A/N: I am back! I also know that I'm late in providing this chapter and I apologise. Some stuff happened and I can't really explain myself so just go easy on me. lilpea03 thank you so much for your positive review and I do hope you grow more fond of Renée as a character! TheFlowerWeSawThatDay I am really grateful for your inputs, especially with your offer to draw my OC! You've really helped me in getting this story back on track and I appreciate that you saw how Renée is not MarySue because I personally do not approve of it because it leaves for no more growth. She is being tough right now, but don't worry I won't go down that road. I'm also sorry about the Spiders arc because I was going through a really rough time and kept getting writer's block so I just wanted it done. That part is my bad. As for my changed writing style, I agree that it isn't really my thing so I will revert back to the original after this and I apologise in advance to those who would be disappointed with the change. To all my silent readers, thank you so much for your continuous support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 28

-September 9-

We were all at the airport to send Kurapika and Senritsu off.

Frankly, I am glad to see him leave.

Don't get me wrong, he's my friend and all, but he's just too much trouble.

Too complicated.

He's also no fun to talk to and not someone I can actually say I am close with.

Speaking of "close", the dunce won't leave Kurapika alone. She's been leaving Gon and I behind.

I don't know why but that irritates me a lot.

'What are you thinking of now, Ren?'

I flinched when she clung to his arm, smiling warmly at the blonde.

"What's the matter with you?" Gon asked, seeing my sudden movement.

Renée looked back at me curiously with those striking grey eyes but I ignored it.

"Watch where you're going, dunce. You're gonna trip at this rate." I smirked at her.

The red-head puffed her cheeks in annoyance, which was kinda cute.

Wait, what.

She isn't cute, she's annoying, in her own adorable way.

Wait.

That was wrong.

'Stop it, Kil, before you reach the point of no return.'

Getting so lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice that she lagged behind and stuck her leg out making me trip over it and land unceremoniously on my face.

To add insult to injury, Gon accidentally stepped on the back of my head, realising too late that I was already on the floor.

"Oops. Sorry, old man, I have two left feet." Renée mocked me.

Gon, getting over his shock, guffawed at my form.

Feeling blood rush to my ears, I glared daggers at the girl.

'Oh if looks could kill...'

I picked myself and my bruised ego up, still eyeing the girl in front of me with a dangerous look. In my head were schemes of different ways I could get back at her, each one much more humiliating than the previous.

Finally, we reached the gate of Kurapika.

Renée moved up again, standing beside Kurapika.

I felt a vein in my temple twitch.

"I don't suppose you'll keep in touch, right?" Leorio joked around, referring to the blonde's minimal contact with us.

The Kurta smiled sheepishly and rubbed his nape. "I'll see what I can do." he promised.

"It's fine, Kurapika! Just take care okay?" Gon said, coming up to him.

"It's more like 'Senritsu, take care of him', right?" I butted in and everyone laughed.

When the laughter died down, I noticed that Kurapika was looking at Renée, his expression unreadable.

"Renée." he said softly.

The dunce smiled up at him, "I know. I'll be careful and won't do anything rash this time. I promise."

"I...I just wanted to give you a piece of advice. Don't go to Scillio." the Kurta warned her.

This confused us all, but I quickly caught on why.

When Renée and Mehika "vanished", order in the tribe slowly fell apart. Their Chief died and the heavens refused to choose another leader. Anyone who stepped up as one became mad with power and was, in turn, slaughtered by the people.

I heard my grandfather talk about it. He said it was a most interesting case, how the whole civilisation of Scillio rested upon the twins.

Sure enough, Kurapika explained such the situation to Renée.

I glanced at her and saw the confusion etched on her face. I hated watching her smile slowly fade away.

I feel guilty, now more than ever, for being responsible for this.

Kurapika's expression turned somber and he crouched to level himself with the girl. "I am sorry, Renée. I just do not want you getting hurt."

What happened next didn't sit well with me.

