Note: Sorry for the long delay, my dearies. Life still hasn't stopped throwing everything it's got at me and I ended up with a terrible burn-out that I'm fighting with all I've got. To the reviewer who asked for a spanking scene, this is as close as I can ever get to something like that with these two.
Beta-reader: PlatinumOwl.
Chapter summary: Mozart and storms.


Chapter 55

Kuroro woke up feeling languid and lazy, but pleasantly worn out. It didn't take long for him to remember how one feisty blond Kuruta had come to him in the middle of the night, so eager to please and hungry for something specific. The Spider Head hoped it was proof that he'd gotten through that hard shell and touched the boy hiding behind. It was amazing, it was addictive, and it was oh so very good.

Kurapica had said that he would come to him, and so Kuroro remained in his room, reading for most of the morning. When it got closer to lunch time rather than breakfast, Kuroro had had enough of waiting. Actually, he'd had enough of waiting a few days ago, but he understood then that Kurapica needed this time to think and regroup. It had been a dicey move. The younger man might have just come back and told him to keep his paws to himself. That he'd come to him for sex after all of this was an amazing, powerful feeling. Now, however, he was itching to get going again. They had dallied long enough.

His decision taken, he gathered all of the things that he had left scattered about and put them away in his bags. He went through the room and bathroom one last time, then put his bags into the Fun Fun Cloth. It didn't take him much time to cross the parking lot, stopping in front of Kurapica's room. He tried the window, checking to see if it was locked. It wasn't. If he were a lawful man, he would knock, wait for the blond to open the door and inform him of the potential danger. He was certainly not a lawful man, however, and that unlocked window proved to be a practical entry point for him. It was a little like the Kuruta was inviting him in a way. He tried to see if he could sneak up on him, but the moment that he slipped into the room, Kurapica's sleepy voice broke the silence. "You have a key," he grumbled, "so why didn't you just come in through the door?"

"This is more fun," Kuroro answered, walking to the bed. He peered at the blond head that he could just about see peek out from under the blankets.

Kurapica cracked an eye open and looked at him, then turned onto his back and stretched, hiding a yawn behind one hand. "What time is it?" he wanted to know.

"Eleven-fifty," the Spider Head answered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Kurapica made a frustrated sound and turned onto his front on the side of the bed furthest from where Kuroro sat. Both of Kuroro's eyebrows arched high on his forehead and an amused smile curled his lips. He put one hand on the bed by the blond and slowly ran his hand from the back of his neck, ignoring the way Kurapica tensed up, all the way to the small of his back. He could see a blush travelling up the sides of the young Hunter's neck, cheeks and all the way to the tip of his ear. Oh it was so temping to take advantage of this. Maybe he could try and see just how willing the Kuruta was now that is was light outside. The last time, he'd had thrown a fit the day that followed. Maybe pushing for things again would help avoid another useless argument.

After a moment, he decided against it. They had stayed put for far, far too long. Kuroro wanted to get a move on. He had been bored out of his mind for days now, and he was itching to go. "Come on," he said, patting the blond on his behind twice. "Kurapica, I want to get going, so get up and get out of bed."

The Kuruta turned a horrified expression on him, shoving his hand away. "If you ever do that again," he warned the older man, "I'm going to punch you in the face until you lose more than just a tooth."

"Hm," Kuroro commented laughingly, agreeably moving his hand away, "I daresay you'd try." He stood. "Come on, grab whatever you need and get into the shower. I'll pick up your things so we can go as soon as you're dressed." Kurapica turned and pushed himself up to a seated position, looking adoringly rumpled. Kuroro chuckled. "I'll even fix you some coffee," he added.

At the mention of coffee, Kurapica finally looked willing to move. Kuroro should have thought of using this tactic from the beginning. The boy swung his feet over the edge of the bed and hid a yawn behind his hand, stretched, and finally pushed himself up. "You better not be lying about the coffee," he told him, going to his bags and retrieving some clothes to wear.

