Thanks again for reading this far~! I truly appreciate it. ;) I think this'll end soon as well... Ah, please don't hesitate to leave some feedback! :DD
DISCLAIMER:I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter
ADs! (1)The Underappreciated Pairs Contest, found in the Stories Galore Forum (and a link on my profile), will end in a little over 2 weeks! For those who hasn't started yet... well, you should! Hahah. Let us widen the variety of pairs in our fandom. ;)
(2) I have a new HxH story! (yeah, sorry xD) It's another AU but more of the classic historical feel. It's not really historical . It's title is 'Entwined'. if you have time, do check it out~
…
CHAPTER 20: Generosity X Partners X Root
ANTIKOBA
"Here you go. 40000 zennies."
"Domo."
They were inside the card trade shop, doing well… trading. After a few minutes of staying there and listening to the long and scripted instructions etcetera of the bulky trade-man, they finally gestured to leave. And in haste, too.
"Wait."
Too late.
It was Gon who answered the man though and Killua only cringed. "Hai?"
"Did you know that you can store your money at the bank? It's very convenient."
"Gomen Nasai, ossan. We don't even have any money to deposit."
"Mah, It'll be very convenient."
"But…"
"Your money will be in a safe place."
"Ano—" Didn't he already say something like that before?
Killua sighed and tapped her arm. "Gon. I don't think he'll say anything else." Before finally opening the door while muttered 'NPCs' sardonically.
"Arf!" Kusa agreed.
And Gon sweat-dropped. "Ha…"
And they only heard another 'wait', just before they finally closed the door. When they did, they looked at each other and sighed. Well, anyway... of to their next destination. Which was to buy the plates, of course!
After all, with the commotion earlier on, they kinda forgot about the plates.
The pigs kinda hunted them down somehow.
…
Afterwards they headed to the restaurant and the task of replacing the plates was finally over. (Who would have thought a simple stop-over for lunch would take up so much time?) As it was already late, the trio headed to the town center and rented two single bedrooms for the night. Besides…, they needed the energy for the next day's Janken tournament.
Speaking of Janken..
"Jan."
"Ken."
"Pon!"
Killua sulked and Gon made a victory pose.
"I win. I get the room with the balcony." She grinned. They were arguing about who would get the room on the exterior side of the hotel. Truth be told—the interior sides were boring unless there was some sort of park in the middle of the hotel. Unfortunately, the architect wasn't too much keen on that.
"How do you do that?!"
"It's easy." She grinned and explained him the details making his eyes jerk here and there.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
"You'd rather not use it then?"
"Well, I—"
"I call it quick-eye janken technique!"
This time, it was Killua who sweat-dropped. "Ha…"
But nevertheless, they went in their economic-class hotel room, eager to get some rest.
…
/The Next Day/
Some weird ring from the hotel's alarm clock made a figure in the bed shift. Hands crawled from under the sheets to the side table and eagerly looked for a button.
Nope, no 'snooze' button exists.
Killua yawned and looked at the clock.
Eight in the morning, it said, which meant they had barely 2 hours before the tournaments. He stretched the lethargy away. He stood up and got ready for the day expecting Gon was doing the same. An hour later, though, he realized the other room was being especially quiet. He decided to check.
"Gon." He knocked. When no answer came, he knocked again. But he was greeted by silence, and he blinked in puzzlement. A few seconds later though, he heard a faint bark and he opened the apparently unlocked door.
Unlocked.
His eye twitched at Gon's unguardedness but by the time he entered, he had completely forgotten about it.
In fact, he was essentially just batting an eyelid at the sight. Gon's still sleeping? He mused in puzzlement. It wasn't like her to oversleep, at least not more than he did. So he walked over her bed in an attempt to wake her up.
"Gon. Wake up. The tournament's starting in an hour." He said gently as he carefully shook her awake.
"Uh-huh…" was all she said, before rolling over and completely forgetting she just said that. Or that he was there.
"Gon~" he tried again, but when she did not flinch he stared at Kusa. As if understanding Killua's plea for help, the dog barked and hopped to the bottom of the bed… and licked Gon's feet.
"Kya!"
