A big thank you to SpadePirates4Eva, Anime lover, Rina Dragonfly and all silent readers!
SpadePirates4Eva – Nothing says "toughen up" like a concussion or two
Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.
She's lying about Killua; he wouldn't say something like that, would he? My head hurts; I can't think very well….I need to lie down.
The woman with the visor like thing over her eyes and the little girl next to her continued to watch us. Clouds rolled over in the sky. We had turned our attention back to the butler. Leorio was making sure she was still alive. That shot to the end didn't look or sound very nice. I stared at her with furrowed brows as Gon looked up to Leorio.
"Is she okay?" Gon asked him as Leorio removed his fingers from her neck.
"Yeah. She's only unconscious." Leorio said back to Gon.
"Hopefully she'll wake up soon and it's nothing really serious." I said as Gon nodded his head. Sure she had beat up to an absolute pulp and I could now see two of people until my brain stopped rattling about but she did ask us to help Killua. She couldn't have been all that bad. Gon turned to face the woman, a glare on his face. He seemed angry at her.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Killua's mother. This is Kalluto." The woman, who had said she was Killua's mother, told us. The little girl, Kalluto, continued to stare at us with a blank expression. She kind of crept me out, she was like a china doll; unfazed and barely showed any sort of facial expression. It was chilling really. I couldn't see any sort of resemblance though; some siblings looked more like each other than most, and even those that didn't showed some kind of resemblance to each other. There was none with Kalluto and Killua.
"Why can't Killua come see us?" Gon asked her. Killua's mother dropped her head slightly, looking at us; at least, I think she was looking at us.
"Because he's in solitary confinement." She said to us making us look at her confused.
"Solitary confinement?" Leorio questioned her as I furrowed my brows slightly not liking the sound of it.
"That is being really mean." I said back to her. It wasn't good keeping people by themselves, they went really crazy if they didn't have some sort of human contact with the outside world; that's what I been told anyway.
"Kil stabbed me and his brother before he ran away from home." She said to us. My brother glared at her.
"That is the story he told us." He said to her. At least Killua's mother wasn't lying about what had happened. It still confused me every time though how he managed to stab his mother and brother. If I did ever manage to stab Kurapika, well, I wouldn't that's the thing so I don't know how I would react.
"Kil returned him because he regretted his actions." She said to us, the red dot in her visor becoming small before returning to its normal size. It made me shiver slightly.
"And he voluntarily entered solitary confinement. So we do not know when he'll leave…" She said to us as the dot in the middle of her visor went crazy again. She jumped slightly and began speaking to herself.
"What? Father! What are you doing?! Don't do anything hasty! He's finally returned! "Oh, why must Father be this way?" She said as she looked around panicked. I raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering what she was talking about, she seemed completely off her rocker. I blinked a couple of times, I could only see one of Killua's mother now, but my head still hurt like crazy and I felt dizzy.
Her arms dropped down as she dropped her head. Killua's mother looked back up to us once more, returning to what I could only guess as her sane state.
"Something has come up. So I bid you farewell." She said and grabbed the front of her dress. She turned around and began running away from us back into the forest, leaving Kalluto behind.
"Please wait!" Gon said as he stood up. Killua's mother stopped and turned to look at us.
"We'll be staying in town for a while. Please let Killua know." Gon said to her. She dropped her head slightly.
"Very well. I shall tell him. Goodbye." She said and turned around once more to leave us behind with Kalluto. I stared at Kalluto as she stared at us. She was still that little bit creepy.
"Who are you?" She asked us. I raised an eyebrow slightly, her voice sounded a little bit like Killua's; I guess that was the only family resemblance.
"Killua's friends." Gon said to her. She looked at us questionably.
"Friends…" She said trailing off.
"Kalluto! What are you doing? Come over here!" Killua's mother shouted over making Kalluto snap her head over to her.
"Yes, mother." She shouted back and began running back to her mother. I couldn't help but look at her retreating back questionably; she just seemed so…weird. I looked up at Gon with the same questioning look on my face.
"Do you think she'll tell him?" I asked him as Gon looked down to me and thought about it for a second, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I don't know. But; we'll go to the mansion and get him even if she doesn't." Gon said making me nod my head in agreement. That seemed like the best course of action.
Leorio turned his head to my brother and began speaking, making the rest of us look at him.
"I probably shouldn't say it, but these people creep me out… And I bet they were lying about Killua's saying that he can't see us." Leorio said and looked back at me and Gon.
"Gon, Mishka, we can't go back yet. How about we tail them?" Leorio suggested to us. I thought about it for a second and stood up, stretching my arms above my head slightly. I could feel the blood drain from my head and grabbed it slightly. Shaking my head I looked around, Killua's mother and sister had completely vanished.
"Sure, but if we do that, she'll take the blame." Gon said, turning his attention back to the butler girl. I nodded my head and turned around, placing my hands behind my back and holding them together very lightly at the fingers.
"She beat us to a pulp, but she was only doing her job; so it wouldn't be right to leave her behind to be scolded." I said to him, furrowing my brows and smiling slightly.
"Oh, right…" Leorio said to us. Silence fell over us until we heard a voice again. We looked down to see it was the butler girl who had spoken. She looked at us with her eyes half open.
"I will take you to the butler's office. There is a phone that connects to the mansion." She said and sat up slowly, holding the side of her head where she got hit with her hand. She closed her eyes as she held her head. Gon knelt back down beside her as I watched her closely staying standing up. I didn't really want to keep going up and down, it would make my brain rattle even more.
"If Zeno is the one who answers…" She said and trailed off, making us look at her in question.
"Zeno?" Gon asked her. The girl butler looked at us with furrowed brows.
"Killua's grandfather." The butler girl had said to us.
