Hey, ya'll? How's everyone been? I wanted to say that you guys have been seriously making me blush with all these reviews. Seriously, you guys are awesome.
Kitteninthemoonlight: Believe it or not, I actually started this fic with that image in mind specifically for Minoru. You're the first reviewer who noticed it!
Ryoma97: That makes me so happy. When I was first going through all the fics that featured him, I was kind of just craving that sarcastic, powerful version of him. I'm so glad to see that people like him
scarlet rose white: Do as well as I can lol. I live in California so it's kind of intense right now. Hope your well!
SevenChaoticNinjas: Love your profile pic, girl.
Guest: Your gonna make me cry. Seriously I love you guys.
Riddicks-girl1988: Uh not sure about the help part lol.
SmallLittleCagedBird: Yeah it's definitely a darker kind of protectiveness lol.
mythings: Aw thanks, lovely. You stay safe too.
Boggie445: I hope you're okay too, love! Things are crazy right now but when we get out of this we're all going to be better for it. At least, I have to keep telling myself that.
chrissyrobin23: I like you for reviewing!
dianalillian: Thank you for reviewing as much as you did! It means a lot when I see someone going through and seeing their reactions is priceless.
Chapter 16
I had forgotten how easy it was for the forest to toy with a person's mind when they're left all alone.
In here, once you get past the treeline, there's nothing but the grass and the noises of the hungry trees to keep you company. You can imagine so much within the canopy of the oaks, the sky peeking through just enough to let you know that there was a world out there but so little that you could feel the press of the woods all around.
I come to a stop, heaving, sweat coursing down my sides in rivulets, a burning in my lunges reminding me in the most painful of ways how far I had run. My feet hurt - the lack of arch support in my converse making it very clear what a waste of money these stupid shoes were. A migraine is starting to form at the base of my skull, zinging along my eyes and adding to my fatigue. I can feel Minoru drifting along the southern-most side of the island, a tug in my stomach making me wince. We've rarely been this far apart and already it's beginning to wear on me, making my headache almost unbearable.
I push it down. The pain, the loneliness - those aren't thoughts that will get me far. They'll limit me, tie my down, and drown me if I'm not careful.
My eyes scan the high grass to my left, the trees shying away from the sunny clearing. Here the terrain is diverse, the land giving way to grasslands and cave systems while also spiraling into columns of rock that overlook the whole island. Still, other parts dip off to give way to ponds and small lakes. I can hear the tickling laughter of a brook now, just a short distance away.
"The forest will tell you all of its secrets if you just listen."
I wince, shrinking away from the sudden, painful flash of memories. Here - in these woods - it's too easy to get lost in the past. I gulp, steadying myself against the base of a tree. It's been years since I've been alone. Even longer since I've ventured into any forest. After my mother had died and I had gone to the city - well, I had had other problems to worry about besides taking a trip home. The combinations of solitude and a place that resembled my childhood was… disturbing. A bad combination.
Gritting my teeth, I forced the thoughts away. Ghosts were everywhere in this world and I wasn't going to let them drag me down. Not here. Not when I was in such danger.
7 days. 168 hours and I had already spent 62 of them. 62 wasted hours.
Ichihiro hadn't done a single thing that I had thought he would. Far from leaving me a clear path to find him, he had dove into the forest like a shark going into the deep. He had covered his tracks well enough for my skills at tracking to not be able to find even a sniff of him. In turn, that left me to run the land like a madwoman. Worse was the realization that he could be anywhere. Doing anything. And I wouldn't know a thing.
Snap.
I groaned, wiping angrily at the sheen of sweat that was currently soaking my neck and hoodie.
"I don't want to hurt you, young miss." Slowly, I turned, my anger roaring to life with a ferocity that was brought on by my agitation and increasing headache. He was a bulky, his hair long and shoved away from his brutish face with a sweat-soaked mustard yellow bandana. Gripped tightly in his enormous mitts was a long spear. "I need your badge. Hand it over and this won't have to get ugly."
Somehow the fact that he was warning me just pissed me off even more. My blood boiled, my mouth going coppery. Rage beat through me, swallowing up any reason.
