Pixie Says: Welcome to the thirteenth chapter! I've had a crazy month, and am traveling tomorrow, so there hasn't been much writing. But I figured I should post something before I leave. I'm hoping to get some writing done on the plane though, so there might be a speedier update in the future.

Thank you so much for the fabulous reviews! I've hit the 30+ mark now. Your feedback means so much to me!

And for anyone who's interested- my tumblr is 'fog-and-misk'. Feel free to add me and if you have any questions regarding the story, don't be shy to ask! Big hugs from cold, cold Sweden (yes, it's still snowing here) and wish you guys all the best!

Nikita hummed in the kitchen as she prepared food. She had a lot of pent up energy, and figured she should do something with it. She stood over the stove, stirring the mushroom sauce she managed to concoct from the few ingredients the boys had in the fridge.

"Something smells good," came a gruff voice from the doorway, and Nikita jumped at the suddenness of it. Turning, she saw Leorio trying to muffle a yawn. His hair looked disheveled and he didn't seem all that awake yet.

"Morning," she greeted and he smiled at the joke. It was late afternoon already. "Get some good sleep?"

"I could've gotten a few more hours," he shrugged. Nikita frowned at the dark circles under his eyes. He was really pushing himself. Turning back to the stove, she checked on the rice.

"I'm almost done," she announced jovially.

"I think I'll pass. Can't get food poisoning right now," he joked, and she pouted at him. When he cracked a smile though, she grinned back and continued bouncing to the cupboard, pulling out the dishes.

"You seem happy," he noted. It was hard to miss. There was a clear spring in her step, and she hadn't stopped humming in between their exchange. She seemed more awake, too.

"I met someone," she indulged, and Leorio's eyebrows flew up.

"Seif's gonna be devastated," he replied, and she laughed.

"Oh, come on. Not that way," then she paused. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing," Leorio hummed innocently.

It was then that Gon poked his head into the kitchen from behind Leorio.

"Kitty…" he whined. "I'm hungry."

"Two minutes," she promised. That had him beaming brightly.

"KILLUA!" he yelled, before dashing back to the living room, probably to terrorise the poor ex-assassin. Or relay the message. Maybe both.

She finished setting the table, double-checked that everything was ready and turned off the stove. She made enough for everyone, including the two bodyguards, though they wouldn't be joining them until later tonight. They would have left overs in the fridge, anyway.

Serving up what she'd cooked, Leorio made his way to fetch his two friends. It was no easy task. Apparently, they had been arguing.

"You're not supposed to eat candy before a meal!" Gon asserted angrily. Killua just rolled his eyes as he made his way to his seat.

"It was just a lollipop, Gon. Calm down," he shot back, but that had the Whale Island boy fuming. Their bickering continued throughout dinner, only pausing when Nikita filled Leorio in on the previous events with Izaak. Once he was up to date, they were at it again- this time, because Killua stole some of Gon's chicken.

"And you're sure he came from your world?" Leorio asked, trying his best to ignore the pounding headache that was forming.

"Pretty sure. He had the same aura as me. And he was well acquainted with my world," she explained, and Leorio sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"So that's why you're so happy?" he said, nudging her slightly.

"Yup!" she chimed, before taking another bite. "It sucks that I have to just wait for it to happen, but I got some answers. It's a step in the right direction," she said, and he nodded.

"Yeah. Now you'll just have to stay alive long enough for that to happen," he replied, and she shot him a look.

"Must you always be so glum?"

"You know me. Biggest downer there is," he quipped, and she giggled. "Don't worry, though. You're in safe hands. And Gon mentioned you're progressing in Nen, too."

"I'm getting the hang of it more and more each day," she admitted, before cringing. "Been neglecting my language studies though, so I should get back to that soon."

"You better," Leorio threatened good-naturedly.

The rambunctious dinner ended on a good note for Nikita. Leorio had hip-bumped her out of the way of the sink, claiming that dishes were on him that day. Nikita hadn't gotten any feedback on her cooking, but she didn't need to. She could see that the boys had enjoyed it, and that's all that mattered. Instead, she helped put the leftovers in tupperwares and then headed to her room. Throwing herself on her bed, she let out a giggle as the mattress momentarily knocked the air out of her.

She shuffled through the drawers on her bedside table before pulling out a notebook and a children's book in this world's language. Mentally preparing herself for her studying, she blew a strand of hair out of the way and then set to work.

A couple of hours later, Nikita heard a soft knock at the door.

"Come in," she called, and the door opened, revealing her blond roommate. "Oh, hey," she greeted, and he responded in kind. He made his way to his bed on the opposite side of the room and laid down on it with a sigh. Nikita watched him sympathetically. "Rough day?" she asked, watching him rest his arm on his forehead.

"You could say that," was his reply. They fell into a comfortable silence, Kurapika on the verge of sleeping while Nikita continued studying. She had upgraded herself to the next age level. The books for 9 year olds had gotten too easy for her at this point.

She sighed. There was just one issue. This new character that was introduced now. Depending on the letters before it, sometimes it would make sense and sometimes it wouldn't. She had been stuck with a certain comprehension question because of that.

She spent another half an hour on the question, before Kurapika's voice distracted her.

"Do you need help, by any chance?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled as his arm had fallen slightly while he rested.

"Why do you ask?" Nikita questioned.

"That was your eighteenth time sighing," he stated, and Nikita felt her face heat up.

"O-oh, I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Don't be," was his reply. There was a pause. "So?"

"No, I'll figure it out," she assured him. Another ten minutes passed, and this time Kurapika was getting irritated. Her sighing had only become more frequent. At the next forceful exhalation, he removed his arm and was about to say something when he realized she was right beside him. "Okay, maybe I need help," she admitted.

