A/N: Here I am again, still alive, thank you very much! It's been a while I know and I'm not really doing a good job with following my schedule. I did try though, just failed miserably. Anyway, I'm still re-establishing relationships between Renée and the others so forgive me if these chapters feel sluggish. I just feel like, after being separated from the others, as well as being part of a criminal organisation, the others would feel a bit wary of her or something. Sort of like she's regaining their trust and their trying to see how much the Spiders have changed her. xenocanaan thank you for thinking this is fantastic! I seriously have a lot of doubts with my writing but I'm happy to hear, in this case read, your encouraging words. Puja261 you feel curious now? Wait 'til we get to the Chimera Ant arc! I don't update as regularly as I want but I won't let this fanfic die, don't worry. Oh and here's the next chapter! TheFlowerWeSawThatDay wow! I wish you luck in your work and studies! About the sibling drama, there will be a lot on that in one way or another. And, for now, Bisky is just another teasing party to the Renée-Killua pairing just like Gon is. I don't and will not force anything as I don't want to rush things as well, especially if there are more serious matters to be dealt with! Thank you for your offer and I apologise if I haven't been able to post your fan art yet. The Image Manager is LOVING me right now. And I really can't wait for your story! Update me when it comes out, okay? I'll support you! To all of my silent readers and supporters, thank you very much as well! Have a good one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 33

"Woah! There are literally just shops filled with sections of all types of cards!" Gon exclaimed excitedly. He looked over to his friends and saw that they already started browsing the shelves for interesting cards.

"There really isn't any attack Spell Card, huh? Most of the cards here are for travelling and leverage against enemies." the red-head realised.

"Yeah. As far as attack is concerned, it's just Pickpocket or something similar." Killua followed-up, putting the said card back on the shelf.

Just then, he noticed that there were item cards on sale as well. There were tools, furniture, and even clothes that were all in card-form. The silver-head glanced at Renée before picking up one particular item and checking it out on the counter.

"Oho~ What are you going to do with that, hm?"

Killua flinched.

He hadn't realised that Bisky was already next to him, peering over his shoulder. "T-that's none of your business, hag!"

"No need to be all defensive. I can help you with whatever you're planning, y'know. I am a girl after all." the blonde snickered, checking out some of the items she bought as well.

He scowled at her suggestive comment, "It really isn't like that. Whatever you are thinking we are, you're wrong."

"Yeah? Then why'd you buy that?"

"Just cause I felt like it! I know what it feels like to be vulnerable y'know."

The blonde looked at him in a new light. 'He's more selfless than i thought.'

"Bickering again?" Renée butted in.

She noticed that Killua had bought something that caught his interest. Why else would he be at the counter? She also noticed how he immediately pocketed the said card in his binder.

But that isn't important right now.

The red-head was just concerned with how long they're taking especially since there is now a queue of impatient customers behind them.

"Sorry for the wait! We were just talking." Bisky recovered, cheery as usual.

"By the way Bisky, what did you buy?" Gon asked, finally caught up to them.

The woman grinned mischievously at the trio which made them raise their guards instinctively.

"Are you tired?" she sang, though it was more of a taunt.

Hesitantly, the 13-year olds shook their heads no.

"Good, then let's go back to the quarry!"

"Eh!? Why!?"

"And this time, we must get there in double the speed. You have 2.5 hours and counting!"

Knowing full well that there are consequences to her orders, the trio started running back to where they came from at twice the pace.

Bisky had no problem catching up to them, clearly having fun in ordering someone around once more.

Once they reached the quarry, their legs were aching and their breaths were ragged.

"T-that distance was no...joke." Gon gasped.

"Yeah." Killua replied in between breaths.

Renée said nothing and just clutched her chest in hopes of massaging her overexerted lung.

"I think you guys did okay. Not too good on your endurance but we'll work on that!" Bisky said, raising her finger.

"9!"

"...9."

The red-head cursed herself for being slowed down by some post-running fatigue.

The blonde looked at her apologetically, "You know the drill, Ren."

Renée looked at her mentor with the saddest expression in her eyes and pitifully got on the ground to do her push ups.

"Oh alright, you can do just 100." Bisky gave in.

Of course, Killua reacted strongly towards her good fortune. "Why only 100!? Your minimum is always 200! And you make ME do 300! That's not fair!"

"What I say goes. Besides, we're in a rush." she muttered defensively.

