DISCLAIMER : Following the word itself "fanfiction", I do not own anything in this fiction and credits belong to the rightful creators of the manga: TOGASHI YOSHIHIRO, the publisher, the broadcasting companies of the anime both 1999 original version and 2011 remake - Nippon Animation and Madhouse, respectively and etc.

REPLIES TO COMMENTS

Kaori Jade : No,... thank you for reading and also you 're welcome!

Sakura Petal : Yay, thanks!

Milye6 : There's actually one photo of them two I used to have which would make a better cover than this one but sadly can;t find it cuz it got accidentally deleted from my phone T_T

CHAPTER 5

-THE BACKSTORY 2-

(CONTINUATION OF THE LONG FLASHBACK)

Next day, afternoon.

"I found this on the kitchen counter..." Koala handed over to Kite a piece of note.

It said...

"I'm sorry I'm not gonna be able to cook dinner for you guys tonight. I left early because I'll be heading to the Republic of Padokea. I found a job opportunity in an estate on top of the Kukkuroo Mountain as a Personal Butler. I would be working for Killua's younger sister Alluka as the estate I was talking about was a property of the Zoldycks and I thought it wouldn't be bad if I grab the said opportunity while I didn't have much missions as a Hunter at the moment. I haven't told Knov-sensei yet about it, but I'll be informing him as soon as I can.

Don't worry, I would still visit during my day-off and will still cook meals for you guys! See ya!

-Palm"

"Kukkuroo Mountain?" They spoke in unison.

Kunckle and Shoot have left and Kite with his team and the ants were all discussing the strange events that have happened yesterday up to this afternoon.

"Yup." Kite nodded. "You heard it right."

"But..." Spin uttered. "That's where the legendary assassins live right?"

"Yeah. But she said she would be working for Killua's sibling and she's pretty close to Killua so she can maybe use the connection for her own safety. Or rather she grabbed the job because of Killua's sister."

"But why the sudden?"

"I have no idea..." Kite answered. "I am not too sure if it has a connection with what we heard from her this morning and the thing that happened last night..."

This morning.

"Well... it wasn't much of a big deal..."

They all gathered around the table finally with Palm sitting with them. They finally got her to talk as to why the drastic change. They were all quiet, listening to Palm as she told her story.

"My life was on the line back then..." She continued as she poured some tea into a tea cup from a kettle.

"I was outnumbered and they all seem to be ready to kill everyone in their way. They appeared like either they are chasing something or someone or the other way around... It was pretty vague from my point of view..." She started to add some sugar into it.

"They were battling with this assailant... and the assailant was..." She paused for a while as her subtle expression started to intensify... Her hands trembled as she poured more sugar into her tea. "He was..." She continued stuttering. "He was..."

"He was... what?" Knuckle asked growing a little impatient.

"His hair was long... he was tall and has a pale complexion... he moved gracefully with the wind, smoothly, precisely... he had a good balance between agility, accuracy and strength, like a perfcet combat machine... his silky long hair waved with him as he spun to every direction... and his scent... his scent was..."

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE WHO ATTEMPTED TO KILL YOU!?" Knuckle cut her off.

"Oh sorry (giggle)" Palm added more sugar. "Well... the first two died..." She scooped for more sugar enough for its heaps to emerge from the surface.

"Umm your tea..." Banana finally spoke for the rest who were all disturbed by the crazy amounts of sugar she added into her tea.

"Oh, yes, sorry again... I think this is enough..." She carefully lifted the tea cup and sipped until it was empty. They all cringed as they watched her wiping the excess tea on the sides of her chapped lips with a napkin nearby. "I did not even have to move an inch back then... he did all of the work... even before I could execute an attack to defend myself from those grunts as I watched him battle with a huge number of them... even if I was strong enough to kill all of them by myself..."

"So, you are trying imply that this mysterious man saved you?" Kite asked.

"OH, NO NO NO! It's not what I mean!" She frantically shook her head in denial. "It's not that I'm trying to say that he actually intended to save me or anything because he grew the same feelings or..., it was just that... he was..." She stopped talking for some seconds as it appears that she was getting more and more flustered the further she moved on with her story. "I... I think I needed to get some fresh air..." She stood up and ran outside of the room leaving a trail of black hearts.

