Discaimer: As you all already know, I just own my OC, Hitomi. Hunter X Hunter, on the other hand, belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.
Chapter 21: Kidnaped... Again x End of the Spider? x Heart Attack
"Calm down, Hitomi," Kurapika, who was disguised as a receptionist, told her before teasing her with a straight face. "Killua's just fine."
"Get serious, can't you?" she replied, annoyed. "Gon is also in danger, if you didn't notice."
The girl was hiding behind the counter, next to Senritsu. She was getting a little impatient, since they were taking too long to arrive.
But her eyes opened and stopped peering when she saw them arriving.
"They are here," Senritsu murmured.
"Okay," the girl nodded, looking at her watch. "It's 6:50 already, so we should attack at 7:00."
"We have to let Leorio know," Kurapika said.
Senritsu nodded and texted Leorio, who was reading the newspaper close from where they were. Hitomi looked at the boys again, and noticed that Killua's lips were moving, like he was saying something she wasn't able to hear.
"He is asking me for a signal that we're here," Senritsu told them.
"That's good," Hitomi smirked. "He is already looking for a signal, so it won't be difficult to make him understand."
So, she took her cell phone and texted Leorio.
"Now, let's start!"
Once he read the message, he sighed. He pressed his phone against his ear and slapped the newspaper against the table in front of him.
"What time do you think it is already?!" he shouted. "Idiot! It's not Beiroku! It's Beichitaku Hotel! How could you have heard it wrong?!"
That caught everyone by surprise, including Killua and Gon. Their eyes widened in recognition of their friend.
Leorio then looked at the Spider's direction.
"What are you looking at? Do you want to pick a fight, huh?" he said, Hitomi shook her head and facepalmed. Senritsu and Kurapika sweatdropped.
"Maybe he is overdoing it a little..." Senritsu laughed nervously.
"Man, he is going to get killed someday..." Hitomi sighed.
Leorio then looked at the people behind him.
"That wasn't for you!" he put his phone again in his ear. "I'm talking to this idiot! This is all due to your lack of responsibility! It's all black before my eyes!"
That was when the two boys understood that it was a message for them.
"Listen, I will only blacken my eyes this once! If it fails, do you know what will happen?!" he turned serious. "Listen carefully, 7 o'clock sharp! Come to this hotel by then! I'll fire you if you're one second late! I'll fire you instantly!"
Then he put his cell phone in his pocket and started to read the newspaper again. Gon and Killua smirked, understanding the plan.
Leorio turned on the radio and they all knew that they had to wait now.
"Five minutes left!" Hitomi thought at the same time as Killua and Gon, looking at the clock.
After a couple of minutes, Hitomi peered again and growled. Entering through the main door, Nobunaga, Kortopi and Pakunoda of the Genei Ryodan were arriving at the hotel.
"Oh?! What's this?!" Nobunaga exclaimed, seeing both boys. "You two have been captured again?! And where is Red-Eyes?"
Hitomi rolled her eyes. "That's the best nickname you can think of, dumbass?"
"She wasn't interested in you guys anymore," Killua lied. "On the other hand, the reward money on your heads has been canceled, but we didn't know. That's all."
"And yet again you lost in the game of pursuit! How pathetic!" Nobunaga joked, before ruffling their hair. "However, it must be fate. It must be destiny that draws us together. Well, let's be friends!"
"We came after you because of the reward money," he turned his face around and closed his eyes. "In fact, I don't want to see your face at all!"
"Same with me!" Gon said, doing the same as his friend.
"Good one, Whitey!" Hitomi smirked. "It won't seem suspicious like that."
She however paled when she noticed Pakunoda walking towards them, with the intention of checking them again.
Killua tried to talk to buy some time, but she grabbed both boys' necks and raised them a meter from the floor.
"Moon Child is over," Leorio's radio said. "Our program has only one minute left."
