A/N: Finally! This is the sequel to A Series of Bizarre and Mildly Humourous Events! I apologize for taking so long to come out with it. In my defense, the story developed sentience and tried to kill me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story, and do remember to leave a review at the end! I'm trying to update the story one chapter a week, hopefully during the weekends when people have time to read it.

Hunter X Hunter does not belong to me. I do not own the copyright to any of these materials. This is a fanfiction written solely for the purposes of entertainment, and the views stated by the characters do not necessarily reflect the views of the author. If you wish to host this story on a site outside of fanfiction (dot) net, please contact the author for permission first.

The Attack Continues

By virtue of his chosen profession as a criminal, Kuroro had many identities and personas stored in the infinitely vast mind of his that he could draw on when he needed to interact with other people who weren't used to dead, soulless eyes staring straight into their minds. There was the 'nice and unthreatening guy', such as the persona he used in front of Neon Nostrad (known among the Ryodan as 'Dancho's lady-killer persona'). There was also his 'evil mastermind' persona which he had once used against a Hunter with a superhero complex. Suffice to say that playing this persona involved a lot of maniacal laughter and grandiose gestures. There were also the 'sexy vampire', the 'intellectual professor' and the 'innocent boy brought up by wolves' among others. What he had tended to find however, when in the presence of Midoya, was that he got drawn into her persona and, worse, got stuck there.

Take for example, his sleep cycle. In general, Kuroro habitually slept four to five hours a night (less if there was a mission), from one in the morning to five or six. When he was with Midoya, he found himself adapting to her sleep cycle such that he fell asleep around midnight and woke up around seven in the morning. The increase in sleep-time left him feeling confusedly well-rested and refreshed, which was just strange.

Anyway, his current well-being was quite beside the point. The point was that this increase in sleeping time explained why he was still in bed when the attack came at dawn.

Perhaps fifteen minutes or so before six, a window broke. Like a feather floating on a gentle breeze, Kuroro's mind coasted slowly into half-consciousness. Voices, shouting threats and insults came from the living room. The stench of burning filled the air. The bed shifted and the warm bundle next to him moved off the bed.

Kuroro mumbled sleepily and rolled over.

An indeterminate amount of time later, someone pounced onto Kuroro. The smell of perspiration, fear and oily scalp assured him it was not Midoya, so Kuroro swatted at the person with the self-righteousness of someone who doesn't deserve to be dragged out of bed for anything less than awesome, kinky sex.

"Fuck!" the odourous person above him exclaimed, obviously not having expected to find someone else in the room.

"Gweroff," Kuroro replied eloquently.

"Fuck!" the person exclaimed again, this time because someone else had just yanked him off the bed with a good deal of violence.

"Don't disturb my guest," Kuroro heard Midoya scold and then the person sounded a lot less vulgar and a lot deader.

Kuroro mumbled something that might have been 'encyclopaedia' with drowsy approval and went back to sleep.

Yet another indeterminate amount of time later, Kuroro half-woke to someone grabbing his hair and then holding something sharp and pointy to his neck. On the off chance that it might be Midoya initiating activities of a rough and sexual nature, Kuroro half-opened his eyes and stared at the hand in front of him. Unless Midoya had a sudden surge of testosterone that had resulted in muscular, hairy hands and had suddenly lost the ability to choose good quality knives, the person holding him was, in all likelihood, notMidoya.

"What are you doing?" Kuroro asked. At least that's what it sounded like in his sleep-addled mind. Out loud, it sounded more like, "Huh?"

"Hold still," a rough, masculine voice said in his ear. "I do not know who you are or what you are doing here, but I assure you that I am on the side of justice. I regret the necessity of taking you hostage but our foe, the…" And it was at this point the person holding him stopped talking, mainly because Midoya had just removed his head from his neck.

"It is rather difficult to talk when your mouth is no longer attached to your neck," Kuroro commented. At least that's what he thought he did. A few seconds later, he realized he had said, "Blurgh."

"Sorry for that. I'll try to keep the fight in the living room," Midoya said, tenderly brushed blood off his face then vanished.

