Disclaimer: I wish I owned Hunter but it already belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi :( I just own my idiotic OC, Hitomi... yay...
Chapter 24: Biscuit's True Face x Deadly Scissors x Change of Plans!
The three kids had been running through the forest for a long time now, but something wasn't really okay. That girl was the problem, because she was still following them and.. Man! She was really insistent.
"What should we do with that?" Hitomi asked, glancing at her.
"Let her be," Killua said. "We'll get rid of her in the commotion when the bandits come out."
"Wouldn't that be a little too cruel?" Gon raised an eyebrow.
"It was her choice, so it's her own fault," Hitomi said. "Besides, Elf-san said that she passed the exam. She'll do just fine."
"When the situation gets tough she can at least run away," Killua added.
"You're right."
They started to run away, in a pretty high speed. The thing that surprised them though was that she was keeping up with them without even dropping a drop of sweat.
"Could she be faking it?" Hitomi thought. "No, there's no way."
All of sudden, they had to stop in their tracka. Behind the trees, there were a handful amount of people hiding from them. Feeling a little excited, the three kids slid in fighting stances.
"Please help us!" they said, kneading in front of them. "We beg you!"
The trio blinked and looked at each other.
"It isn't a trap... is it?" Hitomi asked.
The bandits guided them to their house and they sat down next to a sick little boy, who was resting in bed. The girl who was following them sat down text to a corner, in silence.
"It's the island's endemic disease. You start with a slight fever, but then your temperature slowly rises. In the end, it leads to death," one of them said, before coughing. "The only cure is to control the fever with medication, but the medication only works for approximately one week. And when the medication's effect fades away the fever starts again... This medication is very expensive leaving us penniless. Everyone had been affected already and now we can't even perform our jobs as bandits properly."
"Hey," Hitomi whispered to Killua. "Does thieving count as a job?"
"I think that the one who wrote the scripts didn't think it though," he replied with a sigh.
"If this keeps up this child will die in two or three days!" the man said.
"Is there any way you can kindly give us some money?" a woman cried.
The three kids looked at each other.
"This is also game language, right?" Gon said. "What are they trying to say?"
"It means that if we give them money, they'll give us a special item or information," Killua replied.
"Well, then," Hitomi turned to the woman. "How much would you need?"
"We've gathered as much as we can from the village but we still need about 80,000 jenny more!"
Hitomi's eyebrow twitched. That was all the money they had.
"They probably automatically know how much money we have," Killua said, a little irritated.
"Definitely a trap," Hitomi said. "We can't trust them."
"How can you be that sure?" Gon said. "I think we should do as Killua says. He is more experienced in this field."
Killua smirked at her and she scoffed, looking away.
"Um... if it's 80,000 jenny I suppose I could-" the girl behind them said.
"We're fine," Killua cut her off. "Will you stay quiet for the time being?"
The girl looked pissed off for an instance, but she composed herself right away.
"Why don't you let her?" Hitomi asked. "She would have any use for us if she did."
"No way," Killua replied. "If they give us a item, they will give it to her instead."
"That's why I'm telling you there won't be any item!"
However, her face fell when she saw Gon giving the money they had to the thieves. She facepalmed at his action.
But then, the child started to cough and he mumbled something about being cold. His father started to cry again.
"This is bad! If his body gets completely cold, this child will definitely die overnight," he shouted. "If there were some children's clothing around..."
They all glanced at the kids, before starting to cough again.
"Umm..." Gon said. "If you would like to, please use our clothing..."
"Is it really okay?"
Gon and Killua took off their jackets and stared at Hitomi, who raised an eyebrow.
"Got it, got it..." she murmured in irritation, taking her hoodie off. Beneath it, she just had a cream-coloured t-shirt.
And then, they gave it to the bandits.
"You three are like angels!" he exclaimed.
"I can't even find the words to say how much we appreciate your kindness," other bandit tearfully said.
"Don't thank us..." Killua scratched the back of his head, before thinking. "Give us some information or items!"
But in the end, nothing happened.
"Such a wonderful help!" Hitomi shouted, sarcastically. "We are without clothes and money now! Thanks, Killua!"
"Shut up, it doesn't matter now!" Killua said, annoyed, with a sigh.
"Yeah, it doesn't matter..." she rolled her eyes. "Of course..."
They started to run after that.
"Well, if we go down the mountain we'll finally find some monsters," Killua said.
"Yeah, beat the monsters," Gon grinned. "Then turn them into cards and we sell them at the trade shop we should be make tons of money!"
