Please leave me a review!
Chapter 48
The roar of the arena pulses through me, drenching me in the cold chill of adrenaline that came moments before a fight. It was addictive - the seconds right before you were on the edge of victory or defeat, the fight to see which land you would end up in.
Someone else had already taken that place, though, the slender curves of a young woman darting across the cement slab in the pit of the audience.
"This is an unexpected win from our new superstar!" Lights flash, and someone in the audience pulls out a camera and takes a few pictures like the guys down in the arena are models walking the runway and not trying to claw each others face off.
He was handsome. Both of them were, I supposed, in the way that great physical prowess can make anyone a bit attractive. But by far, the one who got the most squeals of delight from the audience was a blonde-haired man, his whole body rippling with controlled strength. As I watched, he ducked punch after punch, advance after advance, all with this nonchalant smile curling his lips. He had wide, honest green eyes that shown in the blinding overhead lights. It was disconcerting how sincere he looked, how affable he seemed to be even as he slammed some guy's head into the concrete floor.
But the truth was that more psychopaths flocked to this city than flies to empty take-out containers. He was just another person who enjoyed the feel of crushing someone beneath his boot.
I've seen pretty boys in these arenas before, Minoru. My hands dug into my pockets as I tried to still the nervous tensing of my hands, every muscle locking up in a habitual tension as I neared the barrier that separated the audience from the steep walls that made up the outer edges of the pit. If this is what you interrupted me for-
Minoru's eyes glow an eerie reddish hue, the normal darkness there seeping away as he uses his nen abilities to track the fighter's movements. His expression is deliberately blank. Look at the name.
I dragged my eyes up to the bright, jumbo TVs, the blonde boy's face wavering on one of the screens, his face pulled into this smile that could be considered adorable if it wasn't for the glimpse of deadly muscles that packed the rest of his body. And splayed across the screen in giant, wavering letters were two names: Mikan Hinode.
This has to be a coincidence.
It was a knee-jerk reaction, the thud of those two surnames like bricks smashing against a wall. I stared at them, unblinking, dread and anger, and fear rumbling through my body like the first shake of an earthquake. Even with my inability to read, there were still some letters that you saw too much to not know. And these symbols smashed together were some of the few. It made it somehow worse - like seeing blurs everywhere else but one place. It made my mouth go dry, cold sweat coating my spine.
This has to be a coincidence, I said again, more forceful.
Your mother's name and Ichihiro's smashed together? Minoru murmured and I flinched.
He was right. Of course, he was right. I dragged my eyes away from the words - back to that smiling boy on the stage below. Who the fuck was this guy?
Minoru's eyes caught mine. It's more than just people we know, Mori. It's the only two people that you've…
If he wasn't going to say it, I would. Killed.
These were my secrets. Not ones that I had guarded well, given how messy Ichihiro's death had been. My stomach rolled, nauseous making breath hard to drag in as the gruesome image of his last moments in that stairwell swelled up. But to see them hung across that screen so blatantly… There was only one person who had helped me with that. One person who I had never asked what had happened to the body…
I snarled, jerking back to stare down at the arena below where blondie was collecting his ticket, waving to the crowd like some sort of saint walking among worshippers. The crowd was deafening, their screams bouncing off the concrete with such velocity and volume that I wanted to stuff cloth into my ear canals.
His eyes drifted higher and higher, his hand raised in a friendly wave. And then his eyes were on mine. There was no way that he should have been able to pick me out so easily. Or focus on me so thoroughly, his face freezing before his eyes lit with feverish interest. I could nearly see his gums as his smile widened and widened.
Track him, I said instantly, darting through the crowd.
There wasn't enough time to think about the possible dangers that came with approaching someone like this man - this man who knew too many of my secrets. Secrets that I thought had been buried. I shoved through the crowd. Blondie's match had gotten him more than most at his level, meaning he was a darling to the arena. He would be with those angelic good looks. Hisoka, in his own right, got the same sort of attention. He drew the crowd with sharper tongues and darker edges to their minds. They liked his wickedness. They liked the way his smile looked when he saw blood.
"Get out of my way," I snarled, leaping onto the railing as the crowd grew too dense for me to get through. I could go up the stairs to get to the hallways, where there would be more room but the exit from the stands was entirely separate from the lower fighting area.
Down below, I could see blondie nearly vibrating with glee, his arms clasped behind his back as he stared up at me in delight. He was walking backward, seemingly pulled by some unspoken order that tugged him away from me. Frustration tightened my lunges as my eyes darted all around for a way to get to him. I could send Minoru to him… Neither of us could fly anymore. I swore violently, causing a parent to scold me as they picked up their child and left.
Rage, hot and acidic, surged up inside of me, crushing nearly all reason as I watched the blonde man slip further and further away. Minoru had made it down to the lower level but now that he was there, even in his current form, fighting against the current of people was near impossible. I could guide him but that would only last him as long as the man was in my line of vision… which he had just slipped out of, with a wink and a wave that seemed to be solely pointed at me even from this distance.
