I flicked the Hunter License hanging from the chain around my neck. It was over.
We were Hunters.
It felt strange having such a powerful piece of plastic around my neck. Strange to think those words...
We. Were. Hunters.
As I cradled the key to the world in my hand, I couldn't help but think over what happened over the last few months... the number of events crammed into the last few months had been mind boggling and bad for my health.
I can understand that curse, 'May you live in interesting times'...
But in exchange...
I literally could go anywhere, do anything, meet anyone. Kings, diplomats, CEOS. Any job was mine. Anything was mine.
I was like Tony Montana: The world was mine...
There were four billion people on this planet and, currently, there were only six-hundred and sixty-eight Hunters.
I was one of them.
As I sat on the stone bench in the middle this little courtyard, basking in the heat of the sun and glow of our victory...the miraculous combination of fate and function with trials and tribulations... the magnitude of it all... blood, sweat.. I realized...
This card was kinda ugly.
Cheap looking too. This is the best nineteen-ninety-nine had to offer? I forgot how spoiled I was. Even the cheapest things in twenty year forward look better then this!
I mean, shiiit, it looked like a pokemon card. Or a Magic the Gathering card. You'd think there'd be something better looking than this for such a valuable item... I worked hard for this! This should be gold and diamond-encrusted! This is-
OoOoO look, it bends. Damn, this thing probably was unbreakable. I can touch the ends together!-
"James, what are you doing? Are you even paying attention?!" Leorio called from beyond my eyepatch, to my left.
No Leorio, I am not. I have zero input in the plan. I don't even want to hear it. Stop bugging me, can't you see I'm playing with my car-
The voice of the Zoldyck roused me from my fun.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you figured a way to break it by the time you get back to York New City. I'd bet you'd lose it if it wasn't chained around your neck," I turned up to see Killua giving me a mock disapproving look.
"Haha. High-larious. I lose your candy and I'm marked for life."
"Yup," Killua said with a bored smirk.
I rolled my eye and stood up. It was only the five of us now. Anita had said her goodbyes about an hour after the orientation was done. She was, hmmm, what's the word?.. oh yeah, super fucking interested in Nen. Can't really hide it when she felt and saw that power. It'd have been cruel not to tell her... I just pray to some merciful god that she forgets her revenge and does some superheroing instead.
'Cause if Evira has people half as strong as that creepy green Zol-dick, well...
The soft clacking of footsteps alerted us to someone coming. All of us turned to our new guest. It was Hanzo, who was polite enough to alert us with some noise as, being a ninja, he really didn't have to. I noticed he had a piece of cloth wrapped around his torso. From his left shoulder to the other side of his waist. I guess to hold his belongings.
He greeted us with a wave.
"Hey!" said Cueball. We all gave our hellos.
A Captain Falcon, two-finger salute with my left from me. Stick saying hello by resting lazily on my right shoulder. Leorio and Kurapika a slight nod and smile. Killua a small smile and a head bob.
Gon waved like the ball of energy he was, "Hey Hanzo!"
"Gon! Seems you've recovered quickly."
"Yeah, it's because of Zet-"
I don't know how I reacted so fast, but my right hand clamped around Gon's mouth with the speed of Mercury.
"Ze-gesundheit, Gon. Very rude to sneeze WITHOUT THINKING," I said as I added my right hand to his face and began harmlessly squishing his face like he was made of clay. Moving his head back and forth as he whined and swatted at my hands.
"Ok! Ok! Stop! Gee... I won't... uh, sneeze?" he said with squished cheeks.
Good enough. No need to get in more trouble.
I pretended to wipe my hands on my pants. I looked back to Hanzo, who looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "You all sure are a strange bunch."
Killua shook his head, "Nah, James' is just infected with stupid."
I swung my cyclopean gaze onto Killua before spitting sulfur.
"And you're pretty mouthy for a sixty-year-old looking little kid, ya' white-haired bum."
"What'd you say?!" Killua turned around to me with an accusatory point and sneer.
I pointed to my injured eye, dry-voiced, "Woe is me, my eye hurts so much."
Killua turned around and slumped over. Defeated by guilt. I grinned and cackled evilly.
Leorio looked at me with an unimpressed glance, "Ya' know he'll kick your ass when that's fixed, right?"