Hitomi growled and forced herself to close her eyes as well, to get used to darkness. She stayed quiet and waited, focusing only on the radio.
"The time is now exactly 7 o'clock."
"It's time!" Killua and Hitomi thought in unison.
Right when she could heard the people's shouts of surprise, she opened her eyes to find that she could see clearly her surroundings, despite of the darkness of the place.
Hitomi jumped out of her hiding spot and moved her right hand around. The bracelet made a noise and its sound waves collided with Pakunoda's arm, and she released the boys by reflex.
Killua, on the other hand, got free form Machi's threads and kicked her in her belly. Gon kicked Pakunoda, but found himself being dragged upwards by the threads in his hands.
The girl then realized that she couldn't waste more time and ran towards the leader, raising her hand to hit him. He, on the other hand, grabbed her easily.
"Now," she said in her head, smirking.
A chain was already wrapped in the boss' hand, making him release Hitomi's fist. Without being able to do anything else, the chains tangled themselves on his body and mouth, making him unable to speak.
Hitomi nodded at Kurapika, who put a hand over Kuroro's shoulder and left, before leaving a message on a knife which he stabbed in the wall. After that, she turned around just to see Gon captured by Nobunaga and Killua being caught by Machi.
Machi made pression on Killua's neck with her arm and he groaned, nearly choked up.
"They are gonna get killed!" the thought of it made the girl's eyes turn scarlet in anger.
Bad choice.
They all noticed the glow in the middle of darkness and looked at her way. She jumped in the air to free her friends but something stopped her to. Shizuku grabbed her arms and moved one to her back, warning her to not to move or it would snap.
"That way of being captured..." she grimaced, as her eyes became purple again. "...it was stupid."
The lights turned on and they all looked at Hitomi.
"Yo," she sheepishly smiled.
Gon blinked in surprise while Killua shook his head. Little after that, Shizuku looked around and got surprised.
"Where's the boss?"
They all gaped in surprise, but Hitomi. She just smirked.
"You have something to do with it, huh?!" Nobunaga asked angrily, getting closer to the girl.
"Maybe..." her smirk didn't erase from her face, as she motioned him to the dagger in the wall. "But I bet you have something more important to worry about, don't you?"
He growled, before giving Gon to Shizuku, who grabbed him by his foot with the hand she wasn't using to get a hold of Hitomi.
"Paku, are you okay?" Machi asked the woman.
"My left arm and front teeth are broken," she said, before spitting a tooth. "Other than that, I'm fine."
"I have a couple of bones in pain," Machi added, clenching harder the boy she was holding. "I've underestimated you."
On the other hand, Nobunaga read the paper and jumped in his spot.
"Pakunoda," he said. "It's for you."
Pakunoda read it and spaced off for a whole minute. Meanwhile, Nobunaga asked Machi for holding Killua instead, since she was injured.
"Since he left a message, he'll definitely contact us again," he said. "Before that happens, these guys are important hostages. We have to guard them no matter what!"
Killua and Gon looked at Hitomi and she nodded, grinning. They smiled as well, glad that Kurapika was behind all of this.
Nobunaga contacted Phinks and he arrived there right away with Feitan and Shalnark. Phinks asked for them to explain and Nobunaga told them about the surprise attack and the leader's kidnapping. Kortopi gave them the message and they read it.
"If you reveal their memories, I'll kill him."
"Why didn't you chase after them right away?" Feitan asked.
"Machi and Paku were injured," Nobunaga replied.
"And?"
"That guy has a group of Professional Hunters as comrades. Just looking at ability alone, these three kids are enough trouble."
Hitomi growled softly while Gon pouted. "Looks like we're not professional Hunters then," they thought.
"And?" Feitan inquired.
"These three are very importants hostages!" Nobunaga was pissed off. "As long as they are in our hands, the Chain-user won't do anything stupid! That will give us a chance to save the boss."
"And?"
