Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

Story so far: So, they did meet Ishtar and she had somewhat helped them with the manacle. Main problem still wasn't solved, though, and they had to practically travel around to world in search of a mythical creature stronger than the genie to lift that particular spell of inconvenience. Apparently, Kuroro was warned by Ishtar that Kurapika would undergo some changes and he was to notify her when it happened. Problem was he did not know what kind of changes would occur.


Chapter 5

KURAPIKA'S TRUE SELF


Kuroro looked at his sleeping companion silently. He observed his facial structure carefully, taking note that the more he looked at the boy, the more he felt that the boy had somewhat changed. The scowls and the frowns were still there whenever he made comments that angered or irritated the boy, but he was not talking about those. Something he could not really pinpoint exactly about him was changing, and he did not know whether it was for the better or the worse.

They had been travelling together for about two weeks now, and they had learned to trust each other to a certain (small) extent. For one, they had reached an agreement that they would not try to strangle each other to death in their sleep. This way, they could sleep more peacefully at night. After they had done with their business in Ryuusei-gai, particularly with Ishtar, they had left the city immediately. Jan was quite disappointed to see him leaving so early, and had told him that some of the elders of the Council wanted to talk to him. Kuroro had to decline. The prospect of talking with the Council with Kurapika in tow was not wise. He could come back again next time, when they were finally free from the bind.

Ishtar had told them about her negotiation with Hassamunnin. The genie refused to remove the bind, so they had no choice but to find another genie, or another magical being, with power exceeding Hassamunnin and had them to revoke the spell. She gave them a pair of ring which would serve to tell them if a mythical being was close by. It meant that they would have to travel randomly from places to places, in other words, travel around the world. Aside from that, something was also bothering him. Before they left, Ishtar had whispered something to him.

"When there is an abnormal change to that child, call me immediately. Understood?"

He wanted to protest, but he heard the finality in her voice. No matter how much he wanted to defy her, when she had issued an order to him, he had to comply. He knew from her tone that the matter was important, and it would be best for him to follow her advice, considering that after all she possessed the True Vision. Which made Kuroro wondered, what was wrong with the boy? If Ishtar was very serious about it, it had to be something critical but she would not tell him. So far, nothing had happened.

Another thing that he noticed; the link between them had expanded. He did not know whether the Kuruta boy noticed it or not, but the distance allotted between them had expanded from by about 20 cm. He knew that the change had been on Kurapika's part. After all, it was not like he hated the boy. In fact, he was interested with his boundless potential, not to mention his versatile Nen. He had even thought of making him join the Ryodan. He learned his lessons, though, and was now aware that the boy was smart and would not be easily swayed by his persuasion. It was near impossible, if not impossible already.

A distant rustle of bushes alerted Kuroro. He narrowed his eyes, trying to penetrate the darkness of the forest around them but saw nothing. The wind blew, caressing his raven hair. It might be just some wild nocturnal animals, but then again he had to make sure. It could be bandits, or even worse; bounty hunters. He deployed his En to scan the surroundings, just in case. Even if the ones after them were Nen-users who were in Zetsu state, they still could not escape his En. True enough, he detected a few people, scattered around them preparing for an ambush.

"Wake up." He tapped Kurapika's shoulder lightly. The boy was a light sleeper; a tap on the shoulder was all he needed to snap open his eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked sleepily with slight irritation. It bemused Kuroro how even the simplest gesture made by him could provoke the boy's irritation.

"We have uninvited guests. Get ready." He commanded out of habit in his days with the Genei Ryodan members.

The Kuruta grumbled unhappily but still he obeyed him with a deep frown. He sat up lazily, pretending that he was not alert, while in fact he was as awake as he was in daylight. "Who?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe bounty hunters, or merely bandits." Kuroro shrugged, and resumed his normal sitting stance. They waited while pretending that they were just sitting by the kindling campfire.

"Don't kill anyone." Kurapika suddenly said as he gazed at the ember.

Kuroro gave him a quizzical look. "Here we go."

