I would never get tired of throwing my THANK YOUs for reading this far! Special hugs to those who reviewed, faved, subscribed, and C2d the story! You guys make me feel all fluffy and motivated, no matter what you say! xD
Note: 'Anna' was changed to 'Agatha' for my sanity. Thank you. xD
WARNING: The first third this chapter is a run-through of the canon, like some of the first few chapters. If you're not in a rush, I suggest not skipping though, there are other things that were added/enhanced/changed altogether. ;)
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter
…
CHAPTER 22: Foundation X Futures X Intertwined
"Someone's behind me."
"Eh?"
"And he plans to kill us."
It all started with that conversation. It started weirdly since they were throwing out insults to each other like the children that they were (and looked like) after Killua returned from being thrown far away after calling her paedophilic old hag.
Geez, what a rude brat!
In any case, right then Bisuke was watching the two fight an extremely skilled killer inside a deep depression of land. This person, she knew, was on the top of the Wanted List in the outside world even when he was a bounty Hunter, himself.
After telling the kids about their hunter's motives, those two caught on her plan at an impressive rate. Before they separated, they decided to 'chat' about a few things to pretend that they weren't aware of their predator's presence. To let his guard down slightly.
They talked and talked, and the topic ended up on why they entered the game.
She was surprised, really. Ging Freecs— one of the top 5 nen users and a member of the 12 zodiacs—was the girl's father. And in curiosity that was roused by a few of her own old memories, she asked "So, are you adopting your father's name then? Even when you've never really met before and all..."
"I don't really know my mother, either. Mito-san, who was his cousin, only told me a few things that she knew." Gon paused. "Mito-san said she, too, never saw Ging's wife. He said they separated when I was a baby and that was that."
"Ging's wife, hm?" She pondered, it was Killua who asked if there was a chance she knew of her. At first she wondered why Killua asked first before she realized Gon seemed ambivalent to ask.
It wasn't every day either this brat would ask for something from her. But sadly, she didn't know much so she couldn't go in-your-face-gaki-i-know-a-lot on him too often. "Gomen. I don't know anything either. I didn't even know he had a child…"
She shifted her gaze at Gon, who looked slightly disappointed but tried her best to hide it. Like she was purposely trying to act that she didn't care. "No. I'm fine. Mito-san is my mother." Bisuke nodded. That was why the girl had been referring to her own mother in a detached way. It was an unusual way to deal with this, but not impossible. Not with a girl with Gon's way of thinking.
She then looked at the ground and stared at Killua. "What about you?"
"Killua Zoldyck."
She blinked. "That assassin family?"
"Hai."
Zennie symbols suddenly floated and she held her hand up as if she had a camera, which unfortunately she didn't. "Can I take a picture? It should be worth a few million."
"Go away old hag."
Twitch
She almost sent him flying away again. He should be thankful they're undergoing a plan at the moment. The plan…
Slap
Ah, that felt good.
"O-OI!"
"I don't want to travel with you anymore!" She yelled cutely in feign anger. "I'm off."
And so just like that—the plan started. The fool-proof plan, of course. The plan of luring the man to her, who was 'alone', and using him as a tool for the kids' training.
And it went better than planned. After defeating criminal, who tastefully underestimated her but showed firmness of a mentally strong man after finding out how strong she was, she gave him the option of him surviving if he were to avoid any sort of hit from the other two in the span of two weeks. Get hit and she would kill him.
But to her surprise, the kids showed the capacity that they could in fact beat Binolt in a day in contrast to Bisuke's 2 weeks. They used a strategy of using the rocks to hinder the opponent's movements and hide their tracks.
Interestingly—"Mate!"—yes, that was what Gon said just before Killua hit the trapped criminal.
"Why?" The brat—the young Zoldyck asked in puzzlement jumping a few more steps away from the very tired Binolt.
"We have plenty of time." Gon grinned, and Killua had a hint of what she was actually planning. "We can take him on one-on-one."
And that, they did.
