A/N: Hooray! I finally got with writing the real events, nyaha~ The chapter really is about Akane's stubbornness, and Gon's... idk, stubbornness as well, I guess.
Speaking of stubbornness, school is acting bad on me and I have High School Entrance Examinations next month and people are forcing me to study and just study, so I don't know if I'll be able to concentrate. I promise, though, that I will update. Somehow.
Thinking of the title, I can hear Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds" playing in my head... GET IT OFF MAH HEAD!

OWC: 3,102 words! The longest chapter I've ever written! *or so I believe*

DISCLAIMER: Yoshihiro Togashi owns HxH; some dialogues from this are taken straight from the manga.

"You owe me some explanations, young lady," the demanding voice came as Akane choked on her cereal. It was seven in the morning, and she wasn't expecting this.

This is what you call, bad timing.

Akane decided to take this in a stride. She will only take the worst measures when there's nothing left to defend herself and her righteous action with; push comes to shove, worse to worse. She would have to be gentle first, knowing it was a very delicate topic to her father… especially knowing how the Zaoldyecks were actually tied to his life, she would understand the pain.

Besides, if there was one thing she'd rather avoid do, that would be freak out and let her parents make the rash decision that would affect all of their plans since the start. "Pa, we have a friend named Killua. He lives in Kukuru," she said, slowly explaining so that her father absorbs it all. She heard him murmur something like, yeah, and he's a hobo living in the forest there, but she ignored it. "He came to the Hunter Exams with us, and unfortunately at the end he got disqualified." She breathed, seeing her father was tapping his desk angrily, waiting for her to continue. He hasn't burst out yet, and she took it as a good sign. "…I'm sorry, Pa, but I have to do this."

Andropov's eyebrows were knitted tightly together as he narrowed his eyes. "Who is this Killua you are saying?"

"He was my first friend from the Hunter exam," Akane stated calmly. "And he is like my little brother. I will save him from his family that has just robbed him of his freedom."

Ignoring the arguments of his daughter, Andre repeated, "Who is this Killua?"

"The youngest son of theirs. His name is Killua Zaoldyeck."

From behind the sink, Gon heard the slight crashing of a plate as Akane's father shouted, "KATARINA!" He pushed Akane down the hallway, determined to bring her to her room, to prepare to ground her again.

"Andre-san," Gon said, making Andropov stop. "I think you should give your daughter a chance to explain."

Andropov glared at Gon. "I have warned her not to mess with those assassins! They are ruthless, heartless people who do not have a single bit of conscience left for the people they kill!"

Gon just glared back, and Andropov flinched. Such emotional eyes shouldn't be seen on kids' faces. For all he knew, it was burning with heavy emotions. It was painful for him to see it there, plastered on such an innocent child's face. What's more, he felt like it was his own fault. "If there is one thing—yes, just one thing—that Akane would be able to teach you, that would be not to judge a book by its cover. Sure, Killua may be from a line of assassins. Sure, Killua may have grown up in a terrible environment. Sure, Killua may have been killing since he was born, but he is still human. And from him, all of us found a friend we could trust our lives in, and we have proven that in the Hunter Exam!" Gon's eyes welled. "I, no, WE will make sure that he will not return back to the monster he may have been before! Killua will become Killua, not ZAOLDYECK! He will just be a fun-loving 12-year-old who loves chocolate, and knows how to fight for his friends, with his own strength."

Akane, who was well into fighting back her tears, couldn't hold it any longer. The pain that was aching in her heart was worse than the pain of her father pulling her hair. "You don't know, Pa. You don't know how it feels to lose a friend. Because you've never had one! You don't know how it feels! I have a life! AND DON'T STOP ME!" She pulled her father's fingers out of her blonde hair, and she pushed him to the wall hard enough that he was disoriented for a while. She immediately picked up the bag that was sitting on her chair, ready to go. The three caught the signal and knew they were going to leave now. It would be the best thing to do.