Killua's eyes widened for a split second, before finding it funny. "Pfftt—HAHAHAHAHAH! D-Did you just squeal?!"
Gon turned red in embarrassment and pouted. "Urusai…!" She yelled half-heartedly before whipping her head to the cause. "No fair Kusa-chan. It was your fault I didn't get enough sleep!"
"Arf!"
Killua after keeping his laughter down (not easy) asked why.
"He had a hard time sleeping." She shrugged before letting out a yawn, and stretched her arms. "He probably misses his owner very much."
Killua's eyes softened at the statement, and so did Gon's, and they both looked at the oblivious dog jumping around the room.
"We need to find this person soon." Gon nodded and looked gently at their new friend.
"Yeah." Killua smiled and sat beside her in the bed, before patting her head.
"Well, I think he'd want to watch us win the tournament first." And Gon chuckled especially after Kusa jumped to the bed with them and barked.
"We better win then."
.
.
And so later that day, in the town plaza… there was silence. Tension mixed with excitement as the air of competition dominated the air.
"Jan." Silence.
"Ken." Silence.
"Pon!"
"EH?"
And there were cheers. A strong hand of porcelain skin was raised proudly by the announcer.
"KILLUA WINS!"
"AHHH!" Gon yelled in aghast staring at her hand that lost. How could she have lost?! Darniit. She whipped her head and frowned at Killua's direction. The ex-assassin only grinned and raised his left hand, which he used to beat her 'technique'.
"Yes!"
Her eyes jerked. "Ha-ha. My Anti-Gon weapon worked like a charm." He mouthed and she was left to pout.
"Hmph!"
But after a few second of moping, one of her eyes opened to steal a glance of Killua. He looked happy… and with that, Gon found a small smile on her face.
Besides, either way they got their first Designated Card!
Not for long, though.
.
First, there were just three amateurs who attempted to steal their cards. The first one, who used the somewhat rare magic card 'steal', failed because he assumed the card was on Killua's designated pockets. The second one, who used to 'pick-pockets' which steals from the free slots wasted two of those cards. The first failure was, since it was still assumed that the cards were with Killua, he used it on Killua's free pocket. The second, which was then used to Gon, failed because Gon wittily made fakes like making rocks she picked here and there be diversions to enhance the chances of random card stealing failures.
The last one though, only failed because he was weaker than them. Gon took the card right on time.
"But there are tons of stronger players in here!" The last one yelled, indignified. Indeed, it would only work with people weaker than them.
And that proved to be true a minute after they encountered those three.
It was a group of more experienced professional hunter. At least they didn't use violence….
And the group left with accompany, leaving the two kids in the alley designated card-less. Killua slumped back and Gon pouted. "We really have to go to Masadora now." Killua whispered, pertaining to the magic cards they need to start collecting.
Sigh
A moment of silence passed as they mourned their last card. It lasted, literally, for only one more minute though.
"Yooosh!"
Gon yelled out of nowhere, making Killua flinch. "Oi, oi. You don't act as if we just lost our only card."
"Because… I want to use spells now! They're friggin' cool y'know."
Killua chuckled at her optimism and then winced at her sudden expression. "What is it?" he asked and she looked around.
"Where's Kusa?" she voiced out and he whipped his head around as well. Both pairs of eyes ended at a certain direction, catching a very stealthy and supposedly unseen set of movements. The person was just very unlucky the people he was sneaking away from were these two very keen kids.
"YOU!" They yelled and the man froze.
It was the man from before, the one with 'Steal'. He was carrying Kusa and the kids' eyes widened. After simultaneously pointing their fingers at him, they quickly sprinted toward him, and a gust of wind later—he was already begging for forgiveness.
"G-Gomenasai!"
Killua cracked his knuckles. "Where were you taking the dog old man?"
"T-To its owner!"
"Oh." To no one's surprise, Gon slumped back as if suddenly relaxing.
"GON!" Killua yelled at her trustfulness before whipping his head back to the terrified old man. "How can we trust you, eh?"
"I-I-I swear! There was a poster in the center didn't y-you see? Please I don't mean any harm on the dog."