"I'm squeezing this lemon for all the lemonade I can get," I said confidently. I puffed my chest out at my defeat of little children. I'm a man, doing manly things.
Kurapika mimicked Leorio's sideways glance and said, dryly, "A true role-model..."
"I try, I try. I'm thinking of writing a book. An autobiography..." I said as I stared out into the distance, a hand wrapped around my chin. Like a man with vision should.
"You're exactly how I imagined you outside the Exam," Hanzo said as he looked me up and down, shaking his head.
"He is a man of action..." I said, lifting my left hand toward the distance. Completely ignoring Baldie.
"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Hanzo said with a jab of his finger.
Gon laughed, "You sure are in good spirits, James!"
With a smash of my fist into my right hand, I looked down at Gon with a smirk and said, "Well, we're Hunters now! The sky's the limit! We only got one thing left to deal with..."
That snapped Killua out of his guilt coma. The rest of us smirked at each other. For once, I was taking a back seat. Literally. I sat back down on the bench.
Hanzo looked at us strangely before shaking his head with a faint smile on his face.
"If all Hunters are like you five, it's no wonder so few ever pass. Well, I just wanted to say my goodbyes before I headed home. We all went through a lot in a short time, but I had a lot of fun."
Gon nodded, "Yeah me-"
I cut in with a stretch of my long arms as I placed a hand on Gon's head. Because I'm cheeky, high-spirited asshole.
"I mean... if beating little kids up is your definition of fun, I-ok I guess..."
Hanzo was taken aback.
Killua somehow slid next to Gon from with arms crossed and a nod of his head, "I don't know what kind of person enjoys beating children up, but sure..."
Hanzo whipped his head back to Killua.
"For shame, Killua! For he may be a one-of-a-kind, kind-hearted child-abuser! Nay, fists of steel, but a heart of gold! Or is it the opposite?" I said with a dramatic raising of both my fists.
"YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO LET ME LIVE THAT DOWN, ARE YOU?!"
Killua and I somehow coordinated our flat eyes and voices into a simultaneous, "No/Never."
Leorio and Kurapika stared at us with blank eyes.
Gon frowned, "Hey you guys, that's enough! I don't have a grudge against Hanzo, so neither should you. OK?"
Killua and I made X's with our arms and maintained our flat looks. I could hear a buzzing sound of rejection in my head. Gon staggered back a little at our response.
Hanzo composed himself, though a giant vein appeared on that shiny noggin of his. He coughed into a fist to conjure a sense of formality in this mad, mad world of ball-busting Killua and I ruled.
"A-any ways, if you ever visit my country, just let me know. I'll give you a real tour, no tourist traps! James... you still owe me a fight. I intend to hold you to it when I finish my duties," he said with a point to me.
"Yeah, yeah. You can find me in York New City. Do what you gotta do. I'll be waiting," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand.
He nodded and handed Kurapika five cards and walked away with a quick wave and an even quicker, "Later!"
Leorio and Killua said quick goodbyes, while Gon waved goodbye and replied with his own enthusiastic goodbye. I looked at the cards in Kurapika's hands. Blondie having the mercy put it down low enough for me to see.
In huge Japponese(that's actually the name of the country) letters and the weird alphabet of this world, it said, 'HIDDEN CLOUD NINJA HANZO"
"How is that village hidden if they have business cards?" I said with a singular, confused eye.
"He sure is one self-assured Ninja," Kurapika said, just as confused as I was.
"Gon," said the genial voice of Satotz from our right. We turned to see Satotz standing there like a butler. I gave him a thankful smile and nod for his advice. He returned my nod with one of his own as he walked towards us.
Gon shouted his name and ran up to the purple-haired Hunter. Satotz presented Gon's fucking binder with his Hunter license in it.
"It appears you forgot something."
"Oh, that's right! I forgot."
Leorio raised a fist, "How'd you forget your card?! We told you not to forget it when we left the orientation!"
Kurapika, Killua, and I just hung our heads in disbelief. Gon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and laughed nervously before turning back to Satatoz and gave his thanks.
Satotz nodded and answered, "Do you have a brief moment?"
Gon turned to us with a questioning look. Kurapika answered, "We'll be waiting for you in the lobby," the rest of us nodded. We began walking back into the Hotel.
