Hunter x Hime: Chapter 54

Infiltration

...

Later on that day, Knuckle contacted Gon and informed him that they could finally see Kite again. Shoot and Knov had followed the trio around for hours, trying to see whether they were mentally stable enough to see Kite in his current state. Gon in particular was monitored, and after seeing how they enjoyed their day out in town just like normal teenagers, and trained hard in the gym they came to the conclusion that they would be able to handle it. Gon, Killua and Himeko left the gym immediately and rushed to the said place where they met up with Morel, Knov, Shoot, Toshiro, Natsume and Knuckle. The area was isolated from the rest and was situated in a rather quiet part of the town. The trio was led inside a run down brick house, down the stairs and finally into a large, empty room with dim lighting. In front of them was a small bird cage, one that didn't look too unfamiliar to some of them.

"Kite isn't like how he used to be," Morel informed the trio once again. Knuckle, Natsume and Knov had mentioned this quite a couple of times already, so Gon, Killua and Himeko grew anxious to see what actually happened to Kite. Based on how they handled this, Kite appeared to be in a very critical condition; but he wasn't dead yet. That alone was a reason for Gon to agree to all this.

"It doesn't matter," Gon answered with no second thoughts, "we will find a way to heal him." His answer sounded confident; he was determined to cure Kite. But at the same time, there was some fear in his eyes not knowing how badly hurt Kite really was.

Shoot used his Nen to open the gate of the cage, while everyone witnessed a miniature Kite stepping out. Once he was outside the cage, his body started to grow back to it's original size. As it grew, the scars and wounds that covered his upper body because more visible. His movements were strange; almost as if his body was dangling on a set of puppet strings. When he finally looked up, a single eye peeked through the long, silver hair covering his face. That absentminded look on his face bothered Gon the most. His breathing became uneven and heavy, but with everyone else around him, he tried his best calming himself down. "Kite..." he muttered his name, with a guilt filled voice.

"He was most probably used to train ant soldiers," Knuckle explained, "if you approach him, he automatically attacks."

Although he just heard what Knuckle said, Gon still approached Kite slowly, one step at a time. "It will be okay," he reassured as he got closer to him. Kite remained still, watching Gon get closer to him step by step, but once he was in a close enough range, Kite threw a punch. Not anticipating it, Gon took a hit and the area above his brows started to bleed. Gon knew that this wasn't actually Kite punching him with his own will, but that didn't stop him from recalling his first meeting with Kite. Back on Whale island, the little seven year old got punched by Kite just like this, but back then it was because he did a mistake. However, although Gon didn't do anything wrong this time around he still felt like he deserved that punch. "Do you remember, this isn't the first time you hit me. You hit me back on Whale Island too. That hurt a lot!" Kite remained unresponsive, and Gon approached Kite once again only to be hit once more. He took the hit with no complaint, and approached Kite yet again. Kite being programmed to hurt anyone that got closed to him, hit Gon over and over again, and the others could only watch the painful sight.

"Are you two just going to watch and let this beating continue?" Morel asked, noticing that neither Killua nor Himeko had made an effort to help their friend out. "Gon can't use his Nen to defend himself, right?"

"It's okay, he will notice soon," Killua assured everyone, "maybe he already has."

"Kite's moves are robotic, they are easy to predict after a couple of punches." Natsume pointed out. "He was programmed to do it this way, he doesn't seem to have a will of his own."

Knov listened to everyone's conversation while quietly observing Kite's fighting style. There wasn't much of a technique to it, only a certain pattern he kept repeating over and over again. Natsume was right, it was quite easy to figure out depending on how experienced you were as a fighter. "Perhaps he's suppressing his reflexes and allows himself to get hit," he thought.

Knuckle on the other hand thought otherwise. With no Nen, Gon wasn't able to defend himself. That aside, seeing Kite in this state must have been a shock to the trio although they aren't trying to show it. Those two reasons were more than enough for Gon to be in a state unable to dodge the attacks, no matter how easy they were to anticipate.

