Disclaimer: I wish I owned Hunter but it already belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi :( I just own my idiotic OC, Hitomi... yay...
Chapter 25: Kuroro Lucifer x Nen Abilities x Group Talk
"First comes Rock..." Gon chanted. "Rock, Paper... Paper!"
He extended his hand and focused his Nen on it. He tried to emit Nen, but he just couldn't. Biscuit said he could eventually do that through training.
"If Rock is Enhancement and Paper is Emission..." Killua smiled. "Does that mean Scissors is Transmutation?"
"Yeah!" he nodded. "Rock, Paper... Scissors!"
He waved his hand around, with his fingers like scissors but nothing happened. The teacher then supposed that he wanted to turn it into a blade.
They talked a little more, before Killua coughed on purpose a little to bring their attention. He put his fingers close to each other and the other three got surprised. A electric current flow between them and it got bigger as he moved his hands and pull them away a little bit.
"Well, I can only do this much right now, but once I recharge, the voltage will be much greater," he said as he stopped doing that electricity-thing. "I'm all set as well. All that's left is to figure out how to use it, which I'll slowly think about."
"Wow, Killua!" Gon exclaimed, hyped up. "You're just an electric eel!"
"That's a bad comparison, you know..." Killua muttered.
"It matches him perfectly! But if you don't like it, we can just call you an electric charger," Hitomi teased before holding her music device. "Also, something out of topic, can you charge this up? I'm sure the battery died a while ago..."
"That's because we are inside a game, idiot!" he yelled, pissed off.
"Oh, yeah," she grinned widely, even though she already knew that. "That's true."
Killua's eyebrow twitched slightly as Hitomi laughed, while putting the device back in her pocket. After a little silence, the three kids started to laugh.
Biscuit, on the other hand, stared at the boy for a bit.
"It's frightening to imagine that a child of his age can convert aura into electricity..." she thought. "But more is his misfortune. Everyday must've been hell for him. It's a miracle that he's able to laugh it off just like that."
Gon then looked at Hitomi and grinned widely. She raised an eyebrow.
"You said you have a technique," Gon said. "Show it to us!"
"Yeah, since my ability looks like an electric charger, let's see yours," Killua said, rolling his eyes. "I'll try to not die because of the surprise."
"Just watch," she smirked.
She closed her eyes for a bit and opened them. The three of them looked at the scarlet color in them and gaped.
"You can control them like Kurapika?" Gon exclaimed.
She nodded, her smirk widening. "It looks like the Specialist ability is a Kuruta-thing, because I'm able to use all Nen categories at 100 percent," she then took a rock from the ground and smashed it with just one hand, using Enhancement.
"That's all?" Killua mocked. "That was lame."
"Lame?" she looked at him directly on the eyes. "If you wait a bit, I'll prove you wrong."
He stared at her eyes, which reached the brightest scale of red. Killua raised an eyebrow, since she didn't do anything for a bit.
But she spoke long after that.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Huh?" he was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Your right arm. I mean, it's bleeding," she told him.
Right then, they all looked at his right arm and gaped. It was bleeding, indeed, like he was cut. But... when? They had been watching her the entire time.
"It must hurt a lot," she tilted her head.
A wave of pain ran through his arm and he was forced to get a hold on it with his left hand. He gasped for air, as it increased as the seconds passed by.
"How the hell...?" he thought.
All of sudden, the soreness stopped. He looked up at the girl, who was grinning and looking at him with violet eyes.
His arm was now healed, like nothing had just happened.
"Cool!" Gon chirped. "Is that you technique?"
"It is," she replied, proudly. "I call it Sweet Requiem."
"How do you... do that?" Killua asked, still looking to his arm.
Her grin became wider.
"Actually, I use Emission to emit my aura through my voice and I use Manipulation to control the brain to make some commands. That's why you, Killua, only felt pain before I suggested you were hurt," she explained. "However, my Nen is not that strong. I can't kill the enemy with that technique."
They stared at her, and Biscuit narrowed her eyes in thought.
"I have a condition, though," Hitomi continued. "I have to manage to make the enemy look at my Scarlet Eyes for at least fifteen heartbeats. Also, they have to be in the brightest scale of red, otherwise it won't work."
"And the time can vary from enemy to enemy. It would be a problem, because it depends of the experience they have. A more experienced person would be calm at the sight of your eyes and their heartbeat would be slower, so it would take more time than a rookie, whose heartbeats are faster because they can't be as calm as them, for example. Am I wrong?" Killua said, and she nodded. "But there's something I still don't understand. How can you know that the time is up?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just feel like that."
Gon blinked and Killua sighed. "What kind of answer is that?" they thought.
"That's a powerful technique... too much for that only restriction," Biscuit said, looking at her with a serious expression. "There are more than that, aren't they?"
The boys looked at her in surprise. Hitomi narrowed her eyes and sighed. She wanted to keep that part quiet, but she didn't have much other option.
That old lady was good.
"Well... I have. That's why I only can use this when I'm positive it would work," she admitted. "If the enemy breaks eye-contact, I lose a little of my Nen, depending how long I stared at them. I mean, I'll have less to lose if the connection breaks at three heartbeats than twelve."
"But the enemy can also attack you," Killua said, and she flinched. "What happens then?"
"Uh... Let's just say that the damage I receive becomes the double and it can have repercussions on my life energy and stamina... and tires me a lot," she trailed off. "And, in the worst of the cases... I can... well, die."
They stared at her, with a shocked expression. She scratched the back on her neck in uneasiness.
"Are you insane?! You'll get killed in no time with a restriction like that!" Killua shouted at her. "What were you thinking?!"
"We are in a game where we can die! It makes no difference!" she said, as Killua looked away. She released a long sigh before smiling kindly. "You don't have to worry, I won't use it carelessly. After all, I can still control sound. Sweet Requiem is just for emergencies, like a trump card."
