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DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter
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CHAPTER 14: Cold X Nostrade X Trapped
Light Nostrade walked across his floating room by the blimp's window and got himself some good wine. He was alone in the large and dark room, and he rarely wanted otherwise. He opened the fridge and chose the most expensive brand and poured it in.
What a beautiful color, he mused. He had become accustomed of such velvety colors now, but he still found the color of wine especially pleasing. Probably this was because as a young man, it was his dream to taste it for as often as he would want.
And now he had reached that goal, and more.
Nostrade's father was the right-hand man of a very powerful man in the mafia, but Light stayed with his mother and they were rarely supported with anything more than basic necessities. But, despite his father's lack of affection, they were both very proud of the man's position. Soon, he got old enough to assist his father and Light knew of the organization's exploits.
It didn't take long for him to feel immune of unnecessary emotions he initially felt when he watched someone die in front of him.
Unfortunately, Light had no exceptional physical abilities. His father felt ashamed of it and he was moved to another 'department'. It didn't take long for his companions to notice his business skills- -taking resources to their maximum potential.
Resources
Resources like his daughter.
…
Awchoo!
Neon wiped her nose with her soft velvet handkerchief, and quickly placed it on her pocket. She cursed her nose at acting-up at such a moment when she was with her body guards. Not that she cared before, but still-
She looked at Kurapika's back from the corner of her eyes, he didn't seem to notice- -or care- -and this made her frown. She was definitely pretending not to care, but she was really happy that he was the leader of the group of body guard she only he'd act a little less... constant, she supposed.
Even Dalzollene was much more emotional. And now he was replaced, but this oddly interesting boy who barely showed any interest in anything.
She wasn't happy about Dalzollene's death, of course, but it happened and there was no use thinking about it. Dalzollene had been effective, and he had been acknowledged for it.
She was a prophet, after all, and it was not her style to dwell in the past.
Soon, he left the room to have a private cellphone chat with her dad. She looked around her semi-quiet band of guards. None of them were interesting enough. Just the little one whom she saw a lot of the blonde. She ignored the little girl and looked at the Indian (whatever his name was), who in turn flinched at her stare.
"Shall we continue, Neon-sama?" Her lady in waiting, Eliza, said and she nodded. Her other play mates (other ladies in waiting) also held their cards back up.
Creak
The door opened, a minute or so later, revealing an apathetic as always Kurapika. He headed towards her and it made her insides flutter but sadly he was just going to return her phone. He made a poilte bow and announced that it was official- -he really was the leader now of her band of guards now. She did not have a doubt. He was obviously the most qualified among them, anyway. Not to mention the least boring one.
He was really cold, though… the coldest person she had ever met. It could be that it was because there was nothing about him that was venting to please her, like everybody did. But there was really just something there that was apathetic of everything.
She wondered if she could make him show something else…
"Doubt it." Eliza stated demurely as they played cards. She flinched before putting in the necessary counter measures and got close to winning.
Kurapika gestured for the little girl and the others to leave them to the other room. It oddly made her feel sad. It was so weird that she somewhat... longed...? For his uncaring presence.
What was even weirder was she didn't even try to ask. Obviously all she had to do was ask. Anything she wanted was given to her. 'Smile.' She could order, or 'STAY'. But then she wasn't sure if he'd say something like it wasn't becoming. That would definitely offend her so she didn't even try. But then, maybe the latter order could be fine...
"Squala. Take care of the mistress." He ordered, and it disappointed her. Dalzollene would stay with her himself, why shouldn't he?
But then for the second that their eyes met, she shivered in fear- -and she reflexively turned to Squala and grinned as merrily as she could.
"Ne, Ne. Let's play cards!" She said, faking relief. Kurapika was so scary-
"EH?" the Indian openly reacted and she almost told him she preferred someone else too. But she recalled that look in the blonde's eyes. He didn't glare at her. But it certainly felt terrifying anyway. She wondered what he was thinking…
But then less than an hour later she saw him again.
They were moving to another room, and he had a calmer expression in his face. She liked that… then again, other expressions intrigued her to no end by themselves.
Kurapika…
What an interesting man…
HOTEL, Earlier
Gon, Killua, and Leorio were lying on their individual beds in an economy-class hotel room. It was already past midnight and Killua and Leorio were already sleeping soundly. Gon wasn't though. She was usually the type to sleep upon lying down, but for some reason she couldn't that night.
It was probably due to anxiety. They had gotten information on the Ryodan when a few people from the mafia recruited them for a conditional auction. It was practically a bounty hunting gig, as Leorio would say. They decided to call Kurapica to inform him despite the fact that they were certain he knew about it already.
He hadn't answered since then. So she decided to call Kurapika again, but this time she sat up. He answered- -finally.
