Well, I'm sick. I woke up this morning, ate breakfast, got ready for school, and then my stomach decided I deserved to die. Lovely way to start off a day, right? I'm feeling better right now, though. I just hope it stays this way. Anyway, you know that game I mentioned a while back? Aura Kingdom? Yeah, well, I managed to get two of my biggest characters back. Yay! And now I've got access to the game thanks to my brother's laptop! That's pretty much how I'll be spending my sick day, probably. Honestly, I really want to write a fanfiction on it, but there doesn't seem to much of an audience for it. I have this huge elaborate idea, though, and I really want to put it down on paper. I would be extremely complicated to pull off, but if I did it right, I think it'd be amazing!

Anyway, back to the current story.

"Where'd she send you this time?" I wonder. Despite the fact that Neon has left Yorknew, Kurapika is staying behind with her father. He is, after all, hired by him, and not her. But even though she's left she's been sending in requests for human parts that she wants collected from the city. Most of it is up for auction, but there's been at least three pieces that've been sold at odd stores in back alleys. Kurapika's been sent to pick up all of them. Although I just caught him leaving his hotel, and haven't actually heard his purpose, I'd be willing to bet it's another one of her errands. My suspicions are confirmed when he turns for a back street.

"There's a ten fingered hand in a store called Anomaly Show," he informs me, not glancing up once from the piece of paper in his hand.

I nod, stretching my hands above my head. "So, you gonna miss the last day of auction? I mean, this time before sunset is usually when you guys head over to the auction house, yet you're being sent to do this."

"It's not like I have to be there."

""Cause you've already got the scarlet eyes," I conclude. Although the original ones he bought were fakes, he doesn't know that. After Pakunoda and Nobunaga confiscated them back from whoever they were chasing, they were once again put up for auction. This time, the real ones. Chrollo wasn't there to order them to sell the fakes. It was he who wanted to keep the real ones to sell later. Either way, the Phantom Troupe got the funds made at the auction. I myself managed to sneak out a few pocketfuls of change from backstage without any of them noticing after the whole hostage situation. "Who knows? You could come across another pair of eyes while running these errands for that little girl."

"You have no right to talk about that," he bristles, his eyes burning red.

I pause, one foot frozen mid step. "What, the scarlet eyes?"

"You're part of the troupe that killed my clan! I won't let you just casually talk about my people the way you do!"

"Oh, come on," I insist. "I haven't spoken to any of those guys since the hostage trade. I wasn't even that attached to the troupe to begin with."

He whirls around to face me. "That doesn't change anything! Are you going to tell me you've never stolen anything for them? That you've never killed people?"

I cross my arms. "It's not like your hands are clean, either, mr. virtuous. I don't know about stealing anything, but I watched you kill Uvogin. That guy had friends. Nobunaga was crushed by his death, and Shal wasn't happy about it, either. Would I be wrong to also assume you've killed other people?"

"He was one who massacred my clan!" Kurapika shouts, his entire frame trembling. He's lucky we're alone right now. Otherwise, he'd be drawing a lot of attention with this ruckus. "Just because you didn't participate...it doesn't make you innocent!"

"So you're saying I'm guilty?" I scoff. "I'm guilty of a lot of things, but I had nothing to do with the death of the Kurta Clan. Why do you have to hate me so much? Maybe I can understand a bit when you were practically at war with the rest of the troupe, but even these past few days you've barely acknowledged my existence! Even when you do look at me, it's always with disgust! The only reason I joined the Phantom Troupe was because of my brother, because I wanted to stay with him! What does that make me guilty of, exactly?"

"Not only that," Kurapika goes on, "but I still don't have any idea whether or not I'm safe around you! I have no way of knowing whether or not you're still under the covenant we made, or if you removed it! And even if you haven't, it's possible you could remove it any second! It might as well not be there!"

"What the- Do you know how much I hate this sword of yours? It feels absolutely awful when is presses into my heart! I keep it there solely for you, and you doubt me? This is the first time I've bothered to do something for someone else because I think it'll be beneficial for them, and this is the thanks I get? Look at me! Straight in the eye! I can't lie to you. I have the ability to get rid of your sword at any time I want, but I kept it there for you! The least you could do is believe me!"

"How can I? If you've already removed my Nen, you could be lying!"

"But I haven't! Have a little faith!"

"Have faith?" he shakes his head. "Have faith? In a spider? Do you even know what you're asking?"

"Whether I do or not doesn't matter! Come on," I plead. "Have I done anything terrible to you since we met? I've helped you! I helped you kidnap my own brother, and let you exile him from me! And you still loathe me this much?"

"If I don't have this hatred, what do I have?" He steps towards me, hand over his heart as he argues. "My reason for living is to avenge me people! If I don't hate the Phantom Troupe, I might as well die!"