I tapped Stick on my right shoulder as I hummed the James Bond theme. I was on top of the world right now.
Leorio spoke up as we walked down the stone path and into the hotel. He was serious.
"Are you sure your contacts are on board with helping us?"
"Don't worry, my contacts will help with the mission. We're just lucky the Hunter website had their emails listed," I said.
I said contacts, but really it was just Kalvin and Clyde. I had to say contacts because it sounded cooler... Aaaand because I didn't know if Evira was observing us...
The Domo twins weren't associated with Evira, only Mayer. When I told them what was up, they were one hundred percent on board. All I did was give them Kurapika's number.
I'd have asked Siper, but I was... I don't know if anger is the right word. She said she stilled owed me favor for helping her pass the Exam. But I wasn't... comfortable around her.
Hard to see a person the same way after they killed someone in front of you...
Besides, I'd rather save that favor for later. Not much use for a sniper against people that, I suspect, are able to deal with bounty hunters and assassins rather easily.
For now, we'll have to use subterfuge...
Now it felt like a real spy mission, hehehe. I continued to hum the James Bond theme as I got to the crescendo, my hum getting louder and louder.
Killua looked at me, annoyed at the music that made no sense to him.
"Can you sto-"
"BUNU! NUNUNUUUH!" I yelled right at Killua to my right. He jumped up like a cat as I cackled.
"I'm seriously gonna' kick your ass when your eye heals!"
"Hehehe..."
I love abusing my injury card.
Time to take the train back. The other four were taking their own way back. I trust to Kurapika and Killua's to make a great plan. If so, Evira won't see things coming. All I gotta do is go home as slowly as humanly possible. Now it was a game of, "We both know what we're doing here, let's see who figures it out the details first..."
All I need to worry about is the train and boat ride back. Hopefully it's a lot less interesting then it was coming here. Evira can watch me doing absolutely nothing. Hehehe...
Evira sat in her actual office. Not the condo she used to discuss lesser business.
At the top of her skyscraper in the heart of York New City.
It looked like any other office of someone great and powerful. What you would imagine when someone needed no-frills business to take place. Exactly how she wanted it.
Brown walls, a wooden desk in the center. Two chairs in front and a large, throne-like chair behind it. Two bookcases behind her on either side of the walls. With a bow and wooden sword framed as if they were trophies in the center of it all.
Underneath everything was a thick, green carpet that was as soft as lamb's wool. The lights on the wall illuminated the room with a warm, orange glow. They almost looked like torches against the brown, cavern colored walls.
She was staring at a mirror. A simple desk mirror that would spin if someone gently touched the silver circle. Her reddish, medium length bob cut swayed as she stared in consternation at the sight in front of her.
James was alone. On a train. Sitting at the back of said train. Smiling. Reading magazines. His left eye behind a medical eyepatch. Wooden sword sitting to his right.
Doing absolutely nothing.
He knew someone would watch him. Aware the game had begun. Evira was well aware he was planning something.
But the messages passed between the five on paper had been a clever way to conceal their actions. She knew James didn't know the entire functions of her power, nor that she could track only him. All James knew was that she couldn't read minds, and couldn't see everything at once.
Omniscient and omnipresent she was not.
That didn't stop her from trying.
But, she he had to commend the man. With small enough clues he had pieced together a way to counter a power he only had the barest details of. His slowly unatrophying intelligence... irritating...
Her only question was this:
Where were the other four?
The Queen grew frustrated at her abilities' limitations, though high the abilities' ceiling maybe, they were still there. Confounding her. Stymying her.
She couldn't send agents to the Kukan'yu Kingdom without permission from the Don of the kingdom... and if she asked, they would use it as leverage against her.
She doubted James knew about this, but Kurapika...
She growled. Her Nen ability was powerful, but useless in this situation. Mirror Mirror only allowed her to see those and things she 'owned'. If a person believed themselves to be owned (or had an arrangement) by her, she could track them using her Nen mirrors. It was, amongst other reasons, why she took over the United States of Saherta. It was her support Nen ability. Not even her true, combat ability.
One she had used back in her old life...
Evira narrowed her eyes as she pierced through her old memories to see her place in the present. To stay in it. Slowly, she raised her hands to her mouth and threaded her fingers together. As though half thinking and half praying for a solution. She needed to figure out what was happening. She had worked too hard and too long for things to unravel now.
