Author's Note: Oh yes, bonding time!

Miwaku: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 11

Ging felt a slight breeze pass him and groaned. 'Not again.' He turned away from the structure he was studying and growled out, "Gale! I told you to stop using your winds with that!"

"And again, why should I?!" Gale growled back.

"Because it's not helping!"

"It is helping! I'm removing the vines!"

"Using your winds!"

"It's faster!"

"It might destroy the walls further!"

"Ugh, fine! Spoilsport!"

"And you're a brat!"

"Ha! I knew you were older than me!"

"Oh shut up about that!"

The argument was just one of the many Ging had with Gale in the past few days that passed since their first meeting. He could not help it. He , and at the same time, concede when it was becoming ridiculous.

The restoration had begun two days after they met. Ging's special non-profit organization had to take care of matters in their lives in order to give the restoration the time it needed. He and Gale met them at the edge of the forest to guide them to the Lurka Ruins and there, Ging had explained what happened to it. His allies understood that it was classified information and vowed to not leak it to anyone else.

Then, when the restoration really began, it went quite downhill. Ging always had to stop Gale from doing reckless things that could potentially damage the ruins, which resulted into shouting fits. It frustrated him. It made him exhausted. It was vexing.

However, he did not mind it. Well, he did, technically, but not too much. Even with the recklessness, he could see how Gale really cared about the ruins of her clan. There were times that he would see her just staring at one of the odd trinkets or even the bloody weapons. There were also times where he and his team would listen to stories that Gale would tell about the Lurka Clan.

It was going to be a long and hard restoration, but Ging already expected that, even if he had not known that Gale would be added to the plan. He took it as a challenge and he was excited to see how it would go.

"By the way, Ging, I'll pay for all of these. This is my clan's ruins after all."

Ging's face twitched at that. "No! I'm paying for this. This is my job so it's my money. I don't need your donation!"

"Excuse me, donation?! How dare you insult my money as donation?!"

"I'm already letting you help! That's fine by me! I don't need the money!"

Then, there was a simultaneous shout from his allies,

"Just shut up and pay half-half, damn it!"

Ging sighed and smiled wryly, sharing a look with Gale who was laughing and scratching the back of her head. Who would have thought that his team would be the ones to stop them from arguing?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ging read his earlier notes and saw the symbol he copied down from the walls of the ruins. He remembered that Gale also had one as a tattoo. Was it a symbol of their clan? Did it mean anything in a language they only know? When did a clan member got one?

"Stop thinking so hard about the questions and ask them, stupid."

Ging frowned and stared at Gale who was smiling at him. "I don't even want to know how you know that."

"It's simple. I keep seeing you like that when you have to think of what to do with the restoration and when you got your curiosity rampage inside you." Gale chuckled at that. "Ask away then."

Ging decided to ask then. 'She insisted.'"What's with the swirly symbol tattoo?"

"It's the clan symbol." It was like an unconscious movement that Gale touched the part of her shoulder where the tattoo was. "It's tattoed on the clan member if he or she manages to defeat a master of his or her winds. I got mine on my tenth birthday. I defeated my father. He was damn proud of me back then."

Ging grimaced. He knew it was quite awkward to talk about relatives in the past tense. "Uh yeah. Thanks for answering."

"You're really awkward." To his shock, Gale took his turban and ran away with a laugh. "Stop being so stiff, old man!"

"Hey! Come back here!"

"Catch me!" Gale grinned widely. "You're a Hunter, aren't you?"

And those words struck hard on Ging. It reminded him of what he was and what he was doing. Discoveries, learnings, bonds...those were what made him a Hunter. It was who he was.

Smirking, Ging pushed himself with his feet towards Gale, took the turban quickly, and tied it to his hair.

Gale blinked and gasped in amazement. "That was awesome! You're so fast!"

"Well, as you said, I'm a Hunter."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get too cocky, old man."

"Will you stop with the 'old man' comments?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ging rummaged through the pile of trinkets they collected in the ruins. Most of them were toys, parts of something or another, and the occasional booklets. He liked the booklets especially, which were filled with prayers and rituals that the Lurka Clan used, as told by Gale.

He then encountered a small, rectangular box. Opening it, he saw that inside it was a stack of cards. Not playing cards, but cards with pictures of different kinds of gems, jewelry, and other treasures.

"Oh! That's a childhood game of ours!" Gale exclaimed beside him suddenly.

Ging was glad that he did not keep his guard down. If he did, he would have had a heart attack. "'Childhood game'?"

"Yup." Gale took out some cards and threw them up. Then, she waved her hands, making her winds push the cards away. She did not make them fly away too far though. "We would form a group, one would blast away the cards, then all of us would try to find all of them. The ones with the most cards wins. It could actually serve as training for our winds to sense things and to control the winds to our will."

Ging was actually gobsmacked. "That's pretty damn amazing. Like a treasure hunt."

"Exactly!"

"I remember this odd job I had that involved looking for lost things. I swore that it was not what I expected that I would do as a Hunter."

"Why would you do odd jobs?"

"Money to pay off the information I got from the research I did." Ging shrugged.

"Ah! I had to do some odd jobs, too. For experience since the big clients always hired the ones that know what to do. Being a rookie Jackpot Hunter is hard, you know."

Ging snorted. "Being a rookie in general is hard enough."