"Gon is doing this on purpose." Deep inside, Himeko knew that Gon was capable of being able to anticipate his attacks by now. Gon may be simple minded sometimes, but he was sharp. If she was able to predict the next move by now, she knew that Gon would've figured it out much sooner than she did. She knew too well that Gon willingly stayed still and took all the hits on purpose. "He doesn't know what else to do." Kite created an opportunity for them, the weaker links to escape, and they did as they were asked to do. It was something Kite wanted them to do, but at the same time Kite might have not been in this state if it weren't for them. The trip started out fine, but it took them some time to realise that they might have just been dead weight Kite had to carry around during his journey. She couldn't blame Gon for feeling guilty, she felt just as guilty as him, but she could also imagine how hard it must have been for Gon to see his fatherly figure like this. Not only must he have felt like he disappointed Kite, Gon must have also felt like he disappointed Ging. In the end, Himeko could do no more than just helplessly watch Gon get beaten by Kite over and over again. It's something Gon wanted, it was his way of trying to get punished for a sin he had committed and knowing this, she couldn't interrupt him. Knowing Gon, he would eventually be satisfied by the number of times he got attacked and stop but she didn't know how long that would take. Until then, she would just have to wait and see.

Killua felt the same way, having to stand still while his best friend was getting beaten up wasn't something he could bear for this long. Yet he remained still knowing that this was something Gon chose to do, and he respected his decision. "After all, we brought this upon ourselves and this is the reality we have to face now."

Just like what some of them predicted, Gon knew Kite's upcoming moves but decided to stay still and get hit on purpose. However, the more he got hit, the more it angered him. This wasn't Kite, it wasn't like Kite at all. The robotic movements, the predictable attacks, the weak punches; the Kite he knew was a lot stronger. No matter how much Kite kept punching him, Gon didn't feel hurt. The punch he remembered was powerful, it had an impact on him. That one punch created an impression that Kite was no ordinary Hunter; he was one of the strongest Hunters Gon had ever met. And for him to be Ging's disciple made him a role model to him. The weak punches this controlled Kite threw were almost pathetic, Gon thought of these as an embarrassment to the actual Kite. That was when Gon finally decided to dodge Kite's attack.

Ceasing that opportunity, Gon embraced Kite. "I'm sorry, Kite. It's our fault that this happened to you." Those words lingered in his mind since they left Kite behind in NGL, and finally Gon was able to say it directly to Kite. "We will find a way to get you back to normal, so please wait for us."

Kite's body stiffened when as soon as he was touched, and noticing this Gon let go and looked at his face. Something Gon was not able to see was the appearance of a large creature above Kite. A puppeteer holding strings that were attached to Kite's body.

"This is level two, it is activated when someone touches him." Knuckle explained. "Kite's Nen has already been blocked by me, so whatever that is must belong to the person that's controlling him. Be careful though, now that level two is activated Kite will be much stronger. He will attack if you approach him again."

"How were you able to stop him?" Gon asked, but he felt like he already knew the answer.

"We had to injure him badly to get him to stop attacking us," Shoot admitted regretfully, hinting at the numerous scars that were present on Kite's upper body. For a moment, Gon felt tears forming in his eyes but that feeling of sadness just disappeared. He grew furious, furious of what Kite had to go through back at NGL. Furious of how Kite had to be 'saved' and brought back home, all because they abandoned him.

"Just wait a little longer," Gon turned back around and headed towards the stairs leading back up. On his way he was facing the ground, so his expression couldn't be seen. But once he got to Killua, Gon stopped and looked up. That frightening look on his face sent shivers up some of their spines. Gon was the last person they expected to look so outraged, and it definitely was a massive shock to everyone. "Kou, Killua, that one is mine," he declared firmly before continuing to open the door and walking back upstairs. Everyone stood silently and watched Gon leave the building.

"What have you three been doing while I was gone?" Knuckle asked curiously, after seeing that frightening look on Gon's face. Although they were initially supposed to be rivals, Knuckle took a liking to Gon and continued to fight him as a way of training him every night. However, he couldn't believe how much Gon had changed in just those couple of days he was gone on the mission. Not just Gon, all three of them seemed to have grown and matured in such little time, it made him wonder how long he had actually been gone for.

"Nothing, we haven't done anything," Killua answered, still staring sadly at the door Gon left through, "but our enemy did."