"Just trust Hitomi, Killua," Gon said to his friend. "She says that you don't have to worry, so be it."
"That's the problem, idiot. She says that, but she won't do it," Killua poked Gon's forehead. "Do you really think that dumb-blonde will actually take care of herself? She'll just die a idiotic death because of her so-called trump card!"
"Oh, really?" Hitomi's eyebrow twitched. "I'm sorry, Mr. Independent Boy!"
Biscuit laughed a bit, stopping them from arguing.
"Let's call it a day here. I know it's a bit early but you guys want a party anyway?" Biscuit asked, as they blinked. "I guess you three were too busy training to notice. It's almost New Year in the real world. Time flows at the same pace both in and outside of the game."
Gon paled at the thought.
"Oh, crap..." he mumbled. Killua and Hitomi eyed him in confusion before he turned to face the boy. "The Hunter Exam!"
"Ah!" Killua's eyes opened in realization.
"That's true! If you don't register soon, you won't make the deadline!" Hitomi added. "We have to kick you out the game now but... how?"
"They are a lot of people stuck in the game for years, so..." Killua thought.
Biscuit put a finger under her chin, in thought.
"Got it!" they cheered, happily.
The three of them made a high-five, as Killua held the card they were looking for, Passage Ticket.
"That was easy!" Killua said.
"Way too easy," Hitomi nodded. "I can't believe these guys' incapacity of getting it."
Biscuit smiled while looking at them. "The conditions to get that card weren't all that easy," she thought. "Geez. They're so good that they're no longer cute."
"Well, I'll be back in a jiffy after I pass the Exam," Killua said.
"You better do that," Hitomi told him. "If you dare to fail - even though you know already Nen - I'll kick you out the game right after you arrive... and literally. Got it?"
"Got it, got it..." he shook his head, smirking a bit.
"Also, Killua," Gon caught the boy's attention. "There's a group of magical monsters who live near the port of Dore in a mountain with a lone cedar tree. If you tell them that you are our friend, they will take you to this year's Exam Hall."
Killua nodded, as Biscuit told him to continue practicingNen during the trip. After that, he walked away and Gon waved after him.
"As for us, we're heading back to Masadora for some more training, okay?" Biscuit turned to her two students.
"Osu!" Gon nodded, energetically.
"Yeah, yeah..." Hitomi said, unenthusiastically.
Even if she didn't want to admit it, Hitomi knew that the following days would be boring without Killua around.
Not long after, the three were running in the forest. That was Transmutation training, level one. Shape shifting.
"You're clear once you're able to form zero to nine within a minute's time," Biscuit said, as she easily did the task. "Though your final goal will be form them all under five seconds."
Hitomi was having problems with it, even more than Gon. She was still trying to form the number zero, while Gon was trying to form the number two.
"Is that supposed to be a number one? It looks more like a cake hit by a truck," Hitomi sighed, looking at her shapeless number. "To be expected... Not for nothing the farthest category from Manipulation in the chart is Transmutation..."
Her eyes opened as the idea came to her mind. The chart, her eyes. She smirked.
Time for cheating.
Biscuit and Gon looked at the girl, who improved quickly. She was at the point to form the numbers nearly as quick as Biscuit, a Transmuter, could.
"Wha-!" Gon pointed at Hitomi's red eyes. "That's cheating!"
"Be careful!" Hitomi warned him. "You could-!"
POOF!
"... that..." Hitomi stopped along Biscuit, sweatdropping. He had just bumped with a tree.
"Don't forget to watch where you're going," Biscuit said, while placing her hands on her waist.
"Okay..." he mumbled, putting a hand in his sore head.
They then heard something and a beam of light appeared in front of them, as a player landed on the floor. They recognized it as Abengane and noticed that he had some strange device in his shoulder.
"Isn't your other friend with you?" he asked.
"He is not," Hitomi replied, still not trusting him.
"W-What's that contraption on your shoulder?" Biscuit asked, in fake-shyness.
Gon raised an eyebrow at her while Hitomi facepalmed.
"That cute-girl act again..." Hitomi mumbled to Gon. "I wonder what would be that guy's expression when he finds out that she actually has fift-"
The old lady's glare was enough to shut the girl up.
"It was planted by Bomber," Abengane replied Biscuit's question, making all of them look at him in surprise. "Please, listen to what I have to say."
They all sat in the floor and he told them his story. It happened that the guy with glasses from the other time - Genthru- was the Bomber and had some terrifying abilities, including the one called Little Flower. Also, all the members of that joined that group got the same bomb on them.
"I think that's the first time we should thank Gon's stubbornness..." Hitomi thought..
"The other members are at our base waiting for Bomber's mass deactivation," Abengane continued. "He's most likely lying but they're trusting him anyway."
"Trusting someone who can make you explode in bits in a second..." the girl commented. "And I thought that Gon was the most simple-minded guy in the world..."
"Hey!" Gon pouted.
"Sorry, sorry," she scratched the back of her head. She then turned serious once again. "Either way, can the explosion be avoided or something?"
"That's right," Biscuit agreed. "Even if some are slain by Little Flower, if everyone goes for him at the same time..."
"That's impossible," he replied. "The ones who go first will surely die. Who would want to sacrifice his life for the others' sake? He's counting on this psywar to win it all for him. While all of us struggle to find out what's really going on, he will be in the most advantageous position. To tell you the truth, I feel like I'm caught in some kind of a joke."
"I got everything but one thing," Hitomi narrowed her eyes. "Why are you telling us all of this?"
"If one meets him in ignorance one has no chance in defeating him. That's why I'm telling you this. Of all the people I've met on this island, you people came across as the most reliable," he said. "And if possible, I want you to avenge us. Or at least, stop him from clearing the game."
