Author's Note: I love this chapter.

Miwaku: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 22

A few weeks have passed since that humiliating day in the Hunters Association.

Ging sighed and cursed himself for being too affected with just simple words and long black hair. So much for first impressions. While he did not care much about what others thought about him, it was the Chairman's board of advisors...and he was a part of that.

Now that he thought about it, he was surprised that Netero picked him to be one. He was just an Archaeological Hunter after all. Sure, he was the only one who passed the Hunter Exams in his time, and in the First Phase immediately. But he was not that special.

'Sheesh, this is so troublesome.' Ging grumbled in his mind. He should have just ignored the damn scroll. He should have just gone to another city or town or even a tiny village. He should have just walked out of the room after he introduced himself so that he would not make a fool out of his self.

'Or I should have just stayed and not run away.' Should-haves, would-haves, could-haves were all hypothetical situations. Ging could only sigh and despair on his own.

But he did not want that. He wanted to be distracted by something other than his thoughts of regrets and feelings and many other things that he did not understand. He decided to contact his special non-profit organization for a project. Before he did, a large hawk swooped down from the sky and landed on his shoulder.

'What the hell?' Ging knew that animals liked being with him somehow. And he liked animals back. However, he was confused as to why an obviously killer hawk was on his shoulder. He then felt a talon prick his shoulder.

It was there he noticed a rolled-up paper tied to the leg. He took it carefully and slowly so as to not startle the glaring hawk. Once he opened it, he became even more confused.

The old geezers want us to talk so let's talk.

Z

'Z?' Ging tried to remember if he met someone with a 'Z' in their name. But then, it hit him. The memories of meeting a tall, silver-white-haired man and his emotionless, ten-year old son popped into mind. "Zoldyck?!"

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

Luck was with Ging when he found the old business card in his wallet. He could have ignored the message (god knew how much good it gave him if he did not), but his curiosity got the better of him. So there he was, in Kukuroo Mountain in the Republic of Padokea, in front of a huge pair of gates with statues of dragons on top of it.

"May I help you? You came here without a tour guide."

Ging turned to see a smiling, stout man. "Uh, yeah. I'm here to see Silva Zoldyck. Is he in there?"

"Oh, so you're the one Silva-sama told me." The stout man then walked inside a small guardhouse. "Please wait. I'll call the butlers for you."

Ging whistled lowly. 'Wow, butlers, huh?' The Zoldyck Family was definitely loaded with money.

"They're on their way. They'll be here right about...now."

"You must be Ging Freecss."

It was a woman's voice which sounded quite old. Ging eyed the two butlers in front of him. One was a huge, middle-aged woman while her companion was a black-haired man wearing eyeglasses. "That's me." He confirmed.

"Please follow us to Silva-sama's quarters." The man said with a bow and went to the gates.

Ging's eyes widened when three pairs of gates opened with just one push. From the groans and the thickness of the gates, he knew that those were no ordinary gates.

As if sensing his awe, the woman began explaining as they walked past it. "They're called the Testing Gates. There are seven of them and in the first gate, a door weighs two tons. The weight doubles as the gate number increases."

"So, that was sixteen tons."

"Yes." The man answered as he adjusted his eyeglasses. "It is the only way to come in the Zoldyck Estate without getting killed by Mike."

"'Mike'?" Ging then heard thumps of something big and heavy coming after them. It came from the forest that surrounded the mountain. After a minute, black, beady eyes on a furry face attached to a large, equally-furry body were in front of them.

"Mike. He's one of the Zoldyck Family pets."

Ging felt the killer intent even though it was dulled. It was not an instinctual one that he had come to associate with wild animals. It was more of a mechanical one, like a machine-controlled intent. And it creeped him out. "Zoldycks sure live in a different world." He muttered.

"Oh, you can say that again." The woman chuckled. "Trust me. No one is normal in this estate."

'I could see that.' Ging snorted and followed the butlers.

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

They have finally arrived at the door which would lead Ging to Silva. The butlers bade him goodbye and left him there. His brown eyes surveyed the stone walls and candlelights. 'It's so...medieval.' A cold breeze passed by, making him clutch his long sleeves tighter. 'Good thing I wore this. It's so cold here!'

Then, he breathed out and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Ging opened it and immediately saw cushions, lots of them scattered on the floor. And those cushions surrounded two huge Mike-like creatures in leashes. (He was not sure what kind of beast Mike was).

On the end of the room were more cushions, and on the center of those was Silva, staring at him with calm, blue, cat-like eyes and a small smirk. "I've been waiting for you. No trouble, I presume?"

"None at all." Ging shrugged.

"That's good. Sit anywhere you like and let's talk."

Ging picked up one of the large cushions and sat in front of the Zoldyck about two feet away.

"Quite close to me. Not afraid?"

"Not really." And it was true. Ging had no reason to fear Silva as of the moment. "Why did you message me?"

Silva hummed. "I told you it's because of the old geezers."

"That would be Netero and?"

"My father, Zeno Zoldyck. They're acquaintances."

"Not surprised there." Ging snorted softly. Silva chuckled at that. "Why though?"

"I have no idea. I don't even know how my old man and the other old man knew that we met years ago."