Killua stared at the old man. He seemed to be telling the truth. But either case, his dark glare did not halt. "Must be for reward, eh?"
"…P-Please don't kill me!" the man yelled when Killua moved a muscle. It was then Killua felt a hand on his arm and he stared at the owner.
It was Gon.
"It's fine Killua." She said, and stepped in front of him and sat so that they have similar eye levels. "Can we come with you?"
"Ah…" the man said, visibly both relieved and disappointed. Sensing this, she smiled as she patted Kusa's soft fur.
"You can have some of the reward, you know. We just wanted to bring Kusa-chan back home."She said and Killua, who was not surprised, only shook his head and shrugged. Kusa barked cutely, and the man—absorbing what she just said—slowly succumbed to tears.
"Is that alright ossan?" Gon repeated and he could only nod.
"T-Thank you!"
…
The cursed lucky goddess statue was the reward. It was a rank B card and was worth quite a ton of money. The man offered to give a larger share. He wasn't that bad after all, even when he tried stealing from little children.
"I'll miss Kusa-chan." Gon mumbled.
But she was not worried at all for the dog. The owner was an old woman around 40 years of age, and it seemed and Kusa was actually one of the only living things she had on the house. Her 'Partner', so to speak, and thus Gon was certain Kusa's loved. The old woman was a real person, too, and they had no idea what she was doing inside the game.
She seemed to particularly love the word 'lovely', too. And she seemed to have programmed the atmosphere to make it look like she had floating flowers around her all the time.
Nanou offered them to eat dinner with her and the dog, but as she asked them to sit down, and went to the kitchen… She suddenly appeared in front of them wearing a very embarrassed expression.
"I seem to have forgotten that my food stock isn't enough for us." She smiled, and most of them cringed. They were soon waiting for the woman to just apologize and let them go, and they would gladly oblige. But then...
"Young men, and young girl, may I ask you to buy groceries for me?"
And they gaped.
'Haaaaa?'
.
They couldn't refuse in the end though. So after looking at each other, they finally stood up and promised to get back as soon as they could.
To the grocery they went and bought what was on the list. (With the old woman's money). It wasn't as boring as Killua thought it would though, but it didn't stop him from giving out a sigh. "Ahhhh. This is so weird." Killua muttered a little later after that, as he stretched his arm to shake off the weirdness of it all.
Anyway, an hour or so later they finally reached the counter and lined up to pay. As they stood, Killua's eyes ended up on Gon, who was looking at the writings on the canned goods. (Yes, the old woman's list was actually her supply for the week)
Now that he thought about it… it was his first time shopping with Gon..., which was probably the reason why it wasn't boring. He could tell she definitely knew what she was doing, and he found his hand scratching his cheek at nice little thoughts…
He recalled Gotoh, during his know-the-commoners classes, telling him something about the roles members of common families have. The father's usually the breadwinner, while mothers were usually in-charge with the food, including the shopping.
He would make a good breadwinner, he mused, before proceeding to wonder what kind of mother Gon'll turn out to be…
Mentally, he made an embarrassed cackle.
"What's wrong?" someone said, and it pulled him out of his fantastic trance. It was Gon's voice of course, and for a moment he thought she was talking to him since he was most probably making a weird face by then.
"Killua?"
"Nothing. Just thinking of… normal families and stuff." Gon stared and soon let out an oblivious 'Oh' before proceeding to look back at her list. Killua then caught the old man cringe in anxiety.
Takao sighed. "My family must be worried now." he thought as his back slumped and begrudgingly took a step further to the line. Takao heaved another unconscious sigh. Obviously, he couldn't 'escape' since he still owed these children some money. He had no time for dinner, the card exchange, and the payment tonight.
Indeed, his family would get very worried.
He didn't realize he voiced his worries out loud though, that would be very childish of him. He flinched as the two children stared at him and he mused for a good adult-like excuse. Nothing came though, unfortunately, and he could tell the kids were going to do something nice for him again.
It was touching, but debasing. But mostly it was melting him inside.
And yet just before the nice little girl (who he now was especially guilty of trying to steal from) could speak, he heard another voice calling him. It was a familiar high pitched voice and his ears perked immediately at the first decibel. Takao whipped his head immediately to the direction it came from.
