Note: Went back and edited 50, and now I get to post 51. I have a beta! Man, this is such a Kurapica-centric part of the fic. I can't wait to get back inside Kuroro's head. Forgot to mention in the last chapter but the scene at the end was a request from Yukiko07, who won the review lottery.
Beta-reader: PlatinumOwl.
Chapter summary: Mister Greenwold.


Chapter 51

Kurapica needed to think. He desperately needed to think, and yet his thoughts were completely blank. He got up a bit too quickly and winced a little, needing to lean against the wall for a minute. This brought another wave of heat to his cheeks. The sensation was just so, so strange. He could almost feel Kuroro as though he were still inside of him. He bit his lower lip fiercely, wishing the troubling thoughts away. He didn't want the older man to come out of his shower and find him blushing and trembling. No, that wouldn't do at all. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. He managed it, too. When Kuroro stepped out of the bathroom, Kurapica's face was fixed in a distant, controlled mask of indifference. Or so he hoped, anyway.

Clutching his change of clothes to his chest, he brushed by the older man, managed not to shudder, and made his way into the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind him, he let his stiff shoulders sag in relief. He'd managed so far. Setting his clothes onto the counter, he carefully stepped into the shower. With the water as hot as he could make it, he forced himself through the motions, washing his hair and his body slowly. He might have looked outwardly calm, but inside, his mind was in turmoil. It kept wanting to go back to what Kuroro had done, to how he'd touched him, how his hands had felt on his skin. Kurapica could feel himself blushing again, but with no one to see it, he let it happen. He put his head in his hands and pulled at his hair lightly.

It had felt good. It had felt really, really good, and Kurapica didn't know how to deal with that. Of course, it wasn't like he wanted it to hurt or to feel vile, but it kind of felt wrong that he'd enjoyed it quite this much. He could nearly feel it still, Kuroro's hands caressing his body, touching him, setting his body aflame with passion. Feelings welled up inside of him, a potent mix of shame, guilt and desire that choked him until he forcefully shoved them all down. He didn't know how long he'd been in the shower, but he didn't want to let Kuroro know the effect that he'd had on him, so he forced himself to turn off the water. His movements forceful and rough, he dried himself quickly and got dressed in loose-fitting cotton shirt and pants.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Kuroro was sitting at the desk, reading a book. He looked up as Kurapica approached. "Have a nice shower?" he asked. The blond didn't trust himself to speak, so he nodded and put his old clothes away in his luggage before making his way over to one of the beds. Not the one where they had – where he'd been – where... He couldn't even bring himself the think it. He'd have to face it sooner or later, but at the moment, he just wanted to sleep. He slipped between the sheets and nodded again when Kuroro wished him good night. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep, but emotional exhaustion dragged him under before he was even aware of it.

He awoke the next morning when he felt his mattress dip next to his hip. He cracked one eye open and there was Kuroro, leaning over him and just staring, an unreadable expression on his face. When he saw that Kurapica was awake, he tilted his head. "Good morning," he greeted.

There really wasn't a way to avoid answering without seeming extremely rude, so Kurapica closed his eye again and breathed out a soft, "Good morning." He felt the mattress shift and expected the kiss, so he didn't flinch, although it set his heart hammering wildly in his chest. Kuroro pulled away and Kurapica opened his eyes again, only to find the Spider Head searching his face carefully. Kurapica frowned thoughtfully at him. "What is it?" he finally asked.

Kuroro tilted his head for a moment, then shook it. "I don't know where else we can buy breakfast along the way so we should go into town. I saw an advertisement for a general store inside of the motel lobby." He paused, observing the blond's face silently for a moment, before he finally opened his mouth. The blond just knew the older man would talk about the previous night. He wasn't ready for this, he hadn't digested all of the touches and kisses, all of the breaths and words spoken, all of the physical contacts and the emotions they made him feel. "Kurapica," the Spider Head began, but he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a helicopter flying above. They both stopped, eyeing each other, all thoughts of the previous night pushed right out of their heads by the need to remain free.

Quietly, they rapidly went around, picking up what little possessions they had that weren't already in their bags. The helicopter was hovering above the little motel, and the sound of its rotors was getting louder and louder. With their things safely packed away, they glanced out of the window. "I see no other car in the parking lot," Kurapica remarked. "So if they are looking for someone in here, it's either us or the owners."

"Or it could be unrelated," Kuroro pointed out. "They could be after someone who didn't stop here at all and selected to sleep out in the woods."

Kurapica glanced at him. "You don't really believe that, do you?" he wanted to know.

"You think I would have made it this far if I always counted on this kind of insane luck?" Kuroro countered with a small chuckle. "Doesn't mean I can't be hopeful."

