A big thank you to Rina Dragonfly, Anime lover and all silent readers!
I hope you're all as excited as I am!
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.
It was the last day on the boat to the Azian continent. It had been about two days and if I was honest I was ready to get off. The seas had been very rough after we left Whale Island; they kept crashing into the side of the boat. It rained none stop so me, Gon and Killua all ended up staying below decks for more than half the journey.
When he boat started docking it was already sunset. Once docked, the three of us quickly got off and stretched our arms above our heads.
"It's finally over." Gon said, dropping his arms back down to his sides. The rain pelted against our heads and bodies. I nodded my head quickly and looked around. When me and my brother got the boat to Dole, it wasn't from here. I took in all the details, much hadn't changed, just a few more shops.
"Okay, let's see…Sarah's inn is over there and it'll take half an hour to get there." I said to them, pointing in the direction where Sarah lived. Gon nodded his head, smiling widely as Killua laced his fingers behind his head.
"Hmm? So she owns an inn?" Killua asked as I nodded my head, keeping the wide smile on my face. We began walking forward, not being bothered by the rain much.
"Yeah. She's a really strict innkeeper when she wants to be." I said to him, laughing a little bit at the end of my sentence. Killua looked at me with an eyebrow raised in confusion as Gon kept the wide smile on his face. I quickly looked between the two, a serious look crossing my face.
"Sarah goes by the rules of "If you want to eat you have to help". So if she lets us stay at the inn for free we'll need to help out with some things." I said to the two. Gon nodded his head as Killua sighed, but nodded his head anyway.
We got to the Inn rather quickly. I pushed open the door and walked in first with Gon next and then Killua.
"I'm sorry we're closed for the day. We're getting ready for the festival and won't be open until it's over." I heard a familiar voice say from behind the counter. I looked at the woman, she still had short brown hair and was rather chubby, however she was also quite tall; I think she was the same height as my brother. She wore a yellow apron with green t-shirt and blue jeans. I raised an eyebrow slightly in question, festival? What kind of festival?
"But-" I began saying until I was cut off again.
"No buts. We're closed, please leave or I'll have to call Greg from the back and trust me you don't want to mess with Greg he'll take your arm off." Sarah said. Killua shrugged his shoulders as I furrowed my brows.
"Oh well, come on Gon, Mishka, we'll just go to Yorknew City." Killua said, closing his eyes as he turned around to walk away. I looked at Killua wide eyed and glared at him slightly, shaking my head quickly. Gon looked at Killua slightly shocked.
"But we came to see Sarah." Gon said to him. I was about to open my mouth to say something until I felt someone grab me from behind around my waist and lifted me into the air; holding onto my tightly.
"You really have come to visit! Oh! Where's your brother? Oh! You brought friends! You brought friends?!" Sarah said, keeping a tight hold of me which kept me in the air. I nodded my head, feeling my lungs being crushed and head feeling light from lack of air.
"B-big…brother…i-is…training." I said through harsh breaths. Sarah gasped and quickly lowered me to the floor again. She removed her arms from around my waists and smiled apologetically as I took deep breathes, regaining air and filling my lungs with it.
"I'm sorry dear. It's been years since we last saw you. You're all soaking wet, is it raining?" She said and then asked as I nodded my head and turned around, giving her a small smile.
Sarah looked over Gon and Killua as she stood up straight. She kept the smile on her face as she looked over the two.
"So these are your two friends in the photo you sent. I'm going to assume you're Gon and Killua?" She said to them, keeping the smile on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. Gon nodded his head along with Killua, who kept his hands linked behind his head.
"I take it you'd like to stay here for a while?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow slightly in question. I nodded my head, smiling widely at her.
"Okay, how many days?" She asked me. I had to think now; we stayed at Gon's for two days, so it would only be fair to do the same here. The boat journey back was going to be very long; so two days was all we could afford really. I looked back up to Sarah with a wide smile.
"Two days!" I said, holding up two fingers. Sarah nodded her head and began walking back inside. The rest of us followed her in. Killua kept looking around curiously, as if waiting for something to jump out from the shadows of the room bar room.
We followed her to the bar and stood in front of it as Sarah walked behind it. She rummaged through one of the shelves and placed a piece of paper with pen onto the bar. I placed my hands onto the top of the bar table, looking at what she was doing as Gon and Killua did the same. We watched her wide eyed as she wrote down things.
"I wasn't expecting three twelve year olds to show up on my doorstep so I don't have enough food. If you want to eat you have to help; so I'll need you to get some groceries for me." She said, pausing her writing as she thought to herself and then began writing once more.
"Who's Greg?" Gon asked her. Sarah brought her head up looking at Gon before turning her head over her shoulder and whistling. Soon after her whistle a large dog came out from the back, followed by a little girl with black hair and green eyes, she was also tanned. She wore a pink vest top with yellow cardigan and blue pleated skirt that stopped at her knees. She had white tights and yellow shoes.
