Assassins and Thieves

Chapter 13

The laughter of children filled the halls as the three young examinees explored the unfamiliar terrain of the Hunter Committee's aircraft. It wouldn't have been all that interesting if Chrome was alone. She's quite grateful to have met these two boys named Killua and Gon. Honestly, she barely spent any time with children her age, mainly with adults. As for now, she'll enjoy her time as a happy 12 years old girl. From stealing food from the kitchen to playing tricks on sleeping adults and attempting to find the control room, the trio was kept busy for the next three hours.

After a while, Gon, Killua, and Chrome stopped by a bench with a large window to stare at the night sky. "Hey, Chrome," Gon asked as he looked to his right at his newly found friend, "how did you manage to get back up?" The three preteens leaned on the windowsill and stared at the thousands lighted dots of the cityscape.

The girl knew everyone was curious, but it wasn't much of a big deal. "Oh, it's not a big deal. My book bag was too heavy for the wind, so I had to climb up." She shrugged. "I put the egg in my book bag first, though; so I fell down pretty far."

"Pff, idiot!" Killua blurted out an insult, "You should've dropped your book bag! Then you would've fly back up!"

"You know I can't," she gasped and placed a hand on her bandana in offense. Chrome frowned at that suggestion. She knew she could've easily done that, but that suggestion was out of the question! Never would she just abandon her book bag. She would never disobey her father's order when she clearly had other options.

Obviously, Gon was out of the loop as he tilted his head in confusion. "Why not, Chrome?"

"Because, Chrome's Papa told her that she can't!" Killua mocked, shaking his head in disapproval, "Told her to keep that stupid heavy book bag for the whole exam! Really stupid idea! Chrome could've died because of that!"

"Why would your father do that?" Gon questioned, but Killua shrugged.

"Training," Chrome answered as if it was obvious, "Beside if I die, then that means I'm not strong, smart, or quick enough. It'll be my fault, not Papa's."

"Does your mother approve?"

"Oh, I don't have a mom; only a Papa," she said through a smile.

Gon looked at her in surprised, then apologetic. "Oh, sorry. I…I didn't know."

"It's okay," she tried not to dull the mood as she bumped shoulders with Gon, "I don't need a mom. Papa is all I need. What about Killua?" Chrome attempted to give some attention to the silver haired boy to her right and she bumped shoulders with him, too. "How are your parents?"

Killua nearly flinched as a reflex as he didn't expect her to bump into him, but he did bump back in revenge, causing a chain reaction with Gon and Chrome. "Mine? They're alive, I guess." His shoulders shrugged in response.

Well, that was a strange response, but Chrome didn't push on it. Gon, on the other hand, did. "Ehh, what do they do?"

"They're assassins."

"Both of them?" Gon asked curiously.

After a pause of silence, Killua's face lit with a smile of amusement and joy as he laughed at the boy's question and reaction, but with a single nod, he went on ranting about his escape from his family and the pressure he's dealing with about his future career. Becoming a hunter and capturing his family for their bounty. Gon and Chrome just sat there, staring the silver-haired assassin prodigy being warped into his fantasy of the future. Is that why Killua ran away? Chrome questioned. Because he doesn't want to become an assassin? He wants to be free and think for his own. That is quite an ideal way of thinking.

However, the conversation was quite short as a sharp malicious tension stabbed the three children. Chrome, Killua, and Gon all turned around as quickly as possible at the intruder, but were greeted by a dark hallway. Yet their head simultaneously turned towards the Hunter Association Chairman who came from the other direction. Chrome's frown deepened as she knew that the nasty aura came from him, but she said nothing about it. Strong was the only word that came through her mind.

"Is there something wrong?" He teased fully aware on why the three children turned tensed and a bit hostile, but he approached them with a smirk on his face. Chrome and Killua knew this man was the source.

As if Gon was clueless about the source of the vicious aura, he asked the smug chairman, "Netero, did you see anyone coming from that side?" Despite the fact that the three children knew the truth, the chairman shook his head. This obvious lie had created an aggressive atmosphere around the four people.

Even more, a hostile tension coming from the silver haired boy as his eyes narrowed in annoyance, or anger. However, Chrome didn't feel it was necessary to challenge the chairman; Gon seemed to be confused by this encounter.

"What do you want, old man?" Killua sneered cautiously.

Of course, Netero played innocent as he explained himself, "I got bored, and was looking for some companions." Before any of the three children could respond, a question was asked. "How is your first attempt at the Hunter Exam?"

