==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==
A/N: Happy New Year to all of my readers. Thanks for your patience with my stories.
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==

Chapter 14: The One Who Knows

Our plane landed at the airport we needed to be at. It was lucky, since our tickets didn't really specify any location. The airports all know that Hunters could need to fly anywhere at any given moment so, if you showed them a Hunter's license, they would give you blank tickets with the mark of the Hunter's Association on them. You'd then have to guess the closest airport to where you need to go. So, it was lucky for us that we landed at the right airport, since all we knew was the name of the city this guy was living in.

"Hello, boys," a voice came from behind.

Gon and I turned around to see a man in a dark grey suit, a black shirt, black pants and wore a bandana that covered his eyes. He had a brown neatly-trimmed beard that covered the bottom of his face. However, behind all of that, I noticed he was smiling. It was a gentle smile, kind of like what Kite had when we met him. He let out a chuckle as he saw us get into defensive stances.

"I'm sorry to have frightened you, boys," he said, "My name is Hikaryo Gatsumono. My master, Gakura Hitsujikan, sent me to retrieve you."

"Retrieve us?" I asked.

"Oh," he said as if realizing a mistake, "I'm sorry. I meant that he sent me as a guide."

"A guide to where?" I asked.

"A guide to meet somebody that you seek," he responded, "The 'One Who Knows'."

We were shocked that he knew who we were looking for. The name 'Gakura Hitsujikan' wasn't in the book or the binder, so I didn't know that anybody else knew about the 'One Who Knows'. I was still a little wary of this man, but Gon seemed to trust him as soon as he mentioned the 'One Who Knows', so I decided to follow Gon's judgement. After all, Gon usually has a good taste in who he trusts.

We followed Hikaryo out of the airport and to a waiting car. He opened the door and allowed us to get in first. Once I was in, I saw two swords on the seat facing us. Hikaryo got in and sat next to them, resting his hand on the swords. I got ready so if he dared try to attack either me or Gon, he would lose his life first, however, I didn't show it. He signalled the driver to drive and the car started to move.

As we were driving, Hikaryo tried to make small talk. Gon was obliging him in the talking, but I was more focused on any sudden movements he made. I saw Gon look at me for a brief instant when he noticed I wasn't talking. I gave him a look that said 'It's alright, just keep talking.' So he did and didn't pay me any mind. He must have known what I was thinking and didn't want Hikaryo to know.

The car stopped in front of a house that was bigger than your average house. Hikaryo opened the door and stepped out with his swords in his hand. He motioned for us to get out of the car as well. I let myself relax slightly but still kept my guard up. As I got out of the car, I noticed an old man sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of the house. I didn't pay him any mind and looked at the house instead. It was big, long, white and grey with some blue on the sides. It didn't seem that impressive at first.

While I was trying to get a good look at the house, my attention kept going back to the old man. His head was covered with white hair which, at first glance, one might think was snow. He also had a beard, like Hikaryo's, that covered the bottom half of his face. It was also extremely white. Hikaryo asked us to follow him as he stepped through the gate of the house up to where the old man was sitting.

"Mater," he said, bowing slightly to the old man, 'I have brought the children, like you asked."

"Thank you, Hikaryo," the old man said before he coughed. "You may leave us now."

"Yes, Master, but," Hikaryo hesitated and leaned in closer to his master and whispered, "are you sure you will be alright? I have felt nothing but hostility from the silver-haired boy."

I wondered how he could have noticed my hair color through that bandana he had over his eyes. I thought that all he could see was black. I also wondered how he was able to sense my hostility towards him. He seemed so relaxed when he was talking with Gon in the car and I thought I had hidden my hostility pretty well. I looked over to Gon, who just shrugged as if he knew what I was going to ask.

"I am quite sure, Hikaryo," the old man said, "I trust you know that I can take care of myself. Besides, these boys wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a defenceless old man, without proper motivation."

Hikaryo seemed confused at the old man's words because he asked, "But, master, what about the-"

"The hostility you felt," the old man cut him off and coughed again, "was the urge to protect. The young man simply felt threatened because of your weapons and felt it was necessary that he defend himself and his friend if the occasion arose. Go inside, now, and prepare something for these boys to eat. I can imagine airplane food not tasting that good."

"Yes, master," Hikaryo said and then went inside the house.

Once Hikaryo was gone, the old man started coughing again. Gon and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. I had to wonder how it was that this old man, who we never met, knew so much about us. I also had to wonder how he knew we would be coming since we didn't phone anybody to tell them where we were. Gon and I had a silent competition to decide who would ask the old man. I lost so I had to. I opened my mouth to say something, but the old man cut me off before I could get a word out.

"You want to know who I am and how I knew about you, yes, Killua?" At the mention of my name, I couldn't help but let my mouth hang open for a second. I was about to ask how he knew my name, but the old man said, "All in due time, young one. First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Gakura Hitsujikan. You may also know me as Akabe Juri or the 'One Who Knows'. I wrote the book your friend has in his backpack.

