Disclaimer: I don't own HxH

Of Lions and Blonde Avengers:

Chapter 5:

Of Day Twos and Countdowns

"Danchou!" Phinks shouted, running up to the younger man.

His Danchou gave him his standard I'm-listening-now-talk look.

"You can't send freaking Uvogin to the Devil Woman!" he exclaimed. The blond man looked ready to go into a panic attack.

Chrollo shrugged, "he volunteered. I don't see why not."

"He sticks out too much. Plus, he's easily the most bloodthirsty out of all of us. I don't think it's a good idea." That woman would surely beat him into a bloody pulp before the day was out. Or worse, what if Uvo spilled the beans on the Spider? What if he decided he wanted to fight the devil woman? One of them would die, and Danchou would be pissed either way. Gah! Too much stress!

"Would you prefer to go instead?"

"No! I mean, not because I'm scared, I'm not! It's just . . ."

"He's scared," Shalnark said, cheerfully. "I could go with Uvo if that'd make you feel better, Phinks."

The man made a face as if he was trying to rein in his anger. "It doesn't!"

"That'll be fine," Chrollo said. "It's true Uvo's the most impulsive out of all of us. It might be risky to send him alone. So, I'll send Shalnark with him."

"Can't you just not send him at all?"

Chrollo shook his head. "He volunteered. It would be unfair of me to say he's not allowed to meet her as well."

That was Danchou for you. Always about the fairness.

"You can take Kortopi as well."

"'Kay, Danchou!" Shalnark chirped. Phinks pouted. He'd been defeated again. Hopefully, they wouldn't regret this later on.

. . .

Kurapika sighed. Her lunch breaks were too short for a job like this.

"Why the long face?" a gruff, strong voice asked cheerfully. She had been ready to ignore the annoying owner of said voice until she looked in the mirror of the coffee shop she was in.

The hell? The guy was eight feet tall, at least. With spiky gray hair and tanned skin. A wide grin was plastered on his face.

Kurapika couldn't help but ask, "who are you?"

He laughed, and she wasn't sure why. Was he one of those people who laughed for no reason? Maybe, he had Tourette Syndrome? Tumors in the brain can also cause people to laugh uncontrollably.

"I'm another friend of your boyfriend!"

"Boyfrie-oh, you mean Chrollo," Kurapika realized. Another one? That was two in three days. This one looked particularly annoying.

"Hiya, Kurapika!" Shalnark popped his head out from behind the giant of a man. "'Sup. This here's Uvo. He's kind of loud, so brace yourself now."

Oh good, he sent one of the saner ones this time as well.

"Shalnark," she greeted, failing to keep the relief out of her voice. Another person popped its head out from behind the man. He was probably the same height as an average six-year-old, though Kurapika highly doubted he was actually as young as he seemed. Long, silver hair hid half his face, and he wore strange, blue robes, a stark contrast to the casual clothing the other two wore.

He was kind of cute.

Shalnark followed her gaze and smiled. "Ah, this is Kortopi. He's kind of shy around most people, but he really wanted to come too. Everyone wants to meet Danchou's girlfriend since seeing him care about anybody is a bit of an anomaly. Sorry if we're bothering you."

"No, it's okay." What was she saying?! It was not okay! She had a twenty-minute lunch break! This was the time to stuff her face with as many nutrients as she could, not socialize with strangers!

"Mind if we sit down?" Shalnark asked politely. Kurapika gestured to the open seats.

No! No! No! She did mind.

"So," Uvogin started, sitting down in one of the offered chairs. It creaked under his weight and Kurapika suddenly worried the chair might end up breaking. Thankfully, the chair seemed like a sturdy one. "How'd you and Danchou meet?"

"He offered to take me to Netero on my first day of school," Kurapika said, voice strangely gentle as she remembered that day.

. . . Flashback . . . Why? . . . I dunno

"Baa-san, are you bullying the students again?" a baritone voice spoke, slicing through the tense atmosphere like a knife. His clacking footsteps came closer, and soon Kurapika heard him come to a stop next to her. She inclined her head to get a better look at him.

He had a bandage wrapped around his head, Kurapika noted. She had to admit he was certainly handsome. Silky, black hair contrasted the pristine, white bandage. His bangs were divided into two halves in a way that oddly suited him. He wore a suit like Leorio, except it was black and the man actually pulled it off. Their eyes met, black on black, and Kurapika couldn't help but feel like they'd met somewhere before.

"Why don't you give her a riddle to solve?"

