Pixie Says: Hey guys! Happy New Year (belatedly!). I wonder how this year will go in terms of writing, but I'm happy to share the first chapter of the year with you now! I got some great reviews last chapter, so thank you so much to everyone who wrote to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a bit shorter than the others, but Kurapika's here and I'll make up for it with the next chapter!

Let me know what you guys think! Hope you've all survived christmas and new year's eve and are doing okay!

Kurapika sighed deeply as he made his out of the elevator to the lobby. He had received quite an earful from Killua the moment Nikita had left the suite. He knew he had gone far too overboard, and Killua had mentioned that he'd bruised her significantly. His chest had tightened at that.

It wasn't his meaning to hurt people around him. He wanted to be better than that, but his skepticism about the girl combined with the sight of that spider had him spiraling out of control, pushing him to do things without thinking. He'd promised he'd set things straight and apologize, but he didn't have a clue where the girl was.

Upon seeing the blond boy, Seif walked around the reception desk to greet him.

"Hey, you're a friend of Nikita's right?" Seif asked him cautiously. He remembered how standoffish the Kurta had been last time they met.

"Yes," Kurapika replied plainly. Perhaps this bellboy would know where she is. "Have you seen her?"

"I did. She didn't seem okay," he added, and Kurapika tried not to breathe in too sharply.

"How so?" he asked, trying to keep his composure.

"Well, for one, she smoked with me. She never smokes," he mentioned, and Kurapika furrowed his brows at that. "And she wouldn't stop shaking."

"Where is she?" Kurapika asked, noticing the concern on Seif's face and hoping his own wasn't a mirror image.

"She said she was going to go sit somewhere nearby, probably down the street," he informed Kurapika. "She went right," he added, making it easier for him.

"Okay. Thank you," Kurapika said, and Seif nodded briefly before going back to work. He hoped Nikita would be okay with the blond's company.

Nikita sat at a broken down bus stop, resting her forehead against the fiberglass that surrounded the bench on three sides. Flaking posters and graffiti were carelessly placed all over, and she tried to ignore the filth as she shut her eyes and tried to calm down. She hadn't realized it, but she was shaking with the effort of keeping herself calm.

She felt his presence before she saw him, and snapped her neck so fast to look at him that she felt something crack.

Kurapika was sitting beside her, looking at her head on. He could see the fear and surprise in her eyes, but she held her ground, not making a move until he spoke.

"I know it's unreasonable of me to ask this of you, but please relax. I'm here to apologize," he said, his words were soft and low, but that put Nikita even more on edge. "I'm sorry for how I treated you. It was horrible of me and way out of line. It will never happen again," he continued, when she did not reply.

"How can I trust that?" Nikita answered, after a long moment of silence.

Kurapika had foreseen that question coming. "I… I experienced something similar to Senritsu. I was able to hear your thoughts. When I…hurt you, I understood that you were more worried about my safety if your abilities were to be released rather than your own," he told her, and she regarded him quietly.

He tried to hold her gaze, but his eyes shifted when the scarf around her neck swayed slightly with the wind, and he saw something obscenely purple from the corner of his eyes.

"Killua and the others are worried about you being alone here. I was hoping you would come with me back to the hotel. I would also like to heal your injury, to compensate somewhat for my mistake." He tried to choose his words carefully. She had every right to be afraid and angry at him, but he wanted to tread softly and avoid her emotions escalating.

She stared at the traffic before them for a while, the coming and going of cars and buses in this city bustling with life. She felt very empty and out of place. Kurapika was surprised that no bus had come by yet, but perhaps this bus stop had been abandoned.

Slowly, Nikita made to stand up. Her body hurt from the effort, but she tried to ignore it. Kurapika did the same, watching her cautiously as she flinched.

"Okay," she said finally, looking Kurapika square in the eyes. She was glad to see that they were not red. "But I want you to tell me why you reacted that way," she added, before Kurapika had a chance to nod or lead the way. His brows furrowed at that, but nodded all the same.

"Fair enough," he told her, and she managed a small smile before she went on ahead of him.

Leorio and Senritsu both looked up from their books when the two walked in. Killua and Gon could be heard in their room, probably getting ready to go out soon.

