I was meaning to say this a few chapters ago, but I kept updating at ungodly hours and ultimately forgot about it. So here goes...

HOORAH! 100 reviews! Holy shit I've never made anything that got that far, and for that, I thank you guys, my awesome, wonderful, God-sent readers. Mehehe. Cookies, cookies for everyone!

Anywho, I had fun writing this chapter - even though it was another pain the rear - so I hope you enjoy reading it. Semestral break's in full gear, so hopefully, I'd be putting up better chapters before I have to hit the labs again. Hihihi.

"A message from the boss: You remind me so much of your mother. Please send her my regards."

=oOo=

My eyes felt incredibly heavy, but I didn't dare let them close for too long. I was sleepy, that much I could admit to, but I had volunteered to take the night watches so I couldn't really give in. Leorio and Melody were in some other room in this out-of-the-way building, probably sleeping, which made it all the more important for me to stay awake. Kurapika was at his most vulnerable right now – unconscious and sick – and if ever the Spiders decided to attack, well, that wouldn't really be a pretty sight.

Seeing Kurapika like this wasn't really a pretty sight either.

Actually, it was an ugly sight.

It was a painful sight.

Grunting, I reached back to the table behind me and retrieved the small towel from the bowl of water. I wrung it a bit before replacing the towel on the blonde's forehead, gently pushing away a few locks of hair from his face. Even in his sleep, he looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders. "Just take your time," I whispered as I eased back into my seat. "I'll just be right here."

I heaved a sigh and made the mistake of closing my eyes. Thankfully, I caught myself before I could topple over onto the floor and I reached a hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose. I knew I should've turned down that cup of coffee earlier, but Leorio had said it was decaf, so I thought maybe… "Would you like to get some rest, Mina?" a soft voice chimed and I turned my head a bit to find Melody standing by the doorway. She had a small smile on her face and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Nah, I'm good," I replied, shaking my head and fighting back the yawn I could feel coming. Nope. Too late. I yawned. Melody gave me a look and I managed a chuckle. "It's nothing I can't handle, I swear." Instead of arguing, the older – but at the same time shorter – woman walked over to me and settled herself on the empty chair beside me, eyes trained at her feet. "You should go back to sleep, Melody. I've got things covered over here."

The musician simply nodded. "I know… I had just thought that maybe you would like some company."

I eyed the woman for a few moments before a smile settled on my lips. It would be good to have something non-depressing to look at. "I'd like that."

A comfortable silence then fell between the two of us and the knowledge of another person inside the room was effectively keeping me from dozing off. On the other hand, I knew I'd be suffering from a major headache soon enough for pulling an all nighter. I hadn't slept since last night. I had gone back to my hotel only once – it was this morning, to be exact – and that was because I really needed a bath. Leorio and Gon nagged me about it, but I just couldn't leave Kurapika, not like this. It had me feeling bad enough to end up waiting for him to wake up. Not that I wanted him to wake up right now. The guy needed to rest, and I respected that. It was just-

"You care for him a lot, don't you?" Melody quietly pointed out, her voice as calm and soothing as ever. Honestly, how could she manage that? People didn't just get that kind of voice.

"Mhmm," I hummed, nodding. There was no use lying, after all. From what I've gathered, the lady could pick out liars just by the sounds of their heartbeats. Besides, it was quite obvious that I was worried about the Kurta.

Appreciating my bit of honesty, Melody smiled. "I can hear it, your heart," she continued to muse, placing a hand of hers next to her heart. "I can hear the pain you are feeling in having to see him like this."

"My face should be showing the same thing too, you know," I replied as I looked out the window. Tomorrow was already the Sixth of September and if I wanted to get back to Colarina by the Tenth, then I should leave on the Seventh. My eyes wandered to the unconscious blonde. I couldn't leave him like this though. I'd have to call Ranno for a bit of an extension if ever Kurapika didn't wake up by September Seven.

"People can master their faces and hide what they do not wish to be seen," Melody evenly said. "The heart, however, can speak nothing but the truth." My eyebrows pulled together. That was awfully deep. "As such with Kurapika. He keeps on a straight face in front of people when he sees the Scarlet Eyes, but I could always hear his heart raging with anger."

"Yeah," I agreed. "He's touchy when it comes to the Troupe and the Eyes…"

"And you."