"And then we can see what you can do against them, guys!" Hitomi exclaimed.
"I'm going to see the results of your so-called training!" Gon exclaimed.
"Same here!" Killua smirked.
As soon as they arrived there, a lot of giant cyclops appeared from nowhere. The three kids jumped back when one of them tried to attack with a big club.
"You can hurt somebody with that!" Hitomi shouted, before avoiding another hit. "Is that so? You'll regret it!"
She jumped and kicked him in his only eye. To her surprise, it became a card. She looked around just to see that Killua had done the same thing.
"Gon!" Killua shouted. "Aim for the eye!"
And like that, they defeated every cyclop there. Just when they were going to make their way to Masadora, they found a huge monster. Hitomi was about to do something to, at least, try to fight it, but Gon and Killua grabbed her wrists and dragged her along in a run-away.
Unknown to them, the girl from before was watching their fights. She was getting more irritated every time they tried to fight with a monster because of their lack of thinking over things. They just couldn't analyze their enemies deeply.
Then an armor appeared of nowhere and the kids slid into fighting stances. That was whrn she found herself unable to hold it anymore.
"GYO!" she shouted.
The three turned around, just to see her standing in a clif.
"Hey, don't look away!" she told them, making the kids look at the monster again. "Gyo! Can you use it or not?"
"We can, but we forgot about it," Killua commented.
"Doesn't she seem completely different from a little while ago?" Gon said.
"Showing her true colors, huh?" Hitomi smirked.
As they were told, they used Gyo and realized that the armor was just a puppet. Killua and Hitomi distracted the armor and Gon followed the Nen trail just to find a little mouse, which transformed into a card as soon as the boy looked at it.
The girl then jumped off the rock in where she was standing and stood in front of them.
"So you can use Gyo," she said. "Why didn't you use it until I told you to? I've been watching you the whole time. You haven't used it even once, have you?"
Hitomi's eyebrow twitched. "She had been following us... all the time?" she thought.
"Well... yeah... I guess," Killua murmured.
"So you forgot about it," she concluded, making the kids laugh nervously.
She then raised a finger, and they waited for her to say something for a while, before she snapped.
"What are you standing around for?! GYO!" they did as they were told. "What did you see?"
"Number one," they said at the same time.
"Good. From now on, whenever I put up my finger, use Gyo," she declared. "Say what you see with a big voice and whenever you feel something strange, always use Gyo. Got it?"
Gon blinked while Killua and Hitomi raised their eyebrows.
"From now on I'll coach you guys," she pointed at herself. "I'll charge no fee for it. In exchange I'll train you extremely hard, so be prepared for it."
"What?" Hitomi exclaimed.
"Stop joking around!" Killua said, irritated. "What exactly do you-?!"
The girl raised again her finger.
"Number five," Gon said eagerly while Hitomi did the same, in a rather enthusiastic manner.
"Correct!" she replied, before pointing at Killua. "You! Give me 200 push-ups!"
"Eh?" that was the boy's reaction.
"It's a punishment. Whoever is slow will be punished!" she smiled evilly. She then started to poke Killua in his forehead. "Hurry up!"
"What the hell?!" he snapped. "Don't mess around!"
The girl then used her fist and made a huge crater in the rock. Hitomi whistled at the sight of it and looked at Killua.
"I highly recommend you to stop annoying her or your face will get like... well, that," she said. "She is kinda scary."
The other two just stared at her in disbelief.
"I was a Pro Hunter long before you guys were born!" she told them.
"Wait... Just..." Hitomi trailed off. "How old are you?"
"I'm fifty-seven years old," she grinned, proudly.
They all blinked, staring at her, not being able to believe what she was saying right now.
"EH?" Gon and Hitomi said at the same time.
"You're an old hag!" Killua exclaimed.
SMACK!
It wasn't a wise option, because seconds later the boy was flying through the air because 'the girl's' punch.
"So she is a baby-faced old scary stalker?" Hitomi thought. "Oh my god. My brain will explode after today..."
"It's been forty years since I learned Nen," she continued. "I've gotten quite a bit stronger than you guys, and I'm saying that I'll coach you, so gratefully take my help."
"So you don't care if we want help?" Killua asked, getting up from the floor. "First off, who the hell are you?"
"Oh, yeah! I haven't introduced myself yet," she smiled. "I'm Biscuit Krueger. I don't like it all formal so call me Bisky. In exchange for teaching you, you will do everything I tell you."
"I'm saying that we won't ask for your help or be taught by you! We're not desperate enough to be taught by someone we don't know," he turned at his friends. "Gon, Hitomi, say something to her too."
