A big thank you to Anime lover, Just A Cadbury and all silent readers!
Anime lover – You know a couple of chapters back how Mishka told Kurapika that he should stop treating her like a little kid? Yeah, she's calling him by name instead of status at the moment to prove that; her actions say otherwise.
Just A Cadbury – Studying is good for you, I encourage you go do it.
Protip: Mishka Greed Island outfit now up in my profile.
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.
After our little run in with the guy who normally wears a tracksuit and Feitan, the three of us went down to meet Zepile in the lobby area. He was the one that was going to hopefully help us win our game; all I could say was this game had better been worth skipping out on making sure Kurapika was okay. If the game turned out to not be worth it I was going to be really angry!
We met up with Zepile in the lobby; he was waiting patiently for us. The three of us stood in front of him, Gon and Killua on either side with me in the middle of the two. He had given Gon a number, seeing as we were together only one of us needed the number, that person we decided to be was Gon; it was his dad we were looking for after all. There was a bunch of paparazzi and photographers as well; why I didn't know, I could only guess it was for someone really important. Music started playing making me, Gon and Killua look over to where the cameras began flashing off.
"There he is. That's your target. The tycoon, Mr Battera." Zepile explained to us. Walking on the red carpet was an elderly man with a constant scrawl over his face. He didn't look very pleasant to be around and yet all these people were here; hoping they could talk to the man. Mr Battera was followed by two other men in suits, who I could only assume was his bodyguards.
A woman walked next to him holding a microphone to his mouth, smiling up at him.
"Objective? That would be Greed Island, of course." Mr Battera spoke as the cameras continued flashing at him, following him around everywhere.
"Why are you so interested in a game? You've spent a considerable amount on it by now." The reporter asked and badgered him. She had dark red hair tied into two pony tails over her shoulders, red lipstick, a cream suit top with dark blue skirt and cream heels. Mr Battera stopped walking as he spoke back to her, not even trying to keep his voice low.
"It's an expression of love. Isn't wanting to monopolize that which you love natural?" Mr Battera replied to her simply and then promptly turned on his heel, walking into the auction room with his hands behind his back.
"What is this love you mention? There are many rumours flying around. Any comments?" The reporter kept badgering him, standing on the spot where he left her. I took a quick glance at Gon from the corner of my eyes, he looked determined to get his hands on that game so that he could find his father.
We were about to head into the auction hall until I felt my phone vibrate. I guess I hadn't taken it off of vibrate the first time me, Gon and Killua followed the Phantom Troupe. I pulled the top part of my dress away and slid my fingers into the breast pocket of my shirt. I took out my phone looking at the caller ID.
"Melody?" I questioned myself, quickly looking at Gon and Killua. That would mean that hopefully something changed with Kurapika's condition.
"I need to take this, I'll catch up okay?" I said to the three. Gon and Zepile nodded their heads as Killua sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Don't be too long or they won't let you in." He said to me. I nodded my head showing that I understood and flipped the phone open with my other hand, walking away from the three.
Pressing the green button I held the phone up to my ear.
"Hello, Melody? Is everything okay?" I asked her, furrowing my brows slightly as I tried to look at my phone through the corner of my eyes.
"Oh, hello Mishka. You weren't in the auction room were you?" I heard Melody say over the phone in the usual calm voice. I shook my head as I stood in a corner of the room, leaning my back against the wall.
"No, I wasn't. Did something change?" I asked her once more, pressing onto the subject.
"Yes. Kurapika woke up; he fell back asleep after a minute." Melody said through the phone. I smiled slightly to myself and sighed a little down the phone. That was good, he had been sleeping for a whole two days; at least he had woke up.
"That's good…Will you ring me again if he wakes up and I'm not back? I'll try and get back as soon as I can!" I asked her down the phone.
"Of course. Don't worry, me and Leorio will look after him. We'll see you later." Melody said to me, calming my nerves. At least Leorio was still there. I nodded my head, even though she couldn't see and smiled very slightly.
