The Third Chapter:

East Meets West

* * * 12 April --- 08:30 * * *

Kurapika carefully rested Gon on his bed in his little cabin. The poor boy was still feeling dizzy after encountering the crazy Hisoka. Killua was then wide awake and fully dressed. When he heard what happened from Kurapika, he stood up and marched toward the direction of the door. Kurapika rushed in front of him.

"Where are you going, Killua?"

"Naturally, to kill the bastard". Killua said in an angry and matter-of- fact voice.

"Have you forgotten we cannot use aggressive energy on this train?" Kurapika said with a lecturing tone. "Our priority now is to go to Hitomi- san's room and discuss our plans of actions."

"But we can't let that bastard roam about. We don't know what he will do next. Maybe tonight, he will sneak in here and…and…well, do that to Gon!"

"Do what?" Gon asked innocently. Killua's face turned a tomato color. Kurapika also looked slightly embarrassed.

"Killua," Gon said in attempt to relieve the awkward silence that befell the room, "I am alright. Thank you for worrying for me. Besides, even Hisoka did sneak in; you will protect me, right?"

"Of course. I will not let that bastard lay a single finger on you." Killua said with confidence.

"Great, that's settled, let's all go to Hitomi's room now."

When Gon, Kurapika, and Killua arrived at Hitomi's room, they found Leorio was already comfortably seated on the carpeted floor. Beside the familiar faces of Leorio and Hitomi, there were four other people that they had not met before.

"You guys surely are late. Please come in and settle yourself comfortably. Want something to drink?" Hitomi asked but Gon, Kurapika, and Killua shook their heads.

"In that case, why don't we quickly take turn and introduce ourselves. Let me see, could we start with you, Leorio-san?"

"Me?" Leorio was a bit surprised.

"Please, Leorio san". Hitomi said with a sweet smile. Leorio was too shy to refuse the request of a girl. So, he began, "My name is Leorio, 18, and a medical student. I have passed the Hunter's test and am currently trying my best to earn some extra money with my Hunter's license."

"Wow, a medical student, Leorio-san you sure are smart!" said the guy sitting next to Leorio. He was a teenager with short, curly and brown hair. His face in itself was nothing but a tragedy. His small eyes and awkward nose joined together to present a smiling face that was more scary than comical.

"Thank you. It's really not that hard to be a doctor in the Hunter's World." Leorio blushed, apparently pleased by the flatter. "So, who are you?"

"Ah, the name's Kuwabara, I'm 15 and in high school right now. My goal is to enter University when I graduate."

"I am sure you will make it." Leorio laughed.

"You two get on really well," Killua said sarcastically, "but I remembered just yesterday someone was saying he would beat up that idiot should he meet him."

"Idiot?" Kuwabara frowned.

"Don't listen to that kid, Kuwabara-san. He's nothing but a little liar." Leorio said.

"What!" Killua was getting angry now.

"Killua!" Gon tried to calm his friend down while Kurapika shot an angry look at Leorio.

Kuwabara seemed to notice the little nonverbal communication between Kurapika and Leorio and said, "Leorio-san, your girlfriend over there doesn't seem too pleased."

"Girlfriend?" Leorio was puzzled. "You mean Kurapika? Well, Kurapika is not my girlfriend."

"No? What a pity. You two certainly look good together." Kuwabara said with a sigh.

"You think so?" Leorio wondered but there was not much time for a book was already flying across the room and hitting him right in the face.

"Kuwabara-san, my name is Kurapika, and I AM A BOY. B-O-Y. My current job is to protect my boss' daughter, Neon." Kurapika said angrily. His eyes were also turning bloody red. Kuwabara stared at Kurapika. Such a beautiful face and fair complexion. He was still in doubt but he felt it would be better for him to keep quiet from now on, before he would be sent flying out of the train. Besides, if Kurama could be a boy, there was no reason why this Kurapika could not be.

"Kuwabara-san," Gon said innocently, "Kurapika is really a boy. He doesn't look like a girl, does he? A girl should be more beautiful, say like that lady with red hair over there." Gon pointed at Kurama.

Everyone suddenly centered their attention at Kurama and noticed his face turning from normal to white, then to black with anger. Hiei giggled, probably the first time in his life. Yusuke and Kuwabara were bursting into laughter. "Kid," Yusuke said while struggling to hold back his laughter, "Kurama is a guy, G-U-Y as well!"