"It's okay," Kuroro replied in his mind and went back to sleep.

Towards the end of the battle, probably closer to seven than six, someone shook Kuroro into a state of half-wakefulness.

"Please stop her," a frantic voice pleaded. "Please! I don't know who you are, but you are her friend right? Please… please tell her to stop! She's killing us all! Just… just tell her we're sorry! That we'll leave her alone! We'll… we'll pay her to stop! Any amount! Anything she asks for! Just tell her to stop killing us!"

Kuroro's brows furrowed in a frown. "Is Midoya on a killing spree? My goodness, she will have to call on Lucy again which is really unpleasant, as efficient as the dear woman is. But come now, you really do deserve to be killed. I am a powerful Nen-user myself, but even I would think twice about going against someone as powerful and as influential as Midoya. That you chose to go against her only proves that you are stupid and should be erased from the surface of the earth. However, I am a benevolent person and in the sort of merciful mood that sometimes compel me to volunteer at animal shelters, so I will give you some advice. At this point, you have to cease to think of Midoya as human and, instead, think of her as a wild animal. As even a man of your inferior intellectual level can guess, it is useless trying to rationalise with a wild animal. The best thing to do is thus to play dead. Simply lie on your back and expose your neck to her. That is the classic body posture of surrender. Midoya doesn't really kill for fun and she can be surprisingly soft-hearted if you don't give her reason to not be so. Hence, if you are really sincere and enthusiastic about your surrender, she'll probably let you live."

Satisfied with his answer, Kuroro closed his eyes expecting to be left alone so he could go back to sleep.

"Wait! Don't…" the person shrieked and then died.

"Oh. I forgot to say that out loud," Kuroro realized then yawned and turned over on his side.

Next to him, the bed depressed slightly and something warm and soft pressed against him. "There's still half an hour to seven," Midoya's voice murmured softly. "I'll call Lucy after we wake up."

Satisfied, Kuroro mumbled something that may have been of a warm and fuzzy nature, and then fell asleep.

The next time the Hunter's Association attacked, Kuroro was sitting on the suspiciously clean and stain-free couch reading a fascinating novel of Midoya's about a dog that could talk (a Nen-user perhaps, Kuroro guessed, or a genetically-mutated creature, no doubt the victim of cruel experiments; he would have to read to find out). This time, the Hunter's Association did not bother with a massive, huge-scale attack on the penthouse. Given how they have failed twice, Kuroro guessed they had finally realized that throwing meat at Midoya was not going to kill her. If anything, it only inspired her to greater forms of cruel creativity, like holding competitions with Kuroro to see who can throw a decapitated head the furthest (Kuroro won, but only by cheating). This time the Hunter's Association actually came up with something relatively intelligent – they sent a lone Hunter when Midoya was not at home, having taken advantage of the break to replenish her food supplies.

When the presence Kuroro had sensed climbing up the side of the penthouse reached the window, he had looked up to observe the Hunter climbing in. It turned out to be a young man with dark brown hair and large hazel eyes framed by long, dark lashes. Politely closing the window, the young man looked up and caught Kuroro's eyes. A likeable boyish smile spread across his face, producing dimples. "Hi," he said cheerily.

"Hello," Kuroro responded politely, just in case he was Midoya's friend.

"I'm Quinn," the young man said, his body language relaxed, even friendly. "I'm from the Hunter's Association."

"A pleasure. Midoya isn't in now…"

"I know that," Quinn said frankly. "I was not looking for Miss Kito. I was looking for you actually."

Kuroro eyed the young man over the top of his book. "May I ask why?"

"Of course. But first, may I take a seat?" Kuroro watched the young man point a little shyly at the loveseat.

"Be my guest."

"Right!" Smiling, Quinn dropped down on the loveseat and crossed his legs, dangling foot bouncing energetically. "Well, you see, the reason I wanted to speak with you is because you are a bit of an enigma with the Hunter's Association now." He dimpled again. "You see, we've noticed you for a while now. You turned up towards the end of Operation Nutcracker and you've been staying here since. However, though you haven't taken part in any of the fighting, you don't seem alarmed by the blood and the vast number of corpses."

