AngelFaux Happy late new year :-). Again, thanks for the point outs. Sometimes my brain doesn't pick up on all the mistakes, but when it does I'm happy it's when the sentence wouldn't have made sense. Apparently Killua nearly baked up one of Daniel's arguments.


Daniel couldn't believe his eyes. After what they had experienced last night, the weather was great. The atmosphere was great. It was as if nothing had gone wrong last night. Families were out, enjoying the afternoon weather and park, not even letting the news running this morning ruin the day.

Smiles were seen everywhere and Daniel couldn't help but smile. He wasn't about to let last night's events ruin that day. His eyes drifted towards the families littered throughout the park as he barely listened to Gon and Killua "Ready, go!"

The others had entered a food devouring contest; stuffing their face to the brim with whatever food that could grab in time.

Gon suddenly screamed out Kurapika's name, drawing Daniel's focus back in time to see Gon discharge whatever he was last eating into Killua's face; crumbs, drool, spit and a piece of tomato was plastered to the boy's unfortunate face.

Daniel barely contained his laughter with a smirk. He held out a napkin for Killua, observing the boy quietly as he wiped the undigested food off his face.

As Killua was wiping the food way, Daniel began to notice something weird how he was looking at Killua. He saw things he normally wouldn't have picked up on others. Killua's eyes were closed shut, probably just in time before Gon spat the food in his face. However, it wasn't that Killua's eyes were closed shut; it was he had a blank expression as if he could be thinking anything at this point.

Revenge...

Anger...

Disgust...

Killua could have been thinking anything at this point, and Daniel really wanted to know what's going through the boy's mind. He wanted to know Killua's current thoughts, and the thoughts to follow. He secretly wanted to know everything, Killua was thinking of right now.

Killua's eyes looked between the remainder of what was left, thinking of which piece of food he should ram into Gon's face.

Killua picked up the cream filled pie, quietly sneaking up to Gon. Daniel didn't even bother alerting the other at this point. The boy had it coming; he did after all spit food into Killua's face, even though it was most likely an accident.

Daniel couldn't quiet catch what Gon was talking to Kurapika about, but the moment Killua slammed the cream pie into Gon's face, the two immediately began to bicker and banter; already lost in their own food war.

Daniel took the time to step up to Kurapika, holding his hand out to greet the other. Even though Kurapika shook his hand with a smile, Daniel could see the sadness in his eyes. They barely hid the thoughts that weighed heavily on him.

Daniel wanted to know, but he chose not to obsess over them and instead focus on Killua.

Kurapika was the first to speak "How... How are you?"

"I'm good... just feeling sorry for Gon right now. But then again... he did put himself in this position. How are you?"

Kurapika spoke, barely hiding the sadness in his voice "Could be better..."

Killua suddenly ramming another cream pie into Gon's face elicited a long, hardy laugh out of Kurapika. Soon he was smiling, losing all other thoughts of what weighed on his mind. All Kurapika needed was a reason to laugh. A reason to make the sadness go away. He needed a moment to break his track of thoughts.

That moment, was Gon being hit with a pie. Even when the boy never said a word, he could still somehow make anyone smile.

Daniel's smile slowly spread, choosing to revisit an old question "How you feeling now?"

"Sorry..."

"No reason to apologise. A laugh is all, the doctor needed to prescribe."

"Speaking of doctor..."

"Leorio...? He's with Zephile."

"Zephile...?"

"One of Gon's new friends..."

"Oh." Kurapika continued to smile, looking down at the floor as he spoke "He does make friends easily." Daniel saw it, the sincere, easy to understand smile. It had awoken the boy to some extent; it brought life to those uneasy eyes.

Daniel nodded at Kurapika's words. He couldn't deny it. Gon made friends though his curious amber eyes, unyielding to the endless troves of information. In a sense, he was like Vastorie, except when it came to Vastorie he was secretive to his relentless. Vastorie was a puzzle, waiting to get cracked open. "Gon reminds me of Vastorie sometimes."

"I met Vastorie..." Kurapika covered his mouth after casually blurting it out. He let a secret, one which he should have really kept to himself, especially seeing as Vastorie strictly said they were not on equal footing.

"Oh, did he talk about any embarrassing stories about me? Mention things that should be behind closed doors? Talk about weird sleeping habits?"

Kurapika was not expecting those questions. Was Vastorie deceitful or was Daniel, hiding secrets just as well as his father? "No, he said you dislike him..." This was the first time Daniel has openly spoken about Vastorie. He knew nothing about Vastorie, prior to meeting him.

"I dislike aspects... but he's my father. Well, one of them."

