Forgiveness

Chapter 9

By the time she had reached floor 200, on the evening of her most recent victory, Yua was tired and fed up. Coming into the Heaven's arena, she had thought it would be quick and easy to reach the upper levels but, though each fight had been an easy win, the waiting around was painfully boring! There were some times where she didn't have a fight for an entire week, and it drove her crazy. This challenge was definitely testing her patience more than her strength. Though she had managed to keep her boredom at bay, by exploring the city surrounding the Heaven's arena, Yua's frustration had been mounting and she couldn't wait to have her first fight, to let it all out. The most frustrating part is how quickly the two young boys had caught her up.

'Gon and Killua are amazingly strong for kids and they have the entertainment value of winning almost every fight in one hit.' Yua made some rude gestures with her hands and mimicked the receptionist she had spoken to on floor 194, whilst waiting to be assigned a fight. In the time it had taken Yua to win 10 matches and climb to floor 200, they had each won 14 matches and were right on her tail. Yua had also heard that their 15th and final matches before the 200s were scheduled back-to-back tomorrow afternoon.

'Tsk, if I'd had to wait one more day, they would've beaten me here!' Yua sulked, folding her arms over her chest and grumbled to herself.

The elevator came to a stop and Yua walked out onto the most lavish floor she had been to so far. The carpet was a vibrant red lined with gold, which would make anyone feel like a celebrity, and the decorations lining the walls were nothing short of what you'd find in a palace of a very rich king. Golden ornaments, which were all shiny and encrusted with gems, and paintings which even Yua knew the names of, hung on the walls showing the obvious wealth of this competition. Not that she paid enough attention to even notice. She was still sulking and grumbling, so even a shiny object wasn't going to disturb her on her way to the registration desk.

The only distraction that grabbed Yua's attention was the crackle of Nen in the air. She had felt it as soon as she stepped foot on this floor, like a hundred eyes all turning to look at her. Some of the power felt inquisitive but it was mainly an overwhelming weight of murderous intent which hung around her and followed her as she walked the corridors. Yua smirked at the show of bravado clearly being used to scare away newcomers. She knew the best thing to do would be to keep her head down, use In, and retreat to the safety of her room but she was in a bad mood. She ran her tongue across her sharp teeth, eager to taste the fight of someone who could actually challenge her, it had been too long. She let her excitement and blood lust grow until it consumed her, tingling in all of her muscles, and then released her aura out across the entire floor. She let those watching know of her presence and her power and hoped someone else would be in the mood to fight too.

As soon as her aura hit each person on the floor, their presence disappeared from Yua's probing. She huffed in disappointment and realised the fighting would have to wait until she was in an arena, or maybe, those trying to intimidate her would try again. She hoped so. At least for now she could register for a 200s fight and have a match as soon as possible.

Only leaving her aura out for a second longer, in the hopes someone would rise to her challenge, she retracted it all the way in to mask her presence, as the others had, and headed off to the floor's registration desk. It wouldn't be good if everyone knew where she was sleeping.

'Hello, my name is Yua. I am here to register for floor 200.' Yua placed her winning ticket on the registration desk and immediately started tapping her foot. She really did have to do something about all this built up frustration and energy. She had hopes there would be some training equipment in the room that she could burn though before having a long, hot bath to calm her down. 'Oh, there better be a bath' Yua thought to herself.

'Hello Yua-San. It's great to see you made here in one piece.'. The lady behind the registration desk smiled at Yua with tired eyes and said these words without any hints of malice or sarcasm. Yua cocked an eyebrow at her.

'Do people usually get lost on the way to register for this floor? The signs to reception were pretty clear to me.' Yua pointed at the massive red sign above the reception desk and frowned in disbelief.

'Ah no, unfortunately getting lost isn't the issue, it is who they run into on the way. Some of the other fighters on this floor can be quite… difficult.'. She managed squeezed out a smile to Yua, though it looked strained, and then quickly turned away to complete the registration. Yua wasn't sure if she had to turn away or chose to, possibly hide the look of fear building behind her eyes.

Yua thought back to the intimidation game she had just endured for stepping on to the floor and suddenly understood that it hadn't been a game at all. She could only guess the carnage they would've forced upon her, should she not have been a Nen user. Her thoughts immediately travelled to the faces of Gon-Kun and Killua-Kun. Though strong, they weren't Nen users and would soon have to face the wrath of this floor. She clenched her fists at the thought of them hurt and growled slightly.

'I'll have to pay these intimidators a visit tomorrow before they get here.'. Yua's anger quickly turned into excitement at the thought of having her first 200s fight tomorrow; though it wouldn't be an official match. A snarl escaped through her wide smile.