It didn't take long for Killua to leave the building too at a much slower speed than Gon. He knew Gon needed some time to cool off, and he knew almost too well that he didn't want to be disturbed. He decided to take this opportunity to figure some things out for himself now knowing that Gon won't sit still until he found and killed the culprit with his own hands. It was so unlike Gon, but Killua couldn't blame him. No matter how positive Gon was, there was a limit to how much even he could take. Yet, Killua couldn't help but grow more worried about Gon over time.

"Aren't you going to leave with them?" Toshiro asked Himeko who was still standing there, staring at Kite whilst deep in thoughts.

"No, they want their space. I need to respect that." She answered, before asking them all a question she had been keeping in her mind, waiting for both Gon and Killua to leave so she could bring it up. "Can Kite really be cured?"

Her questioned was given some thought by everyone in the room, yet no one was willing to break to silence and answer it. No one actually knew the answer to her question.

"We'll only know the answer once we find the person controlling him." Knov's answer was brutally honest, but it didn't actually bother her. She didn't want to be given false hope and be tricked into believing that Kite will be saved. Knowing that this is a gamble, Himeko felt her heart sink but at the same time she was now knew that she could expect anything to happen. Shoot used his abilities once again to safely keep Kite inside the little cage. Everyone else was getting ready to depart since their job there was done.

Before Toshiro and Natsume could leave, Himeko had a favour to ask. "Until Gon regains his Nen, can you two please train me?" she requested with full determination. "We still have a few weeks until then, so please, I want to become stronger. I don't think I can bear to abandon another friend, so make me strong enough to protect everyone." Seeing Gon and Killua leave like that made her extremely concerned. Gon was usually someone act without thinking, but blinded with rage Himeko knew that Gon would be even more reckless. Killua was usually the one to snap Gon out of it but this time, it didn't seem like that would work. Killua didn't know how to approach him about it which would explain that worried look on his face.

"That's quite the impossible request you are making," Natsume commented with a straight face. But seeing how serious Himeko was about this, he gave her a small smile before ruffling her hair, "I can't promise you that you'll be strong enough to protect everyone. But let's train together so we are all strong enough to protect the few people that matter the most."

Himeko who initially wanted to train for the sole purpose of becoming strong enough to stay alive during battle, decided to train harder to not just protect herself, but so she could also protect the people that mattered the most to her.

...

A few weeks went by, and Gon's thirty days of not being able to use Nen were almost up. It was now his last day, and along with Morel's and Knov's team, Gon, Killua and Himeko were allowed to travel the Republic of East Gorteau. Technically Netero's condition only applied to NGL, so Knov and Morel saw no problem for them to come along. But that still didn't change the fact that some of them still doubted their skills. Although everyone trusted Killua's abilities and deemed him as capable of looking after himself, some doubted Gon. In Himeko's case, as she was trained by Natsume and Toshiro since then, they were able to guarantee that she didn't need to be looked after anymore either. Shoot and Knuckle still questioned Gon's abilities though. They were impressed with Gon's reflex back when he was fighting against Kite without the use of Nen, but after that none of them have seen him focus much. Morel thought that all three of them were capable of looking after themselves, and was pretty carefree about the situation. He simply believed that Gon's lack of performance was due to his lack of interest. Gon was waiting to face his real foe to unleash the power he had saved up over the weeks.

That night, after arriving at their destination, everyone waited outside for Gon's Nen to return. As the clock in the tower struck midnight, the little purple mascot that was stuck to Gon said it's goodbyes and disappeared and Gon's Nen returned in an instant. Though Morel sounded pretty confident in Gon's skills earlier on that day, he still needed Gon to prove that he was strong enough to tag along.

"I'm sorry Gon, but I still have some doubts that you aren't strong enough to stick around with us," he announced while taking off his red tie and unbuttoning his grey shirt. "I need you to show me your resolve." It somehow surprised everyone to see that Morel who was speaking so confidently about Gon was the first one to call him out. "I need you to attack me as if I was responsible for Kite's condition. If you aren't strong enough, I'm taking along another Hunter."

"That's completely unheard of!" Himeko muttered, only loud enough for Toshiro and Natsume to hear. "Gon's resolve is the strongest out of all of ours, he already showed it once."

"Morel-san and Knov-san are responsible for us right now, we have to take orders from them." Toshiro told, "there's nothing we can do about it. If they don't think we are worthy to tag along then we'd have to quit. They are in charge here."

