Chapter Twenty Four
Ayami jolted when the gun fired but didn't wake. Soon enough Hisoka and Phinks returned, Shalnarks things in hand.
"It's done. Let's go." Chrollo announced, and they took off towards their current base. His Spiders stood eagerly when he returned, trying to get a look at the child they'd lost all those years ago. Shizuku watched curiously next to Kurotopi and Bonolov. She hadn't been around when Ayami was here, she'd only joined about four years ago when Silva Zoldyck had killed the previous number eight. Bonolov and Kurotopi had been around when Ayami was there, but while they were fond of the little girl, they weren't as close with her as the eight (not including Chrollo) founding members had been.
'Is it her?" Machi asked desperately as Chrollo walked past. It was no secret that Machi and Ayami were extremely close. Ayami had loved all of her 'family' but Machi and Feitan were clearly her favorites. The two usually stoic members had always doted on Ayami, and both members had been devastated by her 'death', withdrawing into themselves even more than usual.
"It is." Pakunoda confirmed as Chrollo gently laid her down, brushing her hair out of her face. Uvo whooped with glee and his usually stoic Spiders smiled. They had all missed the little girl.
"What happened to her?" Nobonuga asked.
"It's a long story." Paku sighed.
"Pakunoda. What happened." Chrollo demanded.
"I don't know how exactly, but she was caught by human traffickers. They sold her to a guy in Meteor City." Paku explained. Bloodlust exploded into the air and Paku rushed to finish. "She managed to escape before they could do anything, but she must have hit her head because she couldn't remember any of us."
"Amnesia?" Feitan asked.
"Looks that way. She remembered bits and pieces through dreams but not that much. I fixed it, she should be okay when she wakes up." Paku explained.
"While she sleeps, I want you to put that tracker on her, Shalnark. I will not lose her again. And can you fix her phone as well?"
"Yes, Dancho. Give me a minute to connect it, can I see your phone?" Shal asked, taking the tiny tracker from Phinks and catching Chrollo's phone when it was tossed towards him. He downloaded an app onto it and synched it with the tracker, testing it and standing when he was done. "Done Dancho! The tracker is high quality, it'll track her over any distance and it won't ever need to be replaced."
"Thank you Shalnark. Can you place it now?"
"Yes. Machi, I'll need your help." Shalnark called. With Matchi waiting next to him, Shalnark made a deep cut into her forearm and carefully planted the tracker inside. Machi stitched it up and she looked as good as new. When they were done and Shalnark showed him how the app worked, Chrollo turned back to his Troupe.
"The auction is tomorrow, let's get to work." Chrollo called. They still had their mission to complete. He ran his fingers through his daughter's hair as he discussed his plans with his Troupe, glancing down at her every so often, making sure she was still there.
As Chrollo and his Troupe plotted, almost six years of memories flashed through Ayami's head. Playing, training, learning something new every day. She'd had a happy childhood, a loving family, and it had all come crashing down in one night.
Kaname had screamed for Ayami to run when his attacker got the upper hand during their fight and Ayami took off out the back door toward the river. Their attacker caught up with her quickly and grabbed her, Ayami scratching and biting, trying to get away. All of her training left her head in her panic, she'd never been so afraid. He killed Kaname. He had laughed maniacally and lifted her into the air, choking her. Her claws dug into his arms but he wasn't phased, and Ayamis vision started fading to black. Suddenly his hands loosened, allowing her to breath, and Ayami noticed he was bleeding heavily from every orifice. He dropped her suddenly and Ayami fell, head slamming into a rock before she tumbled down the small hill and into the river, getting washed away in the rushing current as she lost consciousness. Then everything she knew slipped away… Until now.
Ayami jolted awake, gasping in pain, head splitting from so much information. Unlike her normal dreams, she remembered everything. She blinked, seeing her father leaning over her worriedly. She slowly reached up and touched his cheek, realizing that this was real.
"Daddy?" Ayami asked. Chrollo took her tiny hand from his cheek and kissed her palm, closing his eyes and forcing the emotion welling in his eyes away.