Kurapika leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. And she let him.

"I am serious about what I said last night. Please consider calling me any time." he murmured but I'm sure everyone still heard.

'What? What he said last night? Something happened between them?'

I shouldn't really care.

Nope, I really shouldn't.

Then why do I feel so angry?

Why do I feel so betrayed?

Kurapika and Senritsu walked off, and we stood there, waiting for Renée. Instead of going with us, she ran off towards the Kurta.

That irritated me more than anything.

"Looks like you got some tough competition." Leorio whistled.

"Shut up." I glared at the geezer.

I don't know why I'm furious. I just am.

Apparently I can't hide it well because, from the corner of my eyes, I can see Gon look at me sympathetically but I blatantly ignored him.

I know what he'll say.

He'll go on and on about my feelings for Renée, which isn't even true! I don't like her that way, I just don't like it when she's this way because of some guy.

Losing focus and acting like a complete klutz, this isn't her.

Why am I still thinking about this!?

I don't need this right now. I just gotta sort out my thoughts and I'm fine.

Yep, I am fine.

After Renée huggrd Kurapika goodbye, she walked back to us, a small smile on her face.

Somehow, that got me more mad.

'Why did she have to do that? What did that damn blonde say to her last night anyway? Why do I even care?'

-Back at downtown-

As soon as we arrived at the apartment, I locked myself in my room saying I wanted to polish my ability more.

It wasn't a total lie though my main reason was to calm down.

I'm getting so worked up over nothing and I just wanna cool off.

I grabbed the stun gun and charged myself.

It hurt, yes, but I was trained to show no pain. This façade tricked my brain into numbing the pain I was feeling.

We Zaoldyecks are the living proof of the saying mind over matter.

Once I was charged, I concentrated into channeling the electricity through my whole body in a calm and even flow. The silence helped me with the task and it worked.

However, the silence caught up to me and I kept thinking about how happy Renée looked after talking to Kurapika and Senritsu. There was also the thing about "last night".

'What did they talk about? What happened? Why did she hug him!?'

And just like that, the electricity in my body went haywire and exploded, causing a massive blackout.

Shrieks and shouts of confusion were heard everywhere and the suddenness of the situation made me stop my Hatsu altogether.

Renée burst in my room, an accusing look in her eyes. "What did you do?"

"Oh please, I'm as surprised as you are. And how dare you! Just because the electricity suddenly went off, doesn't mean it's my fault." I said, throwing my hands in the air.

The red-head just looked at me, her eyes challenging me as if to say "Oh really?".

It also didn't really help that I was smoking a bit.

I rolled my eyes at her expression. "Fine. It was me." I admitted sullenly.

Renée shook her head and laughed at me.

It was nice to hear her laugh.

It was nice to know that her attitude towards me didn't change. She was unaware that I got mad and I'm glad I could dodge that bullet of having to deal with emotional exhaustion.

"Seriously though, what were you doing?" she asked, bringing me back to earth.

Fortunately, Gon graced us with his presence before I had to answer the question.

"The whole street's electricity shut down! It's weird!" he exclaimed.

The dunce grinned at her brother, but didn't say it was me, bless her. If she did, he would never stop teasing me about it.

"How does pizza for dinner sound? I can't cook without the stove on and it looks like the neighbourhood's gonna be out of power for a while." she suggested.

"Psh. Lazy dunce." I muttered underneath my breath.

Renée and Gon still heard me and the former scowled at me.

Apparently, I hit another nerve.

I'm getting so good at that.

Whether that ability is useful or not, I will never know.

"Well, when you do the shopping and cooking for an ungrateful bag of air like you, you'd find it hard to be motivated as well! Why don't you decide what to eat for once, your highness!" she hissed, throwing her phone at me before walking out.

Of course I caught it easily, but my ego was bruised once more.

"That little-! What the heck is her problem!?" I growled.

Gon just chuckled at me, "You know that it's your own fault, right?"