"Besides, if Gon's resolve is as strong as we think it is, I don't see a problem in Morel doing this." Natsume added.

While Morel was preparing to receive the attack by strengthening his defence, Gon stepped forward. What Morel said didn't seem to have bothered him the slightest, he just needed to prove that he was indeed worthy of tagging along. However, once he was told to imagine that he was the Royal Guard that hurt Kite everything changed. Gon remembered the eyes, and the murderous aura of that deadly feline that attacked them back in NGL. He recalled Kite's last words before seeing his whole arm being removed from his body and then passing out. Back then, everything seemed so unreal, as if it was a scene from an action-thriller movie, but seeing Kite's current state was a slap back to reality. Gon's eyes turned cold and empty; that look alone made Morel want to swallow his words. While the rest were just shocked at Gon's sudden rage, two people in the sidelines couldn't do anything but helplessly watch rage take over their friend.

"First comes rock," All the strength and anger that was built up inside of him for so long was suddenly released in the form of his orange coloured Nen, breaking the ground underneath them and causing the earth to shake from the intensity of his power. At this point, Gon didn't even notice everyone standing around him. In his eyes, Neferpitou was standing right in front of him and it was finally his opportunity to get revenge for what she had done to Kite. But it all stopped when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Gon," Killua quietly called out to him, "that's enough."

Himeko too stepped forth and called out to Morel who was still gobsmacked by the intensity of Gon's attack. "Are you satisfied yet?" She questioned him, raising a brow. "Or did you want Gon to continue that attack?"

"N-no," Morel stuttered, still astonished by Gon's strength. "That's enough!"

It took some time for Gon to snap out of it too. He didn't realise that he was just about to blow the whole place up and kill not just Morel, but possibly everyone else around him too. "I'm really sorry about that," he quickly apologised with his usual grin. "I really was about to kill you there, Morel-san."

Knowing that he could've just possibly escaped his death thanks to Killua interrupting, Morel nervously tried to laugh the whole situation off. "You got me good, kid!" He admitted, continuing to nervously laugh at how lucky he was. Once he was able to overcome what just happened, he proceeded to inform everyone of the mission. Just as Netero instructed, he everyone up into four teams. Gon, Killua and Himeko remained in one team, after requesting to be assigned to Neferpitou. Knuckle and Shoot were assigned to Menthuthuyoupi, Toshiro and Natsume to Apednoiraud, and lastly Knov and Morel agreed to take on Shaiapouf.

With only a little more than a week left for their main operation to begin, Gon, Killua and Himeko managed to infiltrate East Gorteau that same day. It was pretty easy, almost too easy for Gon and Killua. Himeko however had a little problem with the infiltration as she didn't know how to swim, so all she could do was hold her breath and trust the boys to help her cross.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Killua commented once they were all dry, "but now the real mission begins. We have to be careful from here onwards."

"What do you mean?" Gon and Himeko seemed a little lost by his statement.

"Countries like this have informants," he started to explain, "they are just like spies, and they report sightings of infiltrators in exchange for a reward. They will also try and keep you inside this country until you are found by the government for a reward." He continued to tell the two about how the reward was usually not just for the individual, but the group the informant belongs to. Similarly, in case the informant is found to be lying, the would be severely punished, along with the whole group. Gon and Himeko quietly listened, amazed by how much insight Killua had on this. It turned out that this information was given to him by his brother who heard it from their grandfather Zeno.

He continued to speak about not just this, but how the media had been twisting the truth for many years, making the normal citizens believe things that weren't true. The money that was supposed to aid the needy was instead spend on luxury items such as gold and high end cars, as well as missiles and nuclear weapons in preparation for future wars. The more Killua talked about the political affairs of the country, the slower Gon seemed to be walking. Eventually Gon came to a hold with steam coming out of his ears, and Himeko who was the first one to notice this stopped and waited for Gon to somehow process the information.

Killua just kept talking until he noticed that no one was following him anymore, so he turned around. "Oi, don't overheat now out of all times!" He yelled, seeing the excessive steam escaping Gon's ears. He should've guessed that this was about to happen sooner or later with Gon.

"Sorry, but that was a bit too complicated for me to comprehend," Gon sheepishly grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck. Killua just sighed, wondering whether all that talking was just a waste of his own time.

