Hunter x Hime: Chapter 53
Demon
...
Himeko pointed straight ahead at the couple walking in the distance, so Killua could eventually spot them. Once he spotted the pair, he dragged Himeko along and followed them, making sure not to lose them this time around. Gon and Palm moved out of the busy town centre to a much quieter area that seemed very familiar to Killua. Of course, this was where Gon brought them on the previous day to pick up some kind of stick he was going to give Palm. Killua wasn't sure why he was planning to give Palm a branch with no leafs instead of a bouquet of flowers, but hey, Gon should have experience with these things. After all, he was the one who went on dates while Killua had zero experience when it came to dates or women in general.
Gon and Palm found a place close to the a lake, while Himeko and Killua hid behind the bushes not too far away from them. They were close enough to hear exactly what Gon and Palm were talking about. Gon laid out a picnic chair for Palm to sit on, so her dress didn't get dirty. He waited for her to sit down first, before putting aside his rucksack and sitting beside her. Himeko sat there assessing his every move, being astonished by how much of a gentleman Gon truly was. "Look Killua, you should learn a thing or two from Gon," she whispered to him.
"Shush!" Killua tried to shut her up before turning his attention back to Gon and Palm. Killua noticed that Gon started to look around the sky. He reached for his rucksack and got out that exact branch he picked out with Killua on the previous day and handed it to Palm.
Palm just gave him a confused expression, "what is this?"
"The most beautiful bouquet that exists," Gon said, smiling. Palm was still confused and examined the branch over and over again to see whether she was missing something, "just wait!"
"A stick?" Himeko whispered over to Killua, "do you know what's going on?"
But he was just as clueless as her, "nope," he answered, shaking his head in response. The pair waited to see what was going to happen next, but Gon seemed to be waiting for something himself. He looked up ahead at that lone tree standing at the centre of the lake to see the fireflies resting in the tree light up. Some started flying towards them, specifically towards Palm. She held up the branch Gon handed her earlier to see the fireflies settling down on it, almost making it look like a miniature tree decorated with fairy lights.
"The tree produces a special sap that attracts the fireflies," Gon explained, calmly watching the fireflies resting on the small branch.
"Yuck!" Killua exclaimed, fake gagging, "since when was Gon this cheesy?" He looked over to see that Palm was awestruck by Gon's little stunt. Figures, he thought. Palm was probably one of the only people on the planet who would be so easily impressed by something so simple. To prove his point, he glanced at Himeko squatting right beside him and to his surprise she seemed equally impressed as Palm.
"Arww, that was so romantic," she dreamily sighed while staring at the sparkly bouquet in Palm's hands, "Gon can be so cute sometimes," she then turned to Killua and gave him a disapproving look, "I still don't get how you two are friends. I mean look at you, and look at him. You should learn a couple of things from Gon!" Killua felt a little insulted by her comment, but he had heard so much worse from her. "Why has Gon never given me a bouquet like that? I mean my birthday was in December!"
Killua took a brief moment to analyse the situation. What if the person Himeko liked was Gon? After all, Himeko mumbled something about her crush being someone he knew well, but that thought was quickly scrapped after he imagined those two together as a couple. Just like in one of those overly cheesy sitcoms, Himeko would be that bossy and lazy housewife always complaining about something, while Gon would be the innocent, hard working husband being caught up in all the arguments. He just ended up cringing at the mix matched combination of the two. Besides, he knew that Gon did hold a special place in her heart, but more as a lucky charm. She wasn't the only one who thought that way though, Gon held a special place in many people's lives, including Killua's. That was Gon, it was very hard to dislike someone like him.
Just then, both their attentions were brought away from Gon and Palm enjoying their day out to something sinister that seemed to be lurking out in the woods not too far off from the lake.
"Killua!" Himeko tried to keep her voice as low as possible, but knowing that there was something so close to them alerted them both. There was a brief silence between the two, but it didn't take long for them to confirm that there was a strong ant out there. "It's definitely an ant, and it's aura is strong. If we don't do something, it will get closer to us."
"I know!" Killua almost snapped at Himeko's very obvious comments, "we can't let it come closer to Gon, not when he is like this. I'll distract it, you stay here and watch Gon!"
