Two

Senritsu pressed the phone to her ear, waiting carefully for the person on the other end to pick up. Doubtlessly, they'd be a little upset having been hung up on just a few seconds ago, so she prepared some sort of excuse.

"Hello?"

It wasn't Kuroro Lucilfer now that she heard his voice more clearly, quit being so paranoid. She thought for the briefest of moments about how she would phrase this question. "Hi, I'm calling in regards to an overdue bill," she said.

"Bill?" The voice sounded genuinely befuddled. And she realized right away that wasn't the best opener.

"Yes, I just need to verify some information with you first. You first and last name?"

"You've got the wrong number."

"I—"

Click. There went that idea. Not that it was a good one to begin with. Oh well, whatever. Shoving the phone into her pocket, she let out a sigh. Time to call it a night, Senritsu. And again, she couldn't help but think maybe I'm just being over-paranoid. Being slightly paranoid by nature, she had a tendency to assume the worst in most situations. Lately, it seemed like her paranoia had worsened too.

But she shook those thoughts out of her mind and headed to the curb. Hailing a taxi and taking it to the nearest airport seemed like a good idea. If she left now, I'll make it to the boat just in time. Dark Continent, here I come.

"Hey miss!" It was Tomin, running towards her, hand outstretched. She stopped just in front of her. "I feel kind of bad for lying to you just now. I know who that phone belongs to but...I was told not to tell anyone about how it ended up here."

"It's a phone. Why the secrecy?" Senritsu peered at her. "Who does it belong too?"

Tomin shot her shifty look, before telling her the story of how she'd acquired the phone and how to locate its owner.

Better be grateful.

That was all she could think about as she trudged down the alley way. Repeating it like some mantra in her head, because she knew it wasn't going to be true. Mildly angry. Upset. Annoyed. All those things, Kurapika might be and more. But he wouldn't be grateful. And now that the clock had struck past ten at night, she'd missed her last chance to get on that damn boat and get the rest of the Sonata. Maybe she could rush really quickly after this, find some private jet to fly her out there, and catch them just before they set sail.

The address Tomin had scribbled on a piece of paper and shoved in her face took her to a small, brick chapel. And despite the dinginess of the area surrounding it, the chapel itself looked rather picturesque against the gray-ish, navy sky. Peaceful and quaint, not ominous and foreboding like she always pictured religious institutes.

Walking up the small steps, four in all, she paused, hand hovering awkwardly in front of faded wood. Maybe she was pulling my thumb. Maybe this is some sort of elaborate trap to get me killed. Maybe...

She knocked. Thrice and waited a full ten seconds before knocking again.

The door cracked open, just enough for her to make out a bald-headed man with beady yellow eyes. "What is your business here?" he asked, with a low, raspy voice.

I've come to confess, Father. Blessedly, she had enough sense not to utter those words aloud. "I came to see a friend."

"No one is here but me," he replied.

"I can hear someone else in there with you." Several in fact. Hearts beating all around. But she didn't hear the signature beat of Kurapika's perpetually angry heart. A beat she could pick out anywhere.

The man's thin brows came together. "Those who come here do not wish to be found."

"Look…" Unexpected ire rose up her throat, but she pushed it back down and maintained an even tone. "I just want to make sure he's okay. We don't even have to talk, if it's against your religious code."

The door slammed in her face with a thud. And Senritsu wondered how long do I have to wait before I can just break in? But the door swung open and the man, dressed in black pants and a black shirt, stepped aside.

"Come in," he said.

But only for a little while rang through her mind as she stepped into the brightly lit chapel. The air smelled of burning wax and something sweeter, like candied apples or boiling sugar. And she could hear a bit of chatter, here and there, light and airy and why in the world would Kurapika come here? Maybe this was where his secret stash of the Scarlet Eyes were, ha...yeah right.

She moved towards the sanctuary, where most of the noise was coming from. Several people sat in pews, chatting amicably with one another in the dimly lit room. They paid no heed to her as she shuffled between them towards the altar, where to her right, in the front of the church, was a familiar mop of blonde hair.

"Kurapika?" She said, sounding surprised as her voice bounced off the stone walls.

"Hello" His voice was smooth and low, like honey or slow-moving molasses. Really, Senritsu stop it. A bit over the top to say the least. It was just she hadn't heard his voice in a while.

"You turning over a new leaf?" She asked, trying to keep a playful lilt to her voice.

But the look he shot her was anything but receptive of her teasing. His overall demeanor too was a bit strange. And he wasn't really looking at her, though that could've been from the sheer lack of lighting in the room.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

She blinked. A chuckle escaped from her lips. "Real funny. Seriously, did you give up on finding the Eyes and decide to become the male equivalent of a nun? What's that, a priest?"

