Disclaimer: I don't either BnHA or HxH. Of course I don't, this is fanfiction dot net.
"It's been a while since we were all together last!"
Kurapika had finally reconvened with us. And he seemed to have become better, no longer sounding empty, like on the phone call.
"You've got this intensity about you... You seem a little more intimidating now," commented Leorio upon our reunion.
"Really? You don't seem to have changed much," replied Kurapika.
"And you're more annoying, too!"
We had a lot to catch up on, thus Kurapika explained what he'd been doing until now, as well as explaining the deaths of the spiders more thoroughly. Six members had died in total, leaving seven. He also demonstrated his learned hatsu of conjuring chains.
"What? You managed to kill one of the spiders?" uttered Leorio in disbelief.
"Did you learn some special technique of nen?" asked Killua.
"Yes. But it only worked on the Troupe. I made a restriction and a vow to strengthen my nen. In return for power, I vowed to use it only against the spiders alone. I established a rule."
"What was the rule?" asked Leorio.
"If I use my chains on one who isn't a spider, I will forfeit my life."
Gasps echoed through the room.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There is a nen blade pointed at my heart. If I break the rule, the blade will pierce my heart, killing me. This is the rule which shows my resolve. My power is the product of pure hatred, it only works on the spiders. I'm telling you because I trust you, don't tell anyone else."
Everyone stayed silent with the weight of what had just been unveiled. But there was more.
"I've also been in contact with Hisoka. He knows I'm the chain user. 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."
I could feel them all, sans Kurapika, glance at me at the mention of the leader.
"Are you certain the leader is dead?" I asked him.
"Yes. I saw his and 4 other members' bodies with my own eyes."
'No.'
"You're kidding." Kacchan acted as my voice.
"It's true."
It hadn't truly hit me until now that my hatsu was truly gone. I had an inkling of hope maybe it took a while to transfer, or maybe the body needs to be destroyed, but if the leader was truly dead...
"Why?" said Kurapika suddenly.
"Hm?"
"Why are you so concerned if the leader is dead?"
The other four looked at me. If Kurapika shared his secret with us, then it's only fair I shared mine.
...
"The leader stole your hatsu?"
I nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" He sounded angry.
"I only found out recently."
He remained silent before regaining his composure and continuing. "Then surely you would get your ability back..."
"Do we know enough to assume that, though?"
"...No, but then... there may be a possibility the leader is still alive."
"Then what are you going to do?" Gon asked.
"... I... don't know."
"Kurapika, you should forget about your revenge, it will leave you empty in the end. You should focus on retrieving your clan's eyes," I urged.
Gon nodded. "You don't even know for sure if they're still alive."
Just then, a phone rang.
Kurapika picked up his phone.
His face turned pale.
"Kurapika?"
"The dead bodies were fakes."
"Huh? You mean the spider's?" Leorio uttered.
"Yeah, the dead spiders were fakes!" I could hear his voice quivering with rage. "It would be possible for a conjurer to accomplish that. Dammit!"
"Given our goals have tied together, I think we need to face the Troupe," Killua said determinedly.
"We're here to help," Gon assured.
Kurapika's phone rang again, but there was a female voice on the line this time.
Once he ended the call, he relayed the new information. The hunt for the Troupe had been called off, the reward had been rescinded. And the Troupe were from Meteor City.
'Meteor City... another reminder of the ways Hunter society must change... Another reminder of what I must do...'
"I see. That's why their identities are unknown," said Leorio.
"What's Meteor City?" asked Gon.
"A city populated by people who, according to society, don't exist," I answered. "Officially it's unpopulated, but it's said that ten million people live there. People live off the garbage that's dumped there." Gon looked curiously. I continued. "It began as a garbage dump over a thousand years ago. You can dump anything, and the residents will accept anything. Even people."
"I've heard that Meteor City residents share a bond thinner than between strangers, yet stronger than family," added Leorio.
"There are those who provide weapons and precious metals under the pretext of garbage. That would be the mafia community. In return, they recruited people from Meteor city, people who didn't exist, as far as society was concerned," continued Kurapika. "The Troupe destroyed the normally intimate relationship between the mafia community and Meteor City, but the Mafia had decided they would prioritise that relationship."
"...The reward was rescinded, huh..."
"Then, Gon, let's leave the Troupe to them and earn more money," said Killua.
But Gon opposed that notion. "No. I have a plan for that! Let's help!"
Killua looked expectedly at both me and Kurapika.
"I..." I looked at Kurapika.
"You would be risking your lives."
Gon's resolve stayed strong.
