Author's Note: Here, new bonds form that will last up to canon time.

Miwaku: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 13

The days passed with no awkwardness whatsoever...at least, that was what Ging told himself. They did not talk about the kiss. They did not talk about feelings. They did not talk about anything related to that.

It was like...it just happened.

'Well, it did just happen.' Ging thought. Looking through his peripheral, he saw Gale just humming and facing ahead.

It irked him, how Gale seemed to be unaffected. That was an assumption, of course (he, himself, was not letting it show anyway). But still, it was disconcerting. He was not used to just ignoring something that should be talked about.

It was times like this that he cursed his shy and awkward personality. He would never say something about it first, unless he really could not help it. However, only a few days have passed. Surely, it was okay to not talk about it yet. Giving each other space and all that.

'Yeah, keep telling that to yourself, stupid.' Ging let out a harsh breath, getting tired of his jumbled thoughts and emotions. He did not even want to think about his emotions.

"You okay?"

Sensing the curious gaze, he turned to Gale and saw the light blush on her cheeks and a small, awkward smile. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

Gale looked forward again. "That's good. Yeah."

'I stand corrected.' Ging's face twitched. 'We're both affected in this.'

He could only hope that looking for the Hacker Hunter would be not as difficult as their...situation.

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

It was not as difficult. It was worse.

Ging did not know any Hacker Hunter, and so did his other allies who told him that through e-mail. Gale only knew that there were Hacker Hunters, but not who or where they were.

They tried all means - the Hunter website, rumor mills, classified ads, etc. There was nothing about Hacker Hunters. Not surprising really. If Ging had that kind of knowledge, anything about him would be swept off the world, no exceptions.

"Sheesh, even the clients are tight-lipped about them." Gale groaned out, thumping her head beside the keyboard.

"Sounds like they do their jobs well enough that their clients are willing to protect them, money bribery and all." Ging had not wanted to risk their money just to find a Hunter, but it would seem that they did not have to worry.

He and the black-haired woman were currently in a computer café, and they were on the verge of giving up on researching and just look for the Hunter on their own.

"Hey, let's do something fun."

"What?" Ging asked in confusion.

Gale turned her head towards him and grinned. Her grin was her normal one - the smile from pre-kiss situation. "Fun like games! I saw an arcade on our way here."

"Games, huh?" Ging scratched his cheek and thought about it. He had a feeling that something would happen if they did that. On another note... "I haven't played in a while though."

"Who cares? Let's go." Gale then dragged him out of the café, towards the arcade.

He might not look like it, but Ging played video games. He would do it in his free time sometimes. However, because of the six-month restoration of the Lurka Ruins and the travelling, he had no time to even look at a single game.

He did not expect to play games in an arcade with Gale of all people.

'Hell, I didn't even expect to have a travel partner.' He refused to even consider the kissing thing.

Once they got to the arcade, Gale questioned him, "What kind of games do you play in arcades?"

"Ah, pachinko." Ging replied, his eyes already wandering to the line of pachinko machines in the arcade.

"That's surprising." Gale stated as they went to the counter where the tokens were sold. "I thought you were a shooting game fan."

Ging had to laugh at that. "I also thought that as well. In the end, I defeated those games easily. Even the crane games were easy." His perceptive senses made sure of that. "The only game that I can't control the outcome here is the pachinko. It really depends on gravity and the obstacles it encounters."

"Sheesh, now you really look like an old man." Gale commented when Ging took the steel balls from the person behind the counter.

"Again, shut up with the old man." Ging rolled his eyes and went towards a vacant machine. "What about you? What game do you play here?"

"Crane games because I always don't win anything in it."

"It's easy." He glanced at the woman who was pouting. "I'll show you later, when I finish here."

Gale perked up at that. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah." Ging hid the smile that formed on his lips.

They shared some stories with each other to pass the time while he played pachinko. When he lost all the steel balls (he did not even feel frustrated with losing more than gaining), they browsed the crane games inside the establishment.

"Ah! I want that fish plush!" Gale pointed at the small, blue and white-striped fish plushie in one of the crane machines.

Ging eyed the crane and the plush and smirked. "Easy." He pushed in a coin, manipulated the claw, and in just a few seconds, the plush was now in his hands. "Here you go." He gave it to Gale.