That word again rang in Hitomi's ears. Revenge.
Abengane then stood up and took off his book. He told them that he was going to warn more players before he finally left.
"If I want to do as he says, I can't only rely in my Sweet Requiem... or I'll dead," Hitomi thought, looking at her hand. "Wait, I can use more Nen types than Manipulation or Emission... so..."
She turned around to Biscuit.
"Hey, Bisky," she grinned. "As you see I'm that wonderful that I can control every Nen category at their 100 percent, so-"
"What do you want?" Biscuit cut her off.
"Can I train alone for awhile? I think I can manage to develop a technique," she smirked. "At least until Killua arrives."
Like that, time passed by. Hitomi would spar with Gon sometimes or train if her technique, which was a Transmutation only.
That day come, and so did Killua.
The three of them looked at the boy, who waved his hand at them.
"Welcome back, Killua!" Gon shouted.
"That was way too fast!" Hitomi commented. "You didn't fail, did you?"
"Of course not!" he said, grinning. "I passed in lighting speed! Returning took longer than the actual Exam. It was a piece of cake!"
They three then made a high five and laughed a bit.
"Well, sorry to interrupt your celebration," Biscuit said, taking off her book. "Take a look at our spell cards, Killua."
He looked at them. "Wow, cool! You've got tons," he said. "So, have you tried any of them?"
They looked at each other, so Killua understood that they didn't.
"What? Now that we have plenty we'd better take advantage of them," he said. "We'll have to get used to using them, or else we won't be able to use them effectively."
"I guess you're right..." Biscuit commented.
Killua then decided to try first one called Contact. Gon used it and they looked at the list of people they had meet before.
And Hitomi swore that her eyes turned scarlet for a brief moment.
"Hey, Gon," the boy said, pointing to a name from Gon's contact list. "When exactly did you meet this guy?"
Gon looked at it and his eyes flew opened.
"Kuroro Lucifer"
Hitomi didn't talk but stared at the name for a long while. How did he manage to enter in Greed Island? After all, only people with Nen could get in there.
There were two reasons she could think of. One, they found they found a way to make Kurapika's Nen useless. Or two, Kurapika's Nen disappeared because of death.
"Oh, please, don't be that," she silently prayed.
"But we haven't seen Kuroro," Gon said. "Not in the game, if it's the same Kuroro."
"Umm..." Biscuit said, cluelessly. "What are you talking about? Who's this 'Kuroro'?"
"So," Killua ignored her, "you either didn't recognize each other, or he only recognized you two and-"
"No way," Hitomi said. "I'd recognize that face no matter what. It's burnt in my head."
Gon was confused. "I don't understand," he said. "He should still be under the hold of Kurapika's Nen."
"I said... who's Kurapika?" Biscuit inquired again.
But no one paid her attention, pissing her off.
"You're right..." Killua put a hand under his chin. "You can't enter the game without using Nen. So we can conclude that-"
Hitomi froze, feeling a death aura behind her. Slowly, she turned around to see Biscuit's vein popping up in her head, in anger.
"We are so dead..." that was her only thought.
SMACK!
"Let me in the conversation too!" the woman yelled.
Hitomi rubbed her sore back, as soon as she fell on the ground along the other boys. She huffed, before starting to explain filling her teacher up.
"There's a way to remove one's Nen ability, you know," Biscuit smiled, once the girl finished her explanation. "It's an ability called Exorcism, but few can use it."
"That would mean that Kuroro removed Kurapika's Nen and entered the game," the whitehead said.
Hitomi gazed at her feet, still worried.
"Why would he be here though?" Gon asked.
"We don't know, but Kurapika has to know about this," Hitomi commented, before waving her hand at them. "Alright, is my time to be out of this game."
"Use a spell card," he told her.
"Don't bother, keep it," she replied, before turning around and starting to walk away. "I'll back in four hours or so. See ya!"
Hitomi looked at the buildings of the city for a long time and took a long breath before smiling softly.
"I thought my legs would feel like jelly or something after been out all this time," she said to herself, before taking her cell phone out of her pocket. "Well, doesn't matter."
She put the phone on her ear and pressed it against her head unconsciously. Millions of questions appeared in her mind while she heard the rings.
"What if he doesn't pick up because he is doing something stupid... again?" she thought, panicking a bit. "What if he is being chased by the Spiders right now? What if he never picks up because he is already dead? What if-?"
Her chain of thoughts got stopped when the ringing died down. For a less than a second - or a long while to her - the time didn't flow. She tensed, waiting for her brother's reply in the silence.
"Hello," Kurapika's gentle voice sounded through the phone.
The color returned to the girl's face, as she released the breath she didn't know she was holding all this time. She relaxed slightly, letting a grin draw in her face.
"Hi, there!" she said, happily. "Your dearest sister talking!"
"Ah, Hitomi," he replied, rather surprised. "Something wrong?"
"It's wrong to want to say hi to my only brother? You're so cold, Blondie!" Hitomi pouted, still joking. "Oh well, sorry for disturbing from your busy lif-!"
"Hitomi," Kurapika said, chucking a little bit. "You know, I know you since you were born."
The girl laughed a bit, before Kurapika turned serious again.
"So, now, what's the matter?" he asked. "As far as I knew, you were in Greed Island with Killua and Gon, weren't you?"
"Well, yeah, something like that," she turned serious again. "We were looking in the list of people we met in the game and we found something... well... someone."
"Who?" he asked, cautiously.
"Kuroro Lucifer," she spoke. "And you know, you can only get in there through Nen, so..."
No one talked for a bit. Hitomi waited for her brother's reply quietly, since she had not idea how he would react at this.
"That's impossible," he replied, calmly. "If he... no. If the Spiders had removed it I would have known it."
"You mean that you considered that when you used the technique?"