"And so if these kids escape, everything is finished!" he shouted. "The one that captured the boss might be the chain that even Uvo couldn't break! It's not easy to escape from!"
"So you were scared?" Phinks asked him.
"Didn't I tell you?! There was a blackout!" Nobunaga yelled angrily. "When my eyes adjusted, the boss was already gone!"
"I can't understand it," Feitan released a soft laugh. "You must be glad they were only kids."
Before Nobunaga could reply, Shalnark jumped in the conversation.
"Okay, we'll argue about this later," he told them. "First, we have to think of a strategy."
The Spiders started to discuss about of what to do and for once in her life, Hitomi stayed in silence. She had not idea of what to do. The rest was on Kurapika's shoulders.
Hitomi then noticed Phinks' phone ringing.
"It's from the boss' cell phone," he told them, looking at the ID.
"So, Kurapika is on move," she smirked.
He looked at his teammates, hesitating a little bit. Shalnark nodded, so Phinks picked up. The voice on the other side was one he had never heard of. The Chain-user.
"From now on, you will follow my three orders. If you don't, I'll kill your leader instantly," Kurapika ordered. "One, you cannot pursue us. Two, you cannot harm the three hostages. Three, give the phone to the woman called Pakunoda."
He was about to give it to her, but he pressed it against his ear again.
"Before that, can I ask you a question? It's about that second order," he asked. "The three hostages made a big fuss before our arrival. Who knows how many of their bones are broken-"
"Well then, there's nothing to discuss."
And he hung up. Phinks stayed quiet for a while before calling once again.
"What?" Kurapika said icily once he picked up.
"Sorry, I lied," he said, calmly. "The two hostages are fine, please forgive me."
"We are not fine, I'm sick!" Hitomi yelled. "Just by seeing your faces I want to puke."
The Spiders glared at her and she stuck her tongue, being sure that she wouldn't get killed because of Kurapika's hostage. Also, she was bored like hell.
"Isn't she nervous?" Killua raised an eyebrow while Gon smiled nervously.
Phinks gave Pakunoda the phone and sighed. Meanwhile, Nobunaga gave Killua to Kortopi.
"Really, what a boring guy..."
SMACK!
Machi kicked Phinks whole Pakunoda and Nobunaga hit him in the head. The woman then took the phone and walked away.
After talking for a bit, Pakunoda came back and gave the phone to Nobunaga, since Kurapika didn't want to deal with Phinks again.
"After this, meet with Pakunoda alone. Ask everyone else to return to the base," Kurapika instructed. "Bring the hostages to a place where you often meet up. Give the phone back to Pakunoda and prepare an extra cell phone, I will contact you from time to time on it."
Nobunaga agreed and gave the phone again to Pakunoda. Kurapika told her the time and place and then hanged up.
The woman then left without saying a word. The Spiders argued for a bit, about following or not Pakunoda. The fight ended when Shizuku knocked out Nobunaga, saying that they shouldn't fight.
Not long after, Shalnark phone rang and Phinks asked for it.
"Hello-" he was about to say.
"Give it to the hostages," Kurapika cut him off, icily.
Pissed off, he glared at the phone, clenching it. He walked towards the hostages and pressed it against Hitomi's ear.
"Here listen, it's from your mom," he joked.
"Are those guys all together?" Kurapika asked.
"Yeah, for now. They are all wasting time, fighting over whether following Big-Nose or not, and I'm getting a little bored here," she replied in a deadpan expression.
Phinks put the phone back in his ear.
"Hello-"
"Let me tell you something. I have someone here who has the ability to penetrate your lies," he cut him off again. "This is why Pakunoda followed the orders obediently. I don't care if you come up with any sneaky strategies, however your boss will die. Return to the base within thirty minutes, I'll contact you then."
And Kurapika hanged up, pissing Phinks off. Shalnark, on the other hand sighed.
"Seems like we can't follow her then," he said.
