THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! Special thanks to those who fav'ed, C2d, followed, and especially those who reviewed. As you may notice the story has lovely numbers! I couldn't have done it without you angels~! *hugs you* Thank yooooooou~
DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own Hunter X Hunter
…
CHAPTER 23: De X Ja X Vu
"Jan."
"Ken."
"PON! Whoooooosh~ And I wanna cut a mountain just like that."
The three 'kids' were currently at a prairie near Masadora. They had already defeated every monster within the canyon's grounds so now they had plenty of cards to sell. They were in no rush though, and they continued training in a relatively more relaxing area.
"Ehh…" Bisuke muttered as Gon explained how she got the idea through her story. "Yes. That will become a powerful weapon if honed properly." Minus cutting a mountain part of course, either way it would probably be a good weapon—knowing Gon's potential.
It was then Killua cleared his throat and showed them his Hatsu. Electricity. Gon, as usual, looked extremely excited and impressed. She was, too, but the feeling of pity and sadness overpowered it. Nen was one's life force after all. For it to have electricity intrinsically embossed in it was something terrifying.
She knew how such a young kid could possibly convert nen into electricity.
Heck—she knew how such children could use such high-level Nen in the first place. She had seen—no, initiated a specific circumstances herself. Childhood must have been hell for him—much like that kid's, she thought grimly... quickly pushing away memories from the past, as redundant as it might have sounded.
Turning her thoughts back to the kids, she thought that Killua must really treasure Gon—to be able to still smile like that.
She smiled, and decided that they think of something to celebrate. For New Year's, too. But when she mentioned time ran the same pace as that of the outside world's… Gon's eyes widened in shock.
"T-The Hunter Exam! Oh no—I forgot!" Mah, Bisuke did, too. And looking at them, it was obvious Killua was going to take the Hunter's exam again. The three looked at each other in understanding.
And with that, they headed off to get 'Leave'.
…
SOUFURABI
They split up and asked around. Bisuke said something about the 'puppy eye look' being more effective if they were alone. They met up at the plaza and everyone (who knew) pointed to the same place: The docks.
There was a dock alright, but there were no boats. They asked the first man there that they saw. "Excuse me…" that was Bisuke on helpless mode again. The two of them stood a good distance behind her. "Ano… when'll the next boat be coming?"
The man looked at them weirdly. "A boat? I haven't seen one in my life."
"…ha?"
"Then why are there docks here?"
"You could say we got hopeful when pirates arrived. No one knew their names though, and it was said everyone who knew where and who they were already did." The man shivered. "In any case, they were the first ones who got past Poseidon's cavern y'know. Meant it was possible to get out of here by boat, after all."
"I see… thank you for your time then."
"No problem."
And they walked away. "Pirates, do you think they're the key?" Bisuke voiced out and then turned her head and stared at Gon. "Gon, stop twinkling so much."
"B-But pirates! I never saw one before…"
"Yeah." Killua grinned in retrospect. "Me neither."
Bisuke sighed. Well, at least the two kids were enthusiastic… as always. That meant this would probably be easy. "Mah, let's continue getting information okay?"
And the two positively twinkled at the question. "HAI~"
…
But, several minutes later, the task was far from easy. It was difficult to find anyone who knew the pirates. In fact, the people started looking at them warily for, apparently, everyone who knew the pirates had lost their lives. Nobody would want to associate with troublesome children who seemed to be running towards trouble, right?
In any case, they decided to stop and think. Asking around like that would only make their situation more difficult. Soon enough, they safely assumed the pirates had nothing to do with the card 'Leave'. They decided to get back to the docks and ask around for the card.
They were walking when they realized a fat man fishing. He had been there during their first trip and he wasn't moving. They had this simultaneous realization and they looked at each other in comprehension. They quickly walked towards the person and Bisuke went cutesy mode.
"Ano… sumimasen."
The man ignored them. Bisuke's eyes twitched.
"Are you familiar with a spell card called 'Leave', ossan?" Gon asked instead, as straight-forward as usual.
"Sure I do." He muttered stoically, making the two somewhat doubt that he did. Gon, of course, was overjoyed with the new 'lead'.