…
Bisuke was surprised, very. They improved at a rate she had never seen before in her long decades of living. In face of danger, one's potential gets pulled out. And in these kids' cases? That was an epic amount of potential. It was a shocker. She had her expectations, of course, them being children of quite famously powerful men. And yet they went beyond it.
Mentally, she squealed like a fan girl.
With a little polishing—what beautiful, beautiful, gems they would become!
…
A week passed, and during that time, Bisuke noted easily that the kids showed such improvement. Binolt wasn't able to keep up anymore, and the kids were just holding back then, and soon he became too tired—physically, mentally, and psychologically—and his feet just buckled up in front of her.
"Please. Just kill me." He begged, and Gon flinched in surprise. After all, she and Killua took the care not to hit him at all.
"Eh? Why?"
The man, he was too tired to even care. He blurted his insides out. "My life had been meaningless. I'm too tired. Kill me."
Bisuke was actually getting ready on doing that when Gon blinked and spoke, "Meaningless?" She paused before grinning widely, soon extending her arm wide as if she was carrying a light but gigantic ball. "You helped us improve soooo much!"
Ah, the ball was apparently to prove her point. Bisuke chuckled and Killua shook his head in amusement.
"Arigatou Old man!" The girl grinned and the man could only stare at her in befuddlement. Bisuke smiled. With her life of experience, she could see the light this girl emitted. She chuckled lightly and looked at the man, who was closing in to tears. His eyes were so… tired. She wondered what he had gone through… they must have been heavy—to feel so tired of life. But she could see how that perspective was starting to change with just a few words.
"I will give myself up if you let me leave. I… I promise." He said with determination, and maybe a little hope. It was obvious he wasn't expecting her approval, but decided to try anyway. Bisuke pretended to sigh in exasperation and nodded.
"Very well." And that glitter of relief in the man's eyes was so much, she knew they had not appeared there for decades.
And it was all thanks to Gon.
…
The next morning, they finally headed to Masadora. She trained their Gyo rudimentarily as they sprinted towards the city. She smiled as she listened to their excited chats about Spell cards and stuff. Too bad they wouldn't be buying those for this particular trip.
After buying something from the Super market alone (which meant the kids kept bugging her why they weren't checking the magic shop out) she told them (sternly) they would go back to where they came from. The two reluctantly followed her without further questions. They reached the place within 2 hours and after letting the kids breathe, she pointed at the direction where Masadora was.
They stared at her.
"We'll be heading back to Masadora."
They blinked as they loaded her blasphemy, before expressing—rather vehemently—their surprise. Her ears rung due to their shouts, and before Killua could say 'Insane old hag'? She already sent him flying.
.
BAM!
Gon sighed, and as Killua was away, Bisuke used 'Gain' revealing weird tools like shovel, ropes, and wheelbarrows. A minute or so later Killua was back and went into a verbal brawl with Bisuke.
They went on and on… closer and closer…
Gon looked at the ground below. She couldn't help but recall the kiss whenever Bisuke and Killua speak so close to each other. The image seemed to be embossed in her mind now… she wondered when it'll go away. It was very uncomfortable to remember…
Silently, she waited for the two to stop fighting and stared at the tools. She tried to guess what they were for in an attempt to distract her from the images in her head she had been trying to shake away since the previous night.
"What are we going to dig?" She blurted out, and somehow that made the two to stop fighting. Bisuke grinned proudly and once again pointed to Masadora. The two kids stared again, but slowly their expressions seemed like they were seeing a lot of boogers appearing on her finger.
She ignored the booger part and maintained her sadistic grin. "That's right. Directly to Masadora!"
The days turned to weeks, and the weeks to months. She trained her precious gems and their brightness never failed to impress her. First, they learned Shou, Ten's practical move of making an inanimate object be part of one's body, by themselves and in less than a day of digging too. Naturally, they took advantage of it and thus it sucked out most of their energy rendering them paralyzed for the rest of the day.
The following days they learned to balance the amount of Nen they would input to the shovel.
She also sharpened their senses further as they sleep. They showed a lot of potential during training with Binolt, but this time she would use inanimate objects to attack. She made them sleep with rocks, tied to a rope, above their heads so that if they completely relax the stone would drop down their heads. Anyone would have a hard time, since relaxing while simultaneously being alert was an almost impossible task to normal people. Killua seemed to have done this before, but Gon was having a very hard time. She went on for days without sleep, and it made Killua extremely worried.