Gon had nodded his head and stood up. I bent down slightly and offered my hand to help up the butler girl; she was nice enough to take us to the butlers' office, so it was the only right thing to do. She looked slightly shocked and shook her head, standing up herself.
"No that's okay. I can manage." She said as I nodded my head and brought my hand back to my side, letting the other one that was behind my back fall to my side as well. My brother and Leorio stood up afterwards. We let the butler girl go in front and began following her towards to butler's house. This may hopefully be our lucky chance, it just had to be. The forest started to become foggy as we went closer and closer up the mountain. I couldn't help but look around slightly, it had gotten chilly because of the fog. I fiddled with my sleeve between my fingers and looked forward once more. Leorio sighed and rubbed his forehead with his arm.
"Aren't we there yet?" Leorio questioned from behind the four of us. We all walked in a straight line towards the butlers house, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect.
"We still have a while to go." The butler girl said to him, never taking her eyes off from in front of her. Leorio sighed and slumped forward.
"How much walking do we have to do…?" Leorio complained.
"We did running in the Hunter exam, so this isn't difficult…" I said trailing off and looking at him from over the top of my shoulder. Leorio sighed once more as he stayed slumped forward.
"Yeah I guess…" He trailed off.
We continued to follow the butler girl towards the butler house. It had gotten dark, and the only sound accompanying us apart from our footsteps were random creature calls, such as crickets or frog. She stopped making the rest of us stop. She looked over her shoulder quickly and then looked back in front.
"There it is." She said looking up. I followed her trail of site and saw a huge building with little square like lights in the fog.
"That building? But it's still pretty far away." Leorio said placing a hand on his hip.
"Hey, Canary." Gon said making her turn her head towards us. Canary? That was her name? When did she tell us? I furrowed my brows slightly and rubbed my temples with the palm of my hands; maybe I wasn't paying attention when she told us. Yeah that had to be it. Canary turned her head towards Gon, looking at him bored.
"Won't you get into trouble for bringing us here?" Gon asked her. Canary closed her eyes and dropped her head a little.
"They already know what I'm doing. So I am prepared to take the consequences." She said making me raise an eyebrow slightly. How did they know? Were they psychic? So many things confused me right now and just made my head hurt trying to think about it. I squeezed the sides of my head with the palm of my hands, trying to get my brain to stop rattling so I could think clearer.
"If they're any trouble, we'll take responsibility." Gon said making me drop my arms quickly and nod my head in agreement.
"We did keep coming back after all." I said to her. Canary looked at the both of us before turning her head forward once more.
"No. I'm merely serving as a guide for Killua's friends." She said and began walking forward. Me and Gon quickly looked at each other before looking up at my brother. Gon smiled to himself as we began walking forward once more through the fog towards the butler's house.
We continued walking. The fog finally cleared leaving only more darkness in its place. Not even the creatures were making sounds. It was nerve whacking only having the sound of our footsteps as the only noise source about. The butlers' house finally got into our few.
"Hey, we finally made it." Leorio said, perking up slightly from his slumped position. There stood five butlers, all in exactly the same clothing. I looked at them questionably as they stared at us. As we got closer they bowed, with the one in the middle speaking.
"Welcome." He said as we approached the house. We followed the butlers inside the butler house. We had entered a room that was huge. There was two sofa's facing each other with a table in between. We stayed standing until we were told otherwise. Two butlers started coming up to us with first aid kits towards me and Gon. Another went to Canary to help fix her up.
"Please forgive the rude reception. The lady of the house has asked us to treat you as official guests." The man who had said welcome said to us. He had short black hair and glasses, he seemed a little strict. One butler with short blonde hair attended Gon while the other one with the purple-bluish pony tail attended me. He put handed me an ice pack and told me to hold it to my nose for ten to fifteen minutes. I ended up in the end with a plaster on my right cheek, a plaster just above my left eyebrow and a plaster on the right side of my eye, just a little bit away from the corner. The rest was luckily just scratches and weren't as bad as they looked. I had water instead of tea as my head still felt dizzy. Gon had an eye patch on his left eye, a plaster on the right side of his forehead, a plaster on the right side of his cheek and one last big plaster on his left cheek.
"Is that better?" The butlers asked me and Gon at the same time. I nodded my head and smiled a little at him.
"Thank you." I said to him.
"Thanks." Gon said back to the butler that attended him and held a mirror to his face to see the work done. He stuck out his tongue at his look and held it up to my face. I looked at myself slightly shocked that Gon had practically shoved a mirror inside of my face. I laughed slightly.
"We look patchy." I said to him as Gon nodded his head smiling widely.
We all took a seat. Me and Gon sat in the middle of my brother and Leorio. There were four butlers standing behind me, Gon, Kurapika and Leorio with one more standing behind the butler who spoke earlier. We stared at each other in silence.
"Then this is not the primary residence?" My brother asked looking around.
"No, this place is for the butlers." Canary replied to us making me look around with wide eyes. If the butlers' house was this big then Killua's house must be massive with the ten of them there. The butler with glasses smiled at us as he leaned forward with his hands clasped to each other.
"Well, please make yourselves at home." He said to us. Leorio stopped looking around and looked at the butler himself, a neutral expression on his face.
"I appreciate the hospitality, but we've come to see Killua. Can you take us to him at once?" Leorio said and then asked him. The butler sat up straight, keeping the same smile on his very pale face.
"That won't be necessary." He said taking the four of us back slightly. Me and Gon stared at him with wide eyes, wondering what he meant.
"Killua is on his way here." He said making Gon stand up and lean forward placing his hands on the table. The sound made my head hurt slightly, but at the moment it didn't matter because we were going to see Killua again.
"Really?" Gon and I asked him at the same time with wide smiles on our faces.