. . . End of Flashback . . .

She wondered what was going through his head when he recognized her. Had Netero told him beforehand? Probably not. That old man thrived on these sorts of things.

Shalnark laughed, "I remember that. Danchou told me. He sounded really happy. That was probably because of you."

Heat rushed up to her cheeks, but she quickly reined it in.

The blond man laughed again. "It seems it's the same for you."

She shook her head and answered honestly,"I thought he was an asshole the first time we met. It wasn't until Netero made him guard me and I learned more about him that I really started to take a liking to him."

"From enemies to friends to lovers. Classic move," Shalnark said, knowledgeably.

"How do you even know so much about this shit?" Uvogin asked, teasingly.

Shalnark smiled, secretively, "that's for me to know and you to never find out."

"You've been watching those romantic comedies again, haven't you?"

Her phone beeped and her eyes widened instinctively.

"Shit! I'm late!" she yelled, panicky. Kurapika didn't like being late. She quickly gathered her things and readied herself to run out the door.

Shalnark called out to her. "Hey, what about your food?"

"You can have it!"

. . .

Oh, she ached all over. She couldn't believe Neon wanted to refurnish her room all of a sudden. Working overtime was such a bother. It was almost midnight now.

Her stomach growled. Skipping lunch like that had been a bad idea. She'd just have to cook something up when she got home. Shalnark had called and told her he'd already got something ready for Komugi and Bahari. Komugi was probably asleep by now. The blonde didn't want to wake her up while she made herself something. Was she really going to have to order some restaurant food again?

"Kurapika! Kurapika!"

Shalnark?

Sure enough, the blond man caught up to her with some sort of box in his hands. He passed it to her, happily.

"Here!"

It was warm? She opened it to reveal some sort of lasagna. A fork and knife were already neatly tucked into one corner off to the side. Curiously, she picked up the silver fork and dug into the lasagna, before popping it into her mouth. The dish melted in her mouth, improving her mood almost instantly.

"It's delicious," she whispered in amazement. It was hard to believe any of Chrollo's uncouth friends could cook.

"Cooking is Feitan's strong suit, surprisingly. He can cook anything from nothing. It's quite intriguing," Shalnark explained, then his eyes zoomed in on her right hand, or more specifically, her chains. Her hand immediately tensed, as it always did. "Your hatsu?"

"Yes."

"That's interesting. Why'd you choose chains?"

"Because there's something I want to chain down to hell."

"Scary ~," Shalnark laughed, uneasily this time.

Kurapika was about to make a sarcastic remark at that, but the sound of shouting won her over. She was turning the corner before Shalnark could do anything to stop her.

Her steps halted as she took in the sight before her. It was funny how quickly her mood could go from general discontent to searing anger.

"You're pretty weird-looking, ya know that?" one of the men, whom she hoped was drunk and acting under the influence, shouted at a cornered Kortopi. The small man looked up at them, his one revealed eye staring up blankly.

One of the other men picked Kortopi up by the color. "Heh? Why aren't ya saying nothing, little man? Do you know who we are?"

"Maybe he's not human?" one of the men whispered.

"You think he's crazy? I mean, he looks kinda creepy."

Kurapika waltzed over gracefully, anger thinly veiled by a calm facade and started to speak. After all, why beat them up if you could just break them with words?

"You're mistreating a stranger because you don't like the way they look?" she asked, making sure the disgust in her voice was clear.

The man holding Kortopi released him, his attention turning instead to Kurapika, but before he could say anything more or take another step to attack her, the shorter blonde had already knocked him out. She gave the other men a glare, daring them to charge at her.

The two cronies, being drunk, probably unintelligent, and rather intimidated by the scary blonde woman, decided to gang up on her. Kurapika didn't get to beat them up because Shalnark beat her to it.

"Tsk, how inconsiderate," Shalnark said, still smiling. "You okay, Kortopi?"

Kortopi lifted an arm and gave him a thumbs up.

Shalnark turned to Kurapika. "Are you alright, Miss? I wouldn't want Danchou to find out you almost got hurt on my watch."

"I'm fine. These guys wouldn't be able to land a scratch on me," Kurapika reassured, poking one of the drunkards with her foot. "Drunk or sober."

"Thank goodness," Shalnark sighed in relief. "Danchou can be pretty scary when he's angry."

"Agreed." Scary and gorgeous. Shut up, brain.

She felt something pull at the hem of her suit jacket. Black eyes turned town to look at the silver-haired man.

"Yes, Kortopi?"