Ten years. Ten years of building a criminal empire. Almost four years of war and six years of consolidating her power. It was unprecedented. It had been evil and vile work...
Yet it was done.
She did not consider it special. Anyone could have done it, had they lived for over a hundred and twenty years such as her. In her second life alone...
She had walked paths never forged. Conquered armies none have seen. Hunted creatures, monsters, and demons never imagined.
She was Second Servant of Zhulong...
This was just another day in the life of an immortal. One who walked among All.
Memories dances in front of her. Then flooded her mind. Old age brought with it there own issues... she would need to talk to Zelle again.
Evira remembered the universe of warriors in armor. In Ancient Greece. They had thought she was Artemis. When she explained what she was, they instead called her an organism from the cosmos. An organism cosmic.
The Dark Queen of the United States of Sarherta and most of Yorbia smiled as she remembered the creatures she slew on countless worlds. They had called her and her sisters spiritual invaders, or infestations. Completely hypocritical, considering the creatures she killed were parasites…
But a person wore many hats in a single life. To say nothing of multiple...
She was closer to a demigod than a mortal... what does she care about morality? Of money and temporary? She had countless epithets over countless worlds…
In the end, Evira didn't care what she was. Right now she ruled most of a continent. And all her plans hinged on keeping this powderkeg of a criminal empire together until September. If her plans bore fruit... she would no longer rule a single country and most of Yorbia.
The Phantom Troupes. The other Dons. All her enemies in one place.
All at one time.
With that, she may have a chance to save her Goddess.
That made her most angry was this: Why? Why send him here?!
Had she not been a faithful servant to her Goddess? This fool, James, was a match ready to set off a fuse. All because Zhulong wished to take care of her soon to be born brother. To nurture and teach it right and wrong. She was dying and she would do that instead?!
What could someone like James teach a titan? How can he guide a god?
All because James was born into the universe that baby, Scion of the Mind would soon devour. Such foolishness.
Better to have let him stay dead. Or at least kept Gerel's promise and send him to a paradise with his father. But no, the gods do what they please... especially a whimsical child like her… with dreams of fairy tales and knights...
Evira had her own plans. Evira would be damned if she was going to let this brat ruin everything by accident. His fool morality...
'I'll save Zhulong. I'll let Flole explain to that idiot everything and toss him ou-'
"If I may make a suggestion?" said a deep voice that seemingly appeared from nowhere. But Acardi had always been there. His quiet demeanor always turning him nigh-invisible. He was her Consigliere, Mafia advisor, and the person who ran all her legitimate operations. There was a meeting later on.
But this took precedent.
The Queen looked up from her mirror and placed her glare on him. He didn't budge or wilt from her steel gaze. The dark-skinned man's accent would be considered North African in a universe far away, yet they would consider his appearance exceptionally rare in said universe. A small blonde, almost Pharaohesque goatee on his chin with tight, blonde hair. His striking appearance was only exceeded by his piercing blue-grey eyes.
Acardi adjusted black rim glasses and continued, unperturbed. Never.
"York New City has been quiet for quite some time. Mercutio and his Red Squad have done their job very well, but they are out of practice because of this. If we are to assume these five are as dangerous as you say, it would be best to pull no punches. Kill five birds with one stone. So to speak..."
Evira stared at Acardi. Calculating. Measuring. Adjusting.
"No. I can't have James killed, nor the other four. For reasons I can't say, you know why..."
"Butterfly effect?" Acardi said, tiredly.
"Yes. As always. It has been nightmare enough taking over most Yorbia without causing too many unintended side-effects. Everything was going well until my Goddess sent him. He's Living Disaster…"
"That means what exactly?…"
"Even amongst people like me... his sheer presence brings chaos, change, and catastrophe. Fate is nothing to him. The fact he has so much potential in Nen only makes things a bigger issue."
Evira ground her teeth. Random criteria her ass...
She had met people like James before. Defects in their universe. Malfunctioning cells of a universe prone to causing damage to the creation by turning Fate into a pretzel and creating their own destinies...
Acardi adjusted in his spot and tilted his head, "I am... unsure what you are saying," he frowned, "Are you saying... everything is predestined?"
