Pixie Says: Here's this week's chapter! It's a little more action-packed towards the end, so yay. Please leave me any comments or feedback you have on the story! Also, Kurapika comes in next chapter, so you have that to look forward to next Wednesday! *wink*
The next morning, she woke up bright and early. She didn't feel completely rested, but sleep had left her and she knew she wouldn't be able to get it back no matter how hard she tried. So, instead of staying in bed, she decided to be productive.
It didn't take long after she'd been to the bathroom that Killua knocked on the door, having heard the tap water running. He told her that breakfast was on the table- this time in the form of omelettes.
"Would you help me stretch today again?" she asked him innocently, and she heard him try to hold back a groan. Just like the day before, he closed the door and made his way towards her. She decided to try to keep her pants on this time, though.
He watched her as she stretched her upper body, sighing every now and then out of boredom. "Did you find anything else out about your dream?" he asked her out of the blue, and she shook her head.
"No. Nothing happened when I went to bed after I saw you," she informed him, and he nodded, stepping up to help her as she sank to the floor with her legs on either side of her. "What are your plans for the day?"
"Gon and I are going to town," he told her absent-mindedly. "Leorio's staying in. He said he'd help you study," Killua added the last line as an afterthought as he helped her up halfway, only to set her down again, this time with her legs out in front and behind her.
"Study?" she asked, not sure what he was talking about.
"You can't read, right? It would be bothersome to read everything out loud to you," he told her, his voice borderline sour. He helped her up again, and to his surprise, she did a handstand within two seconds of her standing on her own.
"Sounds good," she told him, her voice muffled by her shirt, which hung over her lips.
"Why are you even doing this?" Killua asked, obviously not amused with her little show.
"I used to be a gymnast," she informed him, voice still slightly muffled. "Back home, I mean," she added, exhaling sharply to remove the shirt from her mouth. Slowly, she bent one leg back down carefully- her good leg-, and once she felt steady enough, she put her broken one down, too. "I think my leg's almost healed," she told him, grinning. She twisted her body backwards, bridging her back as her hands touched the ground, and with a slight push, she made her legs swing over her head in a full back flip.
"Don't push yourself," Killua grunted, barely batting an eye at her antics. He didn't understand why she was in such a good mood today, not after the state she'd come into the kitchen in last night. "You'll end up doing something stupid to your leg. Now come on, breakfast is getting cold."
Killua made his way to the kitchen, and Nikita followed him, her crutch still under her arm just in case. It would be very unlucky if she fell and broke her leg once again, but she felt that she'd only need another day to heal completely.
Gon and Leorio were in the kitchen, chatting animatedly about fundraising ideas while the younger boy sipped from his orange juice glass.
"Morning, Nikita!" Gon greeted loudly when he saw her walk in after Killua. Nikita almost flinched at the sudden increase in volume.
"Morning," she replied, smiling at Gon and Leorio. "So, I hear you have something planned for me today?" she started as she took her seat beside Gon, making eye contact with Leorio.
"Mhm," he grinned, pushing forward a stack of papers he'd probably gotten printed out for him at the library. "We're starting with the basics- the syllabary."
Nikita glanced over at the strange looking characters. She wasn't very good with languages. Back home, her French was barely mediocre even though she'd studied it for 6 years. She had no idea how long it would take to learn the writing system here. However, she seemed to understand the language perfectly, so that would cut down on learning time immensely.
"I thought it would be a good idea for you to write down the pronunciation of the characters in your own language, and then start some self-study there. I'd like to help you out more, but I have a bunch of assignments that need to be handed in by the end of this week," Leorio explained, seeming almost apologetic.
Nikita shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. "No, no. That's a great idea. And you're already doing so much!" she told him, and he seemed to be happy with her response. With that, Nikita dug into the omelette in front of her. She wanted to call it a 'Spanish' omelette, but she didn't know what this world's Spanish counterpart was.
It had potatoes and mushrooms in it, anyway.
"Ne, Leorio, I didn't know you could cook," Gon pointed out.
"He definitely didn't look it at the exam's second phase," Killua added snidely, and Leorio huffed.
"I got tired of eating take-out all the time. College does crazy things to you," Leorio told them indignantly.
"Well, I think it's really good," Nikita told him truthfully, and that had him beaming brightly for ages.
The boys were out almost immediately after breakfast, and Nikita insisted on doing ALL the dishes this time, much to Leorio's amusement. After a brief argument, he let her handle the cleaning up while he went to take a shower.
"Don't even try to peek!" he warned her, jokingly, and Nikita couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. Was he serious?
When she was done, Nikita dried her hands and grabbed the papers from the kitchen table before making her way to the living room. She made herself comfortable on the couch, going through the different pages. Leorio joined her soon after, and Nikita scrunched her nose in protest of the intense after-shave he put on.
"Deal with it," he retorted, before settling himself down on the couch with as much grace as an elephant wearing stilettos.
Nikita rolled her eyes, before accepting a pen Leorio held out for her. He also gave her a book to use as support when she wrote.
"So, the most common language used here has a syllabary," Leorio began. "Each character stands for a syllable. So, let's go over the vowel sounds first…"
And with that, Nikita's first lesson in this crazy world's language began.
The day passed in a blur of notes and books meant for children aged 5 to 8. Leorio called room service again for lunch, but that was the only pause they both got out of studying. Nikita saw that Leorio was studying the reproductive system and everything that went with that, and she cringed in memory of what her high school biology lesson on the subject entailed.
Taking the subject at college level must be hell.