He raised his hand to reveal a silver pendant.

Kurapika's hand immediately went up to her neck. Had it fallen off when she knocked that man out? Thank God, she hadn't lost it. That necklace was the only thing, other than her earring, she had been brave enough to keep after leaving the Academy.

"Thank you," she said, picking up the fragile looking chain. The small man nodded. The blonde circled the necklace around her neck and clasped it into place.

"Well, it's getting late now," Shalnark announced, placing the box of lasagna back in her hands. "You can finish eating it at home. I hope you don't mind if we escort you home?"

Kurapika shook her head. Shalnark was surprisingly good company, and Kortopi had slowly grown on her in all his silence.

"Great, by the way, have you ever played Mario Cart?"

. . .

"She defended Kortopi and knocked out the son of a prominent mafia lord?" Danchou asked, a smile tugging on his lips.

"In that order, yes," Shalnark said, cheerfully. His Danchou was smiling that Kurapika smile again. It made him look so much younger. As if he was eighteen years old again!

Danchou sighed, "she really is hopeless. Attacking someone like that without considering if he might actually be powerful. That family is particularly vindictive, I believe."

"They're no match for Kurapika!" Shalnark said, eagerly, expression showing he believed that statement with every fiber of his being. "Right, Kortopi?"

Kortopi nodded. "No match. She'd slaughter them."

"Even so," the Spider Head continued, placing a finger to his chin pensively. " If something were to happen to her."

"You worry too much, Danchou," Shalnark scolded. "Miss Kurapika will be fine."

"I suppose," he agreed, reluctantly. "Anyway, let's go through the plan one more time. Are the preparations ready?"

"Yes, Danchou," Shalnark informed. "We've got the blueprints ready. Clean up should take around five to ten minutes. Three if Shizuku is really fast." The blond man continued to list off all the details for their next heist. They were taking everything, and most of the Spiders could barely contain their excitement. He just hoped they would keep the damage to a minimum. Kurapika worked for one of the mafia families attending the auction, after all. If she were to find out . . . Shalnark didn't even want to think about the consequences.

. . .

Next on Lions:

Day three. Kurapika vs Mafia people.

~ Replies to Reviewers ~

Sweets Dreamer: The real moms of the HxH universe, 'cause the biological parents suck. The club shall be called "Real Moms Unite". Kurapika is obvious all the time. She can't seem to stop thinking about him. Glad you liked the rant on educational systems. Kurapika's gonna change the world one conquered nation at a time. Komugi for #1 sidekick. Her love story is so tragic! It made me cry the first time. It was also the reason I gave HxH a chance. That Beauty & the Beast story won me over instantly. Look at how much those idiots are pining for each other. Man, just call him Kurapika! Let him sweep you off your feet like the good ol' days. Best story ever? I don't know about that, but I'm glad you're liking it. She has loved Chrollo forever. That man has good luck, or bad luck since she's also his sworn enemy. Moriarty Sherlock pairing? You love them villain-protagonist pairings, huh? Thanks for reviewing. It means sooooooooooo much to me. I hope you liked this chapter by the way. I'm sorry Chain Pair moments are so scarce.

MedusaLegend: She's been training to be a mother ever since Gon came into her life. It's just a lot more obvious with Komugi. Neon and Nico can't let Kurapika go. They're both gonna get their hearts broken when Chain Pair gets married. Not that they will. Thank you so much for reviewing. It really means alot to me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

guest: Nico is actually a decent brother in more ways than one. He's probably the only one that wouldn't care if Neon had her power or not. He's protecting her from the horrors of the real world. Kurapika was Neon's favorite before she even walked through the gates to the interview. Vote Kurapika for world leader! She shall rule with Chrollo, and together they will bring about a new age of education for everyone! #KurapikaForWorldLeader. She'll get rid of all your spider problems. That AU idea is gold! I wish someone would write it. It sounds absolutely adorable. And yes, the relationship between those two is a parallel to KuroKura's relationship. It probably won't take twenty years for Kurapika to come around, though. Kurapika in suits is purely for professional reasons, I swear! It's not my fault he/she/they look so awesome in suits. OMG, Kurapika's got me all worried about him in the recent chapters. Someone please protect my precious blond child! At least, he's shown some semblance of concern. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. Your reviews always make me laugh and smile and stuff. I hope you liked this chapter.

~ End of Replies ~

To Everyone: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Now, if you would be so kind as to review, favorite, and follow, that would be much appreciated. I'll see you next time on Lions!