Of Lions and Blonde Avengers:

Chapter 6:

Of Day Threes and Countdowns

"Kurapika." That voice. That silky, suave baritone. She knew it too well to be fooled into believing it was anyone else. The blonde whirled around to face the familiar man. His black hair hung loose, there was no bandage to cover that cross birthmark he liked to hide so much, and he wore those casual clothes again. A simple, yet form-fitting, black, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. His arms raised, reaching out to her.

In that moment, all rational thought flew out the window, as the pretty blonde threw herself into his embrace. She whispered his name fervently, sounding far too much like a lovesick fool for her liking.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating around his muscular chest. How she'd missed that sound.

A hand reached up to stroke her shoulder-length blonde hair, and she sighed contently at the motion.

"Come back to me?" Chrollo murmured into her hair, before pushing her away a bit and taking her chin. She bit her lip in deliberation, hesitating between her goals and her desires. Going back to Chrollo, starting a different life, one separate from revenge, would be so easy. It would be the safest, surest road for her.

Behind her, the pale faces of her dead comrades gazed at her, empty sockets dripping blood down their cheeks and dripping onto the already bloody floor. Before them, the Scarlet Eyes lay scattered.

Choosing her new friends, choosing Chrollo . . . that would feel too much like betrayal. She couldn't forget about her past, her family, and especially not just because she'd fallen in love. Not just because she'd found new friends.

Her ambitions were the only things she'd lived for all these years. She couldn't just toss them aside.

Revenge. The Scarlet Eyes. The path that led her to her objectives was the only path she would allow herself to walk. Unfortunately, Chrollo, Gon, Killua, Leorio, none of them could take that path alongside her.

"I can't."

. . .

Kurapika rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned.

"What a dream," she murmured. "Now I know going to see Chrollo would be a mistake."

At least, she didn't have to go to work today. Sundays were her days off. What should she do instead? Maybe sleep, or brush up on her reading. She hadn't so much as cracked a book open in the last few days. That fact scared her a bit.

"Miss Kurapika?"

"What is it, Komugi?" she asked, getting up.

"I have my second Gungi match tournament today," the girl said, sheepishly. "Would you like to come watch?"

Kurapika smiled, though she wasn't sure why, Komugi couldn't see it. "Of course. When does it start? I'll take you there."

"Cemetery building," Komugi answered. "At noon."

The same place as the auction? Did everything happen in there?

. . .

Komugi won every match, of course. A few of her opponents even started to cry quietly. Kurapika had had to reassure the girl that they were alright.

"Where are we going now, Miss Kurapika?" Komugi asked from her position on Bahari's back.

"An ice cream shop. My parents always took me on an ice cream trip when I accomplished my goals," Kurapika informed, as the old-fashioned parlor came into view. It had gotten favorable reviews from the critics and tourists so it couldn't be too awful. Nothing would compare to her family's homemade ice cream, of course, but those recipes had died along with the village. Kurapika had lost count of the number of times she regretted not listening to her father's lessons. Her father's lessons, because her mother had been blessed with the inability to cook.

Pink lips curved upwards at the memory, and then promptly fell into a small frown at the realization that she would never be subjected to her mother's failed attempts at cooking.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, calming herself, before sticking another smile on her face and reaching to lift Komugi off the lion's back.

"Sorry, Bahari, you're going to have to stay out here," she told the lion, who promptly lied down on the pavement, napping in the afternoon sun. He didn't seem to mind too much. Maybe, he was tired?

The two of them entered the shop, Kurapika leading the white-haired girl by the hand. The walls were painted a creamy beige color. A line of lime green dashed through the entire room and then spilled out onto the ceiling. The tiled floor consisted of a similar color scheme. The lighting was bright and cheerful, obviously designed to draw in hungry families. Couches lined the walls, white tables lined the couches, which were then lined by light orange chairs. Kurapika could tell they took good care of this establishment.

"Do you have a favorite flavor, Komugi?" she asked.

"Flavor?" Komugi whispered, before pouting and crossing her arm as she considered the question. "Is there a strawberry flavor?"

Kurapika scanned the menu, then hummed her answer. The blonde then focused back on the line of people in front of her and . . .

Had they been staring at her this whole time? Perhaps, she was growing immune to prying eyes?

"Can I help you?" she asked, sweetly, because there were children present and she didn't want to scare them.

The teenagers at the front of the line swooned and fainted, forcing the cashier into a panic. The little girl right in front of her smiled.

"You're really pretty, Miss!" she said, placing her hands behind her back. Kurapika noted that this girl was probably filthy rich, perhaps even more rich than Neon. Her golden hair was curled up into ringlets, clear blue eyes glowing with that gleam of youth that Kurapika herself once possessed. The designer clothes were what really gave her away. A platinum cuff bracelet hung loosely from her slim wrist. Pearls circled around her neck, partially hidden by her black jacket.