My eyebrows pulled together, not because I found that hard to believe, but because it wasn't hard to believe. Kurapika had been more than furious when the Spider Head paid too much attention to me. Looking back, the Kurta had always been particular when it came to me, being either too nice or too mean. I couldn't help but heave a sigh and run a hand through my bangs. "And me," I muttered. "He doesn't have to be though. I can take care of myself."

"Oh I don't think it's out of simple worry," the Music Hunter hummed and at her tone, I shot her a look. I've heard that tone before. "I heard the fear in his heart when the leader of the Phantom Troupe singled you out. He deeply cares about you, and surely, you must have noticed."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't," I grumbled, not really thinking over my words, but it was already too late for me to take them back and play dumb.

"Then might I ask what's holding you back?"

Her question put me off. "I… I like him, I know and admit to that," I quietly said, my voice barely above a whisper while my cheeks began to burn. Gods, I hated being this open. "But I just… I don't, I can't…" Melody's full attention was on me, I could tell, and I paused to straighten out my thoughts. Truth be told, I really did like Kurapika, but I just wasn't too sure if it was in that way. I inwardly groaned. I was feeling quite immature right now.

"I see…" Melody sighed and I turned to her just in time to see her close her eyes. "You doubt yourself, but is there really anything to fret over?"

A frown began to tug on my lips, and I couldn't help but as a question of my own. "Why are you pushing this? Not to be rude or anything, but you barely even know me."

The woman heaved another sigh before opening her eyes and turning to me. "Because I believe you're good for him," she simply answered with a content look on her face. "When he heard your voice over the phone, he considerably relaxed." I felt skeptical about that. "Even if it's just like this, your presence calms him down." Now I was even more skeptical. The Kurta looked like he was going through hell right now. Sensing my doubt, Melody added, "It may not show, but his heart tells me everything."

With that, the musician hopped onto her feet and quietly made her way to the door. "You're leaving already?"

Melody nodded. "I suddenly feel tired," she softly chuckled. "And I'm sensing you're not going to fall asleep any time soon, so I'll be going back to sleep." She laughed a bit more and it was only when she disappeared into the halls that her giggling stopped. So she found this funny, huh?

An unamused huff escaped me as I focused my attention back on the sleeping blonde. My irritation slowly faded away, but it was replaced by a feeling similar to the kind of misery that already had me blinking back a few tears – goddamn it I was being sentimental again – and it had me thinking that maybe being annoyed wasn't too bad after all. Slowly, I leaned closer and reached for his hand, pressing it against my cheek. "I bloody hate what you're doing to me."

=oOo=

"Mina!" Mumbling, I pushed myself up on the bed and looked around the room. That was definitely Gon's voice, but the kid was nowhere in sight. "Mina," he called again and that was when I realized he was outside the room. I was pretty sure the door was unlocked, but then again, I had been very sleepy when I dragged myself over to this room to get some rest, so I wasn't really too sure about what I locked and what I didn't lock. Bringing a hand to my face to cover my mouth, I yawned as I stumbled onto my feet, the floorboards creaking under my weight. Oh come on. I wasn't that heavy.

Before opening the door to let the Whale Island kid in, I ran a hand over my face, through my hair and rubbed my eyes to make sure I was sorta awake, taking note of the slight throbbing in my head. "What is it, Gon?" I half-yawned, half-hummed.

"Do you know how to tie a bow?"

"Of course I… Wait, what?" I blinked several times and it was only then did I notice that the boy was dressed in a suit, all troubled-looking and stuff. It took me another few seconds before I found what was troubling him. His bowtie was crooked. I rubbed my eyes again before I broke into a grin, stifling my laughter, but I was failing and Gon wasn't too happy being laughed at.

"Mina," he whined. "I tried to tie it again and again but it wouldn't go straight. I asked Leorio, but he only knew how to do neckties. I asked Killua, but he just laughed at me."

By that time, I had already given up on keeping myself from laughing – gods, this kid was adorable – but I managed to pull myself together to get a few coherent sentences out. "Alright, alright," I chuckled, waving a hand. "I'll have a go at it."

The boy beamed at me. "Thanks, Mina."

"No prob," I hummed as I tugged on the ends of the piece of cloth to undo the whole thing. "No wonder it's crooked. You tied it like shoelaces."

