I am kind of adding hints of a character who will appear later on in the story. Try guessing who the character is. ^-^

(HINTS: Only mentioned at the first flashback. Also using colors based off manga.)

Chapter 9

Ability and Kururu Mountain

Flashback

A small ray of moon light peeked through the dark clouds and onto the bloodied ruins of Meteor City. Mangled, chopped, decapitated, and shriveled up bodies scattered around the junkyard of a city. Despite her weariness, a young child and a young man leisurely walked up to a pink hair woman who was covered in her own crimson life force, the rest creating a pool beneath her. Her breath was ragged and her body shook whenever released the carbon dioxide from her lungs.

The child stared at the woman, frowning when she noticed that her breath had finally stopped.

"Master... What should we do with her?" She quietly asked as she crouched down closer to the body.

"She is a valued member of our organization." The man placed a hand on her shoulder, making the nine year old glance back at him. "There is only one thing that only you can do."

She knitted her brow in confusion for a second before realizing what the man meant.

"I-I can't do that! It's the complete opposite of my curse that you have been training my to use for the last two years and I still can't control my curse!" She shouted then lowered her voice. "...I don't think I can do it..."

"Nozomi, there is only one way to find out... It's now or never. I'm sure you know that."

The girl sighed, "I know."

Hesitantly, she pulled off her black gloves, revealing the unusually long life line marked on her small palms. Her small hands pressed against the young woman's chest, the pressure made the woman's short-sleeved uwagi get soaked in more blood. Taking a few deep breathes, Nozomi kept her eyes closed and nodded to herself.

"Please step back, Master."

The man took a few steps back and Nozomi listened to the sound of his shuffling feet as confirmation.

Here goes nothing.

Nozomi's eyes slowly opened to the bright sunlight shinning onto her face. Instinctively, she tried to block the sunlight out of her eyes with her hands. Just as she lifted up her arm, she noticed the taste of metal in her mouth.

What the...?

"Oh! You're finally awake!" A voice exclaim, clearly excited.

"Gon? Where-" Nozomi was cut off by Gon when he leaned over to his right and shook Kurapika's shoulder.

"Leorio! Kurapika! She's finally awake!"

Leorio rushed over to the twelve year old girl, bombarding her with questions that no one could understand. Nozomi gaped at the man, unsure what to do to make him stop. A perky brunette who was making announcements st the front of the bus asked Leorio to sit down, but he ignored her. Only when Kurapika told the man to stop, he calmed down and returned to his seat, his body was still facing the girl.

"Um..." Nozomi started and briskly scanned her surrounding. "Why am I in a bus?"

"We're going to Kururu mountain to get Killua!" Gon answered.

So... They brought me here by force... Well, not that I mind since we're going to see Killua again. She grinned at the thought of seeing the silver hair boy again, not realizing the blush creeping up on her face.

"By the way, here are your belongings." Kurapika handed Nozomi her black combat rucksack and a small stack of items with her touchscreen phone sitting on the very top. "We added our phone numbers to your phone. Hope you don't mind."

Nozomi shook her head and flicked through the small pile of cards and stopped at the chocolate bars at the very bottom. Curious, she opened the card stuck onto the candy...

Dear Nozomi,

I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me. If it was not for you, I would not be here right now.

If there is anything I can do I would gladly offer my assistance.

Sincerely, Bodoro

Flashback: After Killua Stabbed Bodoro

"What... just happened?" Nozomi murmured in a daze.

Except for Hisoka and Illumi, all of the male applicants and referees rushed over to aid the elderly martial artist. Shouts, questions, and orders were exchanged between the frantic group. Within all of the commotion, Leorio refused to let Bodoro die while the others faced facts. Meanwhile, Nozomi felt the urge of running after Killua but right now she was stuck between helping Bodoro or going after her friend.

"There's no point Leorio! He's dead!" Pokkle yelled

"No! He can still make it! He needs to be brought to a hospital!" Leorio argued.

"But he might not be able to make it in time." Nozomi interjected.

Realization entered Leorio's eyes but he violently shook the though out of his mind.

"Then we have to stop arguing and bring him there right n-"

"No." The girl interrupted, "There is only one thing we can do to save him."

Everyone fell silent, staring at the girl in confusion. Nozomi smirked and spun around to face Hisoka who looked at her in interest.

"You wanted to see what I can do, right? Well, help me bring Bodoro to one of the waiting rooms and I'll show you one of the abilities that only Master has seen me do."

Hisoka put on a smirk to match the girl's. He threw the body over his shoulder and followed the girl out of the room. Curious, Leorio and Kurapika chased after the two who disappeared behind a door.

Inside the other room, Hisoka tossed the body onto the bed before flopping into a nearby chair. His arms were crossed over his chest as he observed every single action of the girl, while Leorio and Kurapika stood by the closed door, still confused about what the girl was planning to do.

"Hm..." Nozomi pressed two of her fingers on Bodoro's neck. "No heartbeat. Well then Hisoka... You will be experiencing one of my weird abilities. When the time comes... You will be experiencing my deadly abilities personally."