Evira stared at Acardi, as though seeing right through him. She wished Flole wasn't bedridden. At least she would have someone to talk to that understood her. She sighed before continuing.
"No. Not in this universe. Only certain fixed points. To you mortals, Fate is something you curse. But, in truth, it's a cosmic mechanism that allows a universe to continue growing as it should until it can 'split', reproducing and creating another universe. No different than a cell. Fate acts as a sort of 'immune response'. It keeps things going as they should. But if a cell malfunctions..."
Acardi closed his eyes and nodded, "Yes. Cancer. The body's response is to destroy the malfunctioning cell before this happens."
"Yes. Now you understand what he is. His mother, my deceased sister, was inflicted with that. No matter where she went. No matter what she did. No universe could survive with her destroying Fate. Unfortunately, that was why she and James lived miserable existences in their first lives..."
Sometimes the universe really was out to get people...
Acard's frowned deepened. He raised a hand towards Evira and replied, "Pardon me if I sound presumption... but it sounds as though you pity them."
"I do. You never met Gerel, but she was as noble as they come. She regretted her past life. She lived and died to atone for it. To save their souls," she said before looking back at her spiritual nephew with an inkling of sadness.
It disappeared as fast as it came. She continued.
"From what I can tell of James, he's like her but worse. Too noble for his own good, but lost. Warped with rage and self-loathing. Too ambitious and too much untapped potential… Dangerous. While I pity him... I won't be merciful. I need to send him on his way as soon as possible..."
She reached into her desk and pulled out a small cell phone. A few button presses later and a smooth, stoic, baritone voice came out from the other end.
"Yeah? What is it?"
Evira closed her eyes as she held in her anger. She steeled herself for what was to come.
"Mercutio. Good to talk to you as well."
"We both know this business. Get to the point."
She let out a small bit of rage with a huff of her nose. Out of all of her subordinates, only two were more of an issue than Mercutio. But those two took first prize by an enormous margin. At least Mercutio was efficient, loyal, and followed orders.
His attitude was something else entirely.
"I'm having issues with my nephew. He's passed his exam, but he's up to something. I need you and your squad to be on high alert. Acardi will send you the info."
"Huh. If I had to guess… you pissed him off. You probably miscalculated his reaction. That's no surprise considering how you operate. Now you need me to clean up your mess. Yet again. That's what happens when you push people's buttons. For a woman with vision, you sure are bad at reading people."
The phone call was cut short. The phone was crushed.
Evira waved her hand of debris as she spoke, "If that bastard wasn't good at his job, I'd have him dead on the spot. If I didn't respect York so damn much..." she growled through clench teeth. Her picturesque face marred by anger. Deep crevices and furious wrinkles ran across her face.
Acardi sighed, "Yes. But his enforcer squad is only loyal to him, so he is necessary for now," the advisor bowed slightly and continued, "While he has never been one to hold his tongue... one cannot lie to him. If anyone can figure out what your nephew is up to, it is him."
Evira rubbed her face with one hand, stopping to look through her fingers like a caged animal looking through iron bars. She was a woman of immense composure and equally immense pride. Compared to her, James' anger was a match next to an inferno.
The Auction, running the Tao Long, the Rohan brothers, Mercutio, the Dons, the Phantom Troupe, Mayer, The Hunter Association, upstart gangs, police, and organizations through Yorbia, even two countries' governments. She had far worse on her plate and managed it all without fail. Why should some fool dreaming of sunshine be anything to her?
What was his rage compared to her merest frustrations?
She waved her free hand over the mirror in front of her. Images from far away faded into obscurity as she prepared for her meeting with an even bigger fool: the eight Prince of the Kakin Empire. Salé-salé Hui Guo Rou.
She steeled herself for two hours of stupidity, false courtesy, sexual advances, and insanity-inducing inanities. Mercutio could deal with James, Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua...
As she looked in the mirror, she frowned behind her hand. Green eyes stared back.
It felt like she was missing something.
And it irked her.
"You should show Evira more respect, Mercutio," said old man York from behind the bar. The world was bathed in red.
He washed a glass as jazz played through the room. Red light filtered through smoke as old men with lost lives tried to find some of it. Through cigars, cigarettes, and at the bottom of a glass.
"Yeah, yeah. She knows who she's dealing with. It's not like this is anything new," the leader of Red Squad said, appearance obscured with red and smoke.