"They're not the same?"

I shook my head. "Nope," I replied. "A quick pull here, a little loop there and a good tug… There. A good bowtie," I hummed, nodding to myself and I took a step back to admire my handy work. "So what's with the get up?"

Gon eyed his bow and fiddle with it a bit before answering. "We're going to the auction with Zepile-san." Ah, right. Greed Island. They were planning on getting the game but with the money they had now, I couldn't see how that was possible. "Don't worry, Mina. Killua and I have a plan. We'll get to that game, I'm sure of it." I couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm. The smile didn't last long since I ended up yawning. "Oh yeah. You should be sleeping right now, right? I'm really sorry for waking you up."

I waved a hand to dismiss his worry. "It's fine," I told him. A thought then crossed my mind. "But then again, if you really wanna make it up to me, can you do me a favor?"

The boy blinked. "Of course."

A mischievous grin spread across my face. "Can you get me a picture of the both of you in suits?" Gon widened his eyes, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. "Oh don't be so embarrassed! It'd be cute!"

"But Mina, Killua's not gonna-"

"Pretty please?" I sang. I might be sleepy as hell, but I wasn't gonna pass up on this opportunity. Seeing anyone of us all dressed up like this was kind of a once in a blue moon kind of thing and I wasn't gonna let it go undocumented. "Just this once?" After a bit of thinking, the boy nodded and I gladly handed him my phone. The kid set out with a determined look on his face and before I could doze off again on the bed, Gon came bursting through the door, breathless, and tossed me my phone. I was about to scold him for doing something reckless – Ylana had given me this infernal thing as a present, after all – when Killua suddenly appeared and tackled the other twelve year old.

"Gon! Where is it?!" the former assassin hissed, checking each and every pocket on the boy's clothes. "Where is it?! I swear to god if you don't get rid of it I'll…" Killua's eyes then landed on me and then lowered to the device in my hand. I blinked a few times before I realized what was going on – I was still lethargic, you know – and I immediately hid the thing behind me. Like that was gonna help. "Mina…"

"Hey, you used my name," I chirped, amused, but not entirely used to it.

"Hand it over."

"No," I stubbornly said, shaking my head.

Gon began tugging on the other kid's arm, trying to drag him towards the door. "Come on Killua. We're gonna be late!"

"We're not leaving until we get rid of that thing!"

"It's your fault, you know," Gon huffed.

"How did it become my fault?"

"If you'd just helped me with my tie, then I wouldn't have asked Mina!"

Killua turned back to me. "You asked for compensation?!"

I shrugged. "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had to take it. Get over it." The silver-haired brat made to jump me, but just as he took off, Gon grabbed him by the ankle and began to literally drag him away.

"Oi! Gon! The photo!"

"You're overreacting," I hollered. "Thanks Gon." The boy just smiled and waved before closing the door behind him and a very noisy Killua. Honestly, it was just a picture. Speaking of the picture, I went back to my phone and checked it out. A wide smile spread across my face. This was seriously too cute. And it just wasn't one picture. Ah, Gon. The boy really did deliver. He must have put it on multi-shot. I decided then that Leorio and Kurapika were going to get a copy of these.

Hah. I'm so evil.

=oOo=

Ring. Ring. Ring.

My eyebrows pulled together into a frown. Couldn't Hibiki live without me? He's been calling every single day to check up on me. Really, I appreciated the concern, but I could damn well bloody take care of myself. Eyes still too heavy to open, I blindly felt around for my phone until I found it shoved into a pocket of my shorts and answered the call. "Hello?" I slurred, frowning deeper at how obvious it was that I had just woken up.

"Mina, it's Ylana. I apologize. Did I wake you up?"

Huffing, I managed to blow away a stray lock of hair away from my face and rolled over onto my stomach. "Yep," I replied in a clipped tone. "But don't worry about it. I was just about to wake up anyway."

"I see… But why would you be sleeping at this hour? Shouldn't it be a little past six already there in Yorkshin?"

I hummed in agreement. "I've been pulling all nighters recently… So why the call?"

"Ranno just wanted to make sure you'll be arriving by the Tenth," the woman on the other end stated.

"Yeah, I will," I answered. "What? Can't Ranno call me? I do believe he has my number somewhere."

