"I'm from a family of assassins so yea, they're all in the business of murder...And my entire family, they have very high hopes for me. But you know, I can't stand it. Who wants to have their whole life planned out for them."
'I think that statement was sadder then how he put it.' Yuko thought, leaning her head against Gon's shoulder who was staring out the window. They where on the airship to Padokea, and once again Yuko found herself, feeling a sort of sadness or guilt well up inside her.
Yuko looked up to see out the window and instead got a glimpse of Gon's expression, that made her mouth part in surprise. He looked a little discouraged, something she didn't expect to see from him, no shimmer in his eyes.
'Gon must be thinking about him too, I guess even he can be sad, not just angry or excited to save him. But also sad.'
Yuko frowned.
"Yuko, do you...do you think Killua will want to come with us?" He asked her.
Yuko thought carefully on what to say next, she didn't want to lie to him but she also didn't want him to feel worse. So she thought hard, she thought about all the moments she shared with Killua, all the laughs, and all the times they fought. She thought about how he protected her that one time, and how he actually carried her around to find water. She smiled.
"Yes. He said he'd be waiting there for us, before he left. That's what he told me. Even if he hadn't, Killua isn't like his brother, you heard it yourself Gon, he wants to create his own life. He'll definitely want to come with us, and if he doesn't we know it's not him who's talking." Yuko said. She then looked back at the window and saw that Gon was now smiling and she couldn't stop herself from hugging him.
"We're gonna save him Gon, don't you worry."
"Whatchu two love birds doing huh?" Leorio said obnoxiously entering the scene with Kurapika, who was holding their food and drinks. Yuko looked up from hugging him and gave Leorio a look that said 'seriously' before she let go of Gon who was now also staring at the couple.
"By tomorrow we'll finally be in Padokea. You'll both get to see Killua soon." Kurapika said sitting down, by the window Leorio on his other side.
Yuko smiled. "I really can't wait, I'm so excited" Gon nodded along with her.
"Yeah. We'll definitely bring Killua back with us!" Gon said the usual gleam returning back to his eyes.
Gon, Yuko, Leorio, and Kurapika had arrived in the Dentora region of the Republic of Padokea, which Killua calls home. The three of them staring out the open window of the train in daze of the beauty surrounding them. Yuko hadn't seen so much green and big hills in her life, it was absolutely beautiful and she found herself gawking every five seconds.
"Look, you can almost see it over there! So that's where the assassins base is huh?" Leorio said.
"Jeez that's huge! It looks even bigger in real life." Yuko added with widened eyes.
"It's kind of creepy huh?"
"Yeah.." Kurapika responded to Leorio. "Once we arrive, we should gather information"
"Yeah."
{Yuko's POV}
"I'd like to thank all of you for choosing Lamentation Tours. It's an honor to have you here." The salmon haired tour guide said, bowing to the tourists in their seats. My eyes widened as I leaned my head to the side where Gon was sitting beside me, to whisper to him.
"How come all the woman outside of Meteor City are attractive?" I whispered to Gon who shrugged in return.
" I don't know, but what about you? You're pretty." He said with a blank expression, showing he probably thought it was obvious. I felt my face heat up slightly at the compliment, he probably didn't know how much those words affected my insides, he just thought it was common knowledge. But not to me it wasn't, I don't remember the last time someone has called me pretty, in fact I don't think it's ever happened.
"O-Oh, you think so?" I said blinking my eyes.
"Yea, don't you?" He asked innocently
I flinched in surprise.
I don't actually think I have ever thought about it until now. Am I pretty? I hardily even know what I look like, I've barely seen my self. I looked at my legs, a little shy at the question. I hate it when I act nervous like this, it's so damn annoying.
"W-Well I don't...I haven't thought about it."
"Yuko, you're from Meteor City?" Kurapika chimed in, his expression neutral slightly turned around in his seat to look at me, Leorio was as well.
"Oh, wow. I guess I never mentioned that huh? Yea I am, my Mom abandoned me and left me there when I was six" I said like it was normal, I mean it was normal, to me at least. I could see remorse in Kurapika's eyes, still a slight sense of anger as well probably because mention of the Phantoms Troupe home.
"I'm...I'm sorry." He said hesitantly.
I smiled brushing it off with a laugh. "Don't worry about it, I had tons of time to get over it, scratches are scabs now."
"Everyone, If you look out the window to your right... you'll see Kukuroo Mountain where the Zoldyck family lives." Me and Gon looked out the window with tiny gasps at the size of the terrifyingly large Mountain, as the tourist guide continued. "It's 3,722-meter high, and it's surrounded by forest. The Zoldyck estate is rumored to be somewhere on the mountain. Although no one has ever actually seen it."