"Okay. Thank you. I'll see you soon." I said to her, bringing the phone away from my ear and pressing the red button, hanging up the call. I flipped the phone shut with my other hand once more and pulled away the top part of my dress, slipping the phone back into the breast pocket of my shirt. Now I just had to find Gon, Killua and Zepile so that we could get our game. I peeled myself away from the hall, walking quickly to where the auction hall was once more.
I found the three quite quickly. I was lucky to, the door nearly shut on me locking me out, being really small came in handy…I couldn't tell if that was a bad thing or not. I quietly and hastily made my way over to the seat where the three boys were. Killua had managed to save me a seat next to him by jumping his suit jacket over the top. I slid myself next to him smiling widely.
"Thanks for saving the seat." I said to him. Killua nodded and removed his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it back on, making himself look tidy once more.
"The auction will now start!" The lady in the front announced to us all, the doors leading into the room closing. This was it, hopefully, we would be getting this game.
A few items passed by, none too exciting; at least not to me. Then again I had my eyes set on Greed Island, just like the two boys so nothing came to interest.
"For our next item is the legendary game, Greed Island!" The announcer woman up front spoke through the microphone as she pointed to a giant screen. The screen showed a JoyStation, much like the one we had at Gon's house, with a memory card in it. Whispers and awes struck inside the room as everybody gazed at the picture. That was what we were here for, that game.
"Let's take a look at the mysterious power this game contains." The woman said as the room trembled. A huge man with no shirt walked in, holding a giant mallet over his shoulder. He threw the mallet over his shoulder, smashing it into the JoyStation on the little peddle stool. I looked at him shocked; there goes any chance of getting that game. He lifted his mallet back into the air, the console shrouded in Nen. I continued to look at it shocked that was impressive.
"As you can see, there is a mysterious power that protects the console from any damage, as long as someone is playing inside." The announcer lady spoke, continuing to point her hand at the screen. She clicked her fingers, making the screen change. It showed a man with black hair and a black beard.
"This man is Jeitsari. He is a player who's inside the game at this moment. In fact, he's the one who signed a contract allowing us to auction it off." The woman explained as she walked around the stage. So Gon's dad didn't own this particular copy.
Gon and Killua leaned forward, resting their arms on their knees as I sat straight, my hands in my lap.
"Jeitsari left behind the following agreement: "If we cannot clear this game before the date specified in the contract, seven active players, including myself, will present seven copies of the game and console to the Southern Piece Auction, so our talented young Hunters can clear the game and fulfil our dream."" The woman read out. So we were going to be living someone else's dream because they couldn't clear the game? That didn't seem like a very fair thing to do, but if this was how we were going to meet Gon's dad; then we would have to do it. The woman lowered the black book in her hand as she looked up at us.
"Unfortunately, when we obtained these copies, two already displayed game over screens. That means the players also died in real life. This dangerous game requires that you risk your own life! Make sure you're prepared before you bid." The announcer said to us, holding up a finger. And just like that the game became very unattractive. I looked at the two through the corner of my eyes, they still looked determined to own a copy. I sighed slightly to myself, closing my eyes and then looked forward. Guess I was in this as well, for the bad or the worse.
The announcer smiled and raised her arm into the air.
"Let's start the bidding at nine hundred million Jenny!" The woman shouted, making the crowd roar. I guess more people were willing to put their life on the line than I realised. Grown men began raising their hands into the air, placing bids onto the game.
"I have one billion! I have one point five billion! Number one hundred and five doubles it to three billion. Number seventy one doubles it again…to six billion!" The announcer shouted. Killua glared at the person who had bid. It was a very round man with greasy looking black hair. Killua seemed angry at him, angrier than he should have been. I looked at Killua confused and patted his back slightly.
"It's okay! We'll get the game." I said to him smiling widely. Killua just looked at me with the same angry expression, making me laugh slightly and drop my hand back into my lap.
I looked over to Gon. Gon was looking up at Zepile questionably.