"Yes, so please wait a little longer." He said making Gon sit back down. We looked at each other and smiled widely, excited to see our friend again. Leorio turned his head towards us, smiling himself.
"That's great news, Gon, Mishka!" Leorio said to us making me nod my head quickly, ignoring my brain rattling and Gon smile widely at him.
"Yeah!" He said back.
"Now, then... To simply sit and wait would be dull. How about a game, to pass the time?" The butler asked us as he sat up straight. He adjusted his glasses with one finger as he spoke and laughed slightly, his smile widening slightly.
"A game?" Kurapika asked him wondering at what he meant.
"What type of game?" I asked him wondering the same. I liked games, I really liked playing games; but I wondered what type of game he meant. This house didn't seem like the type of place that had games lying about everywhere. The butler held up a single gold coin between his finger and thumb. He then dropped it into his hand and flipped it into the air using his thumb. The butler caught it with his left hand and crossed his hands over one another. He uncrossed his arms and looked at us smiling.
"Which hand holds the coin?" He asked us simply. So it was a guessing game? That meant there was only a fifty percent chance of getting it right. We all stayed quiet for a second. Gon pointed with a wide smile on his face.
"The left hand." We all said at the same time. The butler smiled and held the coin in between his thumb and finger once more as he closed his eyes and opened his empty hand.
"Correct. So I'll move more quickly this time." He said to us. Move more quickly? But he moved so fast just now! How could get any quicker? He did the same thing again, flipped the coin into the air and then caught it.
"Well? Which hand?" He asked us as I looked between the hands. Gon smiled widely and pointed at his left hand.
"The left again." Gon said, seeming to enjoy the game even with his impaired eye sight. The butler held the coin up, smiling once more.
"Marvellous." He said to Gon making me look at Gon with wide eyes. I thought he caught it in the right hand? I decided not to question it and shook my head slightly. Looking back at the butler again the others had started clapping at Gon's guess.
He gripped the coin back into his hand again and dropped his head a little.
"Then I shall try harder this time." The butler said as the other butlers stopped clapping. He flipped the coin into the air. Instead of catching it straight away he started moving his hands fast and everywhere! I watched him with wide eyes, wondering where the coin could end up. He caught it and held his hands tightly whilst facing the back of them towards us.
"Well? Which hand?" He asked us lifting up his head. Leorio placed a hand on his chin as I tried thinking what hand it could be. It was much, much harder this time.
"I'm not positive, but I'd guess the right." Leorio said.
"You see… I have known Killua his entire life. I dare say that I care for him as though he were my own." He said as he lifted his fists a little bit. He began clenching them tightly. I couldn't help but scoot slightly back into my chair to try and get away from him. He was hostile all of the sudden.
"In all honesty, I must despise you for trying to take him away." The butler said. Kurapika, Gon and Leorio all leaned forward slightly watching him closely as I continued to try and morph with the seat to get away from him.
"Well? Which hand? Answer" He asked us then told us. This time his tone of voice was much more hostile.
"The left hand." My brother answered, never taking his eyes off him. The butler opened his hand, showing a crushed coin. My eyes widened slightly, that was made of gold and he was able to crush it as if it was nothing. The butler leaned forward and adjusted his glasses again.
"His lady mother could barely speak… She must be heartbroken, having to watch him leave." He said and brought his head up from his hand that was adjusting his glasses.
"I cannot forgive it." He said to us angrily. I leaned forward myself this time, holding onto the edge of the chair between my legs with my hands tightly. I looked at him glaring slightly myself with the others. The butler held up the coin again.
"By the time Killua arrives, a decision will be reached. I shall test you in my own way. You have no choice." He said to us.
The butlers all pulled out long knives making me jump slightly as I looked at them with wide eyes and furrowed brows. One of the butlers held a knife to Canary's neck. Me and Gon looked over at her.
"Canary!" Gon and I shouted over to her.
"This is her punishment for having brought you here, against her orders." He said making us look at him again. I couldn't help but glare at him; that was a harsh punishment. I thought she would be scolded, not have the threat of having her throat slit.
"I shall explain the rules. If one of you answers incorrectly, that person is out of the games. Should you all be disqualified, I shall tell Killua that you left. And that he will never see you again." He said, the glare on his glasses becoming much more noticeable. Gon leaned forward slightly.
"Killua is…" Gon began saying.
"Silence!" The butler interrupted him. Gon closed his eye tightly and looked back at the butler, shocked to be shouted at.
"Your lives hang by a thread. Now, answer my question." He said adjusting his glasses. He tossed another coin into the air and began moving his hands so fast it took everyone by surprise. When he stopped and held his fists out, smoke raised from his fists. I looked at his hands with wide eyes, he moved so fast that his fists were smoking.
"Which hand?" He asked us. The four of us looked at each other, wondering what hand it could be in.
"Don't take too long to answer. You have three seconds to answer." He said making me gasps slightly. Only three seconds? We really had to be quit and with only fifty percent chance of getting it right we couldn't afford to be wrong. Not if we wanted to see Killua again. He looked over to the butler holding the knife to Canary's throat.
"Hey… After three seconds have passed, slit her throat." The butler said, nodding his head at him.
"Okay." He said holding the knife closer.
Leorio leaned forward, looking at the butler with the coin in one of his hands.
"Wait! Left hand!" He shouted so that Canary would not have her throat slit.
"I pick the right one." Gon said.
"Me too." My brother said.
"Left one too!" I said, going with Leorio's choice. I honestly had no idea which one it could be. They both had a fair chance to be either. The butler opened his hand, revealing the coin to be in the right hand. I gasped slightly as Leorio was taken back.