"Yeah, we've got Wing-san too..." Gon commented.
"That's right, we still have Glasses-san," Hitomi nodded. "We have a proper instructor, so it's ok."
"Wing and glasses? Could it be weakling Wing?" Biscuit said, putting a hand in her chin. "The kid with glasses and bed head, right? Who won't fix his clothes no matter how many times you tell him?"
The kids gaped in disbelief.
"You know him?" Gon exclaimed.
"Of course I do! Wing is one of my students... I'm surprised he's an instructor! Time sure flies by..." she shook her head. "Oh yeah, for you guys I'm your instructor's instructor. So it's appropriate for you to learn for me."
"I guess you have the right," Killua smirked. "That is if that story is true."
Biscuit then showed them a card from her binder and they recognized it. It was the same monster they tried to fight a while ago but couldn't beat. It was a rank D.
"The fact that you guys can't get this card isn't the problem. The problem is that there are lots of people that can get it easily," she explained. "There are definitely tons of people that are stronger than you are. And if some of them are evil players and you encountered them right now, you guys would definitely die. Can you say that you aren't desperate?"
They didn't reply. Nothing they could say could've proven Biscuit wrong. The girl noticed something and her expression became serious all of sudden. She calmly sat down and told the boys to do the same thing.
"Pretend we're chatting," she instructed as soon as they sat down. "There's an enemy behind me."
They did their best to keep their cool after knowing that.
"How can you say this that calmly?" Hitomi said, looking around. "How did you-?"
"Don't try to detect him, or he'll notice your anxiety," Biscuit instructed, making they all look directly at her eyes. "Say something."
"It's amazing that you were able to get your hands on that card!" Gon said loudly, pretending to be chatting.
"Sure thing!" Hitomi played along. "And here I thought that you were an useless girly girl!"
Killua faked a laugh, before turning serious again. He looked at Biscuit.
"Hey, how did you notice?" he asked.
"His bloodlust," she explained. "The enemy wants to kill us."
"And then again, she is saying things like this with a straight face..." Hitomi sweatdropped. "Like it's the most common thing in the world."
"Judging by the feeling of bloodlust that seeped out, I'm guessing that the enemy lowered his guard because we look like four kids," Biscuit continued. "But be careful, the enemy is quite experienced."
"If he lowered his guard, doesn't that mean he's weak?" Killua asked.
"To tell you the truth, there are many young Nen-users out there, but only a handful are able to use it skillfully in battle. All veterans learn this through experience. Our enemy has a lot of experience, so he lowered his guard after seeing us but he quickly tightened up again."
"Then, what are we supposed to do?" Hitomi asked.
"What do you think?"
"I think the four of us should travel together," Gon said.
Killua and Hitomi nodded, agreeing with the boy's idea.
"Your reason?" Biscuit asked.
"He probably tightened his guard right away because there are four of us," he explained. "So, if we move together, I don't think the enemy will act carelessly."
"Indeed, you are correct," she nodded. "But we'll intentionally react differently. If I go alone while you three stick together the enemy will certainly come after me. I'll head south, while you three go north. Keep your emotions in check and walk naturally for about 500 meters."
"Until that tall stone pinnacle, right?" Hitomi asked, looking at it. "Then we come back using Zetsu, am I wrong?"
"That's it," Biscuit nodded.
"Okay," Killua smirked. "So this will be a double pursuit-!"
SLAP!
When Hitomi realized that happened, Killua's left cheek was red. Biscuit had her palm opened, so she supposed that she had just slap him across his face. Hitomi and Gon blinked, confused at the scene.
"When did she-?" she thought.
"If you're going to remain that way, fine!" Biscuit stood up, pretending to be angry. "I can't stand this anymore! Bye-bye!"
Killua's eyebrow twitched, before playing along. "Yeah, go! Leave! It'll much better that way!" he shouted. "See you!"
"Idiot!" she shouted back.
After that, she walked away. Hitomi sighed, before standing up as well, being followed by Killua. She looked at Gon, who was still blinking.
"Let's go, Gon," she called.
"Oh, it was all an act," he realized, before standing up as well.
And like that, they started to walk away.
"That girl is amazing," Killua commented. "I was keeping alert, so we could move instantly if something had happened. But I didn't notice what she did to me until my cheek started to hurt."
The other two stared at him for a while, still serious.
"Well," Hitomi commented. "For a hag, she is pretty fast."
They arrived a little after at the place where they had to met Biscuit and hide behind the rocks. However, they just saw the man - Binolt - being thrown upwards and collide with the ground.
