Exclusive Interviews by Shuuichi Minamino
Notes and Disclaimers: Hunter X Hunter and Yu Yu Hakusho are both owned by Mr. Yoshihiro Togashi. Though the content of these interviews are based on the anime, not all reflect the truth. There are times when the characters will be twisted. Beware of possible spoilers from time to time.
YYH Characters / Terminologies mentioned:
Shuuichi Minamino / Kurama - see chapter 1.
Koenma Daioh - see chapter 1.
Kazuma Kuwabara - said to be Leorio's counterpart in Yu Yu Hakusho. He
isn't exactly very bright (though his diligence and dedication make up for
that), nor very good-looking. His strongest point leans more on the emotional side.
He's the most human among the four main characters (both literally and
figuratively speaking).
Yukina - the love of Kazuma's life. Also, Hiei's twin sister. She is the
reason why Kazuma and Hiei fight most of the time, but the good girl's oblivious
to all these.
Yusuke Urameshi - Kazuma's best friend, and the main character of YYH.
Kazuma tends to risk his life for Yusuke more than once. Supposedly, Yusuke is
Gon's counterpart, but he really looks more like Jin Freeces if you ask me. Then
again, Jin is Gon's dad, so there isn't much difference.
Episode 3 - Leorio
Gon swayed his legs back and forth as he watched Leorio's reflection on the mirror. The doctor proceeded on dressing himself up for his interview. Killua was beside him on the bed, lying on his stomach, and doing pretty much the same thing as Gon was. Trying to strike up conversation, Gon turned to his white-haired best friend and grinned.
"Isn't Kurama-san nice, Killua?" he asked cheerfully.
Killua though, doesn't seem to be in the mood to grin back. The bed shifted slightly as Killua sat up, crossing his legs, a pale hand coming up to rub a bandaged lower arm. "I guess..." he mumbled, suppressing a scowl at the expected shot of pain of his own touch. "How he even came up with such a violent friend is beyond me though."
Looking back on his own interview, Killua knew that he had been lucky to have survived. It was a good thing that Kurama was there to stop the hysterical Hiei before he fried Killua to death with that creepy black dragon of his. If only he wasn't at the receiving end of that fiery, insanely humongous mouth, he would've thought that the dragon was cool. Killua decided then and there that Hiei Jaganshi sucks. Can't the guy take a joke? At least Hisoka would've. Hell, even his brother would've, relatively speaking.
And speaking of Hisoka and Illumi, the strangest thing just happened. Right after the interview, Illumi just sent him a smiley, one with a tongue out and an "X" for an eye. Also, aside from the smiley, there was a series of arrows and dashes that outlined what looked very much like a figure of a dragon. In the end, the picture looked like a dead blob of a smiley in the mouth of a spiral dragon.
For a moment, Killua wondered if his brother knew about what he said about him and Hisoka, and was angry with him and was giving him a death threat through his mobile phone. Of course, killing him would mean killing the heir of the family, but knowing Illumi, that can easily be fixed. But the idea of death threat was immediately erased from his mind when, at the end of the message was a figure of Illumi (designed and added personally on Illumi's phone by Miruki obviously, that family heir-hating, apple-sucking, aniki's favorite wannabe) giving him a big brotherly digital hug.
But if that wasn't weird enough, he also received a message from Hisoka. The guy was asking whether or not it was scientifically possible for gorillas to communicate with humans, because as far as he was concerned, coherent words exist only in the human realm. He also added that the maker of Tarzan was an idiot. Just when he was about to tell the guy that Tarzan was just a child's tale and should not be taken seriously, Killua shook himself awake to remind himself that this was Hisoka he was talking to. The guy never took anything seriously. Shifting his eyes between his brother and Hisoka's messages, the third Zoldick child concluded that the two were spending far too much time together.
Gon's words broke through Killua's thoughts. "Well, it's your fault. You shouldn't have insulted Hiei-san like that."