"KATARINA! COME BACK HERE YOUNG LADY!" Andropov shouted, but the door was just slammed in his face. Illyasviel, who was now standing at his side, felt a tear ran down her cheek. Whether it was of happiness or sadness, it was beyond her.

"Akane's changed, don't you think?"

"This is the TERROR BUS company, the only bus company that brings you a straight tour route to the Kukuru mountain where the famed Zaoldyeck assassins live!" The tour guide shouted from the side of the bus door. Gon poked her shoulder with a fishpole. "Sorry, minors aren't allowed unless there's parental admissio—"

Akane, who was trying to calm down with her hands shoved deep into her pockets, took out her Hunter License and waved it in front of the tour guide's face. "We're professional Hunters, and I believe by the State of Law us minors are allowed on this bus, am I correct?" she said with an irritated huff and came in the bus. The bus driver nodded and they found the last four seats and the back end. They sat down, though not comfortably.

The irritated, agitated aura still came out pretty obviously out of Akane. For some reason, she had that urge to blast someone's head out. That would be the first person who irritates her in the Zaoldyeck mansion. She hoped there would be worthy opponents.

She stopped her thought. She couldn't even beat Killua! Why bother thinking she'll be able to beat the other Zaoldyecks. She shook her head, making sure to erase the last sentence from her previous thought.

She hoped there would be no opponents.

"Kukuru's a half-hour drive at this tour-bus pace. We'll be able to make a game plan by then… hopefully," Akane said with a sigh as she settled for a seat by the window. Kurapika took a seat beside her and patted her head.

"You might as well cool down too, Akane," he said. "Buzzing around angrily will not help at all."
Akane sighed, and with that sigh came all the other frustration. She knew he was right. "So what do you plan on doing when we reach Kukuru, Gon?" Akane asked instead.

"Get the closest route to Killua," Gon said. "I know there will be a lot of barricades or watchers or obstacles, but I will still take the straightest path to Killua."

"This is the Zaoldyecks we're talking about…" Akane murmured, but Gon shook his head.

"Killua is a Zaoldyeck too. But unlike his family, he has a heart."

Akane sighed, realizing the wrongness in their decision to take the tour bus. The tour bus was as slow as a turtle, and even took on a stop as the guide explained all the boring sights. Five minutes, Ten, Akane didn't even bother to check. She was leaning out the window, seeing Kukuru grow bigger and bigger in size as they neared it…

Soon they were all up the Kukuru Mountain. It was a snaky path going up, and it almost made her sick, but here she was, fine and okay. Each of them jumped off the bus, not really expecting what they'd see. They found a gigantic gate—Akane didn't bother to estimate the size, only that it was huge—that seemed to be reaching to the stars.

The tour guide—Coco-chan, as Gon called her—told us that the gate was called "The Gate to the other World." Akane shivered—definitely not the least homey. "No one who comes in can get out alive," Coco said with an eerie voice, and Akane almost jumped out of her skin seeing the gargoyles standing at the top of the gate.

Well, she wasn't expecting Gon to be that straightforward. After Coco's detailed explanation of the eerie-ness that might lay inside, he asked, "Coco-chan, how do you get inside?"

Coco remained smiling, but it was pretty obvious she was forcing it. "Did you hear what I just said, kid? You can't go out once you go in. This is a killer's lair, not some playground!

Gon frowned. He didn't like the answer, apparently. What's worse than anything is Gon playing innocent, because after that, there's nothing you'll be able to do."Yes, but…"

"If you get inside, you won't come out again alive!" The guide said through a forced smile, "This is a killer's lair, you know?"

"But it's not true, isn't it?" a bulky man came to Coco. "A family of phantom assassins with 100% success rate… keh, it must be a bluff," he said.

"They say you can auction a picture of them to up to a billion zennis," the thinner one said with a sneer. "They must be fake, right? Since no one's ever seen them, nor how powerful they are," he added.

No one ever seen them? Gimme a break, Akane snorted.

"Wait!" Kurapika called, and they stopped. "What do you plan on doing?"