"Of course," he replied as a matter of fact, annoying Hitomi a little. "Since some Nen abilities can be used against people, it's only logical that there are abilities to remove it."
"Oh, sorry, Genius-boy..." she said, sarcastically. "I forgot you are always a step ahead all of us."
"I'm glad then you remembered it then," he joked back.
The girl chuckled, before scratching the back of her neck, unsure of how to continue the conversation.
"Well, I'm telling you this for your self-protection," she said. "Do whatever you want with this information... except of chasing them again. I don't want to get out the game just to find out I'm only child."
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me," he chuckled again. "I promise I won't do it anymore."
"You better keep it," she smirked.
"Also, thanks for notifying me," Kurapika smiled. "Take care."
"You too," she replied. "Bye."
Kurapika cut the call, still in thought. What his sister had told him recently caught him out of guard, even if in the end he took it calmly.
"It's not Kuroro," he thought. "But I get the feeling they're somehow related."
Senritsu walked up to him and said that Light Nostrade wanted to meet him. In his way to meet his employer, he passed by his boss' room. She was flipping her pencil around, like she was used to do when she summoned her Lovely Ghostwriter.
"I don't understand..." she mumbled to herself. "Why can't I do it anymore?"
Kurapika didn't say anything and walked away. He entered at the room and looked at the mess on it. Books were thrown in all the place, along with paper bins and empty bottles of alcohol.
In the middle was Nostrade. He was sitting in a sofa, with his hands on his head, at the verge of starting to pull off his own hair.
"You called for me?" Kurapika asked, formally.
"What should I do... this month?" he asked, in desperation. "Tell me! What am I supposed to do?!"
"Don't worry, leave it to me," the boy kept quiet. "Everything is progressing as planned."
Light stood up quickly.
"What do you know?! How would you know anything of the future?!" he yelled. "Neon! It's Neon! Quickly get her back to normal!" he then started to mumble to himself. "Damn it... damn it..."
After excusing himself, Kurapika went out the room. This situation was quite predictable, given that the man's only source of power was his daughter. Now that Kuroro stole her Nen ability, he could never get over with the debts of his.
Now, Kurapika didn't see the reason behind being still there. He could keep in touch with his friend Senritsu, so there wouldn't be a problem.
Nostrade didn't have money enough to pay his bodyguards and he would soon realize that. Also, he had no money to spoil Neon anymore and bought her more treasures, including the Scarlet Eyes.
"I think it's time to find another job..." he thought.
He then got closer to the window and looked through it for a while. The only thing in his mind was what his sister had told him before. The thought of someone related with the Spiders made him feel a little uneasy.
"Even if I don't want to fight, they could eventually come to kill me... or them. Hitomi and the others are also in danger," he furrowed his eyebrows. "At the level I'm now, I don't stand a chance... I need to get stronger."
"How was it?" Gon asked the girl as soon as she arrived at the agreed place.
"He says it's not him," Hitomi replied. "Kurapika was way too calm when I mentioned Kuroro... I expected him to go beserk, run away and kill himself while attacking a Spider, but it wasn't the case."
They stayed in silence for a while, before Biscuit decided to cut it off.
"Well, it's good not to jump in conclusions," she said, before smiling. "Now, let's focus on our own tasks!"
The three younger people smiled and nodded.
"Gon, go ahead and show Killua your ultimate technique."
He nodded and Killua looked at him, curiously. Hitomi, on the other hand, placed her hands behind her head and smirked.
"First comes Rock!" he chanted. "Rock, Paper... Paper!"
From his open palm, a ball of Nen got emitted efficiently. Gon then sighed, before placing a stick in the middle of three rocks.
"First comes Rock!" he chanted again. "Rock, Paper... Scissors!"
His two fingers transformed into a sword and cut through the stick. After that, he started to celebrate for accomplishing that, surprising Killua a little.
"Don't tell me this is the first time you've done it!" Killua said, shocked.
"No way!" Gon argued. "It's my fifth!"
"Oh..." Killua raised an eyebrow, uninterested. "So, how many times have you failed?"
Gon sweatdropped.
"About twenty," Hitomi told him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"But my success rate has gone up!" Gon was feeling a little annoyed. "It's 1-to-10 now!"
"That's fine," Killua replied. "But do you really have to keep saying that intro before executing your moves?"
Gon stared at him while Hitomi snickered. She had tried to convince him of that, but she just kept failing miserably.
"Well... If I don't do it, it won't seem like an ultimate technique, right?"
"I guess..." Killua didn't know what to say. "But then the enemy will be able to anticipate your moves. You'd just be wide open for attacks. What will you do if he attacks while you're saying it?"
"I'll just evade as I say it," he said, stubbornly.
"And what if you can't?"
"I'll still do it!"
"What?!"
Biscuit giggled a little. "Hitomi," she then turned at her. "How about you?"
"Well, it's not that great as Gon, but..." she shrugged. "It can become handy."
"Come on, go ahead."
Hitomi then smirked, her eyes turned scarlet and disappeared from everyone's sight. They looked up, just to see her standing on a branch of a tree.
"I see... Enchanted speed," Biscuit nodded. "You used Transmutation to transform your reflexes into sound. Not bad."
"Wow... that was original," Killua commented, sarcastically.
"Because being a phone charger is way too original!" she joked back.
"Phone charger? What the hell?"
After a few days, the four had already get a lot of cards, including the Paladin's Necklace that was now hanging around Gon's neck, since it could be useful for players who would try to cheat on them while exchanging cards with Fake, because the necklace allowed him to turn them back to normal.
They had arrived at Dorias, City of Gambling and Killua realized that the trick for winning was using the Risky Dice.
"This dice is key item to completing this town!" he said.
"It wouldn't be too pretty if 'bad luck' came out though," Biscuit added.
