So I slept over at a friend's house last night, and then there was a surprise cookout birthday party for her today. The problem was that, we had donuts for breakfast at ten thirty, and Starbucks at noon. None of us were hungry for the hotdogs! And they smelled so good, to! I wanted to eat one, but I knew I wouldn't be able to eat half of it. Instead, I took a bite out of two of my friends' cupcakes. The chocolate one was better. Everyone was playing Pokemon Go, too. The place we were at was a Pokestop, after all. And none of this is actually useful information...so...I should have mentioned that you could skip it at the beginning, cause it's a little late to point that out now.

Well...I guess you're free to continue on now.

"Welcome to our base."

At the sound of Pakunoda's voice, I peek over the edge of my perch located near the ceiling of the building. What I see causes me to jerk, my hand missing its support and sending me tumbling downwards. All eyes turn to me as I groan. I was able to spike out my Nen to cushion my fall, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt at all. I hit the ground hard enough to make the stone slabs I landed on crumble.

Rubbing my back, I refocus and take in the scene in front of me. Gon and Killua both stare at me, Gon gaping.

"Are you alright?" he worries. He takes a step towards me, only to be stilled by Nobunaga's sheathed sword thrust out in front of him.

"Do anything unnecessary, and you'll be killed," he threatens, withdrawing his weapon. Gulping, Gon correctly decides not to come any closer to me. After a moment, I snort, then break out into full blown laughter.

"I'm…" I try to catch my breath, "I'm fine, I assure you. What the hell are you two doing being escorted by those four?" I glance between Pakunoda, Machi, Nobunaga and Phinx. Those four are certainly an odd group, but I guess they're all serious enough to get along.

"You know them?" Nobunaga asks.

"Yup." I push to my feet, brushing off the dust. "These kids are new buddies of mine. I crushed the one in green at arm wrestling, and then they treated me to dinner. What's up, why are they here?"

"They were trailing Nobunaga and me," Machi replies, leaning against the wall.

I approach the two and ruffle Gon's hair, earning a death glare from Killua again. "Nice job Gon! Ah," I add as an afterthought, "and you, too, Killua. Tracking those two...I didn't know you had it in you!"

"They said there's a bounty on our heads," Pakunoda explains to the others.

I snap my fingers, feinging remembrance. "That's right! Here!" From my skirt pocket I draw out the crumpled flyer, tossing the smashed ball to Pakunoda. Always, I'm careful to avoid touching her. When I first ran into her, I had been trying to steal off of her. Of course that didn't succeed, and after I'd used Nen to block her responding attack, she had pinned me against a wall to question me. That was when she realized who I was, and brought me to meet Chrollo for the first time. Although it was a lucky encounter on my part, it freaked me out. Hate the idea of her digging around in my memories.

She smooths out the paper, then turns it for the others to see.

"You guys gotta be more careful," I prod. "Otherwise you might end up being caught by more thirteen year olds. I mean, seriously! Beating this kid at arm wrestling was a walk in the park, but you still couldn't stop him from trailing you?"

"Corona!"

I flutter my eyelids innocently at Nobunaga. "What? Did I understand something wrong?"

"Oh, I remember them."

All eyes train on Feitan in astonishment. What does he mean he remembers them? Feitan doesn't interact with anybody outside the troupe, unless he's killing them! If he was trying to kill Gon and Killua, they'd be long dead!

"You arm wrestled them, Shizuku, to get a ring you liked."

"Hm?" Shizuku barely listens, reading her magazine. "I don't remember that."

"Ah! It's her!" I can't help but chuckle at Gon's uninhibited reaction.

"You lost," Feitan recalls.

This gets Shizuku's attention. "I wouldn't have lost to a kid!"

"You were using your right hand," Franklin reminds her.

While they bicker, Nobunaga challenges Gon. "You beat Shizuku, did you? Then I'll be your opponent next."

Shalnark helps Machi move a flat piece of rubble into the open to act as a table, Bonolenov going and coming back with two chairs. As the setting is created, I nudge Gon's arm.

"Don't worry too much," I reassure him. "That guy's nowhere near as strong as I am when he's not using Nen."