"He and Hibiki are out on a job," Ylana informed me. "So he asked me to call you. Anyway, what time should I pick you up?"

A sigh escaped my lips as I did the math. "I'd be catching the nine o'clock flight tomorrow so… Maybe around eleven?"

"Eleven it is. I'll see you then. Take care."

"Yep, you too. See you then." I ended the call and heaved another sigh, this time finally managing to pry my eyes open. The numbers on my phone told me it was past six and I needed to relieve Leorio and Melody for the night. Yawning, I pushed myself up to sit on my bed and ran a hand over my face to get rid of any dregs of sleep. I glanced out the window and raised an eyebrow. It was already that dark, huh? Then I really needed to get a move on. "I wonder if the boys are back…" I thought out loud as I shoved my feet into my boots and shuffled over to the small bathroom, ignoring the growling in my stomach. Right, I hadn't eaten anything yet. After a quick wash, I felt completely awake and aware. It was only then that I noticed the person sitting on the couch, right across from my bed, my face heating up a bit. "K-Kurapika?" I stammered.

Apparently, he had been sleeping and my outburst woke him up, startling him. "Oh, you're awake…" he casually hummed, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm awake?" I echoed. "You're awake! What are you doing up? What are you doing in my room?"

"Can you please stop shouting?" the blonde muttered. "It's getting very annoying."

I blinked. "Well excuse me for being surprised," I huffed. "How long have you been sitting there?"

Kurapika took his time before answering. "A while… I had just dropped by Gon and was about to head back to my room when I saw your door open."

"And you just decided to come in and sleep here?"

He made a face. Well, at least he was looking better. Not entirely fine, but better. "I had planned on waiting for you to wake up, but I must have dozed off."

"Wait. So you watched me sleep?" I asked, my cheeks growing a few degrees warmer. "That's creepy."

At that, he raised an eyebrow. "You've watched me sleep before," he pointed out. "I didn't find it disturbing."

Gods, what was with him today? "You… That's completely different!"

The blonde flinched. "Stop shouting."

"Stop being a smartass."

"Stop overreacting."

"Stop-" My eyes grew wide as my stomach growled and I swear, if my face didn't look like a tomato a while ago, then it sure was now. I glared at the only other person who could have heard it. "Don't say a word," I darkly said. Stiffly, the Kurta nodded but I could see just how much he was trying to stop himself from smiling. It didn't come as much of a surprise when he suddenly started chuckling, much to my annoyance. "That's it. I'm leaving," I huffed, marching my way towards the door. Well, tried marching my way towards the door. I felt Kurapika grab me by the wrist and pulled me to him, surprising me, and I came face to face with a smiling Kurta, which by the way, put me off.

So much for being mad at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, still chuckling a bit. "So please, don't go." He was laughing, but I can pick out a few bits of sadness in his voice. Ugh. I hated feeling guilty.

"Even if you apologize, I'm going, you know," I grunted. "Or do you really want me to starve?"

The older teen blinked. "Of course not," he hummed, letting go of me while a smile was still on his face.

"What about you? Aren't you hungry? Like, you've been asleep for two whole days," I pointed out.

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit hungry…"

"Then tell me what you wanna eat," I chimed, stepping to the side and trying to reach for my jacket that had somehow ended up on the coffee table behind the Kurta. "I'll go get something for the two of us so just sit tight and…"

I watched with mild amusement as Kurapika picked up the piece of white clothing and handed it over to me. "I'll go with you. A bit a fresh air should do me some good. Leorio wouldn't allow me to go out on my own."

"For a good reason," I huffed, shrugging on my jacket. "You still look like you're gonna collapse any minute now and may I remind you that you are a lot heavier than you look. I can't drag you all the way back here." He shot me a look and I sent him a look of my own. Thus, another silent battle of wills ensued. Only this time, someone actually won since my stomach growled again, complaining about how empty it was right now. If I neglected it any longer, the thing would start digesting itself.

That's what I get for not eating for a whole day.

"Alright, you win," I muttered as I made my way to the door. "But I'm gonna leave you in the middle of the road if you faint."

Right behind me, Kurapika snorted. "You talk as if you'd be able to do that." A huff escaped my lips, though there was a small smile forcing its way onto my face. Stuck up asshole, I'd usually say, but for now, I'd let him get away with a few things.