Forgiveness

Chapter 7

It was Yua stirring which woke Chrollo up. He immediately bolted up in the bed, suddenly wide awake. It was a response he had learned from sleeping on the dangerous streets of Meteor city for the younger years of his life, and he was still unable to move past the feeling of vulnerability when sleeping. Yua grumbled and rolled over, choosing to hug the unmoving pillow instead. The marks on Yua's upper back were clearly visible now, scratches leading from the base of her neck down below her t-shirt where Chrollo couldn't see. He reached out and traced the angriest looking one with his finger.

'Oi, that tickles'. Yua fidgeted under his touch and rolled onto her back, splaying out her arms and legs in a giant stretch.

'Oh Yua, you stink. Get up and get a shower.' Chrollo was already shifting off the bed, away from the stench of days being stuck in a basement which clung to her, and started to pad towards the window. The sun was only just peaking over the horizon, perfect time to start the day.

'uwah, 10 more minutes.' Yua waved him away and continued to drool onto her pillow already succumbing to the temptations of sleep.

Rolling his eyes, Chrollo stretched in front of the window, cracking his back and neck, waking them up for the morning. He decided to treat Yua as she'd suffered for him this last week and wondered into the kitchen to see what he could make from the mess of her cupboards.

Less than 10 minutes later, Yua's nose started to twitch at the heavenly smells of food wafting into her room. She peeped one eye open as if she was on the lookout for some tricky but no, there was definitely sounds coming from the kitchen. She sat up in her bed, still drowsy from sleep and breathed in the homely smells which reminded her of living with Chrollo years ago. She was one of the few lucky people in the world that knew of his cooking ability and her stomach growled at the thought of a bowl of his tasty stew.

Yua almost levitated into the kitchen, following her nose to the pot bubbling away on the stove. Just as she was about to dunk her finger in for a taste, Chrollo appeared besides her grabbing her wrist.

'Oi, It's not ready yet!' Chrollo scolded her for her impatience but she wasn't in the mood for a lecture. She spun into him, knowing she wouldn't be able to break free from his grip but she just had to block his body. She used her free hand to dunk a finger into the stew and jammed it into her mouth before Chrollo's shocked face could even register a response. The look of bliss on her face, softened his look of disappointment into a lopsided grin.

'Oh Chrollo, it's so good! One bowl please!' Yua grinned at him with as much innocence as she could muster, placing her order with the chef.

'No. Shower. Now.' Chrollo pointed away from the kitchen, now holding his nose and puffing out his cheeks in mock disgust. Yua pouted and grumbled but trudged out of the kitchen. Her stomach growled in protest and she grabbed it, turning to scowl at him as she walked into the bathroom.

Only 15 minutes had gone by when she reappeared again, her hair folded nicely on top of her head in a towel and only a small towel covered the rest of her body. Chrollo gawked at her and blushed in embarrassment before looking anywhere but at her. Yua laughed at him, a mischievous cat like grin appearing on her face.

'This is payback for making me wait! Hahaha' Her pretend evil laugh filled the room, relishing in his embarrassment. It wasn't a common occurrence that a powerful man like Chrollo could be reduced to a fumbling, bumbling fool.

'Bakka! No stew until you get dressed.' Chrollo ordered her away, pointing in the general direction of the bedroom whilst not looking up from the floor. She giggled and danced away. It was always fun to tease him with her womanly nature as he still only saw her as that young girl he had found, lost and hungry on the streets of Meteor city.

'It's safe to look now!' Yua announced after sticking on a pair of loose trousers and a hoodie. She had pulled her hair up into two pigtails on either side of her head making her mock innocence even more frustrating for Chrollo. He turned to look at her, a small grin playing on his face. He really did miss her.

'Come and sit down then.' Chrollo set a large bowl of stew in front of her, having only a small bowl himself but knowing her appetite, she would definitely ask for more. It wasn't until she was half-way through her second bowl that he asked the question that had been on his mind. 'What happened to you?'.

Yua immediately stopped eating, hearing in his voice that he wasn't asking about the mission but the reason why she had barely made it home. Chrollo's face had become serious and Yua knew her time with the boy she used to know was over for the moment. She leaned back in her chair, her hand resting on her stomach which was now bulging with stew. She began to tell Chrollo the whole story from where it all went wrong at the checkpoint of the city. Yua included all the details she could remember, taking care to watch for any reaction when she spoke of the weird instances when it felt like something or someone was throwing her off balance during the fight. Like usual, Chrollo's face was a blank sheet as he listened intently to her story.

'I attacked him, almost thought I got him too, but he just flicked me away like a fly. We then chatted for a bit before he took off, which was just before you rang.'. Yua finished her explanation quickly, skipping over the part where her hormones had gone wild at being so close to Hisoka that she almost drowned in him. She saw a flicker of Chrollo's jaw tensing, knowing he could tell that she was withholding some information. Luckily, he didn't push the subject.

'So, he didn't hurt you more than that?'.

'No.'.

'But he then left you and took the Kurta eyes?'.

'Yes,'

'Whilst you could barely walk?' Chrollo was firing questions at her, letting more emotion out than he should but he couldn't help it.

'Well, honestly I don't think I even tried to walk after I hit the tree, until after you rang.' Yua put her finger against her chin and thought hard. 'Nope. I'm sure of it, he didn't know. It was the walk home which really hurt me anyway; 48 hours without sleep or food. It wasn't like anyone was happy to stop and help me, looking as beaten and bloody as I did'. Yua tried to laugh off the question.

Chrollo didn't speak. She was being very defensive of Hisoka's clearly selfish actions. Though Chrollo had to admit, Hisoka didn't know of Yua's link to the spider so maybe that would've changed his actions. He doubted it though.

