Chapter 15

July 8th

Th dim light of the moon seeped into Nozomi's room where she lay awake in her bed. Her head turned towards where her calendar hung. A circle was marked around July eleven, indicating to her that it would be that day when the clock struck twelve. Next, she directed her attention to the clock hanging nearby.

"11:56 P.M." She notified herself before finally revealing her despondent expression.

Suddenly a moan filled the empty silence and entered Nozomi's left ear as a pair of arms grazed over her bandaged torso, pulling her closer to the person. Once after doing so, another sound replaced the moan. A dissatisfied grunt. From her other side, another pair of arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders before pulling her towards the right. Since she knew what was happening, she released an exasperated sigh.

"Dang it Killua and Gon... Why won't you two let me sleep by myself?" She quietly asked as she glanced over at both of the boys. Gon lying on her left and Killua on her right.

Two Days Ago

July 8th, 12:57 P.M.

Nozomi stood at her required destination as she rechecked if the buckle on her jacket was undone and if her knives were strapped to her thighs. But, she wasn't planning on using her weapons on anyone. Her hand then went to her left wrist to find that her bracelet was missing. A short moment of panic flooded the girl but she soon remembered that she lent it to Killua, who wanted to borrow it for some unknown reason.

Her surroundings were busy and noisy, filled with enthusiastic people. However, the girl merely ignored the noise since she was already nervous enough for what is about to happen next. Immediately, the noise increased rapidly as the other person arrived to meet her.

The door in front of her rose, revealing the girl to the noisy people and she briskly walked through and towards the other person who was approaching her as well.

"Finally! Nozomi VS Hisoka! The battle between the child of dread and the killer magician will finally begin." The spectator announced over the cheering crowd.

Nozomi and Hisoka had instantly locked eyes once they left the door and when they where standing before each other they were smirking at one another, both excited for the match to begin. A powerful aura rippled off both of the fighters.

"Begin!"

Immediately, a storm of playing cards flew towards the girl, which she deflected with ease. Her hands tightly gripped onto her daggers that she withdrew by instincts and held it close to her face.

"I feel like this happened before..."

She shook the thought out of her head and stabbed her daggers into the tiled ground. A faint, wisp of charcoal-colored smoke swirled around the blades before it seeped into the cracked tiles. Uncertainty filled her mind to the decision of using her newly gained ability, but it was the only plan she could think of that could increase her chances of winning.

"Nozomi look out!" Gon's voice rang out throughout the arena.

The twelve year old girl glanced up to see another flurry of cards flying her way. She was only able to block one or two cards, while the others cut deeply into her torso.

"Critical hit! Two points for Hisoka!"

Ignoring the announcement, Nozomi yanked out all of the cards that were lodged into her gut, knowing that he might have already used his Bungee gum on her. Soon, she was pulled towards Hisoka as he met her halfway. His elbow was inching closer to her face in less than a few seconds. Luckily for the girl, she was able to evade the attack and collide her fist to the magician's face. Hisoka staggered back as Nozomi took this chance to widen the space between them.

"One point for Nozomi!"

Nozomi set an arm over her stomach in attempt to lessen the bleeding of the deeper cuts while she watched a devilish smirk enter the magician's face when he reigned his posture. His gaze locked onto Nozomi, causing her to smirk and signal the man to come. With that, the two opponents charged at each other, throwing punches and blocking one another's attacks.

"Hisoka is leading by 9 to 3!" The spectators announced.

The twelve year old girl gritted her teeth to the score, "If Hisoka gets one more point then I'll lose..."

Currently Nozomi was on one knee and next to her daggers, while Hisoka was not the least bit fatigue. The magician leisurely walked towards Nozomi as he lightly shook his head from side to side.

"I expected better from you, Nozomi. I'm disappointed." He stated, "I might as well end you now if you're going to be a broken toy..."

Hisoka grabbed Nozomi's shirt collar as his other arm was drawn back, ready to pierce straight through her heart. Unconsciously, her eyes fluttered shut as if she had accepted her fate. The crowd surrounding them roared in excitement, ready to see the child die for their own amusement. Meanwhile, Wing, Gon, and Zushi were frantically scolding the girl, telling her to get up.

"Too bad Wing, Gon, and Zushi are here to see this... At least Killua isn't here." She thought, slightly disappointed that Killua could not come and see her.

"Nozomi! What are you doing?!"

"Killua?"

Nozomi's eyes snapped open and her hands flew over to grab her daggers. The charcoal-colored smoke quickly wrapped around her arms, then the rest of her body. Hisoka's hand pierced through Nozomi's smoke-covered body, causing her body to double over in pain and grab his arms.