"DAMN IT!" Phinks shouted, throwing the phone to the wall in irritation.
Hitomi shook her head.
"The best birthday I had ever have in my whole life," she thought, sarcastically.
Once again, the Spiders were discussing over Kurapika's conditions of the exchange. A little behind them, the three kids were chained, not giving them the chance of running away.
"Tell us the location, Pakunoda," Phinks said. "Let's kill these three brats first, then we'll kill off that Chain-user."
"Regardless of the consequences?" Machi asked.
"Regardless of the consequences," he nodded. "Tell us now, Pakunoda."
The woman thought about it for a while.
"I'll never reveal the location," she said, determined. "I'll take these three over and return alone. Don't get in my way."
"In my way? Who do you think you are talking to?!" he shouted.
Pakunoda didn't talk, but when she saw Phinks slide into a fighting position, she did the same thing. Machi, on the other hand, stepped between them and glared at the man.
"Just go ahead, Pakunoda," she said as Kortopi stood at her side. "We'll hold them here."
"Are you serious?" Phinks asked. "I don't understand. Do you have a loose screw or something?"
"We'll all probably get killed by that Chain-user before we even get there!" Feitan argued. "These two might even be controlled by him already!"
"It doesn't matter," Machi replied.
Gon clenched his teeth, a little pissed off.
"You really don't understand? Why would Pakunoda be secretive about the location no matter how you plead?! Why would Machi want to stop you?!" he snapped. "Do you really believe that they are controlled?! Haven't you made a decision to rescue your boss?! It's the need to save a comrade... Do you still not understand?!"
"Shut up, you brat," Phinks said, annoyed. "You think you'll be spared that way?"
The boy had enough and was really pissed off right now. He stood up and broke the chains around him.
"I'm not saying this for my own sake!" he yelled.
"At least I'm not the only one pissed off right now," Hitomi stood up and did the same as him. Her eyes shone in scarlet for a second.
"Oh, well..." Killua murmured, easily freeing himself as well.
"Revolting against me?" he walked closer, focusing his Nen in his right fist. "If you have a problem, then bring it on! If you take a step, I'll break your neck."
"You can't," Gon stuck his tongue to him. "There's no way I'm going to move!"
A vein popped up in the man's forehead, annoyed at the boy.
"Kurapika is different from you all," Hitomi smirked. "No matter how much he hates you all, he won't recklessly kill you being swayed by his emotions. That includes your boss too. If he say he will exchange the hostages, so will he."
"Pakunoda, who has met him, should understand this very well," Gon added. "As long as you obey the conditions, your leader will definitely return."
"That's enough out of you two!" Phinks said, pissed off. "Speaking like that... I'm going to make sure you can't say another word from now on."
"Phinks, enough already,ยท Franklin said. "Just let Pakunoda go."
"Even you're babbling nonsense?!"
Franklin ignored him and turned his head to see Shalnark.
"What's the worst case scenario?" he asked.
"Mmm... The death of the boss, of course. Hisoka, Pakunoda, Machi, Kortopi, Shizuku, Nobunaga and the rest captured by that Chain-user," he thought about it for a little. "And we won't even know the location of the Chain-user, not to mention these three would escape."
"I won't let that happen!" Phinks yelled.
"You guys have got everything wrong. The worst incident would be out total annihilation, the death of the Spiders," Franklin told them. "The case you mentioned is negligible compared to this. The reason is that all of you rely too much on the boss, that reason alone will cause the collapse of our organization, so let's cool our heads a bit. Let her do what she wants. If the boss doesn't return, then we'll kill all who were controlled and resurrect the Spider. It's that simple."
They stayed in silence for a while, until Shalnark's phone rang. Once again, Phinks was the one who picked up.
"Hello-"
"Hand it to the hostages."
Pissed off, he threw it at Gon's direction, who caught it. "Don't break it!" Shalnark shouted.
"Hello, Kurapika," Gon said, still a little angry with the Spiders.