I perked up in surprise. 'Really? How could no one have seen it?' I wondered as our view was slowly being blocked by a hill.
"The Zoldyck family consists of ten members: Mother and Father, five siblings, grandparents and great-grandfather, all of whom are assassins!"
"Wow even the old man?" I thought out loud. "You know I have to admit, so far I'm not liking Killua's family, but they are super interesting aren't they?" I said to Gon.
"I'm sure some of them have to be decent people, I mean how else would have Killua turned out so awesome?"
I smiled. "You have a point there."
"Alright, now hold on, while we get a little closer to the mountain.
"Would you look at that..." Leorio said placing a hand over his eyes to shield him from the sun.
We where now all standing in front of a large gate, or rather 5 large gates inside of each other, each on bigger then the other. I narrowed my eyes in a deadpanned expression with a slight chuckle.
"So...that's why no one's seen the estate, huh, makes sense." I said.
"This is the front gate of the Zoldyck estate." The tour guide began again. "No one who's entered has ever returned alive, which has earned this gate the nickname "The Door to Hades." To enter, you have to go through the door by the security checkpoint. But beyond that is private property, so this is as far as we can go."
"Alright let's go gang!" I said, heading towards the checkpoint stomping my feet like I was some sort of soldier. Gon simply started to follow after me.
"Hold on a second, didn't you hear a single word I said, there's no way for you to get in, and if you do, you'll most likely never come out!" The tour guide screamed our way. We both stopped walking and Gon turned to her with a confused face.
"Yea but didn't you sa-"
"You won't make it out alive! Hahahaa *Clear throat*" There was a clear tick mark on her forehead. "Like I said, It's an assassins hideout."
I narrowed my eyes in annoyance and placed my hands on my hips.
"It's a sham." A buff guy and a smaller more lean guy entered the conversation walking passed the tourist guide who held a confused expression. All of us looked at them with confusion.
"A family of assassins no one's ever seen?" The one with orange hair said.
" If we can just snap a picture of them, we're gonna get a hundred million in reward money" The other smaller guy said carrying a sword over his shoulder.
"Are you kidding me? Damn it! I should have taken a picture of Killua!" Leorio yelled. I snorted. 'I'm gonna keep that in mind the next time we are in need of money.'
"They probably rely on the mystique to protect them. I bet the truth is a whole lot less interesting." The two said approaching the check point where and old man reading a book was sitting, minding his own business.
"Doesn't this remind you guys of anything?" I said, my arms crossed over my chest. The three looked at me curiously, clearly not having a clue of what I was talking about.
"You know, when we where on top of trick tower and that guy insisted he could climb down the wall, and you know, he ended up, pretty dead. That's what this reminds me of."
"Oh...I get it" Kurapika and Leorio said. Gon was thinking hardly before he suddenly outburst causing us to jump in surprise.
"So, I guess that means in this scenario we'll find an easier way to get in!" He said excitedly as if he figured out the cure to cancer. All three of us deadpanned, at his optimism, seeing as he completely missed the point.
"Great thinking Gon, but not too sure that helps us."
The yellow, or orange haired guy broke open the door to the security checkpoint grabbing the four teenagers attention, watching as they forcefully took the key from the old man and carelessly throwing him to the floor, causing Gon to run over in worry. I followed behind him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes, I'll be alright."
"Those guys just keep getting worse don't they?" I said with an irritated tone, my hands placed on my hips, as the door slammed shut and the two men disappeared inside.
"Oh darn! The master hates it when Mike snacks between meals." The old man said, making the four of us perk up in surprise.
"You've got a cannibal in there?!" I yelled pointing a finger at the door. He stood up brushing his pants off with a weary smile.
"No, No nothing like that, you'll see shortly."
And he was right, a few seconds after loud screams could be heard from inside, sending shivers down my spine. Not a second later did the door eerily open, revealing a large paw, dropping human bones to the ground. Making a gasp leave all four of our lips as it went back inside.
"W-What the hell?! What was that?!" Leorio screamed.
Everyone behind us was panicking screaming and running as they quickly got onto the bus and zoomed out of there, I couldn't blame them, a part of me wouldn't mind doing that either.
" I see, so you're young Master Killua's friends, are you?" Mr. Zebro said as he was pouring tea, the four of us where standing and watching him doing it. I cringed, it was green tea, I don't really like green tea.
