Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.
CHAPTER 14
"Ugh, I'm hungry again. I wish I got two eggs instead of one." Renée said wistfully.
"Didn't know you were such a glutton." Killua commented in a bored manner.
She glared at his back and was about to retort when Leorio shushed them. "Show some respect to the chairman."
The girl huffed and reluctantly gave her attention to the old man talking jovially at the front. He was only introducing himself and she found herself getting sleepier, especially when Beans took over the explanations.
All that registered in her tired brain was dining hall, whatever you want, and 8 AM.
Seeing the crowd disperse, Renée gladly went off to the side to look for a room to sleep in, but before she made it out the door, someone tugged at the collar of her shirt from behind thus halting her.
She turned to yell at the person only to be met with blue and silver. Seeing his arrogant smirk made her want to yell more. Before she could do so, Gon happily skipped his way towards them.
"Let's go exploring!"
The red-head's face fell completely. 'Just my luck.'
"What, is the granny tired now?" Killua mocked her, knowing that he hit a nerve.
"What granny? As far as I can see, you're the only old one here. Let's go!"
Gon lead the way while the other two followed.
Actually, the silver-head prick followed, Renée trudged behind them, shouting profanities in her head. She's a grouchy person when given no rest and she's sure that Gon knows about it. Despite that, they still managed to run around the airship, from the cockpit to the kitchen.
One room caught the girl's attention though, a training room, more of a gym really. 'That would be a good place to test out my sword.'
"Woah look at that Gon, Ren!"
She was brought out of her stupor to see Killua run towards the window excitedly. Gon followed and they pressed their faces against the glass.
Curious, she made her way towards them and gasped at the view. "It's beautiful!" she breathed.
"Yeah, like scattered diamonds!" her brother said.
They stayed that way for a while, admiring the view below while eating the food they stole from the kitchen.
"Hey Killua, where are your parents?"
The two looked slightly surprised at the question and looked at Gon's serious face.
"I mean, you know about my father and Ren's foster father, what about yours?" he asked again. This time, even Renée was eager to know the answer as she leaned closer.
The silver-head looked out the window with an unreadable expression before finally saying what was on his mind.
"They're alive, probably."
"Probably?" the girl questioned.
"What do they do?" the dark-haired boy asked.
"They're assassins." he stated simply.
"Both of them?" Gon and Renée asked at the same time.
Killua looked at them, and blinked confusedly, then he suddenly laughed heartily. "You should've seen your faces! I can't believe you two actually believed me!"
The two furrowed their brows at him. "But it's true isn't it?" the boy asked.
"How can you tell? People only like me because they can't ever tell when I'm being serious or not." the silver-head pouted slightly.
"Oh, I beg to differ. People don't like you at all!" the girl said cheekily.
Irritated, Killua flicked her forehead.
"Ow! You jerk! This just proves my point!"
The two growled at each other once again.
"So Killua, both your parents are assassins?" Gon repeated, successfully breaking the two's glaring.
"Well yeah. Everyone in the family is an assassin. Assassination is the Zaoldyeck's trade and my parents have high hopes for me. They actually think that I'll succeed the business and they've been training me to kill since I was little. Can you believe that!? No wonder their kid would go bad! When I become a Hunter, I'll capture them all. I'm sure their heads are worth hefty bounties!" he explained half-jokingly, though he might've been serious after all.
"Killua really is amazing." Gon said almost to himself. Renée lightly scoffed but did not comment.
"I mean, I never thought about surpassing my dad." the boy smiled at them wistfully.
"Oh. I guess I do need to surpass them if I want to capture them." Killua pondered.
The children continued talking about their past. Mostly it was Gon animatedly narrating how Renée almost drowned when they went swimming once just because she saw a fish.
Killua guffawed loudly at the red-faced girl. "An island girl afraid of some fish!?" he mocked her again.
"It was a monstrous fish with enormous teeth! It's only normal that I panicked as I was just 8 years old!" she said defensively.
The assassin wasn't paying attention and continued laughing.
Suddenly, an intense aura spiked from the hallway to their left and all their senses were on high alert.
Killua felt Renée's presence change. He turned to the girl, slightly alarmed about how dark and oppressive she currently felt.
She quickly turned just as the Chairman walked towards them, a big lazy smile on his face.
The feeling disappeared and Killua found that he could move again. He wanted to question her about it but he was more pissed off about Netero's sudden arrival.
'It was him.'