"Oh, you are greatly mistaken. I am terribly alarmed by all the dead bodies. I once woke up next to a dead body lying next to me snoring. A horrible experience, as you can imagine, given how corpses shouldn't be making noises like that. Fortunately, it turned out to be Midoya asleep next to me."

"All you seem to do," Quinn went on, ignoring his comment, "is sit around reading. We also noted that you seem to have some kind of sexual relationship with Miss Kito, since you have been spotted sleeping in her bed. Also, you bear an uncanny resemblance to a certain criminal, a Kuroro Lucifer from the Genei Ryodan…"

"Never heard of him," Kuroro said immediately, glad that he left his hair hanging loose and his tattoo covered most of the time he was here.

"We didn't think so," Quinn reassured him. "Miss Kito may be a murderer, a thief, an improper woman and have the most unsavoury associations with the Mafia, but she has no history of associating with fringe criminals like the Genei Ryodan. That is, criminals who make no attempt to assimilate into society at all. That is understandable; such criminals are very dangerous and unpredictable, and trying to associate with them would be too risky even for someone as ah… adventurous as Miss Kito. Besides…"

"Besides?"

Quinn coughed, his face flushing slightly. "Well, we happen to have surveillance footage of your… ah… bedtime activities, and we have noted that you are fully… functional… in terms of… erm… masculine equipment. We happen to have quite reliable information that Kuroro Lucifer… is not."

"So I've heard," Kuroro agreed ambiguously. This is why people needed to lie more often; you never know when a lie will come back to save you.

"If you don't mind me asking then," Quinn went on, "who are you?"

Kuroro put the book down and regarded the young man closely. Quinn responded by dimpling again in an absolutely endearing smile. Kuroro returned the favour with a smile that was as charming and as sincere, and made a note to never trust this man. "I am Midoya's lover," he replied, "as your ah… spies? Let's call them 'watchers'. As your 'watchers' have noticed, I have a relationship with Midoya... of sorts. We have excellent sex. We discuss poetry. Occasionally, we make bad jokes about psychoanalysis. It's a very simple relationship."

"That is very brave of you," Quinn commented, sounding partly horrified, partly impressed and perhaps just a tiny bit envious. "Not many men would dare to date Miss Kito. Not that there is anything wrong with her per se. She just happens to have a history of ending relationships badly." He stopped and waited for Kuroro to make the first move.

Kuroro barely hesitated. "What happened?" he asked, not just taking the bait but swallowing it whole.

Quinn spread his hands. "I don't want to bad mouth Miss Kito in front of you," he said, sounding genuinely concerned, "but perhaps it is only right I let you know what you're getting into." He stopped and tugged at his collar, looking upset and awkward. "Her first boyfriend was a young Hunter," he said slowly. "He was a good Hunter, perhaps a little too ah… quick with the ladies, but not a bad man overall. However, some kind of dispute took place between him and Miss Kito about two months after they first started dating. We found his body buried in the York Shin park. It was in a… deplorable state."

"He attacked her," Kuroro said immediately. "Midoya told me about it. He called her fat and weak. Did you know that? It was a rather stupid comment to make. If he had any physical contact with Midoya at all, he would be well aware of the amount of muscle hidden under that deceptive layer of fat. Speaking of which, I can't decide if Midoya is naturally prone to maintaining that layer or if she grows it to deceive her enemies. The way she consumes those ghastly chocolate bars probably suggests the latter. Anyway, that is quite beside the point. The point is it is so silly of that man to say she is weak when she isn't. It's like saying water is dry when it's not. I really cannot comprehend such an illogical and irrational statement at all. The sheer idiocy of the man would have led any sane, rational and morally upright person to remove him from the face of the world."

