Book 2: Malum

Chapter 18: For the Sake of Dumb Ass Missions

Rita curbed the terrible needs to scoff when the Hunter License was put into her hands. For all of the turmoil and death it caused, it seemed to be some fantastically normal plastic and ink.

"Is something funny?" The Kuruta next to her said coldly, without so much as a fleeting glance in her direction.

She was typically very sensitive to the people around her. Not sensitive in that she took into consideration their feelings, but more aware of their emotional state; which is to say, she had a tendency to tread lightly around them if they peak her interest. Thus, she was fairly certain she really hadn't done jack shit to piss off the Kuruta. The blonde had been coldly aloof toward her from their second encounter onwards however, and so, she figured Pariston's order to find out his objectives won't be coming true any time soon.

"Nothing's funny, just ironic."

A chilling silence greeted her. And she thought she was good at being an ass.

Sighing, she crossed her arms. "It's seems anticlimactic, receiving a piece of plastic for all of our hard work and endeavors."

"Didn't seem like you had any trouble with this examination at all."

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you implying something?"

"Nothing at all." He angled his face away from her, effectively cutting off their conversation.

If the blonde thought she had bribed her way through this pain-in-the-ass exam, he was sorely mistaken. It was just annoying at most for her, and to be frank, Rita was just more experienced. Might have something to do with how I'm a biological fighting machine, she thought bitterly.

There was a sudden spectacle in the room and Rita's line of sight drifted toward Gon, who stood proudly with one arm in a cast and the other... firmly grasping needle guy's forearm. Great.

Gittarackur had revealed himself suddenly to be Killua's menacing and quite frankly, rather terrifying older brother in the last stage of the exam. By shoving needles into his face, he could temporarily change the bone structure of it and impersonate anyone he wanted to, really.

His true name was Illumi, apparently, and said Illumi had the power to scare the shit out of a certain very sassy twelve-year-old silver-haired assassin; had actually sent him running back home after he abruptly withdrew himself from the Hunter Exam.

No wonder Gon looked fabulously pissed off. But still, Ging had asked her to take care of the brat, so she supposed she was required to care..

"He doesn't need to earn the right to be my friend!"

Rita blinked and cocked her head to the side. It seemed as if… Gon had literally wrenched the raven from his seat and was currently crushing the life out of his forearm.

"Don't bother apologizing." Gon's frown deepened. "Just take me to see Killua."

"What will you do then?" Illumi seemed to singsong.

"That should be obvious! I'm going to rescue him!"

Though on the fact of rescuing the kid… I'm not too sure he needs it. Rita rolled her eyes.

"You make it sound as if I kidnapped him. He walked away on his own."

"But it wasn't his choice! He was being manipulated by you people. It's the same thing."

Silence. And then Netero walked into the room. "We were actually just discussing this Gon. Your friend Kurapika and Leorio were explaining the situation to me."

Rita slowly turned her attention to Kurapika and Leorio who got up from their seats and gave their arguments. And then she sighed.

Arguing suddenly broke out among the new Hunters. The younger one, with the pink beanie, Pockle, she believed, turned around and began talking.

"If there's anything odd about this exam, it'd be the way you won." He scoffed.

And Rita indeed, remembered that the strange magician had forfeited immediately after he had whispered something into the blonde's hair.

"If you have nothing to hide, tell us." He narrowed his eyes. "Right now."

Kurapika slightly recoiled and met his glare. "I have no obligation to tell you."

"Maybe not, but I believe you owe it to us."

Rita sighed and scratched the back of her head. Fucking Pariston and his dumb ass missions.

"On what account does the kid owe it to you?" She voiced. The room went silent. Apparently, it was strange that she was talking out to everyone. "If you consider this kid's victory to be odd, a victory by default would be equally as odd." Rita threw in a sneer for good measure.

Pockle began to bristle. "What did you say?!"

"None of that matters!" Gon burst out. "There's no point in arguing over who should have passed! If you're not satisfied, keep working. But right now, none of that matters."

Ging, how does it feel to know that your twelve year old kid has more common sense than you?

"Old Man Netero." She crossed her arms. "I'm leaving."

"You haven't been briefed yet, little lady." He chastised. "Don't be disrespectful."

"I've already been briefed!" She stood up and stretched. "Six times! By the Boar! I'm leaving."

He said no other words as he watched the sassy orangette leave the spacious room.

The door closed with a resounding echo behind her.

"Mother of God Pariston, you can't just keep calling me until-"

"Rita dearest."

She almost wretched and snapped the phone in half right then and there.

"How is the previous order I gave coming along?"

She clenched her jaw. -until I answer, she finished mentally. Taking a deep breath, she answered. "He doesn't seem to like me for some reason. I've barely even spoken to him five times. I'll have to see though, I just defended him in an argument."

An almost inaudible tsk came over the line through the receiver. "Can't be helped. Kurutas have always been extremely conscientious. He's the last survivor, so there's no helping it."

Last survivor. A pounding headache made itself known again.

"Conscientious?"

"You probably rubbed him the wrong way. They're very honor-bound; moralistic."

"How on earth could I h-" Rita thinks for a moment and realizes her character is not a very amicable one, what with her constant urge to smoke and curse and snap. He also might not have appreciated her intrusion. "Anyways, I need more time."

"How much?"

"Beats me. The youngest Zoldyck seems to have been captured, and I'd bet that he'll be tagging along with Ging's kid to go 'rescue' him."

Silence.

Usually Rita was a huge fan of silence. Very nice, very quiet, very soothing as opposed to the usual hustle-bustle that normally dominated her everyday life. However, silence with Pariston was never a good thing. It was unnerving, and it indicated that he was plotting something.

"I… have your okay to tag along with them right?"

More silence.