"As you have already figured out, I wrote the book using Nen. You may have also figured out that in order to have written the book using Nen, that I must have knowledge of Nen. I'm sure that you are piecing my words together like a puzzle, young Zoldyck, so I shall give you more pieces. I am of the Specialization category of Nen users. I use my Nen to look into the hearts of others."

He talked quite fast, for an old man. However, being old, he had to cough quite a bit. After he was done talking, he coughed and I took the opportunity to get my thoughts in. I asked him how he knew our hearts since we never met him. I also asked him how he knew we were coming.

"Both of those questions," he said after he was done coughing, "can be answered quite simply with one answer. If I use my Nen on something, it will linger on that something. It doesn't matter how long ago I used it on that something, if somebody comes in contact with it then I can know their hearts. I may have written that book many years ago, but I know every heart that has ever touched it.

"Of course, this kind of ability does not come easily. I had to pay a great price for it. A price that I'd rather not say at this moment, as I do not feel I can say it clearly enough that you would understand. Ah, I sense that you still wish to know. Then have a seat on the grass before me and I shall tell you a tale."

This old man was starting to annoy me with the way he talked. However, I was genuinely curious as to how he got his Nen ability and what he had to pay. I wondered if it was anything like Kurapika's condition to only use his chains on the Phantom Troupe or he'd die. I was about to sit, but someone pulled my arm and I fell on my face. I sat up and saw Gon looking at me, grinning like an idiot. I hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He said holding his head, "Why'd you do that?"

"Why did you pull my arm?" I countered.

He said nothing. Instead he just pouted. I let out a sigh. I hated when he pouted. I gave him a kiss to cheer him up. The old man just laughed. The laugh reminded me of that geezer Netero, the Chairman of the Hunter's Association. I shot him an angry look that challenged him to say he had a problem with me kissing Gon. However, my anger went away when the laughing turned into coughing.

"Do not misinterpret, young one," the old man said, "I was laughing because I have never seen a relationship so pure, such as yours, before. Not since my own…" He trailed off and thought for a few seconds. This caused him to cough for a while. Then as if nothing had happened, he continued, "Now, then, if you are seated comfortably, I shall begin my tale. My tale begins many years in the past, when I was but a young man of seventeen.

"It was my final year of schooling. I was listening to my teacher talking about mythical lands and creatures. He was saying there were many myths that had truths, such as a certain fountain that grants youth everlasting. Everybody in class did not believe the teacher. Everybody, except one girl who claimed to have seen somebody drink of the fountain. I had noticed this girl before, but I never heard her speak until that moment as she usually stayed quiet.

"She had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard. Her name was Kari Hikamura. I fell in love with her instantly and we started dating after a few weeks of being friends. Once we were graduated, we heard about people who searched the world for mysterious places. These people were called 'Hunters'. We decided we would take the Hunter's Exam together. It was hard, but we managed to pass.

"After we had our Hunter's Licenses, we decided to research the Fountain of Youth. Sometime during our research, I asked Kari to marry me. I was excited when she accepted. As time went by, our research grew more intense. We came across several articles that suggested we need a mysterious power to find the fountain. The power of Nen.

"We found somebody willing to train us in Nen. Kari was an Emitter and I was a Specialist. We trained in Nen for several months. In about two years, we had mastered Nen enough that we could defend ourselves on our journey. However, we did not stop training. We did research in between our training. We had to make sure we were prepared.

"It was about two years after we finished our training that we decided to finally take our journey. We travelled far and we travelled long. We came to the end of the Known World. Once we realized that our journey would take us to the Outside World, we knew we would be on our own; that nobody would help us. We rented out a ship and journeyed across the ocean into the Outside World. The seas were calm at first, but they turned violent as we got closer to the Outside World.

"We safely made it across the terrible seas, though not without a few close calls. Our ship landed on a land that had yet to be explored. We figured it was a good place to start looking for the Fountain. We searched that island for weeks on end, but we fond no sign of the Fountain. As we made our way back to the ship, a terrible earthquake happened. The ground opened up and swallowed my beloved Kari.

"It was fortunate that she grabbed on to a piece of land that was sticking out. After a moment of shock, I grabbed onto a vine hanging from a tree and repelled down into the chasm. I grabbed onto Kari's arm and tried to lift her up onto my shoulders, but my grip wasn't tight enough and she fell deeper to where I could no longer see her.

"I climbed up to the surface and ran back to the ship before another earthquake could happen. I immediately set back for home. As I crossed the seas again, I was begging the storm to take my life so I could be with the one that I loved. The storm did not grant my request, however, it did give me my ability. As I was struck by lightning, knowledge filled my mind.

"As soon as I got home, I sat at my desk and began to write. Without my knowing it, I had written an entire book in Nen. I had the book published by an old friend. The next morning, I could see nothing. In exchange for the Nen connection to the book, my eyes were taken. I learned to reach out with my Nen and my aura had become a second set of eyes for me.