"Are you okay?" Kurapika asked. "Are all of them present?"
"Yes, all are present," he replied.
After that, he threw the phone back to the man, much in Shalnark dismay. The man ignored him and put the phone against his ear.
"We'll obey the conditions."
The girl couldn't believe her luck. The three kids were walking with Pakunoda at their side, because they were going to get exchanged.
"I'm going to get exchanged..." Hitomi thought. "I feel like an object."
"You three, why don't you escape?" Pakunoda asked, snapping her out of her thoughts and making them three look at her. "Afraid that you're not skilled enough? I'm faster than you after all. If I let you escape now, I'll lose the side of the bargain and the Chain-user will have his wish granted to kill the boss. Why don't you escape then? Aren't you his friends?"
"That's because we're his friends!" Gon remarked, making Pakunoda stop in her tracks.
"We don't want Kurapika to kill anyone," Hitomi explained. "Not again."
"That's why we're in the exchange," Killua smiled. "It's the best method."
After that, they started to walk once again. Pakunoda didn't move, she just stared at their backs, with a blank expression.
"Come on, Pakunose!" Hitomi joked. "We'll leave without you!"
SMACK!
"That hurts a lot, big idiot!" Hitomi yelled angrily at Killua.
"You moron! She is still a Spider!" he yelled back. "Do you want die?"
They then turned their heads to Pakunoda, who was smiling slightly. A chill ran through their backs.
"Maybe I want now..." Hitomi murmured. "I'm freaking a little right now."
Killua just nodded, before calming down. Not long after that, they started walking once again until reaching the agreed place.
In the sky, an airship flew around them.
"Board that passenger airship," Kurapika's voice said. "I've already notified them of the destination."
They started to walk as they were instructed, but not long after, they were stopped.
"Wait!" Kurapika yelled. "Stop until we can verify who it is!"
Right then, they all turned around. Their eyes widened at the sight of that man, the one who they wanted to see the least.
"Psycho-clown strikes again..." Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Great."
Pakunoda looked at him, slowly panicking at his presence.
"Why... Why did you come?!" she yelled. "Hisoka!"
Hisoka didn't reply, and Hitomi noticed him talking through the phone with someone, and she supposed it was Kurapika.
"Let me on the airship," he said. "If you refuse, I'll kill Killua, Hitomi and Gon instantly."
They three frowned.
"It's a lie, isn't it?" Hitomi tried to convince herself. "I mean, all these speeches he gave us about fruits weren't in vain... or they were?"
"I said so before, my target is the boss only," Hisoka continued. "The moment he is released, I will leave also. I want to fight with the boss, that's all."
Kurapika didn't have more option than let him on. The five of them then stood in the airship for a while until it arrived at the place. There, they got out there and stared at Kurapika - whose eyes were already red - along Leorio and Senritsu, who were with their hostage, Kuroro.
The Kuruta boy called Killua, who picked up immediately.
"Killua, hold the phone in front of your chest," he instructed.
Killua did as he was told and Kurapika gave the phone to Senritsu. She heard the boy's heartbeat for a while, before hanging up.
"Don't worry," she smiled. "He has the same heartbeat as the original Killua-kun."
"All right!" Kurapika told the ones in front of them. "The exchange begins!"
The three boys looked at each other and nodded, before starting to walk at the same time as the other hostage. The atmosphere became even thicker when they passed by Kuroro and Hitomi swore that the time froze for a instant.
Right when they were nearly arriving at their side, Kurapika took a step closer.
"H-Hey, Kurapika!" Leorio tried to stop his friend, thinking that he was going to do something stupid again. "Stop!"
"Don't worry about it," the blue-eyed Kurapika said, as a huge smile made its place in his face.
Then he turned around and started running towards his friends and his sister. Senritsu and Leorio looked at each other for a while before grinning and doing the same as him.
"Hitomi! Killua! Gon!" Kurapika shouted, happily.