"Well then," she turned to their hiding spot. "I know you guys are there, come on out!"
"You knew?" Hitomi whined as they three came out the rocks. "So boring..."
They stood in front of the girl, who was totally unscratched, and looked at Binolt. He was unconscious in the ground, injured. It was as clear as water that Biscuit was far superior to him.
"Were you able to see the movements clearly from the battle just now?" she asked.
"Starting from when the enemy was upside-down in mid air," Gon replied.
"I see..." she put a hand in her chin. "If he was a game character, I would've been able to turn him into a card. The difficulty level of obtaining it would have been about D-level. If it had been you three you might've gamed over by now."
"Bisky-san is-" Gon started.
"Just Bisky is good," she smiled, before clapping her hands together. "If you really insist attaching a suffix, just call me Bisky-chama!"
"I think I'll go with Bisky only," Hitomi mumbled, sweatdropping.
She knew she couldn't say anything rude to her or...
"Old hag would be just as good..." Killua commented.
SMACK!
Or that.
Killua was thrown in the air because of his comment, as the Kuruta-girl supposed he would. She, on the other hand, wasn't really interested on becoming a bird to fly... and land in a painfully way.
"Bisky, why did you come here?" Gon asked.
"Well, of course I'm here to clear the game and obtain my reward, but my other reason is for jewels. I hear that here there are two rare jewels and that one of them could only be found here," she said. "The unique one is my main goal, designated pocket number 81, the Blue Planet. I also thought I could have the other one for a bonus. Designated pocket number 2, the Scarlet Eyes."
The three of them gaped at it in surprise. Hitomi lowered her head, her eyes sparkling in scarlet and trying to hold herself back. The other two looked at the girl, with worry all written in their faces.
"Did she say-?" Hitomi thought.
Biscuit didn't seem to notice it though.
"The card are real eyes, the only real object brought to the game to be transformed into a card. It was a little later than the game was made though. Like five years ago," she went on. "I wonder who was the one crazy enough to bring eyes to the game-"
She shut up at the sight of Hitomi's red eyes and opened her own. She then realized that she was in front of someone she didn't expected...
She was a Kuruta.
"Oh my god, you are-?" she asked, making Hitomi nod. "I thought that they were all dead."
"We're not," she replied dryly. "Not me nor my brother at least."
They stayed in quietness for a long while more and Biscuit knew that she shouldn't press Hitomi further. To break the silence, she changed the topic.
"How about you?" she asked them. "Why are you here for?"
"Our objective is also to clear the game, but-" Killua trailed off.
"To tell you the truth, this game was made by my father and his friends," Gon replied. "I've been looking for him and came here in hopes of finding some kind of clue."
"But it ended up being in vain," Hitomi chuckled, her eyes violet again, returning to her old self. "He just told you to have fun."
"It isn't!" Gon pouted, before turning to Biscuit with a serious expression. "His name is Ging Freecss, do you know him?"
"Ging? Of course I know him! He's famous!" she smiled. "I see, so he's your father! Unfortunately, I don't know anything that might help you find him. But Netero claimed that with his ability, he'd be one of the top five Nen users in the world."
Hitomi stared at Gon for a bit. Was his father that strong?
"If it's possible to put you jewel hunt on hold, could you please teach us Nen?" he asked her.
"I've been telling you that I would!" she grinned. "Just beware that I won't be as easy as Wing. Any objections?"
"No," the trio said.
"Okay, then let's get started."
She looked at a coughing Binolt, who was awake and trying to get up from the floor. Biscuit made her way to him and he looked up to her.
"I'm giving you a chance by avoiding these three's attacks for two weeks," she told him. "If you succeed, then I'll let you go. If you get hit and faint or become unable to stand on your own two feet then I'll kill you."
"So all I have to do is avoid being hit, right?" he said, pushing himself into a sitting position. Biscuit nodded. "It doesn't matter what happens to them, all I have to do is not get hit."
"That's correct. However, there's one rule. You're not leaving this area surrounded by rocks. If you break the rule, you fail and in doing so... I'll kill you," she looked around and then to the kids. "You three can't leave either. If you leave this area or fail to take him down within two months, then I'll punish you."
After that, Biscuit left. The kids left their bags in a side and looked at Binolt with fierce eyes. He, on the other hand, kneeled down on the floor.
"What are you standing around for?" Biscuit asked from above. "He is trying to recover from his injuries. Are you going to let him do that?!"
Killua tried to attack him from behind, but Binolt was quicker. With his scissors, he managed to leave a scratch in his cheek, missing his eye for an inch.