Kurapika and I shared a glance before agreeing. "Ok, let's put together a plan," he said.
"Still, Kurapika-"
He looked at me.
"We aren't doing this for revenge."
He quirked his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Please, Kurapika. Even if you manage to carry out your revenge, you'll be left feeling empty after."
He was growing irritated.
"I mean - how did you feel when you took one of them out?"
His eyes came close to slits.
"Besides, they may be bandits, but no one deserves to die."
They looked at me as if I was insane.
"What - you think you can change their ways?" scoffed Killua.
"I... I don't know, but they don't deserve to die."
Killua burst into laughter. "I don't know whether you have a strong moral compass, or if you're an idiot."
Kurapika and I discussed possible plans. The conversation stopped and started as we deliberated ideas; we were quite limited in our information, giving us a slow start. Eventually, we had to settle for something simple and flexible - Kurapika, with his newly developed hatsu would be the crux of our mission.
"Since we are trying to recover Izuku's hatsu, our target is the boss. We have 6 hours. If the auction proceeds as planned, the spider will make their move then," said Kurapika. "Izuku and I need a driver. We'll capture the boss and escape by car. Leorio, can you do that?"
"Y-yeah ok..." He gulped. I wondered if he regretted making friends with such a danger-seeking group of people, yet I could see the flame of loyalty burning in his eyes.
"We'll also need a decoy and someone to watch the other spiders at the auction."
"I'll be the decoy," stated Kacchan.
"Are you sure?" I blurted out of concern.
"I'll need at least half a second, a full second if possible," elaborated Kurapika.
"I can do that."
"Ok. Gon, Killua, you two watch the spiders at the auction hall."
"Is that it?" said Killua. "Isn't that strategy a bit simple?"
"We don't have enough information to fully develop a strategy, we'll have to think on the fly. But we can start off with this," I explained.
"Then, Gon and I should be off. We don't want to waste any time." The duo slinked away.
I locked eyes with Kacchan. It wasn't that I didn't trust in his abilities - he could handle himself. But this was the Phantom Troupe. He gave me an indescribable look and then nodded.
It was time to begin Mission: Capture Chrollo Lucilfer.
Thank you for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing!
akjhdkfjskb what is time. I'm sooo sorry it's been ages. Sorry the chapter is so short too... I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out, I'm quite busy these days so it could be a while. Thank you for sticking with me! I really want to finish this fic but it might just take me my whole life lol.
Replies to reviews:
D3lph0xL0v3r: Thank you! As I messaged you, there was a little misunderstanding with the 'deaths' of the troupe, and I've gone back and made a few changes to clear things up a bit. I didn't mean to definitively say the troupe were dead, but I also didn't want to definitively say they were alive lol.
Yes, me too! It's kinda scary but also exciting to deviate from canon, since I wanna keep the story cohesive, but I don't want it to just be a boring rendition of the manga and anime, just with a few extra characters inserted lol. I'm especially looking forward to the chimera ant arc and beyond, since I have many more changes planned for then. I don't wanna get your hopes too high though... ^^;;
Me too, I feel the whole hunter society isn't very altruistic, given they allow murderers and such to become hunters, which in turn makes But on the flip side, I love how all the characters have grey morality. For example, Togashi could've made the Phantom Troupe unlikable villains who kill for the sake of it, and feel no empathy, but instead they're deep characters, which make me root for them more than the main characters at times.
I'm glad you prefer the Hunter X hero version of Bakugou lol, I was aiming to develop him to be less abusive than in BnHA canon, since their origin and continuation of the story would be different,
Angrysdragon: Hm, well the part about the troupe being 'dead' is from canon, since those events would've occurred regardless of the existence of Izuku and Kastuki. I mean, you saw what I meant in this chapter lol. I actually went back and edited the chapter to make things a little clearer, but it's just a few lines near the end. No reason to reread anything unless you particularly want to.
Yep, I think I understand what you're getting at. The troupe will have no reason to notice them specifically, however, since they weren't captured they now have less information on the troupe.
About the blushing, I was just referring to what happened during Killua and Illumi's fight during the hunter exam, nothing to do with BL lol. Although I'm a fan myself (I really ship killugon lol), I would be terrible at writing romance, so I highly doubt I would include any haha, sorry for getting your hopes up. Similar with the 'deaths' of the troupe, I went back and edited that part to make things a bit clearer. Sorry about the misunderstanding! I suppose after not posting chapters for over a year, I became a bit rusty ^^;;
Thank you for reading!
EllieNessie: Haha yes! That's exactly what I was going for lol. Thanks for reading!