They smiled. Once they arrived, Hitomi raised a hand.
"Yo," her grin widened. "Seems like my perfect plan worked after all."
He smiled warmly at her.
"Are you guys okay?" Kurapika asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Gon exclaimed.
"Well, it was a bit dangerous," Killua commented. "Those Spiders are really headstrong."
"But they were no problem for us," Hitomi said, proudly.
Meanwhile, Kuroro passed by Pakunoda without saying a word. The woman looked at the group as they happily laughed, as Leorio head-locked Gon and rubbed his knuckles on his head, being observed by Killua, who raised an eyebrow.
Hitomi noticed Kurapika still glaring at the leader and placed a hand over his shoulder. He looked back to her smiling face and couldn't help but smile as well. Kurapika ruffled her hair in playful way much in her dismay.
"My family isn't gone, at least not all of them," he thought with a smile, before looking at his friends. "She, they... all of them are my family. I won't let them go away. Never again."
Once again on the ship, they looked through the window at Hisoka and Kuroro. Much in everyone's surprise, the magician walked away without fighting.
"Why did Hisoka leave without doing anything?" Leorio asked.
"Hisoka already found out about the boss' condition," Kurapika explained. "The leader could've told him about the chain. For Hisoka, it's not a surprise that he believes an opponent who cannot use Nen abilities is not worth fighting."
"Huh? Isn't he a member of the Spiders?" he asked in surprise.
"No, Hisoka has only one goal. And that is to fight with the Spiders' leader."
"What a cruel brother I have! But I guess I can live with it," Hitomi joked. "The clown deserves it for creeping the hell out of me since the Exam."
Kurapika turned around and looked at the three kids, smiling a bit. He walked towards them.
"I'm sorry to have involved you guys in this," he apologized, while the girl shook her head.
"Don't worry," Gon said. "By the way, you've pierced the boss with that chain?"
"Yeah, but that way..." he trailed off, as the smile vanished from his features.
"That way, the Spider incident is over with!" Gon smiled nervously. Killua eyed him for a couple of seconds, before playing along.
"Well yeah, the leader can no longer contact the other members, nor he can use Nen," he boyishly grinned. "Which means that the Spiders have lost their leader."
Seeing Kurapika and Leorio's expressions, Hitomi felt the urge to smack these two boys in their heads. It looked like it had made the opposite effect.
"Even after losing its head, the Spider will not die," Kurapika murmured and looked at the window.
"But Pakunoda will keep her promise!" Gon argued. "Don't pursue the rest of the members anymore!"
Even though she wanted to believe him, Hitomi wasn't able to. However, she knew Gon's intention because it was the same as her. She didn't want Kurapika to fight the Ryodan anymore.
Even if he was trying to get revenge for her family as well.
"Just forget the dead already!" Hitomi said, pissed off. "We're here, alive, and you don't seem to notice that at all! Killing them won't bring Pairo and the others back!"
They all gave her a long look, but Kurapika didn't say anything.
A little frown appeared in Hitomi's features as she watched her brother walking towards the window, resting his hand against the glass. He pressed his forehead against it as the sweat in his face increased.
"For me..." his face was becoming paler and paler as seconds passed by, "For me..."
"Kurapika?" Hitomi took as step closer. "What wro-?"
"There are still things I have to do..." he thought right before blackness blinded his mind.
Without warning, the boy fell dead weight into the floor. The other five gasped in surprise, before running in his aid.
"Kurapika!"
That's when Hitomi realized that she would have a heart attack soon if things kept developing that way.
End of another lame chapter! I think I already ended with this arc, so next one is Greed Island!
Anyway, let's see...
JokeLover123: Heheh... Thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter as well :)
havanatitiana: Here is an update that I hope didn't disappoint you! Anyway, thanks for leaving a review and I wish you enjoyed this!
alice: Thank you! Hope you liked it :)
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See you all later!