"Ayami." Chrollo breathed. He pulled Ayami into his arms and held her tightly, never wanting to let her go. Ayami hugged him tightly, something inside her clicking into place.
"I missed you." Ayami whispered.
"I missed you too, my darling girl." Chrollo whispered, kissing her hair. He held her for a while longer, uncaring of the eyes watching them, before finally letting her go. Finally getting a chance to look around, Ayami's eyes lit up when she found the Troupe waiting for her. Ayami shrieked with joy and lunged forward, jumping at the closest member, Uvo, who caught her with a laugh, squeezing her tightly.
"We missed you squirt!" Uvo boomed, putting her down and ruffling her hair. Soon enough she was surrounded by the founding members, being passed from person to person.
"You got big kiddo! You'll be taller than Feitan soon." Phinks laughed.
"Not a chance." Feitan hissed from where he hovered nearby. Ayami beamed and hugged him, surprised when he held her tightly and kissed her hair.
"我想你小家伙" Feitan whispered in her ear. (I've missed you, little one)
"我更想你'' Ayami returned, kissing him on the cheek. (I missed you more) Feitan released her and she was snatched up by Machi. Eventually they settled down and Chrollo came down and joined them as Ayami sat with her family, swapping stories and catching up while Machi braided her hair. Eventually Ayami glanced outside and did a double take, noticing the sunrise.
"Shit, where's my phone?" Ayami panicked.
"Ayami, language." Chrollo scolded while Uvo, Phinks, and Shalnark burst into laughter.
"Sorry Dad. Do you know where my phone is?"
"Shalnark has it, why do you need it?" Chrollo asked.
"I've gotta call my friends, they're probably worried."
"They must be. You've got like fifty calls from 'Snowball' and 'Puppy-dog eyes'" Shalnark said, holding up her phone. Ayami blushed and grabbed it, standing up and walking away from the group as she called Killua. He picked up on the first ring.
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Ayami winced and held the phone away from her ear as Killua screamed at her.
"Is that Aya?" She heard Gon's voice in the background before Killua started yelling again.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I- uh -GON WAS? WE CALLED YOU LIKE A HUNDRED TIMES! AND KALLUTO DIDN'T TO WHERE YOU WERE-"
"You actually called Kalluto?"
"-AND MILLUKI COULDN'T TRACK YOUR PHONE-"
"You gave Milluki my number!?"
"-AND NONE OF THE BUTLERS COULD FIND YOU-"
"Tell me you didn't drag Gotoh all the way to Yorknew."
"-AND WE COULDN'T FIND YOU ANYWHERE-" Ayami sighed, listening to him rant.
"You know, you kinda sound like your mother." Ayami interrupted, which led to a whole nother round of shrieks about him being nothing like 'that she devil'. Finally Gon managed to wrestle the phone away, although Killua kept ranting in the background.
"Aya, is that you?" Gon asked worriedly.
"Hey Gon, whats up?" Ayami asked nonchalantly.
"Are you okay?" Gon asked. Ayami smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine." There was a pause and then-
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Ayami jumped when he started yelling as well. "We were worried about you!" Gon continued.
"I'm sorry-"
"SORRYS NOT GOOD ENOUGH" Killua had apparently stolen the phone again. There was the sound of a scuffle and then a new voice sounded.
"Hey Ayami."
"Leorio! I didn't know you were here!"
"I got here last night, Killua and Gon almost ran me over looking for you."
"Is Kurapika there too?" Ayami asked, then froze. Shit. Kurapika. Hisoka. Shit.
"No not yet, he's working." Leorio replied as Ayamis mind raced. She had to tell her Dad.
"Did he actually make Gotoh come down here to look for me?" Ayami asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Not Gotoh, but he convinced Silva to loan out some butlers for the day to help look for you. They had to head back this morning." Ayami groaned in embarrassment and Leorio laughed. "Don't be upset Ayami, they were just worried about you."
"I know." Ayami sighed.