Kurapika smiled, "thank you. You're very pretty as well."

The girl beamed at the compliment, then her icy blue eyes turned to Komugi. "Heh? You're really cute too!"

"Cu-Cute?" Komugi asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"Are you her mom, Miss?" the girl asked.

"Lady Ayumi!" the woman, who had previously been watching amusedly from the sidelines, suddenly chastised her. She was too old to be her mother. A grandmother, perhaps? "What would your parents say?"

The girl crossed her arms and pouted, "I don't care. They're never here anyway."

Ah, the old parents-too-busy-to-spend-time-with-child cliche.

"Your parents work very hard, Miss Ayumi," the woman continued. This was clearly a conversation they had often run through. "You should be grateful to them. They're the reason you can live in luxury."

"I know, I know," Ayumi muttered, eyes downcast.

The cashier cleared her throat. "Will the next person please come up?"

"Yes!" Ayumi shouted, cheerfully, before running up to the freckled woman behind the counter. She started rattling off her complex order.

"I'm sorry," the woman said. "She's a little uncouth for a young lady, but she means well. Deep down, she's just lonely."

Kurapika smiled. "I can relate."

Other than Pairo, she butted heads with most of the other children back in the village. Mostly because her temper was a vicious little thing and could easily be awakened at the slightest provocation. She never made any real enemies, but getting along with them all the time was out of the question. Pairo had been the one who really helped keep her fury under control. Sweet, mild-mannered, shy Pairo. He'd been so quiet and kind that even she couldn't find it in her to snap at him.

And then, Chrollo came into the picture. For some reason, he never reacted to her temper, and they had always gotten along well, despite him treating her like the child she had been.

In a way, Chrollo and Pairo had been her only real friends back in the village. They had been enough. Kurapika hadn't been one to socialize much.

"One two-scoop strawberry cup and one one-scoop blueberry sugar cone, please," Kurapika asked politely.

"Comin' right up," the woman chirped. The blonde could barely keep track of her hands as they whipped up the orders. "There ya go. That'd be twenty jenny, miss."

She swiped her card and forked over the money electronically.

"Thank ya for choosing Blue Jewel's Ice Cream Parlour, Miss. Enjoy!"

Kurapika said some polite, but completely untrue, phrases and then handed Komugi her ice cream cup.

"Hey, hey, sit with us! Sit with us!" the girl from before said, excitedly, waving her hands in the air. Kurapika led Komugi to the table and placed her beside Ayumi. "What's your name?"

"Ko-Komugi," the white-haired girl answered.

"Whathat's so pretty," Ayumi chattered, "My name is Ayumi, but you probably knew that. Wanna be friends?"

"Friends?"

"Yeah! I don't have many friends, so I thought maybe we could . . ."

"Okay," Komugi whispered, barely above a whisper as her cheeks burned. Kurapika watched the whole scene with that characteristic motherly smile.

The doors to the shop suddenly slammed open.

"WHICH OF YOU IS KURAPIKA OF THE NOSTRADE FAMILY?!" one of the men screamed. Graying hair, wearing a suit, and sporting the look of a trained killer.

And it was her day off too.

"Komugi, stay here for a while, okay?"

"Okay."

With that, the blonde removed herself from her seat next to Komugi and steadily walked to where the men were standing. She cast them an icy stare.

"Not here. If you fall behind, it's your fault," she ordered. They followed her without so much as a protest.

. . .

"So, what do you want?" Kurapika finally came to a stop in the deserted spot of land between a bunch of deserted warehouses far away from prying eyes. She turned around to see the six men struggling to breathe for some reason. They hadn't had to run for that long. Around fifty miles. That was nothing. That was like an evening stroll. Weaklings.

"You . . . will . . . pay . . . for . . . your crimes . . . against the Blake family," the leader heaved.

"The what family?" Kurapika asked, unimpressed.

The man straightened, a new power seemingly flowing through him. He pointed at her. "The Blake family. Descendants of the noble clan of Straburry."

"Strawberry?"

"Straburry! Straburry! A clan from the far East!"

"The Azian Continent?" Kurapika continued with the same deadpan voice.

"Let me finish!" he yelled, indignantly. "The Straburry Clan are a noble tribe from the far East where they specialized in candle making."

Silence. A small snort of laughter.

"Don't laugh!"

"I'm sorry. I am!" she insisted. "Candlemaking, huh? That's," she cleared her throat, "an admirable profession. I'm sure they lit up thousands of cities for ages before electricity came into play."

The man sniffed, crossing his arms defiantly. "Naturally."

"So . . . are you guys going to attack me, or something?" she asked.