"Think of it like this Gon. In this country, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer," Himeko broke Killua's words down for him, "in any case, this country is up to no good."

"Ohh! That makes sense now!" Gon gave them both a wide smile, indicating that he did indeed manage to comprehend it this time around. Killua looked at Himeko, wondering how her no good explanation made more sense than his own, to which she just shrugged. They continued to walk a little further and managed to reach a small village; a perfect place to gather information about the country and it's inhabitants. At first glance, it looked abandoned, yet the trio didn't want to risk being spotted so they stayed hidden. With no one in sight, Killua was the first one to go down and check whether the coast was clear, telling the other two to remain hidden. Once he managed to sneak inside the village and peek through one of the house's windows, he saw that it was empty and signalled for Gon and Himeko to join him.

They slowly opened the door and peeked inside again before entering, making sure that no one was inside. As they expected, it the single room building was abandoned. It had very little furniture in it, and a single picture of the current leader hanging on one of the concrete walls. "The whole village seems to be deserted," Killua said, not being able to sense the auras of any humans around the area.

Knowing that the selections were less than a week away, Gon suggested that they might have already left to prepare for it. "Do you think they might have left for Peijing already?"

"I don't think they'll ever make it to Peijing," Himeko told, pointing at the trails of dried blood on the floor leading outside. "It looks like these trails have been here for a while now."

"And our culprit did a very bad job at hiding the evidence too," Killua added after he searched around some more. Removing a chair that was conveniently placed in front of the wall, he uncovered a bullet hole. "I guess following the blood trails is the only thing we can do now." He led the way out of the hut, following the trails of blood out of the village with Gon and Himeko close behind him. The trails didn't lead too far away from the village, and eventually stopped in the middle of a nearby forest. As they got closer, they saw a group of wild dogs circling something in front of them. However, hearing the unfamiliar steps coming their way, the wild dogs quickly ran away and hid still watching what was still left of their dinner. There were small holes dug into the ground, and stacks of human skeletons with little remaining flesh inside. "The bodies weren't buried deep enough, so the dogs were able to find them," he concluded. "I can imagine the whole village being buried here."

"And whoever did this was either in a rush, or didn't really care about hiding the evidence left behind."

"What is going on here?" Gon questioned Killua, still slightly disturbed by the piles of bodies laying right in front of him.

"This is the true purpose of the national celebration. In order to not raise any suspicion, they are using it as a way to get rid of entire villages. In other words, the selection has already began," Killua started to explain, "The estimate population of East Gorteau is around five million. It is nearly impossible for all those people to make it to the capital in time for the selection, so the are getting rid of whole villages and cities at a time. The only people that would start to raise suspicion are the co-workers or family members of the dead, but since mobile devices are banned here, there is no way for the message to spread in such a short amount of time. They will start off with the villages furthest away from their capital and then slowly work their way towards Peijing. This way, the selection will go smoothly. The government will also assign people to prevent communication between villages and towns, so there is no possibility for the message to spread so quickly."

"There are only nine days left, so even if someone where to try and carry the message to another town, there is a small chance for them to actually cause a significant change in just nine days." Himeko added.

"That's right," Killua said in agreement, "but there is little chance for the messenger to even make it to another town with informants lurking around. They will most likely be eliminated before they reach the next town."

While the conversation was going on, Gon seemed to be wondering about something specific, "but if there are only nine days left, and you want to eliminate five million people at a time doesn't that mean you need more help. If we assume that one Nen user can get rid of ten thousand citizens in one day, that would mean that for five million you would need..." Gon stopped his sentence there and started to divide those two huge numbers, wanting to get an estimate of how many soldiers the ants would need.

Not wanting Gon to overheat his brain again, Himeko gave him the answer, "it's five hundred soldiers, Gon."

"Yeah, that's what I meant!"

"You are trying to get at the fact that there can't be five hundred ants who can use Nen, right?" Killua asked Gon, knowing that this was the point he was trying to make.

Gon nodded, "yeah!"

"I don't think they need Nen users to eliminate everyone," Himeko pointed out, "the ants weren't able to use Nen in the beginning, but they still managed to stir up trouble around NGL. Nen is something they learnt very recently."

