Reunion x Association
It really seemed like time couldn't go slower. First of all, it was really obvious that Killua's parents didn't approve of Hisoka, which Killua would agree on, if not for the wrong reasons, as they clearly didn't respect Hisoka for his lack of social status, and mainly for being a man. The dinner talk was really awkward with his mother and father jabbing Illumi and Hisoka, while both deliberately misunderstood them. Secondly, Killua couldn't sense if this was 'his' Hisoka or not, leaving him uncomfortable. Was Hisoka just good at hiding his emotions in any universe, or was he tricking Killua? And finally, the old man's aura flaring, like a star. At least when it started his brother's fiance didn't show any visible reaction.
After what felt like an eternity, his family finished dinner, the whole time Killua kept an eye on Hisoka, and, everytime their eyes met, Hisoka would give Killua a smile, a creepy one for Killua's standards. By that time, he could see that the family's workers were very uncomfortable with the situation too. Hisoka stood up and said:
"Thank you very much for receiving me, I hope we can all get along in the future."
Killua didn't want to gain attention by doing something disrespectful, but, considering his usual demeanor in this 'life', he just picked up desert and ran away to his room. 'That was a really good idea!' He thought, eating chocolate parfait while playing games on his computer. Now, he just needed to wait for everyone to go to sleep. 'Not without being interrupted' he grumbled in his thoughts after hearing someone knock on his door. Opening it, he was surprised to find Gotoh in the other side:
"Master Killua, I apologize for coming late, but after that dinner fiasco, I believed it was necessary to check on the younger members of the family."
Killua internally smiled. Gotoh clearly cared for them more than a simple employee and employer relationship, he could never really tell before 'his' Gotoh died, however, analyzing this one's expressions, he was worried about the stress the dinner potentially caused on them.
"I am fine, really, just need to rest and don't interact with people for some time"
"Fair enough Master Killua, tomorrow then I will have the chefs do the best of their cakes for you and your siblings" Still, this one was softer, probably the result of not being trained by assassin butlers of his family.
That over, Killua could finally settle and wait for everyone in the house to go to sleep. Close to midnight, he opened his window, jumped, and ran towards the ex-president of the Hunter Association.
"So…. it seems everyone is here" a decrepit, yet paradoxically jovial voice said "Please, come closer you two." Killua paused at 'you two', dread creeping into his spine, looking behind him there was Hisoka, giving him a charming smile. Leaping away from him, being a now 'safe distance' he oozed bloodlust.
"So I was right to be suspicious of you. Why were you in my home?" His eyes were full of Nen, Gyo, in case he tried anything.
"Meeting your parents. Why would that be strange? I am becoming part of your family anyway, right, Kil~?" 'Dammit, he is making fun of me!' Killua really wanted to make Hisoka talk about what he was doing, leading him to his family, however fighting him would end really badly, if not with him dead, very injured.
"Hohohohoho, please youngsters, don't fight yet. We have so much to do! It's literally a new world!" Isaac excitedly said. Killua backed away from Hisoka, the fight was too risky, before hearing:
"Killua! Come here!" 'Thank goodness Gon is here.' Not taking his eyes off the creepy clown, whose attention was now on the past president, liking his bottom lip with what seemed to be bloodlust.
"Good thing you came here Killua! But you took a while….."
"I had to wait for my family and butlers to go to sleep, Gon."
"I see! It was easier for me to get here, since I am grounded, Aunt Mito thought that I had gone to sleep earlier."
"Wait…. Why are you grounded? Don't tell me you couldn't lie to your Aunt about not going to school." Killua said, with a disapproving stare.
Gon sweat dropped and scratched his head, his reaction being enough of an answer to Killua. Before he could say anything else, the boys heard a familiar voice coming from the forest:
"Sorry! I had classes until late! Why would you call us in the middle of the night! Dammit, it's also so far from the city….." Unmistakably the voice of their friend Leorio.
"Well, I believe this is everyone for now." Netero said, before using a serious tone "It's oblivious, but we are not in the same world anymore. Well, after all, before I was here, I was dead." Silence followed "Something you , Hunters, did, caused us to be called into this place."
