Stick around at the end fo S
Hisoka led her to a man with a haggard, sweat-stained face. The left half of his shirt peeled from a crispy burn wound that left a large black char on his hip, and the right arm flopped uselessly beside him as he lurched pitifully over the few tree roots and shrubbery that blocked the worn gravel path. He hadn't noticed, not yet, that Kaia watched him from what the small bits of moonlight allowed. Never once, as he stumbled along, did he even send a paranoid glance in her direction. An ideal target.
An extremely injured and very likely useless target, but alas.
Kaia tilted her head slightly to whisper, "Sensei, what if he doesn't have his tag anymore?"
Crouched beside her like a watchful giant, Hisoka hummed. "You'll just have to find out now, won't you?"
"Now?"
"Yes," and he pushed her into the worn path. Kaia froze, a black shape stock still. The injured contestant mirrored her.
Then, "a kid?"
Kaia swallowed quickly, stood with a cringe to the crackle of gravel underfoot, and nodded. Then reprimanded herself. Then opened her mouth cause she stood in too dark a spot for him to see. "Yes. I think," she said with a breezy false confidence.
"Sounds like a girl… so which one?" the guy asked. Kaia didn't know what he meant by that, but he quickly clarified, "You that black haired girl, or the boy-looking one?"
"Uhh," Kaia's hair definitely couldn't be mistaken for black, so her only option would be, "the boy-looking one?"
"Oh."
"...Yes."
"Is that magician guy around, too?"
Kaia did not look at the brush behind her. Nope. Definitely did not. "Uhh. No?"
He leaned onto his toes to peer past her.
"Look," Kaia shifted to block him, copying Hisoka's intimidating self-assuredness. "Do you got your tag on you?"
The dude laughed, coughed once, and laughed again. It grated on her ears. "Do I look like I have my tag on me?"
She hesitated. Glanced at the bush. Was she doing this right? "Yes?" Why didn't she plan out her words beforehand?
"The magician guy's somewhere behind you, isn't he?"
She bit her lip. "...Yeah."
"...Yeah, okay. This isn't worth it. I can't feel anything in my arm cause some sicko with a bow had some numbing shit on his arrows, and then I run into another sicko who thought wielding sticks on fire was a great—"
"Dude, do you have your tag or not?"
"Okay! Yes, I have my tag!" He threw something at her and it clinked loudly off a tree. "And the pyromaniac's," he threw another one spitefully, "if you would have let me finish."
"Rude," Kaia muttered, patting the ground to find the tags.
"Rude? Rude!? Are all kids as rude as you? Is this what the Hunter's Exam is supposed to be? What happened to respecting your elders—actually why the hell are there even kids allowed in the Exam? That's just bad planning. Just so you know, if you weren't the pet of that insane Clown Man and my arm still worked, I would have fought you for it. 'Rude', you say." He clicked his tongue.
Kaia's fingers brushed something plastic and cool, and she picketed it swiftly. The second came right after and Kaia latched on, moving to stand again. The guy hovered in his spot, huffing, and then—
"Not even gonna say thank you? And you still had the audacity to call me rude—"
Kaia walked right back through the brush and dutifully ignored the crazy man ranting to the woods. Not her problem anymore. Two tags, she thought. Add the extra Illumi had offered oh so kindly, and kabam, she could pass. So for the rest of the exam here, she'd be able to focus on training, and feeling good. Fine by her.
Kaia didn't find Hisoka where she left him. Instead of calling out, she kept on walking and within moments, as if summoned, Hisoka appeared at her side. Like a ghost. She eyed his feet, which only then began crunching like normal.
"That was quick," Hisoka said.
Kaia grinned and presented her prize like a certificate of 'pay attention to me'. "You weren't watching, I assume?"
"It almost sounds like you wanted me to. Have more faith in yourself, Kaia." He bowed obviously when the trees cleared enough for moonlight to show and swept his arm out in a new direction. Kaia took the path easily. She rubbed her fingers across the smooth, cool plastic of the pins. The numbers were dim but she could make them out enough to know they weren't her target. Alas.
"So," she began, tucking the pins away, "what were you doing in those, oh, two minutes I spent harassing another contestant?"
He offered her a blood-slick three of hearts from his deck. "I dealt with our little 'bug' problem."
"Ah." She hummed but didn't bother taking it. "Did you kill them?"