"That's not all, some ants can use manipulation." Killua added, remembering that large puppeteer controlling Kite. "With an ability like that, I'm sure they can control multiple people at once. Ordinary humans have an aura too, so that could easily be manipulated. In any case, if I'm correct then we just have to find the one being controlled in each village, take them out, and cause a commotion leading the survivors to escape to the nearby villages to inform everyone. If they are using manipulated citizens instead of real Nen users, it will be easy to take them down one by one, but that also means that we can risk being detected easily." Killua stopped walking and turned around to face the other two. "If we run around causing chaos then we will easily be detected, but in order for the old man's plan to work we have to remain hidden. What do you guys think?"

"If the selections have already begun, then we can't just sit still," Gon answered, "let's do it!" Himeko too nodded in agreement. The lives of nearly five million people were on the line, they couldn't just sit still and wait around for another nine days while an entire nation was getting eliminated one by one.

"Okay, in that case let's do it!" Killua gave them a faint smile before proceeding, "but I will do this alone."

As expected, that alone caused a lot of uproar from Gon. "Why?" he almost yelled in disbelief, "I want to help to, you can't possibly do that all alone!"

"Gon, think!" Killua interrupted Gon's protest, "this isn't our main mission. We are here to fight that Chimera ant. That should be your focus from now on." Himeko remained quiet once again, having nothing to input in this situation. She knew that reminding Gon of Neferpitou would get him to go along with Killua's plan. Gon's silence itself was more than enough proof for that. "You have to promise me that you will stay hidden, no matter how many people get killed in front of your eyes. Promise me that you won't interrupt my plan." Gon remained silent, knowing that this was serious business. He remembered that the main reason he came all this way was to get revenge for what had happened to Kite; nothing else. It was his way of unwillingly agreeing to Killua's request. Killua too knew that defeating Neferpitou and finding a way to heal Kite was Gon's priority, so he won't object. Killua turned back around and continued walking down the path. "I will contact you via text to keep you up to date," he informed them, "and no offence, but I tend to work better alone." Gon had no objections to make, so he quietly followed Killua. Since Gon somehow agreed to Killua's plan, Himeko too stayed quiet and followed until they came to a complete stop. It was finally time for the three of them to part ways.

"Well, I guess this is a good place to split up," Killua announced. The trio took a moment to look at each other before finally deciding to say their goodbyes. "Remember what I told you two," Killua reminded them of their conversation a few minutes ago, "remain hidden until I contact you."

Gon finally managed to nod give the two a smile, agreeing to Killua's demand, "okay, but be careful Killua. You too Kou."

"Right back at you!" Killua smiled back.

"Stay safe!" Himeko told him, to which Gon gave a determined nod before getting ready to depart. Just as he got ready to head down his own path, Himeko called out to him, "Gon, wait!" Gon stopped and turned back around, wondering what she wanted from him, but he was slightly startled when he was greeted by a hug. Knowing that Himeko wasn't the kind of person to just hug anyone so casually, he could sense that she was genuinely worried about him. He hugged back tightly, trying to let her know that he'll be fine. That alone managed to calm her down and made her feel at ease, and she managed to let go. "Remember Gon, stay safe!" She repeated once again.

"I'll be fine, you stay safe too! Of course I mean you too Killua!" Gon gave them his usual happy grin, setting both Killua's and Himeko's minds at peace. He then went down his assigned path while the other two remained behind, watching him leave until he was completely out of sight.

Once Gon was gone, Killua turned to her. He too was slightly surprised by her sudden change in character but couldn't exactly blame her. He too was worried about Gon, knowing how reckless he acts based on his emotions.

"Don't judge me, I just heard that physical contact make you feel less lonely. Sometimes I feel like Gon completely forgets that he has us to rely on, we are here to fight with him but he tries to carry the burden by himself. I just wanted to let him know that he isn't alone in this, he has the two of us to fight with him."

Killua couldn't help but let out a smile and agree with her on this. In a way he felt glad that she forwarded that message to Gon on both of their behalves. He then proceeded to brief her with her part of the mission, "you know what to do, right?"

"The same as you, cause chaos amongst villages and towns." She answered, "I can't believe you actually asked me for help, 'Commander I work better alone'."

"It's easier to cover all of the villages with two people," Killua told her, "besides, if Gon knew that he was the only one not part of the plan, he would have insisted that he'd help out. I'd rather have him rest until our main mission. In any case, remember to keep me up to date by sending me texts here and there.