"I'm not," Kuroro replied pleasantly before making his way to the bathroom to get some water from the faucet to use in making the foul-tasting brew they called coffee in this crappy little motel. He passed by the blond on his way back to the coffee machine, and Kurapica paused, looking up at him. Kuroro stopped as well, tilting his head, a cup of water in each hand. The blond put a hand on his shoulder for leverage, pushed himself onto the balls of his feet and planted a quick kiss onto his lips, before crossing the distance to the bathroom and closing the door firmly behind him. Kuroro stared at it for a moment, wondering what that had been about, but then he shrugged and walked over to dresser. He fixed two cups of coffee, though both were for Kurapica. The paper cups provided were small and Kuroro was ready to bet one wouldn't be enough. He looked around the room and, other than a few books on the nightstand, noticed nothing out of place. He brought the books to the desk, but left Kurapica's bags where they were, since the blond would probably have thing to put away in them. He heard the shower turn off. A moment of quiet rustling, and then the hairdryer turned on. Kuroro sat down on the bed and, from the neat pile, picked one of the books he'd let Kurapica borrow. He'd read it already, but it was something to do besides staring at the wall and listening to the sounds coming from the bathroom.

Kurapica finally walked back into the room, wearing what was now his trademark hoodie with jeans (a definite improvement from what had been his previous attires, as far as Kuroro was concerned), his hair dry and brushed. Kuroro closed the book and set it back atop the pile. "Ready to go?" he asked and Kurapica nodded, putting his things away in his bag.

"Coffee?" the blond wasted no time in demanding.

Kuroro pointed to the top of the dresser. "Both cups are yours," he told the boy. "You should decide which book you want to take with you so I can put the other ones away."

"I'm done reading those," Kurapica informed him and he walked over to the coffee, taking a long sip that seemed to make half of the liquid disappear in one go. Then he set it down and went to the bag that Kuroro had left in his room. He opened it quickly and looked at the books inside for some time before finally selecting one. He set it down onto the bed and brought the bag to the older man before going back for his coffee.

Kuroro was amused to realize Kurapica meant for him to put away the books, like he was some sort of servant. He would be a little offended if it weren't so damn funny that he, fearful leader of the Gen'ei Ryodan, was putting books away at the demand of one little Kuruta orphan. He summoned his Skill Hunter book so that he could put all of the luggage safely away into the Fun Fun Bag. That done, he looked at the blond who lifted a finger to have him wait and quickly downed the rest of his coffee. He chucked the empty cup at the trashcan and got it right in. "All right," he said, grabbing his second cup and going to retrieve the book he had selected, "I'm ready now."

Kuroro motioned towards the door. "After you, miss," he teased. Kurapica sent him a pinched little look, but didn't comment. He swept by the older man and left the room, quickly walking to the car. The Spider Head followed behind, chucking the room keys at a tired-looking maid who was passing by. Just before he got into the car, Kuroro marked a pause. Something... felt off. He looked at the sky, which was rapidly turning from a clear blue to a murky grey as more and more storm clouds congregated over the landscape. They were leaving just in time, it seemed. But there was something else, too. Strong nen somewhere, far in the distance. Kuroro didn't like rushing into a potentially dangerous situation without at least some plan made on how to deal with it, but the nen was still far off and more to the west that where they'd come from. They would be driving away from it, a fact that made him feel confident that it would not bring them any trouble.

Kurapica leaned onto the driver seat to peer up at Kuroro through the open door. "Is something the matter?" he wanted to know.

"No," Kuroro assured him, because he wasn't sure what to make of it just yet. He moved to get in so the blond sat back up on his own seat and buckled his seat-belt. Kuroro slid behind the wheel and shut the door. He'd keep an eye on it, he decided. If it came to light that they were indeed being tailed, then he'd inform the younger man. "All right," he breathed out and twisted the key into the ignition, "let's go."

He peeled out of the parking lot with all of the impatience that he'd been sitting on for the two weeks that it took for Kurapica to figure himself out. Once on the wide, open road, he felt much better. He drove fast, not caring if Kurapica were to berate him about it. But the blond wasn't paying the road any mind. He had his nose in a book, though Kuroro didn't think he was reading, or at least not all of the time. Sometimes, his gaze paused over the text and his cheeks took on a pink tinge. Kuroro was ready to bet that the boy was thinking back on the previous night and the older man wasn't about to make him stop remembering, so he let him be.