"Two disqualified." He said, holding his hand up and clenching his fist around the coin. He flipped it into the air again and clapped his hands together. The butler moved his hands at the same speed as before. I looked at my brother and Gon hopeful, they should know which one it was in, Gon seemed to get them all right so far and he could only see out of one eye. The butler stopped, his hands smoking once more.
"Which hand?" He asked simply, looking at my brother and Gon. Gon and Kurapika looked at each other. Gon nodded his head slightly as they looked back at the butler again.
"I choose the right hand." My brother said looking at the butler sternly.
"I pick the left one." Gon said. At least this way if they both picked the opposite hands, one of them would be right. I just wished I had picked the right one too; but with only three seconds to answer there wasn't much time to think or Canary would have her throat slit! I didn't want that to happen so I just picked the first one that came to mind. The butler opened his hands, holding the coin in his left hand between his finger and thumb.
"It was in my left hand. Only one remains now." The butler said, disqualifying my brother from the games.
The butler stared at us for a while and then flipped the coin into the air once more.
"One second!" Gon yelled as he did. The butler caught the coin above his head without looking; instead he continued to stare at Gon.
"What is it? If you're trying to buy time, I'll kill one of your friends. " The butler said to him. I felt myself stiffen and a chill run up my spin. I didn't want to be killed. Gon turned his head to Leorio.
"Leorio, lend me your knife." He asked him making me look at him questionably. What was Gon going to do? Not take them on surely.
"Don't worry. I won't use it for anything stupid." Gon said to him and ripped off the eye-patched. I watched him closely as Leorio handed him the knife. Gon flipped open the knife. The next thing he did made my stomach churn. He held it to his eye and slit open his eye lid. I gasped slightly and moved leant back into my brothers' arm; it was more about me being surprised. How could Gon just do that and not fear that he'll slit his eye open? What was he doing? I furrowed my brows slightly. Gon turned his head to me with a small smile and determined look on his face.
"It's okay; I know what I'm doing." He said to me. I could only nod my head a little making a small "uh-huh". I just had to trust Gon on that.
Once Gon was done he was able to hold his eye open. He used the plasters from the eye-patch to hold his eye lid open and to stop the bleeding.
"Okay. Now I can see. Give me your best." Gon said leaning forward with his hands on his knees. I sat up straight again myself, amazed and also surprised at how Gon could simply do that. I would have been too afraid to do anything like that! The butler laughed slightly in the back of his throat. He flipped the coin up into the air once more and clapped his hands again. He hands moved quickly everywhere once more, this time I could hear a small clicking noise as he hit the coin with his hands a couple of times. He held his fists out and looked at Gon glaring.
"Which hand?" He asked him. Gon pointed to his left hand.
"Left hand." Gon said confidently. The butler opened his hand, showing the coin. Gon had got it right. I couldn't help but smile slightly. Gon was much more confident with both his eyes working.
"Not bad. In that case…" He said and stood up. The one butler standing by his side stood next to him as another one from behind us stood on his other side. The butler tossed the coin into the air. All three of them moved their hands quickly. I widened my eyes, surely that was cheating? They moved so fast I couldn't see anything. They all held out their fists and looked at Gon.
"Who now holds the coin?" The butler with glasses asked Gon. All their fists began smoking, that's how fast they were moving. The silence was becoming unbearable. Gon stared at the butlers. These three seconds seemed so long, it felt like a lot more time had passed. I just hoped that Canary would be okay. Gon started lifting up his hand. He pointed his thumb behind him, a confident smile on his face.
"The person right behind me." Gon said to him. I looked behind myself. The butler behind Gon opened his hand, showing the gold coin. My eyes widened, now did Gon know? Was Gon psychic? Their hands were moving so fast it was impossible to tell who had it. The butlers started clapping their hands to Gon for guessing it right.
"Brilliant." The butler said.
"Gotoh, is Gon and Mishka here yet?" I heard a familiar voice ask. Me and Gon stood up immediately with large smiles on our faces.
"Killua!" We both shouted at him as we turned around to face him from behind the chair.
"Oh! You're here, Gon, Mishka!" Killua said walking up to us with a wide smile of his own. He wore a long sleeved black shirt and blue jeans with I think a backpack on his back, I couldn't tell but whatever it was it had six white straps to it. Killua pointed to me brother.
"Along with… Kurapika?" Killua said questioning my brother's name. My brother closed his eyes slightly annoyed.
"I'm just an afterthought?" He said, annoyed that Killua nearly forgot his name. Next, he turned to Leorio, pointing at him as well.
"Liorio!" Killua said, sure that was Leorio's name. Gon laughed at Killua's mistake while I smiled widely.
"Leorio!" Leorio shouted annoyed at him. Killua turned to face me and Gon again with a wide smile on his face.
"It's been a while. I can't believe you came. What happened? Your faces are wrecked!" Killua said leaning forward slightly with a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised slightly in question.
"Yours isn't any better!" Gon said making the three of us laugh at each other's scratched up faces.
Me and Gon had come out from behind the chair and stood either side in front of Killua. Leorio stood a little bit away with his hand in his pocket and Kurapika stood near the couch.
"Hey, Gotoh. I told you to let me know as soon as they arrived. What were you doing?" Killua asked Gotoh, who I think was the butler with the glasses, angrily. Gotoh bowed to Killua.
"Forgive me. I had them participate in a little game." Gotoh said as Gon looked over to him smiling.
"A game?" Killua asked him. He looked at both me and Gon as I nodded my head smiling widely.
"Gon got all of the guesses right!" I said to him cheerfully making Killua raise an eyebrow slightly as Gon laughed a little to himself.
"It was nothing more than a poor joke. I apologize for any aggravation." Gotoh said smiling widely at Killua with his hands by his sides.
"Did you enjoy yourselves?" Gotoh asked us. Leorio rubbed the side of his head, looking at Gotoh with a smile but also confused.
