"..and then, out of bravery but also out of justice, I explained to my enemies what their flaw was: they were too messy, too all over the place. They were not united!" Valeria paused, her eyes, still looking dead as ever, swept over her audience before she lazily slapped the new, cold towel on Kurapika's head. The slap caused the boy to flinch in his sleep and the rest of the gang immediately pulled her away, worried that she would injure him. They were hiding in a run down building, with Kurapika having a high fever and the rest of them taking turns caring for him and watching over the premises."Wasn't that so cool of me? Geez, who wouldn't fall for my charm."
"..." Leorio, Gon, and Killua stared at her, dumbfounded. They knew she was being sarcastic and purposefully theatrical, but they also knew she was the type to point out people's faults bluntly.
"I think that was rather idiotic of you. One, you really shouldn't provoke your enemies. That's absolutely retarded. Two, why on earth would you tell your enemies their weaknesses? So they can defend themselves against you?" Killua shook his head, disappointed but also not at the same time. He wasn't surprised that the dumb female gorilla made such a choice.
"Nah. It was more pitiable and ironic. Even a person like me who was never raised to care for others or work with others understood. And in an amateur group we still pressured the Phantom Troupe when the mafia and whatever soldiers they hired couldn't handle them." Valeria sat down on the rotting wooden chair. "But more importantly Kurapika…"
"Yeh. I don't think he should fight the Troupe anymore." Gon replied. "I thought of something when he told us about his powers. If he simply wanted revente, he would have chosen different abilities. If he really wanted to kill them, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of chaining their hearts."
"I think that it's the opposite. He designed his abilities specifically for revenge against the Phantom Troupe. It's not like he's against one person, but he's against everyone in the troupe. Therefore his ability should be used to gain information on the others. " Killua leaned against the windowsill, initially focusing his eyes on Gon then on Valeria. The member of the Lavine clan gave her signature shrug before offering her opinion.
"I think Kurapika is still soft. Or at least he had gotten softer. Ch...C...Colo? Coca Cola? Chronos? Ch-"
"Chrollo. Way to go and ruin the mood." Killua rolled his eyes.
"Yeh that's it. Kurapika could have just changed the condition or something to kill Chrollo. Or he could've just left me behind to finish his revenge. But you know, people are empathetic. I think Kurapika felt some kind of pity for spiders, like an opportunity for redemption. But we should probably keep Kurapika away from the Troupe." Valeria paused, contemplating something before wishing the boys luck on their auction. "You two are also going to go to the auction house right? Be careful."
"Alright!"
"What time is it?" Kurapika finally opened his eyes and spoke. He's been asleep for two days but it looked as if he had been in a coma for ten years.
"Two pm. You look more dead than I do." Valeria attempted a joke, although cracking a relieved smile. She removed the towel and switched it, awkwardly trying not to slap it down on his forehead and giving him a concussion. Kurapika tiredly smiled, appreciating her bluntness before commenting on the passing of the time. "I see. I've slept for half a day. Where's the boss? The underground auction?"
"It's been cancelled. The rest of the merchandise will be auctioned online. The boss accepted that." Melody answered this time.
"You're lying. The boss was looking forward to it all this time, I don't see her accepting that easily."
"Squala was killed and Eliza was inconsolable. The Scarlet Eyes we won were stolen. Apparently the boss was shocked by Eliza's state and said that she wanted to go home." Melody looked down, sadness clouding her eyes briefly as she broke the news to Kurapika.
"Valeria, what about you? Are you alright? The Phantom Troupe didn't do anything to you?"
Immediately, Valeria dashed out and lifted up two of the beds from neighbouring rooms with ease. She flexed, posed and twirled. "Never been better." She then tossed them away and stood behind Leorio and Melody swinging her arm. "See?"
"All she did was blab her mouth at the Phantom Troupe anyways. While you were asleep she told us all about it." Leorio laughed and Kurapika smiled briefly. Valeria sighed and flopped down onto the ground, tapping her chin. Melody and Leorio exchanged glances before they asked her what she was concerned about. "What are you so anxious about?"
"It's almost my birthday." Valeria folded her arms before shaking her legs.
"Huh, so you're actually a kid. I was wondering what you were so anxious about but you're just worried we won't celebrate your birthday." Leorio teased and immediately Valeria flipped him off. She hissed quietly before motioning that she would kill him if he continued to test her patience. She then sighed and sat down scratching her head.