"This is Greg. He's an ex-hunting dog so let him approach you." Sarah said to us smiling widely. The three of us nodded our heads quickly and looked at the dog that had begun walking around from the bar and started sniffing Killua's leg. The little girl stared at us wide eyed before turning to Sarah.
"Who they mummy?" She asked pointing at us. Sarah looked down at her, smiling widely.
"Very good friends, Kimmy." She said to her. The little girl looked at her spectacle before looking back at us. She looked a lot like Jerome, it was almost unreal.
The three of us kept staring at Kimmy who in turn stared back at us with wide eyes. We jumped out of our thoughts when Sarah held the paper in front of my face and began speaking.
"This is what we need for the next two days. Here's the money to get it. Try not to come back too late, I need to put Kimmy to bed soon and don't want to wake her up." Sarah said.
"Okay." I said to her, taking the shopping list as Gon took the money. Killua dropped his hands into his pockets. Sarah leaned onto the bar counter with a wide smile on her face.
"Take care, alright?" She said to us as the three of us nodded our heads. We turned around quickly, Gon pocketing the money and me keeping a tight hold of the shopping list. The three of us exited the inn. I quickly thought to myself, trying to remember how to get to the store.
"She seems nice." Gon said, smiling widely as Killua nodded his head a little bit, agreeing with Gon's statement and closing his eyes. I looked at Killua questionably.
"Are you alright? You seemed really uncomfortable in there." I said to him. Killua opened an eye and looked at me from the corner of it before closing it again.
"Yeah I guess. She moves quickly, I didn't even see her behind you until you were in the air." Killua said, making me laugh slightly.
"She's a Hunter." I told them. Gon smiled widely in excitement as Killua nodded his head. I went back to my trail of thought.
"If I remember correctly, we have to catch the bus into the main town, so let's go." I said to them, smiling widely as I stood between the two boys. Gon nodded his head, smiling widely back as Killua stayed silent; his hands remaining shoved into his pockets. The rain poured against one once more, soaking us through to the skin before we even went anywhere. We began walking to the bus stop and waited patiently for the bus to arrive.
It didn't take us long to get to the store once the bus had come. The bus driver said there were only two more buses going back; so we had to be quick with our shopping. We stood in the entrance of the store, looking at the shopping list. We were trying to decide if we needed a basket or trolley, by the amount on the list we had come to the conclusion of trolley but instead opted for three shopping baskets between the three of us. It was more to do with the fact that none of us could drive a trolley sensibly without the need to race it down the shopping isle which would only get us kicked out and result in a very angry Sarah.
We quickly got everything that was needed; the three baskets got filled up very quickly. We stood in the queue, waiting for the people in front of us to pack away all there shopping.
"That's one bus gone." Killua said, making me snap my head up. I saw the bus drive past and furrowed my eyebrows.
"Hopefully we'll be out before the last one comes." Gon said as I nodded my head. The lady in front of us soon left. Me and Killua quickly rushed to the end and took a couple of brown bags between us and packed the shopping quickly. Gon waited for the lady at the checkout to say the amount as he was the one with the money.
"That will be fifty thousand Jenny please." The cashier said. Gon nodded his head and started digging through his pockets. Killua picked up one bag and looked behind him.
"Gon, Mishka, the bus is here!" He shouted making me and Gon snap our heads towards him.
"Really?!" I said to him and spotted the grey vehicle. I hastily picked up a bag as Gon took the change and picked up the last bag. We began running towards the exit of the store.
"You forgot your receipt!" The cashier lady shouted over. I quickly looked over my shoulder.
"We don't need it!" I shouted back to her as we ran out of the door way of the bus. The rain poured against us, I couldn't help but grip onto the shopping bag tighter afford that all our shopping would fall out.
"Wait!" All three of us shouted as the bus was about to leave. Luckily the bus stopped moving and instead opened its doors.
We showed the man our tickets. He nodded his head and closed the door behind us. I fell forward slightly into Gon's back as the bus started moving.
"Sorry." I said to Gon, smiling widely. Gon nodded his head, keeping a smile on his face.
"That's okay." He replied back to me. I felt a shiver up my spine, the rain had made me a bit chilly; I was looking forward getting back inside again.
"So where did you grow up?" Killua asked me. I looked between him and Gon, who looked at me with wide eyes.
"The Lukso Province…why?" I asked him, looking at him cautiously. Gon smiled widely as the three of us wondered to the back of the bus carefully so that we didn't fall over and sat at the back going back to Sarah's after picking up the groceries so we could eat. Gon sat down first near the window as I sat down next with Killua sitting down after me.