"That was really good acting…" Leorio said. Killua looked at both of us again with a questioning look once more. Me and Gon looked at him smiling widely.
"What? Did they try something?" he asked us. Gon shook his head.
"No, they were entertaining us." Gon said to him smiling widely. Killua smiled back and turned his head to face Gotoh again.
"Really? Well, whatever. Anyway, let's go somewhere else. Anywhere else, right now. If I stay here my mother will give me an earful." Killua said, pulling a face of displeasure at the thought of his mum telling him off. I couldn't help but laugh slightly at his face as Gon nodded his head.
"Yeah." Gon said and walked back to the couch again. He picked up his backpack with fishing rod hanging out from the top and strapped it onto his back.
"Hey, Gotoh. Listen up. I don't care what mother says. Don't follow me." Killua said to the butler sternly with a finger held up to him. Gotoh bowed to Killua, understanding the request.
"Understood. Please take care." Gotoh said to him. Killua turned to Gon and me.
"Gon, Mishka, let's go. Bye" He said as I nodded my head quickly.
Killua began walking away. The butlers bowed as Killua walked past them. I left after Kurapika and Leorio but stopped when I didn't hear Gon following.
"Gotoh. Once Killua leaves, you'll be lonely, huh?" Gon asked him. I turned myself fully to watch Gon talk to Gotoh. Gotoh stayed bowed, even though Killua was no longer there.
"No. We butlers feel no emotional attachment to our employers." He said making me raise an eyebrow slightly. He had said that he cared for Killua as if he was his own beforehand. Was he lying about that?
"You're lying." Gon said and made some sort of noise. It sounded like he was sticking out his tongue at him. Gon came running over to me so we could go until he was stopped again.
"Gon." Gotoh said making Gon turn around to face him. Gotoh held out a coin and flipped it into the air with his thumb. He didn't do the fancy hand tricks this time, it was simple this time. He caught the coin in a hand and held out his fists, looking at Gon with a smile.
"Well? Which hand?" Gotoh asked him. Gon pointed to his left hand.
"Isn't it your left hand?" Gon asked him. Gotoh held out his hands. The coin was in his right hand. I looked at him with wide eyes.
"What? No way!" Gon said to him in disbelief.
"Indeed. It was a deception. In this world, there are many things that are wrong. Please be careful." Gotoh said to him and quickly looked up to me before looking back at Gon. He bowed to us making me look at him questionably.
"I am entrusting Killua to you two." Gotoh said as the other two butlers bowed to us. Gon nodded his head as I did the same. Gon quickly ran up to me as the two of us started running back to catch up with the group.
"Bye Canary!" Gon said to the butler girl as she bowed with the other butlers.
"It was nice meeting you." I said to her smiling widely as we ran past her.
"Took you long enough, Gon, Mishka!" Killua said to us as we caught up with the group.
"Sorry about that." Gon said as I smiled apologetically at him.
"Let's make ourselves scarce before more trouble comes." Killua said as I nodded my head quickly with a wide smile.
By time the five of us got into town it had become morning. Me and Gon stood either side of Killua, glad to have our friend back into the group. We explained the coin game he was having us do. Killua had played that game with him too.
"Yeah, he's used that trick on me before. Once you know the secret, it's so simple, it'll make you mad." Killua said, holding his hands behind his head. Gon flipped a coin into the air with his thumb and caught it again, trying to figure out how Gotoh was doing it.
"Huh? Really?" Gon asked him and turned his head to look at Killua questionably.
"It didn't seem really simple." I said to him looking at him questionably myself. Gon flipped the coin into the air again only to have it caught by my brother. We stopped as he turned to face us holding the coin in his hand.
"I'm assuming this is what he did." He said to us as me and Gon watched him closely. My brother flipped the coin into the air and caught it with his left hand. He held up his fists to us.
"Which hand?" He asked us.
"It's in your left hand, right?" Gon asked him, pointing to his left hand. I nodded my head, I saw him catch it with that hand so that had to be right. Kurapika opened his right hand showing that the coin was in that hand instead.
"No way!" I said in surprise looking at the coin in his hand.
"Huh? How? Hey, how did you do that?" Gon asked him shocked as well. My brother held open his other hand showing that another coin was also in that one. I looked at him confused. Leorio leaned over Me, Gon and Killua to look at how Kurapika did the coin trick as well.
"Gotoh held two coins." My brother explained as I picked the coin out of his right hand and stared at it. It didn't look fake or fixed. I raised an eyebrow slightly looking at it in question.
"Huh? But he only had the one." Gon said, sticking to his thoughts of one coin. I nodded my head in agreement, Gotoh definitely only had one coin the entire time. He mangled the other one in his fist, so that didn't work.
My brother took the coin from between my fingers holding it back into his right hand.
"Anyway, he hid a coin in his right hand, while flipping the other." My brother said as he flipped one coin into the air. He crossed his arms over catching the coin in his left hand again.
"And then he let us see him grab the coin using his left hand. But before he asked us which hand held the coin, he raised both arms, and slipped the first coin into his sleeve." My brother explained to us. Gon looked at him in amazement as I looked slightly confused. Wasn't that cheating?
"That left the coin in his right hand." My brother explained making me sigh a little bit. Killua closed his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and dropped his head slightly.
"You got it." Killua said as Gon threw his arms down to his sides and clenched his fists. He pulled a face after learning about the secret as I rubbed the back of my head slightly.
"That makes me really mad." Gon said as I nodded my head with an eyebrow raised in question and sighed.
"That's cheating." I said looking up to my brother as he placed his arm by his side again and caught the coin he had slipped into his sleeve. Killua looked between the both of us as Gon threw his little fit about the trick.