"'We're in a rush' my ass. Stupid old hag, picking favourites." the silver-head cursed underneath his breath.

Gon just shook his head at his sister's antics, 'She's doing it again, That thing with her eyes. This is why I'm the one that always got in trouble back when we were kids. Such a bad habit of hers.'

After Renée finished her push ups, they followed Bisky towards the edge of the quarry. They remembered that it was where they fought the Cyclops from before.

"Are we supposed to fight the monsters again, Bisky?" Gon asked their mentor.

The blonde just smiled at his naïve thinking and used Gain at the cards she was holding. The cards were then replaced by three shovels and a wheelbarrow at the side.

"Um...What are those for?" the islander asked again, though he sort of knew. He looked at his friends and saw that they also had that look of dread.

"Now it's time to go back to Masadora!" Bisky announced with a flourish.

The 13-year-olds' faces fell and they already looked tired.

"However, this time you would have to literally go straight towards Masadora." the blonde continued as she handed each of them a shovel.

"So this means..." Renée started.

"We'd have to..." Killua continued, his face all scrunched up.

"Dig through the rock formations?" Gon finished the thought sadly.

Their mentor just grinned impishly at them, "You'd better get started then!"

The trio groaned and complained, all of them clearly tired. They sluggishly got to work at the first rock column in their path and were surprised that it was actually quite soft.

"Are they really this soft?" the red-head asked her friends.

"I don't think so. It's solid rock if we touch it." Gon said as he rested his palm on the stone.

"That means we've gotten quite strong. It's the only explanation for being able to do this." the former assassin grunted, not straying from the task at hand. "Then, if all goes well, we can finish half of the quarry in no time!" the islander grinned.

- After a few hours... -

He tried to motivate his friends all throughout the excavation and it seemed to work as they all have these permanent smirks on their faces as they talked.

Whenever they reached the center of a formation, Renée would drop her shovel and start using the wheelbarrow to dispose some of the stone and dirt so they are not blocked off.

Before long, the trio reached their first obstacle.

Exhaustion.

'We use not only our shoulders but even our back and lower body strength. Even if I am just pushing a cart out of the tunnel we've dug, it uses my entire body. If I falter for even a second, I will fall over and spill everything!' Renée thought.

She tried her best to keep up with the boys' digging speed though she can tell that they're getting tired as well.

In a minute that felt like forever, they finally reached the other side of the mountain. Looking back, the red-head saw that they literally did dig straight through.

"We did it." Gon huffed.

"But we only managed about a 200-metre progress. We've got a lot more to go." Killua breathed, collapsing on the ground.

Bisky walked up to them, hands on her hips and still looking smug as ever. "I think that's good enough. You all look so tired! I guess you can sleep now. But first-!"

The blonde sat them up against a boulder. She then lodged their shovels above their heads and looped a piece of string on each. One end of the string was in their hands and the other end was weighed down by a stone.

"From now on, you will have to sleep like this! You have to be careful to not let the stone drop on your head because not only will it hurt but I will keep increasing the stone size as well! So be alert! I might even cut a string or two." Bisky warned them.

Despite this, Killua grinned. "My dad used to do this to me all the time! This'll be a piece of cake!" he said.

The former-assassin got comfortable with his position and quickly dozed off. Sure enough, he was able to balance the rock despite being in a deep slumber.

The siblings looked at each other in worry.

Renée was a light sleeper but she has never used this exercise. There was also the fact that she was exhausted and her limbs were sore. Though she did have previous experience with a similar act during her time as a slave at the cargo ship.

Gon was in even more danger.

He slept like a rock.

This will surely be a challenge for him.

Nevertheless, they followed Killua's example and slept.

Not even 10 minutes in, Gon let the string slip from his fingers.

Renée was acutely aware of what had happened and instinctively reached out to grab her brother's thread. Unfortunately, she missed due to double-vision.

"Ow!" they exclaimed at the same time, clutching their heads.

"Tsk tsk. You were doing fine until you tried to save Gon, Ren. Now you both have to set it up yourselves this time." Bisky shook her head in disapproval.

"Don't help me, Ren." the islander whispered.

The red-head looked at him incredulously, "Eh? But-!"

"I can take it. You don't have to fail for me. I need to learn on my own this time."