"Huh?" Gon said in surprise and dropped his head in embarrassment. "I am truly sorry, very sorry, super sorry, extremely sorry, Kurama-san."

Looking at the innocent Gon, Kurama's anger had to die away.

"It's alright." Kurama forced out a polite smile.

"Yes, kid, don't worry, you're not the first to make that mistake. By the way, my name is Yusuke, probably 15. Anyway, I'm not sure what I want to be in the future."

"Why not a cop?" Kurama suggested.

"Why?" Yusuke asked.

"Because you are good at fighting, and almost nothing else beside that. So, if you find a brainy partner, you should eliminate the yakuso (gangsters) in no time." Kurama said rather sarcastically but Yusuke was not in the mood for joke. Before he could take any action against Kurama though, Gon suddenly jumped up and ran over to Yusuke, shaking his hand energetically and hugging Yusuke. "Wow, so you're the legendary Yusuke! I have always wanted to meet you!" The latter was so shocked he froze. Gon continued, "No wonder I have a sense of familiarity when I look at you. I'm supposed to be your look alike in Hunter's Land. The name is Gon, I'm 12, I'm also a hunter and my dream is to become very strong, just like my father!"

"I've heard about you. That foolish Togashi created a look alike of me without my permission over in Hunter's Land but I did not imagine we are that similar. Nice to meet you, Gon!"

"And this is my best friend, Killua" Gon said pointing to Killua who was a bit jealous seeing how Gon embraced Yusuke.

"I'm Killua, 12, a killer by profession in the past. Now, I just want to tour around the world." Killua said as he stared at Yusuke with eyes that seemed to be saying, "Let go of Gon NOW or I'll CRUSH YOU!"

"Hiei-san, would you like to introduce yourself?" Hitomi asked in an attempt to relieve the increasingly tense atmosphere in her cabin.

"No." Hiei replied, clean and to the point.

"You can ignore that monkey over there," Kuwabara said in a not-so-pleased voice. "That kid is good for nothing. Don't even know why he should be called in here."

"At least I have greater use than a brainless broken face like you." Hiei reprimanded.

"What did you say!" Kuwabara clenched his fist.

"Please stop you two!" Kurama interfered. "This is Hiei," he said pointing to the shorter boy with dark, spiky hair. If not for the hair color, he was like Killua's twin. "Hiei may appear to be cold but he can be really friendly." Kurama said smiling. Hiei blushed a little and remained silent.

"Seems like you have all introduced yourself!" The young man whom Gon had seen before while waiting to meet Hitomi, suddenly emerged from the bathroom. Popping out suddenly from nowhere was really typical of Koenma.

"Ah, it's the weird guy we saw yesterday!" Killua said to Gon. "I remember his pacifier."

"I'm not a weird guy and this is no pacifier! Anyway, my name is Koenma and I'm the ruler of the Spiritual World in Yu Yu land."

"Ruler?" Killua doubted.

"Spiritual World?" Gon wondered.

"Now that the introduction is over, can I ask a few questions?" Kurapika said with a slightly frustrated tone. His impatient character obviously could not tolerate this lengthy introduction.

"Sure", Hitomi replied as if she were chairing the discussion.

"First question, why are the representatives of the Spiritual World in Yu Yu Land here? Could that person the Ryodan call in to unseal the null stone be a criminal wanted by the Spiritual World? Second question, Koenma-san, what were you doing the whole time in the bathroom? Playing hide-and-watch? Last question, Hitomi-san, if you are just a priestess in Hunter's Land, how come you know the leader of the Spiritual World?"

"Let me answer the first two questions." Koenma said, and finally with a tone of authority. "Regarding why we are here, I have to say that's because Ryo, the monster the Ryodan employed to release the null stone is an S- class monster who should be jailed in the deepest level of makai (demon world). Exactly how he escaped we did not know but he not only is a seal remover, he also has extremely strong demon powers that will cause us big trouble if he manages to sneak into the human world in Yu Yu Land."

"What powers?" Gon asked.

"It's hard to explain but let's just say he can unseal the filthy wishes that are normally suppressed by the superego in Freudian terms. So, when human lusts are free to roam about uncontrolled, you can imagine what the world will be like."