Of course, Killua knew when to stop being a worrywart. There was a thin line with being adorably worried and just plain offensive. Gon was doing her best, and Killua made sure that he was just there behind her in case she would want to say something than her customary 'I'm fine'.
And after a few more days and a huge the rock turning to a large boulder, Gon finally mastered it. In fact, Bisuke could throw a knife at the rope and Gon would be able to avoid the boulder without a scratch. Oh, that relieved look on Killua's face was something she would really want to take a picture of…! She had to admit that boy has cute sides, too, you know.
About 70% through to Masadora, she decided it was time for type-segregated training, which was strictly once type a day. She found it cute and amazing that the kids still had the energy to want to try other types within the same day. She introduced the concept of Kou to them as well.
And nearing to Masadora, one of the final segments of her training was the actual battle simulations. The two played JanKen on who would do push-ups and Gon won. It made her remember the origin of the name (rousing yet another 'old hag' comment from Killua).
"Shi, paper, is to internal damage, Ken—rock, for exterior damage, and Shu ,Scissors—attacking the eyes and nose."
"That's cool." Gon suddenly seemed pondering about something. Bisuke liked seeing Gon ponder. She always made a face when she thought of something a little complicated. She wondered how Gon would look if she tried and absorb something really complicated…
"Sounds like a cool technique can be made from there!"
"Let us hear it." Gon paused.
"Ehehehe, I'm still thinking." And She could only smile. Killua, of course, after the long stressful training, couldn't help but tease his girlfriend.
"Just be sure to keep your brain from melting in the process though." Gon made that face with the thought 'My brain could melt?' written all over… until she finally got it. She puffed her cheek in annoyance.
"Mou!"
Later that day, seeing Masadora was only a day away, Bisuke decided to give them a little break. She looked at the dawning skies and then shifted her gaze towards the two kids who were standing by and waiting for her to show the rocks that they would sleep with.
She smiled. "You've improved much these past month! I will allow you for today to sleep normally tonight." The two kids looked at each other. Bisuke knew rest-wise it no longer had a difference. The difference now was… those two can talk normally since she wouldn't be watching over them anymore.
"Banzai~!" they yelled, unsurprisingly. "I'll make the bonfire~"
"Banzaaaaaaaii!"
…
Later that night, they went to rest on a grassland they found with a nearby lake. It was pretty late then, and as a reward they were allowed (of their awesomeness) to sleep normally again. They were getting ready for bed when Bisuke took out a few cards and stood up.
"I'm taking a bath kids, no peeking~" She said when they asked. Killua's eyes twitched in disgust while Gon had no idea why they would have to do that.
"Hell we will, old hag." Killua said and narrowed his eyes at the cards she took out. He frowned deeply. "Just how much water are you going to bring with you?" She showed three cards.
There were 2 water cards and 1 bucket. "Two gallons of course, what am I going to do with two buckets?"
"Che."
Bisuke ignored her, seemingly in a good mood. After all, Bisuke always loved her good bath. "Mah, I'll take a while. Better be asleep already when I return got it?"
"Hai!" Gon said. "Have fun!" While Killua was as negative as always.
"Whatev—"
"Be thankful I'm in a good mood gaki!"
"Hai, Hai."
And Bisuke finally left, disappearing happily into the dense forest and onto that cold but probably isolated lake nearby. Gon and Killua grinned at each other before finally laying down on their respective travel blankets. They looked at the sky, the stars, and the moon. They decided to leave the bonfire on, primarily because it was cold. Enemies finding them there was no longer that much of a problem, anyway.
Besides…, neither of them planned on sleeping any time soon.
"Killua."
"Hmn?"
"Thanks for not excessively worrying."
"No need to thank me. I was excessively worrying." Killua scoffed and when Gon let out a chuckle, he found himself staring at her.
"Then thank you for keeping it to yourself then." She said and Killua grinned awkwardly wanting that laugh to last a little longer.
