Chapter 17

September 4th

"Where am I?"

Nozomi stood within the darkness, alone. Cold, weary, and confused of her location. She was only dressed in a makeshift shirt and shorts, both entirely made of thin rags. Despite the fact that she had no idea why she was dressed that way, she could not help but wonder why her clothes looked similar to what she wore when she was a child. Cautiously, she shuffled a few feet forward and used her bare feet to feel the ground.

"It's not soil... Is it tiles?... No... concrete?" She asked herself, rubbing her feet on the ice cold ground.

A sudden chill ran up the girl's spine, making her to rub her bare arms in hopes of getting rid of the goose bumps that risen up on her skin.

"I have to get out of here."

With that thought she roamed around. Blinded by the pitch black surroundings, she set her arms out in front of her to find some sort of wall. She had been walking for hours only to find nothing. Little did she know, she was wandering within darkness itself.

"Nozomi..." A feminine voice echoed in the darkness.

The girl snapped her attention towards the voice, "Who's there?"

A soft sound of footsteps appeared behind her, but she continued to stare at the other direction.

"Nozomi, come home." At last the girl turned around to see Chrollo standing a few feet behind her with his arms open. "Come home to your father."

Nozomi froze in fear. However, with a twitch of the man's fingers, Nozomi's body started moving on its own as if the man was controlling her with invisible strings.

"Don't go with him." The feminine voice announced, "He's just using you!"

The girl's legs stopped moving as she tried to regain control of her body and forced her head to turn to the voice. Behind her was a young woman around the same age as Chrollo. She had long dark hair, dressed in a pure white dress, and her face was blurred to the child but she seemed to glow in the darkness, as if she was the only light source.

"Who... Who are you?" Nozomi asked

When the woman's red lips parted to answer, a pair of large hands clapped over her ears, effectively covering her eyes as well.

"It's too late. You're stuck with me forever."

"Ah!" Nozomi eyes snapped open and jerked up into a sitting position before grasping her gut in pain.

"Are you awake now, Nozomi?"

"Huh?" Nozomi slowly looked up to find a blonde teen's face looking up at her with a small smile.

"Kurapika! Long time no see." She greeted as she subconsciously brushed her bangs over her eyes. "What's going on?"

The four males looked at one another before explaining everything they had learned, including Chrollo's death and Kurapika's vow.

"I see... So, you guys think that there are only two-no three Ryodan members left and you believe that Pakunoda is the only threat, right?" Nozomi revised then looked at Kurapika's eyes. "Well, I'm sorry but the true situation is much worse."

"What do you mean?" Gon asked

"The Ryodan members do not die easily and father always have some trick up his sleeve."

"Father?!" Kurapika repeated

Nozomi nodded and got up to her feet, "You're in contact with Hisoka, right? He'll tell you the truth soon."

Before Kurapika could ask question her about her knowledge of the Ryodan, his phone buzzed. In one swift movement, the teen pulled out his phone and read the text. His face immediately grew pale and he stormed out of the room, with the others quickly following him.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said so much." Nozomi sighed

Her eyes darted around the room and landed on a window just big enough to fit a small teen. Solemnly, she slid open the window and began to crawl out when she felt someone grabbing her wrist.

"Killua?" She gasped, expecting that it was Kurapika who grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Killua demanded

Nozomi turned her gaze to the other side of the window, her eye were distant. "I'm leaving... It's best for all of us."

"..." Killua stared at Nozomi, "Is it because of the Ryodan?"

"They're coming for me and most likely Nobunaga would have told the others that you guys took me or I followed. If I stay with you and the others too long... You will all end up dead." Nozomi stated with a pained expression, "I should go now."

The girl tried to jump out of the window again when Killua yanked her away from the window, causing her to fall on top of the silver hair boy. Both of them stared at each other in shock and all of their blood rushed up their faces. However, Killua soon composed himself and tightened his grip on the girl's wrists.

"We'll take care of them if them come. So stay." He said, determination was evident in his expression.

"I-I can't. They're too strong for you all to handle." She lowered her head so her bangs could cover her watery eyes. "I don't want you to die."

"Nozomi..." Killua released one of his hands to wipe away a single tear that escaped from the girl's eye. "I won't die nor will the others."

Nozomi smiled and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. Her actions caused Killua to release his grip from shock. Taking this chance, she crawled out the window and jumped onto a nearby tree.

"Sorry Killua, I'm leaving and I can take care of myself."

With that, she leapt down to the ground and broke out running. Away from her friends who were still in the building and back to the hideout, where she will face her father and his team. She knew that her father would try to force her to tell him about her friends and force her to stay with him forever, but she is now determined to fight back even if her life was a payment to keep her friends safe and be free.

When she was far away from her friends, she isolated herself in an alley and called her father.

"Hello, Father? This is Nozomi."