Chapter 28: Father
They closed up and finished the arm wrestling station at around 9 or 10. Aliara was relieved- her arms were cramping up from holding up the ring for so long. Gon had defeated every single person that came up against him, with what looked like ease. There was one lady who gave Gon a hard time, and he actually had to work for that victory. But otherwise, it was all fine.
And Killua had said she looked nice! Aliara had to press both her hands on her cheeks to keep from blushing up a storm. She'd been so nervous!... And her face felt like it was going to explode from heat. She wasn't used to being that nervous in front of other people. And the fact it was Killua was even worse...
Aliara handed Leorio the ring box and hiked up her dress so it didn't brush against the dirty ground as they made their way back to the hotel. Gon walked on her left side, with Killua on Gon's other side. "How was it, Ali?" Gon asked, looking to Aliara.
She shrugged, a smile creeping up on her face as she pulled her long hair up into her trusty hair elastic. "It was fine. I haven't dressed up in a while, so that was kind of fun." That was true. She hadn't put on a dress since her last day at her family mansion- not that she was complaining. "I guess my nerves kind of acted up, though," she admitted with a sheepish grin. "Every man who came up seemed to look at me weirdly. But I was probably just paranoid. Nobody really did anything."
Killua broke into a coughing fit that caused both Aliara and Gon to stare at him weirdly before returning to their conversation. "How about you, Gon?"
"Fine," he said with a shrug, spinning his arm in a circle in an effort to stretch it out. "It felt like I was cheating people, though."
"But we got a lot of money," Killua insisted, piping up. "I mean, we need a lot more. But this is a start."
Aliara nodded along. "I've been thinking, maybe I could sell my gloves or my shoes or something." The idea of it made her heart clench but she ignored it. "I'm sure those could get a lot of money-"
"No," they both said in unison.
She blinked, "eh?"
"You worked really hard on those," Killua pointed out. "Why would you sell them?"
"Besides," Gon added, "your shoes probably won't fit many other people." Aliara picked up the edge of her dress to glare at the red and black custom runners. "And Killua's right, you've worked really hard on those."
"O- Okay," she managed, looking down sheepishly. "It was just a thought."
They went back to the hotel in silence, Leorio talking into his phone most of the way back. Aliara shifted uncomfortably in the dress- as much as she liked it, she'd much rather be in jeans and a hoodie, or something like that.
Back at the hotel, Leorio put all their earnings on the table. "We've got the three million jenni ring," he started, "the remaining two-point-four million, and about three-point-five million from the arm wrestling." He looked up. "That's almost nine million."
"We're still pretty far," Aliara said, frowning.
"And I'm not sure this is totally honest," Gon admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"Plus," Killua continued, "during the second round, Gon only beat people that were coming back for revenge."
"You're all so negative!" Leorio protested, throwing his hands up in the air.
Gon shook his head. "And the more that people talk about it, I'm not sure how many more people will show up." Aliara nodded along- he had a point.
The man in the suit grinned. "Don't worry. This has been planned since the very beginning. The more people talk about it, the better." He laced his fingers together, the smirk growing on his face. "The arm wrestling was the bait. To make moles come to the surface."
Aliara rolled her eyes. Whatever he was planning, it probably wasn't good.
The next day, they set up the booth again. This time, Leorio said that Killua could hold the ring. Satisfied with that, Aliara had left her hair in a high ponytail, and put on her teal tank top that had a hood and long black pants. She kept her gloves and her shoes on, and stood next to Killua at the back.
Nobody wanted to come up. The rumors were spreading, but Leorio had a fox-like grin on his face. Aliara and Killua exchanged a glance and a shrug.
"Let me try."
A huge man came up, and sat down in front of Gon after handing Leorio his money. Gon visibly paled. The man's fist was bigger than Gon's head. "How are we going to hold fists?" the big man mused, glancing at the boy.
"Gon, switch with me. I'll replace you."
What was Leorio planning?
The big man frowned. "Hey, you. It won't work that way. That's an infraction of the rules."
"I know," Leorio replied with a shrug. He tossed some wads of cash in Aliara's direction, and she caught them with one gloved hand. "Five million, plus the diamond. If you beat me. If you win, these are all yours. So?"
The big man turned to another guy in the audience, who seemed to be his associate. The guy in the audience nodded, and the big man turned back, smug. "Ready?" Gon asked them. They gripped fists tightly, and Aliara saw the numerous veins in the challenger's arm pop out. He really was strong. "Go!"
Aliara wondered how strong Leorio really was.
The black-haired man in the suit slammed his opponent's hand to the table with enough force to crack the wood. The challenger was shocked. Leorio was smug. The crowd gasped collectively as the man slowly stood up, clutching his fist and hissing through his teeth.
"Who's next?" Leorio said quietly. "May I remind you the stakes have increased. Don't tell me we're stopping here," he added as no one came forward, instead looking at him in shock and a bit of fear.
Aliara rolled her eyes. What was this going to accomplish?
A tall, beefy man in a pretty suit came up. At first, the black-haired girl thought he was going to challenge Leorio, but instead he pulled out a business card. "Say, you're really strong," he started. "I like you."
Leorio smirked. "The three behind me are much stronger than I am."
Aliara frowned, turning around. Nope, just her, Killua, and Gon. She kept her expression neutral, but her heart did a little tap dance. Leorio thought she was stronger than him. She fought to keep the grin off her face.