Killua was about to leave, but Himeko grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. Gon wasn't her only worry. There was defenceless Gon, on a date with a crazy woman who could snap anytime soon, and there was also Killua who's mind was filled with insecurities. The last time she saw him fight, he didn't look like the Killua she knew from the Hunter exams, or even Yorkshin. He seemed to have lost confidence in his own abilities, and with that Himeko wasn't too happy to let Killua leave on his own. She didn't deny the fact that he was strong and could defeat that ant with no effort, but not right now. There were some thoughts he had to sort out, and although going out there could potentially help him do just that and cure him from his fear, it could also lead to his death.
Himeko wasn't comfortable telling Killua all that. Although she liked to pull pranks on him, and throw some insults at him, it didn't change the fact that she respected him as a fighter, and she believed in him as a fighter. "Let's decide on who gets to go just like real Hunters!" She wasn't too hard to read, she was obviously hesitant to let him go and fight whatever was out there and Killua understood that. He didn't even know whether he could trust himself to fight whatever is out there anymore, but on the other hand he also believed that this was something he should do alone. "Don't get me wrong Killua, but I honestly think that you should stay back and watch over Gon while I go and fight the ant. I promise not to drag it out, I'll be back in a couple of minutes."
"Fine, if you win you can go." Killua finally managed to give in. They had no time to waste anyway, and trying to disagree with her right now would just waste time. The easiest way for the two to solve this is to go along with whatever Himeko had to say, and it all came down to luck.
Wasting no more time, the pair initiated their so called way of solving things like 'real Hunters', "rock, paper, scissors!"
"I guess I win," he said, before repeating what she had told him a moment ago, "I won't drag it out, I'll be back in a couple of minutes so watch Gon while I'm gone." It was a way of him telling her that he was old enough to look after himself, and that he was just as capable as she was. With no other words, Killua left into the woods trying to divert the attention of the Chimera ant onto him, leaving Himeko behind to keep an eye on Gon.
"Damn it, I should have picked paper!" Himeko cursed as she watched Killua leave on his own. She then let out a sigh and fixed her eyes back at Gon and Palm. But although Killua wanted her to have some faith in him, she couldn't help but worry. Especially since whatever was out there won't be as nice as Shoot when they fight.
With Gon being left in the safe hands of Himeko, Killua was somewhat relieved. At least one of his worries was sorted out, and he knew that that he nothing could get close to Gon while he was being watched over. But that didn't change the fact that he now had to go against whatever was out there. The closer he got to the aura, the more his heart started to pound. Fighting was something he did since he was a child; you could say that he was taught how to fight before he was taught how to walk. Violence seemed almost natural to him after being exposed to it for all his life, yet it never scared him as much as it did right now. He was the destined heir of the Zoldycks; even his surname could give people a run for their money. But for someone who was supposed to be so powerful, and have a title that held so much honour, Killua felt so little. He knew that there was a big chance for him to get crushed like an ant, but at the same time he wanted to change. He didn't want everyone around him to grow up and become stronger, leaving him behind in the dust. What he was most afraid of was not being able to protect the people that meant so much to him.
Once Killua got there, he stopped and looked ahead. Out of the bushes a familiar figure came out. An ant with the head of a rabbit and the body of a shrike he came across before, yet the same ant felt so unfamiliar. An aura was oozing out of Rammot that was strong enough to be sensed from miles away. All that was motivated by one thing; Rammot wanted to find the three Hunters that humiliated him that one day, and he wanted to kill them with his bare hands. Now that the Queen was dead, the ants were all over the place. Most of them have gone their own ways, and since there was nothing to stop them anymore, they were out to cause more trouble than usual. Rammot was one of them, there was no one who could stop him now that he found Killua. All he wanted to do now was kill him, and hope to find Gon and Himeko lurking around somewhere close-by. To kill them was the only way to calm his rage.
Rammot immediately recognised Killua. He remembered that lightening attack that left him paralysed in the air before Gon got a chance to attack. All Rammot wanted now was revenge, but just killing Killua all at once wouldn't do it for him. He wanted to drag it out, torture him slowly before giving him a slow and agonising death. That new, murderous look on Rammot's face alarmed Killua, but he kept reminding himself that he had to protect Gon. He was determined, but that didn't stop the voice in his head to discourage him. His mind went blank; there it was again.