"Don't worry," Killua assured. "The probability of getting that is only five percent. It won't happen that often-!"
BOOM!
They all looked around and found smoke rushing out the casino they had been.
"A slot machine blew up and injured its player!" one of the characters told the other.
"I knew something was going on! There's no way you can get five jackpots in a row!" the other commented. "He was using some strange dice though..."
They all paled. Hitomi raised an eyebrow and glared at Killua with the corner of her eye.
"You were saying...?" she said.
"Hey," Gon said, softly. "Let's stop using it."
Killua shook his head, and smiled. "No, just one more time!" he said.
"Oh yeah, that's just like him alright..." Gon mumbled. "It was the same way in Yorkshin too..."
"It sure brings me memories..." Hitomi facepalmed.
"Well, in the worst case we can stop him by force," Biscuit said.
Back at the casino, Killua won a little more thanks to the dice. Hitomi was still keeping her distance to the boy, just in case. Who knows? If some machine suddenly exploded, she wasn't that interested in be close to him...
"That's enough of the dice, okay?" Gon told his friend, whose cat-mode activated.
"Just one more time wouldn't-"
He was cut off when Biscuit hit him and knocked him unconscious. spitting blood in the process. Hitomi sighed, since she got forced to carry him all the way to the next city.
"You'd better not drool on me..." she mumbled.
Hitomi eyed him for a second and smiled to herself before continuing walking. She, however, blushed a little under Biscuit's knowing gaze and Gon's grin.
"Say something and I will kill you both..." she glared at them. "... to death."
"Wow... As I expected from a Manipulator..." Biscuit mumbled, sarcastically. "Really logical."
They walked for a while, Gon running happily ahead as the other two girls followed him from behind. Biscuit smiled slightly at the scene being unfold in front of her, tangling her fingers behind her back.
The couple was just too cute for her.
"For goodness sake, stop staring," Hitomi sighed in annoyment, without sparing her a glance. "You know, it's not polite."
The older woman grinned at her while Gon kept walking ahead, overhearing the conversation. Hitomi just raised an eyebrow at her master, in wonder.
"Can I ask you something?"
"I think you can, but your voice is freaking me out," the girl replied, being totally honest.
"How far are you two already?"
Hitomi nearly dropped the boy at the sudden question and she heard him groaning a little. Silently, she thanked gods above that he didn't wake up, because she wasn't sure if she had another valid and believable excuse to tell him.
Once she calmed down, she looked at Biscuit. Her face was all red.
"Excuse me?" she tried to look indiferent.
"Really? Are you that slow? Biscuit gaped in disbelief. "Seriously,you did confess already, at least, didn't you?"
"What the hell?!" she snapped.
"I'll take that as a no," the woman shook her head, before placing a hand over the girl's shoulder. "Well, let me tell you something."
Hitomi didn't say anything, just listened carefully.
"It's kind of true that there are many fish in the sea, but not totally. Believe me, you can't lose this chance," she smirked. "You have to act now. You'll never know how many time can pass until someone steals him from your grasp."
The girl kept silent, looking at the boy over her shoulder, thinking about it absentmindedly. She then realized what she was thinking about, and glared at Biscuit.
"You're just a slowpoke."
"Eh?"
Biscuit raised a finger and she instantly used Gyo, but blinked when there wasn't nothing there. Biscuit blinked as well, and rolled her eyes after realizing that.
"We are not training!" she sighed. "It's just an advise."
"Yeah, yeah, my bad."
"As I was saying, you can't be that slow over love things," she smiled at her. "And if the boy doesn't give the first step, you must give it instead. Most of the boys like independant girls after all."
"So, pray tell, what the first step?" she sighed, in annoyment.
"A quick peack in the lips."
Hitomi stood there for a while, motionless.
"AH?!" she reacted.
"Yeah, a kiss, that's the best way," Bisky smirked. "Taste it. Watch his reaction. If he likes it, confess to him your love. If he doesn't, too bad. Forget him and look for someone else, because that means that he wasn't good enough for you."
"That's..." she mumbled, not finding words to reply. "That's ridiculous!"
She then realized something. Slowly, she turned her head to Gon and looked at him, he was blushing even more then her. A tick mark appeared in her forehead.
"Wow..." that were his only words.
"Don't 'wow' at me!" she snapped, before turning at Biscuit, who was laughing at her. "And you, don't laugh!"
Hitomi heard something, a soft snore. She trembled slightly, in irritation.
"And you, don't sleep that peacefully in a time like this!" she shouted at the asleep boy.
Biscuit and Gon just sweatdropped, stepping away from her.
"She sure is in an excellent mood today..."
Right after getting Luck Alexandrite, the fifty-fifth card, Gon got a call. The three kids looked at each other, before a voice started to sound.
"Yo, Kazsule here," he said, the younger ones stayed in silence for a while, not having idea who was talking. "I stole your Sword of Truth in Antokiba, remember?"
And like that, they instantly remembered him.
"Looks like you've got quite a collection of cards. Honestly, I'm quite surprised," he continued. "You've attained a level quite different from the last time."
"Yeah, yeah, we got that part already..." Hitomi said, annoyed. "What's your point?"
"Care to meet up? We need to talk."
"About what?" Gon asked.
"Actually, there's someone who's almost cleared the game," their eyes opened. "It's a group of four. Their leader is Genthru."
"The Bomber, right?" Biscuit commented.
There was a little pause.
"I've invited other groups as well," he concluded. "We'll meet at the plains 2km away from Masadora. Although we might just trade information, it'll be worthwhile."
Little before that, they went to the agreed place. The four sit on a rock, surrounded by another eleven players, counting Kazsule, of course, who was standing on the middle.
"Like I said, Genthru's team has almost completed the game," he announced. "When I last checked their ranking, they had ninety-six cards. We need to devise a plan immediately."