Killua frowned. "I was just being honest," he defended. Looking for a third opinion, he shifted his eyes to another member of their small group. "What do you think Kurapika?"
No response.
"Er, Kurapika?"
As if waking up from a daze, Kurapika turned to Killua, blinking. "Uh, yes? What is it?" asked the young Kuruta.
"Penny for your thoughts," said Leorio, who was now fixing his hair, looking at Kurapika through the mirror.
Kurapika tilted his head on one side. "I was just wondering...there's an audience seat in that studio. How come we only watch each other's interviews from TV?"
A long pause. Three pairs of eyes blinked at each other for what felt like five minutes, only to settle back to look at the pair of blue eyes who was watching their thinking process.
Killua raised an eyebrow. "Now there's an idea."
* * * * *
"Good evening everyone! Here we are again, with another special guest for tonight. But before we introduce him to you, I would like to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Gon and Mr. Killua, who have been wonderful guests themselves, and Mr. Kurapika, who are currently in the audience seats tonight."
In the front row, Gon and Killua cheerfully waved at the nice host. Kurapika gave Kurama a polite bow.
But just when Kurama was about to call that night's guest, a sudden commotion erupted from the audience seats. All eyes shifted to the cloud of smoke that magically appeared right where Gon, Killua and Kurapika were sitting in. There were various screams that go around, "Oh my God, I'm actually touching the Killua Zoldick!" to "Oh Gon-chan, what brand of gel do you use? Do you like apple? I like APPLE!". But there were the most distinct squeals that can be heard. Apparently, popularity was a dangerous subject when you're...
"KURAPIKA~!!!!!"
The look of sheer horror was evident in Kurapika's eyes. Of all the main cast of Hunter X Hunter, he was the introvert, the one who dislikes the presence of crowds, the one who was soft-spoken and would prefer to be left alone, but apparently, also the most popular. He and Killua were nose to nose in competing for that title, but while the die-hard fans of Killua only range around girls mostly, Kurapika has his share of both genders. There were still those who see him as female after all.
Enjoying the look on his elder's face, Killua decided to play the role of the tormentor. He grinned and called for the other over the chaotic scene. "Kurapika! I think I know why we're told to stay in the hotel!"
Kurapika wasn't given the chance to answer, for the only choice he had was to flee. Immediately.
To say that the studio was shaking would be an understatement. Koenma, the director who was supposedly used to overzealous fans, was in the verge of hysteria upon seeing his newly beautified studio being wrecked all over again. "THIS PLACE HAS JUST BEEN RENOVATED! AS IF THE BLACK DRAGON WASN'T BAD ENOUGH! WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, A GOD OR SOMETHING!?!?"
Kurama watched all these in silence, being that he was safe right where he was. He didn't feel like helping Koenma. After all, the guy just argued with him a few days ago about getting security guards. So instead, the mischievous wolf in sheep's clothing of a host lifted his microphone and spoke, "Ne Koenma-sama. Does the phrase 'I told you so' ring a bell?"
* * * * *
"This show is getting more violent by the episode," commented Hisoka, who was watching the whole thing from the safety of his hotel room. Beside him, Illumi sat quietly, watching his brother and his friends being trashed around. "Your brother's got lots of fans, doesn't he?" asked the magician with a grin.
A wince. "If Killua is to be defeated by a bunch of schoolgirls, I'll tie myself to him and throw us both off a cliff."
Hisoka watched Illumi glare at the screen. He was obviously pissed off with the squealing fans. But instead of reassuring his friend, Hisoka's grin only widened. "Yeah? Can I push you?" He was rewarded with a glare.
They went on watching, up until the screen went blank again. As expected by now.
"Ne, Illumi?"
Illumi shifted his eyes from the TV to Hisoka. "What?"
"I was reading through the library yesterday - would you believe that? hehe! - and I swear by your father's grave that gorillas don't talk."