As if answering to his cue, people leaped from the bushes around them, all of them aiming their weapons for the pair. In unison, both jumped to avoid being skewered or cleaved, but at different power input. Kuroro jumped further, as the result dragging Kurapika with him since their link remained 40 cm only. Kurapika stumbled and bumped into him. He lost his footing and had to cling to Kuroro; leaning to his chest, to be exact, to prevent him from falling, while Kuroro had to hold him by his elbow.

"Klutz." Kuroro grinned.

"Shut up." Kurapika snapped and hurriedly detached himself from Kuroro. He straightened up and scanned the faces of their assaulters.

"Well well, look at who we have here." One of the men, a brawny man wearing sleeveless shirt, spoke up. "Kuroro Lucifer with his girlfriend!"

"I'M A BOY!" Kurapika yelled at them, enraged. Kuroro, who by then was already accustomed to Kurapika's yelling every time someone mistook him as a girl, only snickered. Kurapika turned at him with glaring eyes.

"I honestly think you should put an announcement on your forehead saying: I'm a boy." He said teasingly.

"Shut up, jerk." Kurapika felt his face burning.

"Whatever it is, you are unlucky, boy. Tonight we're gonna get our rewards on his head, but I think you'll have to come along." The muscle man said again as he advanced towards them.

"So you are bounty hunters." Kuroro said, confirming his suspicion. "I'm sorry, gentleman, but I have no intention on letting myself get captured by you."

"You know what?" The man smirked. "The bounty says: 'Dead or Alive'."

"Hmm…Interesting." Kuroro brought a hand to cover his mouth, mocking a thinking gesture.

Kurapika rolled his eyes in exasperation. He could not believe what an idiot that brawny man was. Even the whole bunch of them would not stand a chance of defeating Kuroro Lucifer. Heck, even he could take care of all of them all at once singlehandedly; and they had the audacity of claiming that they could kill him if necessary for the sake of the bounty.

"This will be the first time we fight side by side."

"True." Kurapika grimaced; usually they always tried to wring each other's necks. "Think we are at disadvantage?"

"No. I think it's a good chance to measure our compatibility in battle."

"What?"

Before Kuroro could elaborate more, the men had lost their patience and all attacked them in unison. They were completely surrounded in a circle. They could not break away because of the bind, but they could not risk jumping up, since when they were airborne, they were more vulnerable that way. It left Kurapika with only one option. He summoned his Dowsing Chain and had it form a helix shield around them. The Nen chain managed to block all attacks, and with a push, deflected all of them. The men were taken aback by his little trick, their mouth hanging open like a drawer with loose hinge.

"Can you fight with your right hand only?" Suddenly Kuroro asked.

"I think so. Why?" Kurapika did not look at him as he asked, his eyes fixed on the enemies, although he really wanted to shake some explanation out of the older man.

"Good. Then we'll have to fight like this." He suddenly grabbed Kurapika's left hand with his left hand. Kurapika jolted violently from the sudden touch with the Spider Head, but Kuroro ignored it. He shifted and stood facing the opposite direction from Kurapika. "The bind restricts our movements. It will be easier if we hold hands."

Kurapika understood what Kuroro was talking about. If they fought on their own without any physical link, they would tend to forget about the magical link and it might result in reckless moves. If they held hands, they would always be within the allotted space, and therefore they would be less likely to commit any foolish mistakes. Kuroro's big hand totally enveloped Kurapika's smaller hand, and he gripped his hand firmly. Even if Kurapika was not holding his hand back, he knew he would not slip out of his grip. Kurapika's arm went rigid for a while, as if it had been diseased upon touch with Kuroro Lucifer, but he forced his arm to relax. In any case, he could not afford to be distracted by mere physical touch when there were bounty hunters after them.

"Fine." Kurapika nodded and held his hand back in response most reluctantly. Kuroro took out his Benz dagger, while Kurapika took his tanto. They bent their knees slightly into a fighting pose.

"Let the party begins."


He wiped the blood from his face and changed his blood-smeared clothes with the clean one. When he was done, he looked around the surrounding. Lifeless bodies were scattered everywhere, not to mention the blood and gore. He sat down on a fallen tree trunk and turned to look at his unconscious companion.