"If they have ninety-six cards, then they're left with just four others," Killua pointed out.
"Oh, thank you!" Hitomi teased the boy. "I could've never tell."
Killua glared at her while she stuck her tongue at him.
"The four cards left are Number 0, Number 2, Number 9 and Number 75," Kazsule continued.
Hitomi tensed a little, after knowing that the 75th card was Lucky Alexandrite, the one they had. That could mean that Genthru could go after them anytime to steal it... and even make their bodies blow up in a disgusting way.
"And I wanted to die a more graceful death..." she shook her head. "Not just a bloodbath..."
Kazsule resumed his speech.
"Number 0 will probably appear after someone has collected ninety-nine cards, so they are just left with three," he explained. "Of the three, we must obtain one and monopolize it. Thus preventing them from clearing the game. For that I plead for everyone here to work as a team."
The foursome looked at each other, while another short-haired woman raised her hand.
"I agree with your proposal," she said. "But I have my doubts about the members."
"Wait a minute, Asta," he said. "We abided by your restrictions, only teams with more than fifty different cards were invited. The six teams here clear that condition."
"That's granted, yet I also stated groups which we can benefit from," Asta then pointed at the kids. "Those kids being a benefit to us... is something I just can't buy."
Hitomi raised an eyebrow at her.
"We have a lot in common, then. You being a skilled player and a benefit to someone is something I can't buy either-"
She was shut up when Gon covered her mouth with his hand, preventing her to talk more time.
"We know of Genthru's abilities!" he said in a rush.
The place fell silent for a long while.
"We also have one of the cards they need," Killua added. "Still unsatisfied?"
"Quickly, tell us!" a woman from Asta's group asked. "About his abilities."
"What about you?" he asked. "You have to be of some use to us first, so prove it."
Hitomi smirked. It looked like the tables had been turned to their side.
"We have collected seventy-one cards, it's a whole lot more than what you'd have," Asta smirked. "For the information, I'll give you an A rank card. Fair enough?"
"Absolutely not. We can obtain A rank cards with our own strength," he replied, icy eyes looking at her. "Give us two S rank cards or information of similar value or we won't have a deal."
"Don't be too cocky, brat."
"Good! Happy dying then!" Hitomi stood up, jumping into the conversation, and waved her hand at them. "Let's go, guys!"
"Okay," Killua gave them a catlike smile.
The four stood up to leave, making Aster panic a little bit. She then gave them two S ranked cards, so Gon started to explain everything he knew about Bomber.
"Countdown is set by physical contact and a keyword," Gon said, and Asta's eyes opened slightly. "That means, you should never get too close to him."
"For real?" she mumbled. "He got me that time."
"Me too," another said, before turning around to see his comrades. "He touched us while we were negotiating."
"Oh, at that time!"
Biscuit looked at her students. "Looks like everyone recalls having Countdown placed on them," she said.
"This is a chance to get more cards!" Killua giggled a little, putting his hand to cover his mouth.
"Can't we just get away from them?" Hitomi said, with a disgusting face. "I'm not that eager to see them explode..."
Kazsule stood took his book off and started explaining again.
"Well, that settles it," he said. "Of the three cards they need Number 75 and Number 9 won't do."
"Number 2, The Scarlet Eyes, is at zero!" one of the players said and Hitomi tensed. "No one has it yet."
Hitomi narrowed her eyes and gazed at her feet. Her fist clenched, at the point of a only drop of blood pour from it.
However, she stopped doing so when she felt a warm one wrap around hers. She looked at her side to see Killua, smiling a softly at her, and she calmed down a little bit.
"May I ask..." she said, blushing a bit, but smirking. "Why are you holding my hand? Are you worried?"
Killua immediately let go of her hand and his face burned furiously. He looked at her, with a furious look, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I wasn't worried about you, big idiot!" he yelled, in a tsunderish manner. "I just... I just thought you would take off running to who-knows-where!"
"Calm down, calm down, Snowy," she chuckled. "I just was kidding."
He huffed, looking away. To be honest, even he had no idea why he had done that. His action was something he had not thought about. It was instinctive.
"Hitomi's reaction was not supposed to be like that!" Biscuit whined to Gon, pissed off. "Man! The atmosphere was so sweet!... And she had to mess it up with that spiteful mouth of hers..."
"It can't be helped," Gon sweatdropped. "Killua's a little shy to admit it though..."
They both looked at the two kids and released a long sigh.
"They are that slow that I want to cry..." Biscuit said under her breath.
After walking around Soufrabi they found out that there was treasure hidden somewhere on the island, the Scarlet Eyes. However, a group pirates came there to look for it. They were Razor and the Fourteen Devils, being fifteen of them. They were lucky though. The group in where they were fifteen as well.
They entered to a bar and found a group of pirates drinking alcohol who glared at them once they entered, saying that they had booked the place already.
"We came to negotiate," Kazsuru said. "Could you please leave this city?"
Hitomi facepalmed. "Good, convincing way to kick a gang of freaking pirates out an island," she thought. "Are we going to give them roses after this?"
As expected, they started to laugh hard. The biggest man stood up with a bottle of alcohol and a smirk plastered in his face.
"Why don't you call off the negotiations?" he said, while spilling alcohol around him. He then dropped a lighter and made a circle of fire. "If you get me out of this ring, I'll let see the boss. Our battle begins once you enter the ring. It doesn't matter how many of you attack at once."
"I just have to force him out the ring, right?" a bald guy said, walking there. "If it's a contest of strength, leave it to me, the Enhancer type."
Before entering, he used his Nen to make his muscles grew a little bigger in a lot of time, making both Hitomi and Killua realize that he was just a bluffer.