Hitomi walked around a little bit, as Gon tried to approach him, who had to step back before the scissor could touch his face. She tried to do the same, but had to duck to avoid getting a cut in the middle of her face. She leaped and stood back.
"Should I use that?" Hitomi thought, turning her eyes scarlet for less than a second. "No. With an opponent like that, it would be really dangerous."
"Guys, let's go for an endurance battle," Killua snapped her out of her thoughts. He picked up some rocks from the floor. "You two rest first. I'll keep attacking him with these while I keep an eye on him. Let's switch every six hours."
"Rocks, huh?" Gon smiled, getting closer to a big rock. "We can use that idea."
He stood in front of it and gathered Nen in his fist, and Hitomi supposed that was his Ultimate Technique. He then punched it and it smashed into smaller pieces.
They used them as a shield, making Binolt's scissors useless since they couldn't cut through a rock of that size. Despite not being able to hit him, they managed to tire the man out.
"As I thought... even though Binolt is injured, they are starting to push him back on the first day. Their movement's aren't too bad at their maximum potential, they realize that their lives are on the line. They're finally able to pull out their maximum ability by waltzing with death. These three are..." Biscuit thought, before looking at Gon. "Raw ore! You can see his strong will in his eyes. An almost infinite amount of potential. A raw gem that can be polished through training. He's just like a Diamond!"
She then glanced at the other two kids, who were still fighting. She focused in Killua first.
"Cold, quiet blue... the Cornflower Blue that ranks above all diamonds. It's the rare color of a legendary stone. That boy is exactly that! A mesmerizing color which can achieve near immortality by neutralizing heat. He's just like a Sapphire!" she then looked at Hitomi. "Fiery, burning red. An intense color that shows passion and puts itself above other gems in a unique way. A red shade that could put whoever who looks at it in flames just by a glance. She's just like a Ruby!"
Biscuit just couldn't wipe the grin off her face at the thought of it, as she hold both of her hands together, close to her chest.
"Oh my! Why do unpolished things always make my heart flutter?!" she yelled in her head, her eyes sparkling in excitement. "And I'll training them!"
On the other hand, Binolt got unpleasantly surprised at the sight of the rock blockade the kids had made. Hitomi, without being seen by him stood in a rock, and got closer to his ear.
"Over here," she said in a playful tone.
He tried to attack her, and she leaped to stood meters behind. Thanks to the distraction, Killua used the chance to jump off his hiding spot to hit him. However, he stepped back to avoid being cut and Gon smashed the rock behind him. The pieces collided with Binolt, who guarded his face with his arms.
Binolt fell into the floor and Killua grabbed his shoulder with his hand, curling the other into a fist to hit him in the face.
"Game over for you, old man!" Killua smirked.
"No! Killua!" Gon stopped him before he did anything else. Killua jumped back and let the man free.
"Why did you stop me, Gon?" he asked.
"We still have plenty of time. Let's continue until we can take him one on one," Gon proposed. "It'd be a waste to stop now! Because we're in perfect form!"
Binolt stood up with a smirk in his face.
"Idiots! That was your last chance," he told them. "This time, I'll be attacking you!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just do it tomorrow, can you? You should rest, your movements are kinda slow now. Also, you can't even keep your eyes open," Hitomi joked in the last part. "Oh, wait. They are just too small normally."
Killua glared at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What? It was just an observation," she defended herself.
After that, they leaned to a rock in the opposite side from where the enemy was and closed their eyes. As soon as Binolt tried to move, the kids looked at him, making him sit still. His Zetsu was kind of imperfect compared to their senses.
Next day, the kids woke up before their enemy. Hitomi stood in front of him, covering the sun light and making him wake up as well.
"Good morning," she grinned, playfully. She then jumped back to avoid an attack with his scissor. "That's your way for saying 'good morning'? Oh my god, the excess of politeness you have will kill me if you continue like that!"
They decided to fight Binolt for turns and they did so for some days. That day Hitomi and Killua were watching Gon avoiding easily his attacks and throwing some punches that didn't hit him.
"At first I thought that it was his movements slowing down but now I think it isn't like that," the girl commented. "We've gotten faster, haven't we?"
"It still surprises me. I mean, were we this much different?" Killua said. "That's the experience gained from fighting a stronger opponent with your life at stake."
Next was Killua's turn, who avoided Binolt's attacks as well as Gon. However, the enemy's mind still wandered somewhere else, remembering his childhood.
He remembered it. He used to be poor, an outcast. And whenever he wanted to help someone, he was hit because they used to think that he wanted something else.