Renée sadly looked at her brother as he finished and settled by the boulder to sleep. She stayed awake long enough to see his grip slacken once again, but this time, she did not help him. When the pain woke Gon up, the red-head pretended to sleep so that he won't think she's looking out for him.

All throughout the night, the dark-haired boy got hit by the rock.

All throughout the night, Renée resisted the urge to shield him.

This had a drastic effect on the girl.

Because of her strong desire to care for her brother, she barely slept at all. She could only listen and flinch as Gon got hit and begrudgingly set up the stone over and over again.

The red-head tried to sleep but with all the racket beside her, and the turmoil she was feeling inside, she just couldn't.

The next day, the siblings got to work.

Both were bleary-eyed and very groggy.

Only Killua looked well-rested out of the three.

He looked at his two friends clumsily shovel out stone.

"You two shouldn't push yourselves so much. You guys didn't get to sleep much, right? The exercise is difficult for first-timers." he scolded them, taking the wheelbarrow off of Renée's trembling hands.

"I'm fine." the two answered in sync.

This irked the silver-head.

Not because they answered at the same time, he's gotten used to that, but because they responded like zombies.

'Geez. Looks like I'll have to take one for the team and pull more than just my weight. Again.'

The next day wasn't any different. If anything, it was way worse.

Worse because Gon didn't really bother with replying to his questions anymore.

Way worse because Renée was in a very bad mood.

The red-head has this permanent glare on her face and if you dared talk to her, she'd snap at you.

"Ren gets cranky if she doesn't get much sleep." his best friend yawned, answering his unspoken question.

The silver-head sighed tiredly, not knowing which of them was more troublesome. One time, Killua had to step in between the siblings because Gon accidentally bumped Renée which then led to a full-blown argument.

"Well maybe if you could learn to actually sleep, I can rest easy! So tired of having to always watch over your stupid butt!" she barked at the islander.

"Watch over my stupid butt? Who did we have to drag from the Spiders, huh!?" Gon retaliated.

The red-head scoffed, "That was one time! Who do we have to constantly baby? Just because poor little Gon was too naïve. Do you know how many times I have to clean up after you!? Your own aunt can't even let you go out alone without MY supervision!"

"At least I have an aunt! What do YOU have!?"

The former-assassin interfered just in time before they started hitting each other or whatever they did when they fought.

The fact that they were fighting weirded him out. This was the first time he saw that Renée and Gon were arguing with each other.

No matter the case, that couldn't have been good.

"Let's just focus on finishing our tasks. There's literally no time to bicker. Gon, why don't you wheel out the rubble? I'll take over your shift at digging." Killua commanded. He left no room for argument, and he shared a look with his best friend that made the islander keep his mouth shut.

Gon sneered at his sister one last time before doing as he was told.

The silver-head let out a heavy sigh for the nth time before shovelling the rock with Renée. He knows it's risky to try and reason with the girl but he also couldn't leave it alone.

Killua decided to just push his luck, "I don't get it."

"Huh?" she replied brusquely.

"The exercise is fairly easy once you get used to it. I understand why Gon's having trouble with it cause he's a heavy sleeper. Why are you?"

This question made Renée stop and he looked at her to make sure she wasn't gonna hit him. He was albeit surprised to see how tired her eyes were. No trace of anger could be found even as she spoke, "I don't find the exercise difficult. It's the fact that Gon does is what makes it unbearable."

Renée paused to continue digging and Killua followed suit and patiently waited for her to speak again.

"Gon and I share a room back at Whale Island. When he got sick back when we were young, it was my duty to make sure he was comfortable in his sleep, that he drank his medicine on time, and is properly hydrated. I guess that just sort of stuck with me until now. Especially in the Hunter Exam, where everything was dangerous. More so after the Exam when I separated from you guys. I joined the Spiders to help me and my sister be together again. But all the while, I could only think if Gon was safe and if he reached home like I hoped he would. So whenever that twerp is in any danger or pain, that protective feeling just sort of bleeds out y'know?" she huffed as they once again broke through the other side of the mountain.

"So you can't sleep at night because he can't? That's just sappy." the silver-head frowned.

She would've smacked him but there was no humour in his voice.

He was serious.

"Don't you think that you should think of yourself sometimes? Taking care of the people who are dear to you is understandable, but he should learn by himself too. He can sense you worrying about him which makes him worry about you and that helps no one. Besides, you can't keep coddling him. He isn't a child anymore. Just let him be. For both your sakes."