"No problem. All's well that ends well, anyway, right?" was all he said and she nodded. Gon turned her sights away from him and onto the skies. She watched the smoke go higher and higher up the sky. "Hmn… I wonder if it'll reach the moon…"
"Smoke only reaches where the oxygen is. It won't reach the moon."
Gon blinked but believed him fully, anyway. "Bummer." Was all she muttered and remained silent afterwards. Killua stared at her and saw she was suddenly in some daze.
"What's in your mind, Gon?"
She didn't answer for a few seconds, but when she did she smiled sadly. "It would be nice if they were staring at the same moon…"
"Uhn." He smiled back, just as sadly.
"I miss them, too."
Outside World
10:00pm
DING DONG
The large ring of the bell inside the clock tower resonated across the city's airs, some people stared at it and marvelled at how the moon illuminated its form. It rang 9 more times indicating the time and soon the decibels faded away with the sound of cars and people still out in the street of the traditional city. Many were starting to hurry though, as the city's curfew would be enforced within half-an-hour.
Inside one of the top-class apartment rooms though, a certain aspiring doctor was hurrying for a totally different reason.
"So noisy…" he muttered as he read through the last pages of his reviewer. He read, and read, and vowed to finish this before curfew since, after all, one would need ample rest the day before the exam. And with that line of thought he had to thank the kids for teaching him 'Ten', seriously—it helped him to relieve stress and conserve energy.
He smiled at the thought of them and continued studying. Read…. Read…
And Read.
.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Finally, he was finished, and that yell was so refreshing to finally let out. He stretched his arms until they reached their maximum length. A large grin plastered on his face, and as he stood, his eyes ended up on one of the picture frames in his study table. One was the old photo of him, Pietro, and a few other old friends. And the other one, he was with Kurapika and the kids.
His smile turned from pompous to sweet. How he missed them… it had been a few months since their departure and he wondered how much had changed. Probably not a lot, but mah—he was looking forward to seeing them, more than his mind could register.
After gently letting the photo frame down, ensuring—without much effort—that their image would stay in his brain for a while. He flopped flat on his bed and closed his eyes… indeed, their image in his vision were crystal clear. No, even better, he could soeasily imagine them moving… smiling… waving… laughing.
He opened his eyes.
It wasn't that he was confident in the exam. He was estimating he only had a 50-50 chance. But… he was no longer afraid to fail. Being economically stable as a hunter was one thing, and a small part of it.
What made his possible failure alright was—given all the sacrifice he had to give to get in his current spot, the journey had been worth it.
The adventure with those people made it all worth while.
12:00mn
On another side of the world stood a large mansion strategically located on the side of a strong cliff, the moon emphasizing its façade beautifully against the mountainous backdrop. Barely any of the people were asleep, primarily because most of them were servants. Given, there were only a third the number of how many they used to be, but nevertheless—no one was lax. Especially the remaining Kuruta.
He was at the moment, and had been for the past seven hours or so, sitting in front on the large flat desk owned by Light Nostrade. There was a calculator to his left and a pile of papers to his right…, and, thankfully, only a few sheets. He should be finished in an hour.
Knock Knock
"Come in." He said and the light steps could only belong to one person.
"Coffee?"
"Ah, thank you."
Senritsu smiled and turned. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" that was the third time she asked that, but as usual he refused.
"Very well." She paused. "Good luck and don't be too hard on yourself. You don't even have to do this." She said and looked at the paper work the supposed man of the house was responsible with.
"It's fine; I do this out of my own will." He said, after all, if his employers were broke… it would be difficult to find other people who collected body parts and had the money to do so.
Senritsu nodded and headed to the door. But before she closed it, she said to Kurapika. "You're not doing this solely for personal gain, Kurapika." She smiled. "You have a good heart."
"They will be proud of you."
Meanwhile, on yet another side of the world—far from the other three, it was already nearing dawn. Five figures had just emerged from a deep cave, just in time to feel the cool breeze before dawn.