"My fault? She yells and throws stuff at me and I'm to blame!?" I retaliated, though getting what he meant.

As if he understood my thoughts, Gon shook his head at me. "You really aren't very honest, huh? Just call some pizza. Oh and Ren likes the crust stuffed with cheese. Just thought you'd like to know in case you wanna win her back."

The idiot managed to duck out of the room just before the pillow I threw hit him.

Sighing, I opened Renée's phone and dialled a number. "Yeah, I'd like some meat lover's pizza with its crusts stuffed with cheese."

-September 10-

As expected, a lot of people want to try out for the game Greed Island.

I scanned the room as Battera spoke onstage and saw that roughly a hundred people were present.

With a flourish, Tsezugera took the stage and announced the procedure. With another flourish, he disappeared behind the curtains.

"He's a bit showy isn't he? 'One by one you will enter and I will judge your Ren.'" Renée mimicked his last sentence with albeit of a fake accent.

Gon laughed at her, "He sounds like one of those movies we watched! The one with the vampire!"

"I am weird-eyebrows man, bleh, bleh, bleh!" the red-head said, copying the accent of that lame vampire movie.

The siblings cracked up and despite my efforts to stay calm, I started laughing with them.

"It seems you kids also got the hang of what's going on, huh?" We turned and saw a man in his late 20s, smirking in a seat behind us.

"We also got the hang of minding our own business." Renée blurted out, making Gon elbow her.

The man only chuckled at her, if he took any offence then he didn't show it.

"I get what you mean. I wouldn't trust anyone either, especially in this cutthroat competition, but I can assure you that I only wish to make allies. I just thought that we had the same mindset. Those guys over there in the line are hopeless, right? Those waiting next to the line are even more so." the guy continued.

"How do you say so?" Gon asked him.

"Well there are those still waiting in line, they think that if they go first, they will get a slot. The thinking of first-come-first-serve is probably insignificant here. There are also those waiting near the line. They're probably waiting for someone to come out so that they could ask about the test, but if you think about it there's really no rush."

"I get it. They aren't choosing 32 players this time." Renée added, showing interest in the conversation.

"It's because of the refusers, right? You can't change a player who is still alive in the game and they've been at this for years. There are really only a few slots left so they want to see everyone in this hall in case any good players appear." I said, understanding the situation.

"Exactly. They're probably gonna pick 20 players today, might be even less. I'm guessing that those worth evaluating are the ones who already went in and those who understood and are waiting back here, like us." the man confirmed.

"I had a hunch it was like this. I mean it reminded me of the Hunter Exam where everyone had a shot at something but only few can pass." Gon piped up.

"You actually realised something! So proud of you!" Renée teased him, doting on her brother.

The said boy swatted her hand away, annoyed when she tried to pat his head.

I still wonder at their relationship sometimes. How open they are with each other, trusting that the other had their backs when things go wrong. I looked at them longingly as they argued animatedly, like how a real brother and sister would.

I want that too.

I want an open relationship with someone too.

I want to have someone who'll bicker with me but, at the end of the day, I know I can talk to that person about absolutely anything.

I want a real family.

Renée looked at me, and for a moment our eyes locked.

I saw her eyes turn confused then to understanding. I also felt how much she can read me at the moment. It felt as if time stopped and I held my breath as she explored the vulnerability through my eyes.

It felt so long and agonising, but was really just a short moment.

Without hesitation, the red-head smirked at me. "A little dazed, are we old man? I guess it can't be helped, with your dementia and all." she teased, shaking me out of my stupor.

"You still think I have dementia? You must really be a dunce." I shot back, just as smug.

"You say that but you actually really like Ren." Gon whispered in my ear.

That made my skin crawl and he laughed as my blood coloured my cheeks. "Shut it, Gon!"

The islander laughed at my expression and at Renée's confused one.

I gave a small smile at the sight.

'That's right. I already have a family. I have these two to rely on. I swear, I'll protect them both even if it costs me my life.'