'Are you ok?' A squeaky voice came from behind a raised clipboard, hiding the look of horror on the receptionist's face. Yua snapped out of her thoughts and felt a pang of guilt. This lady was just trying to be friendly and she already had a lot of troublesome characters to deal with on this floor, but Yua didn't want to be one of them. She quickly wiped the look from her face and returned to the innocent girl act, that most normal people felt at ease with.

'Awah, sorry about that. I was caught up in the moment'. Yua scratched the back of her head and gave the receptionist a large innocent grin. She was trying to copy Gon's friendly manner, that he used to win everyone over.

The receptionist wasn't entirely convinced but carried on with the registration. 'I have booked you into your new room, which will stay the same whilst you are with us in the 200s. You should know that here the rules are slightly different. You can take up to 90 days to prepare for a fight or register for one at every availability, but one day over 90 days will lead to disqualification. Weapons are now allowed, should you want to use them, but we ask you to kindly keep the fighting in the arena. Not that that stops anyone.' The lady muttered the last part to herself but loud enough that Yua overheard and started to giggle. The receptionist relaxed a little and looked at Yua like she was the sunshine on a cloudy day. It wasn't common that fighters stayed to listen to her speak but this one seemed to be making a special effort to stay, though she looked like she could fall asleep at any moment. 'Yua-San, you look like you've had a long day. I can just give you the highlights if you like. My boss seems adamant that every fighter will want a long explanation and inspirational speech on becoming the top Floor Master and go on to win the Battle Olympia, but I get the feeling you'd prefer this quick?'

Yua smiled at the kindness of the woman before her. 'Yes please, I can almost hear the bed calling my name!'

She giggled at Yua, already enjoying her company more than any other fighter who had joined this floor. 'Sure! So, there are currently 173 fighters in the 200s, you have to win 10 matches to be able to go higher and challenge floor masters, but should you lose 4 matches in that time you will be demoted to the 190s again. From now on, there are no cash prizes, but you get a very nice private room, and this is your key.' She held out a large golden key to Yua, quickly finishing her explanation.

'That's great! Thank you very much for your concise words. It is very appreciated!' Yua took the key and started to wave goodbye, but stopped to say one more thing, 'Can I come and visit you whilst I'm here?'.

The receptionist looked shocked; it was the first time any of the pro fighters in the 200s had asked her a question like that. 'S-S-Sure!' She exclaimed with a slight stutter of embarrassment, a blush rising on her cheeks.

'Great! I will see you soon then!'.

Yua headed off to her room, her mood was much lighter after meeting… meeting… Shoot, she had forgotten to get her name!

'Ah well, I will find out tomorrow on my way to find the intimidators on this floor. Uwah, it will be fun to finally fight someone who can give me a challenge! Maybe I'll even bum into Hisoka.'.

Yua smiled wistfully at the thought, though she hadn't felt his presence yet. When she had been engulfed earlier by the aura's of so many with a murderous intent, she could've laughed in their faces. It was nothing compared to the immense power and bloodlust that Hisoka had oozed when she saw him in East Gorteau. Yua drooled slightly at the thought, eager to feel his aura again. She then laughed to herself, thinking she was starting to sound like an addict, obsessed with searching for her next hit. Restraint really wasn't a strong trait of hers.

When she had last been close to Hisoka, it had seemed like her body had moved on its own in response to him. She would definitely have to keep her hormones in check this time around and restrain her body from reacting in the way he wants. She licked her lips in anticipation, already knowing if she defied what he wanted her to do, it would anger him, and he would show her more of his power. It was his strength she wanted to see and feel, his body was just an added bonus and she knew giving in to him would be much sweeter if she held herself back first.

Yua shuddered at the thought and had to steady herself against the door of her new apartment and take a deep breath to calm down before entering.

No more than 20 minutes later, Yua was lying in a steaming hot bath, full of bubbles. Her stomach protruding above the water, bulging with all the snacks she had found in the kitchen and devoured immediately. The apartment was gorgeous, a single open plan room with floor to ceiling windows to show off the amazing view that only the arena's top fighters were allowed to experience. Though it was only one room, it was large enough to have a separate bedroom area, containing a king-sized four-poster bed, a kitchen, fancy enough that a gourmet hunter would be happy, and a sitting room, which main feature was a flat screen tv showing reruns of the previous 200s fights.

Yua groaned in the bath, loving her new life of luxury. Maybe she would decide to stay here forever, even if Hisoka didn't turn up, or better yet, maybe he would join her.