"Well, I'm fairly certain he only used the trick on the final turn. Gotoh hates cheating, even if it's just a game." Killua said smiling at the both of us. Gon leaned forward slightly with a look of disbelief on his face as I thought to himself and let my hand drop to my side.
"It's still cheating." I said to him looking at him with a slight irritated look on my face.
"That's even worse!" Gon said closing his eyes tightly as he stood up straight once more.
We all went to the train station and waited for the train to come. I wasn't too sure where we were going now, but I didn't mind as we had our friend back! Gon sat next to Leorio with Killua sitting by the window as I sat next to my brother by the window. I swung my legs backwards and forwards from the seat as we chatted.
"You're here on a tourist visa?" He asked the two of us as we nodded our heads.
"Didn't you both pass the Hunter exam? You could've just used your Hunter Licence. It lets you stay in other countries for as long as you want." Killua said to both of us as he looked between us. Leorio turned his head slightly as my brother closed his eyes slightly annoyed about being reminded of the discussion.
"That's what we said." Leorio said to Killua, making him look at him. Gon looked at Killua with a serious look on his face.
"I already decided. I'm not using my licence until I've finished what I need to do." Gon said to Killua. Killua looked back at him with a questioning look on his face.
"What do you have to do?" Killua asked him questionably. Gon looked down slightly and then began digging through his pocket for something.
"The tag that Hisoka gave me!" Gon said as he found the tag and held it up at Killua. Killua blinked slightly surprised by the site of the tag as Gon continued to hold it up.
"I'll return it to Hisoka when I punch him in the face! Until I do that, I won't use my hunter licence. I can't go back to Whale Island, either." Gon said to him with determination. Kurapika and Leorio looked a little surprised by Gon's challenge to himself. My brother closed his eyes as he listened to Gon's story. Whale Island. I met Gon on that boat journey from Whale Island. I couldn't help but smile to myself.
Killua closed his eyes as he crossed his legs. He looked over to me as Gon put his tag into his lap.
"Why aren't you using yours?" Killua asked me as I fidgeted slightly and played about with my shirt sleeve.
"I didn't really feel like I earned it. Sure the Phases were hard; but it's the last Phase that I really wanted to prove myself in. Kai beat me really bad." I said to him smiling widely at him with my brows furrowed.
"I plan to do a lot of good things to make myself stronger so I can help big brother more. When I know I have become stronger I can start using my Hunter licence." I said to him smiling widely at him. Killua raised an eyebrow slightly at my theory.
"You don't plan to beat Kai?" He asked me looking at me confused. Any other person would have probably wanted to. I shook my head slightly. I furrowed my brows slightly and smiled at him slightly.
"Even though Kai's really mean and scary and hurt me really badly, I don't think he's a bad person. When I said he was making other people sad because he was sad he seemed upset by it. I think there's a lot more to him then he lets on." I said to him smiling widely. Killua closed his eyes nodding at my theory and began thinking to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest as he thought. I could feel my brother staring and looked up at him and smiled widely at him. My brother smiled back slightly and rubbed the top of my head before putting his hand back into his lap once more.
Killua opened his eyes as he looked back to Gon once more.
"Hmm… So, where's Hisoka?" He asked him as I looked at him as well wondering the same thing. Gon jumped slightly at the question and turned his head away from the both of us as he smiled nervously.
"Uh…" he said making Killua look at him slightly annoyed as Leorio smiled to himself. My brother looked over at Gon, his facial expression not changing as I laughed awkwardly at Gon.
"Thought so…" Leorio said. My brother looked away and closed his eyes.
"I know where he is, Gon." My brother said making us all look at him in shock and surprise.
"Huh? Really?" Gon asked him as Leorio leaned forward.
"How?" Leorio asked him in surprise.
"He told me." My brother said simply as I looked at him confused. When did he tell him? Was it during his fight? Was it after the fight? Was it before we all left? I was so confused.
"So that's what he said…" Leorio whispered making me look at him confused. Leorio knew too?
"No, this was after the orientation." My brother said. Well that cleared that one up. We all looked at him wondering what he had said.
"But it's still related, right?" Leorio asked him as my brother kept his eyes closed. He looked so serious.
"I suppose so." My brother said, not really letting any information get out.
"I've been itching to ask… What did Hisoka say to you?" Leorio asked him, a serious look on his face as he leaned forward. My brother opened his eyes as he looked at Leorio. He kept flicking his eyes towards me, making me look at him confused as to what Hisoka had said to him.
"He told me… "I have some information for you regarding the spider."" My brother said making me catch my breath in my throat. My eyes went wide in surprise and my mouth open slightly in surprise. That was surprising, was Hisoka part of them? I couldn't help but tense up slightly and feel a shiver run up my spin as I furrowed my brows watching my brother closely.
"The Phantom Troupe?" Leorio asked as Kurapika looked between us.
"I do not recall mentioning the Phantom Troupe to Hisoka. And I know Mishka wouldn't have done. So he either overheard our conversation during the first stage, or he heard it from another." My brother explained. So that's what him and Leorio were talking about during the first stage when we were all running, well in mine, Gon's and Killua's case, racing.
"The spider is the Phantom Troupe's symbol, so those familiar with the organisation refer to the Troupe as such. I was interested in his information." My brother explained as he turned his head to me. I looked at with furrowed brows, wondering why he hadn't told me.
"You seemed to have a lot going on at the time which is why I didn't tell you. I was trying to find a correct time when you weren't so upset by many factors." My brother said to me making my nod my head slightly accepting his answer.
"I see…" Leorio said trailing off as he looked at my brother seriously. My brother closed his eyes once more as he continued to explain his story.
"After the orientation, I asked him about it. "I shall await you and your sister in Yorknew City, on September 1st."" My brother explained. Why such a precise date? I didn't get it.