"No. It just means that Shion is probably in Yorknew to bring me back home. Did I not tell you that our clan has a tradition for killing? Well, it's a battle of death between a parent and their child when it's their child's coming of age ceremony. You know where I'm going with this? Ding ding ding, you're right- it's going to be coming of age ceremony. And there's a lot of shitty stuff that goes with it. " Valeria twirled her finger around lazily before resting her hand on her chin.
"Valeria-san. Your heartbeat flares inconsistently but also slowly. It shows stress but a beautiful courage. If it is the stress of fearing that you'll submit to your clan, I don't think you need to worry." Melody gently placed her palm on the girl's shoulder and Valeria scratched her cheek, looking away while feeling embarrassed. She muttered a quiet thanks before shaking her head. Melody was able to relieve the worry that she will submit to the clan. Now she just has to think how she can avoid performing the ceremony without having her brother become the heir.
"But to kill your family? And what, people are gonna watch it like some kind of circus show? That's twisted." Leorio scratched his chin while Valeria nodded in agreement. "Right? Honestly, it's kind of scary to go back there by myself." Kurapika looked like he wanted to say something during the brief moment of silence before Valeria's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and she openly expressed her disgust before dragging her feet out of the room.
"...You took longer to hunt my phone number down than expected, Shion."
"Thanks to Tianyu who drugged me, let me board onto the wrong air blimp, lead me in loops around the outside of Yorknew, and purposely missing trains, yes it took longer than expected. I'm curious if you ran into the Phantom Troupe or not though, I had a feeling you were."
"I dunno. Go suck a d*ck" She muttered the last few words under breath, before clearing her throat.
"I heard that-" Shion was interrupted when a new voice immediately yelled through the phone.
"Stop disrespecting Brother Shion like that, bitch." Valeria's eyes widened at Will's cameo audio appearance. "Will? What are you doing with Shion?"
"To stop you from bringing shame to the family, to the clan. You're undeserving to be the heiress of our family."
"Ha, did Brother Shion brainwash you to idolize our clan's traditions? You don't realize how primitive and disgusting they actually are."
"At least I'm not running away from my responsibilities. If you stopped running, I wouldn't have followed Shion after you tried to kill me."
Valeria paused and Shion took the opportunity from the silence to cheerfully retrieve his phone back. "Well, I'll see you at the airport on September 7th. See ya!" Valeria felt her vein pop and her temper bubble over for the first time in a while. With the cell phone in her hand, she pounded it into the wall, destroying both. She grabbed the nearby door and unhinged it, swinging it around and out of a glass window. Proceeding to split the table in half with a kick and muffling a scream, she punched down the walls of the empty rooms one by one. Melody and Leorio ran out of the room, alarmed by the sudden loudness to see Valeria tear down everything.
"Suffocated fury, confusion and melancholy. It's frightening." Melody shivered, unable to step closer and Leorio turned to her, helpless. "Stop Valeria! Calm down."
His pleas were ignored as Valeria was blinded with her anger, fueled by the naturally violent and passion that the Lavine blood had. Kurapika also stepped out of the room, although he appeared to be evidently fatigued. He pulled out his two wooden swords and wobbled behind her, before Leorio could stop him.
"Oi, Kurapika what are you doing, you're going to die-" Leorio was more concerned that the Kurta survivor was going to be the one beaten to pulp rather than whatever intentions Kurapika had planned with his swords. Frankly, Leorio would be more scared of a murderer getting murdered by Valeria than the other way around. Kurapika then easily tripped her and grabbed her arm, pinning it behind her while pressing his sword against her neck. The sense of danger chilled Valeria's anger and after struggling for a bit she then regained her senses.
"K-kurapika...I can't breathe." She muttered nervously before he released her, panting heavily as he was still extremely drained. Leorio and Melody rushed next to Kurapika, carrying him back to his bead as the boy returned to his slumber. Valeria stood awkwardly at the door frame, guilty and ashamed that she was swayed momentarily by her emotions as well as inconveniencing the bed ridden one of her group.
"What the hell, Valeria?" Leorio demanded, but immediately surprised when he saw her flinch. He then scratched his neck before pointing at the chair. "For now, just sit down and explain. This is the first time that Kurapika and I've seen you this angry. I guess we can't even call your past temper tantrums bad anymore." He joked but regretted it the moment Valeria looked more sullen and depressed. Her dead fish eyes lost more light, if possible. "Is it...a frequent thing?" Leorio asked carefully.
"Not anymore. I didn't have any of these temper tantrums after meeting everyone during the Hunter exam. It's my coping mechanism and how I relieve my stress."
Just a tantrum? Leorio swallowed nervously. "Why not, and why all of the sudden?"