Kurapika blinked once, then twice. Daniel has two fathers...? Wait, that might explain why Vastorie said Daniel was a pain in his backside, pun intended. Maybe Daniel knows what he was referring to..."Hey, Daniel, you said you have two fathers... correct?"

"Yes...?" Daniel watched Gon and Killua continue to play; both boys were ignorant of the conversation happening around their little game of cat and mouse.

"Would you know... what... What Vastorie meant by you were a pain in his backside?" Kurapika purposely left the last part out. He wasn't really sure if it was something he should have said out loud.

Daniel blinked, he wasn't expecting the question, and neither did he know how to answer it. He didn't know was his father meant by that. Sure, he was a child. Sure he drove his father insane at times. But never once was he that. At least... not to that kind of level... "No...? Was that all he said?"

"Yes."

"No embarrassing stories?"

"No."

"No weird habits of mine?"

"No. But, he did say you two were a delicate topic to talk about."

"Oh..." Daniel smiled slightly. Vastorie was right there, but so wrong at the same time, at least in his own eyes. He hated being compared to Vastorie; it left a bad taste in his mouth. Being told constantly by people who had just met him, 'he was a splitting image of Vastorie' made him feel inferior. Vastorie could do things Daniel couldn't begin to dream of hoping to achieve. Vastorie was faster, stronger, and more cunning when it came to everything. If Daniel had half the skills his father had, he could have stopped the Phantom Troupe members from hurting Killua... AND Gon! "Have you ever been compared to someone so much, you wished you were them?"

Kurapika shook his head "No."

"Sometimes, I wish I was like my father... in some things, not all!" Kurapika knew from Daniel's last sentence, something was up. But he stayed quiet, waiting for Daniel to continue. "I... I thought he was unnaturally strong. He knew how and when to block my attacks. He's perceptive... and... I just wish I had his talents..."

Kurapika didn't know how to take in the man's words. How Daniel was describing Vastorie, his portrayal within the first few minutes goes against everything Vastorie showed last night. Yes, the man was cunning. Yes, he knew how to dodge. But he wasn't strong, at least in Kurapika's view. Was he that cunning...? Kurapika shook the thought away before smiling again at Daniel "He certainly is cunning..."

Daniel had been absent minded during Kurapika's words, sadly more focused on what Killua and Gon were doing. The two of them hadn't stopped for a second, Killua constantly pummelling Gon's face with food. The poor boy looked like clown who had fallen into a cream cake. He smiled sincerely, allowing his lips to let loose a small controlled laugh.

One thing Daniel couldn't stop looking at was Killua's smile. Gon's was contagious, but Killua's... it was unique to the boy. No matter how many times he looked at it, each time was different. It was like the moon smiling in pitch black darkness. A beacon for those lost in the woods.

"Daniel?"

Daniel snapped out of his day dream, looking up towards Kurapika as if he had been caught red handed, sleeping in the middle of a class "Yes?"

"Can you stop the two of them? We should be meeting up with Leorio."

"Y-Yeah... Sure! I can do that!" Daniel ran after Killua and Gon, trying to step into the middle of their food fight and end it.

"~"

The five of them together again, smiling at one another as if it had been years since they last met. Gon smiling the largest out of the four welcomed Kurapika with open arms in the restaurant; even though the boy had been travelling with them for the last hour. "It's been a while since we were all together last!"

Gon's words rang true, but the smile accompanying the boy was far too contagious. It was like a plague, sweeping and affecting everyone around him. Even when Kurapika was sad just an hour ago, the sadness had been long forgotten, replaced by a smile set to rival even Gon's.

Leorio joined in after Gon, trying to mimic the boy's wide, goofy opened-mouth smile "Yeah."

As the five of them walked towards the set of elevators, Gon was more interested about why there weren't six of them "Where's Zephile-San?"

"He wanted to validate our check and find more hidden gems to sell."

Daniel waved off Leorio, brushing Zephile off like he was the third wheel to the group, or in this case sixth "It's kinda good... If Zephile joined, then it wouldn't be the gang back together. It'll be the gang plus one."

Killua smirked, his mouth lifting a fraction at Daniel's gesture "You mean the gang plus two."

"Huh?"

"Well, the other day you referred to yourself as the mascot of the group."

Even though Daniel knew Killua was insulting him, he smiled, knowing that Killua remembered. "Oh, you remembered."

For some reason Killua blushed. He was caught off guard by Daniel's sudden reaction. He was expecting more of a retort. Not a smile with acknowledgement.

Leorio couldn't help but smirk at the boy's sudden shyness "Oooooh...? Is the little boy embarrassed, hmm?"