"Happy to hear it. I've worked here for the past 20 years, and to the best of me recollection, you four are the first friends who've ever come to visit." He said placing the last cup he poured in front of me. I looked at it with narrowed eyes.
'I ain't drinking that.'
He said down. "Now, I probably shouldn't be telling you his, seeing as how I work here, but this [place is pretty lonely. No one ever really visits."
I laughed. "I don't blame them."
"Well there is the exception of those types of guys." He said gesturing to the garbage filled with human bones. "We get our fair share of those." He chuckled. "But a family of assassins is bound to be unusual. I guess that's the price they have to pay. Oh, well. Anyways I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for coming." Mr. Zebro slightly bowed.
I smiled. "It's not that big of a deal." I sheepishly said. Leorio said something similar.
"However... that doesn't mean I'm going to be able to let any of you inside." We all flinched, and frowned. I crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance.
'What is up with all these obstacles, this is getting old.'
"You saw it earlier, didn't you? How huge the beast's arm was? That arm belongs to Mike. It's the Zoldyck's watchdog. It only obeys the family and attacks everyone else. As a matter of fact, it's still following the order it's master gave ten years ago... to kill every single intruder who tries to get inside. I guess he isn't following it technically because he keeps eating them." Mr. Zebro laughed placing a hand on his head.
'That wasn't really funny.'
"But like I was saying I can't let you in. I wouldn't want friends of young Master Killua being stripped down to their skeletons."
I placed my hand on my head and scratched it sheepishly. " You make a very compelling argument. But, we really can't afford to waste anymore time, Killua is waiting for us, there has to be a way to get in without dying right?"
"What about you? How are you safe here? They gave you a key, so I'm sure that means your allowed inside right?" Kurapika added.
"Very perceptive, but you're only about half correct. See I don't need a key to get inside. This key was specially made for intruders only. Almost all of them go right for the front gate. About 90 percent. I couldn't begin tot ell you why though. If I don't open the gate for them, every time without fail they try to break it down. They're real troublemakers these types. That's why we added a locked door to one side, it works pretty well as you can see from earlier. They just take the key from the poor, helpless security guard, and then Mike eats them. it's as simple as that."
I gasped. "I see! So you're not a security guard are you?" I concluded. His smile deepened.
"That's correct, I'm just the janitor that cleans up after Mike."
"So then the front gate isn't actually locked then after all." Kurapika said with determination.
"Exactly."
"What?!" Leorio gasped and turned around the look at the gigantic gate in surprise.
All of us where now standing in front of the gate, watching as Leorio was swinging his arms back in fourth in a silly way to stretch them. I was crossing my arms, watching as Leorio gave it his all to push the gate.
"There's no way we can get through this gate, we'd have to use a truck to open that, that might not even work." I said.
"You've got a point."
Zebro threw of his jacket grabbing everyone's attention, as he walked over to the gate like a goddamn badass.
"Step back and watch. This gate is officially known as the Testing Gate, because anyone who's not strong enough to open it... is considered unworthy of entering the Zoldyck estate." he said, whilst a white aura thing was emitting from him. My eyes widened, as small chills ran up and down my spine.
'There it is again, I can feel his pressure points emitting some sort of energy, the same with Illumi. What is it?'
Mr. Zebro approached the door and looked like he could barely open it, but never the less, he still did, and it was definitely more then what I can do.
"So, you can see that the door closes automatically, so you'll want to slip inside as soon as it opens. And you don't need to worry about Mike. He has strict orders not to attack anyone who enters through the Testing Gate. Phew. The older I get the tougher this seems to become. but they'll fire me if I can't open the gate, so, I need to stay fit. And I should mention, the first doors weigh two tons each."
"What? You're really not supposed to be able to... wait what did you say? Did you say the first doors?" Leorio asked astounded.
"Yeah, take a look. There are seven doors in all. And keep in mind that each set is twice as heavy as the set of doors before it."
"You're kidding me!" I said running my hands through my brown hair, with a stressed expression. "How are we going to get Killua, I don't want him to think we actually aren't coming."
"I'm sorry, I want you guys to get to him as well. But you have to be pretty strong to get through all of them." Zebro said with a saddened expression.
'How does Killua get through this?'
"Incidentally when young Master Killua came home, he had opened three doors."
"Three? That's like...12 tons!" Gon said with sweat sliding down his cheek in surprise.
"It's 16 tons, Gon." Kurapika responded with a sweat drop, causing me to snort in return. Gon scratched his head sheepishly in response as he laughed. Gon then turned to Mr. Zebro, his expression neutralizing.