"September 1st?" Leorio said. Gon looked down taking in the information.
"Then you've still got over half a year. What's going to happen in Yorknew City?" Gon said as we looked at my brother. Leorio suddenly snapped his fingers making us look at him.
"They'll hold the world's largest auction." Leorio said making me look at him in surprise. Leorio knew that? And why is it the world's largest? What was even in Yorknew City? What was it like? So many questions ran through my head it made me rub the sides of it in frustration. It felt like my head was going to explode.
"Correct. From September 1st through September 10th, there will be an auction for unusual items, rare goods, and national treasures from around the world. The event attracts all matter of nasty folk who come looking to satisfy their greed. It's the biggest gathering of money in the world." My brother explained as I dropped my heads into my lap. That explained it.
"It doesn't sound like a lot of fun to be in." I said furrowing my brows at the thought of having to be around nasty people just because Hisoka was expecting us to be there.
"So the Troupe will be there?" Leorio questioned Kurapika.
"They're a group of bandits. They would not let this chance slip escape. So on that day, Hisoka will be somewhere in Yorknew City." Kurapika explained to all of us.
"Okay. September 1st. Got it. Thanks." Gon said smiling at my brother for the information. We stayed quiet for the rest of the train journey just to enjoy each other's company.
We got to our stop and all got off the train. We had wondered up the street a little more until my brother stopped. I stopped as well and looked at him as the others stopped to.
"Then we shall depart now." My brother said making my eyes go wide in shock at his words. We were leaving? I didn't want to leave. It was fun hanging around Gon, Killua and even Leorio; I didn't want to go.
"We managed to see Killua again, so we're finished here. We'll need money to participate in the auction. So I shall search for a patron to employ me as a Hunter and help train Mishka some more so help her get stronger." My brother said looking at the three boys. I looked away slightly furrowing my brows. I wanted to get stronger yeah, but I also wanted to have more fun. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother more than anything in the entire world; but what Kai said still played on my mind and I didn't want to stop my brother from getting a job because he had me hanging around him and bringing him down.
"Really… I guess I should go home, then." Leorio said making us look at him as he shoved a hand in his pocket. I fiddled with my shirt sleeve and fidgeted on the spot.
"You, too?" Gon asked looking up at him.
"I haven't given up my dream of becoming a doctor. If I'm accepted into medical school, I can use this to pay for the ridiculous fee." Leorio said holding out his Hunter card.
"I'll have to go back and start cramming." Leorio said to us and pocketed his Hunter card.
"Uh-huh, good luck." Gon said smiling widely and nodding his head.
We all started heading into the airport and stopped when we reached our goodbye point. The five of us stood in a circle so we could all look at each other. The sounds of the airships flew above our heads.
"Until we meet again." Leorio said to us.
"Yes, that will be…" Kurapika began saying.
"September 1st, in Yorknew City." We all said together. Leorio turned around and waved over his shoulder to Gon and Killua.
"See ya." Leorio said as my brother waved off. I gave them a small wave and a very small smile before turning my head around and walking with my brother.
I furrowed my brows and looked between my brother and the ground then looked back slightly to see Gon and Killua walk away. I felt my brother staring at me slightly as I watched behind me.
"You okay, Mishka?" I heard my brother ask snapping me out of my thoughts and looking up at him. I couldn't help but furrow my brows slightly and looked away to look at the ground instead. There was silence between us as I fiddled with the sleeve of my shirt.
"Hey, big brother." I began saying, not taking my eyes off of the floor and continued to fiddle with my shirt sleeve. I heard my brother make a questioning sound as I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Could I...Would it be okay if I… If I travel with Gon and Killua?" I asked him not taking my eyes off the floor as I fiddled with my shirt sleeve. I could feel him staring as we walked.
"I know you said you'd help me train to get stronger, but…" I began saying until I was cut off.
"You want to go with your friends?" He asked me as I nodded my head. I saw him walk in front of me and stopped before I bumped into him. I looked up at him before looking away again, feeling bad about asking my brother if I could go with my friends instead of him. We had been travelling together for years and it made me feel bad asking.
"You've grown a lot since we started the Hunter exam, even more so after you met Gon and Killua and became their friends." He said making me look up to him again wide eyed, wondering what made him think that.
"I can tell by your attitude. You've become a bit braver and don't cling to me as much. I think it'll do you good travelling your own way for a while." He said making my eyes go a little bit wider. He dropped a hand onto the top of my head and rubbed my head gently with his hand. I continued to stare at him, lost for words. Have I really got a braver? Have I really grown a lot? I stared at my brother until I found the words I was looking for.
"Does…does that mean I…I can." I said, trying to make my words form a sentence. My brother nodded his head with a small smile on his face.
"Yes. But make sure you stay out of trouble." He said as I smiled widely at him and quickly threw myself hugging him tightly. I felt him hug me back as I smiled widely into his waist.
"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! I'll make sure to train every day I promise!" I said to him muffled through his clothing. I felt him pat my back slightly through the hug. I let go after a while and smiled while.
"When you next see me, I'll be a lot stronger!" I said to him making him nod his head. I quickly turned around to run back and turned around quickly waving my arm into the air to my brother.
"Bye bye big brother!" I said to him with a wide smile as he waved and turned around to walk away.
I watched his back walk away before quickly turning around to run to quickly catch up with Gon and Killua. When I got outside I quickly looked around. I managed to spot them by a fence surrounding the airport with Gon waving up to the air.
"Hey! Gon, Killua!" I shouted over making them turn their heads towards me and waved my arm into the air with a wide smile on my face. I got wide smiles back and quickly ran up to them and stopped before slamming into them with my excited rush.