He let off a pinched exhale, and she took that as a 'no'. "Did you kill yours?"
Kaia thought about the scraggly man she left ranting in the trees. She could still kind of hear him, actually. "Nope."
"It seems you have your answer."
Kaia chewed on that thought, on what woulda happened if she had killed Ranting Dude. And even though she hadn't, he was now left in the dark, alone, injured, and without a tag to let an examiner know his location...and she didn't really care. Just maybe felt bad about the 'left in the dark' part.
An owl screeched and Kaia flinched jaggedly, ramming into Hisoka's leg.
Hisoka gripped her skull with his nails and pushed her off him.
"Do tell me you're alright, Kaia," he said.
Kaia grabbed his wrist, heart hammering.
"I'm not the biggest fan of the dark," she explained. When he released his hold, Kaia loosened hers, but kept her fingers against his skin. "So...we should probably go to sleep soon, yeah? Right? We have everything needed to pass." Another owl screeched and she ducked. "Why do they do that!?"
"I do believe they're communicating among friends."
Kaia grimaced. "I have never heard an owl do that before." Her grip tightened. "Also, I haven't seen you sleep at all in like, ever. So. Yes. We should sleep."
"Is that an invitation?" He pushed her hand away, lips pinched. "Who would keep guard?"
"Oh," Kaia frowned. Is that why he hadn't slept? Really? Wait, did he ever sleep in the anime portion either? Gon had stalked him for what, three solid days?
Oh gosh.
Hisoka...got cranky when he didn't sleep.
She swallowed down a giggle. "You said it yourself, Sensei," she haughtily lifted her chin and posed for him. "I should have more faith in myself. So I'll keep watch!"
Hisoka exhaled loudly and leaned against a tree, facing her. Kaia shuffled. Her fingers tingled from where she'd held his arm, and she didn't want to touch him again, because finding comfort in the dark like that was kinda sorta really weird but she also kinda sorta really wanted him to just agree to like, set camp with a fire that allowed a little more seeing—
"You are quite a demanding student."
She bared her teeth in a desperate sort of grin. "I do my best." A pause. "...Please sleep?"
"...Since you have asked so nicely... Did you like the previous camp?"
She thought about the fallen tree and the dead man and most importantly, Mole-Illumi. "Not my favorite," she admitted.
"Then do lead us to another."
Later, in the long afternoon, Kaia finally roused from her meditative position. Her bones creaked, displeased by the stillness, while the skin on her back stretched and pulled strange with dried sweat. Ren, for whatever reason, came to her easily—the mental washing, stacking, and refining of her aura far easier than it'd been to merely try to contain the thing properly. Regardless, Kaia wrung out her hands, felt along the scabby, dust crackled cut over her cheek and ear. The scabbed nick on her ear would probably always be missing. Another scar to add to her new collection.
Tracing the healing pink skin of the jagged cut on her shoulder, she rolled up off the dust and grimaced at the still air. How Hisoka could handle the stagnant afternoon, she didn't know, but the heavy mugginess could probably win in a fight against the desert she'd baked in before. He'd taken a comfortable position in the shade of a large, bulge-rooted tree. Apparently he'd had enough presence of mind to move as the sun swung from treetop to treetop while Kaia herself remained glued to one spot. Well. She'd just deal with the sunburn and consequential tan, Hisoka could stay a pale man without a trace of dirt or dust on his skin—actually, how. How. Kaia was covered in dirt and tree sap and grass stains. Hisoka looked like a God. The darker lines she'd spotted under his eyes just days before were gone now, the skin smooth and untouched. Not at all jealous, Kaia glared at him.
"You're staring," said pale man murmured, his eyes still shut. "One might get the wrong idea. I am much too old for you, Kaia. Do be cautious."
Kaia glared harder and slung her shirt over her shoulder, leaning on her hip.
A single eye slid open, stark and yellow. "Yes, my dear student?"
"When'd you last take a shower? You're all...pretty."
He blinked, slowly, like a cat.
Her eyebrows rose. "Anyway, I'm gonna head out early for dinner. I have a couple Nen things I wanna go over with you when I get back."
"Oh-kay." At this, both eyes opened and centered on her. They peered over the bare, taut skin of her belly and up the flat line of her chest, lingering on the tank top she had slung over her shoulder "Ah. Already undressing? How cute."
