Hello again guys!

I wanted to thank you for reading this story. The reviews were wonderful, and I also want to thank those who have followed.

Well, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ;)

Chapter 2: The Auction

The auction started more than half and hour ago, and instead of the usual irritating shrill of excitement from the Boss; bidding on all those weird ancient body parts, she was quiet, way too quiet. What's even more out of the ordinary was the fact that she had been stealing glances at him and he was getting more and more uncomfortable each time she did. Was there something on his face? No, not possible, he checked himself before they went out and no one else was giving him any kind of funny look.

He tried to ignore her for the better part, but after fifteen minutes of her not-so-subtle inane prodding, he couldn't hold his urge to glance back. He thought, maybe she would tell him whatever the reason it was she had been a nuisance. But nooo… Every single time he caught her red-handed; she blushed a shade of pink and looked away. The same scenario happened over and over again, it became a heated contest over 'who could catch and look away first'. Oblivious to them, their childish behaviors were attracting unwanted attention. In others eyes, they were a couple of teenagers on a date, having a frivolous disagreement of sorts.

Seriously, is she sick or something?

Kurapika cleared his throat, decided it was time to end whatever it was that was going on. "Boss, is something the matter?" his voice was rigid and one of his eyebrows twitched with irritation.

She jolted in her seat and looked away, trying to avoid any eye contact with her bodyguard. "W-whatever do you mean?"

"You do know you have missed your chance to get Prince Kuzo's tongue and the Minotaur horn." He pointed out and she blinked before realization dawned upon her.

Neon stood abruptly from her seat, her panicked eyes darted towards the stage only to find her precious Minotaur horn being pushed away by a bulky man in suit, to the back of the stage. "No!" she stretched both her hands out to the retreating object with desperation.

The crybaby she was, she burst out crying and her tears were flowing like the waterfalls. The crowd turned their attention to them, whispering and wondering what happened to the poor young lady. Some who recognized her as the daughter of Light Nostrade groaned indignantly and complained, telling them to shut up and get over it.

Kurapika cursed himself for igniting the spectacle. Well, it wasn't exactly his fault. He was just stating the truth to get her back to her senses and put a stop to her weird behavior, not that she's not already weird. But oh how wrong he was! He had underestimated her arduous tendency to drive someone stark raving mad. How did Dalzollene kept up with this spoiled brat anyway?

"Boss, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?! I've just lost two precious treasures! TWO." She yelled in his face with teary eyes. "And this is all your fault!" she cried even louder.

Kurapika stared at her in disbelief. "What!" he mouthed. How was it his fault? She was the one who had been acting weird, thus it was her own fault she'd missed her chance with those outlandish objects. It was not like they had enough Jenny to bid on more than two items anyway.

People around them were shooting him dirty looks, undoubtedly blaming him for causing the commotion.

"Baka Kurapika! Baka, baka!" she hollered childishly, her cries grew louder as she assaulted him, flaying her arms on him repeatedly.

Kurapika could feel his blood pressure shot up, as he glanced back and forth from Neon to the angry crowd. When he knew he was about to lose his temper, he pulled Neon by her hand and stomped out the hall like a raging Godzilla.

The moment they got outside, he pivoted around to face her awful teary-snotty face. His frown etched, flaring nostrils angry expression was as dreadful as Leorio's. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" it was his turn to yell, directly in her face.

The girl instantly stopped her crying and stared wide teary eyes at her bodyguard. To say Neon was more than a little surprised was an understatement. She had never been yelled at before in her entire life, not even her father ever did. His face was too close and she could see something odd was happening with his eyes.

"You have been leering at me the entire afternoon, do you have something to say to me? If you don't, then don't blame me you didn't get to bid on anything! It's your own fault you spoiled little-" he paused when he realized he had gone too far. He just yelled at his Boss. "Damn it!" he gritted his teeth as he grunted. He reminded himself to stay calm or he would turn into Leorio at this rate. The thought of him turning into a teenager with a face as old as a man in his thirties, with the addition of having a temper as bad as a gorilla's, sent shivers through his spine. He must have looked like an animal when he yelled at Neon.