A hand was raised:
"Sir president, I couldn't help but notice that you said Hunters. I never was associated with your organization to begin with." Chrollo observed, with a serious look on his face.
"Being a Hunter was never about passing the tests, using Nen or whatsoever. It is about following your selfish desires, hunting your dreams, appreciating humanity and its creations, and fighting for them. Many of you must be wondering, I am afraid there is no way back."
The last sentence changed the atmosphere between the reunited people. Killua himself was shaken, how about Alluka? Hopefully she would be fine, nevertheless, why? Why them? Netero them spoke:
"Fret not, as you have gained a lot too. This is a new possibility, a new start. Those who are left are safe, don't worry."
How could he say that without knowing? Unless… Unless he knew more than he was letting on. It brought implications that Killua didn't like, could Netero be responsible for this situation? No, he was dead. He knew more, but he was not responsible. Killua's conclusion relieved part of his worries.
"After waking up, I wandered through this society, and to my surprise, there is no association like ours, to protect human's treasures and to support one's dreams. I called you then to propose, help me make my dream come true, help me create a new Hunter Association in this world!"
One person then, walked to the front, revealing them to be Ging:
"Are you telling me, old man, that we were taken from our previous world, with that, our previous objectives and aspirations, by unknown reasons, then we should make the best of this and not give up?" He scratched his ear "I guess I am in then."
Netero chuckled, and with a face full of joy announced:
"Let's go somewhere to celebrate! But you pay, I have no money…"
Somehow, most deep breaths heard were synchronized.
Gon observed with a strange mix of caution and relief those who, like him, were transported to this world. Including him, he counted exactly 10 people at the table. His father and that Pariston Hill guy, who was using a cheap cologne, should he say, Netero, who was eating like crazy, Bisky by his side, giving him stinky eyes, who then looked at him and waved with a strangely bright smile.
Fortunately, all his friends were there, Killua, who was strangely staring at Hisoka, Kurapika, who was also, but not so strangely, staring at Chrollo and Leorio, who was creepily staring at the waiter. Gon groaned in annoyance. Everyone was finally reunited, even that by very, and he meant more than usual, very strange circumstances, but they hadn't seen each other in over a year? No, everyone together hadn't happened in over 2 years. The established 'peace' was broken when Gon, in his boredom, asked to no one in particular:
"What now? We made this new association, but nobody knows us, and as far as I could tell, there isn't anything cool in this universe."
"It's because you haven't found it yet my boy! Say, have you heard about this world's secret societies?" Netero answered, jovial as ever.
Not only Gon, but all of the ones present turned to Netero with interest.
"Fufufu…. I expected at least experienced Hunters to find out." He said, eyeing Ging and Bisky, the first looked unaffected by the jab, while the second was fuming.
"Because of my family's connections in this world, I discovered that it is full of anormal and mythical stuff! But, well, I don't know how to find them….. But I have a plan!" Standing up from his chairs, and climbing it he started:
"Firstly! We would work like mercenaries, every job to create a name for our beloved Association! When we have a strong name, we would send a message to these societies, saying we are stronger than them! Come at us! Finally we would be the new Hunter Association, meaning we won, and can explore this world and its wonders!"
Silence. Everyone was looking at Isaac Netero with pity in their eyes, before he could speak more, Killua interrupted:
"Old man, we need to go by steps." Killua stopped and pondered for a while " Depending on the person, we need to maintain the identity a secret, since the type of work we do can create enemies, and ,as an association, we have no resources to use. The best course of action would be to start with a site where we could maintain information hidden, maybe using Nen, like our world's."
"I could create one kid." Ging intervened "After creating Greed Island, I learned a lot about computation and Nen writing, I could recreate such a site."
"I can help." Chrollo added, "However, don't expect me to follow you, old man."
Netero could only smile when most of them started discussing how it would go, 'My job is done' he thought while observing. After a few hours, almost at sunrise, the group separated and went their way.