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys, but the line's thinning out. I should probably try out now." the man earlier suddenly said, standing up.

We all turned to see him leave, saying nothing. Before he reached the bottom of the steps, he turned to us with a smile. "The name's Puhat by the way. Hope to see you guys on the other side. I'm referring to the winning side of course." he grinned before turning back towards the stage.

"Good luck!" Gon called out.

"Yeah, I hear those who act smart usually fail!" I added.

"You should really pray then, Puhat!" Renée smirked, catching on.

The said man stumbled onstage after hearing our words of encouragement but, like before, he took no offence.

Gon gave us a disapproving look, "You guys are mean."

"What? You started it!" the red-head threw back the blame.

They started arguing between them once again so I decided to stand up and get through with this audition.

"Not even gonna warn us, eh old man?"

I grinned, looking back at the two who stopped bickering.

"You snooze you lose, guys. I'm going first-"

"Obviously." Renée snorted.

"-so you guys better not fail. See ya." I disappeared through the curtains and walked down the backstage hall.

It was pretty obvious where to go so I entered the only door present and came face-to-face with Tsezugera.

He looked at me sternly, "Show me your Ren."

I gave a little smirk. 'He does sound like that cartoon vampire.'

"Is my Hatsu okay? A friend of mine suggested I try showing you this instead." I asked.

It irritated him and I was somewhat proud of that.

"Whatever you choose." he said impatiently.

Getting into a stance, I concentrated my Nen into turning to electricity. I charged this morning specifically for this and I intend to execute it fashionably.

Sure enough, a steady flow of power surged through me and when I released it, the lights in the room flickered.

Tsezugera felt the hairs on his nape stand on end due to the electricity flux in the room and he looked at me with marvel. "I see you've improved since I last saw you. You can head into that door over there. You passed." he dismissed.

I shrugged and walked towards the door he said and found myself in a room.

Filled isn't the right word but there was a handful of people in the room.

Puhat was there but I didn't mind him and sat separately, leaving room for Gon and Renée. One girl looked at me straight in the face, which surprised me a bit, but I avoided her.

After a few moments, the lights in the room flickered, which caught me by surprise, then there was a small boom. It got the others curious as well and we all watched the door in anticipation.

A certain red-headed dunce came out and she flinched at all the eyes on her. With a slight scowl on her face, she made her way towards me.

"What did you show him? Did you reveal Sakkaku?" I whispered to her.

She shook her head at me vehemently. "I have no intention of revealing that. Remember, Sakkaku and the other Nen beings are rare. Chrollo wanted to steal them. I do not wish to reveal their existence to the wrong people."

"How are you sure that these are the wrong people?"

"Too many people knowing a secret won't make it a secret, right?" she smirked.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics and was about to retort when a loud boom resonated across the whole place.

It felt like an earthquake and I had to hold onto my seat to avoid falling off. Renée latched onto my arm with a grin on her face.

"Gon." was all she said.

Sure enough, my best friend popped his head into the room right after and he grinned wolfishly when he saw us. He quickly made his way towards us and sat down next to Renée, the grin never leaving his face.

"What was that, Gon? Was that you?" I asked him, curious about his ability.

"That's a secret!" he whispered back.

That got me irritated and I clicked my tongue at him, "You guys and your secrets!"

"Just us? You guys also kept your abilities a secret! We're all the same, aren't we?" he shot back.

"Eh? But Ren knows my ability!" I realised.

"Ren knows my ability too!"

"Oh no." I heard her mutter quietly. We turned towards the red-head and trapped her in her seat.

"What's your ability?" we asked in unison.

Renée shrank in her chair and looked at the both of us, clearly troubled.

"Um... Maybe next time, guys..?" she squeaked.

"Now!" we growled.

"Okay, okay! Um, later! Just not now. So many people are staring."

I looked back and saw that everyone was watching us with interest. I glared at them and they turned back towards their own business.