"I would like to see where you grew up." Gon said, smiling widely. Killua nodded his head agreeing with Gon. I looked at them wide eyed and fidgeted in my seat slightly, holding the brown paper bag closer to me as I looked down into it.
"I…don't know." I said to them, trailing off. I kicked my legs backwards and forwards.
"Hmm, come on. You've seen where me and Gon grew up. It's only fair." Killua said, poking my side with his finger. I jumped and looked at him after he poked me. Looking between the two once more I sighed to myself and dropped my head again, nodding it very slightly.
"Okay…I'll take you. But! You can't let big brother know I took you okay? He'll get so mad at me; I'm not even allowed to go back there." I said to them. The two nodded their heads with wide smiles on their faces.
"We'll have to go in the morning. It's too dark now and this is the last bus running." I said to the two looking at them sternly. Gon and Killua nodded their heads next to me. I was nervous. A lot could have happened in four years; I wasn't even sure if the bus ran to the outside of the Lukso province anymore.
We got back to Sarah's soaking wet and a bit shivery. The rain here was cold, ice cold. Sarah looked up from the bar stool as she wiped it down.
"Put the groceries down and take a bath before you catch colds. I'm not a water meter now so don't use up a lot." She told us as we walked forward and pushed the bags onto the bar counter. Sarah quickly ducked down under the bar and came back up with several towels in her hands.
"Go on then. Dinner will be ready soon, just be quiet Kimmy's asleep." Sarah told us as we took the towels thankfully. We threw the towels onto our heads and began rubbing our hair semi dry just to get out most of the water.
"Thank you." The three of us said at the same time. I began leading the two to the bathroom until Sarah quickly stopped us once more.
"You three will be sharing a room at the far end. Mishka, you know what the room layout is like so I won't explain." Sarah said to me, smiling widely as she began unpacking. I nodded my head silently and began walking towards where we would be staying. My thoughts had turned rather distant since I had agreed to show Gon and Killua where I grew up. I decided to was better though to push the thoughts out of the back of my mind for now and think about it tomorrow.
I took them to the bedroom we were staying at. Gon was the first in and looked around excitedly.
"Wow! It's so big!" Gon said as I entered in after Killua. Killua nodded his head and looked around himself. Killua smiled widely himself as he slipped off his backpack. I quickly slipped off my shoes and removed the towel from the top of my head. I dumped my bag by the wall and brought my shoes over. Rummaging through my bag I looked over my shoulder at the two boys; who were also doing that same.
"So how should we go about with the baths? Sarah said she's on a meter…" I said to them trailing off somewhat. Gon and Killua stopped rummaging through their bags and began thinking to themselves. I thought as well, the room turning silent. The silence was broken when the three of us sneezed at the same time from staying in our wet clothes. We all looked at each other and smiled widely laughing at the timing of our sneezes.
"Maybe we should just do what we did at Aunt Mito's tonight?" Gon suggested, shrugging his shoulders. Killua nodded his head as I furrowed my brows slightly.
"But she said not to do it again…" I said to them, trailing off in my sentence. Gon rubbed the back of his neck, a large smile on his face.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Plus, Sarah's on a meter; so we'll be saving water." Gon said back to me. I thought about it and nodded my head, agreeing with what he said.
Gon and Killua grabbed some clean, dry clothes from their bag and walked through to the bathroom so that could get changed. I quickly followed after them. Entering the bathroom before them I grabbed a towel and quickly exited the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I stripped off my soaked clothing and wrapped the towel around myself. I waited for a while, my wet clothes in my hands. After a few minutes I knocked on the door.
"Can I come in now?" I asked through the door.
"Yeah!" I heard Killua shout through. Opening the door I slid into the bathroom. Gon and Killua were ringing out their soaked clothing. I walked next to Gon and placed my clothes onto the floor doing the same. The bathroom was more like a wet room, there was a drain in the middle of the floor as well as a shower and a bath, plus stool if you just wanted a wash.
"I hope the rain stops soon." I muttered to myself as Gon nodded his head. Killua closed his eyes as he rung out his shirt.
"It's not like the rain hurts anybody." He said. I quickly looked at him as I hooked my dress tabard onto a hanger to dry.
"When it rains here it rains for days! I hope this is the last day." I said to him.
"Oh, really?" Gon said making me nod my head.
After we rang out our clothes Killua decided he wanted to take up the bath first. We thought it would be better just to use the bath as if we used the shower then we would have used a lot of water, and we weren't too sure what time dinner would be ready so a bath was the best idea. Besides, none of us minded, we were all practically the same. Once Killua was done soaking in the bath Gon went in. Killua sat down next to me and stole the bucket of water that was used for rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. I glared at him as he tipped it over himself and shivered.