"Just drop the whole gorilla thing, for cryin' out loud!" Illumi was now regretting that he even allowed Hisoka to watch Tarzan, ignoring the tearful reply of "Killua didn't even help!" from the magician. But really, how was he to know that sharing his favorite cartoon with his best friend would be a bad idea? And after all, he was--wait a second...
"What do you mean my father's grave!?"
* * * * *
"Good evening again!"
Lights were distinctively lacking as far as studio lights were concerned. Kurama's surrounding seemed rather dark, and strangely, there were tiny white dots behind him, twinkling as if they were stars. And there was also a moon.
"That's right, we'll be having our interview on our studio's roof. Just for fun," said the host, gracing the camera with an innocent grin. Everyone knew that they were having the show up on the roof because the studio is not anywhere near being presentable. The earlier mob saw to that. It was Killua's idea, perhaps finally taking pity on his elder comrade - and his current state just as well - who was more than grateful for the slight shift.
A few paces behind the camera sat Gon, Killua (who was mildly tattered), and Kurapika (who was more than severely tattered). Koenma sat in the director's seat, with something that looked like an icepack resting atop his forehead.
"Now, to go on (with our insanely late show), let us bring in, Mr. Leorio!"
The only sounds of applause came from the three-people audience. Gon and Killua were enthusiastically cheering for Leorio, while Kurapika kept his composure beside Killua. Leorio waved at the three.
"Mr. Leorio comes from a small village in the Hunter World, who planned to become a Hunter. But his purposes run deeper than that, for he initially wanted to become a doctor. Now, much as we want to tell everybody why he wanted to become a Hunter, Leorio-san refused to share any further information." Kurama sighed sadly, thinking of what a waste it would be for him not to tell the world about the doctor's nobility.
Apparently, he wasn't the only one who thought this way. "Leorio wanted to be a Hunter so he could help sick people for free!" cried somebody from the darkness behind the camera. But despite the lack of vision from both people on the, er "stage", they recognized who it was.
Kurama smiled, watching Leorio cast a death glare in the direction of the voice. "Uh, thank you, Gon. That was very helpful, don't you think so, Leorio-san?"
The doctor shifted his glare, and if only they weren't on air, he could've sworn that Leorio would've stuck his tongue out at him. But nevertheless, the doctor finally let out a defeated sigh and shrank back down on his seat.
"Now, since we're on the topic, we might as well get on with it," started Kurama, seeing that Leorio seemed to be ready to answer his questions. "It's rare to find somebody wanting to do things the way you want them to. Yes, I suppose that it is true that goodness is initially deep within every human, but Leorio-san, your dream is far too selfless that it would be impossible to think that you came up with this thought on your own. Would you care to share with us what inspired you?"
Leorio shrugged. "Most HxH fans would know my story, but I guess I might as well share it anyway. I came from a poor family. My best friend died from a fatal disease, but we could've saved him if we had more money. But the biggest regret during that time was that I was already aspiring to become a doctor. But seeing him die like he did, I knew that what I do is not enough. No matter how infuriating it is, money is always involved as far as human lives are concerned."
He stopped for a while to see if anybody would disagree. Seeing the host nod his head for him, he continued. "Somehow, I wanted to take that living fact away from people like me. Life is much too precious, and not saving it just because of money is just cruel. But I know that medical equipments are expensive, which is probably the reason why some doctors won't help for free. I'm doing what I do so that I can make up for past mistakes. Say that I'm doing it for Pietro. Or maybe I just like taking care of people. I can take the Hunter Exam, albeit not easily. If I can pay my friend by doing this, why the hell not?"
Kurama smiled at this, and most probably more than half the staff as well. But not everyone shared the same sentiments. A deep grunt sounded behind the camera, followed by another voice. "You think as if everything's your fault. The world doesn't revolve around you. You think far too much, your life is practically run by the dead."
Leorio snarled at the owner of the voice. "Look who's talking. The only difference between us, my dear sweet and thoughtful friend, is the number of dead people that we base our life on."
"At least I don't blame myself for the past. I just live for the justice not given."