Just because his appearance.
"My turn!" Hitomi shouted.
Hitomi stood in front of Binolt and tried to punch him. He avoided and tried to strike as well, still remembering that particular memory.
When he tried to give the purse back to that woman, because she had dropped it. In the end, he ended up being seriously injured by her and her husband, just because, again, they thought he wanted something back.
But he didn't ask for something. He only had a wish in his head. Just one.
"I just..." he thought. "I just wanted to live a normal life!"
Just as the sunset showed in the sky, Hitomi managed to, at least, avoid his hits and raise her leg to kick the man. She didn't hit him, but tapped his belly with her foot.
He then decided he had enough. He dropped his weapon and let himself fall into his knees, in the floor. He looked at the ground, in surrender.
"I stand no chance," he murmured. "Kill me."
"And get myself all dirty because of your nasty blood?" Hitomi said, with a playful smirk. "No thanks. Go and suicide yourself if you want somewhere, but far away from me."
He looked up at her, confused. Meanwhile, Biscuit came closer to them.
"Binolt-san, thank you!" Gon grinned next to her. "Thanks to you, we have improved a lot!"
"O-Once I leave, I'll turn myself in," he said. "Will you let me go at that?"
Biscuit gave him a long look.
"Go," she simply said.
"See? If the master says it's okay, it's okay," Hitomi said. "Come on, get lost. Shoo."
They watched Binolt's back for a little, as he walked away. Little after that, Hitomi released a long sigh before narrowing her eyes in thought. She then glanced at Biscuit for a long time, still thinking over that same matter.
"There are a pair of Scarlet Eyes here... And she is aiming to get them..."
The older girl noticed her staring, right after she looked away. She looked at the small scarlet glint in her eyes and smiled sadly, guessing what she was thinking about.
"You know what, Hitomi? You did make me decide something. I think I will aim only and exclusively for the Blue Planet," Biscuit said, making the girl give her a puzzled look. "After seeing you activating the real ones made me realize that having fresh eyes would be disgusting... Seriously, touching real eyes would be like... Eww."
Hitomi knew that, somewhere inside her, Biscuit was a good person for doing that. She smiled in thanks before looking at the sunset.
"Search for Gon's father if you want, make yourself stronger," she unconsciously touched the earring she had, remembering Kurapika's words right then. "You don't have to hurry, the eyes will appear in your way, even if you don't want to."
"You were right, Brother. They did appear in my way, without me looking for them," she thought. "They are here, so... even though it would seem selfish..."
She took a long breath, still looking at the last rays of sun. The other two just stared at her back, knowing that she was going to say something, but in silence.
"Gon, Killua, I'm sorry but I'll change my plans for being here," Hitomi was dead serious. "I'm going for something, the Scarlet Eyes."
"Don't be sorry, idiot," Killua smirked. "We were waiting for you to say that."
"Yeah!" Gon grinned. "And we will help you with that!"
Hitomi turned around and gave them a warm smile. She just couldn't express in words how grateful and happy she was feeling right now.
The four of them had successfully arrived at Masadora, but they had to head back to the road they had been into. Why? Because of Biscuit training.
Once there, she took off the cards she had bought in Masadora and used Gain. In front of her appeared three shovels, three flashlights, three large ropes and a cart. The trio looked at it, in confusion.
"And now, we'll head back to Masadora," Biscuit said.
Their faces fell.
"Didn't we just get back from there?" Killua thought, pissed off. "Could this hag be losing her memory?"
"Wait," Hitomi looked at the items and froze. "Oh, please. Please don't tell me we are-"
"However, this time we're heading directly toward it," the teacher said while pointing at the huge rock.
Hitomi facepalmed. She was right, and she didn't like that one bit.
They spend all the day shoveling and, in the end, they managed to go through the first one. Once on the other side, the three let themselves fall into the ground tiredly, gasping a little for air.
"We made it at least..." Hitomi mumbled.
"I can't go on anymore..." Gon muttered.
"We probably only moved about 200 meters..." Killua commented.
"You are sure?" Gon exclaimed, sitting down. "I'm 100 more times tired than yesterday..."
"I'm gonna kill that baby-faced hag..." the girl's eyebrow twitched.
Biscuit, on the other hand, saw them lying on the floor and came closer. She told them that if they wanted to rest, they had to do it in a rather... unique way.
They had to sleep in a sitting position, holding a rope that had a rock tied on it. If they released it, the stone would hit them right in their heads. In addition, Biscuit could arbitrary come and cut it with her knife out of the blue.