"Um, Sir Netero, did you see anyone coming from over there?" Gon questioned, oblivious of the situation.
The old man feigned innocence and shook his head no.
"You move fast for an old man." Killua snidely commented.
Netero calmly took up the challenge. "That old trick? I barely moved."
"What do you want? I thought we don't need to see you until the final exam."
"Aw c'mon no need to be so cold. I was bored and was looking for someone to play with." he cheekily replied.
There was a palpable tension in the room and Renée thought the assassin would attack the chairman. Instead, he turned around and started walking away. "Come on Gon, Ren."
The other two started to follow but Netero made a noise to stop them.
"If you play with me, I'll make you Hunters right away."
This definitely caught their attention and they turned disbelievingly at him.
"Can you do that!?" Renée exclaimed.
"I am the chairman after all."
"How irresponsible!" they yelled accusingly.
"Well? How 'bout it eh?" the old man smirked.
They took the bait.
They entered a large empty room in which to play.
'Wow. I didn't think they had this.'
"The game is simple, all you have to do is take this ball from me. If you do that before we reach the destination, which is approximately in 9 hours, then you win. You can attack me any way you want, I won't touch you." Netero explained, spinning the ball on his finger.
"Okay, I'll go first." Killua stood up confidently.
He slowly approached the Chairman, and the elder was surprised to hear almost no footsteps. The boy circled him and not long after, multiple apparitions of Killua were visible.
'Rhythm Echo. To think that he can master an underground technique at such a young age. It's terrifying.' Netero thought, watching the double images.
"Ren, can you see? There're so many Killuas!" Gon exclaimed, amazed.
"Yeah, it's scary."
It went that way for a while until the real Killua stepped up from the side and leapt at the man. However, the chairman only avoided him. The boy rebounded and lunged for the man once more, his hands outstretched towards the ball. They continued playing tag until Killua eventually got tired.
"What? Is that it?" Netero mocked him, balancing the ball on his nose to show that he wasn't tired at all..
'Damn this old man. He keeps darting around! I got it! I'll have to immobilize him!'
The silver-head aimed low and kicked the chairman's leg. Renée and Gon winced for the old man as they can only imagine his bones shattering into a million pieces.
'Killua is really pissed off.' she thought.
Soon enough, there was a howl of pain that sounded through the air but it was not from Netero, but from the boy.
"What the-!? Is your leg made of iron!?" he cursed, massaging his own leg.
"Killua, tag! Tag!" Gon jumped impatiently.
They exchanged places and the assassin sat beside the red-head. The other boy did some stretches first and the chairman observed him, thinking of how he would attack.
In a blink of an eye, Gon had lunged head-on.
'What a quick first step, but you'd need another 10 years before attacking me from in front.' Netero thought, disappointed.
He was about to sidestep the islander when suddenly, the boy jumped up at the last minute.
'From above!?'
All was well until Gon hit his head hard on the ceiling. He came down clutching his crown in pain.
"You idiot! We know you can jump high but control your strength next time!" Killua scolded him.
"And for a moment, Chairman Netero had his guard down." Renée huffed.
Gon stood up while rubbing the back of his head and smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I messed up."
This time, he opted to attack the normal way, but to no avail. He panted slightly and the girl took it as a sign to switch.
"Gon, my turn!" The said boy happily switched places with her while she stood there stretching.
She was actually thinking of a strategy to get the ball.
Her eyes flitted towards the padded walls and she grinned to herself. Renée dashed towards the chairman, and he sidestepped her easily.
'Huh? That was too easy!'
He turned and was surprised to see that she was already soaring through the air towards him.
'The walls!?'
Netero barely dodged her and when he turned to face her, she was at it again. She bounced from wall to wall, sometimes performing feints whilst increasing her speed incrementally.
Getting slightly irritated that she was getting nowhere, she decided to do it slightly differently. Renée once again rebounded from the wall and propelled herself towards the chairman.
As expected, he dodged sideways. This time, she stretched her hand outward and hooked his neck at the crook of her arm. Netero was surprised that he was pushed back and he let go of the ball.
"Ah!" Gon and Killua exclaimed, getting on their feet.
"I'll get it!" Renée declared.
With no wall to rebound herself, she used the chairman to her advantage instead and propelled herself across the room from his stomach.
She was only inches away from the ball when Netero suddenly appeared beside her and he grabbed the ball before she could, hitting her sideways in the process.
The red-head failed to stop herself due to the momentum's impact and her back slammed against the wall.
"Ren!" both boys were at her side in an instant.