"Fine. Later." Gon said with an air of finality.

Renée heaved a sigh of relief and we all settled just as Tsezugera took the stage once more.

-Back in the apartment-

"Congratulations in passing!" Leorio cheered, using a party popper.

"You're just making a mess!" Renée groaned.

Gon and the geezer laughed at her statement, saying that she doesn't need to clean it up anymore.

"I DO need to clean up! This is an apartment-type lodging! They don't have housekeeping, you dodos!" she exclaimed exasperatedly.

'1. Be prepared for any injuries or casualties. 2. Mr. Battera has all the rights to everything obtained in the game. 3. The candidates who succeed in finishing the game will be rewarded with 50 billion Jenis. Hm. He can give away that much money without hesitation.' I tried to tune them out as I read the contract but her shrilly voice kept scratching at my ears.

"Geez, just shut it will ya!? We'll clean up later! Just fill out your contract and start eating!" I burst angrily.

The three of them stopped and I finally managed to read in peace. Of course I should've expected it won't last long because Gon and Renée started having a food fight.

"Hey! Those are expensive y'know!? You brats keep wasting food!" Leorio growled at them.

I felt a vein pop in my head and I turned towards them.

"Hey-!" I was stopped by a meringue dessert to the face.

I heard the siblings chortling at me and Leorio's incessant rantings.

Starting to get annoyed, I blindly grabbed some food and flung it across the room, hitting Leorio in the face.

Soon, we were all fighting and throwing.

The geezer gave up, grumbling about wasted money as he stalked off in the bathroom.

I licked some of the meringue off my face and was filled with the ecstasy that can only come from sweets. "That's actually pretty good." I told them, tasting more of the stuff.

"I think that was the s'mores pie. It's chocolate so I guess you'd like it." Renée shrugged wiping some whipped cream off her face.

"Ren doesn't have a sweet tooth." Gon piped up, obviously providing the info for me.

I glared at him.

"What? Just in case you wanted to know." he said defensively.

He's at it again!

He goes off and say little fun-facts about her and, though interesting, I don't really need to know about them. He acts like I need to memorise them for some sort of pop quiz later on.

"At least the strawberry shortcake, beef barbecue, and jambalaya were spared. We can still have some sort of semblance of a meal." the red-head tried to feel hopeful.

We cleaned up the rest of our mess and took turns taking a bath.

Leorio was waiting impatiently for us so we could have a proper farewell party.

It was one of the best meals we've had, despite the geezer's angry façade.

"After this, you'll be leaving, right Leorio?" Gon asked him.

"Yeah. I'll go back and continue studying to become a doctor. I got accepted and the fact that I am closer to my dream is phenomenal! This Hunter License works wonders if you use it properly." he explained, having calmed down.

"That's great! Soon you'll be a proper doctor and give help to those who need you most."

At this, Leorio smiled, "Yeah."

After eating, we were ready to go meet Tsezugera and to enter the world of Greed Island.

"You three better be careful. I wanna be a doctor but I don't want you guys to be my top patients." the geezer warned us.

"That is if you graduate." Renée smirked.

Leorio's nostrils flared and he huffed, but didn't retaliate.

"We'll be fine, geezer." I reassured him.

"Yeah! Make sure to take care too and to keep in touch!" Gon said.

Leorio gave us a fond smile and ruffled our hairs in turns. "See you brats."

END OF 28.

A/N: That's a wrap! I'll post the next chapter this coming Sunday and, this time, I absolutely promise I will. Also, this will be my last POV-chapter which is also in Killua's point-of-view, if you haven't noticed already. I am still very open to suggestions so PM me or review for any comments! Lastly, I am still taking EXTRAS requests! Please send me your ideas and review!

P.S. I updated this to remove the KuraxRen thing. However Killua is still jealous as he doesn't fully understand what went on between the two, not knowing they're treating each other as family instead of as a pair. Anyway, re-uploading this since some bug ate it. Ciao!