After a moment, he turned the radio on, though not too loud. Mozart's Symphony No.24 started playing, both light and heavy, like most of Mozart's work. It started raining, lightly at first, then harder and harder and Kuroro was forced to use his windshield wipers at the highest setting. When the first crash of thunder resounded above the car, Kurapica looked up from his book and seemed to notice the rain for the first time. The storm raged hard and fast all around them, but they managed to drive out of it quickly enough. The strange nen readings he'd gotten when they had left were long gone, too. There was perhaps an hour of quiet drizzle, when they rolled into another storm. The afternoon went on like this, driving in and out of one storm after the other, with periods of calm in between. They ate in the car, as there was no restaurant, inn or shop for miles in front of them. They didn't stop either, but ate on the go since Kuroro didn't want to be stuck in storms all day and he was hoping to reach the end of it if he kept driving.

Not having a book to hide behind, Kuroro caught the younger man stealing glances in his direction every once in a while, but he didn't call him out on it, wanting to let Kurapica come to whatever decision he was going to about their activities of the previous night. Kuroro certainly had no problem with how it had all played out. If Kurapica did, well it was up to him to reach his own conclusion and then decide what to do afterwards.

Visibility got steadily worse as the sun went lower in the sky. Soon, Kuroro would have to stop, vision and reflexes enhanced by nen or not. They would have to sleep in the car. There was nowhere to stop at for miles, as far as he knew. As the last visible rays of light fell away, Kuroro glanced at Kurapica, though he didn't want to take his eyes off of the road for too long. "We should probably stop for the night," he told him. "You don't mind sleeping in the car? I thought we'd camp out but with this weather, that option's out."

"You know I don't mind," the blond answered him, putting his book away. He probably couldn't read anymore. He rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his palms and stretched. Kuroro glanced at him just as the Kuruta peered outside. "Can you actually see?" Kurapica asked him. "It's pitch black."

Kuroro looked ahead and cursed softly. Everything was deathly quiet. No rain, no thunder, nothing. He slowed to a stop and started looking rapidly around for any sign of where they were. On either side of the road, the woods vanished into absolute darkness. Behind them and up ahead, the lights from the car faded away too quickly to tell them much. Kuroro undid his seat-belt. "Stay in the car," he told his companion, already pulling the handle and opening the door. He stood just outside, listening intently. He heard faint rustling coming from Kurapica's seat. Around the car, nothing. Not the kind of nothing one gets on an afternoon stroll out in the countryside, but actually nothing. No owl or bat, no howls, no wind, not even rain. It was as if they were in a bubble of absolute emptiness, with only just a few trees and the asphalt road for company.

Kurapica's car door opened, and Kuroro had to admit he wasn't even surprised that the boy had ignored his order. Not really happy about it, but certainly not surprised. The boy tried his patience like no other, and Kuroro didn't even have much of a temper, so this was saying something. The door closed and Kurapica joined him on the driver side of the car.

"I asked you to stay in the car," Kuroro commented.

"And I chose not to," the blond replied.

The taller man didn't respond right away, recognizing a challenge when he heard one, but he had to pick his battles for now, at least. "If this is a nen ability," he told the boy after a moment, "which it most likely is, you cannot defend yourself. You're a liability right now, and I don't want to divert some attention to make sure you're all right when I really need to figure out what is happening."

Kurapica thought it over for some time, and Kuroro had most of his attention on their surroundings, but a good part of it was on his companion, too. The blond finally opened his mouth to say something, when they both froze. Whatever he had been about to say, he changed instead to, "That wasn't an animal. That definitely wasn't an animal."

"No," Kuroro agreed, "it wasn't."

"It didn't sound human either," Kurapica added.

"It was," Kuroro replied. "It's the sound some humans make when hunting other humans." He turned quickly. He would be fine on his own, but he had no idea what the ability used on them was, or how to counter it, and he had someone to look out for. He preferred retreating for now. "Get in the car," he repeated, more strongly this time. Kurapica didn't argue. He crawled right in through the driver door and moved back to his seat. As soon as he had the room, Kuroro got in, slammed the door shut and gunned the engine.