Valeria sat down, legs crossed, leaning back on the support of one arm, and furiously fanning herself like an old man. It wasn't because she was really hot or anything, but the warmth from the blazing sun was stinging a little bit. As an automatic reaction, she just picked up a paper plate from the picnic and began to dead fish eyes zoned out into the distance, not watching anyone in particular, which gained the attention of Killua and Gon, who were play fighting in the fields like normal children. Normal children? She scoffed inwardly as she lowered her fan, still staring at nothing in particular. If she used the word normal to describe an assassin with frightening childish tendencies, and a boy so bright yet so naively stupid at the same time she must have gone insane. As she pondered these thoughts, she didn't notice Gon waving his hands in front of her and also did not notice Gon picking up flowers and sticking them in her hair. They weren't truly flowers though, just some random weeds growing wildly in the park of YorkNew. Whether the boy did it because he subconsciously mocking Valeria or if he was simply innocent and just attempting to catch her attention, no one would know. The lack of reaction from Valeria drove away their interests and they simply sat down, finding something else to occupy them which was holding a food competition.

Suddenly, Gon bolted upright and ran away from the group and towards a blonde approaching them. Kurapika had a sullen look on his face, and seemed surprised when Gon approached him like he usually did. As Gon continued to encourage the blonde, Killua found himself bored from eating. He glanced at the stack of pies and held one pie in each hand. He glanced at Valeria and with a cat like smirk he attempted to smash one pie into her face. "Wake up, gorilla!"

As if the term gorilla triggered something inside of her, Valeria grabbed Killua's wrist before the pie could reach her and her clouded face stared down into Killua's eyes with a hostile and murderous look. "I think some earwax had built up in my ears. What did you say?" Slightly nervous of her murderous aura, Killua backed away and muttered nothing, before he attacked Gon. Gon chased after Killua, while Kurapika watched them, laughing. Valeria waved him over and lazily opened her lollipop. "Yo. How ye feeling?"

"Haha, a lot better actually. I didn't think that coming out here today would brighten my mood so much. Gon sure is an interesting person." Kurapika smiled softly before blinking and nervously adding more. "Of course, talking and seeing you yesterday also lifted my mood!" He waved his hands around, hoping that Valeria didn't misunderstand and that he didn't acknowledge her kind gestures. Valeria wobbled her arms. "Calm down Kurapika. I know what you mean. Gon just does that, he's that kind of person."

Kurapika's shoulder relaxed in response. Valeria pulled out her phone and dialed a number before tossing it to Kurapika. "You should call Leorio." She then got up, grabbed Gon and Killua by their shirt collars and ordered them to start cleaning up. While Kurapika greeted and had a short conversation with Leorio, the trio had finished eating everything, threw away their garbage and were ready to go back to their hotel. On their way back, Killua continuously pestered Valeria for another one of her mystery lollipops, which he had slowly built an unusual addiction to. Perhaps the nature of an assassin is to live life on the edge.

The group had met up with Leorio and they all took in the nostalgic memories. While Leorio pressed the button to the elevator, he nervously looked back at Kurapika. "You've got this intensity about you... you seem a little bit intimidating now." Kurapika blinked, and responded bluntly. "Really? You don't seem to have changed much."

Leorio didn't take his comment kindly and scowled. "And you're more annoying now. Oh yeah, I heard you took down a member of the Spider Troupe. Having only just learned Nen, how did you manage that?"

"We want to learn Nen because we will definitely use it in the future." Gon nodded in agreement, curious about Kurapika's skills as well.

"You are probably a better teacher than Valeria." Killua added. Valeria picked her nose and grunted in annoyance. She didn't deny it though. Her whole clan was based on very straightforward methods. The way she developed her Nen was because after brief meditation and trying to feel the flow of Nen, she was thrown into life threatening situations. Nothing better than the adrenaline from being in danger taking off your limiters. Although perhaps, her simplistic love for plants was perfectly in tune with her Manipulator nature. While everything was purely instinctual learning, Valeria couldn't translate her knowledge of Nen to the three. Last night, she spent an hour explaining it, using mainly the words "feel", "you know", and "it's like...yeh".

"Then you probably don't want my advice. It won't do you any good." Kurapika looked down. My power can only be used against the Troupe." He then began to explain, even as they stepped out of the elevator and into their room. "Nen is strongly affected by your mental state. The stronger your resolve, the more power you receive. However, you also incur a big risk at the same time. In return for power, I vowed to use it only against a Spider. I set a rule for myself. If I use my chains on anyone who isn't a spider, then I will forfeit my life."

"Eh?" Gon, Killua, and Leorio looked taken aback. Gon looked at Valeria and to confirm, the girl shrugged. "I don't necessarily want to be strong so I don't have anything as strict as Kurapika. But my resolve is to fight for what I believe in. The stronger that belief, the stronger the power. The more uncertain I am, the weaker my power gets. However, I do know Shion set a rule for himself however. In our clan, there was a tradition where there is a certain number of kills you had to achieve in a week. That was a long time ago. But Shion decided to basically set that rule for himself. I don't remember the exact details of his stupid rule though, otherwise I would have done everything to prevent him from fulfilling that rule."