"So you're saying all you are is hatred? Pure hatred? What about compassion? What about your friendship with Gon, Killua, and Leorio? Where's your care? Listen, Kurapika, I like you so much because you feel those types of foreign things so passionately! Now you're telling me you have nothing but anger? Don't make me laugh! Don't disappoint me like this!"

"Sorry for disappointing you! If you're disillusioned, why don't you leave me alone? You've been a nuisance hanging around like you have been!"

"Like I'd admit loss just like that!"

"Why do you-"

"Duck!"

When he doesn't respond in time, I grab him by the shoulder and yank him down. The dart barely grazes his hair before hitting my Nen shield and falling to the ground. After seeing the fallen projectile, he wrenches away from me and conjures his chains.

Back to back, we scan the area. We'd been preoccupied earlier, but now the presence of many people can be sensed. Although they're using Zetsu. Both of us immediately had activated our En to survey the area, so we both notice them right off the bat. My range is significantly bigger than his, but even so, his is impressive. I can sense a total of twenty-nine people, all of them Nen users. Slowly, I withdraw one of my knives from the legs of my shorts and wield it.

The alley is quiet, the only audible sound the breathing of me and the person behind me.

Then I throw my knife to clash with an emitter's projectile. The bombardment then ensues. I raise my Cancellation as more Nen is shot towards us, picking out two more knives out of my outfit before engaging with five men who've emerged to battle me.

A conjurer is first to approach, swinging a Nen-made whip that disintegrates as soon as it meets my aura. I whirl around on him and stab my Nen-infused knife into the back of his neck before throwing up an arm to block a needle thrown by some manipulator. It falls uselessly aside, but then I'm hit with the force of what can only be an enhancer.

Hastily, I move the majority of my Nen to save my bone before leaping back. "Kurapika!" When I look to where he is, he's already taken out a good three men and is working on his fourth, his red eyes blazing. At the sound of his name, he chances to peek over to me. "Handle enhancers and transmuters! I'll take the rest!"

"Are they after you?" he asks, knocking his opponent off his feet.

"No idea!" Keeping a careful distance from the one I know to be an enhancer, I shoot my hand through an open window to yank out a hidden emitter. I throw him into the enhancer, dashing to another thug and smashing his skull into the concrete building.

Then a mist settles over the area and I curse, covering myself in defensive aura. I can't use Cancellation against transmuters. The droplets gather around me, growing thicker and thicker around my head.

Heart racing, I sprint onto the nearby wall, truly acting like a spider while I race to ditch the mist. When I finally catch sight of the one thug who appears to be controlling the mist, I chuck one of my knives at his head. Although he blocks, the distraction is enough to disperse the transmuted aura.

Back on the ground, I duck under the fist of one using Nen as an enhancer would and push off in the direction of the transmuter. He puts up a shield, but I concentrate my aura into my elbow and hit the back of his neck with enough force to shatter the bones. The strength of his Nen pales in comparison to mine.

Then there's a pinch in my left shoulder blade.

As soon as my feet return to the ground, having left it so I could reach the massively tall transmuter's neck, I reach back and pull a dart out of my skin. Realizing what it is, I stab it into the eye of my next attacker.

"Dammit! Kurapika! They're using tranquilizers!" And because it's a regular tranquilizer, I can't use my Cancellation to negate the effects. I'm digging another of my knives into an emitter's spine when the world begins to sway. Then, comes the shadows in my vision.

Stumbling, I fend off my next attacker and move closer to Kurapika. He apparently catches sight of me out of the corner of his eye while fighting and is able to assess my condition, because he quickly flees his opponent to reach me. He's barely come when my legs give out and he catches me.

"Shit, those act fast," I growl under my breath, eyelids growing heavy. Kurapika's face, his eyes that lovely shade of red, floats in and out of focus as I fight to stay awake. Then I feel and hear his sharp intake of breath.

I'm vaguely aware of the fact that he carefully lays me on the ground. I can't move a muscle. Whatever type of tranquilizer that dart had, it's powerful. I've ingested poison before, when Chrollo was training me, but this is so much worse than that. I can't move, I can't focus, and my vocal cords feel as if they've given up. It's like I'm drifting off into death.

As my eyes gradually close, I can just make out Kurapika pulling a brightly colored dart out of his arm.

What's going to happen? I don't know. Actually I do, but you don't. Sorry about the cliffhanger. :P I like this chapter, though. It was actually seriously fun to write about their argument. Still though, did anyone catch that he ran to catch her before she fell? Does this maybe mean something? *wink wink*. Well, whatever it is, I doubt Kurapika himself realizes it yet. I did have a bit of a problem with making the tranquilizers so fast acting, but compared to the TV show Zoo, these sedatives are slow! And they probably knew they'd need something powerful to take her down. As for what's going on...I'll leave that to your speculation. Perhaps you'll learn more on my next update.

Till then, Kisses from SnowyNeko! :3 MEOW!