"But first…" He pointed at the sea and held up his rod. "You have to catch a legendary fish."
Bisuke sighed, considering the man did know of the card. 'This would not be an easy task,' she mused and then turned to the kids to formulate a plan. But when she did, all she did was blink in surprise. The two kids were grinning confidently.
He realized no more than an hour later as to why.
Clap! The two made a high ten.
CLAP! And they did it again.
"BANZAI!"
"Easy, easy~"
The two grinned happily in their victory, saying how easy it was and they could probably get a few more.
Bisuke laughed with them, albeit she disagreed with something. The task was, in fact, a very hard one—almost impossible for normal people to finish. She estimated that the people who got leave would have to be in a group of 3 and they would all help each other in catching that fish. Either one of them alone could catch it with brute strength and almost with no effort using Shou.
They got a few 'Leave's then, she smiled, and looked at a card outside the binder as it'll be used by Killua. It was so weird that the photo of that old man was the image used in the card. It was like 'catch the fish and you'll get my handsome photo' or something. Mah, all's well that ends well, anyway.
"Ah. Find Kiriko in the Cedar tree. They're in Zaban City. They will guide you, ne?"
"Why'd I have to leave so early, anyway? There's… like… a whole week left."
"Just to be Safe." Gon answered. "We don't want you failing because you were late, right?"
"But I already have guides…"
"Just to be sure. Ja ne, Killua~" Gon said sweetly before literally glomping him for an innocent kiss on the cheek. "Come back quickly ne?"
"O-Of course." Killua said incoherently, making Gon smile. Bisuke mused in amusement that he would never really get used to this. In any case, they saw him off to some clear grassland with them waving at him even before he activated the card.
"Don't forget your training! Especially the type-segregated training. The rotation, okay?"
"Hai, hai." Killua said in light-hearted lack-of-enthusiasm. And of course, the last word he wanted to hear from this world was from Gon. So he stared at her just before activating his 'Leave'. She smiled.
"Go get 'em, Killua!"
REAL WORLD
He arrived in Zaban City in two days and immediately looked for a hill with a lone cedar tree. Sure enough, it was there. He recalled Gon saying something about a fake bus that would only take them nowhere, but there was no such bus this time. In fact, he doubted this was even a stop for the year's exam.
He shrugged and went directly to the cedar tree. He walked along the forest, glared away wild animals effortlessly, soon reaching an abandoned town. Gon also told him about this a while back. Something about a Doki-Doki 2-choice quiz… He knew the path to the Cedar tree was not the usual path so he doubted that the old woman was there to show him the way to—
Oh, never mind.
"Come out, please." He said and he heard a heavy door sliding revealing an old woman. He almost smirked at the fact he imagined what Gon said before, the one about Leorio losing his cool. That darned old man never even had 'cool'. Most of the time. Okay, he had to admit Leorio could be cool from time to time.
"Hello, baa-san." He said and she nodded in acknowledgement. The large crystal ball on her staff didn't have any mark like Gon said before. "You were an examiner last year right? Any chance the door to the Cedar tree still open?"
"Depends."
"I know three of the examiners from last year."
"Ah. So my lovely doki-doki quiz would be of no purpose now…" She smiled. "How are they? The three kids? I heard they all passed."
"They did. All of them are nearing their own goals."
"What about yours?"
"Hm?"
"What is your goal in taking the hunter exam?"
"It's convenient."
"Would you mind to expand on that, child?" She asked and Killua stared at her for a while. He heard a lot of good about this old woman, so he decided to let his guard down a bit.
"I didn't want to be left alone during situations a card could have been used, I guess. I didn't want to inconvenience her…"
"Gon, right?"
He blushed. "Hmn."
"MY, how cute."
Doki Doki Doki Doki
Those were sound effects of the kids. His heart was pounding loudly, too, but the kids could make quite an effect anyway.
"Okay," The woman stomped her staff and the children stopped with the sound effects. "Here's my question."
"Eh?"
…
Creak
Killua opened his eyes. "Good Luck, boy." The woman said as the door opened. He recalled having them closed because of the glare the woman's crystal hit him with. He nodded and went in.
"You should reach the other side in 2 hours or so."
He nodded meekly, still in a daze. "Thanks," and started walking without any more delays.