"Kurapika." She whispered and for a moment there wasn't an answer. She quickly stood up and went outside for fear she'd wake the other two up prematurely. They would dislike false alarms, obviously.
She called his name again. Still no answer. But she knew he was there.
"Please answer." She said and she heard a sigh.
"I'm tired, Gon." He said. "Please go to bed."
She didn't speak for a few seconds. She was not offended by his tone- -not at all. If anything, it made her worry for his sake.
"What's wrong?" She asked, and once again an awkward silence ensued.
"Nothing's wrong." He said with finality in his tone. Or so he thought…
A crack was still audible to Gon.
"Maybe aside from getting woken up at this time." He added, trying desperately to make her mad at him. But instead, he heard as sigh.
"I didn't wake you up, Kurapika. I could tell."
His eyes widened, but he really was not in the mood to be… read.
"So you say…" he said skeptically. "How do you say that, then?"
"…"
Gon did not know what to say. Intuition was all she had…
But then the phone disappeared from her hand. She blinked, and they winced at the new voice.
"Oi, Kurapika."
"K-Killua?" Gon barely uttered.
"Why don't you just admit that you wanted to hear her voice? You could have hung up ages ago or didn't answer like before!"
"KILLUA!"
Beep
Kurapika hang up on him. Killua cursed, and Gon held his hand firmly- -as if to scold him with her touch.
"Killua…"
"It's his fault. He'll call you when he gets his thoughts straight." He muttered.
"Really?"
He nodded, and she course, he couldn't lie to her now could he?
"...Yeah."
The next day, they went to register at the South Peace Auction. It cost quite a few million and Gon decided (much to the two's arguments) that she use her Hunter card as mortgage. They needed the money after all, and they had gotten this far.
Besides… she became a hunter to find her father. She was finding this game for that reason. There wasn't much of a choice.
"Really, though?"
"Yeah. Gon, think this through…"
"I already did." she said with that trademark, stern, I-will-never-change-my-mind look. The two boys knew she would not be stopped. So Killua just sighed, while Leorio scratched his head in despair as if he was the one losing the card.
She sweat-dropped at them, silently apologized, and handed the befuddled lady behind the counter her precious Hunter Card. The girl looked at her incredulously but shrugged in the end. No self-respecting employee should question costumers, after all. Even if it were young children who were not even supposed to hold more than a few hundred zennies.
"Here you go, Miss." the lady said, handing her the briefcase full of money. An instant later, Leorio was behind her with currency symbols showing on his pupils.
She could tell that she was going to lose a huge chunk of this money sooner than she expected.
...
Later that day, the trio went to look around for pieces to actually sell, contuining the auction idea they initially had- -only more personal. But as they looked around, they discovered that if they used Gyo they could find potential treasures. Leorio (who had no idea what this 'Gyo' was) decided to go back to the hotel to catch the updates on the Spider-thing they posted on the net.
They found four: A painting, a doll, a weird rock, and a sculpture. They only got three, though, an annoying red-head named Zephile bid an impractical amount on the sculpture.
They had their treasures appraised proving their method to be insanely effective. They got huge profits for the first two, and they seemed to be wrong with the rock… The chubby appraisal person said the small amount (which wouldn't give them a lot of profit) was all he could give.
Creak
No. Actually it was more like a BAM! as the opening of the door was not gentle. Rather, it was grand. Or at least it attempted to be.
It was a suspicious red-head he saw fleetingly during the crowd at the street auctions. He had that inkling feeling this guy's that Zephile person, and Killua frowned. What was he planning to do this time?
"Halt!" He said pompously for effect, and it was seriously only making Killua more annoyed. Gon was just blinking though.
It was then that he announced the artifacts were appraised unfairly and revealed what the antique man was actually trying to do. Apparently, there was a good chance treasure was inside the rock.
Killua's eye twitched. Did this weirdo seriously believe they'd trust him looking by making himself so stupidly untrustworthy? To his chagrin, Gon did not think the same way. As always...
"Ne, Ji-san, how'd you know?" She asked innocently, and the man blinked before proceeding on his explanation. Killua looked behind him and saw that the chubby appraiser was sweating buckets. Looks like the weirdo was telling the truth after all...
Of course he had to check. He couldn't let the pompous gatecrasher to feed his Gon's head with lies, now could he?
So Killua softened his stance and let the newcomer feed them some new information.
The man explained everything, up to how it worked, so for fairness they asked the appraiser to open it in front of everyone which he did.
A pile of gold came pouring out, and all eyes widened in surprise.
"Sugoi! So much gold!"
"EH? You did lie old man!"
"B-But. In either case, you can't guarantee this is antique."
Killua gritted his teeth and swiftly grabbed the man's remaining collar. "You're still at it, eh?"