Kaia shrugged. "I mean I'm twelve right now, and gonna take advantage of it, but thanks. I'm gonna be practicing Zetsu while I'm out so ya won't be able to sense me, I think. If I'm not back in three hours though, you can assume I have been murdered or kidnapped, and go on with your life."
"...Alright." He closed his eyes again and waved her away. "Do enjoy yourself. I will be here if you so happen to live."
Kaia fastened her shirt on properly, withdrew her bow, and headed out for the taller mountain-like rocks that stood over the spruce trees. Their camp had been nestled further upriver than the previous had been, but Kaia remembered the plump grouse-like birds she'd seen in the undergrowth on lower ground. She had a taste for flayed and fried bird breast. Just thinking about it had her tongue moistening.
An hour later, and three miles further than she'd initially intended, Kaia finished tying the fifth bird to the strap on her hips. They were scarcer than she remembered, quicker to run at the sight of her nearby. They'd clearly been hunted by someone else. But the creatures remained plentiful, and they swung a heavy, comfortable weight on her hips while onions, edible roots with leafy greens, and wild garlic had been stuffed into her bag. Kaia took stock of the nearby growth, nodded to herself, and checked the sky. Still no wind or clouds in sight, but the tree shadows had doubled in length and the sun had hidden behind the mountain-like top.
She tilted her head, suddenly, still and alert. A voice. A girl?
A branch cracked against the hot and still forest, and the voice increased in volume. It had Kaia swiftly moving to hide herself behind a large, fat tree with enough clear spots between the roots for her to circle and remain unseen. She had her tags. She didn't really want to fight Lorelei to keep them. But as the voice neared, a second followed, and Kaia perked up at the familiar sound...Killua? Immediately interested, Kaia slowed her breath and tilted her head, ears straining to pick up everything said.
"...that we have your pins, where do you think we should go to find mine?"
"Again, not a team." Killua's tone was flat with a hard inflection.
"Yeah, but like, I need to pass too." Sassy.
"Do you." Not a question. Kaia held back a snort.
"Of course I do!"
"Could have fooled me."
"You say that, but I know you're rooting for me too."
"I'm really not. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because Gon likes you, for some reason."
A giggle. "So shy! Don't worry, I won't tell anybody!" A footstep thumped and something crashed against a dry bush. Lorelei yelped, then groaned. "Killua, I'm glad I found you. I don't think I'd pass otherwise. I don't know if I'm actually cut out to be a Hunter, to be honest."
Killua huffed. "Then quit."
Savage.
"I can't do that now. I have something to prove."
Silence. The crackle of small twigs and bush bits under one set of footsteps. Killua's form edged into view, and Kaia carefully shifted to another root.
"It's Kaia. I hate that look on her face, that… emotionless one. She pisses me off."
Right then, Killua met Kaia's eyes from her hidden spot. He'd stepped a little quicker, further from Lorelei who tried scrabbling over a large, human-sized root, but otherwise gave no sign he saw her. After Lorelei fell off the root with an 'oof', Killua's lips curled and he faced his body straight at Kaia. "Really?" He tilted his head, smirk growing. "I wonder why. Maybe you should just talk to her."
She could see his idea. He wanted to out her, the brat. Kaia carefully shook her head 'no' and Killua lifted one hand to point at her.
"What are you looking at?" Lorelei asked, now dragging herself off the ground to catch up to him.
"Oh, it's just—" he started, but Kaia quickly held up one of her birds as an offering before stepping further behind the tree. She hoped her quick bribe would be enough. To fate, as it were.
"Just...?" Lorelei continued, curiosity bleeding through.
"...Just a bird. I don't think it wants to see you, though."
"Aw, what did it look like? I love birds, they're so cute!"
"It looked pretty stupid to me."
"Killua, that's so mean!"
"It's true."
"...Well, I forgive you, cause I think you're cute too."
"Ew? Ew. I'm leaving."
"Aww, are you embarrassed?"
"No, I'm considering killing you anyway." Killua marched into view, just barely, before swiftly turning away, continuing his walk past her. One of his hands held two fingers out and Kaia let out a breath of nerves. Crisis averted. She looked at her stash of birds… Now she needed to hunt more. Great. Guess she'd be returning to Hisoka later than she wanted.
