Discaimer: As you all already know, I just own my OC, Hitomi. Hunter X Hunter, on the other hand, belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.
Chapter 13: I Won't Betray My Friends! x Butler Service x Hi, Killua!
A lot happened in the twenty days they have been in the house. Training, being nearly killed by Mike, training and... oh, yeah, training.
But it wasn't fruitless. They all became able to open the Testing Gate with any problems. Hitomi felt relieved at that.
"Zebro-san, Seaquant-san, thank you so much for all your help!" Gon said.
"Don't mention it," Zebro smiled, before pointing at some road ahead. "Now, follow the path that leads up the mountain. I believe it will eventually take you to the Zoldyck house."
"You don't know?" Leorio said, confused.
"No, to be honest I've never been to the house," he smiled nervously. "Sorry I can't be of much help here."
"You've done enough," Kurapika said.
"Yeah, take care," Hitomi smiled.
And they walked away. After a long way, they came across with a red-haired girl, who was holding a staff.
"Who are you?" Gon asked, but she didn't answer him.
Hitomi's eyebrow twitched when she realized that she was in the middle of the way. She was the next obstacle.
"I'm Gon," he introduced himself. "And these are my friends Hitomi, Kurapika and Leorio. We're trying to find the mansion-"
"Go home," the girl cut Gon off. "You're on private property. You do not have permission to be here."
"Come on, Red, Gon had already told you our names, didn't he? So, can't you tell us yours?" she asked. "Unless you want me to still call you Red..."
"I have no desire to know your names myself," she answered. "Let me tell you one more time. Leave is the Zoldyck Estate. No one enters without permission."
She drew a line in the ground with her staff and told them that they couldn't cross it. Gon, however, walked to her and once his feet stepped on it, she hit him and he flew backwards.
At the same time, Hitomi jumped high. She smirked, thinking that 'Red' hadn't seen her. That's when her eyes flew open.
Tucked in the tree, she could see a green skateboard leaning on it. She nearly gasped in recognition of it.
"That is Killua's-!"
But then, the red-haired girl appeared in front of her and hit her face, knocking her unconscious in the ground. Kurapika ran to her, in worry, and put his arms around his little sister's body.
"The only thing we wanna do is see Killua," Gon said.
"You may not believe it, but we're his friends," Kurapika added. "The four of us met him during the Hunter Exam."
"That's irrelevant," the girl said. "Your reasons for being here mean absolutely nothing to me. I have my orders from my employer. It's that simple."
"Oh, gimme a break!" Leorio said. "It seems to me like you're just another version of Mike."
"Exactly."
That's when Kurapika realized that Hitomi had come to, because she got free from his grasp. She stood in front of her, with a serious expression.
"Why do you have Killua's skateboard?" she asked, pointing to the tree.
They all turned to the tree she pointed and gaped in disbelief. Gon stared at it for a moment, before standing at her friend's side.
"Killua-sama gave it to me as a present," she replied.
"He gave it to you?" Gon asked, surprised. "Why?"
"He didn't tell me why, he just gave it to me."
"I'm sorry, but that's a little hard for us to believe because during the Hunter Exam he hardly ever went anywhere without that thing," Leorio said.
"More than that, he's rarely been seen without it since he got it as a child," she said.
"In any case!" Leorio was annoyed. "The fact that Killua loved that skateboard is certain. And I for one don't think he'd just give it to someone without some kind of explanation! We have no intention of fighting you here, we just want to pass through. However, if something happened here that forced Killua to leave his precious skateboard, and if we find you had anything to do with that, then... we won't hold back."
Hitomi was surprised, that man was defending Killua and she had thought he hated him so much... She thought about teasing him, but noticed that maybe, it wasn't the best moment to do so.
"About crossing the line... what can I do?" Hitomi turned serious again. "I can't try for above again... That hurt awfully a lot!"
Gon's feet crossed the line, and 'Red' wanted to hit him. Without thinking, Hitomi put herself in the way, making both of them fly backwards again.