Gon, Killua, and Chrome replied honestly. There's no reason for her to lie about something so silly, but her feeling is the same as Killua's. The exam was boring and too easy. Hopefully, it'll be more challenging in the later phases. However, this question was obviously small talk. There's a reason why Netero had rudely interrupted the children's conversation.

"I propose we play a game to pass the time."

While Gon and Killua agreed to the chairman's offer, Chrome had to decline. "Sorry, I want I call Papa first." The conversation earlier had reminded her to speak with him. "You should go; maybe I'll join you guys later."

"Aww, okay," Gon pouted for a second, but came back smiling quickly, "Bye, Chrome!" The boy in green proceeded on pulling the boy in lavender eagerly and impatiently. "Come on, Killua!"

With that, the three had left Chrome in the empty hallway.

Finally, silence shrouded the halls of the Hunter Committee's aircraft. Chrome didn't know she missed it until she was given the chance to soak in the steady hum of the engines and the sound of three set of feet walking away. For the past week, she was surrounded by constant chatter, but now she sat on a bench alone, staring at the night time cityscape. It finally gave her a chance to take deep breaths and evaluate her performance in the First and Second Phases of the Hunter Exam, but that's not why she excused herself from the little play date with Gon, Killua, and the Hunter Committee's chairman. She wanted to give her father a call while she still can.

Reaching into her book bag, Chrome pulled out her phone and proceeded to dial for her father. Currently, it is 11:14 pm. Papa shouldn't be sleeping yet, maybe reading a book or getting ready to head to bed. After the three echoed rings, the other side of the line picked up. Chrome's heart dropped a bit once she heard her father's smooth voice.

"Chrome, what are you doing up? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" His calming voice turned a bit static-like due to the long distant call. "How are you doing?"

"Papa!" Her tone of voice heightened due to her excitement, "Just wanted to call you for a bit. I'll go to sleep soon. Don't worry."

"So how's the exam?"

"It's really boring!" Chrome pouted, "But I made two friends, Papa!"

For the next two to three hours, she poured her heart out to her father on the other line. Her smile never left her face during the call. There was so much to talk about, but so little time. From the time when Chrome got off the boat with Hisoka to the time she played hide and seek with Gon and Killua on this airship, she told her father every single detail. Maybe excluding, the night she shared bed with a certain assassin. Most of her stories included Gon and Killua, and Chrome's father noticed this.

"Chrome, I have a question for you," his voice asked in a serious tone.

"What is it, Papa?"

"Who would you follow: me or this Killua and Gon?"

"Of course, you, Papa!" Chrome's eyebrows furrowed at his question in slight confusion. "That question was kind of weird. Why did you ask that?"

"Hmm, it's nothing." Her father's voice assured her, but her suspicion wasn't cleared up. "It's time for you to sleep. It's 2 o'clock. Completely pass your bed time." Wow, almost three hours.

"But, Papa!" she whined on the phone, still curious about that question. No way was it just nothing.

"You should rest while you still can." Her father scolded her, "Good night, little Chrome."

The girl pursed her lips not wanting to follow his direction, but she kept quiet about that. "Okay. Good night, Papa." A yawn escaped from her lips as she hung up the phone and placed it in her book bag. Papa or Killua and Gon? What kind of question was that? Before Chrome could've thought of an answer for that, she sensed someone from down the not-so-empty hall, and perked her head up to check if she was right.

A tall male figure came around the corner of the hall. "Hisoka?" Chrome tilted her head in confusion. "What are you doing here so late?"

The magician smiled with closed eyes at her. "Chrome, that would be my question to you," he hummed as he invited himself to sit next to the lone girl. "Interesting that you're not with those two boys."

Chrome leaned back on the bench as her hand propped herself up, trying to relax a bit but failed as she became tense when Hisoka came over. "Killua and Gon went to play with the chairman. I stayed behind. I wanted to call Papa. We just finish."

"Oh, is that so?" Hisoka's interest pecked at the mentioning of her Papa. "and how is he?"

Instead of answer right away, she stared at his squinting eyes for a moment, trying to figure out why he really asked that question. Why would Hisoka care about her father and his wellbeing? Though, it appears to her that no one can figure out the thoughts in his mind. Nonetheless, Chrome was obligated to answer. "He's doing fine. There's actually someone who bought that dumb painting for fifty million Jenny! Papa had been trying to get rid of that thing for months now."