Renée just stood there, blankly watching Killua start digging up the next formation. Gon quietly passed her and soon joined him.

The dark-haired boy didn't call out for her and that broke her heart a bit. Her eyes saw him as a child and she remembered all those times she kept him out of danger.

She was tempted to reach out to her brother and hug him but she stopped herself. 'He's growing, Ren. You can't be the one that holds him back.' a voice in her head chided. The red-head shut her eyes and released a big breath before joining the boys at work.

- A few days passed... -

Clunk!

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Killua asked his best friend.

"The stone here is too hard to dig with a shovel." Gon huffed tiredly.

Sure enough, when Renée had tried to shovel it out, the metal just clanged uselessly against the formation. Too tired to think, she decided to sit this one out for now.

Following Killua's advice, she decided to ignore her brother's grunts and curses at night, which was getting lesser. And for the first time in a while, she actually slept peacefully despite holding the stone. However, that wasn't enough to recover the sleepless previous nights.

"What do we do? If other formations are like this then it can be a major setback." the red-head whined.

Killua and Gon looked at her dejected expression.

She really did look exhausted.

All of them have been digging nonstop but Renée doubled her job by being the one to throw out the accumulating debris.

The islander thought for a while, "Maybe it has something to do with Nen?"

"That's right! Maybe you can use that thing you did back when we were fighting Binolt." the silver-head suggested. He honestly just wanted to see the technique again, especially if he could use it.

However, Renée disagreed with his plan, "There is no control over Gon's technique, especially in strength and range. If he did that, the formation would collapse and crush us."

Knowing she was right, the trio contemplated their other nonexistent options.

Suddenly, Gon inhaled sharply.

"What? What is it?" Killua asked, urgency laced his voice.

This also caught the red-head's attention and she looked up at them from where she was sitting.

Her brother grinned as he held up the shovel, "Whenever we use Nen, it covers our entire body. Well what if the shovel was a part of us?"

The dark-haired boy then concentrated, making Ten envelope him.

"Him" included the shovel.

His friends, who were using Gyo, watched with awe as he successfully did so and started shovelling the hard stone with ease.

"You're a genius, Gon!" Renée exclaimed.

She got up to her feet and started digging with him. The newfound ease made her feel hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they can finish the quarry by the end of the day.

Gon gave her a sideways glance and he reached out to hold her hand.

The red-head returned the gesture.

A silent apology was sent to the other and they visibly relaxed.

Killua pretended not to see them make up but a tell-tale smirk gave him away.

They continued using the newfound technique, Shu as Bisky called it, and even took turns with de-clogging the tunnels using the wheelbarrow. Despite this, the 13-year olds only managed to get through three formations before they tiredly collapsed on the ground.

"Wha-? I feel...feel so weak." Renée panted.

The boys felt the same but couldn't say so due to lack of energy.

Bisky came again, like she always does at the end of the day. Hands on her hips, she clicked her tongue at them, "Continuous use of Nen would result in overexerting the body. This is why your energy drained faster today than any other day."

"Now you tell us." Killua complained halfheartedly.

Even though they were dead-tired, they still slept that night the same way they did the previous ones.

Renée got better at ignoring Gon which, in turn, made him relax knowing she was at ease.

The dark-haired boy can do full nights without dropping the stone, even if Bisky did increase the size every night.

Soon, the trio was fast asleep.

Their mentor grinned mischievously at their forms and in one swift and silent motion, she cut the boys' ropes.

The two woke up immediately and managed to roll to the side, avoiding being crushed by the boulders.

Gon grinned wolfishly at his friend who beamed as well.

Then they turned towards Renée who was still sleeping soundly despite the racket.

Bisky smiled proudly, 'Aside from being more alert and more physically balanced, they each learned something of their own. Gon learned to do things without help; Killua learned to be the mediator; and Renée learned to focus on her own growth. I will make decent Hunters of them yet!'

The next day, the trio finally finished travelling straight through the quarry.

When they saw Masadora, it was salvation for them.

"We finally made it!" Renée squeaked with glee.

Bisky let them bask in their own little glory for a while and then...

"Back to the quarry!"

"EH!?"

END OF 33.

A/N: Done! It's a bit short but it's still pretty sweet. I don't know when the next one will be but I'll still continue this story, I promise. Don't forget to give me suggestions or comments so please review!