"Run," he could hear Illumi's voice echoing through his head. He flinched at the sound of his voice, but Killua clenched his teeth tightly and stayed put. His whole body was trembling from how tensed he was and he started sweating buckets of cold sweat. But the fight still hasn't even began yet. From what looked like a focused expression, he couldn't help but stare back at his opponent with his dilated and alarmed eyes.
Rammot's expression changed, his lip curved upwards seeing Killua's current state. A helpless prey that was caught and cornered by his predator; that's how he saw him. Killua was his prey, shivering in front of him; his predator. To him, it was amusing to see the same little boy that fearlessly fought him a month ago so close to falling on his knees in fear. "That terrified expression; that's it! I love it, it's getting me excited to tear you apart."
Killua's breathing became heavier hearing that voice again, "you can't defeat him, he is stronger than you."
He was frozen stiff, there was nothing he could do about his opponent slowly getting closer to him. His body wouldn't let him fight, it would only allow him to run away.
"I can't run away, I have to defeat him." Killua tried to fight Illumi's voice, but his brother's voice always seemed to have the upper hand.
"You don't know how strong your opponent is."
"I have to protect Gon," Killua was stuck in between Rammot and Illumi. He was aware of the fact that Rammot was just a couple of feet away from him, but his concentration was solely fixed on trying to get Illumi's voice out of his head. He wanted a clear mind, he didn't want to keep running away. He wanted to fight. He wanted to protect Gon.
Rammot waited for no one, he just wanted to slowly end the life of the boy he had been searching for a month. Now that he found him, he wasn't going to show mercy. He didn't care about the fact that Killua couldn't fight back, it was a lot more amusing for him this way. With one punch in the face, Killua flew back and landed on the ground, face down. However, he immediately crawled back up onto his feet, giving Rammot that same expression that excited Rammot in the first place. His eyes were filled with both anger and fear. Killua took another hit, and one more, and Rammot seemed to be giving him no chance to recover. Hit after hit, Killua was trying to stay up, but Rammot made sure to keep him on his knees by stomping on his torso.
"Did you lose your spine?" he asked, not expecting a reply, "or did you piss yourself? Why aren't you getting up?" Whether or not he was getting back up didn't matter at all, Rammot was enjoying it either way. "Damn, this feels so good!" A sadistic grin formed on Rammot's face. Killua was nothing more than a punching bag to the ant that wanted to settle a score. "This is so much fun."
Killua was once again kicked away and unintentionally given a moment to rest, before Rammot prepared for another round. He started taking slow steps towards him, trying to control himself from killing Killua all at once. But suddenly, he felt something hard land on his head and stopped momentarily. He looked down to see a green apple laying beside his feet. Rammot stepped on it in anger, squashing the unripened fruit as it interrupted him. He then proceeded to what he originally wanted to do.
Seeing his opponent getting closer, Killua took a big step back. "Run," that authoritative voice repeated.
"I can't."
"Run."
No matter how much he tried, Illumi's voice continued to repeat the same words over and over again, asserting dominance. Not being able to get a grip of his own thoughts, Killua felt helpless. He felt pathetic, weak, foolish, maybe he should have been the one staying back and watching over Gon. Himeko would have finished this joker off and come back already; or that's what he told himself. But at the same time, he swore to protect his friend, "I have to protect Gon, I want to protect my friend," he cried.
"You can't, you are too weak!"
Not being able to do anything, Killua bursted into tears in frustration. It was painful, wanting to fight, wanting to win but not being able to do anything but getting beat up. He looked up at Rammot with his watery eyes, only to catch him off guard. In front of him, Killua looked so powerless. As a sadist, Rammot couldn't help but want to tear him apart just then and there although he wanted to give him a slow and painful death. He couldn't decide, and in the end he decided on only wanting to keep his head with that defenceless expression.
Hearing Illumi repeat the same words again and again, Killua started to fight it, "shut up!"
"Run."
"I won't listen to you!"
"Run... run away... run..."
"Shut up!"
"Run away."
"Gon is my friend."
"Run."