"Papa!" the voice yelled and soon he has a lovely bundle of weight hugging him.
"Misuke-kun...?" He asked, the surprised statement sounding more like a question. He then looked at the direction the small boy came from and saw his lovely wife.
"Anata… what are you doing here?" She said and pushed their cart to the same line. He looked at his companions and turned to his wife to smile weakly.
"Gomen ne. I'll explain later." As usual, his wife was as patient as ever (otherwise she would have left him ages ago) and just continued to check what she bought. His son though, now 5, was a very curious little tyke.
"Who are they, papa?"
Takao looked at the kids and smiled. "They're my companions for the day."
"From work?" He tilted his head, and when he nodded, the boy blinked. "But they look young! Can I work when I'm 9 then?"
"We're 12, kid, not 9." Killua added stoically, while Gon was looking at the family members in alteration. Her curious eyes ended up on the man.
"You brought your family here?"
"No. I met (and made) it here." He said, blushing, and right on time they were called in finally going to be able to pay.
Gon, as they bought the items, pondered something and as soon as they stepped out of the unconventional-looking convenience store, Gon was already so concentrated on watching the family as they walked slightly ahead of them.
"Ano… ossan." She called and paused her steps, Killua halted too, and the ossan went to them to speak.
"What is it?"
"You can have all the reward."
He blinked. "Pardon?"
"The reward, for returning Kusa."
"Eh?!" The man's eyes widened, not believing what he just heard. "Why?"
"Don't you need it?" She asked, starting to get very puzzled.
"Well, yes, but— Why?" The old man's face initially full of disbelief slowly softened. Killua though, nodded in agreement (with Takao), and used a different tone.
"Yes, Gon, why?"
She looked at Killua. "Didn't I already answer?"
The two kids just stared at each other. To most's eyes they looked like they were having a silent debate, but they weren't… not really. Killua knew he had no say in this, and so he just sighed.
"You heard her ossan. Just keep it."
Takao's eyes widened. Too wide that his tear glands seemed to have suddenly lost control.
He probably wouldn't cry again for years after that.
…
Gon and Killua walked back to the house, carrying the goods. Neither of them spoke a word and tension filled the air between them. Gon wasn't speaking because she finally realized she did something improper. She knew she had a tendency to be very selfish, hard-headed, and stubborn… and she couldn't help but wonder when that would change.
She just thought that it was even if what she did was the right thing to do, she just couldn't go and bossing her companion around now could she? And even she knew it wasn't about the money.
"Gomen ne, Killua." She finally said after a while of pondering for the right words. Obviously, not much came to mind.
Killua smiled, but waited for her to say something else. She frowned in guilt and stopped her tracks. And to his surprise she suddenly bowed as an apology. She was being quite formal, too.
"I'm sorry I made an important decision without consulting you."
"That's right." Killua said firmly and she did not—could not- move. "We're partners. Partners don't do that." He said before letting out a weak chuckle and patted her head, so that she lifted it back up and smiled with him. But then, his face suddenly turned serious… and dark, making her flinch.
"Be thankful the issue was only something about money. If it was a decision that could put your life in danger, I'll—"
She got pale so Killua cut himself off. Darn it, just the imagination of her doing something reckless—which she would definitely do someday—made him feel very, very, anxious. He kept thinking of what to do to make sure she never forgets his thoughts on these decisions.
"I will not do anything that will worry Killua-kun…anymore." She said out-of-nowhere, as if reading his mind (or rather, his expression), and his eyes widened in shock. When his eyes finally blinked, his cheeks slowly turned red, and he caught his composure by clearing his throat.
"I-It's good that you understand, then." He said and extended his hand for a partner-like handshake. She grinned and took it.
"Shall we have the commemorative dinner then?"
And Gon chuckled.
…
The two kids sat at the living room with Kusa being the gracious host as Nanou, the old woman, prepared their dinner. They explained earlier that Takao met his family along the way, and could only send his regards. The old woman took it graciously and politely asked them to wait as she cooked. Gon's dog-like nose could smell nice and hunger-enticing smell coming from that room, indeed!