"Door and window are our only exit," Kurapica sighed. "And with both facing the parking lot, well..." He let the sentence hang.

Kuroro finished it for him, "We won't be able to get out without being seen." He sighed. The helicopter hovered near the ground behind their car and Kuroro straightened up and sighed. "Well, it seems like it's landing. Might as well go out and see what they want." He turned to the blond. "I want you to stay close behind me, all right?"

"I can defend myself," Kurapica protested.

"I know," the taller man replied, "but you don't have Nen to count on, so you might be more at risk if there is a Nen user amongst them."

"I fought with Hisoka," the blond pointed out. "I didn't know anything about Nen and I still managed to inflict a wound on him. I'm certain that he had mastery of Nen back then."

Kuroro paused, eyeing him. "That's true," he finally agreed, "but he also wounded you back." He placed his fingers against Kurapica's side, where there was a pale wound from his Hunter Exam, currently hidden under his loose-fitting clothes.

Kurapica slapped his fingers away. "Fine," he acquiesced irritably, "I'll stand behind you."

"Thank you," Kuroro said very seriously, causing the blond to pause. Man, he didn't know how to respond to that. Why was Kuroro so serious suddenly? He shrugged lightly and made his way to the door, then patiently waited for the taller man to put his coat on, and really, he looked kind of ridiculous in his sleepwear with the coat on top. The blond snorted softly and Kuroro arched his eyebrows questioningly at him, but there was no way Kurapica would say his observation out loud, so he just shook his head and shrugged. He put his hand on the door handle and the taller man took position across the wooden door from him. The blond inched the door open just as the helicopter finally landed. Kuroro peeked out. Two men climbed out of the cabin and the Spider Head frowned. He glanced at Kurapica. "Greenwold," he told him, then he stepped out into the open. Kurapica stepped out behind him and they waited while the two men approached.

The pilot had turned off the engine, and when the rotors finally stopped turning, the entire area was deadly silent. "Good day," Greenwold greeted them. "I'm glad we found you. We wanted to have a little chat with you. Yesterday took us all by surprise, I believe. This being the only motel within driving distance of the boy's village, we decided to have a look, see if we couldn't find you here. I'm glad we did. May we come in?"

"It's going to be very cramped inside," Kuroro warned. "But you're welcome to come and sit anywhere, so long as you come unarmed and with no wish to harm either me or my companion."

Greenwold looked at him directly. "I know who you are," he informed the Ryodan leader. "It would be foolish of me to attempt to attack either of you. But if it will reassure you," he turned towards the other man who was walking with him, and made a little head movement, "Kern here will hand you his gun and sword." Kern, the same person who'd caught Kurapica a few days prior, walked a few paces forward and took out his gun, then handed it to Kuroro, placing it in the Spider Head's outstretched hand.

Kuroro took it, then he took the sword as well. Kern paused, his eyes flicking over to the side where Kurapica stood, then he reached behind him and got hold of something that he handed over as well. Great. That blasted knife. Kurapica had really thought he'd seen the last of it. "Since you're being so kind and polite," Kuroro began, grabbing the blond's attention once more, "would you mind waiting outside a short time? I know there's nowhere to sit out here, but I would very much like to be somewhat presentable." He pulled at his cotton shirt lightly. "Wearing pyjamas isn't exactly what I would call formal wear, and I don't think I can seriously discuss anything with someone of your social status while wearing sleepwear under my coat." He made a face. "Well, I could, I'd just rather not."

Kurapica couldn't help a small, amused little snort at that and Kuroro glanced at him, arching an eyebrow. The blond shook his head and turned around, making his way back inside. The taller man followed and they quickly changed into proper clothes. Kuroro opted for the same top and pants that he'd worn in York Shin and Kurapica frowned at him. When the taller man tilted his head the blond shook this head again and zipped up his blue hoodie. Now that they were presentable, Kuroro nodded and approached the Kuruta. Kurapica frowned at him, while Kuroro grinned. "What?" the blond asked defensively.

"Good morning kiss?" Kuroro asked in turn.

Kurapica snorted. "Not on my life," he replied, hoping his blush wasn't too apparent. He wasn't ready for this yet. "Open the door so we can find out what they came here for."

Kuroro frowned pensively at him for a moment, then he turned away and opened the door, letting the two gentlemen in. "Sit wherever you can," he told them. He himself sat on the end of the far bed, and Kurapica opted for the chair by the desk. Greenwold took off his hat and sat on the other bed, but Kern remained standing. "Well," Kuroro broke the silence, "you said you wanted to talk. We're listening."

