Disclaimer: The characters and events of Hunter x Hunter belong to Yoshihiro Togashi.

"Grayscale" Chapter Thirty-Five

Fan-Fiction For: Hunter x Hunter / Killua Zaoldyeck.

Begin.

He had to keep moving. If he stopped for even a moment he would lose all productive thinking. His fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly, his knuckles and fingers popping loudly as he paced back and forth. He ground his teeth together and released angry breathes out of his nose but he couldn't reach any sort of real logical conclusion. It was safe to say that Killua was having a break down.

Gon was in the other room with Leorio and Zepile, explaining the ordeal they'd just been through and summarizing the conversation they'd had with Kurapika on their way over.

Of course, Kurapika's disregard of them and his blatant disapproval of their wanting to go back to the hideout for Karasu had set Killua's nerves on edge. So now here he was, rubbing a line in the carpet with his pacing.

His mind flashed for a moment back to the hideout. Anger emanated from him as he remembered the way Karasu had been lifted and slammed onto the table. She had so much power and it was so easy to forget that she was small and easy to manhandle. The man with the slicked back hair had reminded him of that, and in a way the woman Pakunoda had, too.

Killua bit his cheek to keep from yelling and blood flooded his mouth. He headed for the bathroom and spat in the sink, his hands clenching the counter so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Pakunoda had treated Karasu like a doll. She'd stood behind her with her hands on her shoulder as if she were presenting a toy. She's cute, Pakunoda had said, and Killua felt rage so intense that the counter crumbled in his hands.

He breathed in through his nose and spat more blood into the sink.

The man with the slicked back hair had held her chin. He'd slammed her onto a table and he'd had the audacity to hover over her like a lover. There had been such a violent intimacy between the two in that moment that Killua would have killed him if it weren't for Hisoka's fingers at his throat.

And she was still there, left behind with the group of them and going through who knows what. More than that they'd found her familiar. Her, the girl without a family.

Killua turned the water on and watched as his blood diluted and disappeared down the drain.

The moment he and Gon had escaped from Nobunaga they'd decided it wasn't a good idea to go back to the hideout. They'd wanted to - oh they'd wanted to - but it just wasn't viable. It would have been more or less a suicide mission and the call to Kurapika only confirmed that.

But now what was he supposed to do? They couldn't go back and she certainly wasn't going to be able to get away from so many of them and-

A shudder shook Killua's entire body as he thought, for the first time, that he may not see her again.

They'd keep her alive long enough to meet their leader but after that? What if she wasn't as familiar as they'd thought? Would they kill her? Would they hurt her as punishment for Killua and Gon escaping? Would they just keep her around, a cute pet for Pakunoda to fawn over?

Little by little anger gave way to fear. It settled in his gut and grew like a weed, tendrils constricting his veins and stunting his breathing as his body began to tremble. Despite his bleeding cheek his mouth was dry. His throat constricted and he held a hand to his face as he felt tears begin to prickle at his eyes.

What if he never saw her again? What if she was as familiar as they thought? Would that be good or bad? Would it spare her or condemn her? If it came down to it would Pakunoda ask for lenience? Would Nobunaga ask for severity? Surely Hisoka would try to keep her alive if for no reason other than to try to see Gon again?

Killua slowly lowered himself to the floor, a thousand different possibilities running through his mind. There were too many variables to go over and it was starting to make his head hurt.

What if he never saw her again?

What if they just let her go?

Killua froze immediately. Once it became apparent that they didn't know anything quite a few of the Spiders had wanted to just let the three go. Maybe they would continue to treat Karasu that way. Maybe they'd get answers, maybe they wouldn't, but either way maybe they would just let her go afterward.

Was that just wishful thinking? Killua thought it probably was but the alternatives were so painful to consider that just for now he was willing to be naive. He took a shuddering breath and again the thought resurfaced, intrusive.

What if he never saw her again?

What if he never made her smile again? What if he never heard her laugh? What if he never bought her another milkshake and then teased her for it, even as he stole drinks from her? What if he never held her hand again? Or just held her? What if he never comforted her again? And what if she never comforted him? What if he never heard her speak his name again?

What if his last memory of her was watching her being left on a table with tears in her eyes?

If was the last question that brought back the anger, and it burned the fear in him to ash.

He would see her again and nothing would stop him. It didn't matter that the Spiders were strong. He would just have to be stronger.