"Ah~ Finally done. Man, they really do spread like wildfire!" A man of sharp raven hair and bright eyes complained, as if he had more than a small scratch on his left leg. He was holding a large piece of tattered cloth and wrapped it around his head as it was before his little battle.
A man wearing sunglasses (who knew how he could see) holding a large pipe ignored him and sighed heaveily, looking at the moon with those hidden sentimental eyes of his. "We were too late though." He muttered in disdain. "Two kids already died."
"Mah, don't be too hard on yourself Morel-kun~" They turned to the hole. Old man Netero just came out, full of blood. Another hunter in a very out-of-context black suit, who followed soonafter, only smirked.
"So he says… when he was the one who mercilessly killed most of the ants. Not a drop of all that blood was his." He muttered to no one in particular. Ging kept his smile, while Netero let out a hearty laugh.
"It's already done. As Ging and Agatha predicted, it would have been exponentially troublesome if we hadn't taken care of this now." He paused and looked at Morel. "Besides, looking at it on a positive light… we would not have found the Ant Queen's whereabouts if it hadn't killed the children."
Morel frowned deeply and tapped his pipe to the ground in annoyance. "But still!"
"As idealistic as always." Morel huffed and looked at Ging. Ging's usual pompous expression firmed and Morel's eyes widened. "More people could have been killed, we should be relieved."
And then his eyes softened and the other three didn't say anything. There were only very few people who could make the carefree haughty Ging Freecs to look like that. "Indeed. We may be hunters…, but we can't do everything."
It was then that Ging took something from inside his cape and held it up. It was an egg. Netero walked closer. "So this is the one?" the old man asked and Ging nodded.
The other two, on the other hand, paled. Morel held up his sunglasses as they slipped down while the man in the suit frowned deeply. "What? Why are you not destroying it?"
"Relax, Knov, this is male. He won't be able to reproduce." Ging blabbered about lazily, cleaning out his ears to emphasize that fact. Knov shook his head in disgust. "Also, look at this mark." Ging said pointing to it. It was a miniscule mark, looking like veins. "This mark, dear Knov, means it was human."
"So…?" Knov said crossing his arms. "It's not like it can be returned to one."
"Ah, but they have the capacity to regain their memories and return to being human—" he paused and tapped his chest. "On the inside."
"Got proof?"
Netero chuckled. "Mah, why are you being so sceptical?"
"Sorry, boss, but I'm with Knov. There is no way I'm going to risk more lives for something uncertain."
"It isn't uncertain." Ging intervened, clearly a little offended. "Agatha said so. She simulated what would happen if such mutation in the Queen were to occur."
There was an awkward silence afterwards as they knew going against anything Ms. Agatha said could mean making an enemy of Ging. Morel only gulped and, once again, pushed up his sunglasses. "I've never seen her before, but as I heard—she is amazing. To predict such mutation."
Ging smiled proudly. "That's right."
"Speaking of her," Netero grinned making Ging's eyes to twitch. "Any clues?"
Ging looked away. "I heard your son's starting a troublesome movement."
"I asked first."
"You're more curious."
Netero chuckled (it was true) but only shook his head in the end. "Mah, that's a secret." Ging stared at him before looking away again.
"Mine's a secret, as well then."
"Oi, oi! Hohohoho~!"
"In any case, you should be getting back old man? Don't you have a hunter's exam in less than a week?"
"How are the examiners this year?"
"So-so." The old man shrugged. "The interesting ones are busy."
"Oh?" Netero nodded.
"Speaking of interesting ones—I was planning on dragging Bisuke-chan along. Seeing her disgusted face would have been good teasing material! Yo-ho-ho~"
"I heard about her. The 12-year-old looking 68 year-old-right?"
Netero smirked at the offensive errors in that sentence. "I won't tell. Ask that to her directly, kid."
"Ha… I will, if I get the chance." He said and after a soft howl from below, he whipped his head towards the sky. It was lighting up. "I don't think we'll get along though."
And Netero only laughed boisterously in agreement.
…
Hachoo!
A certain young-looking 57 year old wiped her nose as she poured down the water to her petite body. She could really use a hot bath now, but what could she do in the middle of nowhere? In any case, since she never really sneeze because of a cold bath she confidently mused a few admirers were either speaking or dreaming about her at the moment.