He ended up admitting defeat, as the other man tortured him with a evil smile in his face. Without being able to hold back anymore, he entered to the circle, kicked the pirate, freeing the man, and stepped out the ring with an angry look.
"He admitted defeat!" he shouted. "Why didn't you let him go?"
"Like I said, you lose when you step out of this ring. Even if the person admits defeat, it does not count as a loss," the pirate said. "You entered the ring, kicked me and went back out. You lose."
"Eh? Damn it!" his face fell. "W-Wait! Timeout! Timeout! Fight me one more time, please! Please, please!"
"I don't mind," he smirked.
Killua, however, got closer to Gon and whispered to him that he shouldn't show the crowd his technique. He then said that he was the next.
"I'll even give you a handicap," the guy said, confidently. "If you can budge me from this position, I'll let you win."
Killua smirked, wickedly.
Instead of walking inside the ring, he went to the counter and took a bottle of wine, saying that he would pay for it later. He then jumped on the man's back and poured it on his face. He used is electricity, making his head burn in flames, as he jumped back, still inside the circle.
"Don't come in!" Killua yelled at the people who wanted to help the guy. "This match isn't over yet. He said that if he moves from his position, he'll lose. But according to the rules, he won't lose unless he steps out, right?"
Without being able to take the pain anymore, he rolled in the floor and out the ring. After tuning the fire of his head off, he jumped to attack the boy, but one of his comrades stopped him by kicking him.
After that, they guide them with their leader, Razor, who challenged them to a sport competition. The four kids realized how weak the ones of their team were, so decided to lose on purpose just to gather information. Another guy, Goreinu, did the same and joined them.
"The strongest person here should be Kuroro..." Gon said, while looking at the list in his book in a table of a restaurant.
"But Kurapika was 100 percent sure that he's an imposter, so..." Killua commented.
"He knows his name," Hitomi pointed out, "He's from the Ryodan, that's sure."
"You never know..." Gon said. "If we do meet him, he might end up being someone else. But if he's a Ryodan, I won't team up with him. I'll just talk to him."
Killua and Hitomi gave him a confused look.
"Yeah, let's talk that person, even though he could be a serial killer!" she said, sarcastically. "We can also drink tea together and eat cookies, like good friends would do!"
Gon's eyebrow twitched a little.
"Why go through the trouble of confirming his identity?" Killua remarked. "He's definitely one of them."
"Even if he is one of them, I'd still like to know why he'd use Kuroro's name in this game," he said, stubbornly.
Goreinu just stared at them in surprise while Biscuit sipped in her tea, without paying them attention at all.
"Are you stupid?!" Killua yelled. "If he had a reason, it'd be an important one! There's no way he'd tell us!"
"Well, sorry for being stupid," a vein popped up in his head. "Since I am stupid, I'd really want to confirm it!"
"Well curiosity killed the cat..." Hitomi mumbled. "Or the dog, in this case..."
Once outside, Gon took out a card from his binder.
"Okay, here we go," he said.
"Get on with it..." Killua placed his arms behind his head, pissing the other boy a little.
"Accompany on!" he shouted. "Kuroro Lucifer!"
And like that, they met someone they knew. Hitomi, however, would have prefer even a Spider in his place...
Oh, damn it.
"Oh, my... What unexpected guests."
The boys looked at the way of the voice and Hitomi paled at the sight of familiar clothes beside her. She snapped her head towards the person standing in a lake.
Her face then became red all of sudden at the sight of a naked Hisoka.
"Long time no see," he said.
Then something landed in his face, and soon he realized that it was his clothes. He looked at the red-faced Hitomi, who had thrown them to him.
"Put yourself something for goodness sake!" she yelled at him, angered. "At least if you are in front of a la-! I mean, two ladies!"
"I missed you too, Hitomi-chan," Hisoka smirked. "Bold as always, I see."
"I didn't missed you, damned clown," she remarked, doing her best to look at him in the face. "Psycho as always, I see!"
Hisoka didn't seem hurt, but amused, at her reply. The three kids then felt his murderous aura and they immediately activated their Nen.
"Just what I expected. Instantly assuming that battle stance," he said. "You've grown into ripe and tasty fruits... Looks like you've found quite a fine master. "
"Who is this pervert?" Goreinu asked. "Is he the 'Kuroro' guy?"
"I could've never described him better than that," Hitomi sweatdropped. "But no, he's not."
Hisoka looked at him and soon he realized that the master wasn't him. He then looked at the other girl, whose face flushed even more that Hitomi's. She ran away and hid behind a tree.
"It's her, huh?" he thought. "She's probably a Transmuter type Nen user."
Biscuit stared at Hisoka with a smile in her face. "Wonderful eye-candy~!" she thought.
"Sorry, Leorio," Hitomi thought, while looking at the girl. "I really apologize for calling you a pervert... repeatedly times..."
"So?" Hisoka asked. "What do you want from me, or rather, from Kuroro?"
"Who cares?! Dress up before my eyes start to bleed!" Hitomi yelled. She then looked at Biscuit and mumbled. "And before her nose starts doing so..."
Fortunately, he dressed up. Gon then asked him why was he there and he thought over it for a while. A little before that, he said that he was looking for Kuroro to tell him about the Exorcism technique.
"I had no leads. That's when I remembered that some Spiders were interested in this game," he told them. "Members of the Ryodan would know the location of their leader, so by using this name, chances are they'd approach me."
They looked at each other, understanding the situation. He then asked if that was all and got surprised when Gon told him that so it was.
"Umm..." Biscuit got closer to him, with her goody-goody girl façade. "Would you like to join us? We're recruiting as many strong people as possible."
"Sure..." he shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do anyway."
"Wait a minute, I'm against it," Goreinu said. "He's dangerous."
"He's right," Killua said. "Bisky, you don't know him, so..."