But he only stared at her with not black eyes. He isn't wearing his contacts. Interesting. "I'm sorry," he said. "But I really don't know who you are."

"Sorry about what?" She took a hesitant step towards him placing her hand on the back of the pew. "You really don't know who I am?"

"I don't." His heart beat was steady and even, he's not lying?

If she could conjure up questions marks and throw them over her head, she would've done just that. Kurapika wouldn't play around with her like this, so does he really not know who I am?

"Do you know me?" he asked.

"Yeah...you're Kurapika. Do you now remember your name?"

He shook his head. "I can't recall a thing frankly."

"What's the last thing you remember?" She started to lean towards him, then changed her mind.

"Being here," he replied. "How do you know me?"

"We go way back, to say the least." After a moment, she decided to sit down on the pew next to him. "It would take me a while to explain, but in short we both work for the same man as bodyguards. Worked, I guess I should say. I took on another job, and you...are your old boss's boss now. Sort of. You saved his business, but you left too...for a bit." She looked in front of her, at the altar. The noise around her was peaceful, the voices soothing like hushed whispers of some religious lullaby. "Anyway, we're coworkers basically." The last part was mostly true. Last she'd seen Kurapika, they had officially demoted their relationship to coworker status.

Kurapika regarded her carefully with dark, gray eyes. "Why are you here?"

"I was looking for you," she replied. "I last saw you...I don't know, it's been a while. And I hadn't heard from you since then. You aren't really the type to completely ignore me, at least not for months on end like this, so I got worried something happened."

"How did you find me?"

"Mostly following a few completely unconnected leads here," she said. "But you don't even know why you're here, so it was a bit pointless…except I did find you."

His shoulder slumped slightly. He looked away from her, towards the altar. Though she could tell he wasn't really looking at it.

"So...you want to stay here? Because I can break you out." She lowered her voice at that last part and glanced behind her, where Father Someone stared at her eerily from the door frame, willing her to leave, no doubt, with his mind.

"I'm not sure," he replied, dourly. "I must be here for a reason."

"I don't know," Senritsu said. "Just based off what I know of you, you wouldn't just like commit yourself to priesthood and…I know more people who know you. Maybe they can help."

That seemed to have done the job. He stood to his feet. "Alright," he said. And she noticed he was dressed in black too, which washed the color from his skin. Made him look paler, more delicate than he really was.

Squeezing out of the pew, she marched towards the man at the door.

"Blessings to you," he said, bowing his head.

"Wait a minute." Senritsu stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. "You would know. How my friend got here."

The priest shook his head. "I cannot impart this information to you."

"Come on." That was Kurapika. And it was clear to Senritsu, just based off the tone of his voice, that the two of them had already had this conversation several times already.

The priest shook his head again, but he looked down at his feet. "I am very sorry, but it is a matter of life or death for me."

Bit dramatic. Senrtisu didn't press the issue though, because the man looked serious and his heartbeat conveyed his sincerity. Maybe she could come back later and throttle the truth out of him.

"Don't stress out about it," Kurapika said, giving the man a charming smile. "Thanks."

The priest nodded and shot them something that on a less grim face might've been a grin. Then the two of them headed out into the chilly night air, down the small steps, and onto the main road.

As they walked, she could hear every breath of his, the hum of cars whizzing down the streets, the chatter of people, the clinking of forks from nearby restaurants. Everything but him. And it seemed to roar in her ears. She focused her mind a bit, pushing out the other sounds.

"Well, I guess we should start with the basics," she said.

"Sure," he said. Though he looked anything but sure. "How about starting with your name again?"

"Senritsu," she replied, feeling upset for some reason. How could he not remember my name?

"Are we friends?" he asked. "Or just coworkers?"

"Good friends," she said, looking up ahead. "Obviously, I came looking for you."

"Right," he said.

"Right," she replied. "Er okay, well I guess we should start with…Tomin."

"Who?"

"Tomin from the pawn lawn care place told me how to find you…We'll get information out of her…Her shop's probably closed for the day, but there's a chance she might still be there." Be better to catch her alone and unaware anyhow.

They made the trek to Tomin's shop again, taking a taxi. But when they pulled up, yellow tape lined the perimeter of the shop. Four police cars were parked outside, lighting flashing blue and red. She heard chatter from inside. High-pitched and agitated. Some voices stood out from the others. But not Tomin's. It was…her mother? She gleaned as much from the way she was babbling on incoherently about how…Tomin… is...

"Well, that's not happening." Senritsu said. "Talking to Tomin that is."

Kurapika looked down at her curiously. But as if in answer, the front door opened up and some women walked out carrying a stretcher. On it lay a body bag, clearly full.

Somebody had killed Tomin.