She stood up shakily, ignoring Gon and Killua, and glared at the old man.
"That was close." he breathed a sigh of relief. Her blood boiled instantly.
"You liar! You said you wouldn't touch us!"
"Ah but, my dear, I was simply going for the ball. You just happened to be in the way."
"I'll get you next time." she muttered under her breath.
Renée decided to rest for a while and so she switched with Killua.
They went at it for hours, going from Killua, Gon, and Renée. The two boys have discarded their overshirts, but the girl decided to keep hers on.
'The scars would show.'
"Ow!" Killua exclaimed as he hit his nose on the chairman's head.
"You three are getting nowhere. Why don't you try attacking at the same time?" he suggested, much to Killua's irritation.
"Why you-!"
"I'll get you this time!"
The three ran up to him, all futilely trying to grab the ball from him. They tried coming from different directions, but it only resulted to them bumping their heads with each other.
Gon rubbed his head and glared at Netero with determination. He lunged towards him for a kick.
"You're attacks are getting boring!" the old man complained as he stepped back a bit to avoid the boy's kick.
However, Gon loosened his boot so it slid of his foot and landed a kick on the old man's chin. While he was distracted, Killua decided to kick the old man from behind and this caused him to let go of the ball. Renée dashed towards it, but the chairman kicked it so it was out of reach.
"Damn!" she cursed.
Netero reached for it but Gon kicked off his other boot and hit the ball.
"You and your tricks!" the chairman complained slightly.
Before he could rebound, the red-head came from the side and kicked him so that he was farther away from the prize.
Gon and Killua simultaneously reached out for it. "Got it!"
Netero's demeanor suddenly switched and he kicked off from the ground and soared at lightning speed towards the ball. Pushing the two boys aside in the process, the chairman managed to grab hold of the object once more.
"I commend you on your efforts."
"That was amazing, Chairman Netero! Really amazing!" Gon praised him.
Panting slightly, Renée and Killua glared at the mark on the floor the old man made.
'Is he really an old man?' she thought incredulously.
Her eyes met the assassin's and she was surprised to see him so agitated.
He looked away, gritting his teeth, and stood up. "That's it I give. I lose." he announced.
"Eh? But we still have time and right now we came really close!" Gon urged.
"It's impossible Gon. He hasn't even used his right hand and left leg yet." Renée said, dusting herself off.
This surprised the boy and stared at Netero in amazement once again.
"You figured it out. And here I thought I was fooling you." the chairman chuckled.
Killua mock-laughed at his statement. "You really know how to piss me off, old man. Let's go, Gon, Ren!"
"Ah I'll play a little longer." Gon stated, much to the silver-head's annoyance.
"Didn't you hear what Ren said!? It's impossible to get the ball even if you keep chasing him around for a year!"
"Yeah I know. So I'll just try to get him to use his right hand before the time's up!"
Renée laughed at his statement and at Killua's expression. "Oh. I see. Good luck then. I'm going to get some sleep." was all he said.
"What about you Ren?"
The males looked at her and she shook her head as she fastened the sword at her side once more.
"I'm beat. I'll go with Killua and sleep as well."
Gon waved at them both as they exited the room.
"Say, how did Killua do that, where he duplicated himself?" the boy turned to the chairman curiously.
"That is an underground technique and there is no need for you to learn it. You shouldn't learn it. By chance, do you know where the girl got her sword?"
"It was a gift from her father!"
"Hm. I wonder about that."
The two walked down the hall in silence.
Killua had taken off his sweaty shirt while she just stared outside the windows as they pass them.
Due to her tired state, she accidentally bumped two other examinees but didn't really feel like apologizing.
"Hey stupid girl, you should apologize!" one man said, grabbing her shoulder.
Before the red-head could retaliate, Killua had already reacted.
His hand changed and grew claws where his nails should be, his eyes showed emptiness even though his lips were curved upward into a sadistic smile. Faster than a speeding bullet, the two men dropped dead.
Without thinking, Renée slapped her hands on the assassin's cheeks, returning him to normal.
"What was that for!?"
"You made a mess! I am so not cleaning up after you." she said, referring to the corpses.
The silver-head blinked at her back, unsure of what to make out of her statement.
'She isn't afraid that I killed? And right in front of her too!'
In the end, he just smiled and followed her into a room to get some shut eye.
END OF 14.
A/N: Here's one! I made it because I was too lazy to study for midterms. Next time, Trick Tower. Anyway, please review!