Both of them stood up not long after that.
"Please, guys, don't do anything," Gon asked. "Leave this to me."
"To us," Hitomi corrected with a smirk. "I won't give up that easily to Red."
Gon nodded. Hitomi remained silent and stared at the girl.
"I have to do something to cross," she thought. "She have to have some weak point and I must find it."
They both stepped in the line, one in each side. Hitomi was planning to duck, but that's when she realized that the girl was too fast...
That meant that speed was not her weak point.
Gon continued to recklessly cross the line from the front, but he hit several times. Hitomi tried too in different fronts, but got as injured as her friend.
The sun was setting, and Hitomi felt herself panicking at her lack of new ideas. However, she didn't gave up. She was as determined as Gon to see Killua.
"Enough, please stop," the girl pleaded after a while, before looking at the other two, "Why don't you stop them? Aren't you their friends-?"
She stopped in mid sentence at the sight of their faces. Their eyes shone, making her understand that they too were determined to see the Zoldyck boy as well.
"Who are you?" Gon asked, like the first time. "You didn't tell me before... So, who are you?"
"Me? I'm a servant's apprentice of the Zoldyck Family," she replied.
"He didn't ask you what you are, he asked you who you are," Hitomi said. "I'm curious too, I can't still call you Red, you know."
She hesitated, and both kids walked closer to her.
"Who are you?" they asked in union.
"I'm... Kanaria..." she whispered.
"I see, so you are Kanaria-san," Gon smiled.
"I answered your question, will you please leave now?"
"Well, you see Kanaria," Hitomi smiled. "We've come all this way to see Killua. Please, could you let us through?"
At the mention of Killua's name, Kanaria's eyes softened for a brief moment. However, she regained her composure right after that.
And Hitomi just stared at her expression.
"Killua-sama is the heir of the Zoldyck Family. He's not someone any ordinary person can just come and visit as they please," Kanaria spoke, "And besides people like you aren't qualified to be his friends."
"To be friend with someone you don't need qualifications," Gon said, and the girl seemed confused at it. "I told Killua's brother the same thing. You don't qualify to be a friend, you just are."
Hitomi saw her eyes directing to her staff, before arguing with Gon again. That's when she realized that, inside the ball, there was a skull... she thing that she saw that tenderly at Killua's mention.
"You know that story you told us about Killua giving you his skateboard?" Gon said. "I'm starting to think it's true."
"You're wrong, he didn't really give me that skateboard as a gift," she said. "He just dropped it there."
"But he did give you something," Hitomi said. "That skull in your staff, it was a gift, isn't it?"
Kanaria looked at it again, in surprise. She looked at them, speechless.
"Who are you?" Gon asked once again. "We are Gon Freecss and Hitomi Kuruta. Killua is a friend of us and we came here in order to see him."
"I'm... a servant to the Zoldyck Family and..." she murmured.
"It's Ka-na-ria! You're Kanaria, first and foremost," Hitomi said, before taking a step closer to her, crossing the line and taking one of her hands in hers. She smiled kindly. "And, also, you're Killua's friend, aren't you?"
Kanaria stared at her in shock, before trembling slightly.
"Killua-sama spoke me kindly like an equal but then I... I said terrible things to him," she said.
"You're kind as well," Gon said, standing at the other side of Hitomi, passing the line as well. "You're different than Mike. No matter how hard you try to deny your feelings, they're still there."
The girl stopped trembling and unconsciously squeezed Hitomi's hand. Tears began to flow, dropping from her green eyes.
"Please..." she pleaded. "Please help Killua-sama."
Not a heartbeat later, she was shot from somewhere and slipped from Hitomi's grasp, falling unconscious in the floor. The blonde girl kneeled down next to her, as well as Leorio.
"It's okay," Leorio said, after checking her up. "She just passed out."
Hitomi sighed in relief, before turning her head towards to the two people who had shot her. A kid in kimono and a bandaged woman, with a google-like thing in her eyes, but it looked like a robot or something like that.
The red dot on it became green all of sudden.