"I can't believe you got that on the first try." Gale grinned and suddenly, he was being hugged tightly. "Thank you, Ging!"

"Yeah, sure." Ging flushed in embarrassment and patted her head awkwardly. It was a good thing that they were the same height or it would be more awkward. (He felt happy though. So very happy.)

Then, they heard metals clanking. They separated quickly and did not look at each other, searching for the source of the sound. Apparently, it was from another crane game. At the machine were two girls - both white-haired but one has blue eyes while the other has red eyes - which seemed to be fixing it.

"That's awesome! What are you doing?" Gale asked excitedly.

Ging could only rub his head in exasperation. 'Yeah, like they're gonna answer.'

"We're fixing the controls of the game."

'They answered...and at the same time.' Ging felt creeped out about that.

"But you two look young to be working." Gale commented lightly. "Are you, perhaps, Hacker Hunters?"

"Well, that escalated quickly." Ging could not help but mutter. However, he was impressed that Gale actually thought of that. He had to admit, seeing what-looked-to-be sixteen-year old girls using tools and fixing the controls of a machine was not a sign of a normal, part-time job.

"We are actually."

"But we are still learning."

"Really? That was just a wild guess. Who would've thought, Ging?"

That sounded familiar to him. He just smiled wryly and said, "Lucky us then."

"If you need a Hacker Hunter..."

"...then you should talk to our teacher."

"Why do you sound like machines?" Ging hissed when he felt an elbow strike his arm. "Gale!"

"Don't be rude!"

"Yeah, we get that a lot." The red-eyed girl sighed.

"We're twins anyway." The blue-eyed girl shrugged.

"Ignore the old man." Gale waved off. Ging did not bother correcting her. "Can you take us to your teacher?"

"Sure."

"Just make sure you know how to read."

"That sounds ominous." Ging whispered to Gale.

"I know but we need this." Gale smiled and held out the fish plushie. "For good luck!"

Ging indulged and touched the plush toy. "For good luck."

He was really getting soft for the woman.

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

Ging whistled lowly as he saw the amount of monitors in the room where the two girls - Eeta (blue-eyed) and Elena (red-eyed) - directed him and Gale to. Almost every part of the walls was covered by a screen and the floor was full of wires and keyboards. The only sound in the room was the typing on a keyboard. And right at the middle was a thin man with his back facing them.

"Ickshonpe." Eeta called out.

"We have a client." Elena added.

The typing stopped and the man reached out for a sketchbook. There was a short silence before Ging saw that the sketchbook was going to be shown to them. Written on it was:

Come in. Let's talk about the job and the payment.

"He doesn't talk much." The two girls stated.

"Looks like it." Ging retorted. 'Ugh, why are Hunters so weird?'

He and Gale went to the man and were just on the process of sitting down when the man turned around to face them. This actually made them pause.

The supposedly Hacker Hunter was wearing a neon green long-sleeved shirt and a...doodled mask on the face. And he was holding the sketchbook in his hands, which had a new writing on it.

So, who's the client?

"I'm not gonna question this shit anymore." Ging grumbled out, feeling exhausted with just talking with the Hacker Hunters. "We're both clients. We want all information of us to be hidden from public view."

The man did not move, not even to write on the sketchbook.

"He's considering the job." Eeta and Elena said simultaneously.

"I can't really see that but I'll take both your words for it." Gale chuckled.

Ging hoped that his exasperation was not that palpable.

Then, the man wrote on his sketchbook and showed it. On one condition: One of you must play and finish a game with me.

"Oh really?" Ging grinned, his exhaustion disappearing as he felt some excitement form inside him. "What kind of game?"

A two-player treasure hunt RPG.

"Deal." He was given a controller. "Ah, Joystation, huh? I haven't played with it. It's a new release?"

The mask moved up and down, as if it was nodding.

"Please don't do that again." Ging cringed. He never thought that a mask could nod on its own.

And so, they began playing.

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

"Ging, are you two still playing?"

"Yeah." Ging said distractedly, his fingers tapping on the buttons of the controller. "Just a few more minutes."

"That few more minutes has been few more minutes hours ago."

"Really?" Ging took a quick glance at one of the many monitors in the room and saw the time. "Whoa, it's been that long?"