Illumi's voice persistently ordered him to run away, but Killua tried to ignore it. He thought hard, back when he entered the Hunter exam by himself, but when he took the exam he wasn't alone. How he was sent back to his estate back in Kukuroo mountain, but when he came back out he wasn't lonely anymore. He reminded himself how much fun it was fighting at Heaven's arena for the second time because Gon was there with him, although the first time when he went alone was much more challenging. He remembered how reckless his friends were and how he had to keep a calm head while at Yorkshin city. He was reminded of how he survived the meeting with one of the most notorious bandits out there, but even then he wasn't alone. He thought back to the time when the video game he played with a friend was a lot more fun than all the other ones he played by himself back home, even though he cleared them all numerous times.
These memories were something he didn't want to lose. He wanted to hold onto them, but memories weren't enough for him. He wanted to keep holding onto his friends and make new memories with them in the future. All that was enough to make Illumi's voice fade away until it became almost inaudible over Gon's encouraging voice.
Rammot reached in to attack, but after a loud scream, Killua was gone. He disappeared, and Rammot was frantically searching the area for him. "Where did he go?"
Hearing a quiet laughter behind him, Rammot turned around to see his opponent standing behind him with his back turned towards him. Killua looked at the little needle in his palm, covered in his own blood. As he looked down, blood started to drip down from his forehead but he just continued to let out his relieved chuckle. "He had me fooled good."
The demon was finally gone, and Killua crushed the needle into pieces to put an end to that chapter of his life.
"How did you dodge that?" Rammot asked, before recalling what he managed to see in that split second. Before he could even aim for his throat, Killua jammed his fingers into his forehead and pulled something out before vanishing. But whatever that may have been, he knew that his opponent was different now. He looked a lot more alert, and his fear was no where to be seen anymore. It's as if the scared little boy from earlier completely vanished and was replaced with this more confident lookalike.
"I feel so much more refreshed now," Killua stretched with a satisfied smile on his face. Seeing him like that, Rammot had a lot of thoughts running through his head. Now that Killua wasn't so afraid anymore, he became anxious. His confidence disappeared and before he knew it, just the change in Killua's attitude scared him. Just when he was about to laugh the whole situation off as some sort of gimmick, the look in Killua's eyes said otherwise. His dead eyes and murderous aura reached deep into Rammot's soul, sending shivers down his spine. "I have a message for all the other ants. If you mess with us, I will kill you." It didn't sound like a bluff. The tables had turned; Rammot who had the upper hand felt cornered. Staring into Killua's eyes, he saw the reflection of himself; Killua's next prey.
Having had the upper hand thus far, Rammot didn't want to believe his own eyes. He was in denial, "I'm not buying this bullshit!"
"Very well," Killua charged towards Rammot, decapitating him with no effort. It took Rammot some time to realise what situation he was in. He glanced back, and saw his headless body standing behind him. "Don't bother in that case." Killua ended the fight by crushing Rammot's head before disposing it in one of the nearby bushes. He stuck around a little longer, trying to use En to check whether another ant was hiding, watching the fight just like last time. Killua picked up one of the fallen apples from the ground and threw it towards one of the apple trees close to him. As expected, he heard a loud thud; something fell to the ground and it was definitely bigger than a squirrel. Killua cautiously made his way to where the sound came from, still prepared to fight. With one hand ready to attack, he moved away the bush branches to reveal who just fell.
"Calm down, it's just me!" Himeko protected her face with her arms in case Killua actually did attack, but seeing her he didn't.
"Don't scare me like that," he let out an annoyed sigh. Himeko looked at his sharp claws. She knew Killua wasn't going to kill her using those, but looking at those still paranoid her, she was the one supposed to be scared. It had been quite a long time since she had seen Killua's switched turned on, and from a front row seat as well. Maybe it was his Ren that was strong enough to reach her. In any case, Rammot wasn't the only one who became anxious. Himeko too was slightly frightened by his serious mode; maybe because she still wasn't so used to it. Killua reached out his hand to help her back up on her feet, "here, get up."
Himeko briefly took a glimpse of Killua's knife-like claws once again, following the traces of the ant's fresh blood dripping down his hands. That was more than enough to get her to shoot back up on her feet with no assistance, leaving Killua dumbfounded with his hand still stuck out.
