"What happened yesterday confirms the Troupe is still at large here in Yorknew."

Light Nostrade lit a cigar as he addressed his entourage—Basho, Melody, Squala, Linssen, and Kurapika, the last of his bodyguards remaining. "So the ten Dons will be moving forward with their plan accordingly."

The plan. Kurapika could only give a vague attestation to what it was. Something along lines of rousing the Phantom Troupe with rumors of more treasures to be had from another auction. He considered it idiotic at first. The Troupe wouldn't be provoked by such blatant phony bait especially after they had taken near everything the mafia had already, but apparently it had worked. By spreading fake rumors, the mafia had managed to lead some of the Spiders into a trap where one of the new Hunters had even managed to defeat one of them—at least that's what the mafia said. In either case, the Troupe had displayed their interest, and it meant they would show for the next auction. Kurapika was glad for that. If they left the city he wasn't sure he would be able to ever find them again, and certainly not before it was too late.

Blowing a puff of smoke Light continued, "They've requested the help of every family. Which is why I'm looking for another volunteer who wishes to stay with Kurapika while the rest of you accompany Neon back home." They all looked at each other and he added, "keep in mind, this is only for appearances, I have no intention of needlessly throwing more men at the Troupe." He gave them a hard look. "And only one, I don't have anymore to spare, Neon should have as many at her side as possible."

Ever since Melody and Basho had wrestled Neon out of some stranger's car, Light Nostrade had been full paranoia, just itching to send her away. The last few days had been full of heated arguments between father and daughter—where Light tried every tactic he could to convince his daughter to leave the city. Kurapika had woken up only this morning to learn that Neon had finally agreed, he still wasn't entirely sure how.

"I would like to stay here with Kurapika." It was Melody who spoke up, her voice gently demanding.

The boss frowned. "Are you sure? Your hearing abilities have proven very useful in guarding Neon."

Melody made a face, you're the one who asked for a volunteer, it said, but a smile quickly returned. "Nonetheless, I would like to stay here with Kurapika, if it's possible," she said firmly.

Light Nostrade hesitated, then shrugged. "If that's what you wish. The rest of you will be departing this afternoon. If that's all," he gestured, "then this meeting is concluded."

Leorio didn't notice Kurapika approach until his shadow was over him. Hunched over on the park bench, he looked up at Kurapika from his phone. His gaze was empty, as if he was looking at something behind him—not at him. And his eyes, covered almost by his unkempt black hair, were more sunken than even yesterday, completely lacking the iron pride Kurapika knew so well. He was missing his suit and tie, wearing only a white shirt that was half unbuttoned. Its sleeves dangled as he gestured to him to sit.

"So?" they both said together after Kurapika sat down beside him. Then hesitated.

"You go first," Kurapika said.

Leorio sighed. "I don't know...I must've searched the area fifty times just last night," he said bitterly, "there's no clue Kurapika, no word, nothing to tell us where they might've gone. I've had Zepile running around too. This city is huge. Some of the people we hired to help have even given up."

"And the ad you posted on the Hunter website?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "I posted ads on other websites too. And the local authorities have been no help either of course." He buried his face in his hands. "I don't know what else to do Kurapika!"

Kurapika put a hand on his friend's shoulder, though he felt a little awkward doing it. Just yesterday both of them had nearly come to blows arguing. Leorio put the blame on him for not answering his phone saying, "if you had just helped from the start, then none of this wouldn't have happened!" Kurapika had only heard the news when he called Leorio himself shortly after the dead bodies of the Spiders were discovered. Of course the very next night, after all the parading by the mafia, the corpses were revealed to be fake when they abruptly vanished into thin air. That was another blow on top of learning Gon and Killua had been captured. By them.

Even still Kurapika struggled to grasp the absurdity of it. Captured by the Phantom Troupe, while trying to capture them, all for some bounty. Two children attempting to catch the Spiders for money. Whatever he had done, it didn't excuse Leorio's inane stupidity for letting them run off in the first place. Kurapika's hand tightened on his shoulder.

"You've done enough," he said, keeping his voice soft yet firm. "I think you should take a break."

Leorio shrugged him off. "What about on your end," he asked, "anything?"

"My boss said he'll assign some of his men to look for them, but there's been nothing to report yet. Of course I didn't say the Troupe was behind this."

"I see. And…" he hesitated, "And Hisoka?" Leorio still found the idea of him having a contact within the Troupe uncomfortable, and of all people it being Hisoka.

Kurapika shook his head. Despite his barrage of texts demanding to know about Gon and Killua, Hisoka has sent him only two words and nothing more: They're alive . Arguably the most important bit of information to know, but it still did not give him an inkling of where his friends were. And being alive left an infinite number of other states a person could be in. My clansmen were alive when they took their eyes.