"Did it have to do with the phone call? Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop…" Melody murmured apologetically and Valeria waved her hand dismissively.
"Nono, I was pretty loud. You're right, it was. It's a long story if you guys don't mind listening. I planned on telling you guys sometime but, well, it's kind of embarrassing." Valeria cheeks flushed before she then banged her head onto the table, letting her forehead bleed before inhaling and exhaling deeply. "Alright, I'm ready."
Leorio watched her with amazement, thinking to himself that he should become a doctor faster, maybe even become a psychiatrist to help this crazy gorilla. No, a veterinarian.
The Lavine clan was the result of the merge between two families, the Dragons and the Tigers. This was because there were so many battles for superiority and the privilege to have the military equivalent to the Emperor of Che'ang. Because the death rate of both lines were significantly higher than the birth rate, they formed a treaty and merged since both lineages did have the exact same hereditary strength and violence habits. To maintain stability, the clan leader always alternates between the two lineages. The bloodthirst within the clan has never died down and thus they found a way to incorporate fights as traditions.
When Valeria was five, her younger brother Will was born. It was an interesting and fond memory for her, because of the infinite instances where lives would be taken away before her eyes, the giving of life was what was intriguing. When she became six years old, her father had thrown her off of a cliff then she crawled back with her own hands. Although she felt incredible confusion from her parent's cold attitude, she quickly forgot it as they returned to normal. Valeria never understood why her father did that and her mother didn't stop him since even as she threw violent tantrums, they never reprimanded her. She was also too infatuated with having a younger sibling that she returned to the happy family they were. After she became eight years old, her father once again dropped her off at a dangerous location, this time an island full of cannibals. After she returned, she became more defensive against adults including her parents and as a manifestation of protection, she became more violent. She never hesitated to knock down the precious tea sets her mother kept within steel cupboards. She would purposefully scream and wreak havoc, destroying the furniture and room whichever she was in. But her temper would always settle down when she would find her younger brother to hang out with him.
The girl slowly built a reputation among the clan as one with potential because she was indiscriminately violent wherever she was. The clan members were excited to see the current head's daughter to have such passionate blood flowing through her to carry the clan's traditions. Because she was young, Valeria didn't know how to handle the unwanted attention other than throwing a tantrum. Which only garnered more admiration.
At the age of ten, she became friends with Shion and Tianyu.
…
..
.
"Miss Valeria, thank you so much for stopping by this humble woman's dumpling shop." The middle aged woman smiled brightly, as if the whole world was in her hands. Valeria had been moving around between during stalls, avoiding the discomforting look the adults had been giving her. She licked her lips, setting down the chopsticks. Maybe it was time for her to avoid this stall too, now that this conceited woman was getting weird privileged ideas in her head.
"Yeh yeh, just send the bill to Papa." Valeria got up and dusted herself, ready to leave before she was stopped by the woman.
"Wait! Miss Valeria, I have a proposition."
Valeria immediately felt her patience dissipate, not liking where this was going. She turned around, pulling out her silver baton. "What do you want-?"
She looked surprised when the dumpling shop lady pulled out a small girl, probably the same age as her, from behind her back. The girl kept glancing at her baton nervously to which Valeria instinctively put it away.
"This is my daughter Tianyu. I was wondering if you could let her hang out with you because as you can see, she doesn't have a lot of confidence. In exchange, all the dumpling you eat will be free."
"Deal." Valeria responded almost immediately. The dumpling at this particular store was understandably amazing. She had been reluctant with the idea to leave but now there was an additional appeal to it, she would stay. Unfortunately she can't keep annoying her father with IOU bills though. She grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her away from the stall and down the street. After a bit they halted and she asked: "Are you mute? Aren't you gonna say anything or introduce yourself?"
"...I'm Tianyu. I'm turning eleven soon."
"I'm Valeria, turning ten. I like dumplings and climbing anything. Okay now that you have enough information to tell your mom, I'll let you know that I don't want friends. If you need things to tell your mom just I don't know, find me at the cliff of that canyon." She pointed at the far distance and Tianyu almost immediately swallowed nervously.
"I-isn't that a really dangerous path?"
"Duh, why else did you think I chose that? So no one can bother me. Now shoo." Valeria picked her nose before wagging her finger, arching an eyebrow. "Or do you want me to wipe my booger on you?"
Tianyu's face turned pale and green in disgust as she shook her head furiously. She then ran away, obediently, much to Valeria's triumph. She crossed her arms in a satisfied smile. Tianyu seemed easy to bully. Maybe next time, she'll catch a snake or something to scare her off.