Kurapika nodded. He built on his previous statement."There's a Nen blade pointed at my heart. If I break the rule, that balde will pierce my heart, killing me. This rule demonstrates my resolve. My power is the product of pure hatred. It only works on spiders. I'm telling you because I trust you. Don't tell anyone else."

"Why are you telling us this?!" Killua shouted. Taken aback by the boy's panicked face, Kurapika scrunched his face and seriously considered the question. He also seemed to question why he himself did it and couldn't come up with an answer. "I'm not sure. With their leader's death I must have relaxed."

"It's fine if we keep our mouth shut, right?" Leorio asked, not really seeing any issues with it. Killua clenched his fists and disputed. "No. One of the surviving members can read minds. If they find out, Kurapika won't be able to defeat them."

"They didn't find out last time though." Gon frowned.

"That's because we didn't know Kurapika was the chain user."

"Then all we have to do is stay away from them. They've already checked you, so they think you're clean." Leorio suggested.

"There's this guy named Nobunaga. He's trying to hunt Kurapika down and he's still trying to chase us down."

"Is he aware that you know Kurapika?"

"No.."

"Then that's fine. As long as no one is around the mind reader knows Kurapika we're safe." Killua reluctantly backed down, but it was evident that he was still uneasy. Kurapika glanced at him before adding:"Also, I've been keeping in contact with Hisoka. He knows that I am the chain user."

This time, Valeria shot up, with obvious disgust and horror on her face. "The pedophilic clown? Why? Clowns you can't trust, and neither can you trust a pedophile. That guy is both!" She instinctively raised her arms in front of both Killua and Gon, the two youngest of the group. Killua corrected her by pushing the arm in front of him to in front of Gon instead, while he placed both of his arms on top of Gon. Sighing in exasperation, Kurapika provided further details. "We made a pact. But now his target, the leader of the spiders is now dead. So I don't know what he'll do."

"What do we do? It's dangerous if we wait around knowing Kurapika's secret. We should attack now. We know where their current base is and we even have Kurapika. If we take too long, they might get away. They move fast. They could be making an escape while we talk." Killua narrowed his eyes. Kurapika raised his arm, thinking hard about Killua's suggestion. He thought about it and lowered his arms. "It's true. That mind reading woman is a danger but I think I'll do as Gon said and focus on retrieving my bretheren's eyes." He smiled at Gon, who seemed relieved and pleased.

"Seriously?! Are you about that?" Killua shouted. Kurapika merely nodded.

"Can't change his mind anymore. He's set to do what he chose to do." Leorio grinned and Killua sat down, perplexed. Valeria mockingly made her voice more nasally as she brought her hand to her lips. "Oh my. Is little Killua worried about someone. Wow, he grew up to be such a caring individual. Wasn't he supposed to be a cold hearted assassin. I think I'm going to burst into tears in pride." Her voice was dramatic but her dead fish eyes had a glint of mockery. Killua turned red with annoyance and embarrassment as he lamely shouted out a threat.

Kurapika's phone began to ring and Kurapika pulled it out, confused when he saw the sender. "Hisoka?" He then clicked open the message and his facial expression changed completely. "The bodies...They were fake! The dead spiders were fakes!" His eyes glowed red and Valeria tilted her head. "What are you gonna do? We're here to help"

The other boys nodded in agreement and Kurapika paused momentarily to think. Not giving him enough time to respond, his phone rang once more. He picked the call up and answered. "Hello, Melody? What is it?" Valeria carefully monitored the conversation.

After he hung up, Leorio asked: "Meteor city? Then they just prioritized the relationship between the Mafia and Meteor City rather than pursue the Troupe?"

"Yes…" Kurapika responded, clearly struggling to take all of the information in. Valeria coughed and then rocked in her chair. "Why don't we disperse today. Each one of us figures out what we need to do. Collect info and then we meet again tomorrow."

"That's… a good idea." Kurapika nodded. He stood up and walked towards the door of the hotel room. He forced a smile, emotionally drained. "It was nice seeing all of you again. I'll contact you guys tomorrow." He then left, signalling the end of the meeting.

"Hmmm…" A cloaked figure beamed as he flipped through the newspaper. Another figure next to him fidgeted nervously, obvious that she didn't want to be there. "Spider Troupe? Interesting. They seem strong."

"Can you not create anymore trouble, Shion?"

"There wouldn't be this much trouble in the first place if you didn't let Valeria escape, Tiya." Tiya, also known as Tianyu, frowned and slouched. Fortunately, she wasn't mutilated by the bloodthirsty man, but she wasn't able to escape his tyranny either. Shion tapped his chin, thinking hard. "Yorknew is pretty interesting. Perhaps after bringing Valeria back home, maybe I should play around with the Spider Troupe."

"You mean join them?"

"Haha, of course not. I only fight the strong and I only fight for myself. I don't like following someone else's orders. I meant fighting them." He licked his lips, anticipatingly. Tiya shuddered and tears formed in the corner of her eyes. Why was she stuck here?