Night came gently with a swelling breeze that had the firelight dancing against the surrounding treeline. Orange sparks flickered and flashed over the knife grass. The firewood crackled comfortably, and Hisoka hummed in approval over his meal. And, as Killua'd yet to show, Kaia had taken the time to grill Hisoka for Nen information, history, and odd uses he'd seen in his past. They'd been holding the discussion since she'd returned, and while she had been getting more and more intrigued (so many questions, so many options), Hisoka...wasn't.
"Ren is refining, you said, yeah?" She snapped a bone and tossed it into the fire. It popped in a burst of light. "If you refine something, you're better at it, which means you waste less, right? Like how doctors refine their skills so they don't use as much materials."
Hisoka nodded across from her, but his eyes drifted toward where a cricket had begun chirping in the grass.
Kaia chewed on the other half of the bone. "So with Ren I'd be able to do more with less, basically? But I don't know what I'm using it for, so like. Explain."
"Don't you typically stretch before intense exercise?"
Kaia narrowed her eyes. "So it's like prepping the muscles for use?"
His fork scraped against the plate. He rolled his eyes. "It allows the muscles to adapt to wide ranges of movement, Kaia."
"...So it's refining your muscles to be better. And prepping them for when they need to be used."
He didn't bother with an answer, just took another bite of his bird leg. She watched him push the wild onions she'd cooked with it to the side and Kaia frowned, rolling one hand side to side.
"Sensei, you gotta eat your vegetables."
Hisoka ignored her.
She flopped onto her back, watching the bats flit under the stars, catching night bugs. "Sensei," she started slowly, tracing a hand down the bat's flight pattern, "if Ren is refining, why don't doctors use it more? I know Leorio will later, but like, his was for surgeries, I think? Couldn't it help with making better medicine or increasing blood flow and stuff like that?"
The scraping of his fork stopped. Kaia leaned up to look at him, and his gaze met hers over the fire. She didn't...know why he was looking at her. Was he more irritated than she expected?
His hand suddenly shot out and something thunked into the grass to her right.
The cricket stopped chirping.
Hisoka went back to eating. "Most people don't use Nen. Of those who do, wouldn't they focus on strength? The world is a dangerous and," he shuddered and licked his lips with a wide grin, "powerful place."
"But there's other kinds of abilities not fighting related that people make," she argued. "There was one lady who's nen ability literally just made her dad rich by like, writing future poems. I think."
"She'd be classified as a 'Specialist', then, Kaia." His gaze returned to that flat look, a little demeaning. Irritated? She'd probably need to change the subject soon.
Not yet though. "Your abilities aren't really fighting related."
His frown deepened. "Bungee Gum is a widely adaptable ability."
"I think you just wanna say, 'just magic, ladies and gentlemen'."
A twitch. Hisoka set down his plate. "You're quoting me again."
Kaia offered an innocent smile. "I find you quite inspiring, is all."
His eyes rolled down to the shirt she'd tucked crop top style. "...I see."
"Well, Leorio made stuff for being a doctor and he's an Emmitter so he'd be a better example anyway." She frowned at the thought, chewing slowly. He'd studied for doctor stuff before even bothering to learn nen too. Just read books and practiced… "Hey, why aren't there any books on it?" she asked eventually, slowly laying back down. Another cricket nearby began chirping, but she hadn't been able to pinpoint it just yet. Hisoka had also been eyeing the direction with a card loosely held between two fingers. "Even if it's hidden from most of the public, wouldn't it be better overall for a big book of understanding, or some sort of scroll maybe that just explained its origins like martial arts or something?"
Hisoka regarded her tiredly. "I believe," he began slowly, "that no one bothered to, because it is far easier to simply tell each other about it and not have to deal with questions after they leave."
"That's a waste," Kaia said. She was curious, but not stupid. Time to stop asking questions. "Okay, I'm gonna write a book then."
"Oh?" Hisoka's head lifted toward her, eyebrows raising with interest. "Will you? You don't plan to keep your Nen abilities a secret?"
Ah, maybe slightly less upset than she'd thought? "I don't care if they find out. You always share your Bungee Gum and Texture Surprise with people you fight."
He licked the grease off his fork, tongue slowly dragging up before sucking on the tip. "...They look so lost otherwise."
"I think you just want to brag."
He paused with the fork in his mouth, then turned his head. "No."
Kaia slapped a hand down suddenly. "Hey, if you're gonna kill somebody who's got Nen later, can you let me question them first?"