"D-don't worry, I can get up myself," she stuttered, before nervously laughing, still staring at his sharp claws. "Killua, you might wanna consider getting a manicure! Ha...ha...ha..."
Killua just then noticed his fingernails, "sorry, it's a habit," he apologised before changing his nails back to normal. "That reminds me, aren't you supposed to be watching Gon? Why did you leave him alone?"
"Gon can handle Palm. If he couldn't then we wouldn't be alive now," she reminded him, thinking back to all those moments Palm was about to snap and Gon smoothly calming her down. "I was more worried about you, not knowing what was out here in the woods. Turns out it was that creepy ant from last month."
"You should've just stayed back, I didn't need any help."
"I wasn't here to help you," Himeko pointed out. "I promised Bisky that I wouldn't interrupt your battles and I kept that promise. Otherwise I would have intervened long ago, before you started getting beat up. I just did what Bisky asked me to do, I watched over you so you didn't get hurt."
"I still got hurt though."
"Touché," she defeatedly commented, "if it got to the point where you couldn't handle him anymore, I would have stepped in. That aside, are you alright? Your forehead is bleeding quite a lot."
"It was Illumi all along," Killua informed her with a relieved smile, "he planted a needle into my forehead and that's how he manipulated me by making me think that my opponents were all stronger than me. I managed to get it out though."
Hearing that this was just another dumb trick by Killua's older brother, Himeko felt speechless. "So it was your brother that did all this. His cheap trick nearly killed you today." No matter how many times Killua tried to cut ties with his family business, Illumi just remained persistent. She sighed, "at least you are okay now. Plus, you are back to your normal self!"
"Yeah," Killua smiled back. The two exchanged awkward smiles before one of them remembered Gon and Palm. "Aren't we supposed to be watching over Gon?"
"Oh yeah..." As soon as they remembered leaving Gon alone with Palm, the two rushed back to the lake where they remembered the couple being.
"By the way, why throw an apple?" Killua curiously asked, recalling that an apple fell on Rammot's head from the same tree Himeko was sitting on.
"Have you heard of that saying where an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Himeko questioned, "well, apples can keep anyone away as long as you throw them hard enough. It doesn't just apply to doctors."
"Why did I even bother asking," Killua mentally face-palmed at the predictably lame reply he got from her, yet he couldn't help but find it amusing. It wasn't just her response that made him smile, the fact that she was worried about him also bought a momentary smile to his face. After reaching the lake, the pair discovered that both Gon and Palm were gone, but Gon's backpack and the foldable chair Palm was sitting on were still there. The two continued to look for any other traces, but that was pretty much all they found. "Could it have been another ant?" Killua wondered.
"No, that can't be!" Himeko immediately objected. "I did leave those two behind, but I made sure that there were no other ants around. If there was someone else here, I would've known for sure!"
Seeing how confident she was, Killua only came up with one possible reason behind both their disappearances. "Let's head back to the apartment!"
If no ant was the cause of the missing Gon and Palm, the only logical explanation would be that Palm finally lost it. They couldn't blame her though, no matter how sweet Gon was, he didn't know how to lie. It was one of his good traits, but at the same time when it came to Palm, being overly honest with her could make him end up in a lot of trouble. Especially since it took a lot of convincing for Palm to calm down and put that large knife away the other day. That date with Gon was the only reason she agreed to behave in the first place. If Gon messed this up, it could end up badly for all three of them.
As soon as they arrived outside the apartment, Himeko came to a hold. She looked up and immediately got a bad feeling in the gut seeing the curtains of their apartment being closed. "Hey, how about I stay here and watch the door for us," Himeko suggested, trying her best to persuade Killua to let her stay outside where it was nice and safe, "you never know, Palm might have called for backup!"
She had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous, so Killua knew too well that all he had to do was ignore her. He grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her along to the room they were staying in. To their surprise, the door wasn't closed; it was ajar. Killua slowly opened the door and stepped inside, dragging Himeko who was resisting with him. The lights were off, curtains were closed and only a couple of candles illuminated the spacious living room. Gon was on the floor, obediently writing 'I'm sorry' over and over again, in big, bold writing and surrounding him were the dozens of apology notes he wrote so far. Watching him was Palm, standing in front of him with her butcher knife.
