Sorry for the delay. I had a lot of things to do and I had writer's block. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 18

Pakunoda and Nozomi entered the Ringo Airport to come face to face to Kurapika, a short female with a hat, and Chrollo who was tied up in chains, all the way up to his mouth.

"Just making sure. You're really Pakunoda from the Genei Ryodan?" Kurapika asked, avoiding complete eye contact with the young girl standing beside the tall blonde woman.

"Of course." She calmly replied

Kurapika took a quick glance at the short girl beside him and when she nodded in confirmation he continued to speak. Meanwhile, Chrollo kept watching his two teammates as if he was trying to send them a message.

"I will assign each of you two conditions. If you respect them without fail, I will release your boss. Let's start with your boss. First, I forbid any use of Nen. Secondly..." Kurapika trailed off, struggling to decide what his second condition would be.

Nozomi locked eyes with her father then shifted her gaze to Pakunoda who looked back at her, confused.

"What do you think your father is thinking right now?" She whispered to the girl.

"What Father is thinking... Of course I know what he is thinking but... If I say something might cost Kurapika and the other's life and if I don't it might cost her, father, and possibly my life... What should I do?"

"I... I don't really know." Nozomi responded with a troubled expression.

She glanced away to see the shocked expression on the short girl's face, as if she was unable to comprehend why the young girl lied.

"Secondly, you must cut every link with every member of the Ryodan." Kurapika finally made up his mind and asked Pakunoda to make the decision to agree or not.

"I agree."

Kurapika casted a judgement chain around Chrollo's heart then made his conditions for Pakunoda, telling her that he has to bring Gon and Killua to him before midnight and she is not allowed to leak any information about him. Pakunoda agreed.

"Now... Your turn Nozomi." Kurapika said with reluctance. "You must leave the Ryodan, permanently. Secondly... You cannot tell anyone about this conversation. Do you agree?"

Nozomi instinctively snuck a glance at Chrollo as she remembered their last conversation...

"Hello, Father? This is Nozomi."

"Nozomi? Where are you?" Chrollo's voice sounded a bit anxious but he quickly composed himself, "Why are you calling?"

"I... I just escaped from several kids who wanted to turn me in for money." She quickly fabricated

She heard Chrollo slightly hum as if he was deciding whether to trust her or not, "...Alright... I have decided to stay here a bit longer to take care of some business. So, I will send you the location of where we will meet up later, but for now you must need to replenish your life line, correct?"

Nozomi flipped over her free hand to examine her shorten life line. Judging by the line, if she continues reviving people for Hisoka without absorbing others' lives, she would die within a few days.

"That's right."

"Then find those kids and use them as replenishment."

"What?!"

During their last conversation, she wanted to snap and scream at her father, telling him that she is never going to listen to him ever again and become her own person. Instead of his toy that he could use to manipulate and throw away anytime he wanted. However, she had the feeling that if she rebelled, her actions were going to hurt the ones she cared about. In the end she swallowed her words and made an excuse.

"Nozomi?" Pakunoda cooed as she gently shook the thirteen year old's shoulder.

The girl snapped out of her daze and refocused on Kurapika, "I agree."

In an instant, she felt something wrap around her heart. Meanwhile, Kurapika explained to Pakunoda about how the exchange is going to work.

"Who does he think he is with those conditions?!" Phinks exclaimed angrily, "Pakunoda, tell us where he is. We'll get rid of these kids and take care of that chain guy."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Machi interjected.

While the members were arguing about whether or not to let Pakunoda follow Kurapika's demands, Nozomi stood beside Pakunoda, one eye twitching with frustration. Time was running out and Pakunoda had to bring the two boys to Kurapika or else she will die.

"You really don't understand..." Gon's voice halted the argument, "Why does Pakunoda want to leave without explaining anything? Why is Machi trying to stop you? You think that they're being manipulated? They want to save your boss! It's pretty obvious!"

"Shut up, you noisy brat! You're saying that because you want to leave." Phinks said bitterly

In one swift movement, Gon broke the chains wrapped around him and stood up.

"I never said that. Take back what you just said!"

"Move an inch and I'll slice your head off."

"Okay that's it!" Nozomi thought and she stepped forward, in between Phinks and Gon. "Enough! We're taking them with us."

"Nozomi..." Gon softly murmured, surprised by her harsh tone.

Phinks darkened his glare and opened his mouth to speak, but Franklin interrupted, telling him to let Pakunoda and Nozomi go. After Franklin finished explaining what they would do if Chrollo doesn't return Phinks' phone rang. It was Kurapika.

Phinks and Gon passed the phone back and forth as they talked to Kurapika. Meanwhile, Nozomi freed Killua from the chains. Despite the fact that the boy could have broken out like Gon.

"Nozomi... Can't your father think of anything to defeat Kurapika?" Killua whispered into Nozomi's ear as she was messing with the chains wrapped around him.

Her form stiffened for a moment before she continued to free him, "What makes you say that? If he did have a plan, he couldn't shout it out. Kurapika made sure that my father was unable to speak."

"But, I heard that you can think like your father if you wanted to." He replied, "So, could you not think of anything or what?"

Nozomi slowly raised her head up to look at Killua, his inner thoughts were masked by his emotionless face, but his eyes showed happiness, distrust, and a hint of anger. She would not blame him or her friends if they did not trust her anymore, especially after running away from them and returning to the Ryodan. If she was in their shoes, she would think the same thing. However, believing that she had just lost her friends hurt, but seeing that Killua can barely trust her made her heart ache even more and she didn't understand why.

"Of course I could think but..." The girl trailed off and shifted her gaze to the chains that laid on the ground.

"But?" He egged on.

"Nozomi, we're leaving." Pakunoda stated, cutting their conversation short.

The girl quickly rushed over to Pakunoda's side and waited for the two boys to go in front of them, so that they could keep an eye on them while they return to the airport. During the whole trip, Nozomi stared at the two boys' backs but looked away when either Gon or Killua glanced back at her. Her thoughts and emotions distracted her from noticing the shadow that followed closely behind.

That's it for this chapter. Please review and I'm sorry again for taking so long.