"A situation rises and you have to choose.
"One: You are forced to leave your most important person to keep her safe. But she will completely forget about you. Or Two: She will remember you for a long time, if not forever, but you will have to die.
Which path will you choose, child?"
He was silent then, for some reason his heart was being all 'doki doki' even more, and it wasn't because he knew it was the right answer.
Killua finally reached the end of the long tunnel after a few hours of walking, probably, he couldn't tell with the state of his brain at the moment. He wondered what that old woman meant, but finally got to shrug it off. It was giving him too much of a head-ache. Soon he was fully under the light, but it was full of smog. He saw a boat and used it. He rowed, and rowed, and-
Whoooshh~
A silhouette of a long-necked dinosaur suddenly went out of the water. His eyes widened. He disliked small raw fishes- he would certainly hate large ones!
He rowed like there was no tomorrow.
.
After huffing his lungs out when he finally reached dry land, he cringed. For some reason he imagined Leorio doing the same. Then he recalled, some months back, Gon mentioning something about showing Leorio a monster while he's rowing and you'll be in your destination in no time.
"Che." He shook his head in disapproval. Acting like Leorio?
Well, he just shook his head (again) in disapproval.
"EEiiiieee."
On another side of the world, a certain spiky-haired Doctor-to-be cringed at something. The person directly beside him, a middle-aged man with balding head stared at him oddly.
"Oi, oi. What are you shivering for?"
"…dunno."
The aforementioned policeman shrugged and dragged a gruff-looking man to the interior of the prison. "Thank you for this, by the way, doctor-to-be-Leorio-san!"
He grinned and silently thanked the police officer for the confidence he had in him. "No problem. It was a piece of cake."
"Hunters sure are something….!"
And Leorio could only grin.
Killua arrived at the wooden house underneath the tree. He knocked and saw four people when one opened the door. They looked at him and he saw their nose sniff something.
"I smell Gon." The man who opened the door said before extending his head beyond the threshold as if to see if Gon was just hiding around or something.
"Gon isn't with me. Gomen."
"Ah." The man smiled, not surprised but obviously a tad disappointed. "Who might you be?"
"I met Gon in last year's hunter exam. We've been together since then."
"I see. Friends, eh?"
"I think he means together "together" dad."
Killua blushed.
"Ora. Aren't you two still young?"
"Love does not choose ages!"
"Says the woman who vowed never to marry."
"Whatever, onii-san." The girl frowned. "Anyway, aren't you going to come in?"
"Well, if it's alright."
"Of course it is! Gon's friend is our friend."
"A-Ah."
"Did you eat dinner already?"
"I'm—"He looked at the plate that suddenly appeared in front of him as he sat on the floor. "—fine…?"
One of the Kiriko, the one in man-form looked at him seriously. "Eat."
"Okay…"
It was then another one, the older one in Kiriko form, leaned down excitedly. "Tell us about Gon! All we found out was that she passed the exam. Leorio and Kurapika, too."
He smiled. These were the memories he'd willingly recall as vividly as possible. "Okay! I'll start when they got to my house." And that he did.
Killua told them everything (that were not *cough* overtly personal) and he ended up with the journey back here. He didn't say what the old woman's question was as the type was already known anyway.
"That old woman… she's like a zombie."
"She was always like a zombie. All monotonous and stuff."
"But there was something off with her lately…"
"You mean the crystal ball addition?"
"What you think she can suddenly predict the future or something?"
Doki
Killua's eyes widened at that thought. Were her questions some sort of foreshadowing? Surely not—
"Killua-kun? Is there anything wrong?"
"Ah? Uhmn, no. It's nothing. Thanks."
"Anyway, mind telling us more about the Heaven's Arena?" The man-form Kiriko asked. "I think I'll get rich there."
"Dream on, bro." The sister said and they all laughed… except one. The girl looked at her in concern and leaned down to their direction to whisper. "I wonder what's wrong with mom… she hadn't been eating properly hadn't she?"
"I'm fine, don't worry." She, hearing the question, said monotonously. They stared at each other, and shrugged in the end. They assumed that the woman was probably having one of her womanly times and just carried on with their merry atmosphere.