'Can I ask you something?'. Yua looked down at her bowl of half-eaten stew, now playing with it with her spoon. She didn't wait for a response. 'What is Hisoka's ability?'

Chrollo sighed, he knew this would come up eventually. 'I can't tell you that.'.

Yua tightened her lips, dropping her spoon and folding her hands in her lap. It allowed her to squeeze her frustration out in her hands without showing Chrollo how she was feeling. 'Why not? You clearly know him. Next you will be saying I have to do another job for you to tell me this bit of information!'. She threw the remark at him, the bitterness and hurt in her voice was painfully obvious now. Chrollo didn't seemed bothered. 'Tell me Chrollo! What reason would you have…'. It hit her and she whispered, 'He's a spider.'

It wasn't a question but Chrollo responded. 'Yes.'.

Yua sank back into the chair, unsure of how she felt. Angry that Chrollo hadn't told her sooner, when he knew of her wishes to see Hisoka? Frustrated that he still tried to control her? Excited to know Hisoka was closer to her now that he had ever been before? A million thoughts were racing in her mind but only one question seemed clear enough to ask. 'Why did you send him for the eyes at the same time as me?'.

Chrollo shrugged. 'I didn't. Outside of my command, the spider can do whatever it wishes.'.

Yua was lost in thought again but this time was pondering the situation whilst chewing on some more stew. Chrollo sat patiently, knowing her too well to interrupt her mind working over her next words. After licking the last drop of stew from her finger, she was ready to move on. 'So, give me the information you promised. Where can I find him?'.

Chrollo was surprised that Yua still wanted to find Hisoka. He had just beaten her and left her broken in a country which was searching for her as enemy number 1 and yet, she was still intent on seeing him again. Never breaking a promise, Chrollo answered. 'Machi told me that he likes to spend a lot of time at the Heaven's arena. Hisoka just wants to fight anyone strong and there, they want to fight him too. You are welcome to go and find him but know that he has already won enough to reach floor 200.'. Yua's excitement was obvious as Chrollo explained further. 'I warn you now, we have a job in 6 months so you may not make it to floor 200 by the time he has left. If he's even there.'.

Yua's smile dropped, annoyed Chrollo slighted her fighting ability and the possibility of seeing Hisoka in one breath. She smiled, rising above the comments and leaned forwards, waggling her spoon in Chrollo's direction. 'Maybe he won't show to the job when he gets a chance to fight me'.

Anger momentarily appeared on Chrollo's face but was gone in an instance, 'He will be there.'. He spoke the words in a manner which Yua understood not to push, though she had only been joking with him and couldn't read the emotion on his face. It must be an important job.

Silence fell in the room, a stark difference from the laughing and teasing bouncing off the walls not too long before. Yua bowed her head down and remained quiet. She didn't get to see Chrollo-kun often anymore and though she didn't want to upset her friend, she also knew not to overstep the boundaries of her teacher.

Chrollo stood and walked over to her. He pulled her up from her chair and tilted her head up to look at him, placing a hand on either side of her cheeks. What should have been a soft, tender moment of forgiveness was abruptly ruined when he squished her cheeks together giving her a ridiculous face. Chrollo quickly had to dodge a rain of fists that she fired in his direction while shouting at him for teasing her. He laughed, she laughed, and all of the tension melted away.

'Anyway Yua, I may need your help with this job coming up.'.

Yua stuck her tongue out at him and turned away. 'No way. I need at least a year of comfy beds before returning to a place like that!'. Though she objected, they both knew her answer would be yes in the end, but he played along. Chrollo grabbed her hand and spun her on the spot, returning her pouty face and holding his hand over his heart like she had shot him.

'Please Yua-chan. I will pay for a deluxe apartment, king sized bed, massive bathroom and breakfast included'. She giggled at his foolish behaviour, 'Anyway, you will only be there on standby so it will be more of a holiday than anything else.'.

She rolled her eyes at him, 'Ok, but I also get room service every night.'.

'Deal!' He grinned, again savouring the moment, knowing he would soon be off. He grabbed her into a tight hug, overcome with sentimental feelings. 'Are you sure you don't want to join the spiders? Join me?'.

Yua's heart panged at his sudden show of affection. They had always been inseparable like siblings but had barely seen each other in the last few years, both on different paths; Chrollo leading his spiders and Yua searching blindly for Hisoka. She missed the time where they saw each other every day but being a spider wasn't her path to follow. She held on to him for a moment longer before pulling away. Chrollo already knew her answer but her face confirmed it. He sighed and now wriggled his eyebrows teasingly at her.

'You'll get to see Hisoka a lot more,'.

She blushed but quickly regained her composure, 'Ah, but as a spider himself I would only be allowed to fight him with a flip of a coin. Now where's the fun in that?'.

Chrollo's face again returned to become the serious leader of the spider. 'I wouldn't be so sure.'. Before Yua could ask what he meant by this, he grabbed his headband from the counter and wrapped it around his forehead, covering his tattoo. 'It was really great to see you again Yua-chan. Stay safe in the arena; it isn't as easy as it looks. I will call you with a time and place for the job.'.

Yua only managed to mutter a goodbye before he had left the room. He was never good at goodbyes. She sighed and headed back towards the comfort of her bed, clutching at her over-full belly. She groaned and climbed back under her sheets, her body still aching from the strain it had endured over the past week.

Yua stared at the ceiling above her, running over her conversation with Chrollo in her head, trying to understand the meaning of his strange comment about Hisoka. There was only one way to find out what he meant. 'I guess I'm headed to the Heaven's arena.'.