"So what if I blame myself? At least I don't go through crazy bouts of misery that would end me up on the edge of a high building."
Several more lines were exchanged between the two, each people's statement getting weirder by the minute. Kurama merely listened for a while, waiting for them to finish. But in the midst of Leorio saying, "Of course not, rabbits don't make sounds! And their ears are pink on the inside, NOT blue!" Kurama picked up the glass of water on the coffee table between his and Leorio's seat. After taking a small gulp, he set the glass down and cleared his throat.
"What are you talking about!? Red, orange and purple make up a sunset! What did--"
The last statement was cut off, followed by the distinct sounds of ruffling and strangling and struggling. A few seconds later, Killua's, "Kurapika, you both aren't making any sense anymore!" came through the whole commotion.
"Right, the battle is a draw!" declared Kurama suddenly, leading the furious doctor back to his seat. "Who would've thought that arguing about the difference between a 12-color set of colored pencils and a 24-colored one would be so exciting?" This earned the host a death glare from the doctor, but he went on smiling nonetheless. "Assuming that the little sidetracking is over, shall we go on with our interview?"
Leorio kept his silence and stubbornly avoided the host's glance, so Kurama opted for looking at the director. Koenma raised a thumbs-up sign for him to go on.
"After the story of Pietro, Leorio-san's story now shifts to the Hunter Exam. This is where he met his three friends, Gon, Killua and Kurapika." He stopped to take note of the glare exchanged between Leorio and the owner of the last name mentioned. "But the details of the Hunter Exam, I think, is more focused on Gon and Killua. So now, we will go through deeper matters regarding the things that happened during that time."
Kurama paused, reading through his cue cards for a while with a thoughtful look.
"Though I doubt that this is the right time to ask this question, I will go on anyway. Leorio-san, - Leorio-san, please stop sulking and making the hole on the couch obvious for the whole world to see - would you please tell us about your relationship with Kurapika-san?"
Leorio finally stopped to meet Kurama's gaze with a distinct 'what-kind-of-question-is-THAT!?' look. And he wasn't the only one who thought that way.
"What kind of question is THAT!?" yelled a voice again. Another bout of ruffling and strangling and struggling came to check.
Knowing that he needed to explain himself, explain Kurama did. "Various scenes led fans to the conclusion that Leorio-san and Kurapika-san's friendship is far too sweet for words. Episode 62 saw to that. Others, specifically the yaoists, think that there is something more than what meets the eye. I think," Kurama carefully spoke these words. Leorio seemed to be on the verge of throwing a fit. "That clarifications are in check."
"Kurapika and I are friends, what the hell is wrong with that!?"
"Oh I dunno. Apart from acting like husband and wife..." contributed Killua helpfully. There was a crash that sounded afterwards. A few seconds later, an unidentified flying object with a white tuft of hair that looks so much like Killua's came flying through the gap between Kurama and Leorio's seats. Said UFO came falling down the building and into the oblivion of city lights that were behind the two's places. There was a wailing cry that sounded very much like, "Watch the bandaaaaaaaaage...!!!" that faded as the UFO disappeared from view.
"Killua!" cried another voice, obviously Gon's. "Kurapika, what've you done!?" Following this, the blurred figure of Gon dragging Kurapika behind him came crashing with the coffee table. But the boy didn't seem to care about tables at the moment, for he stood on the edge of the building calling out his best friend's name in vain, and decided that he should go look for him.
"Don't you dare jump!" yelled Kurapika, but Gon being Gon, he found no threat in the young Kuruta's words. And Gon being Gon, there is no hesitation involved when it comes to saving his friends. And so, with things established as so, there is no surprise when he went behind Kurapika, and with the words, "We've got to find him!", pushed him off, and followed by jumping off himself.
* * * * *
"You're brother's dead."
"Yeah? Well, your target's dead, too."
A pause.
"Plus the blonde. Wasn't he your ally last time?"
"Serves him right. That traitor. He may not have killed Kuroro, but he took his nen ability away. Tell me that wasn't fair."