"Oh? That's not true!" she stood in front of them. "I happen to sense that he's very friendly."
Biscuit then drew something with her Nen, managing to use her back to block it from Hisoka's sight. They used Gyo and read it.
"He is lying."
"You," Hitomi turned around and looked at Hisoka, pointing in front of her. "To the front, now."
"My, my," the magician laughed at her actions. "Why?"
"Because you are freaking us out," she said, seriously.
Hisoka shrugged before walking ahead them. "I'll get bored," he said, as Killua's eyes opened in realization.
"Who cares?!" she shouted annoyed, as Gon tried to calm her down.
"Nothing better to do... bored..." Killua thought. "In other words Hisoka isn't searching for the Spiders... No, he found them already."
Hitomi eyed the boy for a while and narrowed her eyes. She realized that he was looking at Hisoka, and Biscuit's words crossed her mind briefly. Killua had found out his lie.
"Could it be that... he meet the Ryodan already?" Hitomi thought. "Oh my god, that means that the Exorcist is in Greed Island... And he is waiting for him!"
After a bit an idea crossed Gon's mind. He then told his friends that they could try to recruiting Tsezugera, saying that he could have some comrades as well.
"But we haven't meet him in the game," Hitomi said, when she came up with an idea to unmask Hisoka. She hide her smirk as well as she could. "Maybe Hisoka did."
Killua looked at her, in surprise. Then Gon, without understanding her true intentions, asked Hisoka about that. He teached him how to use a card and he did so. Hisoka looked at the list.
"Book," he summoned his binder and looked at the list. "Oh, I have met him."
"Really?" Gon asked, as Hitomi walked towards them, trying to take a peek of it.
"Yeah," in her surprise, he let the kids look at it. "See here?"
Killua's eyes opened, as he ran to them. He read the list and, in his amazement, the names there weren't of the Ryodan.
"Maybe I was wrong..." he thought.
They meet with Tsezugera and his companions and they agreed. They now where nine people, so they decided to fill the empty spaces with random players who wanted to get home.
"So, the rest depends on our abilities," Killua replied. "Show us your Ren. We'll decide your recruitment thereafter."
"You just wanted to say that, didn't you?" Hitomi chuckled.
"My, my, haven't the tables turned?" he smirked. "Well, that's fine by me."
He took impulse and jumped really high, making the others gape in amazement. "If I use my full strength, I can get even higher," he said, confidently. "My vertical jump record stands at 16.8 meters."
"Let's try it too!" Gon suggested.
Copying Tsezugera's ability the three jumped in the air. The guy gaped in surprise, since they far surpassed his record.
Hitomi and Killua looked at each other and chuckled a little, since they had managed exactly the same. They looked at Gon, who was a little behind them.
"Looks like Hitomi and I win," Killua grinned, sitting in the air in Indian style.
"My, my!" Hitomi teased. "A little too high for you to reach?"
"Damn it, damn it!" Gon waved his arms, trying to get higher.
They then landed in the floor, and Gon continued to bug and bug them to have a rematch. Killua then turned around and told Tsezugera that he passed.
"One more time!" Gon asked.
"Alright," Killua said, annoyed.
The three jumped and the result was the same. Killua and Hitomi high-fived each other, as the boy gave Gon a feline smirk and the girl stuck her tongue at him.
"Damn it!" Gon cursed.
After that, they showed Tsezugera's group a paper where they had written eight of the sports that were played back then, deciding that they had to win all of them.
"I see..." Tsezugera said. "I'll take Beach Volleyball."
"I'll take wrestling," Goreinu said.
"Sumo's mine," Killua pointed at himself.
"Killua, Hitomi..." Gon kept annoying them. "Just one last time..."
"You're annoying!" Killua turned to him.
"Accept your loss for once!" Hitomi sighed.
The other people looked at the paper for a while, before one of Tsezugera's companions talked.
"Leave the boxing to me," he said. "I've got a plan to counter the opponent's Nen ability."
"Really?" Gon said. "So, I'll have to choose something else..."
"You're inexperienced in every sport, right?" Killua told the boy, remembering his performance last time in Soufrabi. "You were actually serious at free throw but missed everything."
Gon's face fell, while Hitomi laughed a little bit.
"Okay, I'll take care of free throw," Hitomi grinned.
"Bowling would suit me," Tsezugera's other friend said. "If I use my Nen, I can get a perfect score easily. I can even somewhat predict my opponent's movement."
"I'll try juggling the soccer ball," Hisoka said. "If I use my Bungee Gum I should be able to win."
"I'll take ping pong!" Biscuit smiled cheerfully.
"That means..." Tsezugera looked at Gon. "You'll be my beach volleyball partner."
Gon tensed at the mention of his name. He was about to being dragged out the place, when one of Tsezugera's comrade looked at his binder with a shocked expression.
"That's bad..." he said. "Genthru's team has... ninety-seven cards."
"So the cards they're missing are..." Gon trailed off.
"The Scarlet Eyes and Lucky Alexandrite," Killua completed the thought.
They all stayed in silence for a bit.
"Oh, shit," was all that Hitomi could say at the moment.
Excuse me for the endless chapter!
Little reference from Teen Wolf here... please, ignore it for me?
I'm so sorry! Lame ability, yes, really lame. That speed-thing, however, is just something I thought it could be handful for the dodgeball game, so can you bear with it for a little more? Sorry again...
JokeLover123: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you liked that chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one as well :)
Kri: Thank you :) You have here a little romance, but more will come... sometime... sorry. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter!
SoulXHunter: I'm relieved that you liked it! Thanks for the 'woman advice' idea and I hope I didn't dissapoint you... Either way, thank you for reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter :)
keico0906: Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story until now! I wish you enjoyed this update :D
Silent Readers: Thanks for passing by here! Let's hope you had fun :D
See you all later!