Karasu wasn't aware anyone was with her in the hideout until someone spoke.

"Who's this?"

She jolted and then stilled, her heart pounding in her chest and blood roaring in her ears. Her body ached but she hadn't moved an inch since being told it would put Killua's life in danger.

"Her name is Karasu," Pakunoda's voice explained, and gradually more voices filled the space.

Someone pulled at her hand until she rose into a sitting position and she came face to face with the leader of the Spider Troupe.

His hair and eyes were such a dark brown that they were almost black, heavy looking gems hung from the bottom of his ear lobes, and there was an intricate cross tattooed in the center of his forehead. His features were so delicate that at first Karasu thought there was no way the man in front of her could be the feared criminal he'd been built up to be.

He tilted his head for a moment, still staring at her, and then turned to Pakunoda. "Why is she here?"

"Doesn't she look familiar?" The voice that answered belonged to the man in the track suit, the one who'd isolated her to the table in the first place.

The back of her head ached just looking at him.

The leader's dark eyes found hers and the two maintained eye contact, unblinking.

Karasu didn't know how long the two of them stayed like that but eventually his eyes widened just a bit. It was such a small change in expression that she wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact she was literally staring at him.

"The nomads," he murmured, and his face relaxed.

He looked away to stare at nothing and she heard him whisper, "How interesting."

No longer locked in his gaze, Karasu took the time to look around the room. Her eyes landed on Nobunaga and her brows furrowed. Something wasn't quite right. Her eyes swept the room again and settled once more on Nobunaga. It hit her like a ton of bricks.

She slid off the table without thinking and was in front of him before anyone could move to stop her. She gathered the front of his shirt in her fists and pulled him down to her eye level and opened her mouth to assault him with questions but nothing came out of her mouth except a hoarse wheeze. Her lip quivered and she blinked hard, trying to gather herself.

So consumed by her need for answers, she didn't notice that everyone around her was on edge. Hostile Nen swirled around the room but it failed to touch her.

Finally Karasu gathered the words and whispered, "Where are they?"

Nobunaga blinked.

"I didn't move," she told him, a desperate edge creeping into her voice. "I didn't move at all, I swear I didn't, so where are they? Where's Killua? Where's Gon? I didn't- I didn't move."

Nobunaga watched impassively as she crumpled in front of him, her grip on his shirt tightening as she rested her head against his chest and babbled. He felt warm tears on his skin and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The other Spiders relaxed, looking between themselves and chuckling at the display.

When Nobunaga cleared his throat Karasu fell silent, though she didn't move away from him.

"They, uh... They got away from me."

The chuckling turned to full out laughter and an irritated flush lit up Nobunaga's face. He grumbled and glared at his fellow Spiders.

Karasu pushed away from him slowly, her brow furrowed. Tear tracks cut through the grime on her face and for a moment Nobunaga thought she was going to start rambling again. Her eyes rose slowly to meet his and he felt his skin crawl.

"They got away?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

He didn't know what it was but the girl was starting to unsettle him. When they'd first caught the group of three he'd barely spared her a glance. Compared to the other two - and compared to Gon especially - she just hadn't interested him. She'd just sort of been there. But now? Now he was realizing that her eyes weren't just dark; they were black. It seemed insignificant but in this moment it was an important distinction. After all, Chrollo's eyes were dark and Nobunaga could hold his gaze. This was different.

A bright grin spread out on Karasu's face and Nobunaga felt his stomach settle. Whatever it was about her that had disturbed him was gone. She stepped away from him and nodded.

"Good," she stated, and immediately she seemed at total ease.

"You're not upset?" he asked carefully.

"Why would I be?"

"They got away and didn't come back for you," he clarified, his eyes flickering away from her to survey his fellow Spiders. They were watching intently.

Karasu waved a dismissive hand. "That's okay. Coming back would've been a bad decision."

"But you were alone here."

"But they didn't know that."

When Nobunaga didn't respond she shrugged and turned away from him. She looked around at all the people gathered around her and finally tensed up again. The relief of knowing Gon and Killua were alive and well was gone.

All that was left was fear.

A/N: What's that? An update in a somewhat reasonable amount of time? I know, I know, I'm just as shocked as you.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, specifically whether or not you thought Killua's first half was in character.

Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews so far and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!