"Shut it, old man!"

Leorio's brain clicked mid sentence, a sudden thought coming to mind. The cogs in Leorio's brain started to turn; half ignoring what Killua said while the other half said what he wanted to say "Oh," Leorio's eyes trained on Kurapika, looking at him as if he just saw something on Kurapika's face "You've got this intensity about you... You seem a little more intimidating now."

"Really...?"

Leorio disengaged the conversation, firing back a Killua with attitude "I'M NOT OLD!" It was like watching a man who didn't know if he was coming or going in the conversation. The cogs were turning again, shifting Leorio's gaze back to Kurapika "Yes..."

Kurapika broke into laughter, unable to stop himself from Leorio's almost Gon-like air-head attitude. Through for Gon's sake, the boy at least listened to all parts before breaking down under too-much-information pressure. As Kurapika was unable to stop laughing, the boy tried to make an observation "You don't seem to have changed much. Maybe a little more air-headed then usual..."

Leorio's facial expression changed at Kurapika's observation, going from a slight cheerful smile to a pout; it was similar to what a child would make when they weren't getting their way. "You're definitely more annoying, too!" Leorio frowned, pressing the button to call the elevator as he shifted conversation gears "Oh, I heard that you defeated a member of the Troupe. Having only just learned Nen, how did you manage that?"

Daniel offered a witty retort at the end of Leorio's conversation "Says the man who only knows Ten at this point..."

Leorio frowned at the boy just as the chime let everyone know the elevator arrived. Everyone filed into the elevator, Kurapika addressed the question "If you're looking for advice on catching the spiders, then stop."

Gon quickly dismissed Kurapika's argument, choosing to redirect the conversation to something more meaningful. It was something they could all agree would be helpful in the end "That's not the only reason. We want to master Nen because we'll definitely need Nen in the future."

Daniel nodded, joining in after Gon "Yeah! And who better to teach us, than the man who beat the unbeatable."

Kurapika looked at Daniel, smile faltering; Kurapika then gave his attention Gon, barely thinking about the answer "Then you don't want my advice. It won't do you any good."

Gon looked curiously at Kurapika, wondering why the blond-haired boy objected to being their teacher "Why not?"

"My power can only be used against the Troupe."

Everyone was caught off guard, even Daniel. But the boy had to ask. There is no way Kurapika would have only a single ability. He would have to have at least several; several to cover the dangers of Kurapika's one powerful ability... shouldn't he? "All of th- WAIT, never mind I only heard power. Why do you have only one power...? Wouldn't you make several to combat all your power's weakness? Unless... do you have one really over powered ability!"

"Like yours?" Killua spoke with a smirk, cutting off Daniel's train of thoughts. Killua was right; his ability did fail him with the fight against the Phantom Troupe, even changing into a weaker and unique form.

Kurapika shook his head slightly, offering only a request they must fulfil "I'll tell you when we sit down."

Daniel hummed a questionable sound, wondering what Kurapika could have up his sleeves.

"~"

The boys were holed up in the room they were staying at. And even though the room was quieter than usual, Kurapika began his story, speaking about his training with his Nen teacher Mizuken without pause. From what Kurapika told the boys, they uncovered that Kurapika was a Conjurer; that meant Kurapika was able to create objects out of his own aura, which also made Shalnark guess correctly, although the boy also offered Manipulator as a second choice.

Different concepts were thrown on the table, all new and ripe to learn from.

Restraint and Vows was one of them. It sounded like it would be a simple concept, paths to different routes of opportunities that were vast, endless. Daniel could only wonder how much Restraint and Vows could benefit him and his dilemma to his own ability, which will ultimately benefit him in the future.

Even though Kurapika barely had time to speak on the topic, Gon was already repeating it like it was a question he had first come up with "Restraint and Vow?"

Kurapika nodded once before continuing his explanation on the topic "Nen is strongly affected by your mental state. The stronger your resolve, the more power you receive. However, you also incur a big risk at the same time. In return for Nen power, I vowed to use it against the spiders alone."

Kurapika's sudden pause gave Daniel time to digest. Daniel's Hatsu earlier indeed took on a new form, weakened as though it was made out of glass or paper. But the moment prior to the ability had a unique display. It was acting as though it was made out of liquids, and as far as he could tell a shadow was nothing like water. Maybe it would ripple if someone was to walk through sand or stand on uneven grounds, but even then, that was a stretch to explain why the ability dripped like thick, sludgy water.

"I established a rule for myself."

Daniel's head shot up in time to hear Kurapika's comment, followed by Leorio's curious question "What's the rule?"