So it commences. Repeatedly, Nobunaga slams poor Gon's hand into the stone, and repeatedly he demands a rematch. I use Killua's head as an armrest. When he attempts to smack me away, I catch his hand. Not really surprisingly, he's stronger than his companion. It's his confidence that gives away his strength. I'd be willing to bet his Nen is stronger than Gon's too. I wonder why he's stronger. Until now I'd assumed they'd trained together, but maybe Gon just joined Killua after Killua had already begun.

I smile, Killua grimacing in response. Really, he's such a cute kid! "Don't be so stiff," I chide.

"You said you weren't a member of the troupe," he hisses under his breath. It's not like his caution is necessary. The others are too focused on Gon's struggle to pay attention to what this white haired kid is saying.

"Hm, I don't think I ever said that," I think back, continuing to support myself using the kid's head. "What I did say is that my membership had nothing to do with my habit of using Zetsu. So, what do you think? You know, of me being part of the troupe. Cool, huh? Are you impressed?" I can see in his eyes that he's not. "Nothing? Then you must know some other big shot, am I right? Come on, spill it! What famous person do you know?"

This time, his glare practically stabs me. He isn't annoyed. He's warning me.

"Fine, fine. You don't have to tell me right now. Next time we're at the cafe, though, I want to hear all about it!"

"Who say's we'll meet you?"

"Aw, don't be such a spoil sport, Killua! I'm not gonna hurt you. I like you. I like your friend Gon, too, and that Leorio fellow isn't a total nuisance. Actually, I've been making friends left and right these past few days. I'm sure my brother will be happy to hear that. I'm sure he'll grant me the request if I ask him to keep you two alive."

"We don't need your help," he growls.

"You think? If you're so sure, I'll leave you to it, then. Do me the favor and don't die, alright? Hey, Nobunaga!" I interrupt my own conversation. "I told you I know these kids, didn't I? Gon's hand's already bleeding! If you hurt him too badly, I'll crush you!"

"Don't interrupt me, Corona," he threatens, glaring over at me for only a second before smashing down Gon's hand again. "You can't even fight enhancers."

"Like I'd need my power to beat you," I scoff, partially bluffing. While I am confident in my physical strength, it'd be pretty even between us if he was serious and using his Nen. The odds might even be slightly in his favor if we actually went at it.

"Be quiet," he commands. I lay my head atop the arm resting on Killua's head, waving for him to go on with whatever. When he continues, I discover he'd been recalling his old buddy, Uvogin. "Uvo was also an enhancer, rash and unthinking. He was particular about time, though. He's always brawl with me and Franklin if we dared show up late. I've known him since before the troupe." As his voice rises with tension, I hide a yawn. "I know him better than anyone, and he...he'd never lose in a fight! He must've been caught in some filthy trap!"

No one misses it when tears start down his face. Even I watch, unsure of what I feel. Some part of me is repulsed. What right does he have to cry over a fallen comrade? Actually, he doesn't even know for sure that Uvogin's dead, since I haven't told anyone except Shalnark of that fact. Other than repulsion, though….there's also something else. There's irritation, sure, about his show weakness, but….anger? I don't quite understand, but for some reason, his tears anger me.

"I'll kill the one who killed him! I'll find that chain user no matter who I have to kill! The chain user bears a grudge against us, and was recently hired by the Nostrade Family."

In my brain, I pocket the information about his hiring. Kurapika and I parted ways after burying Uvo, after I all but forced my phone number on him. He would not, no matter how hard I pleaded, give me his number, so giving up mine was the best I could do. Under my arm, Killua stands just a tad straighter. The tension draws my attention. His reaction...was it to the information?

I smother a smile. He probably has an idea as to who it is. Otherwise, why the stiffening? Of course, that could just be my wishful thinking. It would admittedly be pretty awesome if these two were connected to Kurapika. Like a spiderweb, connecting all these interesting personalities… How ironic it is, that the members of the spider seem to instead be pieces of the web. I wonder if I'm part of the web, or if I'm a spider.

