Let Me Be Your Smile
Volume One: You, My Comrade!
Chapter 4: Welcome to the Night
Yuki sat up from his bed; he could barely control the urge to launch himself towards the sound again. He turned around, his eyes cloudy with sleep as stared at the bed beside him. The boy stopped dead in his tracks, it was as if someone pressed pause. His hands quivered and his purple lips released choked screams until finally a stuttered sound emerged. "Y-yes…?" He questioned. He had barely been able to doge the morphed hands that shot out from the side. Yuki looked down at his hands, they were closed tightly. His nails seems to have grown longer and sharper, veins popped out and ran along his fingers. It was a ghastly sight, but gave him a sense of security and power. Yuki looked down at them, willing them to return to normal. He then turned to leave the sleeping area, dodging the traps that dotted the floor.
Yuki sat on the roof of the Refuge, feeling the wind flowing through his hair. He suddenly reached out, blocking a hand that seemed to have come from nowhere and shouted "Hisoka!"
"Yes~~~?" the boy said as he slowly appeared from the shadows. "Oujo –sama*" He taunted Yuki. His smile deepened as his eyes caught Yuki's face flash red. He plopped himself down beside Yuki and asked "Did you miss me soo much that you couldn't fall asleep? Hmmm?" and jumped as Yuki's fist came whistling towards him.
"No-" Yuki said "This idiot woke me up because he was making too much of a racket getting out of bed!"
"Aww~~~ Why don't you move in with me? Hmmm?"
"It was all your fault for attacking me every night when I was trying to recover from my wounds in your stupid 'house' in the middle of a garbage pile!" Yuki exploded. He had no idea how he was able to put up with Hisoka and wondered what exactly made him think that exchanging names and becoming comrades with this boy was a good idea! He was surprised that he was still sane. "It was you who made me so jumpy!" he continued.
"But it was for your own good." Hisoka suddenly changed his tone, bring a serious atmosphere.
"I know" Yuki replied and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence. Yuki closed his eyes and listened to the sounds that the wind brought. It was the sound of panic the sound of battles and the sound of death.
This was the night, the most dangerous time of the day. This is the time the lawless ran rampant under the protection of the darkness. But in Meteor City, this was a time where the animal reigned. Wolves and other carnivores surveyed the area, preying on the weak, whom, with darkness on their side, launched attacks on each other. Those who were not powerful enough or careful enough fell prey to these attacks as their possessions change hands in a bloody way. Yuki looked down from his spot. His eyes pierced through the darkness as if it was full daylight, a pitiful smile appeared on his face. He opened his arms wide, feeling the wind blowing towards him; bring snippets of conversation and screams. This is Meteor City, a place where the laws of the jungle govern.
Hisoka suddenly jumped up, breaking the silence, "I'm gonna do something fun~~ let's go" he declared as he jumped down from the roof and turned to look up at Yuki, his eyes twinkling with uncontrollable bloodlust.
"I don't-" Yuki stopped his sentence as he saw Hisoka's eyes, excited and blood thirsty. He jumped down and sighed. "Let's go." How could he forget Hisoka's urge for fights and for blood. The sounds of battle must have excited him.
-OOO-
Yuki and Hisoka landed soundlessly on top of a garbage pile and looked down. Their entrance shielded by the darkness and presences hidden by their mastery of nen. They stood atop, looking down at the little artificial clearing before them. Torches lit up the night as numerous people, all carrying torches rushed in. Their gathered, waiting for their leader, and grew quiet as a young man in his twenties walked up to a makeshift stage and looked down at the crowd. He cleared his throat and began his speech. Yuki listened in, chuckling at his ridiculous propositions. He looked over at Hisoka and questioned "Are they your targets for tonight?"
"Yep~~, our little friend down there know how to use nen~~~~" Hisoka replied, "Ah~~ I'm so excited, I can't wait~"
Yuki, now used to Hisoka's abnormal tone, simply ignored his tone. He focused in on the leader of this cohort and examined his nen. "Not very strong" he concluded as he turned towards Hisoka, eyes full of question.