The chubby man paled. But to their surprise, probably-Zephile was more neutral than they anticipated. "Calm down, kid. It's true. There are countless techniques in the world to do that or anything similar."
He then glared at the chubby old man, who was just let go by Killua. "But it doesn't mean you have the right to scam any one. Self-respecting professionals should provide their services with full ethic responsibility!"
Gon clapped at his speech (especially since he gave off the atmosphere that he was on a tall rock with waves behind him) while Killua only shook his head. It was then that the former assassin tilted his head to the chubby man and looked him down, making him shiver for his life.
"Old Man. Tell us the truth. How are these really worth?"
"I-It's hard for someone like me to tell!" He was looked down deeper. "I-It's true!"
"It's true." The weirdo intervened. "I'll tell you what you can do." he said and walked back and pointed his thumb to the door. "Shall we?"
And Gon followed. And Killua didn't really have a choice, now did he?
...
RANDOM DINER, A few minutes later
They found out that the weirdo's name was really Zephile. After Gon's surprised pointing session and Killua's basically unsurprised state, they spoke with him about the field and they truly learned a lot. They even found out why he paid so much for the sculpture- -it was something he made and was both proud and ashamed of. He wanted to help them because he was touched they were willing to bid so much for his piece of junk.
"It's not junk!" Gon stated confidently. "The fact that it emitted aura meant you really put your heart and soul into that piece.
"You should be proud."
"A-Ah…"
The old man blushed and Killua was snickering, until he remembered she must have made him blush countless times before. His eye twitched and looked away, making Zephile break out of his embarrassed daze and look at them alternatively.
A grin found its way on his face. Gon remained oblivious and he held out his hand to her. "So mind if I help you?"
"Eh?"
"You two are interesting in many ways. I know this partnership will be an experience."
"Wouldn't it be troublesome?"
"No. Besides, talking like this doesn't make me feel me debt to you is paid."
"Demo..."
"Just accept my offer, please? It's not particularly selfless, anyway. I will get some experience, and hence insentive. So it's a win-win situation."
"Really?"
"Really."
And with that, Gon beamed and shook his hand. A start of another interesting partnership, this was, no?
…
They chatted about a number of business-related things like strategy the remaining of their meal, and soon they parted ways. Zephile went away to arrange their exhibition, while he and Gon decided to go back to the flea market and look for more treasures. They walked and quickly found one.
Killua grinned when he saw it but when he excitedly turned to Gon… a frown immediately crept up his face, replacing his wide grin.
Gon was standing still, and not looking at his direction at all.
She was looking like that at her phone again.
Neon and her maids went outside to shop. Her father was coming soon and the auction was that night and she could not be any more excited. She wondered how many of those treasures she would get.
Probably every one of them.
Her papa always ensured that she get whatever she wanted, whatever the price…. except maybe a little more of his time. He was a very busy man, after all, and he did have to make money for all the toys she wanted.
And as the limo moved from street to street she stared blankly outside the limo. She had never remembered walking alone in a park like those people did. But then they didn't have the treasures that she had and would have…
She even got a really interesting bodyguard. And she thought he was an ideal hero in those romance novels that she read. She recalled the last time she saw him. He wore that usual stoic expression in his face and he was talking to that bulky mustached man whose name never registered on her high-and-mighty brain. He was probably coordinating something for her protection, and despite knowing he was getting paid… that mere thought made her a little bubbly.
He had looked especially stressed that day, though…
She never really cared what other people felt like before, so everything had been new to her. She wasn't even sure she could be this empathic in the first place. And so many more events made her anxious. It was so disconcerting, her life used to be so simple.
That day was when he was going to meet with the assassins the mafia hired. Her heart stopped at the mere thought. She overheard them and she wanted to speak up. But she wasn't sure if he was not in a scary mood again so she pushed the thought of ordering him to stay by her side. She did not want him to give the expression that she was just a spoiled brat. She didn't want that.
She was not a spoiled brat. She was not even a brat- -she's a lady!
Right?
Of course, she was. She even remembered how graceful she was when they first met.
-Flashback-
"These people will be your new body guard." Dalzollene announced and she looked at four of them. Janiero (or at least that was she remembered), her old body guard, was gone. He had been with her since she was a little girl but they said he did something stupid so he got punished. He was probably dead, so she went back to the present and watched his replacements.
One was a very bulky mustached man, another was a woman, another a small man, and another-
Doki
He was very handsome… with those facial features and constant expressions of his. She only felt like this when she found a treasure that appealed to her greatly. What was left behind by the dead had usually interested her- -simply because of her philosophy. So she didn't understand the odd attraction she felt for this boy.
Maybe she should have him killed and add him to her collection?
She giggled at the thought, but of course pushed it aside. She was not a murderer, after all, and she'd rather not start. She could just freely consider those thoughts because of her father's line of job.