Gon and Killua looked around. Killua took a book while Gon played with Kusa around the room for a while. Her eyes eventually ended up on an empty table next to the bookshelf where Killua got his book (which, like her, he would probably only stare at). It had a weird feel to it- and it was barely discernable. But just to be sure, she decided to use Gyo.
But before she could gather enough aura- "Kids~" She was pulled out of her concentration. "It's ready!"
"H-hai!"
The two walked nonchalantly to the dining room and paused in surprise at what they saw. The table... it was... literally, filled with an incredibly generous FEAST.
"H-How did you do this so quickly?" The old woman only smiled and held a finger.
"Family secret."
"Aww…" the kids muttered, but did not push. They decided to take advantage of the woman's generosity. After all, a dozen or so meals of spaghetti (with those monstrous servings) with barely any variety could really make a stomach want to puke everything out eventually.
So something like this? It was Heaven.
...
"Ano… Nanou obaa-san, can you tell us how to get to Masadora?" Gon asked as they ate. The woman looked at the ceiling and mimicked a serious expression they knew well.
"That card exchange person will tell you: Go north. But you will encounter monsters, weird critters, and bandits that will steal everything including clothes. They will not choose their targets."
The two kids stared at her, and then to each other—before laughing boisterously.
"HAHAHAHAHA—that's awesome characterization Nanou-obaasan! HAHAHAHA!"
"Ahahahaaha! Do that again!"
"Arf!"
And the woman did, with the two kids' eyes full of excitement. Certain terms were echoing inside their heads at the moment. And they were driving the kids to the cliff.
Bandits?
Monsters?
AWESOME.
…
Later that night, the two kids were beaming like stars. Nanou, they thought, was really so much fun! It was rare to find an adult like that now. After washing the dishes, (they couldn't let Nanou wash all those utensils now could they?) they said their goodbyes and headed to the door.
Nanou tilted her head. "Ora, are you going out now? It's dark. You should stay here."
"No thanks baa-san." Gon smiled and Killua nodded in support.
"Are you sure…?" She asked worriedly.
"Don't worry baasan, we're pretty strong."
She laughed, and even Kusa barked in approval, and for some reason it looked like this convinced the woman better. "I'm sure you are.
"And I'm supposing you're looking forward to fighting…?"
"Ah. She read our minds."
"Mah, just be careful." She smiled. "And as a tip?"
The two kids' ears perked at this. This woman certainly had a knack on doing that to them. "Don't underestimate the monsters." She grinned and looked straight at Gon. "Go through the game in the proper order and one is certain to get stronger."
After a moment or so of pondering the two smiled at the woman. "Thank you." They said politely and Kusa, sensing their leave, jumped to Gon's arms and licked both of them. "I'll miss you too, Kusa."
Nanou then took the fluffy white dog from her arms and used her free hand to pat Gon's head. "Good luck, you two."
"Osu!" They said, surprising her with a type of bow Nanou didn't think she'd see again in the island. They kids turned their lower bodies to leave, but their upper bodies stayed facing them all the way—hands seem to never lose energy to wave goodbye.
"Ja ne~ Thank you for everything!"
And she laughed, peacefully watching them slowly disappear from her view. "Such energetic children."
She looked at the canine. "Agree?"
"Arf!"
.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Nanou walked across her living room and let Kusa jump down. She stopped at the front of a supposedly an empty banal desk right next to the bookshelf. She waved her hand over it, and as if by magic, items appeared above it. The same technique she did with most of the feast.
"Kusa." She called and did the same with him.
"Arf."
A wave of a hand later, a much larger hound appeared in front of her. She smiled, and Kusa was still as gentle. The ability she used on him was a little more formalistically transformative. Interesting since before it comes contact with a being with nen, he too should be indiscernible. That was why the reward for the card was so large.
It was a high level technique of masking only the extremely observant people, and given they knew where to look, could possibly see. She knew that girl was one of them. She smiled and lifted one of the hidden items on the table.
She surveyed the cell phone to check and then looked at the bars. It indicated a full signal. She smiled and dialled a number.