The man in the pretty suit narrowed his eyes. "I see. If you have some time, stop by this address around 5 pm." He walked away, the crowd following him with their eyes.
Leorio grinned, waving the card at the trio. "I think we found the big fish."
Aliara grinned back. Leorio knew what he was doing, she'd give him that.
"Alright. Let's head back to the hotel," Leorio instructed, moving the cracked table to the side and accepting the money and ring from Aliara and Killua. They all nodded and followed Leorio as he pushed his way through the crowd that was quickly dispersing.
About a minute later, Aliara knew something was wrong. Someone was following them.
"You hear that?" she asked quietly, not even looking at the boys.
Killua nodded. "Yeah."
"Footsteps," Gon added, frowning.
They kept up their pace, resisting the temptation to turn around. They were being followed. Leorio was speaking into his phone again, oblivious to their problem. "Should I intercept him?" Killua mused. "It doesn't sound like he's trying to be quiet."
Aliara felt sweat prickling her forehead. What if it was someone after her bounty? She wasn't that recognizable, and she was still wearing the hazel contacts from yesterday. But she still had yet to tell Gon and Killua about the bounty.
"You guys," she started, her voice dry, "there's something I should tell you-"
Gon and Killua looked to her expectantly.
"Aliara!"
She stiffened. The voice had come from the footsteps that were following them. The trio turned, and Leorio did too, his phone shut off.
A man burst out of the crowd, slightly out of breath. He was wearing a slightly rumpled, light blue collared shirt that was neatly tucked into his black dress pants. His shoes were fancy and shiny. He had black hair that was slicked back, and he was evidently older- maybe late thirties or so. He was carrying a brown briefcase under his arm. When he noticed they stopped, he grinned at her- but the grin wasn't malicious or creepy or anything. It was kind.
"Aliara," he repeated. "I- I've finally found you." His brown eyes filled with relief and he stepped forwards. He seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Do you know him?" Killua whispered to her. It took her a moment before she slowly shook her head.
"I don't know you," she repeated. "You must've mistaken me for someone else. Sorry."
Aliara turned on her heel and started walking again.
"No, wait! I do know you. Oh lord, I do."
His voice sounded sincere, but she didn't trust him. Not one bit. But something in his voice made her freeze up. It sounded familiar; like she had met him somewhere. "How?" she asked quietly, Gon and Killua flanking her sides. She felt her nerves rise up and she squeaked out, "prove it."
The man sighed, and ran a hand through his slicked-back black hair. "You're as stubborn as your mother."
"How do you know who my mother is?" she demanded quietly. "And I wouldn't recommend that you say it out loud."
He closed the space between them by another few feet. They were only a few feet away now. But Aliara had Gon and Killua at her sides, and that was enough comfort on its own. "True," he agreed. His voice lowered. "Your last name is Lorvell. You were born on August 8th, and your eyes are actually green. I know you're wearing contacts."
Aliara's breath hitched in her throat. Killua tensed up at her side. "H... How-"
How was this possible? How did someone know so much about her?
And suddenly, she didn't want to know the answer.
She didn't.
It was like a giant wave at a beach, rearing up a dozen feet high.
"I'm your father," the man insisted, and everything came crashing down all at once, like that wave that was going to suffocate her.
RedBurningDragon: Good for Gon! Moving things along XD I'm very excited to reveal her Hatsu technique. Thank you for your review!
Akuma-Sama2002: Of course I don't hate you for your criticism! I really do appreciate it! If I went a whole story without criticism, there would be something wrong :P Thank you for reviewing. Haha, after rereading the chapter myself, I do agree I went a little heavy on the blushing *~* You're definitely right about making it more meaningful, and I'll keep them in mind for the future. Yes, you're right in saying that Aliara is too young to be looked upon in that way. I actually got the idea from a different story and tried to use it here- maybe not my best move. Thank you for pointing that out for me.
I'm excited for Aliara to meet Alluka too- even if that is a ways off. I;m glad you liked that little about about Aliara giving Illumi a piece of her mind- she hasn't forgiven him for what he said to Killua, not by a long shot. :) Thank you so much for your long review! I very much appreciate it! :)
havanatitiana: Aha, I'm so glad you enjoyed :D Thanks for the review! :)
Night Owl: THANK YOUUU! Your reviews always make me smile! :) :) :D
Guest: Aha yess! I'm so glad you loved Gon's assertiveness! (not sure what to call it XD) And I'm so glad you can picture the last part in your head, that makes me so happy when readers can do that *~* Thank you so much! Aha you're making me blush :) :) Concerning her name, that was probably the hardest part about starting the story! I had all the plot but no name! I needed something that sounded royal or fancy but could still have a nickname made out of it. I actually wanted a name that started with an 'A' for some reason, so I ended up searching online. I found that name, loved it, and voila! Aliara!
Thank you so much for your overly kind and sweet review! :) :)
xenocanaan: Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed! :)
G: THANK YOU THANK YOU! :D
Reading1Dragon: I actually started reading Assassination Classroom- for some reason, I prefer manga over anime, I'm not sure why. I just finished the school trip and i absolutely LOVE Karma! Karma is so amazing, and Nagisa is so cute, but Koro-Sensei takes the cake, oh my goodness I love him. NO SPOILERS PLEASE!
Thank you so much for your review, and for prompting me to start a new manga! :D
Shorter chapter, I'm sorry :(
