Chapter 4

Families

"Nozomi... Hey... NOZOMI!"

The twelve year old flinched and glanced over at the two boys sitting beside her. Their attention turned away from the outside scenery.

"What's up?" she asked

"You were zoning out."Gon deadpanned. "Anyway, I was asking if you have any parents."

"Oh..." Nozomi trailed off, her attention back to the sparkling scenery. "I guess I have a father..."

"Guess?" Killua repeated.

The girl nodded and a small sad smile spread upon her lips. "Even though he calls me his daughter I feel like... I'm not sure. Like a toy?"

She looked back at the two boys. Confusion was etched into Gon's innocent face, while Killua's expression seemed like he could slightly relate to her feelings. Seeing their expressions, Nozomi told them not to worry about it, wearing a grin on her face. Gon returned the smile then asked Killua the same question.

"Yes. Of course." He answered, expression never changing.

"What do they do?" Gon continued to ask.

"Assassins." Killua answered

"Both of them?"

Killua was silent for a moment, staring at Gon and Nozomi's faces before bursting out laughing. Saying it was his first time seeing such a serious reaction saying his answer.

"But you were telling the truth, right?" Nozomi questioned and Gon nodded in agreement.

"... You guys are really strange... You can never tell if you're serious or if you're joking." Killua quietly muttered before making his voice audible again. "At my place, the main activity is assassination. For everyone. And I'm not telling you how much pressure my family puts on me... But I don't like the idea of others deciding what I'll do with my life. When I told them "I'll decide my own future by myself!" They all got mad... My mother started crying, telling me I had a gift for being an assassin."

At that point, Gon and Nozomi had a sweat drop running down their face as they continued to listen to Killua's ranting.

"To make a long story short, I beat up my mom and dad and ran away! They probably haven't healed up yet! If I become a hunter, the first think I'll do is arrest all of my family! I'm certain to get a good reward!"

The three of them continued to talk as they admired the scenery. Little did they know, Netero was listening to their conversation ever since Gon asked about Nozomi's parents.

Suddenly, a warning flooded their bodies. The three kids jumped off their seat and looked at the corner where Netero was standing, only to find no one.

"What's happening?" The three glanced back to see the chairman walking up to them from the other direction.

"Netero-san, didn't you have the sensation somebody was closing in from there?" Gon asked, pointing towards the other direction and the elderly man merely shook his head.

"You're really fast for your age." Killua stated, narrowing his eyes on Netero.

"You think? I was just walking, without haste."

Sparks could be seen from their glares. Nozomi started to feel uneasy by the heavy tension while Gon was looking at the two, oblivious to what was going on. Netero abruptly asked the three of them about their thought on the trials. The green clad boy exclaimed that is was fun and unexpected while the silver hair boy said that he expected it to be harder and he was disappointed.

"What do you think about the trials?" Netero asked the girl who was silent during the whole conversation, snapping her out of thoughts.

"Oh! I thought that it was interesting. I had never participated in anything with people before, usually I did them alone." she quickly explained.

Netero quirked his brow to the child's answer. However, before he could ask anything else Killua interrupted.

"Will we finally have fun during the next tests?"

"Well... You'll see." the chairman responded.

In an instant, Killua swung an arm around Gon's shoulder and grabbed Nozomi's hand, bringing the two away from the chairman.

"Wait. Don't you want to play a gam with me? If you win... I'll give you the hunter title."

It was already the next day, the three had thrown their jackets and over-shirt aside to not overheat themselves. The three of them did everything they could to grab the single striped ball from the elderly man's hands but no matter what they did they were never able to touch the ball.

"That's it for me! I give up." Killua announced as he picked up his shirt.

"Why? We've still got time left! We almost got him!" Gon happily exclaimed.

Killua glanced back at the twelve year old boy, explaining that Netero didn't even use his right hand and left foot during the whole time they were trying to get the ball. He then added that even in a whole year the three of them would not be able to get the ball. Gon snapped his gaze back to the chairman to see him balancing on his right foot and holding the ball in his left hand.

"I've been had. I thought I'd hid it well, though..." Netero chuckled.

"Argh! That old bag is getting on my nerves!" Killua grumbled before heading to the door. "Let's go Gon, Nozomi."

"I'm gonna try a little more." Gon stated

Killua stared at the boy before exclaiming that he would never be able to get the ball. But Gon simply answered that he is going to try to make the chairman to use his right hand, instead of getting the ball.

"Oh, really... Then what about you?" Killua turned to Nozomi.

"I'm going to try too."

The twelve year old boy sighed and left the room. Even though his appearance seemed to be calm Nozomi could not help but feel that he was struggling to hold down his true feelings.

After a moment of thinking, Nozomi made an excuse of needing to use the bathroom and left the room with a stress ball and a bar of chocolate hidden in her pocket.

"Hey! Killua..." The girl trailed off when she saw the two sliced up bodies on the floor and the dark aura around the silver hair boy. "These..."

"What? Are you afraid of me now?" Killua growled.

The girl shook her head and calmly walked up to the boy, placing the candy and stress ball into his hands.

"These help me calm down. I hope it will do the same for you." She flashed a quick smile and ran back to the others, leaving Killua dumbfounded.

Nozomi returned to the room to find Netero jumping over her friend, forcing him to crash into the wall. While the chairman was distracted, the girl slipped out of her black combat boots and launched herself onto the elderly man's back, grabbing onto the ball in his hands. With one swift movement, Netero thrust his arm towards the floor, sending Nozomi into a face plant but her hands still held onto the ball.

On the other hand, Gon turned back to look at the chairman with a bright grin spread across his face.

"You used your right hand, right?"

"Eh... Yes..."

"Hurray! I won!" Gon shouted before passing out.

Meanwhile, Nozomi raised her head up from the ground to look at Netero. He sweat dropped when he saw the happy looks on the two kids' faces, despite their injuries. The twelve year old girl gave a tug on the ball, trying to get it free from the chairman's hold but found that is was futile.

"Ah... It looks like I lost. But at least I touched the ball." she released her hold and sat up.

Netero released a chuckle as he made a phone call to the pilot, requesting to drive a bit slower. Once he was finished, glanced back at the girl to see her trying to carry Gon and their belongings at the same time.

"Nozomi...She's just like her mother." the chairman whispered to himself. He pulled a silver bracelet with a oval shaped locket out from his pocket. "Wait!"

The girl glanced at Netero to see him lifting the boy off of her back. She murmured her thanks and opened the door for the man. However, instead of leaving the room he buckled the bracelet onto her left wrist.

"Netero-san?" The girl began, giving the chairman a confused look.

The elderly man smiled, "Your mother entrusted me with this. She told me to give it to you when you are older."

Nozomi's eyes widened to his words.

"You know my mother? Do you know if she is still alive?"

"Your mother is..."