He expected a slap from her or a witty comeback, but none. She just blinked, her eyes never left his.

Recognizing that absent-minded look on her face, he squinted his eyes. "What now?" he grumbled under his breath.

Neon raised and pointed her shaky little finger at his eyes. "Your eyes."

Realization hit him and he turned his back on her. His eyes must have turned red the moment his anger ignited and when his face got too close to hers, she must have noticed the change. Even with contacts, people could still see the blazing red behind, although they were subtler than when he wears nothing for cover up. But that didn't explain why she had kept stealing glances at him.

Of course he knew, one day the Nostrade might found out about his eyes and identity as the last survivor of the Kurta. He had taken everything into consideration, even before he took a dive into the underground society, working for a mafia. The many possibilities spiraling in his head, especially the thought of having his eyeballs dug out of their sockets… he could imagine Neon Nostrade stood before him, innocent smile on her face as she demanded his eyes for one of her collections. When that time comes, he would resort to any means possible to prevent them from taking his legacy from him even if it meant killing this girl.

Killing?

No. He wasn't sure if he would, after Uvogin… He would not resort to murder anyone other than the Spiders.

"Kurapika, What's wrong with your eyes?" the young lady appeared before him, her face was filled with curiosity.

"… … Nothing." He closed his eyelids as he slightly tilted his head down.

Neon frowned. "You are lying."

Kurapika took a deep breath to calm himself. He didn't bother to give her an answer to her obvious statement.

"Hey, I am talking to you!"

Though the annoyance was still there, Kurapika fluttered his eyes open when he felt his anger dissipated. Stay calm and don't let this girl gets to you. He told himself.

"Let's go back Boss." He unceremoniously made his way towards the door, leaving her behind as if he wasn't supposed to escort her.

How dare he! How could he just ignore her and left her behind as if she was the bodyguard and not him? Just wait until daddy hears about this and he'd be dead meat!

He swiveled his head around and raised a brow. "Are you coming?"

Neon huffed in anger and crossed her arms over her chest, looking away, her nose up in the air. Well, she wasn't about to back down until he answered her question honestly. Then, maybe she would let him escorted her back to the hall like a proper bodyguard.

Kurapika sighed. He forgot she was as stubborn as a mule. "You will miss Reinstein's brain if you won't hurry." He smirked inwardly, that outta get her to comply.

The defeated look on her face was priceless. "Ugh… Shut up!" she yelled after him. Nonetheless, she complied; stomping her way unladylike past him and into the hall.

Kurapika rolled his eyes, following his lady Boss's lead. It's like dealing with a five year old, he noted inwardly.

Less than two hours to go and he'd be free from this she-devil for the day.

The auction lasted longer than he had initially thought. No Scarlet Eyes to bid on, and since the Nostrade was low on budget; they had nothing to bring home with and the Boss was utterly disappointed and upset. In fact, she was on the verge of tears and in one, two, three…

Neon cried a river as she stomped her feet like a child losing all her toys to someone else.

For a sixteen year old to act like this in public… this girl needs a therapy session with the most talented psychiatrist in the world and fast.

"Let's go Boss. The driver is waiting for us outside." He had to get her out of this place quick, before they attracted any more unwanted attention. They, Neon Nostrade and Kurapika the bodyguard, had been the stars of monumental humiliation for the major part of the afternoon. Aside from their sideshow, their greatest flounder was the fact that they didn't have enough within the Nostrade to bid for something over 10 billion Jenny. After Neon lost her Nen ability to Chrollo Lucifer and the unpaid 3 billion Jenny bid on the fake Scarlet eyes back in Yorknew City, imagine the state of disgrace and break down the old man Light Nostrade would be in when he heard about this. Well, the old man was at fault for not heeding his word of advice. The 10 billion Jenny they had today was not even theirs to begin with; they had to resort to petty thievery. Kurapika was aware that he had become something he hated. However, in order to achieve his goals; to retrieve his brethren's eyes, he would do anything. When he calculated, the money they had was enough for at least two items. However, there was always someone else much more eager to get those objects. Maybe those rare body parts are getting popular? If so, he'd have to prepare more Jenny's for his clan's Scarlet Eyes.

