Assassins and Thieves
Chapter 07
It was a miracle that Tanuku was able to convince the two children to sleep together in that single guest room. There were only two bedrooms in the wooden cabin. Both rooms were extremely tiny. It could only fit a full size bed and a tiny nightstand. Tanuku refused to let either children sleep in the living room or in his bedroom. He only gave one option, and the guest room didn't allow even a child to sleep on the floor. Beside, Tanuku said he didn't have any extra blankets. Killua did offer to stay up all night, but the adult didn't allow that.
Unable to break the human mole's stubbornness, Killua and Chrome had to share a single bed together. Chrome and Killua didn't really mind too much sharing the bed, but it was the fact that they are still strangers to each other that made it awkward. They only know each other for half a day max. Sure, they've been through most friends wouldn't have; taking a stroll in a dark forest, jumping into a black hole, holding onto him in an underground tunnel, now sleeping with him in the dark. It's quite a strange relationship to start out with. Who knows how much longer they'll be together for. The Hunter Exam hasn't even started yet.
Killua does seem capable of taking care of himself, or so it seems to Chrome. He walks with confidence with a large amount of smug. During that walk in the underground, the boy was able to grab hold onto the human mole without light and hesitation. Doing that does take a very large amount of skills. Even with the limited time Chrome had spent with the boy, she felt that he would be able to pass the Hunter Exam with ease.
As the children lay quietly on the full size bed each trying to stay as far away as each other, Chrome stared at the dark ceiling able to see quite clearly. Tanuku sent them to bed at ten o'clock. It's roughly the same time; Papa had sent her to bed. Though, there were times when Papa didn't allow her to sleep at all for a few days straight. Papa did say to sleep whenever she could and should because she'll never know when the next time she'll be able to sleep or if she sleeps forever. Chrome closed her eyes, trying to sleep against the wall under a soft blanket. Killua, on the other hand, was unable to do the same.
"Hey Chrome, are you awake?" Killua turned to his side and poked the sleeping girl at her rib cage. The moment his finger made contact, her body instinctively flinched away. A wide grin grew on the boy's face. Chrome's head turned towards the silver-haired boy angrily.
"Yes," she replied with a bit of irritation. "What is it?"
Killua completely forgot the question he was going to ask her, while focusing on the idea that Chrome is a ticklish. "You're ticklish, aren't you?" His grin became more mischievous as he raised both his hands, preparing for an attack.
"What? N-no, I'm not!" Chrome turned her whole body towards him as she stuck her arms out to protect herself. Her eyes viewed Killua's hands. She knew it was over. Killua is definitely going to tickle her. There's no way out of this.
"You're a liar," Killua stated in a matter of fact. "Punishment is tickling!" His hands came faster than she expected. Fast enough to catch her off guard. His hands attacked her sides. Unfortunately, Chrome's defense mechanism against tickling is to laugh and attempt to pry the pale hands away. However, once she pushed a hand away, it came back.
"No, stop" Chrome breathed out with forced giggles. "Please." The silver-haired boy didn't obey; instead he attempted to find out more of her ticklish spots. From her soft side, a hand relocated itself to her neck. Instantly, Chrome tilted her head, trying to block his fingers from touching her neck, but failed. His hand was able to squeamish through the blocked off neck. "Killua, please stop" Chrome begged again. After attempting to push Killua's hands away, she thought to attack him instead. Like a famous saying goes, "A good offense is a good defense."
In the mist of Killua's tickling, Chrome attempted to tickle him. Her hands traveled from Killua's wrist to his waist. Killua saw her attempt in attack, but just smiled. "I'm not ticklish, just so you know."
A frown appeared on the girl's face once she realized that her attack had no effect on the boy. However she didn't stop. Keen on finding at least one of his weaknesses, she savaged his body for a spot that at least got a reaction. Her hands traveled from his waist up to his neck and back down to his chest. Still no reaction though. Killua, on the other hand, had stopped his attacks on the girl to observe her actions. A smirk grew on his face, knowing that it's hopeless for her to find a hint of weakness.
After a minute of assaulting Killua's body, Chrome stopped. "Give up already?" Killua asked, but Chrome didn't respond. Retracting her hands back to her personal space, Chrome refused to look at Killua's eyes. A blush flushed out across her face as she realized what she was doing. How stupid did she look, attempting to tickle the boy? He's still just a stranger, and Chrome is just attempted to tickle him while he just watched her. So embarrassing. Instead of facing the boy, she turned over and faced the wall. "What's wrong, Chrome?" Killua asked, wondering about her sudden change of action.
"I-It's nothing," Chrome forced a fake smile, but Killua didn't see it as her back is towards him. "I-I'm going to sleep. Good night." She pulled soft blanket over her body.
Killua wasn't convinced that it was nothing, but didn't press on. Instead, he followed the same suit and attempt to sleep next to a girl. "Good night."
Later that night roughly around 4 in the morning, the wooden cabin was quiet, expect for the winter wind blowing in the background, trying to disturb the sleepers. There was a creak sounded by the floor board of the cabin. Someone is awake in the middle of the night. However, the guest room was dark, and the two children were sleeping soundly side by side. The girl slept on her side as she faced the wall in her sleep. The boy slept the same as her, facing the same way too. If the two children are asleep, then there must one other who's making the floor boards creak.