Quinn blinked. "Oh," he said awkwardly. "Well, that was her first boyfriend. Her second boyfriend was a young man from the Mafia. As he wasn't from the circles we move in, we aren't sure what happened. What we do know was that he was found dead shortly after they started dating. It seemed that he was buried alive in a tomb with enough food for a month. Forensic evidence suggests that he went insane and clawed his own jugular open with his nails." The expression on the young Hunter's face suggested it wasn't a pretty sight. Unfortunately for him, Kuroro had seen people do worse things to themselves.

"He tried to auction her blood on the black market," Kuroro informed the young man dismissively. "When she found out, he decided to capture her so she retaliated, quite mildly I felt. He would have done worst to her. He would have sold her body parts on the black market or auctioned her as a slave. Not that he would have succeeded of course. Midoya dear does tend to react badly to people trying to control her, and quite rightly so."

Quinn blinked again. "Well," he said uneasily. "That's… that's true, I suppose."

"Is that all?" Kuroro asked mildly. "I would have expected someone like Midoya to have had more boyfriends. Hardly what you would expect of an… ah… improper woman."

The bright, youthful façade cracked. It wasn't much but Kuroro caught a glimpse of something malicious and wrathful beneath the dimpled smiles and the sparkling hazel eyes. "Yes, that is all, at least as far as we know," the young man said, smiling widely. "It seems you are well aware of her dating history, which is good. However, regardless of how much her ex-boyfriends deserved their fates, it is rather alarming that all her past lovers have ended up dead just months after dating her." The young man leaned forward, eyes shining with earnestness. "I fear for you, good sir, even though I see you don't trust me enough to tell me your name. I firmly believe that once Miss Kito tires of you, you will end up dead. Hence, I strongly encourage you to break up with her while you still can. On the other hand, believe me, even if you tried to break off the relationship, she will come for you and kill you. There is only one way to save yourself now, and that is to take advantage of the Hunter's Association's attacks on Miss Kito to rid yourself of her before she decides to do it herself."

"How much time?"

"Like I said," Quinn repeated, just a tad impatiently. "Her boyfriends all end up dead months into their relationships. How long have you been dating Miss Kito? Days? Weeks? How much time do you have before she kills you too? Don't you think you should take pre-emptive measures against her?"

"We've been together as sexual partners for three years, on and off," Kuroro replied honestly. "And she has only tried to kill me a handful of times. She apologized after each time too. I don't really see the point in killing someone as pleasant as Midoya. Besides, I did try to kill her once and she was incredibly understanding about it. Circumstances forced my hand, and she recognized that. She really is quite a sweet woman once you get to know her."

Abruptly the smile transformed into a furious scowl. "Fucker, you really don't know what's good for you, do you?" Quinn snarled. It seemed Kuroro had finally crushed the façade. "Since you wouldn't take the fucking hint, let me put it this way." Quinn leaned forward again, but his attitude was no longer friendly; it was hostile and aggressive. Violently, he smacked the book off Kuroro's lap. "Either you do things the fast way and help us get rid of Kito, or you sit up here and die with her when we finally nuke her fucking apartment. You choose, asshole."

Kuroro sighed. "You know, Quinn," he said disappointedly, reaching behind with his right hand to draw out another book, "I know another Hunter who swears like you, especially when he is angry. Where there's a comma or a period, he uses a swear word. It is grammatically incorrect and very annoying. You have the same tendency to do that. However, there is one big difference between you and him."

"What? He's a pussy and I'm not?"

"No my good man, the Hunter I know is obviously human, not feline. The last I heard, non-humans do not take the Hunter's Exam." Kuroro smiled faintly at the furious look on the man's face. "The one big difference is that he knows who he can afford to piss off and who he shouldn't, and so as vulgar as he is with me, he would never dare to seriously threaten me unless he sees me as a threat in the first place. That is not a sign of cowardice. That is a sign of a working brain."