Mercutio felt a rumbling in his hands. He rolled his eyes. Two tones meant Acardi. That vampirous bastard was giving him a text with the information on the targets.
The captain of Red Squad sighed. Another dead burner phone. What a waste...
"Old man. Get everyone together. We got a job to do."
Mercutio sighed.
The same stupid cycle as always.
This would be troublesome. He felt it in his bone. Especially if it was someone like Mayer's apprentice.
Evira;s nephew couldn't be completely hopeless if he passed the Hunter Exam. He was trained by Mayer and his kids... and those two had been a pain in his ass ever since they settled in York New City...
Clyde sat on his sofa, a giant Sabertooth Snow Leopard laying on his lap like a giant kitten. Fat and lazy from being pampered like a baby. Mostly because Briannaisa wouldn't stop bringing it food. As he sat there in the Domo brothers' temporary apartment, bare furniture everywhere, he leaned over the giant cat's belly with a childlike seriousness on his face. All while rubbing her belly.
Kalvin closed the phone and looked at his brother.
"Ok brother! I have informed Papa! He is on board, though no surprise! James is papa's apprentice, practically family! Evira is evil, vile, and rancid! Ev, vi, ra!"
Clyde nodded as he continued to pet his giant pet. While he didn't tell his brother, he suspected James' thought the same of Kalvin. Considering the beatings Kalvin gave the redhead. But the fact he contacted them showed James trusted them.
It swelled his heart with pride that his work had helped assure James as a Hunter. Now they needed to see if they could free him from the vile machinations of Evira!
That all started with his next question.
"Yes. But what did papa say?"
Kalvin crossed his massive arms and nodded, "He said he will call his Hunter friend for a favor. As you know, Papa is... unable to help at this time," he finished with a frown.
Clyde sighed. He hoped his father got better soon. His last mission...
He shook his head and replied, "Well, it seems it shall fall upon us to accomplish this... Kurapika's plan!"
Kalvin nodded, "Yes! I have waited a long time for this! To match wits and brawn with them!"
Clyde laughed, before nodding and turning serious.
"Well, it is good you are an enthusiastic brother! For we will need everything to capture Briannaisa and Claudette!"
Claudette managed to climb several flights of stairs in the blink of an eye. She slid into Briannaisa's room at speeds that caused her to skid with the sound of a stopping dragster. The slippery wooden floors causing her yellow shoes to ignore friction, sending her crashing over Briannaisa's couch and sending several cats flying.
"Det!" Briannaisa said as she jumped into the living room of her condo, hands in fists and ready to fight. She thought someone had broken in, which was technically true. Claudette had no sense of privacy.
Claudette flopped onto the turned over couch and cried out in excitement. Yellow hair all over the place.
"Bri! Mom said James passed the Hunter Exam! And she's pissed!"
"That's gre- Wait, huh?"
"Yeah!" Briannaisa said with a focused face and two fists in front of her, "She said James passed the Hunter Exam! And he's up to something! She's got Mercutio on his butt!"
"Aw crap," Briannaisa said with a scratch of her brown hair and a frown. It was Saturday, and while she was happy for James… she rather be lazing about on her day off. She didn't really want to deal with news like this.
She sighed and shrugged, before freezing like a statue at the fact that her door to her condo was wide open. All Briannaisa had on were her underclothes. She jumped back into her bedroom room and put PJs over her panties and bra. The elder Tao Long sister stomped out of her room and slammed her door shut. A cat mewed in response.
"Damn it Claudette! Ya' can't just leave my door open like that. What's the point of giving you a key if you leave the door wide open?!"
"There're bigger issues than doors, Bri!" Claudette said as she raised her hands in the air. Then flopped over the couch in a heap and rolled over it. She settled face down onto the floor like a log. Briannaisa looked at her sister with flat eyes before sighing.
"Your twenty-two, can you stop acting like a child when you're upset?"
"No!" Claudette said, still face down on the floor. A cat walked on her back without hesitation and sat on her.
"There's nothing we can do, ok?! James is a friendly guy, but he said it himself. He doesn't want to work for mom. Can't do much about it. It was gonna' come to a head sooner or later."
Claudette was suddenly in front of her adopted sister with large, pleading, saucer-like eyes.