"That sounds freaky," Gon said though he did not really understand what Koenma was talking about.

"But how did you manage to imprison a monster who can undo all seals?" Killua asked, adding, "I suppose you catch monsters by sealing them, right?"

"Yes, and that's a really good question. To imprison him, my father suppressed his memory. Without his memory, he could not remember the spells of unsealing and so for quite a while, he did not pose a threat to the Spiritual World. But my father was ill lately and I suppose the suppression was weakened a bit. Hence, it seemed he remembered enough to free himself from his prison in makai."

"It all makes sense now." Kurapika said thoughtfully.

"How?" Leorio asked.

"Here's what I suspect. Ryo wanted to recover his memory but he could not because they were suppressed. So, he agreed to help the Ryodan in exchange for his memory."

"Can the Ryodan do that?" This time it was Kurama who raised the question.

"Yes, there is a woman among the Ryodan called Pakunoda. She has the power to read other people's memories. Ryo's memory may be suppressed so that he cannot recall them but that doesn't mean Pakunoda cannot read them. I think Ryo wants Pakunoda to read all his memory pertinent to his powers and shoots a memory bullet at him so that he has his memory back in the form of new memory. All Koenma's father can do is to suppress his old memory but not the new one he acquires through Pakuoda this way. In return, he will unseal the null stone for the Ryodan."

"So the most important person to watch out for among the Ryodan is really this Pakunoda. Why don't we just catch this woman and imprison her somewhere on this train. In that way, that Ryo cannot get his memory back and everything will be fine." Yusuke said simple-mindedly.

"Well, if only reality is so simple". Hiei who had been really quiet until now, spoke up. "I am pretty certain the other members of the Ryodan will guard her well."

"True," Killua said, "so Koenma, hurry and answer the next question so we can get on with our planning." Killua said. Obviously he too was interested in what Koenma was doing in the bathroom.

Koenma blushed a little and said, "Well, I just used the bathroom as people normally would use it."

"But for so long?" Yusuke asked. "You were in there way before those three arrived and don't tell us you were taking a shower. You said you already had a long one this morning."

"Well…"Koenma blushed even more.

"I know what he has been doing." Kurama suddenly said confidently and that naturally attracted everyone's attention.

"He must be trying out some of Hitomi-san's lotion. Look, his face is a bit whiter than his normal complexion as on his neck. Also, his skin seems smoother as well."

Koenma was so embarrassed he wanted to flee from the room as Kurama was totally correct. The collection of Hitomi's lotion was really great plus he had never tried lotion from Hunter's Land. Fortunately, Hitomi came into rescue by changing the topic.

"I think it's my turn to answer the last question then. How come I know Koenma and the Spiritual World in Yu Yu Land? The simple answer is I don't, well, not until last night. I hacked into the computer system on this train to get the passenger's list and found that people from the Spiritual World also came. I suspected they came to catch whoever was trying to unseal the null stone. I thought maybe we could cooperate and so knocked on the door of the one in the VIP room as he should be the leader of the pack. I spoke to Koenma at around midnight and revealed to him my intentions and he agreed to that. Clear and simple."

Kurapika was staring at Hitomi with doubtful glances. Apparently, this Hitomi girl was more than just a beautiful maiden from some shrines in Hunter's Land. She could be more dangerous than he initially thought she was.

"Ahem," Koenma said as he finally emerged from his embarrassing moments a few seconds ago, "Now that we have some answers, should we move on to our plan? There's not much time left before this train arrives at Yu Yu Land. Once there, there's nothing we can do to stop the all-powerful Ryo and Ryodan."

But there was no time for them to plan. A 3-D computer image suddenly appeared in the room and the humanoid image said, "Dear passengers, sorry to interrupt you but we have an emergency on this train. The body of a VIP passenger was just discovered in room 1501. Judging from his appearance, he should be Mr. Ryo from Yu Yu Land. The security on board this train was already informed of the tragedy and would arrive on the scene shortly. Meanwhile, would all the passengers please return to their room and remain in there until further notice. Thank you very much for your cooperation. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience."

All the people in Hitomi's room could do nothing but stared at each other with blank faces. Could there other news more shocking? Perhaps not at the time.

To be continued.