"So you indicate how much you're bidding with your hand?" Gon questioned him, making my face lift up slightly as I looked at Zepile slightly confused myself; how was this bidding system working?
"Yeah, the auctioneer is able to instantly discern the highest bid." Zepile explained as Gon looked at his hands. So that's how it worked. But people were putting different hand signs for different things, how did she know?
"Number sixteen doubles it again…to twelve billion!" The announcer said, making the crowd gasp in shock. Gon raised his thumb and looked at Zepile once more.
"What's this?" Gon asked him confused.
"Number two hundred and one doubles it again, to twenty four billion!" The announcer said, making mine, Gon's and Zepile's face drop. Gon had raised the bidding up without actually meaning to.
"Gon put your thumb down!" I said to him waving my hand up and down.
"You idiot!" Zepile yelled at him.
"Number sixteen bids twenty five billion!" The announcer said as a bell rung out through the Auction Hall. At least someone out bid Gon's accidental bid; that was good… because I don't think any of us had twenty four billion Jenny to pull out of our bottoms any time soon.
"Whew, that was close…" Gon said, sighing in relief. I nodded my head, sighing myself; thank god someone out bid him.
I took another glance at Killua, who was still glaring at the chubby boy with black hair angrily.
"Number seventy one bids twenty five point five billion…" The announcer said, making Killua's eyes widen even more. I looked at him questionably and patted his back again.
"Hey, what's up? You look like really want to kill him." I said to him, lowering my head so that it was blocking Killua's view of the boy with black hair. Killua immediately sat up. I followed him, sitting up as well until he shot me a glare.
"Kai's here." He said simply, making me stiffen and my face drop. I turned my head around to see to where Killua was looking beforehand. Next to the boy with black hair was a very skinny boy with brown hair spiked up at the back. I felt a chill run up my spin; that was definitely Kai, and why was he here? Did he want Greed Island too? Why would Kai want Greed Island? So many questions were running through my brain it was unreal.
"Number sixteen goes all the way up to thirty point five billion!" The announcer shouted, making even more people gasp in awe at the man's bidding.
"Damn it!" The chubby boy with the black hair shouted, his hands grabbing onto his very greasy looking hair angrily. I guess he didn't win like he had hoped he would.
After the auction me and Killua followed Gon. Killua already knew Gon's plan; but I had no clue so I was just going with it for now. I'm sure if it was simple I could catch on easily and help out if it was needed.
We found the man who won the bid in a smoking part of the auction house. It was Mr Battera, the man being pestered by the reporter lady earlier. He was sitting in an armchair with several men dotted around the place guarding him. Gon, Killua and I all stopped inside the room, all of us with our hands by our sides, Gon in the middle of me and Killua. The three of us smiled widely and cheerfully at the man, with me once again just going with it.
"Um, we're Hunters." Gon said to him, not sure how to start off his sentence.
"We're willing to help clear Greed Island." Killua said to him. The man's guards started walking towards us, making the smiles from our faces drop as we looked up to them. One held up a hand to us as he looked at us through his sunglasses.
"Don't joke around. Go on home." The man said. Gon glared at the man as Killua gave a small glare of his own while I looked at him with furrowed brows.
"We're not joking! I am a pro Hunter." Gon shouted at him.
"What nonsense. Do you have a licence?" Mr Battera asked, walking behind his bodyguards who stepped aside a little bit for him to see us. Me and Gon smiled widely, me nodding my head. I pulled away the top part of my dress and slid my fingers back into the breast pocket, pulling out my Hunter card showing it to the man.
"Yes!" Gon said cheerfully, making Killua look at him slightly annoyed as I looked at him slightly confused.
"Uh, no you don't. It's at the pawn shop." Killua whispered to him as I brought my Hunter licence back to me, sliding it into my pocket once more. Gon stiffened slightly at Killua's words and then furrowed his brows, looking up at Mr Battera.
"Uh, it's not on me…" Gon said trailing off. One of the body guards leaned forward, glaring at the Gon through his sunglasses.