The bulky man showed him a piece of red thing—which they recognized easily as dynamite. Leorio and Kurapika gasped, Gon narrowed his eyes, but Akane kept a calm look.

Time to test your family's power, Kil, Akane thought with a smirk.

Coco immediately started to plead for them to stop, but they didn't. They lit the bomb and tossed it to the gate. Instinctively, Leorio pulled Kurapika and Akane away from the gate, and Gon ran alongside them. They were far enough when the dynamite exploded.

KABLOOOIIIEEE!

Akane blinked as she turned around. The dust was still settling and it was getting straight into her eyes.
They immediately went to the gatekeeper and beat him up—the poor man. He was probably 30-40, middle aged. The gatekeeper fought back, saying he shouldn't and wouldn't since he would get fired.

In the end, the key just dropped off from his pocket. Akane grunted; what the hell?

The two came up to the smaller side gate, opening it with the key. The door opened easier than the bigger one—Akane was guessing the big one was probably 20 tons total in weight, and very strong—and they got immediately in the grounds. The smaller one grunted, "Tch, Zaoldyecks my ass!"

The door closed, and Gon rushed toward the gatekeeper. "Are you okay, Keeper-san?"

Mr. Gatekeeper nodded. "Yes, I'm fine." He shook his head, contradictory to what he said, and Akane raised a curious eyebrow. "Tsk… if Mike gets fat, I'm going to be scolded…"

Mike? Akane wondered. Who the hell is Mike? And what does that have to do with anything?

Little did she know that her question was just about to be answered… by Mike himself.

A loud but gently beastly groan was heard from the other side as Mike put out the bones of the two men. It was partly gnawed on—every bit of bone was scraped clean, all innards cleaned away. Akane was about to regurgitate. The sight was unbearable, to her, anyway.

Now I get it why people despise and fear the Zaoldyecks, she thought to himself. What the hell is wrong with these—

The other tourists started screaming like the world was crashing down, headed straight to the bus. Her train-of-thought was paused, and she squinted her eyes, covering her ears to prevent hearing the unbearably too loud noise.

Coco was forced to immediately bring the bus to move. "Sirs, Miss? We are leaving now," he called to Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, and Akane.

Gon smiled at her. "Arigato, Coco-chan… but we're staying here…" Gon's voice stressed the word 'here,' but he didn't seem to have noticed. Coco gave him a weird, 'What the hell?' look before finally shrugging the matter off altogether and proceeded to leading the rest of the passengers into the bus.

"You are Killua-kun's friends, you say?" the gatekeeper—named Zebulo—asked as they were all in his little room. "It's heartwarming, how after working 20 years in this place, people actually come here introducing themselves that way… it's very rare—no, it hasn't happened before. Friend, it even tastes wrong in the mouth." He sighed. "As a mere employee, I may be damned by this, but this is such a sad residence. Many people who plan to destroy the Family come once in a while, and it's explainable. It's how things are planned." He looked up at the four of them. "However, Killua's friends may you be, I can't let you enter."

"Why?" Akane insisted. She did not fight her parents and gone all the way here just to be greeted by that.

"You saw it, didn't you? That beast's paw. He's Mike—the guard dog of the Family. He follows no orders other than the Family's; basically, it's uncontrollable. It has lawfully followed, word-per-word, the orders the Master has given to it 10 years ago…to control the intruders, if you get what I mean. More than loyal, it is very greedy. So, anyways, I can't let you enter, because I can't let Killua's friends be turned into bones like the men earlier."

"Wait, wait…" Akane said. She could see a hole in the matter. "Why are you, then, unharmed? You should be able to enter somehow without being killed.. otherwise, why would you have the key?"

"Smart observation, young girl," Zebulo said, sipping on his tea. "But still, you are half wrong."

"Ehh?" Akane now couldn't understand.

"I don't enter with this key," Zebulo said. "This is the special key for intruders. All the weird, ridiculous people who decide to blow up the front entrance are annoying. So we built a side door, with a lock. The intruders manage to steal the key from me, and I don't resist… so they are eaten by Mike, at the end. They walk right into the jaws of death… the poor men."