"Bad timing," I hissed. I was on him in a second, my body moving with a speed that a blundering oaf like him could never hope to possess. Off to my left, deep in the forest I sensed something stir.
"Ugh!" A sickly warm splash of blood-soaked through the thick cotton of my hoodie. My mouth tightened at his gurgled scream, his knuckles going white on his spear as his knees started to give out. I grabbed onto the nape of his neck, my muscles straining as I kept him upright.
"I'm really getting sick and tired of big, blundering animals like you and your little friends underestimating me," I hissed out, my dagger digging deeper into the vulnerable skin at his lower back. Snarling, I twisted, my vision going pitch black at his agonized yell. The cry of a dying animal.
I jerked back, feeling the coiling call of another, bigger animal as it stalked closer to us, drawn to me by my bloodlust like a shark scenting blood. This aura held a darkness that was entirely it's own. A darkness that carouseled around obsession. Hisoka? It was so similar...
The man at my feet gave a shallow whimper, his breath leaving him in harsh, rapid gasps as I ripped my dagger from his back.
"Viper," he bleated out, his face dripping with sweat as I side-stepped around him. "Fight me. Fight me like I'm your equal." I resisted the urge to laugh. The hypocrisy was disgusting. My dagger zipped back into its sheath.
Personally, I didn't want to test the delicate boundaries of Hisoka and my relationship. Not when this was hunting season.
"I suggest you run," I warned smoothly, glaring down at my sleeve, now heavy with his blood. "Before you come across something with sharper teeth."
I didn't take his badge, my mind keenly focused on the approaching ripples of Hisoka's aura. As I dove through the underbrush, keeping away from the unknown terrain of the grassland, I berated myself. Keeping a stock of badges in my pocket would not only be a strong fail-safe but also a good way to limit the competition for my brothers in the upcoming trials.
I dodged into the hedges at the far southern side of the island, drawing a bit closer to Minoru. It would be good to stay near him in sleep. I had realized that rather quickly after the first day.
Sighing, I grabbed ahold of a low branch and swung up, scrambling up the trunk until I was high enough that no one who wasn't looking would see me. People rarely looked up. I had found that out pretty quickly after my brothers had fallen on me a few times.
My eyes drifted to the sky once more. The days on this island ended in blood, the sun turning the trees into a forest seen through a red lens. Here the days reflected it's occupants it seemed.
"Ma, I don't want to. Don't make me. Please." Burning. The smell of logs being tossed into a fire that had already eaten up what it had been given before.
Cold hands clasped around my jaw, jerking my eyes up, up, up. "This is the way of things. You are strong. Stronger than me. It-"
"I DON'T WANT IT!" My throat was raw from the yell. Raw from the smoke. Raw from the overwhelming fear that was pumping through me. Things were too dark in memories, making shadows seem longer than they were. The woman hovering over me looked more like a ghoul than my own mother. And standing beside me… I felt a scream building in my throat, my eyes ticking to the side, dragged by the crushing darkness that was emanating from that one, smaller figure, it's eyes beady, pricking with the light from the fire.
"Don't be afraid of it, panda. Fear will get you nowhere." But I am afraid. I can feel it clawing up my throat, threatening to spill out as the flash of jagged teeth glint in the firelight. "It will be as much a part of you as your own nen. It will make you stronger-"
"Then why don't you take it?" There's a flash of surprise that stills her features for a moment. She wasn't expecting me to ask such a question. And for a moment, I think she'll let me go. I think she won't complete the ceremony.
"Because I don't have enough nen to sustain it," she finally whispers and that scream breaks lose as she grabs a knife and slits my hand open.
I gasp, nearly falling off of my makeshift bed. My nails dig into the vulnerable skin of my chest, tearing at the flesh at my neck until I can feel tissue and blood collecting under my nails. Sweat dribbles down my back, drenching my hoodie.
What the hell was that? Raggedly, I look around, afraid for a moment that I'll see the same teeth, the same glinting eyes. But instead, there's a flash of red hair, the scent of funnel cake thickening the air before he appears, his hands shoved casually in his pants, his mouth downturned. Even from a distance, I can see the agitated swish of his aura, his eyes narrowed even in the darkness.