Palm was the first one to notice the door opening, and turned around to see that Killua and Himeko had returned from wherever they've been. Awestruck by Gon's sight, Killua was the first one to rush in, "what are you doing?!"
"What do you mean, can't you tell just by looking?" Palm asked him in return, "I'm punishing him for toying with my feelings!"
"What the hell?!" Killua raised his brow as if Palm just said the most ridiculous thing he had heard all day, "you are the one being completely unreasonable!"
"Stop sticking your noses into our business. This is something between us, leave us alone."
The argument between Killua and Palm was going no where, and Himeko just quietly watched them going back and forth while Gon silently continued to write his apologies. Knowing that this wasn't going to end anytime soon at this rate, she stepped in, "I'm sure we can talk this out, I mean there must be some kind of misunderstanding here," and although this was probably the most reasonable and intelligent thing she said all day, no one in the room cared about her opinion in this matter.
"Maybe you should be the one leaving us alone," Killua shot right back, "why don't you just get lost?"
That was enough to make Palm's face darken, and it alarmed both Himeko and Killua. "Oh crap, please don't snap! Please don't snap!" Palm who was about to lose it completely somehow managed to remain collected and examined the pair.
"Why are you injured?" She started to interrogate Killua, after noticing the wound on his forehead.
"I was training," Killua went with the same lie they told them last night, "everyone gets hurt while training once in a while."
His answer was believable, and although Palm wasn't too satisfied with it she shifted her target, knowing she could get more out of Himeko than Killua. "What about you, why aren't you in your gym clothes?" She asked, looking at the surprisingly girly outfit she was wearing; the last thing someone like Himeko would wear to work out at the gym. With Palm's intimidating gaze, her mind went completely blank and she didn't know how to answer.
"I-I," she stuttered, trying to think of an excuse that could work.
"Her gym clothes got dirty, so I came back and got her a change of clothes."
"Right..." Whether she believed their excuses or not didn't matter at this point, these two were clearly getting in between her and Gon's so called relationship. That was more than enough reason for her to get rid of them. "Why don't I injure you some more in that case?" Palm's first hit was aimed at Killua, who in her eyes was the biggest nuisance of them all. He on the other hand managed to dodge the attack with no effort at all.
"I could dodge that attack in my sleep," he commented confidently. Palm's hands were shaking uncontrollably having missed that attack. The trio's eyes were fixed on Palm waiting for her next move, and even Gon stopped whatever he was doing because of all the commotion around him.
"I was so sure I got him this time," she mumbled under her breath. The next moment, Palm went ballistic. Himeko being the closest to the front door was the first one to run out of the apartment screaming. Killua didn't hesitate either and ran after her, carrying Gon with him. Not wanting to let those three rascals get away, Palm decided to chase after them with that large butcher knife of hers.
Himeko had no idea which way she was going, she just wanted to get as far away as possible from Palm and Killua; who was Palm's main target. Little did the others actually know that she was just blindly running away and they followed her, much to her displeasure. She kept looking back once in a while, trying to check how far away Killua, Gon and Palm were from her. "Wait, I'll kill you!" Palm screamed, still hot on their trail. She was a lot faster than she looked due to being fuelled by that ambition to murder Killua and Himeko.
Killua looked back and saw that Palm had gotten dangerously close to them, yet he decided to insult her even more, "catch us if you can, you stupid old hag!"
"I'll kill you!" Palm screamed back in response.
The fact that Killua decided to act like an immature brat when they were chased by an angry, heartbroken woman with a knife annoyed the hell out of Himeko. "You fucking idiot, she's already out to kill us! Would you just shut the fuck up and run?!"
Gon couldn't help but feel like he was surrounded by idiots at this point, "she has a point Killua, you are just making her even more angry," he added calmly.
"Yeah, Killua! Maybe you should hold her up and distract her while I get Gon out of here," Himeko suggested, "come on, take one for the team. Be a man!"
"No, why don't you do it?"
"She's more pissed at you. If we split up now, she'd chase after you!"
"Does this really matter now?" he asked, "if we ditch her now, we'll never see her again. We just have to call Knuckle and let him know that we are meeting him somewhere else."