A special key just for this!

"With your look as a weak gate guadian, you're just basically in charge of cleaning up the mess that hound makes, aren't you?" Akane said, and he nodded with a smile. Akane was now thoroughly creeped out of the Zaoldyecks…

"…On the real door, there's no lock!" Kurapika exclaimed, and Zebulo said, "Exactly!"

"You mean—"

xXx

Akane and Leorio dashed to the giant, seven-layer door. Leorio came first and started to push, but Akane laughed at him. She pushed at him and she tried to push. Angrily, Leorio fought back and pushed her away again.

"Geez, you're like kids! Take your turns… Make the girl go first, will you, Leorio?" Zebulo said with a light laugh.

With a triumphant snort, Akane came to the door first as Leorio flicked his tongue out at her. Akane breathed, concentrating. She remembered how her Sensei in Martial arts told her to relax her upper body when doing strong pushes. Relax and tense, relax and tense, like a quick tone-up of her muscles. She breathed deeply. And pushed.

The doors creaked, maybe a mere inch, then she had to let go. She was strong—but not strong enough. She could hear Killua's taunting voice in her head.

Weak. Not strong enough.

Useless.

She slumped on the ground, breathing hard. "Akane, are you alright?"

Akane noticed, but her eyes had turned red. She looked up at Gon, making him gasp. "I'm fine. I'll open this door. I'll try… I'll try." She turned around, and eyes blazing scarlet, breathed and relaxed her muscles as earlier. With one big gulp of air, she pushed once more, now harder.

This time, the door opened, and there was a little slit of opening between the two heavy pieces of concrete door. But it closed immediately as it opened—everything she had worked on gone again.

"Damn!" she cursed as she slumped on the ground again, wiping off the beading sweat from her forehead. "Zebulo-san, how heavy are these doors? It's not impossible to open, but it's one hell of a task."

Zebulo smiled as he took off his uniform polo shirt. "You're a strong girl, in mind, in body, and in soul. You had the determination to keep pushing, you had the strength to actually push the door, and you had the mind to relax your muscles first. Excellent training, tell you, but still not enough."

Not enough.

Akane narrowed her eyes, watching Zebulo come closer to the door, trying her best to ignore the voice in her head.

"You see, this door's nickname is called the Door of Verification. The ones who can't open this door, don't have the right qualities to enter the Zaoldyeck's domain. Not worthy," Zebulo said with a fiercer tone as blazing aura came spewing out into every gigantic piece of muscle in his body.

Akane's eyebrow twitched. The old man had gigantic biceps—she thought maybe this is the kind of strength and muscle they needed to open the door… she had a little smile on her face as she imagined Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika with those muscles. She didn't bother to imagine herself since her Sensei told her that even though her muscles became tougher and stronger, she still remained to be thin, still looking weak, with slender curves. And she hated looking vulnerable.

She gasped as Zebulo opened the door with all his might, and then just closes up on him again. "You see, the door closes automatically. Once it opens, you have to enter without pausing. It becomes harder every year for me.. when I don't manage to anymore, I would get fired." Zebulo spun his arms, flexing his muscles. "'Do not attack people that enter through the door of verification.' That was the order given to the Mike." Zebulo turned to Akane. "To answer your first question, girl, each side of the first door is two tons."

Akane sighed. "Ugh! Makes sense!" Akane looked up at the seven doors. "The weight doubles per extra layer?" Zebulo nodded.
Leorio's mouth was now wide open. "Double…"

Zebulo was now beaming with pride as he turned to Gon. "When Killua entered, he opened the third door."

"12 tons!" Gon said, and Akane and Kurapika sweatdropped, correcting him with a light, "16, Gon."

"Can you see the difference now? The world they live in is different than ours. It would be better to leave.. I'm sorry."

Gon's eyes burned with determination as he stared at the door. "Sir, lend me your keys."

Akane, Kurapika, Leorio and Zebulo all asked him the same question.

"What?"