"It's freezing!" He yelled as I snatched the bucket out from his hands. I placed it back onto the ground again and begun filling it up, crossing my hands over my chest.
"Yeah because you just got out of the bath, so it's way colder." I said to him. Once the bucket was full I quickly grabbed it and tipped it over my own head, washing out all the shampoo from my hair. I heard the bath water behind me move and then felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking over my shoulder and up I saw Gon smiling widely.
"I'm done." He said cheerfully. I nodded my head and stood up from the stool. Once Gon was sat down and had his back towards me I quickly took off my towel and climbed into the bath. I folded the towel up neatly and placed it on the side of the bath.
I watched Gon and Killua's back as I shifted myself so that I was sitting on bottom with my legs either side of me and my arms crossed over the side of the bathtub with my chin leaning into them. I watched the two before yawning loudly. I buried my face into my arms as I yawned and brought it back up again to come face to face with Gon and Killua. I looked at them wide eyed and suddenly felt very, very cold. I quickly ducked myself under the water, holding my breath tightly with my hands on the side of the tub. After A few seconds I pulled my head out taking a deep breath. I glared at the two.
"What was that for?!" I yelled at them, although trying to keep my best to keep my voice down so that I didn't wake up Kimmy or the other guests here. Gon and Killua smiled widely.
"You were falling asleep so we thought we'd wake you up." Killua said, smirking a cat like smirk as he placed his hands on his chest. I puffed out my cheeks at him before letting the air go and sighing.
"Can you turn around so I can get out?" I asked the two. They both quickly turned around the balls of their feet. I stood up and grabbed my towel, tying it around me. Climbing out of the bathtub I quietly stepped in front of the two. Gon and Killua looked at me in question. I pulled my arms back and then pushed them both square in the chest, making them fall backwards into the bathtub. What I didn't expect was having my arms grabbed and being pulled forward myself with them.
We sat down at the dinner table. Gon, Killua and I made a bit of a mess in the bathroom. It was covered in water. We had to clear it up before we came down for dinner and by time we came down Sarah was sitting at the table waiting for us, although she looked a little angry. We had apologised and explained that we covered the bathroom in water and wanted to clean it up before we came downstairs again. Sarah seemed to have accepted this answer. In the end, Gon wore just his white tank top, green shorts and trainer boots, Killua wore his black tank top, jeans and brown trainers while I wore my white training clothes. Gon and Killua ate a lot of food like usual as I ate my small amount.
Gon and Killua had gone up and said they were going to get ready for bed, I said I'd meet them upstairs in a bit as I was going to help Sarah clean up and pack away.
"Your appetite hasn't changed at all. Yet you've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you." Sarah said to me as I dried the dishes she was washing. I nodded my head as I placed the plate down onto the counter, smiling widely.
"You've made friends, and you've come to visit so I can only assume you've become a Hunter as well." Sarah said as I nodded my head quickly at her smiling widely.
"I didn't do it alone. Big brother, Gon and Killua helped me a lot along the way." I said to her smiling to myself.
"How was the exam?" Sarah asked me, making me look at her with wide eyes. I half-closed them as I went back to drying the plates and glasses.
"Hard, really hard. I think I made an enemy. He said he was psychic and didn't use Nen. He tried to kill me on several occasions and I don't know why. All I know is that he said I was weak and didn't deserve to live." I said to her, putting down my towel and grabbing the plates. I wondered over to the cabinet and opened it with my foot. Bending down I began putting the plates away.
"But he also taught me a lot. I learnt that I rely on big brother too much. I didn't want big brother to worry about me or always feel like he had to protect me; so I left with Gon and Killua and went to Heaven's Arena to get stronger." I said to her, smiling widely at the not too long ago memory. I stood up straight after putting the plates away, Sarah watching me in silence as she stopped washing the dirty dishes and just watched me.
"I met a Nen teacher. He taught us Nen. I found out I'm a Conjurer. I created barbed wire in the Water Divination, that's how we found out. Turns out that was a secret part of the Hunter exam and I passed along with Gon." I said to her, turning around and smiling widely at her, my hands behind my back slightly with my fingers laced lightly.
"I got a lot stronger training away from big brother because I had to learn to stand up on my own feet. When we meet him again in Yorknew City I want to show him how strong I got and that he doesn't have to worry about me all the time." I said to her, smiling widely.
Sarah continued to stare at me, smiling a kind smile. She pulled her hands out of the dish water and dried them off. She walked over to me, and bent down to my height, putting her hands on her knees as she looked me in the eye.
"I think he'll be very proud. You've grown up so much; I'm very proud of you. You've grown so much more than I thought you would have." Sarah said to me, placing a hand on top my head and rubbing my head. I smiled widely at her, my eyes going wide at the praise.
"Really?!" I said to her. Sarah nodded her head, keeping the kind smile on her face. She stood up straight and placed her hands onto her hips. She looked over at the clock before looking back at me.