Neon nodded nevertheless, her cries never ceased. At least she listened to him this time. But before they could take another step, a man Kurapika had been avoiding for the last few hours, appeared before them with all his bald and annoying glory.

"Oh well, what do we have here?" A smug look on Zenji's face as he was approaching them with his stubby feet.

Kurapika frowned and Neon stopped her incessant crying.

"Little Miss Neon Nostrade couldn't get anything she wants from her bankrupt daddy."

"What do you want?" the Kurta questioned the man who called himself the head of all mafia with a stern look on his face.

"Oh nothing, I'm just here to see how Light's little princess is doing. After all, I did get all the things she wanted."

Kurapika raised a brow. "What are you talking about? Different people bid for all the objects Boss wants."

"Oh, haven't I told you that I was the one who hired them?" the old chubby man grinned atrociously. "Now then…" he moved closer and stopped before Neon who just watched him in confusion. All sorts of questions went through her head; who was this? What did he want? Why was he doing all this? Was he one of her father's enemies?

Zenji suddenly had a perverted look on his face. The creepy old man was practically undressing Neon on the spot and poor Neon, who couldn't understand exactly what he was trying to do; felt a dreading feeling coursed through her, and she took a cowardly step back, gripping on Kurapika's suit.

"I can give all those useless stuff to you if you would just come with me." Zenji was trying to touch Neon. However, Kurapika put a stop to his endeavor as he took a protective stance in front of his Boss, looking down at the bald man with a dangerous look on his face. "Stay away from Boss." He threatened.

All of a sudden, Zenji was reminded of the time after the auction in Yorknew City; where Zenji had threatened to kill this cocky brat with a gun, only to had his plan backfired when this kid had threatened him with his red glowing eyes. "Tsk!" Zenji took a few steps back as the fear he had felt from that past encounter was starting to take effect once again.

Recognizing Zenji's reaction as a sign of his withdraw, Kurapika pivoted his head and gave his Boss a small reassuring smile and Neon couldn't help but feel entranced. It was the first time she had seen him smile since the day he started working as her bodyguard. She couldn't tell what triggered it, but she was unreasonably happy and she felt her spirit lifted.

"Boss."

"Hmm?"

"You can let go now." He referred to her tiny fingers gripping tightly on his suit.

Neon just stared at him for a moment, until realization hit her. She looked down at her velvet heels; her face was heating like a microwave. "I am sorry." It came out of nowhere. It was the first time she had ever apologized to anyone. What was wrong with her tonight? She had been acting all weird and so un-Neon-ish. Was this what Eliza and Lila had meant? This beautiful feeling of her stomach flopping, heart beat accelerating, her mind constantly went blank... She just found herself drawn to Kurapika, and she couldn't stop herself from examining his handsome yet delicate features and lost her senses in their perfection; his high cheekbones, clear skin, well defined nose, and don't get her started with his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, she was desperate to find out what did happen to his eyes when he yelled at her before.

"Come on, we should go." Kurapika gestured for her to make the first step.

She jolted slightly before she glanced up at him, her face flushed pink as she smiled and firmly nodded. "Unn, let go." she said and started walking off, followed by Kurapika by her side and passed by Zenji without even throwing him another look.

Zenji gritted his teeth, his knuckles creaked as his grip tightened. He might have lost this time, but he would definitely find another way to destroy Light Nostrade, and that conceited bodyguard of his.

When the time comes, he would make them regret they ever messed with him.