and shook his head, "That's enough. You're not the only one at fault." When Emina disappeared from the park where Gon and the others met, Kurapica was worried. Everything that happened worried him because he knew that Emina was involved.
If anything happened to her, he wouldn't know what to do.
Well…that's a lie. He knew what he would do. He would never stop until his hatred for the Brigade gets quenched and then move on until he lost his sanity and his chains would end his life. It wasn't a pleasant vision but it is true, that is, if something happened to her.
But nothing happened.
Sure, she got injured; he eyed the bandage around her ankle, but that wasn't going to end her life. She got away safely, survived and now she's here.
With him and only him.
Kurapica smiled at that thought.
When did he start thinking like this?
Whatever, he shrugged off the question and moved closer to Emina. She froze a bit but he didn't stop. Experiencing all those horrible events made him conclude something, and that's the fear of loosing her. Countless times, he found himself fretting over what could happened and if that did happened, how would it affect his life?
No more, he won't put this off anymore. He might not get another chance and he wasn't willing to gamble it.
Leaning forward, Kurapica focused on her eyes. They were suddenly crimson, an indicator that she's feeling an intense emotion.
He hoped that was a positive one that would benefit him.
He heard her heart speed up and secretly smiled, liking the way he's affecting her.
Closing the gap, Kurapica brushed his lips gently on hers. The passion started to kick in but before he could do anything, his vision blurred and he blacked out.
"Kurapica!" Emina screamed, still bright red from the display of his emotions, and caught his head before it hit the hard floor. She still couldn't believe what happened. "Was it the fever?..."
She couldn't even decide what her feelings were. Sure enough, she was both relieved and disappointed. Relieved because she didn't know how to respond and his fainting was a great excuse, but disappointed because now he couldn't continue.
"Make up your damned mind Emina," she hissed at herself as she placed Kurapica's head on her lap. "You need…to make up your mind…" she whispered and played with a strand of his hair; twirling it in between her fingers.
"Either you like me…or not…" she thought and leaned in to give him a kiss on the forehead.
"Hey! Check this out!" a voice from a far whispered, it had an undertone of playful mischief.
"Ah," a taunting tone spoke up. "I see they were busy while we were gone."
"Eh? But they're asleep!" an innocent voice spoke up.
"Man! You are naïve!" said the playful voice.
"Um…I think we should leave them be…" a soft voice said. There was movement but Emina couldn't figure it out. She was still groggy from last night's events.
There was a bright flash, then a pair of chuckling voices. Emina twitched; she knew that those voices were up to no good.
Forcing her eyes to open, she found her vision slowly focusing and narrowed on her target. There, standing in front of her was Gon, restrained by Killua in a headlock. Leorio stood, laughing cheerfully with a camera in hand and Senritsu standing awkwardly with a tinge of pink on his cheeks.
"What the hell is the big idea?" Emina grumbled as she tried to move but found it a struggle due to the weight on her chest. She grimaced as the ache started shooting up; she realized she fell asleep while sitting and the weight on her wasn't helping.
There was a shuttering noise, a click then a "SHHHHHHK" sound. Leorio held something up and fanned it around. It was paper… "Slick paper…" she thought slightly and focused on it.
Her eyes widened at the sight of the square-shaped paper, its black middle slowly changing. Leorio held it close for her to examine and Emina's face became bright red!
The photo was of her and Kurapica. He was lying in between her legs, using her chest as a pillow while she leaned on the wall, sleeping soundly with her arms loosely wrapped around him. It was a serene photo but it made her glance down at her chest and sure enough, Kurapica's blond head rested comfortably on it.
She couldn't quite react the way she wanted. Again, she found herself with mixed feelings and before she could even start reacting, the bundle that was pressed against her started moving and her instincts kicked in.
With an impressive display of acrobatics, Emina twisted herself away from the mass that was slumped on top of her and landed beside Leorio. There was a thud followed by a groan but Emina ignored it and hissed at Leorio, "Give me that picture or I swear I'll…"
"Hmm…I bet you're gonna keep it as a memento," Killua winked at her, his cat eyes filled with…something that it usually held when he was playing jokes on her.