"You must be Hitomi and you Gon," she said, looking at the kids. "Illumi's told me all about you two. Kill is also aware that you have ventured into premises. He asked me to pass along a message."
"Message?" Hitomi got curious.
"Thank you for visiting me. It makes me really happy," somehow, Killua's words echoed in all their ears. "But, right now... I can't see you. Sorry."
Hitomi clenched her fists, but remained silent.
"My goodness! I almost forgot to introduce myself!" the woman suddenly said. "I'm Killua's mother."
"Killua's mommy is a mummy?" Hitomi thought, with a straight expression.
The mother pointed at the kid in her right.
"And he's Kalluto."
"He?!" her face fell. "Oh my god, I think I have apologize to Kurapika for calling him a girl all these years... and this time for real."
Killua's family was really strange. Now, she was sure about that.
"As Killua said in his message he's in no condition to see you right now," Killua's mother said. "Can I ask you to leave and come another day?"
"You can't," Hitomi just said and the mother glared at her. "I'm just going to drag him out of here if he doesn't want to see us."
"But I was wondering if you could tell us why he couldn't see us," Gon asked.
"Because he's in solitary confinement," she replied, but all of sudden the light in her eyes became yellow and started to shout out of blue, "Kil... Killua is gone?! What are you doing, Grandpa?! He should be still chained up!"
Hitomi looked at Kurapika with a raised eyebrow and he just shook his head.
"Please excuse me, I have an urgent matter to attend to," she said, calming down. "Please come again."
And she got away with her son.
"First she is telling us to leave and now she tells us to come again?" Hitomi thought in disbelief. "Mummy, cyborg and now bipolar... I'm starting to feel bad for Killua."
After that, Kanaria regained consciousness and, despite the problems she would get, she guided them to the butler's house.
Killua found himself laughing. Even though it was the first time ever he had a talk with his father, he found it really enjoyable.
"And then you know what Gon said to Hanzo?" he exclaimed. "He said, 'I don't want to have my legs chopped off but I don't want to give up either.' He's so selfish!"
Silva laughed again, being drawn in his son's experiences.
"He sounds like a funny kid, this Gon," he said. "And what about that other kid you mentioned, Hitomi?"
"She is so annoying!" he said, like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "She thinks too highly of herself, but she is just an idiot. Can you believe it? She had never tasted chocolate in her life because 'it is too brown'. I even had to make her drink from my own cup!"
"That girl is special, isn't she?" he smirked.
"... Maybe," he murmured, gazing at the ground. "After that, in the Last Phase, Illumi appeared and... you know all about that. The thing that surprised me the most was that she... defended me from him."
The father laughed harder, making Killua look at him in confusion.
"I think I have to correct myself. That girl is special for you. Did something happened that you want to tell me about?" he teased. "Maybe you took advantage of her ignorance of chocolate to do... that? Oh my, I didn't know my son was such a pervert."
"No way! With that dummy?!" he shouted in disgust, trying to hide the blush in his cheeks. "That's gross..."
Killua looked away, speechless. Silva laughed again at his son's actions, but after awhile the man's look became serious.
"Kill. Do you want to see your friends?" he said, making his son look at the ground once again, "There's nothing to be afraid of, just be honest with me."
"I am not qualified to be their friends anymore. We got along great, but I left them. I left my friends," he confessed. "Even when Hitomi, who I thought so lowly about, was standing there, defending me from Illumi... I left her. Even when I tried to kill her, she still kept calling me a friend... and I left her."
"Is that the reason you can't see them?" Silva asked, he nodded. "Why do you suppose she defended you and forgave you that easily after trying to kill her? Why do you suppose they all have risked their lives to enter the Zoldyck Estate?"
His eyes directed back to his father, who smiled kindly.
"Instead of regretting what you've done in the past, why don't you be honest with your current feelings?" he asked, before softly ruffling his child's hair. "You may be my son, however you have your own life to live. Follow your path and, if that doesn't work out, you can always come back. Alright?"