They looked at each other and shrugged.

"But how would it relate?" Mon asked in behalf of the rest who were listening.

"I have no idea. It could be that the mysterious man she was talking about this morning told her about the job opportunity." Kite explained. "However, it was a little impossible because it appears that she was unable to converse with the mysterious man. The details of the story were poorly told and connected that I cannot grasp enough ideas from it."

"But I'm pretty sure these bizarre events are related one way or another." Meleoron suggested.

"Wait!" Ikalgo interrupted. "If that's the case, I am not too sure about Killua embracing the idea of his friend working at their household..."

"Eh?"

"Yeah... I mean, he spoke about their household badly. It's just a thought but you know, as the legendary assassins they are, the Zoldycks have a lot of secrets they had to keep in. Even Killua's sister herself was a family secret. Remember how high the security was back then when Killua had his sister heal Gon last year? Knowing Killua, I bet he doesn't want any of his friends get involved to their family matters." Ikalgo explained.

"Hmm... for sure I remembered Killua saying he already quit being an assassin and have already cut off his affiliations with the family's business..." Spin said.

"We can all assume that." Kite agreed. "Connecting it to the incident with the mysterious man, it could also be that the mysterious man holds the key as to how Palm heard of the vacancy. I think it has got something to do about what or who she has been watching last night with her clairvoyance..."

"Or that man could've been the one she was watching... who knows?" Stick added.

"She seems to have a thing for that mysterious man..." Banana suggested. "Do you think it is possible that the man works somewhere nearby the estate? I mean, it could be that upon watching him, she saw and heard about the job and to get closer to him she chose to grab the job opportunity..."

"Mm-hmm... it makes all sense." Kite nodded. "If Killua's sister really was her purpose, her behaviour and reactions since last night were pretty off. The man was probably one of the reasons why she grabbed the opportunity under the pretext of working for Killua's sibling. Regardless, it was dangerous. The man could be either working for the family, or stays near the estate and to get closer to him she decided to apply for the vacancy. According to the vague details Palm stated, the man appears to be involved with the underground affairs. If any of them figures out her intention or mistook it for something much more malicious, she could get into huge trouble, either getting herself dragged into the man's perilous affairs or even the man himself will be the one to dispose of her. We cannot let that happen..."

"But according to her story, the man seemed to have saved her right?" Mon asked.

"Yeah. We can rule out the idea of the mysterious man disposing of her. We can pretty much assume that the man might even get attached to her over the time if she gets succesful with her plans on getting closer to him. That is, if fate considers it. There can be a lot of odds that would come her way. But we can still not ignore the possibility that still, one way or another, the mysterious man might get her into trouble or worse, might cause her demise."

"Shall we tell it to Killua?" Meleoron asked.

"We cannot until we gather further information. I feel like there's something we're missing out..." Kite concluded. "For now, we had to keep in touch with her to assure her safety and at the same gather more information. We still had to figure out the identity of the mysterious man, and what he has to do with the Zoldycks."

Late at night.

"So... we meet again." A tall guy in his late twenties to early thirties with blood-red hair greeted.

He was sitting somewhere at the edge of the rooftop, overlooking the city and the glimmering night lights as he looked back to someone who was approaching him.

"Sorry I was late. Had a lot of emergency to attend to." The approaching person apologized.

It was the mysterious man with long black hair. He stood by the edge of the rooftop besides the redheaded guy. "It's been a long time..." The redhead responded.

"You consider two months to be long huh..." The mysterious man answered. "You seemed bored. Not having much action lately?"

"You can say it that way... I have invested a lot of time in my fruits and fate seems to betray me..."

"That's great."

"Is that supposed to be an understatement?" The redhead smirked, lifting a brow.

"Nope. I was implying that I just hit you up at the right moment."

"Make sure it'd be worth it (giggle)."

"It is..."

"So, how's you? How's your dilemma with your brothers lately? Finally found a way to get yourself out of your family bugging you about your civil status?"

END OF CHAPTER 5