Sarcastic tone. "That wasn't fair."
Equally sarcastic tone. "Oh, thank you, your obedient loyalty astounds me."
* * * * *
At this rate, I might as well work as a commercial model for aspirins, thought Koenma as he gulped down yet another one of the said medicine, his fifth all in a matter of half a week. On the "stage", Leorio was still staring dumbfounded at the spot where his friends...er, took a nosedive for the highway hundreds of feet above the ground. Koenma sighed and gave Kurama the signal to go on.
"We, er, should continue," said Kurama finally, straightening himself up. "I think this would be a good time for you to answer the question, Leorio-san."
"Question? Uh, huh? Oh, right, the interview. Say, wait a minute," he said, now facing past the camera, his eyes on the small form of the director. "Do you think those guys would be all right?"
I don't know, you're the doctor, thought Koenma sarcastically, but chose not to say it out loud. "Yes, they won't be listed in the Book of the Dead for more than sixty years or so help me God. Just get on with it!"
Leorio, though still shaken, sighed in relief and faced the host again. "Right, so...Kurapika. Okay, to be honest, I initially thought that he's a girl. I mean, who could blame me, he does look like one. A pretty girl at that if you stop and think about it. But no, he and I are strictly friends. As far as I'm concerned anyway. At least I know I'm straight, dunno about him. He wears an earring after all, so, go figure."
A sweatdrop was on Kurama's head. "We'll clarify this in Kurapika-san's interview. Right now, we're running out of time. So, no romance, Leorio-san?"
A snort. "I would rather die. Besides, the day I swear my undying love for Kurapika is the day I sign the devil's contract. After all, Kurapika is the reincarnation of the devil himself, or so Killua and I suspect."
Another sweatdrop. "Uh...right, very well. I think it is best for us to go to our next segment. Despite the...uh, difficulties last time with this part of the show, the staff believes that we could give it another shot. And so, allow me to introduce tonight's special guest, said to be Mr. Leorio's YYH counterpart, Mr. Kazuma Kuwabara!"
The only sound of applause came from Kurama as a tall figure of a young man walked towards the "stage". There was a seat next to Leorio, and this was where Kazuma, a tall, well-muscled young man with a tuft of bright orange hair on his head, sat. There was a moment of silence and stillness, filled only with Kurama's friendly smile at his comrade's entrance.
"Good evening, Kazuma-san," greeted Kurama.
"Good evening to you two as well," greeted Kazuma back.
But like they say, history tends to repeat itself. Leorio stared at the Kazuma Kuwabara in silence. But unlike Killua, Leorio wisely chose to keep his opinions to himself. But nevertheless, that didn't stop him from being opinionated. Man, this guy's ugly, thought the doctor, still staring at the red-haired "counterpart".
From the chair on Leorio's right, Kazuma was having the same line of thought. This is my counterpart? So, whose counterpart is that good-looking guy with blonde hair? I mean, I'm far too pretty to be compared with this guy over here. Hm, maybe they took pity on him and decided that putting him beside someone as good-looking as I am would make him presentable at least. Poor guy. But I guess not everybody is as gifted as I am.
Kurama spoke again, breaking the two's lines of thought. "Kazuma Kuwabara, in many ways than one, is very much like Leorio-san here. He is undeniably the most noble among the four main character of YYH, and is very much devoted to his friends--hey, what does that supposed to mean, Koenma? Am I not noble enough spending years of patience with Hiei?"
Koenma sweatdropped. "Come on, Kurama, let it go. You didn't die for Hiei, did you?" I mean, you're smart enough to not die for him, unlike Kuwabara who'd jump at every opportunity to save Yusuke. But that's beside the point. Give Kuwabara a bit of credit, that's all he'll ever have. I mean, look at him. The guy's looks leave much to be desired.