"I want to go back!" Gon interrupted their conversation.
"Are you out of your mind, Gon?!" Killua almost yelled at him, "she's after us to kill us."
"She won't kill us."
"Gon, she's chasing us with a goddamn butcher knife!" Himeko pointed out, "have you seen the size of that thing. It's massive!"
Palm had a great start, but she couldn't keep up with them for too long. It was almost too easy for the trio to escape, but Palm hadn't given up yet. She knew that those three could keep running for hours before getting tired, but they couldn't hide from her. She went back to their apartment and took out her purple crystal ball, held by a small, stone mermaid statue. After slitting her wrist, she poured some drops of her red blood onto the crystal ball before chanting a spell. "Cute, cute, mermaid, show me where those foolish brats have run off to." In the crystal ball, the location of Gon, Killua and Himeko could be seen. They seemed to be trying to figure out a plan in front of a hotel not too far away. With her rage filled eyes, she stared at the image of Killua and Himeko in her crystal, "those stupid brats, always intervening. If it wasn't for them, everything would have gone fine. I will find them!"
Determined to put an end to their lives, Palm gathered all the knives she had arranged in the kitchen drawers and prepared to go after them. But as soon as she ran out, she ran into someone unexpected. It was her beloved Knov-sensei. Before she knew it, her mission to get rid of the trio was aborted. She had given up on that.
The very next day, Gon, Himeko and Killua were in town discussing what to do next. They still had some time left until they were supposed to meet with Knuckle and the rest. Staring into space wasn't an option but that was all they could do for now until they came up with something. Killua suddenly got a sudden craving for his favourite chocolate, so all three of them bought a couple of packets of choco robots.
Himeko opened her second box and peeked inside to check what toy she got, only to be confused. "Hey, there's no toy in this box!"
"Hmm... sucks to be you then," Killua commented indifferently before opening his third box, only to be a little disappointed himself. "That's the third one today," he said, putting away the little grey toy robot into his pocket. He curiously turned to see what Gon's luck was like. Unsurprisingly, Gon was the luckiest out of all three. "Gon, that's the rarest toy. It's a collectors item, you can sell it for a lot of money on auctions."
"Really?" Gon asked, taking a closer look at this so called rare item. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, just a toy that was gold in colour. He was never interested in toys, neither did Gon ever have any interest in money. He handed it over to Killua, knowing he was a fan of this particular chocolate brand, "here, you can have this!" Killua quickly found himself rejecting the offer. He didn't need money either, his family had mountains of it. The only reason he saved up money was to buy sweets, and he was already satisfied with the chocolate he had bought. "Do you want it, Kou?" Gon asked her.
She of course gladly accepted Gon's offer and safely put the little toy away after thanking Gon, and earning a remark from Killua. "Greedy pig!"
To his surprise, it didn't affect her as much as he thought it would. "Money doesn't grow on trees Killua," she simply shrugged off, "you two are just too easily satisfied."
Her statement had some truth to it, so Killua didn't say anything back to her. Instead he just stared at the uneaten packet of chocolate she held in her hand. "You gonna eat that?"
"No, you can have it," she passed it over.
Gon somehow found the atmosphere strange. It seemed almost too normal, it had been so long since he had seen Killua and Himeko act like their usual selves. Since that loss to Knuckle and Shoot, the two seemed a little more introverted and overly worried. It was strange, yet it somehow set Gon's mind at peace. "Did something good happen?"
Killua stopped chewing to look at his friend and a big grin appeared on his face, "nothing out of the ordinary, right?" He looked at Himeko for an agreement.
"Yep, nothing out of the ordinary!" She returned the huge grin.
"I know!" Killua suddenly shot up from his seat "we should hit the gym!"
Gon nodded in agreement, "and we are taking Kou with us today. We still don't know how much stronger she's gotten."
Killua took the lead while Gon happily went along, dragging Himeko behind him. When Gon was around, Himeko didn't really have any other choice anyway. She didn't exactly mind though, it had been so long since she trained together with the two of them, so she looked forward to training with them again. However, none of them knew that Shoot and Knov were watching them from the distance, trying to check up on their mental state to see whether the trio were ready to see what has become of Kite.
A/n- Part 1 of the double update :D
