Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.
CHAPTER 29
To Kukuroo Mountain
"Gon, don't stick your head too much on the window. You'll lose your face." Eclair said as she sat beside Gon.
"Gomen, Eclair." Gon laughed in response.
"You're too excited for your own good, Gon." Eclair sighed.
Ever since they arrived at the Podokea Republic, Gon had been cheerfully looking at the scenery like a hyperactive kid. They are currently on a bus tour towards Kukuroo Mountain. The moment they entered the bus, Gon immediately pulled Eclair to sit beside him. Iris and Kurapika sat behind them while Leorio and Leila sat on the other side of the bus in line with Gon and Eclair's seat. Leila had actually fallen asleep sometime during their trip and the others didn't have the heart to wake her up. Leorio volunteered to carry her on his back so they ended up sitting beside each other on the bus.
"Ne Eclair, are you excited to see Killua again too?" Gon asked.
"Not really." Eclair nonchalantly answered.
"Ehhh...but Eclair..." Gon pouted.
"Don't pout and besides you should know by now that I don't do things I really don't want to do. You also didn't drag me here so I obviously came on my own accord. What other reason could I have in coming here with you other than to see that bratty grandpa? But just so we're clear, I'm not in the least excited to see him." Eclair closed her arms and looked away.
Gon chuckled. "Sometimes you're really not honest with yourself, Eclair."
"Shut up and I'm telling the truth."
"Uso"
"I'm not ly-" Eclair paused realizing the pitfall she might get herself into. "I'm not having this argument with you." She knew she can't win against Gon. For some reason she'd rather die than to admit, she is totally weak and helpless against Gon and his stubbornness.
"Why not, Eclair?"
"You'll just be stubborn about it till I agree."
Gon nodded happily. "I will definitely make you agree."
Eclair mentally sighed in relief. 'Thank goodness I actually managed to stop myself. Who knows what other things he could have gotten me to agree.'
Then suddenly, Eclair felt something land on her shoulder. She turned and blushed after realizing what it was.
"What are you doing, Gon?"
"Watching the scenery outside." Ok, that was technically true but that wasn't what she wanted to know.
"No, what's your head doing on my shoulder?"
"Resting." That answer is quite obvious but...
"Why?"
"Because you're soft and comfortable." Shit. Just how could one sentence make her feel so embarrassed and a teeny tiny bit happy at the same time?
"I'm not a pillow, Gon." Eclair seethed. She was practically more embarrassed than happy.
"I know but you're still soft and comfortable and..." Gon turned his head and sniffed on Eclair's neck as if that was a very normal thing to do. "You smell really nice too."
Eclair burned. Gon's face buried on her neck and his breath tickling her skin were technically more than what she could take. She closed her hand into a fist and hit Gon on the head.
"Ouch! What was that for, Eclair?" Gon took his head from her shoulder and nursed his damaged head.
"Figure it out for yourself! Baka!"
Kurapika raised an eyebrow at the sudden commotion. Just what did Gon do? But before he could ask the two people sitting in front, a tug on his side caught his attention.
"Something wrong, Iris?" Kurapika turned his head to Iris who was sitting beside him.
"Those guys sitting at the back aren't exactly ordinary tourists, are they?" Iris asked.
Kurapika took a peek at the back and saw who Iris was referring to. There were two guys sitting on the back heavily armed with weapons. Kurapika turned his gaze to Iris again.
"Yes, they are. Those guys are probably on to something not definitely good." Kurapika confirmed.
"Do you think they are after the Zoldycks?"
"Possibly since this bus is headed to Kukuroo Mountain and the Zoldyck residence is quite famous."
When they arrived at the Padokea region, they realized that Killua was a Zoldyck. He was from an elite family of assassins and he lives at Kukuroo Mountain. It was quite easy putting the pieces together.
"Hey, miss beautiful!" A voice from the other side of the bus called out to Iris.
Iris turned her eyes to the source of the voice. It was a guy seated on the other side of the bus just directly aligned with her seat with Kurapika.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Iris asked in irritation. Unknown guys who usually call out to her by giving her nicknames like 'miss beautiful' are usually stupid skirt chasers that only wanted her because of her looks.
"No need to be feisty. I just want to talk. You know, it's quite rare to find a beauty like you and I'm not so bad looking myself. We're quite a match, don't you think?"
Iris eyebrow twitched in annoyance. 'Stupid narcissistic skirt chasers and their dumb pick-up lines.' The guy was reminding her of the similar annoying incidents she had gotten herself into in the past and its practically giving her a headache.