He had been surprised to find that the Kuruta had been willing to fully cooperate in the battle. He had not expected that level of compatibility between them, considering the kid's hell bent hatred towards him. What annoyed him was that the boy tried not to kill a single man, all because of his ridiculous sense of morality. It was a mistake on Kurapika's part, and in the end, he had to pay for it.

One of the brutes that the boy thought he had knocked senseless got up again and attacked him. Kurapika barely dodged the knife, the blade missing his cheek by less than an inch and instead it struck his earring. He gasped in surprise, momentarily losing his concentration and the men took his chance to slash at him, cutting the front of his shirt open. The next fraction of second, Kurapika's face was contorted into an expression of pure rage and delivered a kick to the man's solar plexus. The man doubled up, and without mercy Kurapika drove a hit with the butt of his tanto's hilt hard on the back of the man's head. Kuroro heard the cracking sound, and was sure that Kurapika had fractured the skull; making the man his first kill as he would later check. Apparently Kurapika's hit had caused a severe internal bleeding in his head.

As Kuroro sent two more men to meet their maker, he noticed the Kuruta behaving strangely. He started to wobble, mumbling "my earring" like a mad man while clutching his ear that was now missing the dangling trinket. Annoyed by the boy's lack of concentration, Kuroro yanked Kurapika towards him and turned to gave him a warning look but was surprised to see the sheer fear in the boy's blue eyes.

"What's wro—"

Suddenly, Kurapika collapsed. With his reflex, Kuroro managed to catch him in his left arm and held him closely. He had no idea why the Kuruta fainted out of the blue. He was sure the boy was not scratched at all, so he scratched out the idea of being poisoned from the list. As he heard the cry of battle from the remaining hunters, he 'tsk'ed and decided to inspect and interrogate the boy later. With his left arm holding the limp Kuruta by his stomach awkwardly, Kuroro finished the other men with one clean cut on each throat. He was surprised to feel Kurapika's feather-light weight in his arm.

When he had made sure that all the hunters were dead, he dropped the boy to the nearest tree trunk and inspected for any cause that had made the Kuruta passed out. He checked arms, legs, and face, but nothing. As he moved on to check his neck, he realised the boy's shirt had been ripped from a knife cut and noticed something that was not supposed to be there. A thought flashed in his mind, and Kuroro's face bleached. He swore that he had a really bad karma. There, beneath Kurapika's torn shirt, he spotted two (albeit small) bumps on the chest.

Kurapika Kuruta was really a girl.


Kuroro covered his mouth with his left hand in a brooding manner, the elbow supported by his laps, while his eyes were glued at a certain sleeping Kuruta. Now he knew why he always felt something was out of place when he looked at the Kuruta. He had a gut feeling that the kid was more than meet the eyes; and it was literally true. Kuroro pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and stared at it with his dark eyes hesitantly. This was what Ishtar had meant. She knew that Kurapika was truthfully a girl; and no doubt through her True Vision. He fingered the buttons with his thumb tentatively, wondering whether he should give her a call or not. After all, he was now dealing with a girl, and he needed her advice. He had never handled a female before, leave alone a teenage girl. Oh he did interact with some females; Machi, Shizuku, and Pakunoda, but they were all different cases. Kuroro Lucifer had never even touched a woman in his life. He was never interested in them, except if they displayed unusual potential as fighters and only then he might be interested to recruit them.

"No." He whispered to himself as he pocketed back his cell-phone. "I will handle this myself, see how things turn out first. If I can handle everything on my own, then there is no need to call her." He turned to look at the still unconscious Kurapika again.

"Really, you are a total headache for me, always putting me in predicaments. First you killed Uvo, and then captured me and rendered me powerless with your Judgment Chain. Then we get stuck together like this, and now it turns out that you are a girl." He mused. A smile graced his cold face.

You are really an interesting kid, Kurapika. So full of surprises, you never bore me, he thought amusedly.

A soft groan from Kurapika broke Kuroro's soliloquy and she stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared to the darkened sky in a daze. Slowly she turned her head, observing her surrounding. As she spotted the dead bodies, she stiffened. Kurapika blinked twice, trying to register the event that was happening before she passed out.

"Awake now?" Kuroro asked in his emotionless voice possible, gaining her attention.