"He's an outsider~~ Fresh, arrived just last month~~" Hisoka read the question in Yuki's eyes as he replied. "I have to give him a warm welcome now don't I? Hmm~~ Oujo-sama"
"Well you got to give him credit for gathering up all these people" Yuki murmured as he began counting the exact numbers. "Ma, doesn't really help though, if you can't survive here in Meteor City." Yuki concluded as he lay back, looking up at the stars. Down below, the man continued, unaware of his two unexpected listeners.
"I don't wanna wait anymore~~~" Hisoka sighed, almost whining, it must have been over an hour.
"I'm not stopping you am I now?" Yuki questioned as he sat up. A smile danced on his lips as he saw Hisoka's frustrated face. He lay back again, and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the battle, no he corrected himself. It was a one-sided massacre. Suddenly, an enraged shout erupted. Yuki jumped up and quickly descended upon the battle scene. He landed lightly on the tips of his feet as his hand disappeared in a blur. Two more heads landed on the blood-stained earth as Yuki walked on, dodging attack after attack gracefully. More and more bodies piled up, creating a bloody road for him.
"Why did you shout?" he questioned.
"The man ran off…" a glum-looking Hisoka replied as he pointed at a spot not so far off. "He was here, Yuki~~~, and I was about to garb him when he disappeared on me… I'm sad now~~~" Hisoka complained.
"Well, release your sadness on these people before you." Yuki replied calmly as he gestured to the scene before them. He patted Hisoka's shoulder and disappeared into the night sky as he rushed off. He could not contain his excitement. This man could potentially lead him to re-discover and regain his control over the elements. That sudden disappearance, it has to be teleportation, an ability achieved through a complete mastery over the element of space. If I was able to regain my control over the elements… Yuki smiled despite himself as he raced through Meteor City, protected by the cover of the night. He needed to find the man, and soon.
Yuki has lost track of how much time has past when the first rays of sunlight hit him. He turned towards the sun, letting rays of lukewarm light wash over him. It was only then he realized that he had spent a good amount of the night trying to search for the man. He sighed as he ruffled his silver strands. He felt a wave of tiredness wash over him, and decided that it was time to get some sleep. He turned around and raced back towards the refuge, stopping ever so often to clear his head of sleep.
-OOO-
Yuki sighed again as he waked about the chaos region. He was disappointed. Ever since that day he had spent all of his free time looking for that man yet nothing turned up. He sighed again as he crossed back into the city, unsure of what to do next. He was extremely discouraged and uncertain of whether he should continue his search or not when he arrived at the Posting. Well, he thought, let me take a job to put my mind off of this for a while. He walked in, nodding at the Keeper as he moved towards the posting boards. His eyes scanned the offers until they suddenly froze over a notice. A cold calculating smile appeared on his face...
Somewhere in Meteor City, Hisoka shivered, causing his last attack to miss its mark, taking a man's arm instead of his life.
"Maa~~Must be Yuki-chan~~" Hisoka said to himself with a smile "He misses me already, hime-chan, here I come~~~" He laughed as he finished the man off, cutting his pained scream short.
Yuki walked over to the Keeper, holding on to one corner of the notice with his thumb and forefinger, as if it somehow disgusted him. He slammed it down on the wooden table, jolting the man awake. The man looked up and opened his mouth. A dry croaked sound escaped "What request have you chosen? ... Oh, I see" He said as Yuki knocked on the announcement before him. "Leave the City and head north-east. They will have a blue flag. Bring the boy with you" The man recited slowly, his voice crackled with age and his face void of emotions. Yuki turned to leave immediately after the man had finished. He had no time to waste.
Yuki walked out of the Posting. He needed to find Hisoka. He stood in the doorway looking out at the quiet street of the City. "Now where would I be able to find him?" He questioned himself out loud.
"Hime-sama! Did you miss me already?" A flash of red appeared in Yuki's sight. He raised his arm in an attempt to attack but held back as the recognized the voice. "Aw~~ Yuki, how could you attack me? I'm heartbroken."