"If I use my chains on one who isn't a spider, I will forfeit my life."

Kurapika's words hit like a ton of bricks. But, there had to be loop holes of some kind. There was no way Kurapika never once used one, or any of his abilities. Judging by the chains on Kurapika's hands, he had to at least have five of them... or maybe they were there for looks rather than effectiveness.

"HUH? What do you mean?"

Daniel cut in before Kurapika could speak "He means if he uses his ability on someone other than a spider... Phantom Troupe member, he'll die!"

Kurapika nodded, extending a thumb out to point towards his heart "There is a Nen blade pointed at my heart. If I break the rule, the blade will pierce my heart, killing me. This is the rule that shows my resolve. Restraint and Vow."

Daniel swallowed hard; this would be hard to swallow now that Gon has also heard Kurapika's resolve. But, there must be a way to still learn from the topic; something that can benefit the others, including himself.

Kurapika held out his hand, glaring intently at it as if his own hand offended him "My power is the product of pure hatred. It only works on spiders. I'm telling you because I trust you. Don't tell anyone else."

Daniel wanted to make a joke about whether it was effective against all spiders, or the Pgantom Troupe members. But this was neither the place nor the time to do that. But, something didn't feel right with Kurapika's explanation. It was as if Kurapika overstepped a crucial key point. How come Kurapika's ability hadn't killed him now? He wasn't a spider, so something hidden wasn't adding up.

Killua broke the silence quickly; ready to object to Kurapika's explanation "Why..." he suddenly stood up, hands clenching as he yelled every word "Why would you tell us something so important?!"

The question hit Kurapika hard, leaving him unable to answer honestly. He just sat there, staring silently at the table. Daniel argued several motives in his mind, but each had no merit to the thought. Only Kurapika truly knew the answer to the question. And when he spoke, he could only offer the conclusion for being 'unsure' why, but the next few words that left Kurapika's mind gave a clue to as why he said anything at all "With their leader's death, I must have relaxed."

Daniel nodded at Kurapika's words, but one question remained. How many of the Phantom Troupe members were alive, and is Paku one of them?

Leorio spoke next, dismantling the danger to the best of his ability "It'll be fine if we keep our mouths shut."

"Wrong!" Daniel objected, staring deep into Leorio's eyes. "What if Pakunoda is still alive...? She can read minds!"

Killua nodded at Daniel's words, backing them up with his own argument "She is! And he's right, it's still too dangerous! Like Daniel said, one of the surviving members can read minds. If they find out, Kurapika won't be able to beat them!"

"AND, they'll know all of us are involved. How long would you last against them Mr. Ten..." Gon joined in the conversation next, arguing on the opposing side of the group "But she didn't learn anything last time."

"That's because we didn't know Kurapika was the chain user. They even thought Daniel was the chain user at one point, because of his weapon..."

Daniel shook at the thought from the things that could have happened to him if Pakunoda didn't exist. Would he still be alive if they assumed Daniel was the chain user because of his weapon?

Leorio waved off Gon's immediate fear to Killua's answer "Then we just have to stay away from them. They've already checked you, so they think you're clean."

"Even then, there's also a guy called Nobunaga. He's especially dangerous. He's not only looking for Kurapika, but he's also trying to chase us down and make Gon join the Phantom Troupe."

"Is he aware that you guys know Kurapika?"

"No..."

"Then it's okay! As long as no one around the mind reader knows Kurapika, then you're safe."

"UNLESS, they run into us again and force us into said position!" Daniel retorted back with a dead-panned expression. He didn't like Leorio's way of thinking. Anything could happen, especially if the remaining members accidently bump into any one of them.

"Well," Kurapika jumped back into the conversation, this time offering something else. It was a secret that he was obviously keeping back, out of fear from being judged harshly, considering the person involved was dangerous on all manner of levels of sanity "I've also been in contact with Hisoka."

"What?!" Everyone freaked out; including Daniel who had to make sure it was the same person "Hisoka the paedophile?"

"He knows that I am the chain user. We made a pact, but his target, the leader of the spiders, is now dead. So I don't know what he'll do."

"Either move onto another target or Gon..." Daniel offered with an estranged smile. Gon gulped from the thought Hisoka would pursue him next. However, Killua immediately objected "Hisoka would NEVER get that close to us... again! That leaves a question. What do we do now? Now that we know Kurapika's secret, it's dangerous to wait around. If Nobunaga captures either Gon, Daniel or myself again, we probably won't be able to escape. But we have Kurapika with us now. We should take them out before they have a chance to recover and escape."