Killua smirked and closed his eyes. Not long after that, he was sleeping quietly.
"It's not fair..." Hitomi pouted. "I'm sure he is that skilfull because of his assassin's stuff."
Hitomi tried to sleep, but she couldn't. One of the reasons were Gon's shouts of pain, because the rock continued to fall and hit him. The other one was that she would eventually wake up because her grip on the rope was slacking down and she had to grab it in fright of having the same destiny than Gon.
She opened one eye and watched Biscuit. She was talking to Gon again, not paying attention to her.
"Well, one little cheat won't harm anyone, would it?" she thought.
Quickly, she wrapped the rope in her thumb. She positioned her hand in a way that it could be hidden and smirked.
"That would just work."
She let her eyelids drop as she slip into sleep. However, a wave of pain in her head woke her up little after. She put her hands in her sore head and grimaced. Hitomi then looked at Biscuit, who was grinning and wavering her knife around.
"No cheating allowed~" she chanted. "What happened with the girl who didn't like to cheat from the other time?"
Hitomi just clicked her tongue in annoyance. The rock, in punishment, became bigger. After tying it and placing it above her, she leaned against the rock and released a long sigh.
"It's far more tiring than trying with that psycho hairdresser-to be guy..." she thought.
But then her eyes flew opened.
"I had slept right then, so why can't I do so now?" she closed her eyes. "Just... focus."
"So you haven't sleep last night again, Gon?" Killua asked his friend.
"I'm fine..." he muttered.
Hitomi looked at the bags under his eyes. "Yeah, right," she sighed. "If your definition of 'fine' is look like a zombie - and not on Halloween - then you are in perfect form."
They dug for a long time more, and Hitomi was feeling irritated already. They had been doing nothing but that and... oh yeah, trying to not get their skull smashed by a huge rock in their sleep.
That was so fun.
"And Gon's father told him to have fun... and now look at him. He looks like the walking dead," Hitomi thought. "Man! Does these rocks have Nen or something to be this hard-!"
And idea hit her mind as she used Gyo. Certainly, the rock hadn't any aura, only her body. The shovel had not either...
That was the problem.
A smirk draw itself on her face for a little before faking an irritation expression. She released a long sigh and ruffled her own hair.
"That's getting into my nerves!" she yelled, making the heads of the boys snap at her direction. "I refuse to lose to a rock!"
She stabbed the shovel into the rocky wall and she easily took some rocks out of there. Killua and Gon looked at her and blinked.
Hitomi now was progressing pretty quickly.
"How do you do that?" Killua asked.
"Will power?" she grinned, before shoveling once again.
The white-headed raised an eyebrow, wondering about that. Gon blinked a few times and pouted, before trying to dig through the rock in front of him. His hand started to hurt once he hit a hard section.
"I can't dig through it..." he commented, before raising his fist. "A punch with Nen could break through it but..."
Gon used Gyo and stared at the aura focused on his hand, making an idea cross through his mind. He then looked at Hitomi and gaped, seeing her Nen activated in all her body and in the shovel as well.
"Eh?! Hitomi!" he yelled, pointing at her. "That's dirty!"
She just grinned playfully, sticking her tongue at him. Killua, on the other hand, just looked at them both, cluelessly.
"What happens to you aura while you are shoveling?" Gon asked Killua.
"My aura?" he activated his Nen, still confused. "As usual... it stayed normal."
"Oh my god, you are just too slow," Hitomi grinned, waving her shovel around. "Just think of it like a part of you."
"Part of me..." his eyes opened in realization. "Ah!"
And like that, the three of them used the same technique - called Shu - and the rock began to feel like pudding. At the end, what they thought it could take them years, it took them a couple of weeks more.
Tired, but happy, the three kids raised their hands to the sky when they arrived to the city.
"Alright!" Killua exclaimed.
"We've finally reached Masadora!" Gon chirped.
"And this proves that we can do everything-!" Hitomi smirked.
"Okay!" Biscuit cut her off, raising a fist in the air. "Now, we'll head back again!"
Well, except that. The three turned around to see her and their faces fell in disbelief. Just by seeing her they could make themselves sure that she was serious.
"Again?" the boys said in disbelief.
"What the hell?" Hitomi mumbled under her breath. "Hags of these days have sure a long stamina..."
SMACK!
Hitomi now knew what Killua was used to suffer everyday. She was right about her hypothesis though. Flying high and landing painfully wasn't a beautiful thing to do and she wasn't waiting that eagerly for it to happen again.
