Okay, so here's the deal. A few days ago, the makers of my favorite online game sent me a notice saying that all characters under level fifty that haven't been active within the past six months will be deleted. I haven't been able to get on said game for (approaching) three years now, because my microsoft laptop crashed back then. Although I've been doing everything in my power to get the laptop fixed and/or get the game on this computer I'm on right now, my attempts have yet to be successful. Even so, I believe there'll be a new computer in the house this christmas season so I get download that game I love so much again. But hear me out...I only have one of seven characters that's level fifty or above. That means, after waiting and trying to get this game for so long, when I finally do come back to it, the likelihood is that all my characters but one will be gone. As you can imagine, that isn't sitting well with me. I'm even having trouble sending in requests to save my characters, since I've been MIA from the game for so long. The servers have changed, last I checked, so I don't know how my characters are ordered anymore. I can't specify their servers, and therefore I'm in a bit of a bind. When I read that email notification, my heart just shattered. I am in pain. I'm dying. Thanks a lot, Aura Kingdom.
Well, now that that's out of my system, you can go onto the actual story.
When we stop, I'm the first one out of the car. Then I pause, absorbing where we are and what we're doing. "...An airship?"
"It'll take us to a secluded area to perform the trade of hostages," Kurapika informs me, getting out with Chrollo on the opposite side of the car. Seeing this, I slam my own door shut. "First, however, I must call out the mind reader. She'll be our middleman, since she likely knows the entirety of the situation."
"You're not gonna thank me?" I egg on. "I mean, not only did I give you all the troupe members' phone numbers, but I also thought of that note. If I hadn't thought of that note, she'd have blabbed everything to the others as soon as we left." As I speak, I meet Chrollo's eyes. His gaze tells me he has something to say, but the duct tape prevents it. I get the feeling I know what he'd tell me, anyway. He'd say it's hypocritical for me to ask for thanks when I never give it myself. I stick my tongue out at him and he shifts his gaze away.
Kurapika, on the other hand, watches me intently without diverting his gaze. Then, his finally bows his head. "I owe you, Corona."
I click my tongue in irritation, but say no more. That's probably the closest thing to a thanks he'll give to a spider.
"Head on inside," he orders all of us, raising a phone to his ear. "I'll follow you after I've invited her." Leorio and Melody obey immediately, but I waver for a second before following them. Although I want to stay with him...it's not like he'll disappear if he's out of my sight for a minute. It's not like Melody said. I'm not putting distance between us because he did something as impossible as hurt me, or anything. I'm just deciding to listen to his orders. That's how I've lived since leaving that household. I decide whether or not I obey other people. And I've chosen to obey Kurapika for the time being.
The three of us ascend the ramp leading into the airship, letting ourselves inside. As we step in, I wonder who it is that'll be piloting us. I mean, does anyone here know how to operate one of these things? I don't. I've never thought about it.
We stop in the cargo hold, where boxes line the walls. I situate myself on top of one. Leorio leans against the wall, and Melody stands in the middle of the room patiently as we wait for our ringleader to arrive. I study the two of them with nothing better to do. Melody doesn't look away from the entrance, as if expecting Kurapika to come in any second. Leorio fidgets impatiently, fingers drumming against his leg. Then, he reaches into his pocket and draws out the knife I traded for his barely an hour ago. As he looks at it, he suddenly gasps.
"Wait, this girl's still here!" he realizes, whipping his head around to look for me. Even so, his eyes don't settle on me until I've burst into laughter.
"You didn't...you didn't realize….while I was talking to Kurapika?" I force out between breaths. I know my Zetsu is powerful, but people should be able to realize I'm there if I speak while they're on edge. Alert people's senses are heightened, after all. So he's saying he forgot about me, and didn't even realize I was still there when I spoke? In this tense situation? "Are you sure you're a hunter, Leorio?"
"I am!" he storms, grabbing out his license from inside his coat pocket. "I'm a full fledged hunter! I can even use Nen! Don't look down on me!"
"How can I not?" I tease. "I'm sitting on a box, so I'm taller than you right now!"
"This is not the time for this," Melody chides gently, not looking away from the doorway still.
"And you," I direct my words at her, "what was all that about earlier? Are you some sort of psychic or something? I mean, even if you are, you were horribly wrong. Whatever gave you the sort of impression that Kurapika could hurt me?"
Finally, she looks my way. "Your heart," she points to her own chest. "I can hear your heart. It was in pain when Kurapika was angry at you."
I nod, voice brimming with sarcasm. "Oh, I see. My heart was in pain. That makes so much sense."
"It's the truth, whether you want to accept it or not," she tells me, once again averting her gaze. "He's coming."
Before I can get another word out of my mouth, the door opens. As she'd predicted, Kurapika enters. Chrollo is only a step behind, being lead like a dog by the chains wrapped around him. I'd compare him to a doberman, though. Even though he's got a collar around his neck, there's something undeniably prideful about him. Kurapika's also changed back into his usual, odd attire of blue and gold. Did he change outside or something? But other than that….I can't help but notice his eyes are red. I can't help but marvel at their color.
"Leorio," Kurapika begins, "go ahead to the cockpit. I'll send one of the others to inform you when we're ready to take off."
I watch silently as Leorio takes his leave, heading deeper into the airship through the door opposite the one we all entered through. So he's our pilot. That would explain his presence, despite his innate plainness. Once he's gone, I flip my head around to look back at the blonde.