"Understood!" she affirmed, "I guess this is where we part ways."

"Yeah, be careful." He said, before going on to patting her head awkwardly, "don't worry, we'll make it out safely." Maybe it was because he was too shy to try and comfort her with a hug, that he thought a simple gesture like that would get the message across for him. He knew that this wasn't going to be an easy mission, and their main mission to fight Neferpitou could easily cost them their lives. But for now, he wanted her to think more positively. They both knew that Gon was going through a lot, but that didn't mean that no one else had their own worries. He was grateful that she was worried over him when he was manipulated by Illumi's needle, it made him feel like there was someone other than Gon he could lean on. Moreover, he was grateful that she decided to stay back all this time knowing how frightened she was after returning from NGL without Kite. Now that he experienced what fear felt like and how hard it was for him to overcome it, it just made him more thankful that she didn't run away and trained to become stronger. He knew that she was still scared; after all he was only manipulated into thinking that his opponents were stronger causing that fear inside of him. With her it was different, she genuinely felt scared from the bottom of her heart.

Himeko gave him a half-smile as a gesture of thanking him, for making an effort and telling her that they'll make it out safely. Although Killua himself didn't know whether or not they'll actually make it out alive, she knew that he wasn't the type to express himself like that. He was more awkward when trying to do so, and this gesture was no different. Eventually he stopped, feeling slightly embarrassed by her just smiling back at him without saying a word.

Killua took a moment to clear his throat to erase the awkward atmosphere around them, "like I said, be careful on your way and don't mess up."

"Is there someone watching us?" she asked, noticing that he had repeated this a couple of times now.

Killua wondered whether she actually noticed it too. The presence was concealed almost perfectly, so even he took some time to notice. "You could sense that faint presence?"

"No, but while you were walking I saw you looking back and glaring. I figured that it wasn't aimed at me, so I assumed that there was someone watching us."

"I think whoever it is, they are waiting for us to split up."

"And follow the weakest out of us?" She completed his sentence, "I doubt they'd follow you, they are more likely to follow innocent little Gon, or the weak little girl in the team."

"In any case, you are going straight through the forest so watch out for anything and anyone that could be waiting for you to lower your guard," he warned her, "if you stay on the path, you will be able to reach the next town with no trouble, so don't be little Red Riding Hood and stray away from the path."

Hearing that sarcastic yet funny little reference he made, she decided to lighten the mood by putting on the hood of her blue hoodie, "don't worry, I'm little Blue Riding Hood!" she beamed excitedly, not noticing how painfully embarrassing that joke was to watch. Killua just shook his head, trying to erase the whole scene out of his head whilst trying to deal with the second hand embarrassment. "Wait, that was lame wasn't it?"

"Just go!"

"I'll take that as a yes..." Nonetheless, she still managed to laugh it off just like all the other unfunny jokes she had told in the past. "You be careful too, I'll see you around then!"

Killua watched her leave and head down her assigned path, brimming with new found energy to do well on this mission. Once she was gone, Killua smiled, remembering that bad joke she just told him and quietly chuckling to himself about it. When he was the only one that remained back, he decided to leave too, walking down his assigned path.

When walking down the path, Himeko remembered Killua's words to just follow it as it would somehow lead her to one of the nearby villages that they hoped wasn't eliminated yet. She also reminded herself that there was a high chance for someone to be following her, so she made sure to stay alert at all times. She guessed that it must have been an ant based on their ability to conceal themselves without being noticed by herself or Gon. Even Killua admitted that whoever it was, their Zetsu was close to perfect, and he was only able to notice thanks to little movements we was able to hear. It was dark, and awfully quiet so she tried to use it to her advantage. If someone were to follow her, they had to be very quiet in order to not be caught.

A while later, Himeko picked up her pace and one side of the path had been replaced by a river. It was a long fall, and she couldn't swim either so she tried her best to stay away from that side. For the past couple of minutes now, she clearly knew that someone had been following her, hearing occasional rustling in the bushes. Yet, she tried her best to not make a big deal of it and pretend not to notice. Whoever it was, they'd eventually decide to show themselves tired of playing hide and seek.