She walked towards them and pretended to asses every one when she was really only interested in him. She did not know why though. She had always jumped in to what she wanted but somehow she didn't want to rush this one.
Soon she ended up with him.
"Nice to meet you, Ojou-sama." He said monotonously, and a bump placed on her chest again. He didn't seem to have much of life at all. And considering how handsome he was and how light his skin and hair was... it was quite surprising.
She smiled at him in a lady-like passion.
"Ah."
...
She acted stoic, too. Ladies couldn't show too much after all. At least that was what she saw in Eliza. She had a 'lady-like' feel to her despite being a mere attendant. She had never really cared enough to act that way, though, so she was quite proud of herself.
BEEP BEEP!
The sound of cars pulled her out of her daze. They had been in a traffic jam for a while now, and she was seriously not in the mood.
"Can't you just ask them to move aside?!" She yelled irritably, but unfortunately her companion was the weak-minded Squala so obviously he couldn't do it.
"I can't do that."
"I'll tell Papa how useless you are."
"Ojou-"
"Neon-sama…" Eliza whispered worriedly. Eliza had been very nice to her and really gave her what she wanted very effectively so she decided to put the matters aside and looked at the window. She sighed. Heavily. And not at all lady-like, but she didn't know that.
'The car sure was going slowly…' she mused, basically blaming Squala.
She just kept looking out her tinted window, staring passively at what seemed to be a bazaar for commoners. She didn't have any will to go down and shop. She liked shopping, but not on places like these.
It was then when she saw them: two children. They were, admittedly, quite cute. She had a fetish in dead bodies, though.
After all, one of her philosophies was that spirits didn't exist- -that dead people were just that: Dead. What she was doing was very rare, and she didn't understand why people didn't like what she did...
In any case, for living things they were eye candies so to speak. They seemed to be good friends. The girl looked worried though. Neon blinked when she realized she was trying to empathize again. It started with her blonde body guard simply intriguing her with his seeming lack of emotions- something she had never thought doing, nor found the need to before she met him.
The boy, with rare silver hair, looked at the girl anxiously as she stared at her black phone. They spoke and the boy looked like he got more annoyed.
Neon wondered what they were talking about.
The boy raised his hand and for a moment Neon thought he was going to hit the girl when he was actually just going to pat her head. Their expression softened and it placed a bump on her chest. She recalled this feeling when she read good romance books.
There was a difference though. During her readings she felt like a… voyeur, something not really new for a seer. But now she just felt… what?
"How cute. I'm touched." Eliza smiled looking at her line of sight. She flinched.
"Pure love of children. I kind of missed it." She said with emphasis on the second statement. For some reason Squala reacted.
"Wha-"
The girls ignored him and continued to watch the kids. The little girl smiled weakly, and what the boy did surprised all of them.
Neon's eyes widened in surprise. It was quick but it definitely happened.
That silver-haired boy just kissed that girl!
Doki Doki Doki
What was odder was that, for the first time, she wanted to do the same with a certain someone too…
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 14
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 15: Trapped X Confusion X Hope
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REPLIES TO ANGELS
CrystalVixen93- Harem, eh? Maybe? It's heading that direction anyway, but it wouldn't be too big. ^^ Thank you for the comment. ;D
Phoenix-Thunder- Thank you for the review! Hehe. I'm glad that you thought so~ I liked jelly Killua, and when he's a tsundere fem!Killua, too. XDDD
naruke3176- I'm blushing right now y'know, seriously. XD. Thank you for the review~! XD
Into A Dream- lol, high five! Haha. I like Jelly Killua, too~! And D'aw, thank you for the review! Tehee~
AJ-Machado- Thank you for the review and hope y'liked this too~ And fyi, I don't think you're English is bad. ;D
FiliPinoyCJ7238- Yep, me and that review box missed you here. XDYou have a peculiar philosophy with the talent thing- -I like it! ;D You can always improve with practice though. And thank you for the review and belated happy bday~!
mai-chan265- Lool. I keep getting Senritsu's gender wrong! XDD Glad you felt that way with those lines~ And yeah, I agree with the arc. Too dark. Stressful but you can't help but watch it anyway! Hahaha. And, ah, Thaank you for the review~!
Pure. White. Junction- I wasn't speaking of this story with the review thing, but I'm glad it reminded you that I updated this. XD And dunno, when I'm rewriting canon stuff I tend to write in my interpretion and some introspects on the characters. Kinda like an auto-thing for me. I like your view though~And no offense taken. XD Thanks for the review. ^^
KuroHana- Thank you for the review~! And how could I have the heart to drop it when I have such lovely supporters to motivate me? XD
Thank you for reading! :D
Hope you liked it, but even if you did or whatever you thought- -I WANT TO KNOW THEM! XD