"Shut it little boy!"
"Aw stop complaining Oba-san," he grinned.
"You know that doesn't bother me…"
"…Damn…" he considered it. "But you're still planning to keep it for yourself."
"You brat!"
"…um…" Senritsu's voice interrupted their upcoming brawl and everyone stopped briefly.
"Energetic as always," mumbled a voice and everyone's head turned to Kurapica who was rubbing his head.
"Kurapica!" Gon went ahead and gave his friend a gigantic hug, followed Killua and Leorio smiled. They were all glad to see their friend conscious, even if it was due to him bumping his head.
Emina, however, decided to hide her face since she knew she was blushing. She glared at Leorio who put the photograph in his shirt pocket and winked at her. "Blackmail…" she nodded to herself and grimaced.
Emina brushed off the lingering blush and moved towards Kurapica, "You shouldn't be straining yourself," she told him as he started to get up. There was a snicker from the group but thankfully, Kurapica didn't seem to hear it.
"I'm fine. I'll feel better if I start moving."
Emina looked at him, debating whether or not she should argue but the matter was set when he stood up and looked at his friends.
Emina sighed, Oh well…
Meanwhile:
Neon bounded cheerfully around the hotel room, singing something about cupcakes and bunnies. Though she was, at the same time, trying to urge her father to let her go shopping, she stopped as soon as the doorbell rang.
She looked at her maids and one of them volunteered to answer it.
It was the mail man. How this man got hold of their address was a mystery but the maid accepted the mail, thanked the mailman, and gave the mail to Neon.
The girl raised a questioning eye brow as she looked at the piece of envelope.
~O~
Declan's phone rang. The young man picked it up. "Declan Zephyre," he answered. His brother, Connor, stood beside him, eyeing his silver-haired twin as his face didn't change expression.
Declan snapped his phone close, his calm demeanor plastered perfectly on his face.
This was a sure sign, Connor though.
A new client…
~O~
"Get the door!" Tatsuya barked as the doorbell rang. Kenji was the one who answered it. He was greeted by a middle aged mail man.
The man handed him a package and stack of mail on top of it. Kenji nodded his thanks and closed the door. "Sensei! You have mail!" Kenji yelled as he placed the letters on the table.
He looked at the package with curiosity. Whoever sent this knew their current location since it was addressed Kenji and Seiji.
Kenji shrugged and ripped the brown packaging paper and his eyes almost bulged out. "SEIJI! GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE SHOWER!" He yelled and ran into the other room, letting out a stream of profanities.
That's when Tatsuya step into the deserted receiving room and walked over to the mail. He browsed through it and a pink envelope caught his eye.
A Summon?
~O~
Amiko looked up at the blue sky, her eyes filled with insanity. What is it that she'd lost?
~O~
Zachary mopped the floors of the grand hotel where the auction took place. His eyes swept the view, taking note of everything.
Nothing was amiss.
At least…that's what an inexperienced rookie would think.
But based on how these people were acting, it was confirmed that they were, indeed up to something.
"It's time to pack up then" he grinned to himself.
~O~
Emina gazed up at the clear sky from the top of a tall building; the wind caressing her hair.
She took a deep breath and listened to the sounds of the city.
She heard Kiara from a distance.
The Spider was finally beheaded…
"Now what?"
Crimson eyes stared out towards the horizon.
The End
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MADE YOU LOOK!Like the surprise?
haha! How's that for a prank?
I'm kidding! DON'T KILL ME!
No, the series is not done. Let's just say that an "Arc" just ended. SO! What do you guys think? Tell me your thoughts and opinions and REVIEW! ;) Thanks! Let's see where the wind takes this group.
Oh and it was drawn to my attention: I am NOT going to post another chapter here. This is Complete. I'm going to start a new story: a Sequel to this :)