"But Briiii! This job gets so boring, it's hard to find guy friends that aren't just after sex! He doesn't care how we look! And he's really funny! I have a zillion questions for him! Not if he dies!"
Briannaisa looked to the side, trying not to stare at her sister who was inches from her face. She made an 'eh' face as she spoke.
"Mom's not gonna' kill him, sheesh. And he's a strange guy, yeah. He's definitely has a few scre-"
Claudette throttled Briannaisa by her collar.
"BRIIIII! PLEASE! LET'S HELP-"
"GET OFf ME! NO!" Briannaisa said. With a lift of her blonde sister overhead, she tossed Claudette onto the couch, righting it back to normal. Albeit against the wall as opposed to the center of the room as it was before. She brushed her hands and looked at her sister with annoyance. Briannaisa heard her cell phone ring from her bedroom and walked off to get it. From the ring tone, she knew it was Clyde.
She guessed he had heard the news as well. Too bad for James, though. She had thought James weak and undeserving of all the help he received. But, she reluctantly had to admit, he was a hard worker and a genuinely good person. After finding out what had happened to him… she couldn't help but hold back at the end of Mayer's test.
Still, that was that. This was this. Briannaisa would not help James with whatever scheme he had against her mother. Even if she wanted to, it's not like James was strong or smart enough to defeat Evira. At least, not from what she saw weeks ago. Especially without Nen.
Even if he had Nen, it took years to properly master it. What's the likelihood he had more talent than even the one in five million Clyde and Kalvin?
Considering his physical abilities: zero, that's what.
"Pfft. He'd be lucky if he were one in a million like me and Claudette," Briannaisa said to herself. Bitterness seeping in her voice.
She worked hard all her life, and it irked her when she saw people skip hard work. Even if she was well aware that her talent was beyond most people. She didn't take it for granted. That's mostly why he came around to James: he didn't want any of this, yet tried his hardest anyway… he didn't take the big things for granted.
Honestly, she just felt bad for James. Mercutio and his Red Squad were not a group anyone wanted after them.
As she picked up her phone, she couldn't help but think about what James was up to. He had to be preparing hard for what was to come. When James had time to plan and was serious… he was definitely a threat…
I flipped through the magazines on the table in front of me. It was amazing being lazy!
This train was a lot better than the one for the Hunter Exam. No one on it, quiet. Plenty of fucking leg space. In fact, the bullet train was a luxury one! One very few people could afford, and I got on for free because I'M A FUCKING HUNTER!
YEAH BOI!
FREE SHIT! ALL DAY! BAY-BEE!
I cackled. Ah, the life of a Hunter was so grand. Speaking about grand, I gave Kurapika and Killua all the spare money I had. Hopefully they'll use it for something useful.
It's their turn to fucking carry this team. I'm fucking done. I ain't doing shit until I get to Yorbia in about five days. Before that, I got a luxury yacht with my name on it. YEEAAAH BOI!
Time to live like a rapper's music video for a little bit before I get back into it...
I just gotta hope Kurapika and Killua know what they're doing. I can't know anything about the plan since Evira has Zelle...
Ah well. All I know is that I should have enough leverage that I should be able to negotiate something out of my ass. Hopefully. A lot of this plan hinges on my ability to improvise...
I just got to stay out of trouble.
"Excuse me!"
I peered up with my one eye to see a blonde guy with a babyface and green eyes. He was in a sleeveless light purple and green vest... thing. This guy's face was as cheery-looking as mine was perpetually annoyed-looking...
"Yeah?" I said politely... Er, I think? The entire back cabin is empty. Why bug me?
"I noticed your the only one in this cabin. I hate to ask, but could you move to one of the others? I have some friends coming by they're kinda shy! We'll be having a personal conversation and I hate for them to be angry at me!"
I rubbed my chin and raised an eyebrow. Eh, why not?
"Hmm. Yeah, sure. But can I sit here for a bit? I just got here," I said with a sigh. This train ride just started.
He nodded for a moment, thinking. His eyes saw the chain on my neck and he smiled. He lifted a finger and replied.
"Sure! My name is Shalnark. Nice to meet you!"
"What's your name?"
Author's notes:
Hello dear readers! I hope you are doing well and continue to do well!
Just one thing after that last sentence at the end of this chapter.
HAHAHA!…