"Netero knows even the most insignificant details." Ging rolled his eyes and leaned back on his arms.

"But anyway, I'm actually glad that we got an opportunity to have a proper conversation." Silva also leaned back, a small smirk still on his face. "I've always been curious about you. You have this obscure strength in you."

"What obscure strength? I'm as average as you can get." Ging scoffed.

"Liar. Your control of your aura is astounding."

"I only did what I read on my researches."

"Then that's even more astounding. You did not have a teacher?"

"Nah. I don't like being with other people much."

"It's an honor to have you here then."

"Only because I'm curious."

They fell into a lull at that. Ging began looking around the room and winced when he saw the multiple skulls and other bones on the wall. He was definitely in an assassin's lair in that aspect.

"What have you been doing since we last saw each other?" Silva asked in a calm voice.

"Restoring, researching, travelling. That's pretty much it."

"Did you meet Gale?"

Ging stiffened at the name. It still triggered memories of what he had done and the onslaught of guilt and regret.

"What's wrong?" Silva's eyes narrowed at him.

"I'm just...surprised that you remember your clients' names." Ging lied. And he knew that Silva did not buy it.

"Only the unique ones. She gave us a weird mission and managed to pay us in full, hard cash, at the raw age of eighteen. Most of our clients are part of the mafia and the underworld. She just recently became a Hunter. I assume you did meet."

"Oh, we did more than just meet." Ging could not help but comment.

To his surprise, Silva barked out a laugh. "I had no idea you would like her that much."

Ging stared down with a wry smile. "Same."

He did not notice the intense stare from Silva until he heard a murmur, "Do you want to talk about it?"

His brown eyes locked in with blue, cat-like eyes. He never had someone ask him that. Well, except for her. He smiled a bit and decided to be honest. "I don't want to."

"Okay then." Silva nodded. "Do you have anything you want to talk about?"

Ging actually did. He wanted to ask Silva a question that he knew the assassin would be able to answer. It would help sate his curiosity and maybe even help him understand his feelings?

"Silva, what did you feel when you found out that you're gonna be a father?"

He saw Silva's eyes widen in surprise. He knew it was such an unexpected statement.

After composing himself, Silva began, "Well, I was once the heir of the Zoldyck Family. When I married Kikyo, my wife, my old man gave up the title of Head to me. We were, of course, expected to make an heir, even though I loathe having to bed her."

"I don't even want to know why." Ging shuddered.

"Thank god for that. Anyway, so I was in a mission and just got back when Kikyo told me that she was pregnant with Illumi. You remember him? He's the child with me back when we first met."

"Right."

"I felt relieved actually." Silva cocked his head to the side. "It meant that I would finally have a child I could train and hone to be the next best Zoldyck assassin. I would be able to watch his or her progress, how I fared in taking care of him or her, and so many others." He then shrugged. "When it finally happened, it was as I expected. How I was raised, I did the same to Illumi and Milluki, my second son. They are now professional assassins despite being young."

"I see." Ging's situation was different with Silva's. With Silva, he needed a child to become the heir to the family business. With himself, he did not even need a child. He did not want a child, not now at least. He was not ready. He was too young. He did not even have a stable job or a home.

"But now, Kikyo's pregnant again, with my third child." Silva added. "I'm hoping the baby would be a boy and have a lot of potential. Illumi and Milluki are average, in terms of Zoldyck assassination."

'The whole Zoldyck cannot be called average.' Ging thought grimly. Then, he processed what Silva just said. "Ah, so you're gonna have another child?"

"Yeah. I actually have a feeling this one will be special." Silva smirked, eyes glinting in the dark room. "It's actually exciting to know."

"'Exciting', huh?" Ging smiled wryly. If only he felt the same way. He still could not grasp that in a few months, he was going to be a father. 'Not really. I can't even face Gale, let alone our child. What kind of father am I?'

"I don't know what's in your mind, but let me give you a piece of advice. Take it as you will." Silva stared at him. "Being a father is difficult, I'll give you that. But knowing that you were there to help your child in growing up, seeing the achievements - big or small - and the milestones...it makes you proud, much like a job well done."

Ging's eyes widened at that. 'Is that really what being a father is?' He still did not know. The doubts and worries still lingered in his mind. But now that he was given insight, he would try to think about it.

"Thank you, Silva." Ging stood up with a groan and stretched his body. "That was an enlightening conversation."

"No problem. We'll have to do this sometime again."

"Sure." Ging agreed. It might be insane of him, actually talking to an assassin amicably. But he loved the risk anyway. It was what fueled him as a Hunter after all. "I'll be off then."

"Say hi to Gale for me. And also, good luck with your first child."

"Stop assuming." Ging smirked and started walking towards the door.

"I'm not assuming if it's true and you know it is."

"Whatever." In a bout of childishness, Ging stuck his tongue out before going out of the room. And as he walked himself out of the Zoldyck Estate, he felt lighter than when he first arrived.

'Now, I'll be doing some thinking. And researching.'

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note: Ging, you idiot with no sense of emotions. WHAT'S THERE TO THINK ABOUT? Anyway...

Expect in the next chapter: Monotonous, Broken, Whoa

See you next time!