Senritsu managed a small smile when she heard their heartbeats were calm, telling her that things were more or less okay between them. Leorio had no such ability to fall back on, so he watched them silently as they made their way to the room they were sharing, before looking at the Music Hunter. She gave him a small smile before turning back to her book, and Leorio managed a sigh of relief before doing the same.

In her room, Nikita couldn't help looking at the window, still open despite their encounter. She forced herself to look away and made her way to the bed. Behind her, Kurapika silently shut the door and walked over to her.

"Can I see where I hurt you?" he asked her, his voice hushed. She tried not to wince as she removed the scarf. The skin was so tender that even the faint brush of cloth against it hurt her.

Kurapika had to bite his lip to keep himself from sucking his breath in when he saw the contusion. A deep purple imprint of his chains ran around her neck, and Nikita turned her head to the side, giving him more exposure while averting her eyes from his intense ones.

"Again. I'm so sorry," he reiterated. Slowly, he extended his hand to her neck, moving with deliberate care so as not to frighten or distress her. Nikita shut her eyes when she saw him go for her neck and tried to push back the memories of the cold snake-like coil around her neck.

But then she felt it again, the exact same feeling, and opened her eyes wide in surprise. Looking down at Kurapika's hand, she saw chains on his hand, with one extending from his thumb to her neck. She blinked, taking the sight in. She hadn't seen the chains before. At least she could now identify what had been around her neck in the first place, apart from his hands.

Slowly, she felt heat encompass her, and her throat turned dry for a brief second as she worried he would go back on his words and strangle her. The fear lasted only a moment, however, as he soon retracted his chains, and she saw them disappear from his hand all together. At the same time, a lingering thought surfaced in her mind.

"I wonder if it's inconsiderate for me to ask her not to tell the others about the chains…"

She identified the voice as Kurapika's, and was shocked that she had heard his thoughts without meaning to. Looking up at him, she opened her mouth to speak but then decided against it.

Instead, she gingerly reached her hand forward and placed a finger on Kurapika's still-outstretched hand. He watched her, curious and confused over her behaviour. She tried to will her thoughts to him. She didn't know if she could control this ability that she had at the moment, or if it only happened with her panic previously.

"Thank you. And I won't."

She tried to keep it short, and she recognized that it had worked when Kurapika suddenly pulled his hand back, as though he had been electrified.

"I…" he began, looking distressed. "You surprised me," he finally relented.

"I surprised myself, too," Nikita admitted. "I didn't know I could do that. Not on purpose," she gave him a small smile, and he reciprocated, though he looked uncertain.

At that moment, there was a knock and the door opened. Killua's head poked through, taking the scene before him. Nikita was seated on the bed, the bruise around her neck gone, and Kurapika was two meters away from her. He scowled.

"Healed already?" he asked, and Nikita thought it was strange to hear his voice so guarded.

"I am fine now," she nodded, not knowing if she should mention it was Kurapika who healed her or not.

Behind Killua, Gon tried to shove his head past the opening in the door, too.

"Kitty-chan, we're going to town now. Will you be okay?" Gon's voice came through and Nikita froze.

"A-are you talking to me?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah, what kind of a nickname is that?" Killua scoffed, eyeing the green-clad hunter suspiciously.

"What? I think it suits her. She's graceful and flexible. Like a cat," Gon argued and Nikita winced. He had watched her stretch with Killua's help in the morning.

Kurapika watched the ongoing scene with mild amusement.

"I'll be fine, Gon. You two have fun," Nikita assured the boy, smiling gently at him. Their brown eyes met and he grinned.

"We won't be gone too long. We'll be back before you have to leave, Kurapika," Gon informed the older boy, who nodded.

"Take care," Kurapika said, and they left, though Nikita saw the lingering frown on Killua's face.

Sighing, Nikita ran a hand through her dark locks. "I think I'll take a nap," she stated, and Kurapika turned to her quickly, almost as though he had forgotten she was there.

"Oh. Yes, of course," he replied, and Nikita narrowed her eyes at his strange behaviour.

"Thank you, for healing me," she added, and he nodded.

"It was the least I could do, considering it was I who hurt you," he responded. He made his way to the door, looked back at her briefly, but she was busy folding her scarf and didn't meet his gaze.

"I'll keep my promise next time we both have time," he told her, and he saw a small smile grace her lips.

"Okay," she replied, and with that he left, the door closing behind him with a click.