Silva took out his hand and looked at Killua in a serious expression.
"I'll ask you again... Do you want to see your friends?" this time, Killua nodded in conviction. "I understand, you're free to do as you please. But you must sweat to one thing," he bit his finger, letting one drop of blood get out the small wound. "Swear that you'll never betray them, okay?"
The boy stared at his father for a little, before doing the same as him. He pressed his thumb against his father's, creating a pact, impossible to break.
"I swear, I won't betray them," he promised, "Never."
Back at Hitomi and the others, they reached the butler's house. Gotoh told them to play a game, about a coin. However, as time passed by, it turned to be not a game anymore. They threatened them to kill Kanaria if they got it wrong.
Leorio then failed.
Next one, Kurapika.
And then, Gotoh brought two more butlers to play with him.
"Now then, who of us three has the coin?"
Hitomi was now in trouble. She had not idea of what to say. She had, approximately, a 33.3 percent to choose the right one... but the approximately 66.6 percent was enough to creep the hell out of her.
If she and Gon were both wrong, they would be dead.
And who was going to tell Killua that his friends were all dead?
She thought she was lucky for not being one of them, even though that could mean that she wouldn't be alive then.
"Gotoh has it!" she said, in panic.
"The one in the right!" Gon said.
The girl resigned, she was sure that Gon more likely could be right. However, she got surprised when Gotoh's left hand opened, showing the coin.
"Wait, I got it right?" she blinked.
"It seems so..." Gon said. "I'm sorry I got it wrong."
"It's not that..." she sighed. "Oh, well."
She was all alone now.
Gotoh flipped the coin once again and after a quick movement, it disappeared.
"Who has the coin?"
Hitomi stared at all of them, searching for something to be right in her guess. She then realized that Gotoh expression... was somehow relaxed.
Or at least, more relaxed than the last time.
Maybe, he was sure she would fail.
"Wait, he didn't say 'who of us three has the coin?' or something like that," she thought. "That means..."
A smirk crossed her face, as she turned around to see the one who was pointing at her with a knife. She stretched her hand to him.
"Please, can you give me the coin?" she asked, politely.
They all opened their eyes widely, even Gotoh. The butler behind her put a hand in his pocket and took off a coin. He gave it to her.
"Here you have it," she said, placing it over the table. "Did we win?"
Kanaria was released and, unexpectedly, they all started to applaud them. The four of them looked at each other, cluelessly.
"Hey, Gotoh!" Killua's voice rang in their ears.
"Killua!" Gon and Hitomi shouted in unison.
One of the butlers walked towards the door, maybe looking for Killua. Gotoh looked at them, smiling for the first time.
"It seems we took things a little too far. I deeply apologize," he said. "But you have to admit, it did help us pass the time, didn't it?"
"So what you said earlier was to make the game more fun?" Kurapika asked.
"Yes," he nodded.
"It was so fun!" Hitomi rolled her eyes. "I really enjoy the thought of that if I lose the game, then I lose my head... literally."
Even Killua's butlers were creepy...
The door opened and Hitomi's face lightened up when she saw her friend standing there, looking at them.
She couldn't help but jump off her seat along Gon and run towards him.
"Killua!" they shouted.
"Hitomi, Gon!" he exclaimed before running as well.
And then they stood in front of him. That's when Hitomi realized how much scratches he had in his pale face.
"It's been a while! Thanks for coming all the way!" Killua said, before looking at their faces. "What happened? Both your faces are a mess!"
"So it's yours!" Gon grinned.
Hitomi's face turned serious all of sudden and put her index finger in his forehead. He froze at her sudden actions and stared at her with a puzzled expression.
She then started to poke him with it, in a painful way.
"Idiot. Do you know how much we were worried about you? You didn't even left us a message," she began, poking him every time she said a word. "Oh, sorry, we got a message, in which you said that you didn't want to met us! Is there something in your head?!"
He jumped back and rubbed his sore forehead. After a while, a smirk appeared in his face.
