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Chapter 33

No Surprises

Tadaki remained hyper aware of his surroundings as Killua, Canary, Esmerelda, and himself circled around the four girls in the center and dashed through the jungle.

Canary's Barrage Cloak remained active as they moved forward, as well as Killua's Lightning Cage Hatsu. Meanwhile, Esmerelda continued to plant clones every few miles behind them as they drifted further and further away from the rendezvous had no info that mentioned them being followed, but they figured the safer, the better as the clones trailed behind.

Alluka and Connie did their best to carry the two former princes Kacho and Fugetsu, as they remained sleeping on their backs. During the move, the twins were hastily dressed in long saris and head coverings, which hid them from sight in case Canary needed to lower her Hatsu near the airship port.

They moved in silence as the sky began to open up and a small drizzle covered them. The nearest port would be an hour and a half away at best. Tadaki thought they were making great time as even he barely broke a sweat in the warm rain.

When they finally reached the airships, situated many miles outside of Okonami, they paused within the outskirts of the quickly fading jungle. The surrounding area began to drizzle with soft pattering rain as they watched the bright lights up ahead.

"Target in sight. Moving on to phase three." Canary ordered. She then removed the cloak from Esmerelda as it then decompressed around the remaining team again.

"I'll give you five different tickets from five different Esmereldas…" The young woman mentioned to the hidden team as she secured an umbrella and large sunglasses on her face.

"However, only one clone will be able to be kept behind in Okonami – I'm leaving her near the rendezvous point. Until then, don't lose sight of the real me." She teased with a wink as she began her walk towards the airport with the team following closely behind.

If one Esmerelda was bothersome, then five was definitely a headache. Killua thought as he waited impatiently for their actual airship boarding. They stayed close to the real Esmerelda, while her clones flirted with every receptionist within reach. While amazingly enough, the real one remained professional and incognito in a pair of large round shades and a head scarf.

In a way, he supposed her clones were developing a great tactic; it certainly kept the attention away from the main group, as her clones skittered around in their many different outfits and odd mannerisms. It seemed even Esmerelda's personality in each was multiplied.

"The last ticket." Esmerelda mentioned to thin air as she neared the final airship counter. "I sure hope you guys are nearby…" She whispered nervously as she got in line.

The wait for the final ticket, thankfully didn't take that long as Esmerelda lowered her shades and batted her long eyelashes towards the ticket handler. Before long, each clone planted five tickets headed for York New City, all under different identities.

Each ticket was also directed under excruciatingly different layover destinations and arrival times in between.

The flying orders included four different layovers for each one, while each arrival time was approximately one day after the other. So, even if they did have a follower, they would be immensely spread out by the time they actually reached their true destination.

They were immensely confident in their work as they left the receptionist's counter with their ticket and entered the secure boarding area.

They managed to buy out all of the airships, so they could fully recuperate between layovers, and no intruders could come aboard.

If all went according to plan, they should be arriving in York New City two days from now.
The twins awoke shortly after their arrival to the airport, and as if their souls had truly been lost, they lay dangling on Connie and Alluka's backs like ragdoll as they continued to move them through the large building.

They waited a few hours in the boarding area before they were finally called: 4 am flight to Sierra, Afrukan.

It was a simple two-hour flight from Sverth to reach there. Soon, as they all boarded the aircraft and began to rise into the air, all members of the team began to spread out and let their Nen recuperate them.

The twins piled against each other in an exhausted corner of the airship while Connie sat protectively nearby. Alluka lay her head on Killua's right shoulder and drifted into a light nap. Canary sat on his opposite side and closed her eyelids while Tadaki sat next to her. Esmerelda lounged across from them as she folded her legs and filed down her fingernails. It seemed everything was going according to plan.

Until…

"Wait," Esmerelda suddenly spoke as she interrupted the silence and sat forward.
"It seems we have one more coming behind us. My clone back in Okonami diminished, and in its place, I learned that-"

"Pepe?" Tadaki wondered as he now noticed the mischievous toucan flying near the airship's window.

"Ah, now that's a fan for life." Esmerelda mentioned with a toothy grin as the boy laughed alongside her.

It was even enough to make Killua grin silently as his hand hid his smile. Yeah, no surprises here…

After their scheduled two hours, the airship began being programmed for landing. Canary and Killua reactivated their Hatsus at once. Connie and Alluka secured the twins on their backs again and Esmerelda prepared herself for departure as well as the large craft began descending. Canary was even wary to include Pepe in her Nen cloak as the airship slowly reached the ground.

The few minutes it took for the airship to descend felt like every feeling happening all at once. It was Canary's secret feelings for Killua, it was Connie's steadfastness towards the twins, it was Tadaki's loyalty to Alluka, Nanika bringing them all together, and Esmerelda teasing them all about it.

Little did they know, it would be the last time they'd all be together like this again.

As the airship doors opened, they began moving together again in perfect motion.

Alluka, Connie, and the twins in the center, Canary and Killua at the front, and Esmerelda and Tadaki in the back.

They had just exited the airship and were about to touch ground, when Canary collapsed.

Her form, once so perfect and focused, suddenly plummeted to the ground in slow motion perfection as soon as her feet hit the concrete.

Killua reacted quickly as he noticed her eyes blaring neon light from her eye sockets before scooping her into his arms.

He never stopped moving, as the team continued to follow after him. She whispered into his chest. "Five minutes, Kil-," as her body finally went limp into his arms.

Killua took her words as a direct warning as he immediately connected his electric Hatsu to the rest of his team.

"Godspeed." He called as Connie, Alluka, Tadaki, and Esmerelda all began moving at top speed throughout Sierra's narrow streets.