At around five in the evening, the two boys burst into the living room, arguing incoherently over something.
"IT SAID NEXT WEEK!" Killua yelled adamantly and Gon stomped his foot.
"It was THIS Thursday! I'm sure of it!" Gon replied, and Killua rolled his eyes.
"We all know how good you are with numbers, Gon," Killua chided, apparently hitting a sore spot. "You sure you read them right this time?"
"What's going on?" Leorio asked with a sigh, pushing his glasses up as he watched the two boys. "Do you really need to make such a ruckus the second you walk through the door?"
"There's a trading market next week," Killua began and shot Gon a glare when he opened his mouth to protest. "Gon and I saw the same sign, yet he miraculously read it's happening this week."
"Only one way to check, then!" Gon huffed. "I'm going downstairs!" and with that, Gon left once again, probably to do an online search at the internet café.
"I was actually about to call you boys and ask if you could bring take out," Leorio admitted, scratching the back of his head. Killua just gave Leorio a look.
"I can go," Nikita volunteered, standing up and stretching. "I've been cooped up in this hotel for two days, I think some fresh air would be good. And maybe I can see the city up close for once," she laughed, but Leorio seemed hesitant.
"I can't let you go alone, though," Leorio told her.
"You'd probably get lost," Killua agreed, and the two stared at each other for a while, as though debating who should go. "Gon will probably hide downstairs for a while until he gets over his embarrassment over being wrong," he stated plainly.
"And I need to study," Leorio informed him. It was almost a challenge. Was it really that horrifying for one of them to accompany her outside? Nikita thought.
"Fine!" Killua huffed, marching up to Leorio and extending a hand while looking the other way. "You're treating though," he said indignantly, and Leorio chuckled before giving the boy some cash.
"Anything in particular?" Nikita asked mildly, grabbing her crutch.
"I'm fine with anything. Anything but pizza," he added before Killua could make a suggestion. That seemed to shut him up.
And with that, the two made their way out of the suite and into the elevator.
York Shin was a calm, spirited city during the day, but the real bustle of life only appeared after sunset. Nikita was surprised by the density of people out on the streets. She came from a small town and lived on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, and her minor trips downtown were nothing compared to this.
They found a Chinese (or its counterpart here) restaurant in a quieter back street and ordered four different dishes to take away. Killua also insisted on the fried, sugar-glazed bananas. He seemed to have quite the sweet tooth.
Nikita held the bag with the deserts in one hand, her crutch in the other, while Killua had a bag in each hand. She walked closer to the road, since the pavement seemed a bit more even on the side.
She knew it was instinctive, and she hated herself for that, but her eyes kept making their way to his hands- constantly checking that he had normal fingers and not horrific claws.
On the third glance, Killua sighed and rolled his head over to her side, giving her a bemused expression.
"Are you that bothered by it?" he asked her, seeming almost bored.
Nikita was quiet for a while, ashamed for being caught staring and unsure of how to answer.
"Mm…" she began, thinking over her reply. "It's not that I'm bothered," she told him, picking her words carefully. "I guess it's more being intrigued by it? I haven't seen anything like it. Though I have to admit, I was a bit scared last night. I thought I'd gotten used to all the weird shit this world was throwing at me, but I guess I was wrong."
Killua hummed quietly, before stretching his hands behind his head, the bags dangling carelessly.
"I come from a family of assassins," Killua told her, and he noticed her eyes widened slightly, but not for more than a couple of seconds. "I don't want to get in the family business, though," he told her, a small smile tugging on his lips. "Gon made sure of that."
Nikita was moved by what he said, but couldn't find anything to say. Instead, she stopped walking and freed her hand from her crutch, ruffling his hair.
"Oi! Cut that out!" Killua yelled, obviously embarrassed by the public display of affection. He huffed, before stomping away a few meters in front of her. His expression clearly told her he didn't want to be seen with her at the moment.
Chuckling, Nikita prepared herself to walk again when she felt something whizz past her leg in a red blur. Startled, she saw something hit Killua, who stopped and cursed.
"The hell?" he mumbled, bending down to check the back of his leg when it suddenly hit him.
A feathered red dart was embedded into his leg. The realization smacked him like a brick, but by the time he looked up it was too late. A speeding black van swerved dangerously close to the pavement. In a split second, the doors opened and two pairs of lean, muscular arms grabbed Nikita, hauling her onto the vehicle while it was still moving.
Killua had reacted too late. His hand had been millimeters away from hers, but that was enough. He heard the deafening sound of her crutch and their plastic bags as they felt to the ground, their dinner spilling all over the sidewalk.
"No, no, no," Killua repeated calmly, not believing what had happened. He quickly pulled out the dart imbedded in his leg, and saw that the needle had been coated with something. Poison. A quick sniff told him that it was one of the more lethal ones out there- enough to kill a grown man in minutes.
Good thing he was immune.
His mind sprang into action as he picked up her crutch and ran to the hotel, sprinting as fast as he could. He took out his phone and speed dialed Gon's number.
"I don't want to talk about it," Gon answered, obviously not happy about being wrong about the date.
"Idiot, forget about that!" Killua shouted, adrenaline soaring high. "Nikita… Nikita's in trouble," he told him.
"What happened?" Gon asked, concerned and ready to act.
"Are you at the internet café?" Killua asked, momentarily ignoring his friend's question.
"Yes."
"Good. Stay there and call Leorio. I saw the van's license plate. We can look it up on the Hunter website," he said, both to himself and Gon. "Nikita's been kidnapped."