Greenwold nodded gravely. "You," he turned to Kurapica, "you're one of them, right?" He paused. "The Kuruta, I mean," he added after a moment. Kurapica hesitated a moment, but there was no reason to hide his heritage. He was proud of his ancestry, and how much he'd struggled and worked to make it to where he was now. As he hesitated, the old gentleman chuckled and motioned to his eyes. "I saw your eyes, boy. I just need confirmation."

"Yes," Kurapica finally answered. He saw Kuroro shift out of the corner of his eye, but this didn't concern the Spider Head. Not directly, anyway. "I am Kuruta," he murmured, looking down at his hands, clasped together on his lap. "The last one, in fact."

The old gentleman nodded. "I surmised as much," he told the blond, his voice surprisingly gentle. "I wish I had known earlier."

Kurapica looked up. "Why is that?" he wanted to know.

"You should know," Greenwold began, then he paused. "I wonder if I should – but no, you deserve to know." He breathed in deeply, then looked at the Kuruta, his eyes gentle. "The word has started spreading amongst the collectors, that someone is stealing all of the Kuruta eyes. Some people hypothesized that they were being destroyed to increase the selling value on the black market. I heard of a doctor who used Nen to reattach body parts in trauma patients and so I contacted him. I preferred that those beautiful eyes be used to help someone rather than have them meaninglessly destroyed. Had I known that there is a Kuruta survivor... I would have given you the pair that I owned. And so," he hesitated again, then he lowered his head slightly, "I ask that you forgive me for giving away something that should have never belonged to me in the first place."

Kurapica was speechless. He didn't know how to react. Greenwold seemed like a nice gentleman, the kind that hardly existed in the world anymore. "I," the boy began, and found himself choking on the words, on his emotions, "I thank you, sir." He licked his lips slowly. "I cannot return this pair to Lukso to bury it where it should have belonged, yet I'm not sad about that." He paused. "I should be sad, I should be upset." He glanced at Kuroro, but the older man's face was blank and Kurapica couldn't read him. So different from how he looked the previous night, hovering over him, his gaze burning right through Kurapica, making his heart hammer in his chest. He felt himself blush and forced himself to return to the present. "It's a little like you've given one of my clansmen the chance to live again, through that young boy," he told Greenwold. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then tentatively asked, "May I ask something of you?

"You may ask," the gentleman replied carefully.

"I'd ask of you to protect that boy, to never let what happened to my people happen to him. Keep him hidden, protect him." Realizing that he was repeating himself, Kurapica stopped suddenly and lowered his head.

Greenwold studied him silently for a moment, then he reached to the blond and patted him on the shoulder. "I swear on my life," he said.

Kurapica looked up. "May I ask something else?"

The elderly man chuckled softly. "Yet another demand?" He shook his head, clearly amused. "You are a complicated man to please," he informed him. "Ask away."

"May I go visit him sometime?" Kurapica wanted to know.

Greenwold laughed again. "As often as you would like." He paused then, his face turning serious. He turned to Kuroro again, and leaned closer. "Young man," he whispered, "do you know just who it is that you are travelling with?"

Kurapica nodded. "I know," he assured him. "I know exactly who he is."

"You must be half mad then, if you trust this man," Greenwold wondered. "He is just as likely to kill you as to protect you." He shook his head slowly. "Don't trust him," he added, "and don't ever turn your back on him."

"I don't trust him," Kurapica answered. "We are travelling together for now, but we certainly do not trust each other. I need his help." This part was said through gritted teeth. "But I do not trust him."

"Good," Greenwold said, putting his hat back on as he stood. "We're done here. Next time you come to visit," he smiled to the blond, "ring the doorbell and come in the day. I'll ask for your name, then. And maybe reparation for the broken display case." Seeing Kurapica's guilt-ridden expression, he laughed. "Don't worry," he assured him, "the jewelry inside was unharmed. It was just a lot of work to clean up." He nodded a polite but reserved farewell at Kuroro as the Spider Head stood and gave Kern his weapons back. Greenwold regarded Kurapica thoughtfully for another long moment, then he nodded. "You be careful, now," he told him. "You take care of yourself and come back to visit, sometime."

When the two left, Kuroro closed the door behind them and turned to Kurapica. "What were you whispering about?" he asked the blond.

"I'm sure you've listened and heard the entire thing," Kurapica countered.

"I have," the taller man confirmed.

Kurapica shrugged. "Then you know," he told him. He paused. Yes, he didn't trust Kuroro. He didn't trust him at all. But he'd still slept with him. He just didn't know what to think or what to feel about that. But then Kuroro turned his large, dark eyes on him and Kurapica felt his heart rate increase, his mind going back to the previous night. Oh it was so wrong, so very wrong. And so very good.