"Aww... How touching!" he said, teasing her. "You were worried about me?"
"No!" she flushed and pouted. "Well... yeah. But Gon was worried too!"
Her pout disappeared a little after that and smiled warmly. Deep inside her, she was worried about him. It was nice to see his old self once again.
Kurapika and Leorio walked to them.
"And you guys came too, eh... Kurapika and Reolio!" Killua teased.
"It's Leorio!" Leorio said, in annoyment.
"So we get the side treatment?..." Kurapika murmured under his breath.
"Oh yeah, we should get going right away. I don't even care where we go," Killua said. "If I stay here, my mom would bother me again," he turned to Gotoh, "Oh, right, Gotoh? Listen. No matter what my mom told you, I don't want you following me!"
"As you wish, Master," he replied. "Please be careful."
Just when they turned around to go away, Kanaria interrupted them with Killua's skateboard in her hands.
"It's fine," he smiled. "You hang onto it for me, Kanaria. See you!"
Once in the train, Gon told them all about Gotoh's making that coin-thing once again, just to prove him how unfair world could be.
"I know, he got me with that one, too," Killua said. "When he revealed his trick, it was so infuriatingly simple.
"I think I got it," Hitomi smirked, before flipping a coin in the air. "Which one?"
"Which? I mean, it's in your left hand," Gon replied.
"Well, it isn't," she just said, showing that the coin was in her right one.
Gon stared at her, cluelessly. Hitomi took a coin out of her sleeve and gave them both to Kurapika. He did the same as her.
"In short, Gotoh had two coins with him. He concealed one coin in his right hand while he flipped the second one," he said, before flipping the coin in the air. "He catches it with left hand in the way you would see. When he asks you to guess which hand the coin is in, he raises his arms so you can only see the back of his hands."
"And the coin slips into his sleeve," Hitomi finished her brother's explanation. "Then you lose and he chops your head off. Game over."
"Ah!" Gon shouted, in irritation and surprise.
"That's right!" Killua said. "But to be fair, he probably only used that trick for the last one. Even though it's just a game, Gotoh doesn't like to cheat."
After arguing a long time with Kurapika, Hitomi was allowed to sleep in the same bed as the boys - Killua and Gon - because there weren't any more beds, but just for that only night.
Her brother could be a little annoying and overprotective sometimes, but that could just be his way to express his love for her.
At the end, she didn't really mind.
She, like her friends, leaned herself in her belly, looking through the window.
"Gotoh is a nice guy, isn't he?" Gon commented.
"I don't know what kind of person he is," he replied. "All I know is that he's honest."
"He looks like he is the type to creep the hell out of you when he is angry," Hitomi commented.
"He sure is!" Killua said. "That look alone gives me nightmares!"
They stayed in silence for a little.
"I'm glad," Gon broke the quietness. "We got to see you again, Killua."
"That's bad," Hitomi said, sarcastically. "For a while I thought we'd never meet again."
"True. I thought I'd maybe never see you again myself."
"But now, we should be together for a while," Gon said.
Hitomi smiled sadly, even though she was happy for them to be together. The thought of not seeing them again stabbed in her chest.
Maybe, this was the last night with them.
"Yeah, even my dad gave me an okay," Killua said. "And after that warning I gave Gotoh, we have nothing to worry about. We can go wherever you want."
That's when she realized both boys looking at her. She blushed at the sudden attention she was having from them.
"What?" Hitomi asked, a little annoyed.
"What are you gonna do?" Gon asked her.
"I think I'll have to start looking for the Scarlet Eyes," she said, shrugging. "And maybe came up with an idea what to do with the vengeful and suicidal side of my brother."
"That means we will not see each other for a while," Killua said.
"Well..." she glanced at the window. "Yeah."
That's when she felt herself being pushed out of the bed. Both boys were ruffing her hair in a playful way.
"What are you doing?" she said, annoyed.
"We will miss you!" Gon exclaimed.
"Yeah, but annoying you it's the thing I'll miss the most," Killua's cat ears popped out his head.