But Nanou had to try three times to get through. She was not surprised. This man was too lazy. "Moshi, Moshi?" a masculine voice from another line finally mumbled.
"Ging?" She called as if it was any other person.
"Hm?"
"Your daughter's quite lovely." Nanou said, straight to the point.
"Like me?" She cringed at that.
"That's a very rude comparison." She stated as a-matter-of-factly. "You're the opposite of lovely, you know."
"So you say." He said ironically. "So, why are you calling again?"
"Your daughter? I met her?"
"Really?"
"Oh no." She said sarcastically. "I just said she's lovely out of randomness."
"You do that sometime. You're turning senile, remember?"
"I'm just 40, brat."
"Whatever old hag. I'm kinda busy at the moment. Ja ne~"
Twitch
"How rude." She pouted and stared at the phone before sighing and finally putting it down. She put on her nen cover again and stared at the window—to the direction where the kids went.
Your daughter's lovely
Indeed, Ging somehow produced a lovely daughter. But still...
She sighed as she rested her elbow on the window sill and rested her head on her palm as she stared at that direction.
"Sometimes I wonder what the lovely Agatha saw in him."
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 20
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 21: Monsters X Bisuke X Training
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Phoenix-Thunder - Thanks for the review~! xD And I'm glad you liked the chapter~! Oh, the answer to the Kusa question is here in this chapter btw. haha
no one- hehe. Noted~! And I do get the point and glad you still liked it anyway. xD Thank you for the review~! ;)
mitsuki- yay~! Hehe. Hope the future ones would be cuter. xD Thanks for the review~!
Papilio. Ageha - Hmn.. I guess. Just thought her witnessing 12 year olds being lovey dovey would rouse the old woman in her. xD thanks for the review, btw~
zoeshade- Yay~ Happy to know you think this is wonderful. Ahahah. I'll try to keep it up. ;) Thanks for the review~!
titianacherry- I will keep going~!In fact, I could see the end nearing now. xD BelatedHappy valentines and thank you for the review as well~!
pinksamURAI1014- Hehe. Thank you for the review and Happy you thought so! A lot of fem!Gon fics have already surfaced though. ;)
Sheshe-animeLuver- Yay for otaku friends~! So fun! xD And you have a new laptop? Congrats~! xD Tell funnykitty, short people are usually the most agile. Gehe. Short but quick, yes? XD To dreamgirl: Looooooool. Stay alive for stories period. xD This one's gonna end soon. Haha. And it's cute when friends wrestle. ;) And finally to animeotaku Maturity is relative. Haha. And sometimes, we lose it when we're with good friends. xDD Thanks for the comments guys~
AsukaSaru- Thank you for the review~! And it's awesome when old people intervene. So fun! xD She'll get jealous soon... for a bit. lol. But for now, let us all swim in the sea of fluffiness. Ahahhaha
kennyricardo4- Hmn.. not sure. I never watched the 2011 version before. xD But as planned, the story'll end in Greed Island. Hope I can make the story worth it~! Hehe. Thx for the review. ;)
helloitsme1990- Thank you for the review~! It's a relief you like this story and despite Gon's personality, I'm glad you didn't categorize her as a mary sue. :D
Nickirem. Aqua. Pearl - (ch18) Eh? Ah? I wanna see that!Darn school for keeping me from watching!xD I'm glad you liked the fic as well~! (ch19) *cackles* Oh you fellow pervert you. hahahahah. Anyway, thank you for the reviews~
havanatitiana- *le blush*hahah. You think so? I'm glad. xD And yay~! It's rare to find someone else fine with the Eye pair (kuraNeon) Hehehe. Thank you for the review, btw, and I'll be reading you too. ahaha
TunaSFX- hahaha. Kusa's what? loool. That's one way to say it. xD But no..., at the start of the story I've already decided to end it in the GI arc. ;) Thanks for the comment~! xD
RaWindsG-ing - It is? That's great news lololol. I hope to make sure to keep it that way (the getting better part) and thank you for the review~!
...
Thank you for reading this far~ Don't forget to read my author's notes and hope you had fun with this chapter!
But before going anywhere else, if you're not too busy, do leave some feedback. :)