"I think it's time for you to go to bed. It's eleven." She said to me. I nodded my head quickly and hugged her tightly, burying the side of my face into the waist.
"Night night, Sarah." I said to her, receiving a small hug in return.
"Goodnight, Mishka." She replied to me as I let go and quickly made my way to the room where me, Gon and Killua were staying.
I got to the room and opened the door quietly, peaking my head in. Killua was sprawled across his bed; his quilt covers half on his legs and half on the floor. All I could hear was him snoring. Gon was almost the same; expect his quilt actually covered him. Sneaking into the room, I turned off the lights and tiptoed my way over to my bed. I crawled into the covers of my bed and brought them close to my nose, burying my head deep into them. I shut my eyes, happy that for once after a while; I was in a place that was familiar, in a bed that was sort of familiar to me. I couldn't help but smile to myself at the thought as I felt myself enter a world of darkness and dreams.
We woke up early the next morning. So early that the sun hadn't risen yet. The three of us quickly changed into clean clothes, slipped on our shoes and quietly exited the room. The clothes on the hanger were still wet from yesterday's rain, luckily it wasn't raining today. I looked at the clock in the hall way. Turning on my heel I held my hand out to stop the two boys from walking forward.
"The journey will take half a day to get there and half a day to get back. So we can't stay long there." I said to the two, keeping a determined look on my face as I dropped my arm back to my side. Gon and Killua stayed silent as they nodded their heads. I took a deep breath and turned around, making my way down the hall way. It was five thirty in the morning; Sarah would be up now. The three of us quietly made our way downstairs. Sarah was behind the bar cleaning glasses. She looked up to us and smiled kindly.
"Why are you up so early?" She asked us. I smiled back over to her widely and placed my hands behind my back, linking together my fingers lightly.
"I want to show Gon and Killua around S'rin-ya properly, so I thought waking up this early was a good idea." I said to her. She looked at me suspiciously, an eyebrow rose in question as she stopped cleaning the glass. She closed her eyes and went back cleaning her glass.
"Don't get into trouble and make sure to come straight back, understand?" She said to me. I nodded my head quickly, a small frown appearing on my face. Sarah knew exactly where we were going; I couldn't lie to her and my posture must have given it away. She smiled at me kindly afterwards and opened her eyes.
"Good. Now run along. The bus doesn't run to the outskirts of the Lukso Province anymore; but there is a train. So that'll cut your journey down by about an hour." She said to us. I smiled at her widely and nodded my head.
"Thank you Sarah." I said to her, smiling widely at the information. The three of us quickly made our way to the door and opened it quietly so that we didn't disturb the other guests or Kimmy. Once we were all out I closed the door slowly, hearing the soft click of the lock catching.
The journey had been long; it took a good few hours on foot after the train journey to the outskirts of the Lukso Province. I stopped once we got closer to the old village. I couldn't will myself to walk forward, no matter how much I tried to get my body to. Gon and Killua stopped themselves and looked at me, Gon furrowing his brows and Killua with wide eyes.
"Are you alright?" Killua asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. I took a deep breath and nodded my head, screwing my eyes shut tightly. I clenched my fists together, gripping tightly onto the sleeve of my training shirt.
"I haven't been here for four years… I'm scared. I don't know what to expect." I said to them, opening my eyes and looking at the ground with a glare. I saw a green trainer boots in my line of sight on the ground and knew exactly who stood in front of me.
"We don't have to go if you don't want to." Gon said to me. I fidgeted some more on the spot, twisting the shirt material in the palm of my hand around my fingers. I shook my head quickly, screwing my eyes shut once more. Snapping my eyes open I looked at Gon, a look of determination on my face.
"No…it feels like something that needs to be done, you know?" I said to him. Gon nodded his head at my response taking it in. I walked around him and quickly walked past Killua. They started following me once there was distance between us three.
We made it to my old village. The three of us stopped at the borders, taking in the scene before us. Everything remained almost the same. The only difference was that it looked like the Earth was reclaiming the land. I felt my blood run cold and my body stiffen at the sight. We were actually here, in the place me and my brother grew up. It wasn't beautiful like it once was. The town in ruins and massacred was the last memory I had of this place. None of us spoke. I could tell by the cold silence that the two boys were shocked by what they were seeing. I don't think they expected to see what they actually were.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to walk forward. The air was cold and lifeless. Even though grass and wildlife was growing over everything I couldn't shake off the distinctive feeling death everywhere. I heard the two boys walk behind me as they took everything in.
"It…it feels strange here." Killua said, being the first to speak up.