"Yes!" Gale growled out, swirls of winds surrounding her. Ging slowly inched away at that. "How long are you two going to play that?!"

Ging lost track of time actually. The game was full of quests, battles, and treasures that he just played and played and played. But then... "Hey! I'm not the one who asked for this!"

Suddenly, the sketchbook appeared with the sentence: I got distracted as well. It's a fun game.

"Well, is there a verdict now?" Gale frowned.

Ging winced. He actually felt bad that he forgot about Gale and got sucked into the game. "Uh, sorry, Gale."

"No, it's okay. I'm just being petty." Gale smiled a bit. "Not to mention, I didn't understand anything from the game even with Eeta and Elena explaining it to me."

The masked man wrote on his sketchbook and turned it to them afterwards. It's okay. No one can be good at everything.

"Wise words, Ickshonpe." The twin girls said at the same time.

"Ick-what?" Ging did not understand the name. Then, he eyed the Hacker Hunter writing on the paper.

Ickshonpe Katocha. 26 years old. Single-Star Hacker Hunter. I'm willing to take on the job. You two are very interesting.

"Thank you so much, Ickshonpe-san!" Gale grinned widely.

Just call me Ickshonpe. What are your names?

Ging pointed at himself. "Ging Freecss, Single-Star Archaeological Hunter."

"And I'm Gale, Jackpot Hunter."

You two are quite popular in the digital world now.

"'Digital world'?"

"He means the Internet." Eeta went to one of the monitors and typed on the keyboard. "See? Your recent restoration of the Lurka Ruins is big news, especially to historians. They want to know what you did, how you did it, what you learned, etc."

"The publication is still on the process." Ging scratched the back of his head with a sigh. "My team is working on it in their free time. I'm not pressuring them to write it faster. Those questions will have to be answered in a later date." He had written publications with his special non-profit organization about the works they have done. It was their way of letting the public know about the ruins and researches they did.

So why do you want your information hidden?

"Because he's a shy and awkward old man." Gale answered immediately.

"Hey!"

"And he looks stubborn." Elena murmured.

"And reckless." Eeta added.

You look like it, Ging. Ickshonpe wrote on his sketchbook.

'It's like they ganged up on me.' Ging groaned. The others laughed at that (even Ickshonpe wrote 'Hahaha' on the sketchbook) which made him smile a bit. "Okay, can you do it, Ickshonpe?"

Of course I can. Eeta, Elena, check on the Hunter website. Ickshonpe dropped the sketchbook, turned to a monitor, and began rapidly pressing the keyboard keys. Multitude of codes appeared on the monitor. Beside the Hacker Hunter, the twins were also typing on their own computers.

"That's amazing." Gale murmured.

Ging agreed with that. He knew he was smart, but he knew it would take a long time before he understood the computer language. He would leave it to the experts instead. (Although, he was curious about it. He would have to ask Ickshonpe about books about it that he could read.)

"It's disappearing now." The twins said simultaneously.

True to their word, the information about Ging Freecss and Gale were becoming hidden one-by-one through walls of codes and other technological stuff. Ging was amazed by it.

Ickshonpe stopped typing and wrote on the sketchbook, This is just the initial stage. When someone searches for both of your names in website, they won't appear.

"It's true." Gale gasped in surprise as she typed her name on the search bar. "It's saying that no results can be found."

"It can still be found." Elena explained.

"But they will have to crack the codes." Eeta added.

Reinforcing those codes with more codes, making sure that they would be unbreakable, and managing it through the bugs...that's what it means to be a Hacker Hunter. Ickshonpe wrote on the paper. We can't let amateur hackers get the best of us.

"That's amazing." Ging grinned. "Thank you, the three of you." Surprisingly, he did not feel much embarrassment in saying that.

"No problem." The twins waved it off. Ickshonpe tilted his mask in agreement.

Gale laughed and hooked her arm with his. "You're getting there, old man."

Ging rolled his eyes, but he pulled her closer to him...just a bit. He was awarded with a smile and a blush. He turned his head away, hiding his own smile and blush.

He and Gale did not see the bewildered looks shared by the three Hacker Hunters.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note: Aye! Aye! Aye!

Expect in the next chapter: Birthday, Eating, Ground

See you next time!