Hisoka's yellow eyes glimmered in excitement and licked his lips, "Yes. When the fruit matures and is ready."

Did he just call me a fruit? The twelve year old thought but set the question aside. She peeled off her gloves and stuffed them into her jacket pocket, after cracking her knuckles she gazed at the extremely long life line marked on her hands.

"Okay, here I go..." Slowly her eyes hallowed out as a eery light glowed from her hands and seeped into the corpse's wound.

The three males watched in interest, seeing the wound return back to normal and Bodoro's dull black eyes had light again. A sharp gasp came from the elderly martial artist and he jerked up into a sitting position, his hand holding his chest.

"Bodoro...?" Leorio hesitantly asked.

The martial artist turned to Leorio's direction, confused by the shocked looks that Leorio and Kurapika was giving him.

Meanwhile, Nozomi wearily exit the room, trying not to stumble on the way out. She glanced back at her palms, inspecting the shortened but still long life line. A small sigh of exhaustion escaped her lips and a faint smirk played upon her lips to the soft sounds of footsteps behind her.

"Enjoy the show?" She asked before facing the man behind her. "Hisoka."

Hisoka chuckled and leaned against the wall, "But the show isn't finished yet... I still haven't seen the toll it has taken on you."

Shock entered her tired face for a short moment before it transformed into a weak smile.

"I see..." Black spots had already blocked most of her vision and started to invade the rest. "It won't be easy you know."

With that, she bolted, trying her best to see where she was going as she searched for Killua, hoping that he had not left the building yet. After running for about a mile the girl glanced back to see no one behind her then scanned the field of the hotel.

"I lost Hisoka and Killua?... Killua come back..." Nozomi panted.

Her breathe slowly calmed down as she carried herself towards the exit. While moving, the girl tracked Hisoka's aura.

He's getting closer but he's taking his time. This is the best opportunity to-

A sharp pain entered Nozomi's chest, breaking her train of thought. Soon her pain was followed up by voilently coughing up blood. Despite all of this, she forced herself to continue moving, but unfortunately she was only able to take a few steps before collapsing.

Damn... I thought I would be able to hold it in a bit longer. Damn it!

The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious were Hisoka's feet leisurely approaching.

Nozomi softly frowned at the card. That's right. I brought him back to life but I was unable to get Killua back.

"Nozomi," The girl snapped out of her daze and looked up to meet Gon's enthusiastic smile. "We're here!"

The four got off the tour bus and listened to the tour guide explain to them about the giant gate in front of them, saying that it was the only way to enter the estate. Two bounty hunters that were on the same bus went up to the guard house and yanked a man out of the small building, lifting him up into the air.

"Open the door!" The larger one demanded.

"What a nuisance... I'm going to be in trouble with my boss." The guard stated

"Don't worry! We'll take care of your boss." the other sneered.

The two took a key from the guard and entered. A bloodcurdling scream could be head after a few minutes. Gon went over to the man to see if he was okay, while Nozomi stared at the door, wondering if there was another way to enter. To almost everyone's surprise the door creaked open and the bones of the two men were thrown out. All of the tourist and the tour guide got on the bus and telling the four to get on the bus.

"That's okay, just leave. We're staying here." Gon answered.

"I see. You're Killua-kun's friends?"

Currently, the four were seated in the guardhouse, sipping on the tea that was served to them by Zebro the Gatekeeper.

"It's a real pleasure for me! Having visitors this way. I have been working here for 20 years and your the first ones to come in peace." The old man happily stated.

He continued explaining about Mike the guard dog of the Zoldyck family, the Testing Gate and told them that they could not pass through the door. Kurapika was the first to catch on that the real entrance was not locked and Zebro nodded.

Immediately, Leorio went into the other room to find a large door. He pushed, pulled, and tried to lift the door but it wouldn't budge. Zebro merely stated that Leorio was weak and showed the four that they had to enter without pausing. He also explained that there was a total of seven doors and each door doubles in weight.

"Killua-kun goes through the third door." he finished

"Sir, led me your keys." said Gon "Even if I only came to see a friend, I must pass a test. So being an intruder fits me better."

Leorio, Kurapika, and Zebro tried to convince Gon not to go but no matter what they say he was still determined to go.

"Zebro-san, is it possible if there was another way to get in or at least contact Killua?" Nozomi asked

The old man scratched the back of his head in thought, "There is one thing..."

At Zebro's House

Nozomi had just entered the bathroom, wanting some solitary from everyone for a few minutes as well as getting rid of the taste of blood in her mouth. Meanwhile, the others were getting suited up with 50kg vest before getting to bed. The four of them had to put on the vest for their strength training since they agreed to train for at least a month.

The girl dug through her bag in search for her chocolate bar when she felt her phone vibrate. She quickly pulled out the white phone from her jacket pocket and checked the caller id. A grimace entered her emotionless face to the sight of the name and she hesitantly brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

That's it for this chapter everyone! Also in case you were wondering, the ability that Nozomi uses in this chapter is not her "curse" but I won't say that it is not related to it.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will try to post the next one soon. Hope you will continue reading and please review. :)