In fact, they were too merry that they have become completely oblivious to the person in the shadows—suspiciously clouded by the darkness of the forest.
His long ebony hair rest on his shoulders, strands flowing with the wind as gracefully as they came. He was playing with his needles, skilfully letting it rotate on a side of his hand.
"Interesting…
"I wish I could hear more. Too bad I can't make those Kiriko's my needlemen. Killua wouldn't speak to them if I did." He sighed. "That old woman and one of them were the only ones I had to affect… plus even when my needlemen will follow my orders until death, I'm guessing that old woman does not have that long… how disappointing."
"Well the Kiriko's interesting and still has a longer lifespan… I wonder how I'd get to use her further..." In addition, he was hearing all information he needed. He smirked and continued watching. But eventually his phone rang.
It was his mother, with great timing as always (sarcasm intended). Illumi sighed. He liked doing what he was doing, but he took pride in being a great obedient child so he only nodded in agreement. "Yes. I'm coming home now, Mother.
"Hai.
"Of course."
And he disappeared, leaving a trace as if he was never there in the first place.
.
.
END OF CHAPTER 23
Coming Soon:
CHAPTER 24: Cards X Hormones X Women
REPLIES TO ANGELS
Slytherin Studios- Thank you for the review! I'm very glad you liked it and I hope that the chapter was good enough! xD
It's Not Always Hard x3- (ch1) *blushes* I'm so glad! Esp. that you gave it a chance. xD I'm glad you will and I will definitely finish this! Hehehe. And the I read the CA arc when I was starting this story and it was too depressing for me. xD so I ended it in chapter 21. (ch3) Glad that you liked Gon's portrayal~ Hehehe. It would have been depressing if you didn't. xD (ch4) Yes, yes it is going to be a love triangle! xDD And finally, I hope you reached this chap and thanks for the reviews!
Papilio . Ageha – Yeah. I don't like the arc but can't quite skip it either. Well, I'm glad you didn't seem to hate the idea. Haha. And thanks for the comment~!
Alladinina Magi- Geheheheh. Glad you found it cuutte! Ahahaha. And thank you for the review~ !
Sousie- hehehe. I'll do my best to keep up the good work. xD And thanks for the review~! xD
TunaSFX- Lol. I'm relieved that the fast pace was fine. xD And oh, unfortunately from the start I decided CA won't happen. Almost all the ants were killed by Ging and the others. Hehe. And thx for the review!
Mitsuki- Thank you for the review! I'm super happy you still think it's awesome and I'm blushing like hell at the compliments. xD
Nickirem . Aqua . Pearl – Heheheh. Thank you for the review~! So glad you find it cute! I'll try to add more here and there. ;)
AsukaSaru- Lol. Thank you for the review! Hehehe. It's great you liked the fluffy scenes and Gon's jealousy (dunno until when it'll last tho). *cackles*
Phoenix Thunder- Hhihihi, yeah! I kinda promised not to include it so I just put it in here somewhere. LOL . And thank you~! I couldn't have done it without you angels. xD
The Null One- You think so? xD I dunno, wasn't the canon Gon like that? I mean, his naivety was dealt with in the Chimaera Ants arc? Of course, I could have overdone it. xD
RaWindsG-ing –Yes. Yes you did! xD But I'm glad to see you again. Hehehehe. Glad you still liked it and thank you for the review~!
Glassstar93- Thank you for the review! xD I sure do hope this was a worth-the-wait chapter! lolololol
RabuRuka-sama – (ch8) I, too, am very thankful you gave it a chance! xD And I'm really glad you liked it! Hehehehe (ch9) Hi-hihihi~ Yes, yes they did! xD I luurrve writing fluff. Haha. Glad you liked it! (ch12) I'm glad you liked the chapter as well~ And don't you mean Kurapika? xD Btw, still can't believe the foxbear's almost dying wasn't in the 2011 version... it was a real good scene. . (ch15) Kurapika'll be fiinnnee~ xxD I love him and he shall also have a happy ending. Hahahha. And I'm sure some of his fangirls can make him smile. *wink* (ch22) Yay! You reached the last one. xD Glad you liked it so far and I'll try to keep it up. Thank you for the reviews~!
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