Hisoka's eyebrows lifted. "How torturous of you. And yet you feared an owl?"
"Yeah! I could add all of their findings in the book, too, and cross reference that way. Wouldn't that be cool? And I have so many questions about how exactly Nen even works, cause like. What? Life energy. You burn it. Does it ever run out? Do you die quicker? I'm pretty sure there was one character who stayed young cause of it, so the reverse should happen too. Can you store it, and amass it to make some big explosion or power up later? Put it in objects—actually wait that happened in York New, so yes. But why can't anyone other than Specialist's heal? I'm an Enhancer and I'm pretty sure I'm healing pretty fast already. Can I speed it up? If you boil down Nen Water from a Transmuter, can you get Nen particles the same way you'd get salt from boiled sea water? What would Nen particles look like? What about under a microscope—ooh do they wiggle like individual cells do? That'd be super cool."
The fire cracked, and Hisoka repeated, "you want to boil Nen Water."
She paused, surprised he'd commented, and eventually nodded.
Hisoka blinked slowly, then returned to his meal. He suddenly pointed to the extra plate Kaia'd set out, "that has yet to come up. Did you expect Gittarakur to return, Kaia?"
Kaia shuddered at the thought, then gestured to the woods. "I invited someone else—"
"Ah, you saved one for me."
Hisoka's gaze flickered to where the voice came from. He turned his head when Killua walked up behind Kaia. Carefully, Hisoka lifted a clawed finger toward the young boy, and remarked, "your pet is here, Kaia."
"Yeah," Kaia nodded again, "Convenient timing. Suspiciously convenient timing." She placed her hand to her chin in theatrical consideration.
"Not a pet," Killua said dismissively. He reached for the plate on the ground, dragging it over to Kaia's other side as if to keep her between Hisoka and him.
"...Are you sure?"
Killua sat and shoved a mouthful in. "Yup," he spoke through the half chewed meat, "and I haven't eaten since we got here. This is delicious. Why didn't you cook this on the ship?"
"We didn't have these birds on the ship."
"We had seagulls."
"And you tasted how those turned out."
"Kaia," Hisoka began, face drawn in a tight frown in the firelight. Like an eagle, if you handed it a big cardboard cutout of another eagle, and then wiggled it. Very, very uncomfortable, and very confused. "You invited your pet...for how long?"
"I 'unno," she tossed another bone piece in the fire, and debated the worth of trying for the marrow in her last. "Technically I only offered him two birds as a bribe."
The light danced off Hisoka's hair as he leaned forward, intrigued. "A bribe?"
"Yeah," she waved her bone, "Killua almost told Lorelei about me hiding nearby so I had ta bribe him not to."
"Oi, Kaia," Killua jabbed her shoulder and she jolted, pulling away. Killua pointed a fork at her. "I'm not a pet."
She blinked, thrice. "No? But Sensei said—"
He popped the fork out his mouth. "He's weird. That's weird. You're both weird. Super weird."
"But—"
"Not a pet."
Thinking, Kaia reached for some nearby long grass to wave in Killua's face. When he batted it away, she said, "Good kitty."
"...Oi."
"Fetch?"
"...First of all, cats don't even play fetch, and second of all—"
Killua remained in the clearing by the time Kaia woke to the screaming morning birds. He lay in the grass just a few feet from her in a closed-eyed meditative position that couldn't actually be sleep-healthy, on the opposite side from Hisoka. Kaia huffed a laugh and eyed the man, who reclined as usual and had already begun his typical game of cards.
Didn't matter. There was about an hour before she'd need to get breakfast. She had training to do.
A flattened patch of knife-grass in the sunlight would do for the morning meditation. She removed her shirt and ran a hand over her shoulder scar and cheek. The skin remained tight, slightly jagged, but no longer hurt to the touch. That meant using Ten could increase her recovery speed. A quick scrawl in her notebook later, and Kaia sat cross legged, ready to begin with experimenti—she meant meditating.
Her aura flickered to life beneath her fingertips and buzzed over her skin comfortingly. It was a warm but scratchy sweater, until she breathed out, and sanded the edges of crispiness away. Round it, harden the outside like a shield and start to layer... A hard, glass ball. The sun felt magnified inside it.
"What are you doing—"
The shield snapped like a rubber band. Kaia jerked back as if repelled and Killua flung the other direction. His feet braced to run, and he whipped his head around.