"See…He's lying." He said to him, making Gon angry at him and lean forward himself, clenching his fists together.
"I'm not lying!" Gon shouted at him, upset with the man's accusations.
Mr Battera looked at the bodyguard through the corner of his eyes as he stood behind them.
"Hold on…" He said to the bodyguard who stood up straight to his words. Mr Battera then looked at Gon sternly, leaning forward a little bit himself.
"The fact that you're here means you're certainly not ordinary. However, I can't blindly accept everything you say. I am indeed looking to hire Hunters in order to clear this game, but I cannot hire you at this time. Because there can only be so many players." Mr Battera said to us. Did this mean we weren't going to be able to find Gon's dad after all? I furrowed my brows even more; this was not looking good for us.
"There can only be so many players?" Gon questioned him. I decided to speak up this time myself. I looked up to Mr Battera questionably, question written all over my face.
"What do you mean by there can be only so many players?" I asked him. Mr Battera looked between the three of us and held up one finger.
"Each memory card only has the capacity to store one player's data. With multitaps, you can have a maximum of eight players per console." Mr Battera explained to us. Me and Killua looked at Gon as he looked between us, keeping the stern look on his face.
"Oh right. That Greed Island save used up all thirty blocks on that memory card." Gon said to us. Me and Killua nodded our heads.
"Yeah." We said at the same time, agreeing with Gon. Now that I thought back on it, that was a huge game if it required all the blocks on the memory card.
Mr Battera looked at us confused and shocked. He stepped forward slightly towards us.
"How did you know that?!" He asked us. The three of us turned to him and smiled widely at him once more.
"We have a Greed Island save file." Gon explained to him. Mr Battera continued to look at us confused and shocked, regained his composure and stood up straight once more.
"Have you played the game before?" He asked us, looking at us questionably. Gon held up a finger as he began explaining some more.
"No, we only have a memory card." Gon explained to him. Mr Battera's eyes went wide as he stared at us. The three of us though remained unfazed and continued to smile widely at him as he spoke.
"If that memory card is real, you would need another item to remove the card from the console." Mr Battera said to us. Gon looked confused before looking back at the Killua and I, smiling widely.
"Would that be…" He asked, keeping the wide hopeful smile on his face. I thought back when we sat in his room, looking at the contents of the box his dad left behind and smiled widely myself.
"The ring?" Me and Killua asked at the same time, Killua smiling widely himself.
Mr Battera continued to stare at us for a while before turning to his side and pointing a finger at us.
"It appears that they are worthy of consideration." Mr Battera said as a man from behind him walked in front of us. He smiled at us slightly, although it seemed more like a smirk. He had black hair and grey eyebrows; it kind of made him stand out from everyone else.
"I assume that you can use Nen. Show me your Ren." The man commanded us. The three of us smiled widely at him and nodded our heads.
"Sure." We said at the same time to him.
The three of us wiped the smile off our faces and looked at him with a stern look. We concentrated our Nen into shrouds, then concentrated more into Ren. Our aura's slicked off us violently as we kept Ren up. Mr Battera stared at us before staring at the man with the grey eyebrows.
"Well?" He asked him. The man closed his eyes and dropped his head slightly.
"It's hopeless. Letting them play would be a waste of time. They'd run around in circles until they died." The man said looking at us with his arms crossed over his chest. The three of us disburse Ren and glared up at the man.
"How can you be certain when we haven't tried?!" Gon questioned him angrily. The man leaned over, keeping his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at Gon.
"It'll be too late once you're in the game, kid. Unless you die off immediately. We don't need people who'll drag out the inevitable." The man explained to us, making us three look at him questionably, our mouths slightly agape. He was judging us before we could even try, that was unfair!
"As long as a player is alive inside the game, you can't reset or remove the memory card. In other words, you can't send in new players." The man carried on explaining to us. And just like that Greed Island suddenly became not only a whole lot less desirable but also very complicated for a console game. Were all console games like this?