"Wh…" Quinn began than broke off sharply, probably because he couldn't breathe anymore since the Nen fish that had been chomping on him for a while had finally reached his lungs. His eyes widened in horror as he stared numbly down at his body. The Nen fish had eaten most of him, leaving only his head, neck and large portions of his chest. The large hazel eyes flickered back to Kuroro, wide with terror and a dawning recognition of inevitability

"You are wondering why you didn't feel it, why you still don't feel anything," Kuroro noted. "It's a Nen fish, designed to live only in enclosed indoor spaces. It is carnivorous and especially enjoys human flesh. When bitten, the victim does not feel anything and will not die until the Nen fish dies." He smiled inimically as the Nen fish circled gracefully around him before gliding towards the frozen figure and taking another large bite. "Normally by this time, I would have made the Nen fish disappear and end my victim's torture," Kuroro said, picking the fallen novel off the floor and putting it back on his lap. "However, in this case, we happen to be in Midoya's living room and ending your plight now will mean a big mess here. Hence, I think I will just let the Nen fish consume you entirely so as to avoid having to see dear Lucy clean up the mess." Smiling gently at the flickering insane eyes, Kuroro returned to the novel. "Relax," he murmured soothingly as the Nen fish took another bite, "it will only be a minute or two more. Just a bit more..."

After the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of One Star Blacklist Hunter Quinn, the attacks on Midoya's penthouse ceased. That didn't mean that they had given up, as seen by the number of watchers and heavy artillery accumulating around the building, but no one tried to actually enter the penthouse. Undoubtedly they were planning something, as seen by the increase in number of dark figures darting around neighbouring buildings. However, nothing had come to fruit yet. So, in a sudden flash of domesticity, Kuroro decided to cook dinner for them.

"Goodness," Midoya had commented when she exited the bathroom to find the houselights dimmed and her dining table lit with candles and decorated with flowers. "Is there a blackout? That's odd. I'm sure Julius is guarding the generator from the Hunter's Association."

"No, I switched off the lights," Kuroro replied, arranging cutlery on the dining table carefully.

"You switched off the lights? Why would you do that? It's too dark to read now."

"I am trying to be romantic," Kuroro explained patiently. "I read in one of your novels that darkness is apparently very romantic, probably because it's easier to idealize another person when you can't see the other person's flaws, like wrinkles and scars."

"Darkness? Romantic? What do you mean by… oh. Oh!" Midoya smiled widely, looking slightly disturbed. "Right! Romantic! I see. I am a little slow on the uptake. My most sincere apologies and all that jazz. Yes! I see it now. The darkness is very… very ah… romantic."

"I'm glad you appreciate it," Kuroro replied pleased that Midoya had finally caught up with him (she wasn't usually so slow, but perhaps the stress of the attack on her penthouse had gotten to her). "Take a seat. Here's a rose for you."

"Thank you. Isn't this from the plastic bouquet I keep in the kitchen?"

"Well yes. I always felt plastic flowers are so much better than fresh flowers, which only last a day or two. And since it came from your kitchen, I already know you like it. It is, I feel, the perfect gift."

"Such irrefutable logic. Thank you, it is very nice." Midoya continued smiling as Kuroro swept a platter of bread and cheese in front of her.

"Wine," he murmured, pouring an appropriate amount into her tea cup (he couldn't find a wine glass).

"Thank you dear," Midoya replied, sounding a tinge more relaxed. "Did you prepare all this? My, my, you are as talented as the Hunter website claims."

"You are too kind," Kuroro said, sipping wine out of an espresso cup. "Is the food to your liking? Oh, what am I asking? It came from your fridge; of course you like it."

"Of course," Midoya agreed, looking amused for some reason or another. It was entirely possible she found cheese funny. Midoya did tend to have the oddest sense of humour. "I assume this is the appetizer. What is the main course?"

"Medium-rare steak with foie gras and mustard greens in duck jus," Kuroro told her.

"Foie gras? You are quite a chef aren't you? And how on earth did you obtain foie gras without leaving the building?"

"I have my little secrets, Midoya. Would you like to try the main course?"

"Gladly." There was a brief silence as Kuroro watched Midoya spear a piece of steak and put it in her mouth. Then Midoya stared over a cheek-full of meat at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Marry me," she moaned.

"That is impossible. Marriage is a legal process which means I can't get married since I don't exist legally."

"Mmmm. True. Well, it's not like we need marriage for you to cook dinner for me again."