"The hell was that!?" he demanded.
"A little heads up, please?" Kaia rubbed the startledness from her face.
"Heads up to what? What was that noise?"
"I popped my Nen bubble is what that noise was. A little heads up, dude, seriously. I coulda hurt myself."
Killua gaped at her, and she glared right back.
"Nen Bubble?" Killua, apparently realizing there were no further threats, shifted his hands back in his pockets and leaned back. "What's that?"
...Wait.
...She probably shouldn't have told him that.
Kaia squinted at him, then Hisoka. Who gave no reaction in the slightest. He stacked cards instead. Guess her fate would be her own, wonderful. Everyone knew how fate handled her.
"Earth to Kaia. Nen Bubble. Explain that."
"Uh," she rocked onto her heels and squatted, reaching for a bit of grass. "It's kinda..." a good long strand lifted as she formed the same bubble-like thing around it, hardening the outside edge before directing more aura into the middle portion. She treated it like a tire, or air bag, basically. The edges expanded, tightening, and then snapped and the entire blade of grass shattered like a vase. "Kinda that."
She let the small slices of grass fall off her hand before she wiped it on her shorts. A quick glance had her suspicions confirmed; she got Killua curious. Great. Would it be bad if he learned Nen theory early? 'Cause she certainly wouldn't be opening his aura nodes herself, and she highly doubted he would hold still long enough for Hisoka to do it for him.
"...How did you do that?" Killua squatted next to her, reaching for the small bits of grass for closer inspection. "It's...like paper now. What did you do?"
Kaia shrugged and glanced at Hisoka again. Nothing. Darn. "I'm learning Nen, and Sensei's kinda letting me do whatever I want unless I specifically ask for him to teach me something. Pretty sure he'll stop me before I kill myself, but it's still got risk, ya know? If I popped that wrong around myself then I'd be grass bits on the ground, too."
"Then why," Hisoka suddenly interjected, eyes trained on the cards he placed together, "did you wrap that technique around yourself?"
"I wanted to see if I could harden the outside like a shell without popping the middle, and then roll like a hamster ball. I thought that'd be cool and I wouldn't have to walk anymore."
Golden eyes met hers, then trailed down to the mess of grass at her feet. "How would it move if you didn't walk in it?"
Kaia opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. "I didn't think that through."
"It appears so."
"...Whoops. Oh, what if I just put it by my feet but like, roller blades? I need some roller blades to reference for this—I'd need something to brace my ankles too so I didn't snap them."
"Hold on," Killua threw a hand in her face and she blinked at him, "you didn't explain anything. Is this...magic?" he said, sending a shifty squint at Hisoka.
Kaia threw her head back to laugh. "Magic?" She stopped laughing. "Actually it kinda is? Uh, I don't know if I'm qualified to teach you though. I'm only learning cause I was dying and Sensei so kindly allowed me to live, and now I'm stalking him. You'd be better off asking him to explain this stuff. I'm a baby at it."
So Killua did. "Hisoka, what's this 'Nen' she's talking about."
Silence. A bird flew overhead. Hisoka stacked two more cards up.
Killua twitched. "Oi! Hisoka! You ignoring me?"
Kaia hesitated, then gently offered, "maybe he didn't hear you?"
"Then you answer!"
"Nen is basically life energy," she cast a desperate look to Hisoka who studiously ignored them, "and you burn it like a candle? And since candles can smell different, so can Nen, since it has like six different flavors which are called categories I think and wait how many different flavors can Transmuters make, Sensei? Can they make different flavors or is there only one per person? Is spicy a flavor and can Transmuter Nen water be spicy—"
"Theoretically, the answer is yes," Hisoka offered, "but I've only tried one other 'Transmuter's water', as you call it. It had also been sour, though far less than mine."
He's bragging, she thought. Kaia leaned onto one hand. "And Killua's will be sweet. I'm gonna have to find more Transmuters and test their water."
"I'm a Transmuter?" Killua interjected swiftly, curiously. "What's that mean? How do you know?"
Hisoka said nothing. Kaia sighed, and said, "Basically, it's changing the substance of your aura. The water test determines your type of aura, and Transmuters typically change the...particles? Wait now I really want to boil it down. There's gotta be particles inside that. Salty water especially. Aura salt? Can I cook with that?"
Hisoka pursed his lips. "That's an interesting idea."