He did not notice the stunned faces of his allies as he continued to tell Gale about what he did in the past.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When night came and it was too dark to work, it was always the signal that they had to stop their work or it might risk the ruins to be...more ruined. (Gale never failed to laugh out loud whenever Ging said that). It was also time for them to clean up at the nearby river and rest.

Ging had just finished cleaning up and was toweling his hair dry. It was a particularly humid night so he was wearing a sleeveless tank top and sweatpants. He even shaved his facial hair because one of his allies were nagging at him to 'stop looking like a hobo' which he almost retorted that he, technically, was a hobo but the look he got was not worth it.

He was prepared though when someone almost snatched away his towel. He sidestepped quickly and let a wry grin form on his face when he saw Gale pouting. "Too bad. You're getting predictable."

Gale was silent and staring at him with those big, hazel brown eyes. It unnerved Ging that he had to look away. Then, Gale muttered, "Who would've thought you had a body like that underneath?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ging was confused.

"You have nice, muscular arms." Gale even pointed at them, making Ging cross them. "And you really look like eighteen when you shave."

"Told you so." Ging mumbled, not looking her way. He would definitely not get used to compliments.

"All in all, you clean up real good." Gale went to him with a gentle smile, patted his cheek, and walked away. "You look really cool, Ging! Good night!"

Ging could only gawk and his mind formed just one thought,

'What the actual fuck just happened?'

Gale's blunt and straightforward way of talking was going to be the death of him, he swore.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Six months flew by so fast that Ging was surprised that it was not shorter. The restoration really took up their daily lives. It was difficult, but so worth it when he glanced at the surroundings one more time and announced, "The restoration is now complete!"

His ten allies screamed in joy and had a group hug (with him and Gale in the middle, to his chagrin). Gale was also yelling and laughing at the same time. Ging just grinned widely, happy with the outcome.

When they all separated from the group hug, one of the members of his group said, "Okay, Ging. Time for your customary tree view."

"'Tree view'?" Gale quirked up an eyebrow.

Ging sighed. "I'll be climbing up one of the highest trees around and see the whole ruins myself."

"Well, that's not fair."

"It's okay, Gale. We're just not as physically fit as you or Ging." The team waved off.

"No, no. I can help." Gale grinned. Ging had a feeling it would be another reckless thing. "I can make all of us fly with my winds."

"Oh, you mean that magic thing like Ging does so that no one can destroy the ruins?"

Gale chuckled at that. "I sometimes forget that you're all just normal humans. Are any of you afraid of heights?"

Everyone just shook their head in disagreement. Ging had to ask though, "Are you sure you can do it?"

Gale eyed him then smiled. "Of course. The adrenaline is pumping through my veins. I could definitely do it."

"Okay then." Ging would be ready if anything happened.

"Don't panic when you suddenly begin to lift off, okay?" Gale let out a breath and began twirling, much like a ballerina doing a pirouette. Her hair flowed in perfect succession with her and she was still smiling.

Ging could not look away from her, even when he felt himself starting to float off the ground and when he heard the gasps and squeals of shock from his team. He just felt awe and wonder at how much power Gale has and how she could wield it perfectly.

"I can see it! I can see the whole ruins!"

"Whoa, it's really beautiful!"

"We really did that?!"

"This is so awesome!"

Ging blinked and turned away from Gale ('Again, what the actual fuck happened?') to look at the newly-restored Lurka Ruins. It really was awesome and beautiful and many other adjectives synonymous to those. And it was an experience to see it in a bird's-eye view. He was also glad that his team saw it with him as well.

"It's just like before."

Ging heard the whisper and beside him was Gale with her head down, staring at the restored ruins with sparkling eyes. He looked away, somehow knowing that it was a private moment for the woman.

Gale put them down after a while, many of his allies still awestruck. He was about to say something when he saw tears dripping down Gale's cheeks.

And if there was another thing he was uncomfortable with, it was people crying in front of him.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Ging teased, wanting the tears to stop already. "Is it that bad? I know it's not like what you know but we did our best, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Gale swallowed and tried to grin. "It's just that...I would never thought that I would see my home like this again. Thank you, all of you really."

"Yeah, yeah." Ging muttered, scratching the back of his head. "Sheesh, it's okay. Just stop crying."

"Oh, just hug her, Ging! Be a man!" One member of his team was suddenly behind him and pushed him towards Gale. He could have forced himself to stop. Hell, he would not even be pushed if he was really on his guard.

Apparently, he was getting soft around his team...and Gale.

Ging just stood still while Gale cried on his shoulder. He did not attempt to touch her and neither did she, surprisingly. Her face was the only thing he felt on his shoulder. And her tears, of course.

This did not deter the grinning and teasing faces of his allies. He just flicked them the middle finger.

Gale then sighed and stepped back. Though her eyes were red-rimmed and teary, she was smiling. "Sorry about that. I rarely get that emotional."

"It's okay." Ging shrugged and cringed. "Wet shoulder and all."

And Gale laughed at that. The others did, too. Ging felt happy just seeing and hearing the joy in his...friends.

'Friends, huh?' Ging smiled. Another restoration done, another smile done, another work done. All very worth it for him. But then, the next question was, 'So, what now?'

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note: Awkward Ging is awkward. That's quite redundant though. Awkward awkward is awkward. AWKWARD!

Expect in the next chapter: Run, Television, Distraction

See you next time!