"It's touching!" she said, doing the same they had been doing with her.
"What are your plans, Gon?" Leorio asked him.
"Are you going to look for your father, or are you going home first?" Kurapika inquired.
"Neither," he said, taking Hisoka's plate of his pocket. "I'm gonna punch Hisoka in the face, than give him back his ID Badge. I can't even think about finding my dad or visiting Mito-san until I've dealt with that."
"Is that so?" Killua said. "And do you know where to find Hisoka?"
Gon face fell and Hitomi facepalmed.
"Idiot," Killua murmured.
"I know where you can find him, Gon. Hisoka told me so himself after the Exam," Kurapika said. "He'll be in Yorkshin City, on September 1st."
"But September 1st is still six months away," Gon said.
"Is there anything going on in Yorkshin City then?" Killua asked.
Leorio snapped his fingers in realization.
"There's an auction, the biggest in the world!" he said.
"That's right. From September 1st to 10th, they're auctioning off a vast collection of the most rare and valuable artifacts from every country in the world," Kurapika explained and his sister narrowed her eyes. "They attract all sorts of seasoned collectors and men from all avenue of life seeking to satisfy their greed."
"Will the Scarlet Eyes be there?" Hitomi asked.
"It's entirely possible," Kurapika said. "And the Genei Ryodan too."
"Then, Kurapika, Hitomi, you..." Gon trailed off.
He looked at him and smiled a little bit.
"Yeah, I'm afraid this is where we part ways. We did meet Killua again," he said. "And I have to make some money if I want to participate in the auction."
Hitomi blinked, questioning herself if she had heard it well.
"I must start looking in earnest for employers to hire me as a Hunter."
Yeah, he said it. He said 'I'. First person of the singular.
Only one.
"I'm going with you," she said, staring at him.
"I'll go alone," he replied. "Probably, I'll have to get involved in a job where I have many superior people and I know very well that you are not up to living under the orders of others."
"But..." she murmured. "You'll do something really stupid. I can feel it."
Kurapika chuckled before kneeling down next to her and putting his hand on the top of her head. He smiled kindly.
"Let's make a deal," he told her. "You start to look for the Scarlet Eyes in your own. Once you get a pair of them, I'll let you come with me. Until then, we will work alone."
"Then, can you come with us, Hitomi?" Gon asked, happily.
"It's that okay with you guys?" she looked at them.
"Of course, idiot," Killua smirked. "You're our friend."
She smiled briefly at them, before looking at her brother. He stood up.
"But I don't want you to rush. Search for Gon's father if you want, make yourself stronger," he told her, "You don't have to hurry, the eyes will appear in your way, even if you don't want to."
"I won't," she nodded. "You take care too."
"Let's meet again in Yorkshin City, Kurapika!" Gon exclaimed, happily.
Leorio smirked.
"Then I think I'll be going back home," he said.
"You're leaving too?!" Gon said, disappointed.
"Well, from the start my objective was to be a doctor," he showed them his Hunter License. "Now, thank to this, I won't have to pay the outrageous tuition fees. So I'm gonna get home and hit those books hard!"
"You better do that," Hitomi smirked. "If not, I'll be the one to hit you, right in your head!"
"Do your best!" Gon exclaimed.
"We'll meet up again," he said. "The next time it will be September 1st... in Yorkshin City!"
"Sure thing," Hitomi said.
"I'm looking forward it," Kurapika said.
They all smiled widely. Kurapika put a hand in the center and Hitomi put hers in top of his. Killua did the same, as well as Gon and Leorio.
Their paths were dividing right now, but everyone of them knew that, even if it wasn't September 1st, they were going to meet again.
After all, it was impossible to broke such a strong bond of friendship they all held.
End of this chapter!
I'm sorry if some of you didn't like the fact that I used 'Kuruta' as Hitomi's surname. However, I'll use it like that from now on.
Thanks to SlightlyYandereMelissa and JokeLover123 for reading this story! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter :)
I wish that the other readers liked it so far :)
See you later!