"Yeah. As if death is always here and never leaves." Gon commented back. I nodded my head as I walked towards the centre of the village. I stopped at the place where I had found one of the clan members, blood leaking from their head all those years ago. The image was still burned into my mind. The body was no longer there and the clothes left behind was just a few scraps that had yet to decompose like the rest of the body.
"You weren't expecting it to be like this, were you?" I asked them, turning my head to between the two. I clenched my fists harder together. I felt upset; but I also felt angry. Really angry. I stared at the spot, remembering exactly where I was when I threw up after seeing the body with no eyes. It was almost as if I could re-picture everything that happened. It came very close to being able to see my eight year old self, throwing up in shock and fear before running back to my house.
I looked in the direction of where my house was. Once I spotted it I just stared. It looked more vandalised then it did all those years ago when it was burnt. I remember, running back into the house calling for my mother and father. I looked at the house with a small determined look and began making my way over to it. I stopped outside a very broken and worn down house. Gon and Killua stood either side of me as we looked at the damaged building.
"Whose house was this?" Killua asked as we continued to stare.
"Mine and big brothers'." I said to him simply, continuing to look at the house with a very small glare. I felt so angry and upset. The upset I could understand why and the angry to some degree. Hesitantly I pushed my arm forward and grabbed onto the door handle. Pulling it down carefully I stepped forward, opening the door.
"I'm coming in." I shouted through the house, although no one would answer me; I knew that. I stepped in first, Gon and Killua followed me closely behind. Once we were all inside the house I closed the door behind me quickly.
The house was filled with dust, it reeked of death, mould and rotting. The wood was rotting, the smell of death was everywhere and the mould covered whatever hadn't rotted yet. Light shone through the open gaps of the house where the fire had burnt through. I slowly walked through the house, Gon and Killua following behind me and taking in everything.
"This is the front room…and this is the dining room…Over here is the kitchen…and this is the bathroom." I said to them, walking through the house and announcing where we were with every room we entered. The boys stayed quiet as we entered each room and left without a trace. I walked over to the front of the stairs and looked up them. The stairs had holes where, I remembered the place where my foot had fallen through when I ran up looking for mother and father.
"Up there is my mum and dad's bedroom, my bedroom and big brother's bedroom." I said to them simply, pointing up the stairs. The two boys stared upwards. I quickly began climbing the stairs.
"Hey, Mishka! What are you doing?!" Gon called out making me stop. I looked back at him from over the top of my shoulder, I felt light, not quite myself.
"I just need to check something out. I won't be long okay?" I said to them. Gon looked at me sternly as Killua gave me a small glare.
"Then we're coming to!" Gon said. I decided not to argue back and nodded my head, allowing the two to come upstairs.
I climbed the stairs quickly, Gon and Killua following my league and walks. Luckily none of our feet fell through the floor. I walked over to where my old bedroom was. Opening the door I stepped inside. My walls were wood as was the flooring, but everything was either rotting or mouldy now. My bed had rotted as well as the sheets that were originally pink in colour; as had my curtains and bookshelf. I walked backwards and closed the door in front of me; then walked over to my brothers' room. I did the same and opened the door then stepped inside. Everything was the same inside here to. Rotting and mouldy. The once blue sheets of my brothers' bed were no more than rags as it had rotted away. Walking backwards I closed the door to his room carefully.
Then I stepped outside my parents' room. We never closed the door to their room, it was left wide open. I stared into the room blankly as Gon and Killua stared inside wide eyed. This was the room where death leaked from and into the rest of the house. I clenched my fists tightly, and glared into the room.
"It's nerve whacking in there." Gon said breaking the silence between us as Killua nodded his head. It was almost as if they were afraid to move forward.
"It feels like something is always in there, watching our every move." Killua said as Gon nodded his head agreeing with him. I continued to stare into the room, my teeth clenched together and the glare staying on my face. I could feel my vision turn red from both anger and being upset.
"This is where I found them." I said to them. The boys snapped their heads towards me as I continued to stare into the room.
"I found them in here, they're eyes missing. The Phantom Troupe didn't care whose eyes they took as long as they were taken." I said them. I could feel myself shake in anger as I glared into the room, clenching my fist tighter and tighter. I felt something run up my arm but ignored it.
"They took everything. I only lived because mine and my brothers' best friend told me to stay somewhere while he got help. But his eyes and legs didn't work well and he never came back." I said to them, my voice getting angrier and angrier as I spoke, my shaking getting more and more noticeable as I carried on.
"If…If I went with Pairo then I could have helped him and maybe, just maybe I could have helped my parents. If we didn't have scarlet eyes then this wouldn't have happened!" I shouted angrily, closing my eyes shut tightly. I wanted to hurt the Phantom Troupe, the thought scared me; hurting someone was something that never crossed my mind and yet I wanted to hurt the Phantom Troupe for hurting me and my brother in the way they did.