"I began to study in martial arts. Once I had mastered that, I opened my own school. It doubles as a home for those who have lost their loved ones. I teach those who have lost their eyes to reach out with Nen. Hikaryo is the best student I have ever had. He is like a son to me and he treats me like a father. He lost his family when he was young and because of it, his eyes are stained red. That is why he wears the mask over his eyes."

When the old man had finished his story, he coughed for a long time. I looked over at Gon and he looked at me. I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. This man was far more advanced in Nen than we were. I had to know if it was possible for him to train us. I opened my mouth to ask.

"Mr. Hitsujikan," Gon said before I could, "Will you train us?"

"Eh?" The old man asked, "Train you? In what?"

"In Nen," Gon said, "Will you train us to reach out with our Nen like you do?"

The old man though about Gon's question. It was only at that time that I noticed the old man had his eyes closed the entire time we had been there. I thought about how he said his 'eyes had been taken'. I just thought that meant that he went blind, but even blind people open their eyes. Did he mean that his eyes were literally taken from his face?

"No," the old man said, taking me out of my thoughts, "No, I cannot train you to reach out with your Nen."

Gon seemed upset and seeing him upset pissed me off. I stood up and got in the old man's face and asked, rather loudly, "Why the hell not, old man?"

"Killua-" Gon began.

"No," I said, "This geezer needs to answer me or I'll kill him!" I turned my hand into a claw and pressed it up against his neck.

"Killua!" Gon said again.

"What?" I turned around to look at Gon and he hit me on the head. "Ow!" I said, "What hell did you do that for, Gon?!"

"You're being too rash, Killua," Gon chided, "Calm down."

I hated to admit it, but Gon was right. Gon was right most of the time, it seemed. I turned again to the old man and apologized. The old man laughed and coughed in between his laughter. The constant laughing at the things that I did was starting to piss me off as well.

"There's no need to apologize, young one," he said, "I understand your feelings. I cannot train you to reach out with your Nen because you do not need my training. The bond that you two share is stronger than anything and in order to train you to reach out with your Nen, you would have to sever that bond. That is something I am not willing to do. A bond like yours cannot be mended once it is severed."

I was a bit confused at his words, but I knew they held some important message. Hikaryo came out of the house and told us that he prepared dinner and a room for us. The old man led us inside and sat us at a table where different kinds of food was laid out. I noticed the inside of the house was just as big as the outside and it was kept pretty neat. There wasn't anything too fancy inside, but it had a kind of feeling to it. I couldn't quite place the feeling, but it felt kind of like being back at Gon's house on Whale Island.

At the table, I noticed several other people. Some of them were kids around mine and Gon's age, but most of them were older, probably around Milluki's age. I guessed that Gon and I were most likely the only ones at the table with families. I should have felt bad, but for some reason, I didn't. Seeing everybody smiling told me that they had a family with the old man. My lips cracked a small smile that faded when I saw Gon looking at me.

"What?" I said.

"Oh, nothing." He said turning his head away.

He then laughed to himself like he just thought of the lamest joke in history. Knowing Gon, that description probably wasn't too far off. He could find just about anything funny. It was something that should annoy me, but doesn't. It's something that's hard to explain.

After dinner, we followed Hikaryo up the stairs. He led us down a hall and opened the door to the room he said we'd be sleeping in. He was about to leave when I stopped him. I wanted to ask him something, but I couldn't find the right words to ask without it sounding offensive to him. I had a tendency to do that. I looked to Gon for help because he knew what I wanted to ask.

"Hikaryo," Gon said, "Have you heard of the Kurtas?"

"Kurtas?" Hikaryo asked.

"They're a tribe of people that travelled all over the place," I said, "When they get angry, they're eyes turn red."

"Yes," Hikaryo said, "I think I remember hearing about them once. I heard that they were killed. How do you boys know-?"

"We have a friend who's a Kurta," Gon said, "And when Mr. Hitsujikan said you had red eyes, we thought of him."

"We were wondering if you-" I was cut off by Hikaryo's laughter.

"I guess I can't hide it any longer," he said, "but you have to promise not to tell anybody what I'm going to tell you. You promise?" We nodded and he continued, "Yes, I am from the Kurta clan. However, I do not know your friend. He must have been from a different tribe because…" He paused and it almost seemed like he was regretting something. "Because I'm the one that killed my tribe."

He explained to us that it seemed like he was having a dream at the time. He said that a voice spoke to him and he lost all of his senses when his eyes turned scarlet. He said that he burned his village afterwards and he travelled around in the forest for many months. He told us that he was about to give up when the old man found him.

"He took me in," Hikaryo said, "he gave me this mask. He taught me Nen and how to make it a second set of eyes. He didn't ask my name, but gave me a new one. It was a new start for me."