"Pariston?"

"Don't prompt me." He whispered. "I'm thinking."

What the fuck about?

"Alright, go ahead and tag along."

She released her breath.

"But nothing rash. In fact, don't even fight anyone unless it'll look strange if you don't. I'm sure everyone there already knows you're more skilled than they are."

"Alright."

"The next time I call you, I'll expect some information from you, Rita."

"No promises, Rat." She felt bile rise in the back of her throat.

The dial tone indicated that he had hung up. She took a deep breath and sat down on the pavement outside in the shade, putting her phone away and simply putting her back against a supporting pillar as she closed her eyes.

She could feel the anger and tension in the room she had just left, especially on Gon's part.

For a few fleeting moments, she allowed herself to drift off in a nice, easy sleep…

In vain.

"Interesting conversation you had there on the phone."

Rita's eyes snapped open. The voice had come from behind the pillar she was leaning against. "How long you been there, you freakish clown." It was not a question.

"Oh, only a few minutes. I just caught the goodbyes of your little… chat."

It was her turn to bristle.

"No worries. I have sealed lips." Hisoka same around the pillar and made the whimsical gesture with his thumb and forefinger across his lips. "No one to tell anyways."

"Fuck off, Hisoka."

"Oh my, and you were so friendly at the beginning of the exam too."

"Bored, is the proper terminology. I'm not a friendly person in general." You've just pissed me off for the time being as well.

"That conversation over there might interest you." Hisoka motioned with finger and a card, and disappeared back around the pillar. When Rita stood up and looked, the clown was actually nowhere to be found.

"... where Killua is."

"Are you really going to take him away? That's not a good idea."

"I don't care what you think! Killua's my friend. I'm taking him with me."

"Do they feel the same way?"

Gon suddenly noticed Kurapika and Leorio standing behind in.

"Bet your ass we do." Leorio narrowed his eyes.

Illumi put a finger to his lip, pondering. "Hmmm, okay. I'll tell you. But I have a condition."

"What is it?"

"Take this one along with you." Rita stood appalled as Illumi pointed to her. She had been standing behind Kurapika and good distance away listening in.

Kurapika immediately narrowed his eyes. "Why? That's such an arbitrary condition."

"It's my condition." Illumi shrugged. "So?"

"That's fine." Gon's eyes shone with defiance. "She's strong too, so better for us!" He stuck out his tongue.

"Alright." Illumi relented. "I doubt you'll be able to make it there anyways. Killua went home."

"Home?"

"Kukuroo Mountain. Our family lives at the very top."

"Got it. Thanks." They quickly left, paying Rita no mind.

"Is it alright for an assassin to give away his base of operations?"

"Sure," Illumi said lightheartedly. "It's not a secret. The locals all know where we live. We live world's apart, and they'll see that soon."

Hisoka suddenly cocked his head to the side, looking at Illumi's forearm.

"Oh, this? Yep, it's broken. Gon did it."

Hisoka smirked, unable to repress his bloodlust; ot lust in general.

"Gittarackur," Rita stepped forward, senses heightened.

"Illumi is fine." The raven commented. "What is it?"

"Let me see your arm."

"Hm?" He seemed confused. "Why?"

Rita wordless grabbed it and let the energy in her body flow. Illumi watched with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" And then, fifteen seconds later, "Why?"

"The Boar has charged me with the task of looking after his unholy offspring." Rita said snarkily. "I should take responsibility for what hormonal twelve-year olds are prone to do."

"Breaking arms?" Asked Hisoka.

"Typically their own, yes, but this is Gon we're talking about."

"... How did you do it?" The raven asked.

"Himitsu." Rita smirked. "By the way, thank you."

"Mm? Oh, no problem." Illumi answered.

"So then why did you help me out?"

"Well firstly to piss of Hisoka." He deadpanned, knowing that rita had one eye on Gon at all times during the exam, which had greatly, greatly irked the clown. "But in all seriousness, Killua swears he remembers you. I seem to remember you too."

Rita frowned at the unpleasant thought to remembering things. They often triggered migraines, which were unpleasant to say the least. "I don't remember you."

"Maybe you'll remember when you see the household. You were with the Phantom Troupe four-ish years ago, if I'm not mistaken."

She staggered backwards, already exhausted from giving Illumi some of her own internal energy, and now being bombarded with the information that Illumi recalled her being a part of the Spider…

"You are mistaken." She cleared her head. "Anyways, thank you." She glared at Hisoka. "Hands off of Ging's son, you dirty fucking…" She muttered as she walked away.

"He has a lot of potential…" Illumi said to Hisoka as they watched Gon.

But that also makes him dangerous… The assassin thought. Now would be the best time to-

"Gon is my prey." Hisoka let his nen go unbridled for a split second as a warning. "Touch him and you'll suffer consequences."

"I got it, I got it." Illumi sighed. "I've only known you for a short while, but I think I know your tastes… So, Hisoka, what will you do now?"

"Wait patiently…." He clenched and unclenched his fists.

Slightly freaked out, Illumi decided to calmly walk away.

TO BE CONTINUED.

A/N: BABIES I'M SO SORRY, IT'S BEEN TWO LONG MONTHS! It actually seemed so, so much longer than that, because I've been totally swamped by homework and testing and it's actually AP season right now so I figured I needed to crank something out before I get swamped again. I know this chapter is short, and dumb, and poorly written, but still, tell me what you think, and what you might want to see next in the upcoming chapters. Again, I'm so sorry I made you guys wait for so long, I didn't know you waited for new chapters, I'm so flattered, holy crap.

Also, I'm sorry, I didn't have time so I didn't even proofread or put in the normal quotes like I usually do. I need to get to bed D: Sorry! I'll see you soon thought! Again, read and review :)