"Hm?" Hisoka watched the smoky body in interest as it slowly moved it's head upwards, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Over here."

The magician turned his head to the voice, but before he could see the person he was sent flying. After flying a few feet, he stopped himself but he earned another harsh punch to the face.

"Four points for Nozomi!" The referee announced

Slightly confused, Hisoka glanced up to see the dark hair girl standing before him, a smile smirk etched on her face. There was a small trace of blood on her chest where his arm should have penetrated.

"I still have something to do, even if I'm your toy or not." Nozomi stated as she got into a fighting stance.

Excitement entered the magician's eyes to the sight of Nozomi's determination.

"Good Nozomi! Good! But too bad we have to end this soon." Hisoka sharply yanked his arm back and pulled this bungee gum that was attatched to the girl's foot, causing the girl to fall on her back.

"One point for Hisoka, 10-7! Hisoka wins!"

Nozomi pushed herself up to her feet, her brows knitted together is disappointment. Suddenly, a black hoodie with St. Peter's Cross embroidered on the back was forced into her hands.

"You have improved, but you still have a lot of work to do." said Hisoka as he walked off, "Don't forget our deal."

"Ouch!" Nozomi yelped as she rubbed her forehead, but a small red mark remained where Killua flicked her.

"Killua! Don't hit her anymore. She's hurt enough as it is already." Gon scolded, trying to hold the silver hair boy back from causing anymore damage.

"Yeah, she has to get eleven stitches and she almost died!" Killua angrily responded then turned back to the injured girl, "You lost the match and you lost your opportunity in finding out about your mother, but at least you're lucky to leave the arena with your life!"

"Sorry..." Nozomi replied, sincerely.

A heavy tension filled the room to the wanted, yet unsaid words that both Nozomi and Killua held inside. Trying to ease the tension, Gon told Killua to let it go and just look forward in meeting his family that they are planning to go see after his match with Hisoka.

"Meeting your family?" Nozomi asked and Gon enthusiastically nodded.

"Yeah! I... I really want you to meet Mito-san." A blush appeared on the boy's cheeks

His blush went unnoticed by the girl, but Killua caught sight of it and glared at him. Before anyone else could say anything else, Wing called Nozomi's phone and asked for Gon. The boy answered and stepped out of the room, leaving Killua and Nozomi sitting in an awkward silence.

"Should I tell Killua about my bet with Hisoka?... But he would get even angrier at me if I did and this is something I want to handle by myself."

A hiss of pain suddenly escaped Nozomi's lips and she snapped her head towards Killua whose attention was on one of her largest stitches that ran along from the center of her stomach to the side.

"Hey! What are you-" Nozomi began and tried to push her shirt down, but Killua held it up.

"It really hurts, doesn't it." He quietly asked as traced the cut with his finger.

"N-Not really. I bet the time you got shock by electricity is way worse." She stated with a nervous laugh at the end.

Her laughter stopped when Killua stared up at her with a serious expression. Slowly, she felt her body temperature rise, but she had no idea why.

"I thought you died as well..." He whispered as he turned his attention back to the girl's injuries. "Don't scary me like that ever again..."

"...What?"

Killua's eyes widened then jumped away.

"Nothing! I said don't scare us like that ever again" He explained, emphasizing 'us.' "By the way, you can have this back now."

He buckled the silver bracelet around the girl's wrist as he explained that he talked to Ike and the man said that he didn't know how to open the locket but Nozomi's mother seemed to have treasured the bracelet a lot, so he thought that there might be something valuable inside.

"I see... Thank you Killua."

July 11, 12:00 A.M.

With her combat rucksack on her back, Nozomi headed towards the door. Before opening it, she glanced back at the innocent sleeping faces of Killua and Gon. She had everything that she owned in her bag and she had already prepared a note for the two boys to notify them that she will not be joining them to visit Gon's family, but she still felt like there was something holding her back.

"Did I forget something?"

In her heart, she found herself longing to go back to the two sleeping boys and stay with them. However, she never listened to her heart. Was it a good thing or a bad thing to listen to her brain instead? That is a question that she could not answer.

Nozomi pulled her hood over her eyes and opened the door.

"Goodbye Killua and Gon... The next time we see each other we will most likely be enemies."

I hope you all like this chapter and please review.

Also I would like to ask all my readers a question. Should I make another OC just for Gon?

There will still be some love triangles and stuff, but I was just wondering. If anyone does what another OC can you please PM or leave a message on the review for me and if you have a preference for their personality please let me know too.

Thank you!