"So what happened?"
"I met my family." Ayami explained. She heard the boys wrestling stop suddenly.
"That's great Aya!" Gon chimed, excited again.
"And you couldn't check in?" Killua snarked, still grumpy
"I was unconscious, baka." Ayami snapped.
"Aya, you said you were okay!" Gon said worriedly.
"I am okay!"
"Unconscious is not okay!"
"I woke up after!"
"That is not a good standard for okay!"
"It's worked so far!"
"Ayami. Why were you unconscious?" Leorio interrupted.
"...They kinda knocked me out."
"THAT IS NOT OKAY!" Gon and Killua yelled together. Ayami winced and sighed.
"It's… kinda a long story. I-" Ayami paused and glanced back at her family and saw her father watching her. "Hang on I gotta call you back."
"Ayami?" Killua asked worriedly.
"I'm okay, I promise. I just gotta figure something out. I'll call you soon, I promise." Ayami swore.
"Okay. Be careful." Killua sighed.
"I will. Talk to you soon." Ayami promised and hung up as her father stood and walked over to her.
"What's wrong Ayami?" Chrollo asked.
"It's kinda complicated," Ayami sighed. Chrollo took her hand and led her back to his spot away from the others.
"Tell me everything." Ayami did. She explained how she'd met Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio and what they'd done during the Hunters Exam. She felt sick and guilty telling her father about Kurapika and his vendetta, but she couldn't let him hurt her family. He stiffened when Ayami told him what Hisoka had told Kurapika but didn't otherwise react, encouraging her to continue. She told him about training at Heavens Arena and then coming here. Chrollo nodded slowly and watched his daughter fiddle with her fingers.
"You're not sure how much you can tell them." Chrollo concluded. Ayami nodded.
"Kurapika will be upset…" Ayami whispered.
"Indeed. If he is really a Kurta survivor there is no telling what he'll do."
"He wouldn't hurt me. He's my friend." Ayami argued.
"Are you certain?" Chrollo asked. Ayami bit her lip and looked away, unsure. Chrollo gently turned her back to face him, tucking her bangs out of her face. "Then we can't risk it, my darling girl. Kurapika cannot know. You cannot see him." Seeing her disappointment, Chrollo sighed. "Will the others tell him?"
"Leorio might, but Gon and Killua won't."
"Then you mustn't tell he asks, you can tell him you're from a crime family, but can't say who. As long as they can keep it secret, you can tell Killua and Gon."
"Can I go see them?" Ayami asked eagerly. "You can meet them!" She hurried to add when he hesitated. Chrollo thought quickly.
"I suppose so. After the auction." Ayami beamed and hugged him tightly. Chrollo sighed. There were parts of this mission where he would need all of his Spiders, and he didn't want to leave Ayami here alone with a traitor lurking about. He'd have to leave her with her friends. His eyes narrowed, glancing at the clown. Ayami glanced his way as well and turned back to her father.
"What about-" Chrollo shook his head, silencing her.
"We need to tell the others without him finding out. We can't remove him until after the auction, we don't want the city to know we're here,and he knows it. I'll need your help. Can you get a message to Feitan for me?" Chrollo asked. Ayami smiled and nodded.
A.N. Hey everyone! It's kinda weird for me to put an author's note at the end of a chapter, but I didn't want to give away any spoilers. You might've noticed, Ayami's acting a bit out of character for this chapter. Obviously I don't know what memory loss is like IRL, but this is my take on it. In my mind, Ayami's had two lives. She spent one with her extremely protective father and family. She was always protected and never alone, since she was so little, so she'd never been in danger before, which is why she panicked so bad when she and Kaname were attacked. In her other life, she grew up on the streets of Meteor City all by herself, which is why she's usually so independent and sure of herself. She got all of her memories back, so her two lives, or personalities are kind of warring for dominance. Since she's around her family, her more childlike and co-dependant self is more in control. She won't always be like this, she'll find a balance between her personalities and life will go on. Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble, and thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites! They make my day :)