It didn't take long for her to finish, and after using her ability on her clothes to get them clean, she stretched out before walking back to the campsite. It seriously was not even a challenge to get back her way because of the smoke. She sighed. Those kids could really be careless at times, but decided not to nag them. They'll probably be able to defend themselves anyway. She arrived, and saw them sleeping like angels.
And they were holding hands, too.
For some reason… Bisuke started picturing the two when they become of age. She found a warm smile on her face. And although it might be too early to say… the future looks bright for the two of them, right?
Her woman's instincts told her so.
.
.
END OFCHAPTER 22
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 23: De X Ja X Vu
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Sousi- Lol. Glad I made people laugh again! xD it had been an awfully long while since I did that. lol. I'll try to do it successfully again sometime in the future. Of course, thank you for the review! xD
AsukaSaru- hahaha. Bisuke's species lol. That means she could breed with another old pedo! Hahahha. And loool. Yeah, it was nice to see her angry it was kinda hard given her personality. xD And likewise with your story! Haha. Thanks for the review!
Nickirem . Aqua. Pearl – Waaa. My condolences. T_T Grandpas are lovely people and I'm sure he had a happy life with you as his granddaughter. ^^ It's not weird (it's natural to want something to cheer you up) and glad it happened to be my story. Thanks for the comment!
Aimee Sani- I'm so happy you did then! xD I always love to hear from you guys. And loool glad I made your day! Haha. The protecting each other thing was because Bisuke kinda threatened they'll die without her. xD And finally, thank you for reviewing!
Aladdina Magi- Hahahaha. Yay! I'm glad I made you laugh. xxD I try to add humor, but I suppose this chapter did so successfully. xD *relieved* And finally, thank you for commenting! ;D
Sally Star- Thank you for the comment! And I will, I will! I already outlined some future events… now all I need is the continuous motivation to write the events down. Ahahaha. And glad you loved it! xD
SerenadePanda- lololol. Yeah, that old hag was bored as hell. xD And I'm sure Gon will be glad to hear she's a protective girlfriend! Haha. She's so adorable that way. xD And finally, I'm glad you liked the chap and thank you for the review~!
Mitsuki- I am very very happy to read that it was a well-done chapter. xD And funny, too! Ahaha I'm glad my sense of humor actually works from time to time lol. And thanks for the review!
TunaSFX- Thank you for the review and I'm glad you were entertained. xD The light-hearted atmosphere will last for a few chapters, I suppose, but I'm afraid it can't stay that long forever. The story's got to end when it's got to end. xD
Apoloni- Hahaha. Thank you for the review! I'm very happy that you loved it, you thought it was a great fic, and that fem!Gon's adorable. xDD Hope to keep it up! ;D
Rishuu . 71- (ch2) Hehe. I'm glad you liked it! And glad you gave it a chance despite the doubts. xD (ch3) haha. Yeah! Killua appears. xD I skim through canon events so it happen pretty quickly. Lol. And you're right. Kurapika likes Gon. *cackles* And as I sure do hope you're reading this! Thanks for the reviews! ;D
Phoenix-Thunder – Nyahahaha. Every single part was funny? That's awesome to hear I mean read. xDD And finally Gon getting jelly, eh? It wasn't easy I tell you but it was worth it. Hahaha. And Level E in YYH? Haha. Oh, and thank you for the review! :D
Mirandatran2012- (ch7) D'aw. That's flattering! xD This as another version of the anime? Hahaha. Cool. And glad you thought so! :D (ch9) Hehehe. They are cute, aren't they? I'll try to keep the cuteness up and I hope you reached this chapter so you read my reply lol. Finally, thank you for the reviews! xD
Aki- It is? *blushes* that means a lot. xD And I'm glad you liked the characterizations and I'll do my best to keep it up. Haha. I rushed through the training though… T_T. Anyway, thank you for the review! ;D
…
Thank you so much for reading!
But pleaaseee HALT!
Before going anywhere else…, perhaps give me the honor of getting a hint of what you thought? xD