"That is true." Kuroro paused to eat a piece of bread. "Just out of curiosity, did I just buy your eternal loyalty with a plate of steak?"

"Not just any steak, delicious steak."

"You are startling easy to buy off."

"I may be rich, but I have learned that money can't buy you everything. Unknown to most, one of the things money can't buy you is a filling, delicious plate of steak."

"Ah. If only the Hunter's Association knew."

It was at that moment that something exploded right outside Midoya's window. Whistling, the bright explosive shot towards Midoya's window, tapped against the glass before bouncing off with a breathless wheeze. Both of them turned to regard the dying flare thoughtfully as it sizzled out with a tiny, pathetic cough.

"That's an awfully lousy explosive, even for the Hunter's Association," Midoya commented, chewing.

"I could not agree more," Kuroro agreed full-heartedly. "I would have chosen something with a little more… ah… collateral damage."

"Ahem," a slightly prissy voice echoed distantly. "Have we got your attention, my dear Midoya? Can you hear me? Hello? Midoya? Can. You. Hear. Me?"

"No," Midoya muttered, stuffing steak into her mouth.

"Now, now, no need to be rude. And yes, I know you were being rude. I am reading your lips through a telescope. Oh yes, this is Quincy on the bull horn by the way. You do remember me, don't you?"

"Hello Quincy," Midoya said with a sigh. "I recognized your voice. How's your research into the effects of the environment on a person's potential to develop Nen abilities without guidance?"

"Ah! I am glad you asked, child! It is going fantastically! We found a brand new research subject, a young boy named Zames who has been painting portraits using Nen. It's quite fascinating really because his paintings can only be seen using Gyo. Much more research needs to be done, and we're only in the middle of our tests, but I have a strong hypothesis that there is a strong connection between the quality of mineral salts in the diet, specifically… what? Oh… oh yes, right. I got distracted. My dear child, will you be so good as to turn on your television? The Hunter's Association has a broadcast they want you to see."

"I don't own a television. I watch all my shows and movies on the Net on my laptop."

"Oh… oh well…" The voice faltered then died an uncertain and hesitant death. There were the faint sounds of urgent discussions then the voice said, "That is terribly inconsiderate of you dear, but no problem. We're sending a television up to your penthouse. Do plug it in and switch to Channel 4."

"Fine," Midoya sighed. "Send it up."

"Of course. It's on its way up on a crane. Do try not to spoil the crane. I know the horrible effect you have on the equipment around you. I still have not been able to replace the Nen-measuring machine you broke."

"It tried to eat me, Quincy."

"Oh, rubbish! Of course it did not. Don't say things like that. You are too smart to sprout such nonsense. It merely malfunctioned so the pincers holding you in place almost crushed you to death. In no way did it intend to consume you in anyway whatsoever. Really now, you should know better than to indulge in the primitive act of anthropomorphizing inanimate objects."

"Of course. The fact that you installed an artificial brain in it has nothing to do with how it 'malfunctioned'," Midoya said dryly. Glancing at the expression of curiosity on Kuroro's face, she murmured, "Quincy and I have a history. I was, for a brief period of time, the subject of his experiments. I developed Gyo as a toddler without any guidance and he wanted to find out why."

"You allowed yourself to be the subject of a science experience?"

Midoya shrugged. "I was curious too," she said vaguely. "I quit after a week because the research was not going anywhere and I needed to catch a bounty."

"I see."

They reassumed eating in silence, each absorbed in their thoughts until something thudded against the ledge of Midoya's window. Without speaking, they got up together and heaved the small television into the room. As instructed, they plugged it in then turned it on to Channel Four as instructed.

Static stuttered across the screen then a block of apartment buildings came into focus. Even with the bad visuals, Kuroro managed to see the beautiful cream walls and maroon roofs. He recognized it immediately though he had only been there for a very brief period of time. It was Pepeka Timbal's apartment. As they watched, confused and angry people were evacuated from the building by solemn and angry people. Then the building was surrounded by people bearing the crest of the Hunter's Association. The implications were clear.