Yuki rolled his eyes, he had long since learned to ignore him, and asked "What are you doing here?"
"I felt Yuki-chan missing me~~~so I came for you~~~"
"Well, you are just on time. I have a fight planned out just for you" Yuki explained, a sly grin on his face as he watched Hisoka's excited expression. He turned around and hurried off, leaving a lingering "Follow me."
"He he~~" Hisok let out a laughed as he turned to follow Yuki. The two raced on past the city and into the Chaos region. Yuki headed northeast, following the man's directions, his eyes scanned the expanse of garbage, pausing at every flash of blue. Behind him Hisoka followed, a puzzled look appeared on his face as he watched Yuki's eyes scanned over anything and everything that was blue. Suddenly Yuki stopped and rushed off in another direction. Hisoka followed, more confused than ever as Yuki suddenly stopped in a small clearing.
"Oh~~ hime-chan, am I going to fight you?" Hisoka questioned, running his tongue over his lower lip, anticipating the action.
"No" Yuki answered as he pulled out a sheet of paper, holding it out in front of Hisoka. "Remember the man that escaped from you a couple of days ago?"
Hisoka skimmed the sheet of paper, and an excited smile lighted up on his face. "So, you are going to ask for-"
Yuki mirrored Hisoka's smile and said "now you get it, so run, run as far away as you can..."
-OOO-
A group of people surrounded a blue flag, sprawled over in different positions in a small clearing.
"Is anyone going to come?" Person A questioned. He was on his back, limbs spread out as the tilted his head towards the man.
"There should be." Person B said, though not very sure of himself.
"I must get my hands on that redhead!" The man declared as he stood up and walked around the small clearing, seemingly deep in thought. "Maybe our offer wasn't good enough?"
"But, boss, we offered them any piece of information that we had as well as a number of books from your collection..." Person C complained. "Books are invaluable here in Meteor City..."
"Not compared to food or clothing or weapons," Person D chirped in with a tone capable of angering even the mildest person, and sure enough, the two was engaged in a heated battle of words which the others quickly joined in. A fight was doomed to happen when suddenly the man stood up and pointed towards the distance.
"Look, it's that redhead!" At his short outburst, his followers quickly broke up and stood at ready. The air of laziness vanished as they watched the figure approached slowly, accompanied by a boy with long sliver strands. As the two reached the clearing, the man motioned with his head towards his followers as they shot out and chased after the redhead. The sliver headed boy walked up to the man, a cold smile on his face as he asked for his reward.
"So, tell me everything about nen."
* For those who don't get this, 'Yuuki', pronounced the same as 'Yuki' means princess in Japanese and Oujo-sama as well as Hime- means princess in Japanese.
OMAKE
Hisoka: (walks towards Yuki with a puppy dog face) Yuki~~ can you tell me what you learned about nen?
Yuki: (sitting on top of a chair, looks down at Hisoka out of the corners of his eyes and holds out his right hand) Pay up.
Hisoka: ? What do you mean Yuki?
Yuki: Pay up
Hisoka: But I helped too, I lured the followers away~~~ (sad face)
Yuki: (kicks Hisoka and gets up from the chair) I WANT REVIEWS! PAY UP!
Hisoka: (Holds bruised face) but... you shouldn't ask me for them ~~~
Yuki: (rages as he throws his chair) I DON'T CARE! GIMME REVIEWS! ARGHHHHH!
Hisoka: (turns towards the viewers, puppy dog face on again) can I have some reviews please? (suddenly changes expression, a evil smile appears takes out a card) Otherwise... Hehehe...
RainyParis : ummm... Hisoka-sama you are not supposed to have that yet...(get's killed by a card and this story is left forever unfinished Mwahahaha!)
But seriously, can I get some reviews... I know that I'm really lazy and hardly ever update but please (with a cherry on top obviously)? I really enjoy opening my email and finding out that someone has posted a review.