Tanuku, the host of the cabin, sneaked around the cabin in search of something. Perhaps what he was looking for wasn't in the living room. Why would it? It should be inside the guest room with the children. However, the human mole had made false hope that the girl would have left her book bag in the living room. Once he realized that what he was looking for was inside the guest room, he sighed. He didn't want to wake the children up, but if he wants his belonging back, he must search for it in the guest room. As the adult turned the metal door knob, he pushed himself in very slowly, peering into the dark.
Even as a human, Tanuku has a good sense of vision in the dark. It would be even better if he transformed himself into a mole, but if he were to do that, the floor board would creak even louder with a heavier weight. The room is dark, and not a sound was made. The human mole was convinced that the children were still sleeping soundlessly. The children were closer to each other than he thought they would be. They're practically a few inches apart. To be honest, Tanuku thought that Killua would be sleeping on the floor, or attempt to stay awake. Luckily for the adult, they were asleep. He looked around the small room for the girl's book bag. Easily located, it was at the foot of the bed, leaning against the nightstand.
Tanuku smiled as he found his target. It should be better to search the book bag for his wallet in the light of the living room than in the dark. Grabbing a hold of the leather strap, Tanuku found himself unable to even lift up the book bag. It took him nearly all of his strength to lift it an inch off the floor. "What in the blazing hell is in this—"
"What do you think you're doing?" a voice came from the bed. It belonged to Killua. The boy sat up from the bed, glaring at human mole. "Stealing from a girl?"
"W-what?" Tanuku dropped the bookbag from an inch above the floor board. Due to the heavy weight, the book bag made a large impact on the floor. "No, you got it all wrong!" He whispered, peering at the sleeping girl to make sure the commotion didn't wake her up. Killua sat up, waiting impatiently for the adult to explain his actions. "Y-you see, during that commotion in the bar, she stole my wallet. So I'm just trying to get it back, okay? I'm not stealing from her!"
"Right," Killua folded his arms, clearly not believing in anything the human mole had said.
"Believe me! I can show it to you! M-my wallet, it has my ID in it!" Tanuku fumbled around to get the book bag to open and reached inside to pull out a wallet. Flipping a wallet open, he scan it. "I-it's not in here. Where's my ID? The girl, s-she took it! I swear!" Tanuku's volume increased as he started to panic.
Completely un-amused, Killua glared daggers into his eyes. "Leave," the boy demanded, ready to pounce at the frantic human.
"No, no, Killua. He's right." A sleepy girl placed her hand on Killua's shoulder to pull herself into a sitting position while rubbing her eye with the other. "I did steal his wallet at the bar. It's in there somewhere." Chrome sighed, "You could've asked instead of waking us up in the middle of the night, you know? Killua, can you open the lights?" She motioned the boy for a minor favor, and he complied. Chrome squint her eyes as the bright lamp on the nightstand burned into her sleepy eyes. Though, she quickly recovered and sluggishly climbed over the boy's leg to reach her book bag. Without much trouble, Chrome was able to lift it up and onto the bed, unlike Tanuku. The heavy weight pulled the mattress down.
"What's inside that book bag?" Tanuku asked, surprised at the heaviness again.
"Weights," Killua answered as Chrome searched for three wallets that she had stolen earlier. "Lots of weights." He eyed curiosity at the book bag, still wanting to test how heavy it is for himself. Chrome pulled out the two other wallets, since the last one is in Tanuku's hands. Opening the two wallets, she easily saw the picture of the human mole, as a human and as a mole side by side. Quite a strange photo to keep, but it is who Tanuku is.
"Here you go." Chrome handed over a wallet to him.
Tanuku thanked her silently, but eyed the two extra wallets. "Are these your wallets?"
"No, they're not," she replied casually. "They belong to two other costumers from Star Bar."
"So, you stole them." Tanuku said slowly, surprised on how honest and casual she is. Chrome nodded in response. With a sigh, Tanuku asked Chrome to give him the other wallet. "Here, give it to me. I'll return the wallets to their rightful owners."
The girl handed over the wallet to him without any question or hesitation. Papa always did tell her to treat others with courtesy and kindness when they have something to offer, whether it was a bed to lie down on or a free meal to eat. This human mole had only one thing to offer: the entrance to the Hunter Exam.
"So if we're done now, I'll like to get back to sleep." Killua rolled over, covering himself with the blanket to pretend to sleep. Chrome gave a yawn to indicate her sleepiness, too. Being waken up in the middle of the night does have a strain on her mind, especially when she has to be courteous to the person who woke her up.
"Right, of course," Tanuku realized that it is still 4 in the morning, and he abruptly woke the two children up, "I'm sorry for this incident."
"It's no problem. Just ask, instead of sneaking around. It makes you look really suspicious." Chrome said tiredly, climbing over Killua to get to her side of the bed. "Good night, Mr. Tanuku."
"Good night." The perpetrator closed the lamp and exited the room. Chrome and Killua are left in the dark guest room once again. However, those two children fell fast asleep, because tomorrow will be a long day of walking.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 07 of Assassins and Thieves. I am so sorry for the two week long wait. I had some trouble with the writing, and had a bad case of writer's block. I hope you can forgive me for making you wait so long. However, I'm curious. Would you like me to speed the story up, or is the slow pace fine? It's been seven chapters and they're still not at the Hunter Exam yet. Please tell me what you think in the review. As always, any advice and feedback is highly appreciated. See you in Chapter 08.