"I see," the magician simply replied. Chrome wasn't sure if her answer satisfied his question, or knew what he was really looking for. For the next couple of minutes, there was dead silence between the two; yet, there was a heavy atmosphere surrounding her. Her breaths became short and shallow as she focused on the strange tension the hall seemed to have. Should she say something? Why is Hisoka even here, sitting next to her? He didn't seem to be interested in a conversation. Just sat there and stared straight ahead with a smile on his face.

"Hi-Hisoka, umm," Chrome took a deep breath and attempted to break the silence. The man turned towards the girl as that smile never left his face. He always managed to creep her out without even trying; more so now since they're alone together. Why are you even here? "Can you show me how to throw those cards?" Chrome swore Hisoka cannot smile any wider as he nodded his head in silence.

The magician took out a pack of playing cards from his back as if he was showing her a magic trick. The girl's eyes were entranced by his movement and grace as he sprung the cards from hand to hand. In the mist of his shuffling, Hisoka managed to send one of the cards flying into the plaster wall with minimum effort and movement. A frown appeared on Chrome's face as she was dissatisfied at his demonstration. "Can you do that again?"

"Of course," the man hummed.

Instead of throwing it in a mist of shuffle, Hisoka held a card in between his index and middle finger. Next thing Chrome knew was the card is now stuck inside the wall right below of the previously thrown card. The desk of cards was placed in her hand as Hisoka stood up. "I shall be going. Good luck and good night, little Chrome."

The adult began to walk away from the bench and towards the ominous dark hallway, but Chrome attempted to stop him. "Hisoka, wait!" She called out, "Why did you come here for?" However, the man didn't give her the satisfaction of his reason and just walked away. Chrome let out a sigh with a defeated smile. "Good night, Hisoka." Still, Chrome wondered his purpose of being here. He didn't gain anything from sitting here in silence with her for a few minutes, so why? Instead, he gave her a pack of cards. Though, there is no doubt he had more stored somewhere.

Mindlessly shuffling the cards in her hands, Chrome decided to give it a go. A card in between her right index and middle, she tossed the seven of hearts into the wall. Disappointingly, her attempt failed; and it didn't even make a dent in the wall. With a small hint of determination, she tried again, and again, and again, until she heard footsteps from down the hall. Her head turned to her right to meet the eyes of the incoming person. She met with sharp intense blue eyes that immediately widened once he saw her eyes. She swore it gave off a murderous tension before, and realized those blue eyes belonged to her friend.

"Chrome, you're still here?" Killua asked as he approached her with only his shorts and shoes on. His two shirts were tucked underneath his arm.

Chrome couldn't help herself as she stared at the bare chest of this 12 year old assassin. Such pale skin, she thought. Having a hard time looking at Killua's eyes instead of his chest, she turned her head away slightly embarrassed. "Y-yeah, where's Gon? Is he still playing? How was the game? Must be hard since you're…" not wearing a shirt. Chrome bombarded the boy with a string of questions, trying to get her mind away from his bared chest. It's not like she never saw man without a shirt before, but some reason, she's getting flustered over it.

Of course, Killua noticed her distresss, and a mischievous smirk can be seen at the corner of Chrome's eyes. Oh no, this isn't good. There was that smirk. That same smirk from the night at Tanuku's guest room. That same smirk right before Killua tickled her. He slid right next to her on the bench, knowing that it's too close for comfort. "I'm sweaty?" Killua attempted finished her sentence.

"Eww!" Chrome jokingly stuck her tongue at Killua while sliding away from him, "get away!"

In response, he slid closer to her and wiped a hand on her bare arm. "Aw, it's not that bad, see?" Her entire right arm flinched away once he slid that sweaty palm on her. Laughter burst out from Killua's lip as he found her reaction hilarious.

"No, but you should really put on a shirt," Chrome turned away once again, still tempted to look at the boy's chest. She felt her cheeks heating up in response. Stop it, she told herself, stop blushing!

"Nah, I don't think so." Killua's heavy head is now resting on her shoulder, "I like it like this."

Once again, a defeated sigh was exhaled through her lips. "Fine, have it your way."

Chrome closed her eyes, finally relaxing. A few more moment of silence like this is peaceful to her. Despite the fact that her half-naked friend is leaning on her shoulder, this is moment is quite special. Though she couldn't say why it was, but it's just is. Before she knew it, her head tilted over the fluffy silver hair as she fell into a light sleep.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading Chapter 13 of Assassins and Thieves! This time, I really want thoughts and opinions. I want to know what do you think of Chrome's father? Like him? Don't like him? Don't really care? Anything thoughts, maybe questions? Also, do you think Hisoka was a bit out of character? He's really hard to write. I did try my best! Anyways, as always thanks for reading! See you in Chapter 14!