Kaia nodded, then shook her head and tilted it toward Killua. "Anyway, Transmuters adjust the flavor of water. Not to be mistaken with Conjurers, who can actually change the form of their aura into a physical thing and leave little crystals or something inside the water. Sorta. Wait how does Conjuring work, don't you have to have a deep understanding of what you're making? Kurapika had to lick chains but I'm pretty sure there was one guy who conjured up a sun. How did he do that—"
"I don't believe I have ever met someone who could conjure up," his tongue curled along the edge of a card before resting on his lips, "a sun."
Killua grimaced and moved further behind her.
"I hope you're disinfecting those," Kaia remarked.
"Of course."
"Maybe they had a different Nen type? Emitter? That makes your aura form something away from you, right?"
Killua tapped her shoulder. "Wait, I still don't understand Transmuter—start from the beginning, you're confusing me."
Kaia pushed the hand away. "This is why I said to ask Hisoka, he's way better at explaining these things."
Killua whipped his head to Hisoka. Hisoka remained silent.
Kaia pursed her lips. "Sensei, can you go over the beginning spiel again?"
Hisoka nodded. "Nen is the process of refining and burning your life aura to produce certain—"
"Why does he only answer you?!"
Lunch came with crawdads and wild rice fried over a wide pan. It also came with a small reprieve from the constant questions Killua barraged Kaia with that, for the most part, she could semi-answer, and anything else she merely asked Hisoka on. For whatever reason, he only answered Kaia.
That probably meant she had made it to 'favorite' category too.
...Or 'cause Killua was Illumi's brother, which, actually shouldn't she be talking to Killua about that too? Would that be a good idea? The plot already changed just by her presence so like… and it's something he'd want to know, probably.
She turned her head to ask but Killua beat her to it, a strange intensity to his gaze.
"Is what Lorelei said true?"
And Kaia faltered. She didn't want to think about Lorelei. Hisoka, on her left, picked off one of the peppers from his plate and dropped it on hers. Killua followed suit shortly after, and Kaia decided to focus on their picky eating habits rather than other things.
"You guys need to eat your veggies at one point or another. It's healthy."
Hisoka didn't grace her with an answer. Killua just pointed his fork at her. "What Lorelei said on the boat, about you 'killing the real Kaia'. What's that about?"
Kaia blinked and then relaxed, minutely. This...was more okay to talk about, she supposed. Huh. "Kinda," she slowly revealed, tasting the words and finding them able to be swallowed, for once. "I was, technically, her to begin with. Or she was me, and I possessed what I had created. But in doing so, I killed her. I guess. It's confusing to me too. I am her, but not."
Killua hummed and set his empty plate down. "So you're a ghost possessing yourself? Time travel?"
Kaia snorted. "Kurapika brought that up. Nah, it's more like..." She debated saying it again, wondering if it'd have any impact and kind of sort of maybe just a little hoped he'd actually take what she said as a lie, like everybody else did.
"More like?" Killua prompted. Kaia sighed, and looked to the big, blue, flat and empty sky. Empty wind and empty forest and empty her. Strange how quickly she could feel empty. Cold hearted. Strange how she didn't care.
"I burned to death when I was eighteen and woke up as a character I'd written in a story." She kept her gaze on the emptiness as she recalled the words she'd told Kurapika. "You were also a character. Like Gon, Leorio, Kurapika. Neko. So." She grimaced. "I told Kurapika, 'nice to meet you'. I should probably do the same to you, huh?"
Quiet, like her heart, like her mind. She could feel the burning in her throat and wondered if it was bile or frustration. At the very least, she thought, Hisoka wouldn't care. His priorities were strength and stuff. Past things didn't matter to him. Probably.
"So," Killua began, a lazy confidence in the way he leaned on one hand and flapped the other at her. "You're a ghost possessing yourself, but without time travel."
She stilled.
Snorted, and let her grin fill itself out. "Yeah, I guess so."
"That sucks. Kinda boring death, though." Killua nodded nonchalantly. Either reading the mood, or just not caring about the subject anymore. Either way, she appreciated the warm, squishy feel that built in her chest.
"What, how do you wanna die then?"
He straightened, a gleam in his eye. "In a fight!"
Kaia balked. "You're such a kid."
"Hah? You're a kid too! Well. Now you are, even if you weren't before. And fights are way cooler to die in. Who just lets themselves get burned to death?"