"Ahem. Midoya dear? What you are seeing now is broadcast live from your disciple's apartment. At this very moment, he is surrounded by some of our best bounty hunters. If you surrender now, we wouldn't launch an attack against him. Don't worry, the young man living at your place now can go free too, as long as you come down and surrender yourself to the Hunter's Association."

Kuroro glanced at Midoya's face. Her eyes were still fixed on the image on the television but her face was blank and unreadable.

"Just out of curiosity," she finally said, "what do you gain from this, Quincy? I've never known you to take to the field so enthusiastically before."

"Why, the chance to research you, of course. As a live legal subject, you have the right to terminate the experiments whenever you want. If you are a prisoner or dead, you don't have a say at all."

"I thought so," Midoya noted, nodding. "Well then." She stopped again and regarded the screen thoughtfully. "You are not very intelligent, Quincy," she said mildly.

"Excuse me?"

"I said you are not very intelligent," Midoya repeated, her voice still calm and smooth. "That is my disciple you are attempting to take hostage. Do you think any disciple of mine will be so weak he can be defeated by your mediocre bounty hunters?"

"What on earth…" the outraged voice squeaked just as the image on the television suddenly jumped. A battle cry, muffled by bad acoustics, sounded from the television then the door to Pepeka's apartment blew open and a very pissed off, very muscular six foot four man stood there burning with Nen. His mouth moved as he shouted something that the camera did not pick up. Fortunately, both Midoya and Kuroro could lip-read and what he said was very clear.

'Fuck them, sensei! Don't surrender to those motherfuckers no matter what happens! Trying to use me against sensei…! I'm gonna give them hell for this!'

"Atta boy," Midoya murmured proudly as Pepeka's tinny battle roar squeaked through the cheap speakers and he charged down the corridor, throwing bounty hunters off the building like they were made of paper. When he reached the stairwell, he paused and the Nen around him intensified into brilliant sunrays. When the image stopped sizzling with static, Pepeka was no longer standing there. Instead, there was a knight in full medieval armour, wielding a massive lance and a horse; a real horse with an intricately-designed saddle, bulging muscles and a glorious flowing mane.

"What on earth is that?" Kuroro questioned dubiously as the medieval knight charged down the stairwell on horseback, tunnelling through the hunters on the stairs, leaving a trail of squishy red things behind.

"That is Pepeka's power," Midoya replied nonchalantly. "The Knight's Oath."

"The Knight's Oath?" Kuroro asked, raising an eyebrow. "He just materialized full medieval armour and a horse. That makes him a Materialization Type. I didn't… expect that."

Midoya's lips quirked in a brief smile. "Everyone always assumes Pepeka is Reinforcement because of the way he looks. And while he does have much talent in the field of Reinforcement, my dear Pepe-chan is, in actual fact, Materialization, as you have noticed."

"Right." Silently, they watched Pepeka reach the bottom of the stairwell where his horse reared up on its hind legs, neighing defiantly at the battalion below. Pepeka reared with his horse, holding his lance high in challenge, helmeted head tossed back in a heroic pose.

"For my sensei, I shall slay you motherfucking villains!" Pepeka's voice squealed valiantly through the speakers.

"Well…" Midoya commented, wincing with embarrassment under Kuroro's piercing stare.

"I assume Pepeka is very into chivalry."

"Well, yes…"

"And romantic notions of servitude to a lord."

"Yes."

"And fighting dragons and saving virgin princesses from tall, unpractical towers."

"That is correct."

"And you never did anything to discourage him?" Kuroro looked pointedly at her.

Midoya's face, due to severe acne, was always quite red to begin with. In contrast, the rest of her skin was usually so pale it was practically transparent. Now, her ears were even redder than her face. It was, Kuroro realized gleefully, a blush. Midoya June Kito was blushing. For the first time in his life, Kuroro wished he had listened to Shalnark and gotten a phone with a camera function. "I tried to," she muttered defensively. "Every time I told him that the ideas he had for his powers were a little… fanciful, he got so... bad at Nen. It's like he couldn't focus on anything, even the most basic of skills."