Kurapika tilted her head up, seeing Kuroro in an upside-down manner. She stared at him with wide eyes, disbelieving look was obvious. There were doubts in her eyes as well. Kuroro looked into her eyes straight, trying to decipher her thoughts.

"Did you find out?" She asked in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" He asked, pretending to be clueless, but his grin betrayed him.

"Don't play dumb!" She snapped and tried to get up, but stopped with a chocked gasp as their 40-cm-alloted-space restricted her from moving further from Kuroro. With a hiss, she readjusted her position to sit down on the tree trunk next to him at the maximum 40 cm distant away from Kuroro. Seeing that her front shirt was ruined, she clutched it with her hands and looked down.

"For how long already?"

Kurapika frowned at herself, and looked hesitant to answer but Kuroro waited patiently. "Five years." She finally muttered.

Kuroro raised an eyebrow. She did it right after the slaughter of her clan; what a bold decision, coming from a 13 years-old-girl.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" She suddenly asked with a spat, her scarlet eyes glowing angrily in the darkness. "I have no other better option. Travelling alone as a girl is much more disadvantaging and dangerous than being a boy."

Still the old, fierce Kurapika he knew. At least the personality did not change along with the body, Kuroro thought, somewhat relieved. Now that the kid was up and awake, his uncertainty about the situation was replaced by sheer curiosity.

"How do you feel right now? It's been 5 long years since you live as a girl." He asked, not bothering to hide his curiosity. If anything, he even looked at her more closely. He noticed the girlishness of Kurapika's feature was enhanced now that the disguise was lifted from her.

Kurapika clutched her chest tighter. "Honestly, I don't feel like myself. It's…strange." She admitted, somehow embarrassed. She had no idea why she answered Kuroro, but she had to say it, otherwise she would not feel at ease. She had to let it out.

"Hm…" Kuroro replied absentmindedly as he kept staring into her face. He reached out and tilted her chin to turn her face towards him. He leaned closer, to observe her more closely. Shocked and flustered, Kurapika snarled and raised her hand.

SLAP!

"Don't touch me." She hissed furiously.

It was not really a hard slap, but still Kuroro's cheek turned slightly red. He chuckled with amusement and he noticed something.

"Already your gestures are changing into those of girls." He told her. "Last time, you had punched me. This time, you slapped me."

"If you prefer punch rather than slap, it suits me just fine." Kurapika raised her fist, ready to strike him again but Kuroro lifted his hands in a mock surrender.

Kurapika regarded him with one killer glare before she turned away and looked at her lap again. Her face looked troubled again and she bit her lower lip. She had to figure out how she would have to deal with things from now on, now that she was a girl once more. Kuroro looked at her with a newfound interest. It surprised him how the girl was willing to go through such ordeal, to sacrifice her original gender in order to survive better so that she could track him—them—down and seek revenge for her fallen comrades, to endure the hardships and gruelling Nen and physical trainings, to push her self into a premature adulthood for survival sake. It made him see her in a different light; he had acknowledged her as a strong person when she was still a boy, but now he knew that she was even more than that. Her strength and determination intrigued him.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked again.

"I don't know. The earring is the only one of the kind. I don't think I can find another one." She said softly, voicing her thoughts.

"You are still thinking of disguising yourself as a boy?" He asked, rather surprised.

"What? You think I'll just give up and accept my fate?" She snapped at him again.

"You are a girl by right. Why deny your true self? Just live as who you are. What's the point of living if you live as someone else who is not your true self?" Kuroro challenged her, unaware that he was voicing the exact points that Ishtar had inquired to the girl. Kurapika froze and stared at him dumbstruck. Suddenly, Ishtar's words echoed in her head.

Are you sure? Are you okay with this? Why lie to yourself?

Kuroro was confused on why the girl looked so struck with his words. He was just telling her on what he really believed in. He might be a criminal; a murderer, a thief, but he was just being himself. He fully accepted himself, embracing his true nature. He took pride in what he did, because they reflected his convictions. He wanted to laugh in the irony of the situation; him, a criminal, was living a more 'honest' life than the girl; a Hunter who hunted him the criminal and was living while lying to herself. It brought a grin to his face; he could use this to taunt the Kuruta.