Daniel had been nodding at Killua's speech the entire time, completely ignoring Killua's last sentence "Yea..." It was only when he repeated Killua's last words in his mind that he objected to the entire plan. He stood up, pointing a stern finger in Killua's face "WAIT, there's no way in hell... am I going to hunt down those monsters! WE, should be dismantling, packing up and relocating to a different part of the town; far away from their base of operation!"

Killua raised a finger to Daniel's face, poking the boy in the head furiously "I say we take them out when they're at their weakest, which happens to be right now! We know where their current base is. If we take too long, they might get away. We need to move fast."

Kurapika raise a finger to his chin, mulling the thoughts over. This was indeed the right time to strike. With only six or less members now remaining, and Hisoka on their side the remaining members of the group would be killed with a chinch, IF Hisoka were to join as a behind the scenes rat.

During the whole time Kurapika had his face towards the floor, deep in thought, Killua gave Daniel and Gon each a look. It was a ruse, forcing Kurapika to stay with them, while possibly training them at the same time "They could be making an escape as we speak. We don't have time for too much thought."

Daniel's eye twitched in anger at Killua, the thought of Killua's statement ringing true could have put them all in jeopardy. Dealing with the remaining members could be a whole different kettle of fish, especially with who were remaining. The two, most dangerous remaining Phantom Troupe members... Pakunoda and Nobunaga...

"The woman you mentioned is certainly a threat..." Kurapika paused, giving the situation more thought. Even with so many members dead, the threat was still high "But since their leader is dead, I'll do as Gon says, and focus on recovering my brethren's eyes."

Daniel felt relieved to hear Kurapika say that, but at the same time he felt a sense of defeat as well. Killua would be destroyed about that, and it would mean the likelihood of Kurapika staying to teach them about Restraint and Vows is decreased.

"Seriously?!" Killua was refusing to accept that. The look in his eyes gave away that much to Daniel, and even then, it still managed to make the boy tense at the thought of Killua refusing to give up.

"Yeah!"

"You're sure about this?"

Daniel smiled at Kurapika's determination to continuously refuse Killua's signs to reconsider the choice.

Leorio smiled, butting into the conversation "Kurapika's made up his mind. We can't force him to change it."

"Thank god!" Daniel accidently blurted it out, receiving quite an intense stare from boy who was arguing against the request to reconsider. He had to change the statement, even if it went against everything he valued "I mean... such... a... moment of bitter defeat...?" He had the words completely figured out in his mind, but the poor execution made the situation no better, and neither did it lessen Killua's rage towards the boy's earlier relief.

Killua had only one choice, and that was to give up. The saddened expression Killua made, didn't help Daniel feel any better. But even then, having no choice but to avoid the Phantom Troupe meant Killua and Gon will no longer have a reason to fight the Spiders. And no reason to fight meant the fear was no longer a valid feeling.

"Sorry, Killua... Thank you for the valuable information."

Daniel smiled, now offering another piece of valuable information, even though it sounded more like a joke in his head "She's the one who... As my dad puts it... leaves her... assets out for show and tell... I think..." Daniel couldn't even believe what he said, so he changed his description immediately "Just look for the woman who is wearing a jacket, obviously too tight for her... figure."

Kurapika nodded, but the looks Leorio was giving right now said something completely different. It was like Leorio wasn't acting his age... or was he...? Daniel was unsure about how someone should be acting after hearing a woman had big boobs, which not only didn't fit in her clothing, she was also flaunting them in everyone's face.

Kurapika phone rang; notifying the teenager he had a new message. Kurapika grabbed it, bringing it to his face as he checked it "It's from Hisoka..." Kurapika's sudden change of emotion took a turn for the worse. He was dead silent, eyes shaking. But they weren't eyes of fear... they were worse. They were eyes filled with rage. Did Hisoka make a poorly time joke, or did he say something that was about to change Kurapika's views.

Even when Gon called out to the older boy, he was met with dark, brooding silence; a silence so thick not even a Nen chainsaw could cut through it.

"The dead bodies were fakes..."

The words Kurapika spoke instilled fear into Daniel, a fear that not only was all the Phantom Troupe members alive and well, the five of them will be forced to battle with them. Daniel didn't want to go up against those monsters, not now... not ever again. They were powerful, unrelenting enemies to fear. He had to make sure... he had to make sure it was just a joke, a joke they could all throw behind them "Don't tell me... the Troupe members are alive... all of them...?"

"Yeah, the dead spiders were fakes!"

If Daniel never knew about fear... he was certain he would learn about it now, and that fear had a face. The face was filled with the eyes of the members of Spiders, each looking directly into the boy's eyes.