"I don't like that. May I borrow the key?" Gon asked, I turned to him in surprise with a slight gasp, along with Kurapika and Leorio. "I didn't come all this way to be tested. I came so I could see my friend. Think of me as an intruder. So please, let me borrow the key. And I'll go in there through the intruder's door." Gon asked putting his hand up, so that the key could be given to him.
"Gon!", "Oi" Leorio and Kurapika said.
"No Gon, you saw that thing it's a monster, this is a family of monsters, so the Mike thing has to be unbelievably strong. I don't think you'd do Killua or us any good being dead, and I certainly won't let you make that mistake." I said with a serious expression my hand placed firmly on his shoulder.
"You said it yourself Yuko, Killua might think we've given up on him if we go through the big door, I won't let that happen. If he lends me the key or not, I'm getting in."
"Don't be stupid Gon! That monster is too strong for you!" Leorio chipped in. "It's forearm was bigger than your whole body, times two!"
"I told you, I don't like this!" He responded sharply promptly shutting Leorio up. "Why test your friends? It's crazy! There's no way I'm going through that door."
"You will if it's to save Killua! I know it's crazy, but I think throwing your life away is ever crazier! Think rationally here. If you think I'm gonna let you do that, you're dead wrong. You're going through the big door or we won't go in at all!" I yelled.
"I'm going to have to agree Gon. We have the time, so let's find a way to use the first door."
Gon lifted up his hand, showing he didn't care at all about what we where saying. I glared and clenched my teeth.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I can't let you have the key. I won't feed young Master Killua's friends to Mike. I can't do it. Guess I don't have it in me. But would you wait here for a minute, please?"
"Hello, this is Zebro. Sorry to call. It's just that four of young Master Killua's friends are here. Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. Of course. Yes, I understand. Yes. Yes. I'm so very sorry to disturb you." Mr. Zebro hung up the phone with a sigh, whilst rubbing his head in frustration. "Yeah, I figured I would get yelled at."
"You called up to the house for us?" Gon asked, his expression quite surprised. I was currently crossing my arms, in slight anger, still a little mad about Gon's stubborn attitude from earlier. He's just that type, the type who whenever they make up their mind, they wont budge on it, and I'd think it was admirable if it weren't for the situation we where in.
"No, I was speaking with the Zoldyck family's butler. All communication with the mansion has to go through the butler first. It's not easy to reach the family members directly." I uncrossed my arms in surprise at his statement.
"They wont even pick up their phone for their own employee? How stuck up are they?" I grumbled. I was seriously getting tired of all this, I just wanted to save Killua already and see him, but it seemed like the world wanted to make it as complicated as it could to stop us from getting to him.
"Could you get him on the phone again? I'd like to talk to him this time." Gon asked.
"Well, I suppose I can, but I guarantee that you're not going to enjoy it." Mr. Zebro said, dialing the number again and handing then phone back over to Gon. I watched with slight amusement, kind of curious about what he had in mind, STILL mad though, don't get me wrong I'm still mad. Ok not really anymore, I'm just being stubborn.
"My name is Gon, and I'm one of Killua's friends that came to visit. Is Killua there? Can I speak to him?"
Silent.
Gon placed the phone back down on the desk, redialed.
'Oh he must have hung up on him' I concluded.
Silent.
Gon placed the phone back on his hear.
I could feel that all three of us where leaning forward in confusion, and wanting to hear wha they would say.
"How could you possibly know that, huh?! Put Killua on the phone right now!" Gon screamed.
Causing the three of us to jump back in surprise.
I then snorted, and began to laugh a little bit, Leorio and Kurapika sending me confused stares. I smiled after finishing my laughing run, staring at Gon's back with pure endearment. "He's great isn't he...he's talking to the craziest family butlers on the planet, and he's out here yelling at them." I said breathlessly, Kurapika and Leorio looked at me back to Gon with distant smiles.
"He is great."
"Put him on the phone, he'll recognize me!" Gon continued.
A few moments later of silence, and us only being able to hear slight mumbles from the other end, Gon slammed the phone back into the ringer and turned around walking out the door with clear anger. I followed after him instantly knowing his plan. I was growing angry, angry at this child's attitude.
I walked out the door my arms swinging side to side, hearing the protests of the two teenagers behind me as I grabbed his shoulder, making him freeze.