"What are you smiling about?" Kurapika asked with annoyance.

"Nothing." He just shrugged, and took out his Fun Fun Cloth. "Get something to change." He ordered.

Kurapika rummaged through the pile of clothes they had, and fished out a dark grey long-sleeved t-shirt and a white t-shirt. She stared at the white t-shirt, and wordlessly took out her knife and tore at the t-shirt. Kuroro raised an eyebrow at her behaviour, but said nothing and merely watched. Kurapika made a kind of make-shift bandage out of the t-shirt, which he had no idea for what use it was. The girl had no physical injury.

"Turn around." She said flatly. "And do not peek." She warned, her tone edgy.

Kuroro obediently turned around and closed his eyes. Kurapika stared at his back unsurely. She turned around as well, their backs towards each other, and stripped off her ruined shirt. She quickly took the bandage and wrapped it firmly around her chest, binding her breasts to make it more comfortable since she had no bra at the moment. When she had wrapped it, she could not firmly tie the end of the bandage on her back. She tried several times, but the binding always turned out rather loose. Kuroro felt her fidgety movements, and knew that she was having difficulty with something.

"Need any help?" He asked thoughtlessly although he was sure the girl would hiss a "mind your own business".

"Mind your own business." Kurapika snapped stubbornly.

See? He chuckled inaudibly to himself.

As Kurapika fought with the binder, Kuroro waited patiently until she declared that she was done with whatever she was doing. After a few minutes, she finally stopped fidgeting and he could hear the rustles of the clothes as she quickly put on the long-sleeved t-shirt.

"I'm done." She announced.

"We are going to the nearest town tomorrow." Kuroro suddenly said as he turned around.

"Huh?" Kurapika blinked once. Why the sudden decision?

"You will need to buy another set of clothes. And other necessities." He explained, understanding the lost look on the young Kuruta's face.

"I don't need another set of clothes. I'm fine with what I have right now." Kurapika protested. She did not want to spend money unnecessarily, despite the multiple digits in her bank account.

"You are a girl now." Kuroro said with a slight frown.

"So? I am fine with boy's clothes. It's not like I'll die if I wear them." She said adamantly.

"Fine. Do as you wish." Kuroro got up with a slight, unhappy frown on his face. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Kurapika got up as well and dusted her pants. Kuroro gave her a quizzical stare.

"You want to sleep here with the dead?" He said as he gestured at the dead bodies.

"Let's go." She said in less than a heartbeat and marched forward. Kuroro followed close behind her, an amused smile on his face.


"I said I don't need another set of clothes!" She was close to yelling at him. She gritted her teeth in extreme annoyance, her hands akimbo on her hips as she had a glaring contest with Kuroro in front of a clothing store in the middle of the street. Some passer-byes looked at them and perceived them as quarrelling couple. Some even had the nerve to giggle, which irritated Kurapika even more.

"You are an eyesore when you wear those boys' clothes." He retorted. Kuroro Lucifer liked to appreciate works of arts, and he had to admit that the Kuruta looked pretty enough, but the boys' clothes ruined everything. After two whole days of observation, the moment they stepped into the first town they reached, he was dead determined to purchase a set of girls' clothes for her, whether she liked it or not.

"It doesn't concern you." She countered.

"It does, because you are travelling with me." He said back. "And I do not accept you walking around in such ridiculous fashion when you are with me."

Kurapika scowled fiercely at him. Kuroro had made it sounded as if they were 'together', and it gave her goose-bumps. She had another reason; she was a practical person, and boys' clothes tended to be more practical than girls'. She reasoned with this without thinking twice.

"I'm sure we can find practical girls' clothes here." He said triumphantly, because it meant that they were going into the shop, which meant he would get to force her to buy something once they were inside the shop.

Kurapika realized her mistake, and cursed silently at Kuroro's play of words. Kuroro dragged her into the shop, the link doing him a favour in it, and she could only comply although most reluctantly. The shop owner greeted them warmly, but they passed her by without a word and immediately went to the girl's corner. Kuroro quickly sifted through the displayed clothes and found some practical ones that would suit Kurapika. Begrudgingly, Kurapika noted that those clothes that the man had chosen for her were of good taste. Kuroro Lucifer had a good sense of fashion, while she looked like some fashion-geek, only standing there and embraced whatever clothes that Kuroro dumped to her. He then dragged her towards the counter and transferred the clothes from her arms to the table.