"I'm telling you, I don't know who it is!" Gon snaps, causing me to jump. I hadn't expected such a tone of voice coming from him. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you! I thought you were all emotionless people! But now I see you crying for your own?" I whistle, impressed, when his aura leaks, his arm beginning to push back Nobunaga's. "Why can't you spare any of that grief for the one's you killed?"

With that final statement, Nobunaga's hand is forced down. I snicker to myself, patting Killua's head before retracting my supporting arm from him. A second after it's happened, Feitan has yanked Gon's arm behind his back and begun to pressure it.

"You're getting too cocky," he decides, forcing a whimper out of Gon's mouth. Killua rushes forward to help his companion, only to be halted by a card at his throat. Hm...what if Hisoka knows them, too? I mean, if they both know Kurapika, it's possible. Oh, how delicious that would be?

Catching myself, I gag. That thought was a little too Hisoka-like.

Then, I catch the red of blood dripping from the card and bare my teeth at the magician. "Hey, I don't want him harmed!"

He smirks at me, not removing his card, as if daring me to do something about it. He knows I can't. Not only is he both a transmuter and stronger than me, but I have no abilities that allow me to help anyone except myself. I've never had the desire to assist someone else.

While we stare at each other, each of us assessing the other and their possible actions, Nobunaga starts arguing with Feitan. When I catch the gist of what it is their conflicted on, I pipe up.

"I'm with Nobunaga, Feitan! There's no need to torture the kid! He's the type that couldn't lie convincingly even if his lover's life was on the line, which means if he says he doesn't know, he doesn't know."

"We'll flip a coin," Nobunaga declares, picking from his pocket. Feitan calls tails, so Nobunaga follows up with, "Heads!" It's flipped. When the enhancer removes his hand, I hop on over to see it. Facing up is none other than the golden spider. The heads of our special coins. Disappointed, Feitan backs off and Gon immediately leaps away from the sadist.

"So, what should we do with them? Should we let them go?" Franklin wonders.

Phinx rebukes the notion. "No, they could be being used by the chain user. He hides his chains most of the time, so it's possible they wouldn't know it's him.

"You're wrong," Shalnark defends. I slink over to him, slipping my arms around his neck from behind. He doesn't so much as shift his weight in response. "The chain user works alone. Instead of interrogating kids who may not know anything, we should look to the Nostrade family. We know they hired him, after all. We're after the chain user. We should ignore everyone else."

"Well, there you have it," I address the kids.

Feitan glances in their direction. "You two are lucky."

"No," Nobunaga refuses. "They don't get to leave. Hey kid, join us." I already know the response before it comes out of Gon's mouth.

"No! I would die before I join you!"

That last part, though, was a little much. "Hey, Gon!" I whine, "You don't have to hate it so much! I'm a member too, remember? You don't hate me for that, do you?"

Surprise, surprise, he doesn't seem to even hear what I'm saying. He's concentrated elsewhere, and my Zetsu's still going strong. I sigh, tightening my grip on Shalnark. I know it's my own fault but really….would it kill them to pay a little attention to me?

Nobunaga finishes. "We're keeping them until the boss gets back. I'm going to ask to recruit them."

With that, it's decided, and Gon and Killua are handed into Nobunaga's supervision. After the three have left the room, I open a map up on my phone. If I'm quick, it shouldn't take too long for me to check the hotels I know are associated with the Nostrade family. If he's not at any of them, I'll go check the auction house.

I just feel like Gon and Killua's attempted joining might interest Kurapika.

So now Gon and Killua know she's a spider. They don't know her blood relations, though. She typically doesn't broadcast her relationship to Chrollo. Anyway, concerning where this should go story-wise...are there any suggestions? I've begun to formulate the progression in my mind, finally, but I'm all ears if someone has an idea. Although I can't promise I'll take it, maybe your guys' ideas will give me an idea, and then we can all be happy with the result! I want to make this entertaining for all of you. Oh, and I always want to hear what your thoughts on Corona are! If anything about her sticks out to you, good or bad, I would love to know. And if anyone has an image of her formed in their head, feel free to share that too!

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!