"...I don't know how to answer that."
"Ha, thought so." He held up a finger and closed his eyes, "The superior way of death is through senseless violence—"
"What are you quoting?"
"And Hisoka would agree. Right, Hisoka?" He tilted past Kaia to see that Hisoka hadn't moved in the slightest. He turned right back to Kaia regardless. "See? Your 'Sensei' agrees with me, Kaia."
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Killua?"
"I think you just can't handle an actual cool death." His finger lifted again, his back straightening to lecture mode. "The glory, the honor, the thrill of war—"
"What are you quoting."
Yeah, Kaia figured, watching Killua work himself up into a rant with a pleased grin, and Hisoka ignoring him as he stacked his cards. These two weren't the worst company.
"You know you're being followed, right?"
Kaia didn't still, didn't stop walking, just kept her head straight and posture relaxed while she considered the weight of what her response to Killua would be. They were alone in the forest now, gone hunting and Killua had been determined to not be left with Hisoka by himself. They'd been followed for the last five, six minutes by Kaia's count, and she didn't really want to confront whoever it was but a glance at Killua proved he felt more than willing.
"Yeah," she said simply, one hand moving to rest in her pocket.
"Are you gonna get them to come out?"
Ah, the Big Question. Maybe he'd leave it up to her? "No, wasn't planning on it—"
"Oi!" Killua casually stepped in front of her to face the potential opponent and she followed suit with a heavy exhale. Of course. He didn't at all for Kaia's hesitant shuffle to his side. "Come on out," Killua continued, a cat-like smirk winning over his face, "we know you're there. ...Okay, guess we'll come to you."
"Or we could not," Kaia muttered.
Killua ignored her and started for the thick brush when it shifted, and a green boot came into view, shortly followed by a tan leg, green shorts and a jacket. Determined hands gripped a metal fishing pole. Gon glared at them, stance wide and ready.
Kaia stared.
Killua blinked.
Gon nodded, his glare never wavering. "Killua," he said, "Kaia."
Killua turned to her. "Oh, I forgot. Gon's hunting your pin."
Kaia swallowed. "Oh. That's...inconvenient."
Gon tightened his grip and Kaia shifted a foot back, prepared for...whatever he'd throw at her. He instead said, "Kaia, you're my friend, but I'm taking this seriously. I'm going to take your pin."
"...So he says." Killua pointed his thumb at Gon. "What're you gonna do?"
Kaia hesitated.
Gon leaned down.
Killua eased onto his heels, whistling.
Kaia turned and bolted straight back the way they came.
Hey! I'm back! Why is writing so hard? But anyway I'm out of the military now and I'm working on a farm with a ton of dogs and horses and chickens and stuff, and have a lot more time on my hands. I also have a slightly better headspace, cause like, guess who had to go through therapy? This guy! Girl. Whatever.
Uh, I still probably won't respond to comments cause anxiety's a bitch, unless it's a discussion about nen cause dead serious that stuff is confusing as hell. Someone talk to me about Nen. How. How does it work. Why is Feitan considered a Transmuter. He made a sun. An entire SUN. WHAT. HOW. My brother said it was a chemical reaction that he made but at the same time how did he get the information on what chemicals he'd need to create an entire sun. Did he study chemistry? Or did he just go 'woop woop i want big hot ball of fire' and kabam his nen responded to it? Cause that seems to be a running theme in this series an d. I don't understand. Kurapika licked chains to make chains. How do you lick the sun.
And if you wanna argue that it's different nen types, KILLUA HAD TO LITERALLY GO THROUGH TORTURE TO HANDLE HIS ELECTRICITY. Feitan just made some special suit? Which also isn't that conjuring? I am super confused cause how the hell did you make a suit to withstand the sun, and then the sun. How.
Yeye, but anyway, thanks for reading, and for those readers who stuck through my intense hiatus, i admire ya'll so much you don't even know. Now for fun times:
Me: I guess I haven't updated in like a year and a half, I should probably not end on a cliffhanger.
Also me: Ends on a cliffhanger
(Conversation with my editor:
Rosemist: Have hisoka lick his fingers when talking about how dangerous and powerful the world is
Me: (adds in Hisoka licking his fork seductively) He doesn't eat from his fingers, he i l
Rosemist: ...but fingers are considered sexual
Me: h l)