I hesitate, unsure of whether I should draw his attention or try to slip away. As quietly as possible, I readjust, balancing on the branch in a crouch. It's clear that this part of the exam has been more of a bore for him than he probably wanted. In this aspect, Hisoka and I are much the same. When things aren't a challenge, our tempers are usually lost. It's an unsettling comparison.
Slowly, he stops, his eyes drifting around the wooded area for a moment before their skimming along the tree trunks, up into the canopy.
He smiles.
"Are you here to kill me?" I call, any thoughts of slipping away lost in that one glance. To anyone else, it would be bone-chilling. Maybe I would have liked it better if I was genuinely frightened. Fear heightens your instincts, makes you sharper. As it turns out, I've already spent enough time around Hisoka to have that instinct washed out of my system. Instead, I'm left staring down at his smiling face like a deaf, dumb bird.
"You hurt me," he drawls out the sky, his eyes flicking to my hiding place once before flicking around the treetops. "I just wanted to come and check on you. Little animals can get trampled so easily out in the big, wide world."
If I wasn't so annoyed, I might actually be flattered. Briefly, my eyes trail around the underbrush around him. I stop, gaze zeroing in on the tufts of unruly green hair that blends so well with a bush a couple of paces behind Hisoka. If I hadn't been perched up here, I might never have seen him. My eyes slip to Hisoka once more, watching as his aura swishes back and forth looking more and more like the annoyed flick of a cat's tail. He might already know that the kid is following him. But if he doesn't…
I grin, leaping down to land lightly just in front of the red-haired man, my spirits rising substantially. Hisoka is years ahead of Gon and his friends. Which means that I can keep his little secret without worrying about the consequences that might befall the agile man standing just in front of me, his eyes running over me with a ravenous sort of glint. His eyes zero in on the blood-soaked sleeve of my hoodie almost immediately.
"I thought that wound looked particularly like your work," Hisoka hummed, his lips curling slyly. Casually, he took a step to the side. I smiled, following his lead. Slowly, we circled each other. His golden eyes glinted in the moonlight. "Not finishing him off and leaving his badge for Illumi." He tsked.
My ears perked at the name. I hadn't known that Hisoka knew anyone's name beside mine and Gons. "I didn't know you had friends, Hisoka."
"Ohhh," he purred, his eyes flashing. "Say my name again."
"Scumbag," I said slowly, sweetly, watching as his eyes crinkled in a genuine smirk.
His teeth flashed in a dangerous display of canines. "You should be grateful that I enjoy your company, pet."
"Mm," I mused, mirroring his movements closely. "I think I would count myself among the lucky if you overlooked my presence."
His eyes flashed, mocking. "When have you ever been overlooked, Mori?"
I stopped something in his words sending a chill down my spine. They reminded me too much of my dream. I gulped, unsettled. Memory? No. I remembered everything from my childhood. I refused to believe that that was a memory. I winced, my head throbbing.
"Struck a cord?" Biting down on my tongue, I moved back a step, creating more of a distance between us. In the grand scheme of things, I was sure that we both cared very little about distance in the long run. We were faster than the average bear.
Still, it made me feel better. I took another, careful step back.
I glowered, unable to quell my rising irritation any longer. My headache was back, pounding at the back of my skull with the sharp rap of a chisel on soft, pliable wood. More to the point, I was mad that I hadn't found Ichihiro yet. Mad that I didn't know where to even begin to search for him. My anger crackled around me like an electric charge, unable to go anywhere, without direction or control.
Hisoka's eyes widened, his lips curling in delight.
My teeth flashed, all forms of my earlier smile gone. "Why did you come to find me, Hisoka?"
His eyes narrowed, closing, his lips dropping in the pantomime of a pout. "I was so bored, Mori." I watched him, something in me responding to the subtle pull of his aura. I felt an odd excitement tingle through my gut. Slowly, those honey eyes opened, focusing on me. "Aren't you?"
As always, know I worry about you guys and let me know how you like the story.
XOXO, Lovely