The irritation left him immediately, and a small smile graced his lips as he sat up, back against the headboard. To his surprise, Nikita took a seat beside him on the bed, and he was forced to scoot to the side a bit.

"I don't really understand this word. Is it a typo?" she asked. Kurapika read the sentence and furrowed his brow.

"It sounds fine to me?" he responded, slightly amused over the fact that she was studying from books aimed to children younger than Killua and Gon. "Read it out," he instructed, and Nikita huffed, but did as she was told.

She found it humiliating in a way. And Kurapika seemed like such a smart-ass. He was probably enjoying this.

"Ah- that's the problem," he interrupted her. "That's a 'te' character. Not 'he'."

"What?" she asked, her eyes skimming the sentence again. They widened as she realized that was indeed the mistake.

"Ugh. Why do all the characters look so similar?" she groaned, lifting the book up to her face and resting her forehead against the pages. This language was going to be the death of her.

"I think it's like that with a lot of languages," Kurapika shrugged. "You'll get used to it with practice."

"You know how they say practice makes perfect?" she asked him and he nodded, unsure where this was going. "That's bullshit. It's 'perfect practice makes perfect'."

Kurapika smiled a bit at that. "You learn from mistakes, though. You'll probably have these two characters memorized now, since you figured out the problem."

"You figured it out," Nikita pointed. She sighed, before closing the book and throwing it across the room. It landed on her bed quite elegantly. "I'm done. I'm seeing the characters even when I close my eyes," she confessed. To Kurapika's relief, she moved to stand, vacating his bed. Taking one step forward, she suddenly did a hand stand, balancing herself for a few moments before letting her legs fall over her head and land on her bed. She stared at the bemused Kurapika upside down, before cracking a smile. Killua had warned him of her… tendencies.

"Are there any other languages in this world?" she asked, before pulling herself up onto her own bed properly. Her face had begun to turn red from the rush of blood to her head.

"Of course. The one you're learning is the universal one, which should get you going no matter where you are in the world. But there are many languages, and some of the more conserved minorities do not speak the standard tongue," he explained and she nodded.

"How many languages do you speak?" she asked. He tensed a bit and she wondered if she had stepped over her limit.

"A few," was his only response.

"Hm… I think it's strange that you can get by on just one language. It's a lot more difficult back home. Sure, English takes you places, but if you get out of touristic zones in non-English speaking countries, I don't think it helps very much," she said.

"You don't have a standard language?" he asked, eyes wide. She shook her head.

"They tried to introduce something like that. Esperanto, I think it's called. And I guess it's gaining momentum now, but it's relatively recent, only 100 years old, and I know more people who've never heard of it than I know anyone who speaks it," she explained and he nodded.

"Gon told me your world looked very different from ours," Kurapika began cautiously, but he didn't need to. She was perfectly happy to talk about her world. She started a lengthy explanation about how the continents were arranged on Earth and the differences in names. Seeing as Kurapika seemed so fascinated with languages, she told him about the five major ones, the traditions and customs of certain places she'd visited throughout her life. He seemed enraptured by the information she was giving him, and he absorbed it all.

Even with a Hunter's license, there was only so much he could find out about the 'outside'. Not that it had been a priority- revenge was the only thing on his mind- but when he realized how much access he had to this forbidden topic, just by spending time with Nikita, he decided to use the situation to his advantage.

The conversation flowed to religion, and Nikita was surprised that Jesus Christ was a well-known figure in this world, too.

"Maybe some devout Christian from Earth ended up here and found it their mission to spread the word?" Nikita guessed. She wasn't all that religious herself, so she couldn't tell Kurapika very much, but as he filled in the holes of her story with his own knowledge, his words seemed familiar enough for her to accept.

She paused for a while. "Have you eaten?" she asked him, and he shook his head.

"Very smooth topic change transition," he pointed out.

"Do I hear sarcasm?" she asked cheekily, but he kept his poker face on.

"Not at all," he lied.

"Definitely there," she laughed, before rolling her shoulders. "There's leftovers in the fridge. Didn't the boys tell you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"They did. But I was too tired to even consider eating," he explained, and her eyes widened at that.

"Oh, damn. And here I am asking you for homework help and blabbering about Earth like a fucking child. Jesus, Kurapika. I'm really sorry," she began, looking terribly remorseful.

"Don't be," he said simply, watching her spiral down into guilt with haughty eyes. A small smile was tugging at his lips at the mention of the man they had just been talking about. "I enjoyed the dialogue. And I actually am feeling hungry enough to eat right now, so thank you for bringing that up," he spoke honestly, and Nikita sighed with relief.

"Okay. But, feel free to shut me up next time," she told him, and he smiled but offered no response. Instead, he got up and made his way to the door.

"It is getting late though. Perhaps you should consider sleeping," he suggested and she shrugged.

"I've slept enough during the last week to last me a few months, but we'll see what happens," she told him and he nodded, before opening the door and stepping out.

Nikita fell back onto her bed, trying to calm the ache in her chest. She really thought that she had kept him away from sleep, and though the guilt had subsided somewhat, she still felt a bit bad. He said he had enjoyed their exchange, and so had she, but she'd been purposefully skirting the topic of Kurapika's more personal experiences. He had promised to tell her the cause of his extreme dislike of spiders, but hadn't come up with the topic by himself. And Nikita was too much of a pushover to remind him.

As much as she knew that she deserved to hear the story, especially on account of what he'd done to her, she knew that she wouldn't have it in her to ask again. Instead, she'd sit back and wait for him to come forward.