"Do you think you can exchange them with the clothes we have here?" He asked politely with a smile as he produced Kurapika's boy's clothes from the Fun Fun Cloth and dumped them in a heap on the table. The female manager was instantly smitten by his handsome smile and blushed. Kurapika rolled her eyes; why all girls had to get smitten by the bastard? Kurapika stole a glance at Kuroro. Indeed she had to admit that he was good-looking; with his hair down and the headband concealing his cross-shaped tattoo on his forehead, and as he wore the black trench coat with Chinese-collared black shirt underneath.

"Sss—sure. Let me check them first. I will deduct the worth of these clothes from your bill afterwards." The young lady stuttered nervously and inspected the clothes. They were mostly in good conditions, since Kurapika was a neat and clean freak, and always took great care of his clothes.

"Excuse me, can you help me…" Kurapika leaned forward and whispered something to the lady. She nodded as Kurapika spoke, and then excused herself and went into the store.

"What—"

"None of your business." Kurapika hurriedly cut him off, refusing to look at him.

Kurapika leaned forward and rested her elbows on the counter top. She sighed as if exhausted, and Kuroro noticed this. They did run down a hill to save time, but surely she as not exhausted just by that?

The manager soon enough emerged from the back room with a small bundle in her hands. She gave the bundle to Kurapika and whispered something as she winked at the younger girl. Kurapika merely muttered a thank you and put the bundle on the table.

Kurapika paid for the clothes, since they were hers anyway. She did not want to be indebted to Kuroro in any forms. Once outside, they stored the clothes into the man's Fun Fun Cloth.

"Never look into this." Kurapika warned him sharply as she put her 'special' bundle into the Fun Fun Cloth. Kuroro raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's inside?"

"Just don't peek." She insisted curtly and said nothing else. Kuroro frowned at her, and suddenly a realization dawned to him.

"Oh." He just said emotionlessly, but inwardly he laughed at her shyness. Of course he knew what was inside.

Time rolled by quickly and by the time they finished shopping, the sun was already low on the horizon, painting the small town in its glorious crimson light. They unanimously decided to look for an inn to stay for the night, although Kurapika was reluctant to spend the rest of the day in an inn. The prospect of staying in a room doing nothing with the Spider Head was not pleasing to her. He would rather be outside with him, doing something else rather than sitting in awkward silence with his supposedly nemesis. When they finally found an inn, Kurapika stopped before they entered the building.

"Wait. What kind of story are you going to make now?" She asked with suspicion to the older man. The man gave her a mischievous smirk, which took her aback.

"What kind of story do you want?"

"Not the long-lost half sister. That's ridiculous." She narrowed her eyes. "Just say we are travelling companion."

"If you wish so." Kuroro turned away and resumed walking into the inn. Kurapika eyed him warily. Something was off, the man seemed to be scheming something. How could he agree so readily with her idea? Something was fishy, but she could not guess exactly what.

One thing for sure, she had a really bad premonition, a nagging feeling that something unpleasant would happen that night. She looked up to see the inn's name.

"The Prancing Pony, huh?"


Author's Note: Tadaaa….And that's it. Kurapika is a girl. For those who are expecting this story to be a shonen-ai, forgive me. I'm not so much a big fan of shonen-ai, so yeah… Sorry multiple times. Sorry if I disappoint some of you. It's been planned since the beginning. Because she knew that she was originally a girl, that's why she was adamant in convincing people that she was a boy. Poor girl. Well, I guess you can deduce what the special bundle is. Hehe… I always think that Kuroro is the type who pays attention to his appearance, although not excessively so. And I guess he's the type who'll do anything to fix something he doesn't like if he can help it. And yes, this particular inn will have significant role in the story.

Next: Expectantly, they had to stay in one room due to the bind. But how about the beds? Kurapika was a girl now, surely that posed some problems. What was more, there were more problems in store for both of them now.