Kurama tried to suppress his amusement at the message Koenma brought to him, just in case Kazuma would see. Kazuma was his friend after all. "Anyway, as I was saying, Kazuma Kuwabara is noble, selfless, emotional, etc. He cares very much for his friends, like Leorio-san here. As for power in comparison to their teammates, both aren't what one would call strong, but they're never idle and contributes mainly to the welfare of the group."
Kurama finished his introduction and faced Kuwabara and Leorio. "So, is there anything you'd like to ask each other?"
"Uh," started Kuwabara, being that he hadn't said anything except for the greeting. He isn't that bad looking, but I really was expecting the blonde. Maybe we're paired because of the personality. Yeah, maybe that's why. "So, you done with your studies yet?" he asked politely.
"Yep," replied Leorio, who was in turn also eyeing the other. Butt ugly really. It's a good thing Togashi-sama decided to make all the characters of Hunter X Hunter more attractive. I can't imagine myself in YYH looking like this. Wow, this guy's got guts to even appear on TV. "I'm practicing for experience in a small clinic where me and my friends live. I hear you fight a lot with your best friend? Me too, Kurapika's a pain in the ass sometimes."
Aah, so the blonde's name is Kurapika. I wonder why Kurapika wasn't paired with the best-looking guy in YYH, aka yours truly. Don't tell me he was paired with Kurama. Kurama's pretty handsome I guess, but everyone knows I'm hotter than he is. "Yeah, well, you haven't seen half of it. Do you watch our show? I'm literally killed twice because of Yusuke."
Not gifted with a good face, not gifted even with a good friend. Really, can the heavens be that cruel? And Kurama said this guy was selfless and nice. I pray he goes to heaven, the poor man. "Lucky you're still alive."
This guy's single, I'm sure. I'm so blessed, at least I have Yukina-san, when this one is not. Really, can the heavens be that cruel? And Kurama said this guy was selfless and nice. I pray he goes to heaven, the poor man. "Very lucky."
A small nod.
Another small nod.
"Great, now everybody's friends now," said Kurama, grinning at the two. "You know, it's good that you two liked each other. The first two interviews weren't exactly this peaceful."
Both Leorio and Kazuma nodded their agreement, though thinking the same, If only he knew...
"Much as we would like to let this go longer, we're running out of time for our show. I would like to thank our guests tonight, Leorio-san, Kazuma-san. It's been a pleasure having you both tonight." He graced the camera with a generous smile. "That's it for tonight, everyone. For our next interview, we shall have Mr. Kura--" he cast a sidelong glance behind him, towards the very same spot where Leorio's friends jumped off to "save" Killua, and continued, "Er, Kurapika, Leorio-san's, and also Gon's and Killua's, friend. He is the last of the main group for the HxH cast, but not to worry, the interviews will not stop with him just yet.
"In behalf of the staff and YYH, this is your host, Kurama. For now, goodbye and a pleasant evening to everyone!"
* * * * *
Speaking of pleasant evenings, there were quite a number of people who are convinced that they have witnessed a miracle. From a distance a few meters from the building where the HxH interviews are being aired, the distinct sounds of an ambulance, several police cars, and a fire truck can be heard. There was quite a commotion surrounding a certain tree in the sidewalk, where there was said to be three shooting stars that fell from the evening sky.
"I heard voices! It was from another realm, I tell you, there is life from another planet!" said one "witness".
"I was just walking home when I heard this crash. It landed somewhere up in that tree. There are three of them," said another.
"Angels! They had wings, and they were singing so beautifully!" said a more delusional one.
"Angels!? I heard one of them say the 'F' word!" retorted another.
Unknown to the crowd below, the three said "shooting stars" are starting to wake up from their daze. There was a pained groan from one of them. "Oh good lord, I think I broke an arm," Another groan, only to be followed by an irritated hiss. "Gon, if only you're not well-loved enough to drive an insane mob after me, I'm going to hurt you so badly you'd wish you were a Zoldick. "
End of Episode 3
A/N: *sweatdrops* Ookay...the moral of the story? Never write a fanfic without an initial plan. They tend to go senseless when left otherwise.