I felt my arms and hands sting in pain, but ignored it as I opened my eyes and looked into the room where I had found my parents. I couldn't cry, I had cried a lot when I found them and no matter how much I wanted to will myself to I couldn't; I was too angry to do so. All I could see was red and felt a stinging sensation in my arms and hands. Is this what my brother felt? I could understand why he was as protective as he was, coming back here had made me realise that. He was protective because of what had happened and how we were different to other people. Our eyes were, and still are, worth a lot on the black market. I understood why he was so protective when we got to the outside world and why he let me cling to him the way I did.
"Mishka your arms are bleeding." Gon said to me, breaking the silence and snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked down at my arms and brought my arm up to my face to look at it closer. Barbed wire ran all around my arm, ending at the elbow. It ran all the way down onto my hands, a bit dangling down. I looked at it shocked through my red vision. Looking at my other arm I could see it was exactly the same. Killua poked one of the barbs and instantly brought his finger back, waving it into the air.
"They hurt this time." He said as I nodded my head. I blinked a couple of times, taking deep breathes to calm myself down. It was scary; feeling as angry as I did. After my deep breathes I looked at my arm. The barbed wire was gone; but the wounds it left behind were still there. I knitted my brows together as Gon and Killua looked at my arms.
There was silence between the three of us, one mixed of awkwardness and confusion. It was Gon who had broken the silence.
"Let's go back to Sarah's." Gon muttered to the three of us, still looking at my arms as I held them out in front of me.
"Yeah." Killua replied nodding his head. I nodded my head lightly.
"I…I think it'll be for the best." I said to them, stuttering as I continued to stare at my arms with wide eyes. My chest felt heavy; I was confused and worried, scared as well. Why would the barbed wire hurt this time but not last time? I swallowed the lump in my throat as I willed my legs to move. I was about to turn around but stopped. Reaching out, I grabbed the handle to my parents' room and closed the door shut, hearing a soft click. Gon and Killua watched me with confusion and curiosity.
"If they're still there then the least I can do is give them privacy and some decency. Even if the psychical body isn't there anymore; they still might be." I said to them, dropping my bleeding arms to my side. The two looked at me as if they understood and nodded their heads. We turned around and started making our ways back down the stairs carefully so that we could leave my death filled village.
The train ride back was quiet, very quiet. Gon had sat next to me with Killua sitting opposite me, looking out of the window I looked out of the window, my hands in my lap. I didn't know what to think, or what to say. We were all quiet though; I don't think any of us knew what to say. If there was one thing that I knew; I didn't regret showing my friends where I grew up in the past. It actually lifted some weight off my shoulders in a way; but it was hard to explain how. What worried me more was when I felt angry and felt like I really wanted to hurt the Phantom Troupe, the barbed wire that usually didn't hurt had wounded me and left my arms feeling sore and bloodied. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looking over to Gon and then to Killua.
"I'm actually glad I showed you where I grew up." I said to the two, making them snap their heads up to me and look at me in slight shock.
"Why?" Gon asked me. I swung my legs backwards and forwards from the chair, my shoulders hunching together slightly as I gripped the hem of my dress tabard.
"It's lifted some weight off my shoulders. It's hard to explain; but I don't feel as heavy anymore." I said to the two, lifting my head up and smiling at them; my brows knitted together forming a smile of worry, but not regret. I didn't have any regrets. Killua smiled back slightly as he leaned back into the chair and crossed his arms over his shoulders.
"Who would have thought you could get really angry like that. I thought it only happened once in a life time." Killua said to me, making me look at him and laugh slightly, keeping the worried smile on my face. I guessed he was referring back to when Gon and fighting Hanzo; although my vision didn't turn fully red I was still angry back then. But this anger I felt not so long ago, it was very different and it scared me.
The three of us got back to Sarah's at about six in the evening. Sarah was preparing some dinner when we got in with Kimmy watching her very carefully. Greg the ex-hunting dog was lying on the floor near one of the windows sleeping the day away.
"We're back." We all said at once. Sarah looked over, a wide smile on her face.
"Welc-What happened to your arms?!" She said, putting down the pair of chopsticks she was holding in her hand and quickly walking over. I watched her with furrowed brows as Kimmy looked over herself.
"Did you fall over?" Kimmy asked wondered over as Sarah grabbed one of my arms and pulled it forward. She dragged up on of the sleeves and inspected it closely. The three of us nodded our heads at Kimmy's question.
"Yeah. She tripped over her feet in the road and scratched up her arms really badly." Killua said lying for me. I couldn't lie though; not to Sarah. Sarah looked at me sternly, making me bring back my head a little bit as I looked at her with furrowed brows and a long frown. She sighed and dropped my arm, walking back over to the kitchen area to continue cooking.