"Why don't you sit beside me instead and then we'll get to know each other during this ride?" The guy continued.
"I'm not interested. Find another girl to bother." Iris flatly refused.
"Come on, stop playing hard to get. I know you also want me." The guy smirked.
A tick mark developed on Iris's head. "Shu-"
"She already told you she's not interested so stop bothering her." Kurapika's voice interrupted Iris and it was dripping with hostility.
Iris eyes widened. 'Kurapika? What's gotten into him? Why does he sound so furious?'
"Who are you and what gave you the right to butt in?" The guy argued.
"I'm not obliged to reveal my identity to a scum like you but just know that if you continue to bother her, I will personally deal with you." Kurapika glared at the guy. If looks could kill, the guy would be dead by now.
The guy trembled in fear. Kurapika's tone and glare was so full of hostility that it intimidated him but what actually made him scared was the red tint on Kurapika's eyes. He had never seen such red eyes filled with so much rage. It was like being glared by a demon.
Kurapika was boiling in rage. He wasn't a guy that would just watch the girl he likes being flirted by a perverted scum especially when she's clearly not interested. Iris was his and damn it all if he would just let any unknown guy with perverted intentions come near her or even talk to her. Well, technically Iris wasn't exactly his but she is still his friend and admittedly his romantic interest so he wouldn't let any guy near her anyway.
"Kurapika, are you ok?" Iris concerned voice broke Kurapika out of his thoughts.
"I'm fine." The red tint on Kurapika's eyes vanished as he turned to Iris. "Is it alright if we could exchange seats, Iris?"
Iris nodded and they both exchanged seats. "Gomene, Kurapika. I made you angry, didn't I?"
Kurapika shook his head. "It's not your fault, Iris. But just remember to let me know if any guy tries to bother you again."
"Why?"
"I will personally deal with them and I will make it so that they won't ever talk to you again." Kurapika gave her an assuring smile.
Iris blinked. She was very confused. 'Since when did Kurapika become so hostile with flirts and skirt chasers?'
The bus stopped and the passengers were let down the bus to inspect the site more closely. They had arrived at Kukuroo Mountain and in front of them was a huge gate that blocked further entry towards the Zoldyck residence. The two heavily armed men immediately demanded entry. They went for the old man that stayed in what looked a guard house and roughly took his key.
The two men used the key to enter the locked door on the side. Then suddenly screams were heard and a huge paw carried the skeletons of the two men outside. The paw dropped the skeletons and retreated inside. Immediately the other tourists panicked and went inside the bus in fear but Gon and the others remained in front of the gate.
"Hey, the bus is leaving. Come on and go inside the bus." The tour guide called from the bus.
"It's ok. Our stop is here. Thank you for the ride." Gon said as he waved cheerfully.
With one last strange look from the tour guide, the bus left.
Author's Note:
I am very sorry for the delay. I really planned to update a week after the last chapter but I had some family problems - if you could actually classify it like that. Long story short, I had a fight with my brother, shoved him when I lost control of my temper, broke one of my mother's useless-I mean decorative jars-, and got grounded for a month with my internet privileges revoked. I was upset and frustrated. At first, I was the stupid teenager who was mourning about the injustice of it all but after I cooled down, I finally admitted and accepted that apart of the incident was actually my fault. Not all of it. My brother clearly had a hand in the incident but it was me who lost my temper. My patience is usually high and I rarely lose control but I was suffering from a bad day and my brother just really tipped the scale.
My punishment got lifted about a week ago but I needed to calm my internally screaming anime heart with all the updates and the new anime I missed during the dark days. I really just had to watch those episodes first. But don't worry, I didn't waste my time just mourning my revoked privileges. I actually wrote a lot and I'm quite ahead of a few chapters but this fic will still be on weekly updates like before since, in my case, a week could be the difference that could make a bad chapter into a good one with less typos, good-enough-grammar and last minute added content.
That's it for my rant.
Thank you for reading. The rant and most especially the chapter. Look forward to the next chap next week.
As always reviews would be wonderful and it would really be a good motivation for me.
Happy Valentines and may your love lives or the non-existence of it be celebrated on this day!
Replies:
To the Otaku Lady Priya: Thanks a lot for the review! I was quite surprised when I read it. Chapter 28 was actually one of the chapters I was uneasy about because, as I've probably mentioned somewhere in this fic, I'm not very confident when it comes to drama but with your review I'm relieved that I managed to pull through. And that chapter won't be the last of the drama. Your review really boosted me up!