Chrollo reached his flat around 5 am, deep in his thoughts. While holding Isaac in high regards, why would he so desperately want to recreate the Hunter Association? Switching clothes, he picked something comfortable, made a cup of tea, and started to read the script. What a crazy day, waking up in a different world and being informed that he would never see his Phantom Troupe ever, well, he couldn't help but wonder if it would have been easier to be killed. Besides, not being a criminal anymore, but an actor was really an experience that he had unfortunately been subjected to. 'It don't matter' he would search for this world's troupe members, Ubogin ,Pakunoda, Shalnark and Kortopi…. All were alive, he hoped.
When Ging and Gon came home, the lights were on, that would be considered normal, if not by the time, 4 am. Gently knocking on the door, Ging and Gon waited for a few moments, when Mito opened the door in a hurry.
"Gon!" She ran and hugged the boy "I was so worried, I knocked on your door before going to sleep, but you weren't there anymore!" It took a few more minutes for her to realize Ging was also there. "What are you doing here, Ging?" She said in a dry tone "Weren't you supposed to be working in the mines? Find treasures and get rich to help us!? Or you just came back to apologize for leaving Gon without a mother? Huh, answer me Ging!" To her surprise, Ging just looked impassive.
"I took Gon for a father-son reunion, and I resigned from the mines. I will stay home for a while to work on a new project, and leave just after Gon turns 18." His answer was strangely robotic.
Mito stared deep into his eyes, until she huffed, and went inside, leaving both father and son paralised.
"I never saw Aunt Mito so angry."
"Yes kid, she is a beast when furious, I shouldn't have made that promise." Ging grumbled, entering the house, and Gon followed suit.
Later that day, after Gon and Killua went to school, Ging started working at the site. Using a laptop he 'found' on his old job, he started programming. The hardest part was recreating the Nen writing on the computer, but already having seen it before, not much work was needed. Accepting a cup of tea from his grandmother, Ging appreciated his newest work. It didn't have all the options the original site offered, but it was good enough.
Calling Netero, Ging waited for a while, but the president wasn't picking up. 'Strange', suddenly he received a message from Isaac. 'Look at the news', 'No, he wouldn't' Ging was speechless, walking over to the TV he changed channels, hearing a soft 'hey!' from Mito, but ,ignoring her, he put up the news channel.
"Today we will be receiving the famous Beyond Netero! The co-founder of Kassar companies, yesterday his father disappeared causing commotion in our city, but today he came here, to help find his father."
"Hello everyone, you must know me because of my famous company, and because I am the city's oldest person. Well, I disappeared for one simple reason, to create a new project!"
The anchorwoman seemed very surprised and confused, yet she continued:
"Very interesting mister Netero, if I may ask, what is this new project about, why were you missing?"
"It's called the Hunter Association. Where people would find resources to follow their desires, 'hunt' what they want, simple as that. I came here today to announce that you can already hire our services accessing . Not very original, I know, but for any kind of service ,for the right price, we will do it. And before I forget, we also accept offers from the secret societies!"
Before the anchor could speak anymore, Netero ran away, dodging a few guards on his way out.
"Hunter Association? What a bunch of non-magical humans think they can do?"
"Hey, don't speak that way about your own race, just because you can use magic, doesn't make you any better, symian!"
Both figures keep arguing, until a third one stepped up:
"You two! Enough of such teatrics! We have a problem to deal with. Someone kidnapped him and made him talk about our societies, luckily the news made him into an insane old man talking nonsense."
"You can believe that, but the site he announced in the news is pretty much real" They showed on a screen the site to the other four people in the room.
"Beyond has already contacted me apologizing, but he could not get his father back."
"I think we should put some of our minions to test them out…. I have an idea how we could test them!" The figure said, laughing.
That is it for this chapter, I accept suggestions about the secret societies, I've thought about some, but the more the merrier. Thanks guest for leaving a review! I hope to not disappoint you. I must say, writing some characters is so hard it hurts, I mean Chrollo? I guess some will be a little out of character, but it is the way.