"I've hired around one hundred pro and amateur Hunters to play this game, and over half of them have given up." Mr Battera said to us. Given up? Was the game really that hard?
"Given up?" Gon questioned, furrowing his brows slightly.
"They've given up on returning to the real world, choosing to live inside the game. That is why I must be careful when selecting players." Mr Battera explained to us, glaring at us as if it was our fault that half of the people he hired chose to stay inside the game.
He continued to glare at us as Gon's look returned to one of question. Mine and Killua's questioning look never left our faces.
"We need people who are strong enough to obtain items for returning to the real world." Mr Battera said to us, keeping his hands by his sides. Gon stepped forward as he glared at Mr Battera hard, clenching his hands into fists once more.
"And you're saying we aren't strong enough?" Gon questioned him.
"How can he know that?" Killua questioned, pointing at him.
"All he did was look at us!" I said, joining in with the two boys, pointing at the man myself with a glare on my face. Sure that game seemed undesirable, but I was going to help Gon find his dad no matter what. And this guy saying that we couldn't play only made me feel angry about it. Mr Battera looked at the man next to him slightly, his harsh gaze turning into a slightly lesser harsh gaze.
"Because he's a pro Hunter who has played Greed Island before." Mr Battera said, making the three of us gasps slightly and look at him wide eyed.
"Speaking from my own experience, the items for returning to the real world are relatively easy to obtain. But with your Nen, it's hopeless. In fact, it'd be game over in no time. Once the screening is done, I'm returning to the game." The man said to us, putting his hands on his hips and smirking at us. He really didn't want us to take part in this game.
"Screening? You're screening players?" Killua questioned him.
"Yes, the screening will be on the auction's final day. If you're interested in participating, you'll need to work on your Nen." The man said to us, pointing out the obvious. That's what we planned on doing anyway as originally we were going to get Kurapika's help; but once he told us he wouldn't of help we needed to think of a different route.
"We were going to do that anyway! Let's go, Killua, Mishka." Gon said angrily and quickly turned on his heel to stalk away. Me and Killua followed on behind him, staying quiet.
"Before you go, kid… How did you come by a memory card?" The man questioned us as we continued walking away. Gon stopped and turned his head over his shoulder angrily, glaring at the man.
"I'm not telling you!" He said to bitterly and then stalked off once more.
We exited the room, Killua shoving his hands back into his trouser pockets as I held mine by my sides, clenching my hands into fists; that really made me angry.
"Damn it…I'm mad now." Killua commented bitterly as we walked down the hall way. Killua and I caught up with Gon and walked either side of him.
"We absolutely must pass their screening!" Gon said as I nodded my head.
"No matter what." I said, agreeing with the two boys as we headed for the exit of the hallways. That was our new goal, pass that screening and show him that we could play the game just as well as he could; no matter what.
We got back to Zepile's house as Kurapika was still resting there; and I refused to go back to our hotel until I knew Kurapika was better…and we ran out of money for the hotel. We entered Gon's room. I had yet to find mine as I always fell asleep in the room where Kurapika was. I decided to stay with Gon and Killua, I was angry and if I was angry then I might have hurt Melody's ears by what she told me; and I didn't want to do that. So it was better having my pent up anger somewhere else away from her. Zepile had left our carrier bags with our clothes in in the corner of the room. The three of us walked over angrily to the bags and picked up them, looking inside to make sure we got the right ones. I handed mine to Gon as it was his clothing with him giving back my bag. We walked to the middle of the room where there was more room and turned out backs to each other, getting changed into our normal clothes. When I took out the bottoms of my clothing I noticed it wasn't my normal shorts but instead a pair of training trousers. I had no idea where they came from and I wasn't going to question right now; for one I was too angry and secondarily, it was getting colder so I was grateful to whoever thought of it. I would need to find out and thank them later. I quickly removed my phone and Hunter card from my shirt's breast pocket and slipped it into the training trousers pocket. After shoving my dress tabard on over my head I picked up the bag with my smart dress, shirt, shoes, socks and ribbon it then dumped it back into the corner and followed Killua to the couch.