Kurapika could only wonder what the reason behind Hisoka's silence was. Perhaps he didn't consider helping him in this a part of their contract. For all he knew the magician had suddenly decided to not help him anymore, or the Troupe had gotten to him. In any case, he knew there was no counting on his help.

"But there is something else," Kurapika continued, "the mafia had a run in with the Troupe yesterday, perhaps one of those men could give us a lead." There probably wasn't much hope, but at least it would give Leorio something to think about.

"Troupe and mafia had another clash?"

"That's what they say. Do you know what this means, Leorio?"

"What?"

Kurapika gave his friend a hard look. "It means the Troupe is sure to attack the auction."

Leorio looked away, understanding. "So that's when you plan to…"

"Exactly."

If they could not find Gon and Killua beforehand, they simply had to wait for the auction. There he could face them openly. Sometimes the simplest and most direct path, Kurapika learned, was the best one.

Kurapika was at once skeptical and impressed when he arrived at the new underground auction house.

The building itself was unremarkable, located in the city center, it blended right into the surrounding concrete jungle. The building had apparently been a recent acquisition, having no known history associating it with the mafia. Even then Kurapika expected some sign, but there was none—no black suited gunmen, no sentries watching high windows or rooftops, no indication at all that this building belonged to the community. Only a single man stood at the entrance, and even he looked unarmed.

When Kurapika approached, he asked brusque questions about his name and purpose of visit then gestured him inside. The auction was clearly far from prepared, Kurapika thought. With security this lax no guests had obviously arrived yet and likely none of the new goods either. On the other hand, that could exactly be what the mafia needed people to think—hiding in plain sight seemed to be their approach with this place. It would not be easy for even the Troupe to find it.

The reception inside was as almost vacant as out. A few more men stood guard, though these ones weren't hiding their weapons, along with two strangers, a man and a woman that both caught Kurapika's attention instantly. Not only because they didn't look at all like the black suited gunmen, but their aura did not flow like the others. Rather than slowly leak out into space like steam, it enveloped their body in a tight hold—they were nen users.

The woman, black haired with a swarthy complexion, was reclining against a wall in the corner of the room, standing there as if she did not wish to be noticed. She wore black robes and Kurapika could see her unease if not from her aura, then from the way she clutched the intricately carved ivory staff in her hands. The man on the other hand, tall and dressed in military garb, was approaching Kurapika with an assurance that spoke of his seniority over everyone else in the room. He stood two full heads over Kurapika, that combined with his thickset muscles, reminded him of Uvogin, though he was not quite as big. A thick brown mustache covered his face and his deep-set eyes looked down on him as he spoke.

"Yes?" was all he said.

Kurapika met the man's eyes casually. So these were the new nen users the Dons hoped would destroy the Troupe and finally recover the stolen treasure. They seemed better than average by his estimation, but if it was only these two and the man he came to meet, he did not see much hope.

"I'm Kurapika," he said, "I'm here to meet Mato."

The tall man's eyebrow arched. "You're the one from the Nostrade family?"

Kurapika nodded, "I am." He didn't like how the man's hand was resting on the holster of his gun.

The man spun his mustache and considered him intently. "Very well," he said after a moment. He gestured to the woman who came forward. "Take him where he wants to go." They did not trust him with some goon, evidently. Kurapika did not protest and followed.

Kurapika wasn't sure what he was hoping to learn from this so-called Mato. One rumor he heard said that Mato had one of the Spiders in his grasp but had delegated to let him go to send a message. Kurapika didn't know if he believed that, yet even in the wildest rumors there always was some semblance of truth.

Leading him through the halls of the building, the staff-carrying woman eventually stopped at the doors to one of the many rooms. "Here," she said and Kurapika stepped inside.

Sitting on a sofa, Mato matched his descriptions closely with his long greying hair and simple white tunic, but the girl, sitting on the floor just below him, Kurapika did not know. She, he could see, was also a nen user, and surprisingly young for one, only looking to be around 13 or 14. She had reddish brown hair and wore a black leather jacket, and her face carried a wide grin that was a stark contrast to the frustration on Mato's. Both were playing some game, staring intently at the T.V. in front of them and clicking fiercely at the controllers in their hands. Neither moved to acknowledge his presence.

"Greetings," Kurapika began, "I'm Kur—"

"Wait wait!" the girl interrupted without taking her eyes off of the screen. Annoyed, Kurapika reminded himself that he was the one who needed information from them.

"Let him speak, Airi," Mato said firmly.

"I'm Kurapika from the Nostrade family," Kurapika said. "I hoped you could answer some questions about your encounter with the Phantom Troupe last night."

'Nostrade family," Mato breathed, eyes still focused on the game. "You know of them Airi?"