FUCK! I dragged a hand through my hair, pushing it back as Minoru stopped, his head tipping back as he glanced back at me from below.
The red patches in his blue fur pulsed, rippling with my agitation. What now?
I huffed, slipping back to the concrete aisles of the upper stadium level. The place was clearing out fast, a new wave of people coming in to linger until the next match in 30 minutes. It's a fake name.
He can still have a room.
You know we won't be able to find it without risking getting kicked out of this place.
Other contestants knowing the rooms of each other was a line that even Heaven's Arena didn't cross. They made money from the bloodshed under spotlights not in the privacy of rented rooms. They kept our information locked up tight and although this place seemed like a kids ride in some aspects, they had their hands in some deep pots. There was a reason people like Hisoka felt comfortable slumming their off-time in these corridors. One that made it possible for people to be torn apart in stairwells and not risk the attention of outside law. Their security team wasn't something that I felt confident in trifling with.
I tugged at my hair until my scalp stung, my mind racing. I would need to wait until his next match. Minoru wandered back to me as I stewed, watching me with an impassive expression. He knew my mother's maiden name. He knew Ichihiro's last name. This wasn't good. This was beyond bad. Not just because they could get me into some serious trouble with Ichihiro but because of the things that my mother's name implied. The blanks in my own memory that I couldn't grasp onto.
How does anyone know? I fumed, slamming my fist into the railing until my knuckles smarted. A couple nearby flinched, scurrying away. How the fuck does anyone know?
We had been hermits. My mother hated going into town. She had hated small talk and the give and take of city life. And then that fucking letter had come - and then everything had changed-
It's a clear message, Minoru mused, sitting back on his haunches. There was a glint to his eyes that I knew all too well. The sharp edge of someone who knew that there was change on the winds and didn't particularly feel the urge to run from it. His dark eyes met mine. Come out and play. We know your secrets.
My teeth ground together. We know more about you than you know about us.
We sat in silence for a moment longer, the smell of sugary confections drifting in through the arena doors. The stadium was silent - each murmur bouncing off the concrete walls in a way that was jarring. I caught his match, Minoru said suddenly.
I caught some of it too, I muttered sardonically, casting a glance to the concrete slab that made up our mat. A few cleaners were spraying it down to get rid of the sweat and spit. He was holding back.
Minoru's maw curled up, a flash of canines glinting. You can't completely hide one's own natural fighting skills, Mori. Even when you try to be sub-par.
I glanced at him, waiting.
He's good, Minoru finally admitted, his big shoulders rolling in a shrug. Not particularly concerned with getting hurt. Might even not put very much value on his own life. Of course that means…
Sociopathic, I supplied grimly, remembering how he had trotted backward, his smile filled with almost manic delight. Cold-hearted in a way that could very have turned him into a serial killer. Great… another fucking serial killer.
Ah, this city is filled with people like that. We should know - you're intimately involved with one. I took that dig at face value. Not like I had much room to argue after the events of this evening. This guy, though - he reminded me a bit too much of Hisoka. A younger, more angelic version but him nonetheless. He toyed with his opponent. He liked…seeing him react the way he wanted him to.
A deep, soul-shattering sigh slipped from my lips. He was a gassed-up version of Ichihiro then.
There was also something else… something more of interest, Minoru murmured, his expression clouding. It's just a hunch… Another man fought like him. Nothing particular. Something about the curve of his right punches and kicks. Just a slight turn - the way his neck craned, maybe… His eyes sought mine out. Like your brothers. Like you.
Metal filled my mouth at the comparison, the metal of the railing digging into my palms as I squeezed. Like kids from the streets.
Like he had to learn how to fight on the run.
I didn't respond. That seemed like more of a threat than anything else. You would be able to narrow it down-
The more information I got.
The more matches you watched. I let out a slow breath, my mind whirling. Even though our personal information was guarded in this place, I wouldn't be able to go back to my room this night. I straightened, smoothing a hand down along my shirt. How much sleep do you need?
None, if you keep pumping nen into me tonight.
I ran my tongue of my canines, thinking. I would have to stay up tonight with him, then. Sleep during the day? I clicked my tongue in agitation. Minoru was always partly alert even while I slept but to keep his nen abilities running for him to collect data would require more effort from me. We could go until I passed out.
You think you can find out where he's from?
Minoru's smile was savage. We found out where Hisoka was from and he's a ghost.
My returning smile was a brittle, angry thing. Use all the nen you need, Minoru.
With that, I turned away, leaping up the steps and into the darkness of the tunnel.
Where are you going? Minoru called through our link.
I felt my nen wither and flex inside of me, my mind narrowing onto that one seed of doubt that had been festering inside of me. There was only one person I knew for sure that had helped with Ichihiro. One person who I hadn't questioned because it had been easier not to when they had helped with the disposal of a certain leech on society.
I'm going to go tuck Hisoka in for the night, I called back. He told me how much he loves my stories.
Minoru's chuckle was dark as I slipped into the elevator, blood pumping through my veins in heady rushes. There was one rule that was universal and would remain steady through it all: Never trust Hisoka Morrow.