"So you did the opposite," Kuroro deduced, summoning up his blankest poker face. "You encouraged his obsession with brave knights dying for their lords and saving virgin princesses. What did you do?"

Midoya sighed embarrassedly. "I let him read Ivanhoe and the works of Tennyson among others," she mumbled, giving him a glare that just dared him to make further comments.

But of course, as Dancho of the infamous Genei Ryodan, Kuroro had more than his fair share of guts. Kuroro rubbed his mouth to hide the smile. "My dear Midoya," he teased, "my rational, practical Midoya teaching her sweet little disciple about romance, knights, princesses, honour and, unbelievably, the value of chastity. Surely you have had enough orgasms to know that the value of chastity is highly overrated and…"

"Kuroro!" Midoya groaned. "Let's just watch the fight in peace, shall we?"

"Alright," Kuroro grinned, hiding his amusement with a cough.

Midoya gave him another glare, just to prove that she wasn't fooled then they returned to the television. On screen, Pepeka was already cleaning up the hunters. The remaining fighters had scattered before him. A few tried to circle around and attack him from the back, but his horse kicked violently at them, sending them flying away. Someone attempted to leap at him from on top. Pepeka raised his lance and the poor fellow ended up speared through. With a practiced move, Pepeka flicked the body off his lance and pointed it at another Hunter, shouting, "Come to your death, if you dare!"

Grimacing, Midoya sank lower into the couch and scowled at her knees.

"It is a very powerful ability," Kuroro commented neutrally. "I assume, since he is Materialization, that there are hidden abilities in the weapons he has materialized that he has yet to demonstrate."

"Yes," Midoya replied, her voice still a little frosty.

"But you're more powerful," Kuroro offered as a peace-giving.

"But of course," Midoya replied grudgingly.

"Shall I serve dessert while we watch?"

"Yes, please," Midoya replied, her expression brightening up and Kuroro knew all was forgiven.

On screen, the hunters were fleeing, dragging their injured away in the face of Pepeka's knightly wrath. Outside the penthouse, the prissy voice continued to shout as Hunters milled about, trying to figure out what to do. In the penthouse, the besieged pair enjoyed a delicious dark chocolate soufflé with orange zest.

Then the Hunter's Association got really, really smart.

A/N: I apologize if Kuroro seems slightly OC. Hell, I think even Midoya seems slightly OC. But I feel like they're reached this point in their relationship where they can tease each other and rile each other up without breaking out into actual bloodshed. That's just what I think anyway. Hope you guys still enjoyed the chapter.

Trivial: The sudden disappearance of Single Star Hunter Quinn had sparked a long and controversial debate on what exactly had happened to him. Since Quinn's job had been to convince Midoya's unknown roommate to join their cause, all the watchers and cameras had been removed to avoid spooking the mysterious man, hence no one had seen what had happened to Quinn. Some said that Midoya had come home earlier than expected, spotted Quinn and killed him (the method she used was a matter of great debate too). Others insisted that they would have spotted Midoya if she had come home earlier, and that in all likelihood, the mysterious young man had done something to him. Yet others still argued that the mysterious young man had not demonstrated any hostile intentions towards the association before so it was unlikely he would attack a Single Star Hunter of all people. It was more likely the aliens living in the skies above York Shin had taken the young man.

In the end, no one ever found out what had happened to him. However, for several weeks after that, there were more UFO sightings in York Shin than there had ever been in an entire year. There were also multiple sightings of the ghost of Single Star Hunter Quinn walking streets of York Shin and asking people if they had seen his balls. A male prostitute had his fifteen minutes of fame when he claimed that he was Single Star Hunter Quinn, that Midoya had his DNA changed and then sold him into prostitution. (It was the prostitute's mother, calling during one of his interviews by the daily news to berate him for lying that blew the young man's claim.)

When Midoya asked Kuroro what had happened to Quinn, he simply told her, "I fed him to a Nen fish which I had stolen from a young woman by brutally torturing the details of her power out of her." In Midoya's expert opinion, the truth turned out to be a lot scarier than the fiction.