Kurapika opened his mouth to speak but the girl answered before him.

"They're upstarts," she said. "They specialize in collecting body parts and other sorts of relics. And, I heard," she paused, distracted by the game for a moment, then continued, "I heard they have many connections within the community because of their fortune telling services."

Though what she said wasn't entirely wrong, Kurapika felt irked by the girl speaking over him.

Mato looked at him for the first time. "So you collect body parts?" he asked. "Human or animal?"

"Both," Kurapika said flatly. He had no reason to lie. "Though I really work as a bodyguard."

Abruptly the girl cheered, and Mato set down his controller with a sigh, turning his full attention to Kurapika. This time he studied him hard, his gaze lingering especially on the chains on his right hand. This was a common thing as of late for Kurapika; whenever he met someone new they always took a moment to stare at his right hand.

Satisfied, Mato smiled and said, "I haven't introduced us. I'm Mato and this is Airi," he gestured to the girl, "she has a bad habit of following me wherever I go." She smiled proudly as if that was a great compliment.

Kurapika acknowledged them both. "Well met."

"So, about last night." Mato leaned back on his sofa. "Suppose I tell you what you want, but the question is, why should I?"

"You're working with the mafia, are you not? I'm sure they've offered you compensation for your services..."

"Please," Mato scoffed, and his face tightened. "Don't count me on the same level as yourself. I'm only here because it makes it convenient for me to get what I want. I don't have any interest in helping you or your compensation. I'm not one of your men."

Kurapika sighed, trying to control his frustration. People always wanted something. And yet, this Mato seemed more. The moment he had set his eyes on him Kurapika had seen them brimming with a strange accusation. He almost looked at him as if he was one of the Spiders.

"What is it that you want then?" Kurapika asked more intensely than he intended. "You glare at me as if I'm the enemy but we're on the same side. The Troupe is my enemy as well. They have two of my friends, and something you know could very well save their lives. They're just kids! Not even twelve years old."

When Kurapika finished, there was a change in Mato's glare—a blink, a raising of eyebrows, a twitch of expression that was gone within a split second but did not go unmissed. Kurapika looked at Airi and she too was staring oddly at Mato. There's something he knows.

"Then tell me," Mato said after a moment, "what do you know about a chain user?" His gaze flashed again on Kurapika's right hand.

Now it made sense. Th is is what he wanted from the start. He resisted the urge to flex his right hand, suddenly keenly aware of the authentically cold steel around them.

"Where did you hear of this?"

"Last night. Where else?"

There was no harm in telling him this he supposed—as long as Mato didn't give it away to the Troupe. "My team and I happened to capture one of them during their first attack," Kurapika answered. "But he escaped."

"Is that all? He said it as if he remembered you well."

Kurapika paused. What else could he tell this man? He couldn't say that he had really killed one of them. "During our encounter," he finally managed, "I came to learn of one of their abilities. Perhaps that's why they search for me." Hisoka had actually told him of two abilities, but one no longer mattered.

Mato grinned. "See? I knew you had something useful. So, then tell me."

"No," Kurapika said. "Not before you tell me what you know of my friends."

Mato frowned. "I know nothing about your friends, I only know what I saw last night." He gave an odd smirk. "But, I don't think you're going to like it."

"Just out with it," Kurapika said. He was running out of patience.

"There were two yesterday," Mato conceded finally, "a yellow haired man whom I fought, and a young boy with black spiky hair. His partner."

Before Mato even finished, Kurapika began to see red.

Standing before the airship, Kurapika wondered that perhaps another day he would have felt some release at Neon Nostrade's departure, to finally be free of his young boss' vapid self-importance and endless whining. But now, watching her tramp around the airport, berating the men as they hauled her possessions or getting into arguments with her maids on whether they packed this and that, Kurapika found that he did not care. If anything, the change despite its insignificance, made him feel uneasy. Like taking a step into the unknown, or a sort of premonition.

For the dozenth time, his mind wandered back to what Mato had said. Gon had been there. Why, still he could not understand. He would never believe what Mato said about Gon being their partner, or that he had helped one of the Spiders in some way. They had to be using him for something, but what and why? It was the same question he asked himself when Hisoka had sent him that message. There was relief, but the question sprung into his mind as much as it hurt to think about. Why had the Troupe not killed them? And if only Gon was there last night, where was Killua? Did that mean he was with someone else? Damn that Mato, if only the man wasn't so cryptic—he didn't consider Shizuku's ability to be worth much more than what he gave him. In the end, he hadn't learned much that could aid in finding them, but it was good to have confirmation that at least one of them was alive and unhurt.

"Kurapika?"