She made her mind about one thing. For the first time in her whole life, Hitomi was going to be careful with the words coming out her mouth from now on.
"Keep both offense and defense at fifty percent and adjust them accordingly depending on the circumstances," Biscuit instructed. "I'll call this offence-defense. Also, it's called Ryu. Take it slow for starters."
Hitomi and Killua stood in front of each other, sliding into fighting positions. Slowly, the boy raised his leg to kick the girl.
"Right leg offence-defense, seventy percent. Whole body, thirty percent," the master told him, as Hitomi raised her hand to block the attack. "Hitomi, left hand offence-defense, seventy percent. Whole body, thirty percent."
She did as she was told and successfully avoided being hit. She raised her right fist to punch him instead. Killua grabbed her hand and blocked it as well.
"Now, adjust your offense-defense yourselves," she said, before turning to Gon. "Well, you have to be sparring with me meanwhile. I'll be easy on you."
"Osu!" he nodded.
Hitomi found herself enjoying sparring with Killua, and so did he. They were getting faster movements, even though they never managed to land a kick on each other. Either way, that Ryu-thing was a little exciting.
Biscuit on the other hand, clapped her hands when Gon stepped back and told the trio to take a break from their training for a while.
"It's only been two weeks since we started. What amazing improvement," she commented. "I thought it would take at least two full months but... I'm just astonished."
"What can I say? We are amazing," Hitomi grinned. "Especially me, being honest."
"And being humble too..." Killua remarked, sarcastically.
"Exactly," she said playfully. "If it wasn't from my humbleness, I would just say that you'd be dead if I weren't here."
Killua sighed, feeling irritated every second he talked to her.
"I guess you don't have a low self-esteem..." Gon smiled nervously, as he scratched his cheek with his finger.
"She have a high self-esteem, more likely..." Killua facepalmed. "That's the problem."
Biscuit just laughed a little bit before continuing.
"As I was saying, at your current states, moving to the final stage won't be a problem," she said. "Last training is specific abilities. Gon is Enhancement, Hitomi is Manipulation and Killua is Transmutation, right?"
The first was level one Enhancement, rock breaking. Because of that, she took a rock from the floor and crushed it with another one, using Nen on it of course. And told them to break a thousand rocks with a single one to pass.
And like that they started. After a while, Hitomi's rock snapped.
"This is irritating!" she sighed. "I only managed to break 167 rocks... It's not even a round number!"
"So it is?" Gon sighed, looking at his broken rock. "I just managed made it to 150..."
Killua on the other hand, was still working. "189... 190," he counted until his rock broke. He let his back lean in the floor, in surrender. "Ah... damn it. I messed up..."
"What are you talking about?" Biscuit smiled. "You are doing well. It usually takes a few weeks to clear 100 rocks."
"Alright!" he sat down. "Next, let's do Transmutation training."
"No, let's do Manipulation!" she argued. Killua was about to fight back, but Biscuit talked first.
"Don't rush it. Different abilities should be trained on different days," she raised her finger.
"Six!" they shouted.
"Bingo!" Biscuit grinned. "It's a draw."
"Again?" Killua complained.
"We've been like this for quite some time..." Gon said.
"Then, why don't we decide with Rock, Paper and Scissors?" Hitomi proposed.
They nodded and they played. Of course, Gon won so Killua and Hitomi got forced to do 500 sit-ups and push-ups.
"Damn it!" Killua cursed.
"It was pretty obvious..." the girl mumbled.
"So, why did you choose such a way?" he asked her, beginning to feel irritated.
"Because I knew you would accept and lose..." she smirked in a evil way. "Even if it meant that I would have to do this too."
A vein popped up in Killua's head and did his best to not hit her and not say anything else. That girl was just annoying.
Biscuit then commented them about the origin of Rock-Paper-Scissors, or Janken. She said that it comes from a martial art called Jaken in which Sho was Paper, Ken was Rock and Shi was Scissors. Therefore, Sho destroyed the organs. Shi, features like eyes or nose. And finally Ken, it destroyed externally.
"I see..." Gon mumbled.
"As expected from an ancient one..." Killua commented.
Killua was hit again and Hitomi closed her eyes after his painful landing. Meanwhile, Gon was getting an idea for his technique.
End of another long chapter!
Sorry for breaking the canon like this, but it had to be done for this particular story, because I have to find a way to her to furfill the promise she had made to Kurapika. That doesn't mean that the story is going to end now, because I still have planned a long more before this. However, the time will eventually come. Well, that's it.
JokeLover123: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked last chapter and I hope that you enjoyed this as well :)
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