"My big brother said it might be good for me to travel by myself for a bit. So…I thought I'd go with you two." I said to them smiling widely. Gon nodded his head with a wide smile as Killua smiled back with his hands in his pockets.
"It's just the three of us for now. Hey, what do you to want to do?" Gon asked both my and Killua turning his head between the both of us as he stood in the middle. Killua turned his head to Gon, his face turning blank.
"You have to ask? We train, obviously." He said making me smile. So they were planning on training, that was great! I was going to show my big brother just how strong I was when we met up again. Gon looked at him confused.
"Huh? Train for what? Shouldn't we have some fun?" Gon asked him making Killua stand close to him pulling a face. Gon smiled at him awkwardly as I laughed slightly watching the two.
"Do you remember what you just said? Think you can punch Hisoka in the face without training?" Killua said as Gon furrowed his brows slightly. Killua then started poking his cheek and twisting his finger as he yelled at Gon.
"You couldn't land a punch in ten years, let alone six months!" Killua said as we stood in silence.
Killua turned around and knelt down onto the floor and picked up a stick that was lying there.
"Here, I'll make it easy to understand. This is Hisoka. This is Hanzo." Killua said as he began drawing silly pictures of Hisoka and Hanzo into the dirt. Gon stood next to him with his hands on his knees as I balanced the on the balls of my feet with my arms around my legs watching him. He drew a small line between the two.
"If this is the gap between Hisoka and Hanzo, in terms of strength, the gap between Hisoka and you," Killua began saying and then stood up. He kept the stick in the dirt and began drawing a line all the way to the hedge new the gate.
"Is this far! And I'm being generous." Killua shouted over, keeping a hand in his pocket. I looked up to Gon who looked back at Killua's explanation.
"Hey, what do you think the difference is between me and Kai?" I shouted over making Killua walk back. He drew a new line and then drew a funny little picture of Kai's face. The line was between him and Hanzo.
"For Kai and you…" Killua began saying and started drawing his line. It reached the same point as Gon's. He then turned and continued the line making me look at him in disbelief. He stopped near another hedge and looked over to me.
"I'm being generous again!" He shouted over as I looked at him annoyed. I wanted to see how much training I would need; I didn't think I was being that weak again. By Killua's standards I would be training for much more than six months.
"Then where are you?" Gon asked him giving Killua a small glare as Killua began walking back to us.
"Me?" He asked as I stood up and nodded my head giving him a small glare myself. Killua thought to himself and turned around walking back to the line again.
"Well, probably around here." He said as he drew a line in front of Hanzo. Me and Gon looked at his line; I raised an eyebrow slightly as Gon looked at it confused.
"Oh, Hanzo is stronger?" Gon said as I nodded my head slightly.
"It looks like it." I said looking at the dirt drawings confused. Killua dropped the stick and looked back at both of us, a small glare on his face.
"What is it?" Killua asked us as Gon looked at him again.
"You really are amazing!" Gon said to him. Killua jumped slightly with his hair standing on end, his cheeks turning red as he was having trouble taking in Gon's compliment.
"Cut that out…it's embarrassing." Killua said turning his head away and shoving his hands into his pockets.
I laughed slightly at his reaction and listened to Gon as he continued to talk.
"I don't know how to tell the difference in strength between my opponent and myself." Gon said to him. I didn't know either, but I felt a little bit of my pride already wounded by Killua's "strength line", so I felt it was better not to mention that for now.
"Stupid. It doesn't matter. I'm only estimating. You probably have a general idea." Killua said as he turned around and began walking away. Gon and I began following him from behind a look of interest on our faces as Killua spoke.
"Once you have enough experience, your guess will become more accurate. Besides, the stronger someone is, the better they are at hiding that strength. So you shouldn't rely on this method." Killua said as he turned his head back slightly to look at me and Gon walking behind him.
"Oh…" Gon said trailing off as I thought to myself.
"So maybe Kai isn't that strong." I said to them, crossing my arms over my chest as I thought to myself.
"Well, in any case, Hisoka is strong." Killua said as we came to a building.
"Yeah." Gon replied to him as we stopped outside of glass doors. Killua turned back to face Gon and me with a smirk on his face.
I looked at him in question, one as to why we had stopped outside a building and two, why he was smirking.
"You won't land a blow on him in six months through normal means. And you won't get that much stronger in six months through normal means." He said to us as Gon smiled widely and nodded his head. I raised an eyebrow at him slightly, trying to decide if I should take that as a compliment or not.
"I guess?" I questioned him trying to think to myself.
"Gon, Mishka, do you have any money?" Killua asked us both and turned around fully to face us, smiling widely. Gon smiled apologetically and crossed his arms slightly.
"Actually, I'm running out." Gon said to him. He turned his head to me and I smiled apologetically to him as well.
"I only have three hundred jenny." I said to him furrowing my brows slightly. Killua continued to smile at the both of us seeming unfazed by our lack of funds.
"I don't have much, either. But there's somewhere we can train and earn money at the same time." He said leaning forward to us with a smirk on his face. I looked at him questionably as Gon did the same.
"Train and earn money?" Gon asked him questionably.
"It sounds shady." I said to him furrowing my brows slightly. Killua held up a finger with a large smile on his face to the both of us.
"The Heavens Arena." He said to us happily. Gon continued to look at him in question.
"Heavens Arena…" Gon said trailing off.
"Yeah, I'll explain later. We should get moving." Killua said as he turned around and ran into the building we were standing outside of.
"Yeah!" Gon said and jumped slightly as I nodded my head and ran in after the two boys.
This is how my training would begin and how I would show my brother when we meet again that I had become stronger. Training with Gon and Killua. I felt excitement run through my body; happy to be with my friends and do the thing I knew I had to do at the same time.