I'll find them, Kurapika told himself, I'll find them and I'll make them remember. Strangely enough, his thoughts for Gon and Killua had somehow transformed for the Troupe. In his mind's eye Kurapika saw an old village, ravaged and strewn with corpses, with crows that were pecking at their eyeless faces, and in the trampled dirt, laid a single bloodied red eye. It was a sight he imagined whenever he wanted to remind himself, though often it appeared on its own. Suddenly he was seeing red again, and Uvogin's dead face sprung into his mind, and for the first time since their battle, Kurapika felt a tinge of satisfaction. He's not the last. For some reason he had felt his resolve weakening as of late, perhaps those fake corpses had convinced some deep part of him that they were real, yet now, Kurapika could feel it returning. Out of the mafia, assassins, and everyone else, only he had been able to do it, only he had beaten them. Why? The answer seemed obvious. I'm the one, he thought, I'm the only one who can do it. He would save his friends and the Troupe he would once and f—Kurapika felt a tug at his arm.

He turned to see Melody standing beside him, looking at him doubtfully. "Are you listening to what I said Kurapika?" she said in her soft voice.

"No," Kurapika replied flatly, turning back to Neon and her commotion. Light Nostrade had now come onto the scene trying to restore order. The others, Basho and Squala, looked more than ready to go.

"I was saying things are going to be oddly quiet with her gone."

Before Kurapika could answer, Neon was heading towards them, with a strange smile on her face. And before Kurapika knew, she took his hand in hers, her fingers locking around the chains, and gave a spirited bow.

"Papa says it's time to go, but I wanted to thank you first. He told me how hard you worked to protect me!"

Kurapika and Melody exchanged confused glances. This was her father's doing no doubt. Nonetheless, Kurapika set his other hand atop hers and courteously said, "It's nothing worth thanking me for. I was just doing my duty."

Neon looked at him strangely. If Kurapika hadn't known her he would say she really did look grateful. "But still," she said, "if there's something I can do to return the favor…"

Kurapika exchanged another look with Melody, and the other woman just shrugged. Kurapika looked at Neon thoughtfully. Premonition. The opportunity seemed too perfect.

"Well," he said slowly, "I suppose if you could tell me my fortune…"

Getting your fortune told was something reserved for well paying clients, not mere bodyguards. The employees of the Nostrade family never got to have their fortunes told.

But Neon looked almost disappointed with the request. "Is that all? Okay then." She reached inside her purse and handed Kurapika a pen and notepad. "Here."

Anticipation swelled Kurapika. It was not everyday a man learned of his own future. He wondered if it would contain some clue about Gon and Killua, there had to be! Scribbling down his name, date of birth, and blood type Kurapika returned the pen and pad to Neon.

As she clutched the pen, Neon's eyes suddenly grew blank and the midday sun was looking dim compared to the glow that surrounded her. When it appeared Kurapika could not take his eyes off that demon, fairy, or whatever it was that guided Neon's hand as it moved methodically over the paper, writing things Neon herself didn't know. As quickly as it, began it was over. Neon tore the paper and offered it to him with a proud smirk.

"You know how this works right?"

Kurapika nodded. He had seen it enough times; she wrote the future as a four to five verse poem, where each verse corresponded to a week of the month. Since they were a week into September, the first verse would have already happened. He took the paper nervously.

"What're you doing Neon?" Light Nostrade called over. "It's time to go!"

Neon gave a quick bow. "Well I should get going then. Goodbye Kurapika." She turned to go then stopped to give him a peculiar look. "If you like, I can give you my phone number, and we can talk…sometimes."

"I already have it," Kurapika said. All the bodyguards did.

That made her almost embarrassed, another expression Kurapika had never seen on her face. "Yeah of course," she mumbled. "Well, until next time then," she waved goodbye.

Kurapika and Melody glanced at each other for the third time as Neon left. He felt a tinge of annoyance, Neon hadn't acknowledged Melody once.

"So," Melody asked, "what does it say?"

Heart beating, Kurapika read the parchment. He read it again. And again. Just in case he checked the other side but it was blank. He flipped it back and read it another time.

"Kurapika…is there something wrong? Melody said with concern."

Kurapika wondered if he should call Neon back, but the airship's engine was already roaring, with her and everyone else aboard. Light Nostrade stood outside waving to his daughter. Kurapika swallowed, the paper shaking in his hand.

"It's incomplete."

Thank you for reading! Please let me know your thoughts on how I wrote Kurapika. And as you can see, Neon still has her ability in this alternate timeline. Melody was able to stop her from going with Chrollo.

Lilphantomtroupelady: Thank you! I try to write characters as close as possible canon in terms of personality. Though everyone has a different interpretation of it. I'm glad you like it.

ScarletEyedChainUser: Ah I see this ability as different than those symbols. They only interact with nen, but this is designed to stop physical attacks as well. I love your theorizing though and I hope you can update your own story soon!