"Clean yourself up and then come down for dinner. It'll be ready five minutes. Oh! We're the only people here; so you don't need to worry about making a noise tonight." Sarah said as I nodded my head.
"Thank you." I whispered to Killua, who nodded his head in return. It was better that way if anything; how could we explain something we had no clue about? I don't know if Sarah got it or not; I just only hoped she did.
I quickly ran upstairs and to the room me, Gon and Killua were staying in. Opening the door in a hurry I rushed inside and jogged over to the bathroom, pulling up the sleeves of my training shirt. I turned on the tap and rinsed down my arms with cold water, flinching as it stung the wounds. I would need to change my training clothes. The sleeves were covered in blood; I couldn't walk around like that. I looked over to the hangers; my other training clothes looked dry. I padded dry my arms with a towel and walked over, feeling the material. It was definitely dry. I quickly pulled my dress tabard off over my head and did the same with my training shirt.
"Sarah said bring down your other training shirt and she'll wash it ready for the day after tomorrow." I heard Killua say behind me. I looked over my shoulder, my back turned towards him with my bloodied training shirt just hanging onto my arms. I nodded my head quickly and dropped the dirty shirt. Killua began walking away from the bathroom. I could hear his footsteps leave the bedroom. Reaching up to the hanger I quickly pulled off the dry shirt and yanked it over the top of my head. I picked up my dirty training shirt and exited the bathroom and bedroom then made my way downstairs. When I got to the downstairs part I saw a laundry basket by the wall and walked over, dumping my training shirt into it.
I walked over to the table. Kimmy was sitting up on it as Gon and Killua helped Sarah lay down everyone's dinner. She lived religiously by the rule of "If you want to eat you help out". Even if it was just by the little things; every little bit of help helped. That also meant it was me who was washing the dishes with Sarah again tonight. I sat down next to Killua with Gon sitting on the other side of Killua. We began eating in silence until Sarah broke it.
"Oh I just remembered! The festival of life is tomorrow. I think you three should go, it's your last day here right so it'll be fun." Sarah said to us, smiling widely. The three of us looked at her questionably; what was the festival of life? I never heard of it. She looked at me confused before remembering something.
"Oh right, you and Kurapika left before the festival. Well, the festival of life is where we celebrate the people who are gone and those who are born. You write your thoughts onto a piece of paper and then tie it to a lantern which is released into the air. It's said that those who left will receive your thoughts and bring luck to you for a year for remembering them." Sarah explained to us.
"Hmm, is that so?" Killua asked as Sarah nodded her head. We looked at each other, and smiled a little bit at each other people turning our attention back to Sarah; the smiles staying on our faces. Killua seemed interested as did Gon with the idea of the festival; plus it could be fun. The idea of having any more fun days ahead of us was looking very slim.
"We'll go." I said to her. Sarah smiled widely at us and nodded her head at our answer.
"I'm glad, I'm sure you three will enjoy it." She said to us as we nodded our heads and went back to eating our dinner.
After I had helped Sarah clean the dishes I had explained to her what happened at the village. She seemed worried and explained that it might be a limitation. I was confused as to what one of those was; but she shook her head and said that when the time was right I'd learn about it myself and that it was better if I did learn about it myself. I laid in bed looking at the ceiling, my arms and legs sprawled across my bed. The three of us couldn't sleep and just ended up doing the same thing, staring at the ceiling.
"After tomorrow we're going to Yorknew City." I said to the two as they nodded their heads.
"Are you going to write to Jerome?" Gon asked me, his hands linked behind his head and legs sprawled across his bed. I nodded my head.
"I'm going to visit him tomorrow as well. That way I can definitely make sure he knows I've become a Hunter and that I can say goodbye to him properly." I said to Gon who in turn nodded his head. Killua watched the ceiling with his hands linked behind his head and one leg propped up with the other leg lying across the knee.
"I think after we get to Yorknew City we should learn more about Nen." Killua said to us making me and Gon look at him. It was completely out of the blue. Killua sat up and turned around, sitting cross legged on the bed with his hands on his knees.
"Think about it. What Mishka did was with Nen and we don't even know how. We need to learn more about Nen. Doing something like that and not knowing how could be dangerous." Killua said as me and Gon sat up ourselves. Killua had a point. Me and Gon nodded our heads agreeing with Killua. Killua's point was very good; if I could do that without knowing how then what could Gon and Killua do without knowing how? It could turn dangerous, very dangerous as Killua said.
The three of us laid back down into the bed.
"I'm going to try and sleep. Night night Gon, Killua." I said to the two as I slithered my way under my quilt.
"Night Mishka." The two boys said as they did the same. Gon was the one that got up and turned off the light. With that, the three of us started to let ourselves drift off into sleep; excited about what tomorrow would bring but worried about what I had done. The pit of my stomach told me that this was not a good combination to have.