"We already have," the man suddenly said, a smug grin spreading across his worn face. Kurapika's eyes darted around. Nothing. Were they manipulators? Technical difficulties getting in the way? The man in front of her frowned. Technical difficulties then.

A few more minutes of silence passed.

"Caleb, what are you waiting for?" he asked one of the younger men. He was probably only a few years older than Kurapika with black hair and green eyes.

Shifting nervously, Caleb replied, "it's already activated, sir. Something's blocking it. Maybe, that's her nen ability."

It wasn't but they didn't need to know that.

The man tsked. "Nevermind then, attack her by force!"

"But sir, she's a woman!"

Ohohoho, no. Kurapika was a feminist deep down inside and she wasn't about to let that one slide.

"I easily outran all six of you and destroyed the other three from yesterday. I am clearly the most powerful one here. If you were paid to attack me, then do your job, instead of coming with cowardly excuses."

"See," the leader pointed, "she doesn't care. Kill her."

And so, all five men ambushed her. Two minutes and they all lay unconscious on the ground. She glanced up at the leader. He raised his arms in a placating manner.

"Understood, we won't come after you anymore, sorry," he said, before running away.

She heard clapping from behind her. From the warehouse?

"Well done." She recognized that voice. But from where? Whirling around on her heels, she faced the familiar figure.

"Paku?"

The woman smiled conspiratorially. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Danchou was the one who shielded you from that man's hatsu."

"Shielded me?" Kurapika asked.

Pakunoda nodded, "he's still in the warehouse if you want to go see him. That man had a hatsu that could freeze people in their spots if they stood there long enough. Danchou knew that and protected you."

For some reason, that irked Kurapika a bit. Did he think she was so weak? That she wouldn't be able to fend off six amateurs?

The irritation soon faded. He was just worried about her. Furthermore, she hadn't known about their hatsus. She could've been beaten under the right circumstaces.

"Give him my thanks then," she finally said, before walking away.

"Alright, then, but you have to promise to thank him properly after all this is over," Paku teased, sounding much like the annoying older sister goading her less shameless younger sister to do all the fun, shameless things she did when she was younger.

"I'll take it into consideration."

I'll probably forget by the time this is all over. If I'm still alive, that is.

. . .

Next on Lions!:

You decide: we could either skip the last four days, or build up even more tension by showing how both sides are preparing for the auction.

Question of the Day: Paku the sister? Thoughts?

~ Replies to Reviewers ~

guest: Well, Chrollo has already met most of Kura's family, so now he's repaying the favor. Yeah, that is totally the reason I sent Kortop with Shal and Uvo. This last chapter's got me even more worried about Kurapika. I'm glad you think KuroKura is adorable, because what's a good couple if they don't make you melt into puddles of goo when they show their devotion for each other. And Kurapika was so close to reuniting with Chrollo. Girl's too stubborn for her own good. Kurapika is best mom! I think I overdo it sometimes, but she's just so cute when she's in Mama Bear mode. Come to think of it, Bahari and Chrollo's meeting is probably going to be like that. And OMG, I love Tangled. Do you have a favorite Disney movie? Mine's a tie between Mulan and Beauty and the Beast. Kurapika looks great in anything. Give him a pink, frilly dress and he'll rock it because he's just that awesome. I wonder what would happen in an AU where Kurapika's a fashion model/designer. Interesting, very interesting. It'd be hilarious. Oh no, I already have too many stories in here. The Pika-effect has contaminated millions of people and is expected to take even more lonely souls. It's simply irresistible. Unfortunately, the source of the Pika-effect has eyes only for one man, who also happens to be her hated enemy. Eh-hem, it's complicated? Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter! : ) : )

Sweets Dreamer: Both? Uvogin has no problem with Kurapika. He thinks of her as a spunky little sister. She thinks of him as a pest. I love Moriarty too, no matter how much of a crazy, psychotic bastard he gets. I ship JohnLock too, and it feels like most of the canon characters do as well. The Troupe is being the most supportive group of in-laws in the history of in-laws. Mostly because they don't want Kurapika to pose a problem which will eventually force Danchou's hand and possibly destroy the troupe. Feitan was probably like:

"Hell nah."

"C'mon, do it for Danchou."

"Nah."

"I'll give you half my kills from the next heist."

"Okay."

Man, I keep forgetting Fei has a speech impediment. Fun fact: It's hard to write speech impediments without sounding offensive. Or maybe I'm just paranoid? Komugi, the poor child. I'm sorry Togashi killed you off like that, but it had to be done. Thank you so much for reviewing and I hope you liked this short chapter.

~ End of Replies ~

To Everyone: Thanks for reading. If you would be so kind as to review, favorite, and follow that would be much appreciated.