It didn't take long for the rustling to become louder, and eventually Himeko stopped walking when she saw that someone was finally coming out of the bushes and blocking her path. Just as she suspected, it was a Chimera ant following her all that time. A large, humanoid red fox standing on his hind legs wearing baggy, blue jeans and a character print t-shirt. His bushy, unkept black hair reached until his shoulders, and his forehead was covered with a red headband, tied into a tight knot behind his head.

"Where are you going, little Blue Riding Hood?" He asked in a low tone, his eyes fixed on her. Himeko assumed that he too heard that lame joke of hers earlier and just mentally face-palmed at the fact that he brought it back up to greet her.

Himeko slowly took back a few steps before she charged at him with full speed. Thinking that she might be running towards him to attack, the Chimera ant prepared to defend himself and counter attack, but that wasn't her intention at all. Once she was only a few yards away from him, he waited for her to attack but all she did was race past him.

"I don't have time to deal with idiots!" She shouted while continuing to run off, leaving the Chimera ant dumbstruck.


A/n- Part 2 of the double update :D It was supposed to be all one chapter, but it was too much to read all at once so I split it up. Anyways, my exams are over so my mini hiatus is finally over ^^ I still have school so yeah, that sucks!

I know some of you guys are like 'yaaay double update' while others are probably like 'wtf is this woman on about, why are there 4 Royal guards all of the sudden?!" Don't worry, I know what I'm doing (I think). And please excuse my lame attempt of trying to follow Togashi's example and making up a name for the fourth guard. I tried!

Review Corner:

SilverDewDrop- Yeah, the stars were supposed to indicate the reference. I think I forgot to point the reference out, but you noticed it :) Himeko isn't going to take anything from arrogant people, if anything she has to be the most arrogant of them all.

And I'd feel more sorry for Gon who has to put up with both of them arguing, and also for being stuck in the middle of the fights. Also, japanese urban legends are pretty cool so you should check them out. If you like creepy stuff and have no life (like me) I would suggest listening to horror stories on youtube. There are certain channels that read out scary stories they find on reddit and stuff, I don't know I just like doing that when I'm bored and home alone. (I'm weird, don't mind my weirdness)

JJ- That's cool! I love that voice actress ^^

havanatitania- Is Killua starting to like Kou? Maybe! Well, that's my way of trying to portray a teenage crush. I always imagined Killua to be okayish with kids because he always babies Alluka. In Himeko's case, she was the one babied so she has no clue what to do. I hope the update answered some of your questions!

This last chapter was focused on Killua, this one was focused on Gon (so hopefully that made up for it, although Gon was definitely not happy in this chapter) while the next one is going to be focused on Kou.

Last Future of Embryo- I'm not really sure to be honest, I've heard that Togashi prefers to work alone. That explains all his hiatuses because no one else can work on behalf of him. I don't mind waiting either, as long as I get a completed series I'm fine. Until then I'll just wait for Hunter x Hunter 2022. And that sounds like a fun yet tiring job. I hope you have fun :D Thanks for taking your time to review!

JokeLover123- Ha ha, I suck at riding bikes too so don't worry. I had a really bad experience crashing into my cousins bike and falling flat down on my face. My cousin didn't even care about me, he cared more about the scratches on his bike T_T

And yep, Killua called Kou pretty :3

Mikamizu Mouri- Thank you, and thanks for the review :D

Jikola- Yep, first 'date' for her. She probably didn't even realise that it was a date.

SlightlyYandereMelissa- Glad you enjoyed that chapter :D

EmberSkies- I'm sorry my fanfic has been stalking you :/ I never really expected it to stalk anyone xD

Hikari. AA- I'm glad you liked that chapter, I enjoyed writing it as much. ^^

AJPJweallluvJJ- Hmm.. good question. It all depends on how Killua acts around them to be honest. I know the answer, but to find out you'd have to keep waiting :3

OhhPlease- Don't worry, I'm back from my hiatus with a double update :D I'm glad you like this fic and the Koullua ship ^^

Ziggy123- Thank you for your review, I'm glad you like this fic ^^

keico0906- Thanks for the review! I don't really have a preference. Koullua or Kourapika, both are enjoyable to write although I know that more people are rooting for Koullua. It really makes my day to hear that you like this fic ^^

ueena- Calling all passengers waiting for the Koullua ship, the ship is ready to board! Ha ha XD