"So, what's the deal?" I wonder. "Are we gonna trade hostages and then fly away to safety? They'll be able to take down this ship, you know?"
Kurapika shakes his head. "Pakunoda's coming here alone. With her, we'll set up the place for the actual exchange and the conditions behind it. This airship is merely our means of getting there, as I've already explained."
The word that catches my attention is conditions. "So you mean you'll-" Before I can finish what I'm saying, the Nen sword begins to burrow into my heart. My mouth immediately snaps shut, and I scowl. Maybe I should remove the sword, already. It's annoying! I don't like how it limits my speech. Literally all I meant to ask was if he was planning on using his Nen sword on Pakunoda, and yet with Chrollo here, even briefly mentioning his ability will kill me. Instead of activating my Cancellation, though, I grit my teeth as ask, "Could you let me speak freely? What harm could I do?"
"Although you probably couldn't say anything at this point to ruin everything, removing the sword would also release you from its other conditions. I don't think I want to do that, especially considering you're related to my hostage. Besides, I'm not sure myself whether or not I can remove it once it's in you."
I don't have to look to know Chrollo's eyes are on me. He's wondering if I can't use my Cancellation. The Nen sword Kurapika uses is clearly a manipulation technique, and in theory, I could copy such an ability to a lesser extent. That means, if I couldn't use my Cancellation, Kurapika's aura would be stronger than mine. His isn't. I can remove these conditions anytime I like, but he might be able to tell if it's gone. And although he hasn't asked about it since discovering it, he does know I have the ability to nullify others' Nen. That makes him suspicious enough of me already. Preferably, I'd like to earn his trust before removing the sword, but how the hell am I supposed to do that?
"She's here." All eyes turn to Melody, and she looks to Kurapika. Not long after, Pakunoda walks through the door on the opposite side of the room. Seriously, how does that tiny woman do that? I mean, I could sense Pakunoda's aura, but only after Melody mentioned her presence. Does it have to do with that heart thing she was talking about? Could she hear Pakunoda's heartbeat? It sounds like a pretty obscure explanation, but there've been stranger things.
"Are you Pakunoda?" Kurapika demands.
Crossing her arms, the tall woman answers, "Yes."
Kurapika glances down at Melody, who in turn says, "She's telling the truth." What is she? First she can hear everyone's heartbeats, and now she's a lie detector? Surely there's some limit as to what she can apparently do.
"Alright," Kurapika accepts. Then he gets down to business. As he talks, I purposely let out a bit of my aura so her eyes flicker over to me. When she glances over, I wiggle my fingers in greeting. In under a second, she comes to the decision to ignore me. Besides, for all she knows, I could have just followed her here. It's not like she would've noticed, if I had. "My first condition for the release of your leader is that he can't use Nen. The second is that he can have no contact with any of the troupe members. Do you agree to these?"
"Hey, now!" I suddenly stop, nudging Kurapika with the toe of my tennis shoe. "You'll make an exception for family, right? Then he and I can still hang out, right? Come on, we're siblings!" He stubbornly ignores me, to which I huff and pull my legs up close to my chest. Fine then, be like that.
After a moment of considering, both my behavior, probably, and the conditions, Pakundoa replies, "I accept."
Without further prompting, Kurapika strikes out and places a Nen sword into Chrollo. Chrollo himself closes his eyes, quietly accepting his fate. I chew the inside of my cheek as I watch, tapping my foot irritably. I guess this explains that fortune Chrollo told for me. With Brother off limits, my leaving the troupe is practically guaranteed.
"Now, my conditions for you," Kurapika continues. "You have to bring your two hostages, Gon and Killua, here unharmed to be traded without any tricks. The other is that you can't tell the other troupe members a word about me. Do you agree?"
Pakunoda closes her eyes. "I agree." She then flinches as the sword pierces her chest.
When all is said and done, Pakunoda takes a peaceful leave. The room containing the four of us left fills with silence. I bite my own tongue for a bit, wondering whether or not it's smart to ask my question or not. I mean, is it a stupid question? I don't want Kurapika to roll his eyes and tell me it should be obvious, but maybe I'm just thinking about how I'd respond to such a question. But if I'm wrong, I want to know.
"Hey," I finally pipe up. On that single syllable, Chrollo is the only one to look my way. Clenching my teeth I repeat myself louder. "Hey!" This finally gets the attention of Melody, and my main priority, Kurapika. "When you say no members of the troupe, does that include me? Am I included as someone he can't have contact with?"
Expressionless, he responds, "You are."
"Insensitive bastard," I mutter, turning my head away to stare at the wall. Well, I guess I don't really need Chrollo anymore, anyway. Kurapika should provide me with enough entertainment for some time. Still though, I would think that someone like him would care about separating siblings like this. He's supposed to be the one who cares, so I can probably say I'm a bit disappointed. Whatever, though.
He'll just have to accept his role as my new plaything.
So, in contrast to the horrible mood I was put in by the afore mentioned end to my characters, let's discuss something happier here. The other day, someone wrote out a huge comment about this story and that completely, utterly made my day. Nothing can cheer me up better than when someone gets worked up over my writing like that. I mean, I get worked up over it all the time! I am in love with writing! When someone can be so passionate about it and share that with me...ah, I can't explain it! It's too wonderful! It makes me want to sing! You guys wouldn't want to hear that, though. I'm not the most talented vocalist. Anyway, I'm going to go lock myself up in my room so no one can hear my cracking voice. I'll update again later.
Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!