"I understand that you're angry Gon, I am too, I want to save Killua just as much as you do, but you're not thinking clearly at all. I know you're smart Gon, but you need to start thinking strategically, logically. Mike is most likely strong, you could barely even beat Hanzo let alone a gigantic monster! So just calm down, we'll figure this out together, and we'll get him out together too. Don't think just because your mad, everything is going to go your way, because it won't, and you'll pay a hefty price for it too!" I said, trying to not raise my voice was difficult. I'm starting to get the feeling Gon hasn't been through many situations where he loses, or has to think for his life.
Gon flinched at my words, and I could clearly see his fists clenching at his sides, Kurapika Mr. Zebro and Leorio standing behind sighed a few minutes later, letting his hand open free, making me think he was giving in, but a few seconds later his fist tightens up again.
"I will not go through that door, I've made my mind up already!" He said stubbornly, making my glare deepen.
"Gon.." I said dangerously. "I'm not going to let you get yourself killed, so...if you walk any closer to that wall, I'm going to stop you."
"Wait, wait, please don't fight. Gon, I'll give you the key." Mr. Zebro said walking over beside us, I put my hand down off Gon's shoulder and lifted an eyebrow in confusion, Gon slowly looked at him.
"What? No way!" I said
"Just wait a second pops, we can convince him!" Leorio intervened .
"Really, because Gon strikes me as the stubborn type. To make amends, I've decided to accompany you through the door." Gon's eyes widened showing he was listening.
"What?"
"Mike knows me well enough to recognize me. And It's possible he might not attack if he sees I'm with you. Though I'm almost 100 percent certain that he'll just kill us all."
"Then we're still not doing it." I said my hands on my hips.
"Yea, I can't allow you to do that. I don't want to cause you any trouble for you." Gon said with a guilty expression. I narrowed my eyes. 'Oh sure you don't want to cause any trouble for the old man, but what about me huh?'
"Too late. I'm coming. There'd be trouble even if I stayed. If I send young Master Killua's friends to their deaths, I'd never be able to look him in the eyes again. If you die, well, then I'll die alongside you."
My eyes widened in surprise before a small smile formed on my features. 'So that's where Killua gets his soft side from isn't it.' I thought looking over to Gon, who suddenly seemed convinced by what the old man was saying, which slightly irked me, making me cross my arms over my chest in annoyance.
" I understand, I guess I didn't stop to think about your situation. Sorry." He said genuinely.
"Yea you didn't think about any of our situations." I grumbled.
"Oh...I'm...I'm sorry bout' that too, I was just really angry." he said looking down at his feet a slight awkward expression. I sighed and then smiled.
"It's fine Gon, but I'm going to hold this over our head for a while." I teased, making one of his cheeks pop out in a pouty way, which made me chuckle.
"You like animals, don't you Gon?" Mr. Zebro asked.
"Huh? Yes." Gon said his expression surprised.
" I thought you might, and did you grow up playing in the countryside?"
"Yes, how did you know that?"
"Alright then, I'm gonna open the testing gate in a moment, just so you can meet Mike. Hopefully then you'll have a change of heart."
"Mike, come here!" Mr. Zebro called. All of us where standing a few feet away from the testing gate not really sure what to expect. But I guess, the distant growling and being able to feel the ground mumble every step the monster took to get closer to us, kind of helped me get an idea.
In the distance I could see a tall silhouette, of a large wolf, dog thing slowly approach us until it was clear to the eyes. And right off the bat I could feel my body come underneath a great pressure of fear, seeing it's eyes basically penetrate, like it was studying my very being, being able to smell every single cell inside of my body. I felt scared, even whilst watching it sit down in front of us, my heart beat going at a pace that I was sure was unhealthy.
I so badly wanted to see Gon's reaction but I felt like moving would mean a fatal mistake, it's eyes not leaving mine once.
"So Gon, do you understand? This is a hunting beast, and a highly trained one at that. It's like no animal you've ever encountered in the wild. No, not by a long shot. You believed you could communicate with him, until you looked in his eyes, right? As we speak, Mike is memorizing the appearances and scents of these new humans. There isn't anything else on his mind at the moment. He's just like a machine."
Sweat was sliding down my face, it was a beautiful animal, but this one didn't seem to have a soul at all, that's what made it so terrifying.
"So, Gon, do you think you could fight him?"
I gulped down some spit, hoping Gon wouldn't say yes, I still couldn't look at him though, I was way too scared.
"No way, I'm way too scared to fight him, I don't ever want to." Gon said, his voice shaky.
I almost laughed out of relief hearing him decline, instead however I let out an unstable sigh of relief.
'Atta boy.'
Imma end it there :0 I know weird place to stop, but the chapter was getting too long, any who I hope you enjoyed, Oh! And let me know if you would rather Yuko's pov.