Me and Killua flopped down onto the couch next to Killua, who took out a lolly from his pocket and began chewing on that. I leaned my elbows onto my knees then my head into the open palms of my hands as me and Killua stared at Gon who continued to stand in the middle of the room.
"I'm so mad! I can't believe how he spouted off! Damn it!" Gon shouted as he concentrated his Nen shroud into a very angry Ren. Killua removed the lolly from his mouth and pointed it slightly at Gon.
"Still, he's right." Killua said point blank. I turned my head slightly to look at Killua questionably as Gon looked over his shoulder angrily, glaring at Killua.
"What do you mean?" Gon asked him angrily. Killua stood up waving his hand slightly as I turned my attention back to Gon.
"Chill out a little. We should start thinking about taking this to the next level." Killua said, smiling slightly. Gon stopped his Ren as I stood up and stretched my arms above my head. Killua walked away from Gon, me and Gon following him with our eyes.
"Next level?" Gon questioned him.
"Hatsu. You know, our special abilities." Killua said turning to me and Gon. Gon looked confused as I thought over Killua's words, raising an eyebrow slightly in question.
Killua leaned against the window, letting in our only source of light into the room as he went on to explain what he meant.
"Kurapika and Mishka started learning Nen when we did. But Kurapika was able to fight the Troupe because of his special abilities. Mishka is able to conjure barbed wire; which is her special ability." Killua explained as Gon looked at me slightly. I smiled awkwardly at him with a nervous laugh and turned my attention away from him and back to Killua.
"Yeah, Kurapika obtained powers that make him basically invincible against the Troupe by placing his life on the line." Gon said, before turning his head towards me.
"And your powers make you put yourself through the same pain as others and in some cases put your life on the line." Gon said, as I nodded my head slightly. That's what Kurapika believed to be true, and with nothing else to go on; that's all we could seem. We both looked back at Killua as he leaned back on his hands slightly and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"We can't follow their example. We need abilities without too much or too little risk, which still fit our specialities. Something practical and effective… That's what we have to come up with." Killua explained to Gon and me; although it was more to Gon. Gon thought to himself and placed a hand onto his chin, looking down at the ground. I thought with him, wondering what they could use and still keeping within their specialities.
Gon thought for a while and then squatted down onto the floor, his face dropping as he hummed to himself in thought. I looked at him slightly wide eyed and blinked a couple of times; I knew thinking wasn't really Gon's think, but I didn't know it could hurt his brain that much. I bent down next to him, balancing on the balls of my feet and patted his back slightly.
"Keeping trying." I said to him quietly, smiling a little with my brows furrowed. Killua pushed himself off the window seal and walked towards me and Gon, smiling slightly himself.
"Let's take this one step at a time. First, what kind of abilities do you want?" Killua questioned him, kneeling down in front of Gon who continued to think to himself. He looked more in thought this time. I kept my hand on his back as he thought to himself harder.
"What kind of abilities do I want?" Gon repeated after him, before dropping his face once more at the thought. I rubbed his back this time, smiling slightly with my brows furrowed.
"Keeping trying." I repeated to him again apologetically; this was going to take a while for them to sort out. Killua looked angrily at Gon.
"Hey. You must have at least a vague idea." Killua said to him, making Gon think once more as the three of us stayed close to the ground.
"Uh, a really strong power!" Gon said seriously.
"That's too vague! Start by thinking within in your own category. You're an Enhancer, so think of a power that strengthens something." Killua explained, making Gon nod his head in understanding.
"Then we ask, what part of you do you want to strengthen, and how?" Killua said to him, which only made Gon's face drop once more in thought and resulted in Killua punching him in the side of the head. I looked at him wide eyed and went back rubbing his back again quickly.
"Keeping trying!" I said to him quickly this time as I furrowed my brows and smiled at him slightly once more.
Gon looked up at Killua, furrowing his brows.
"That hurt! What about you, then?" Gon questioned him, hurt by his friends actions. Killua closed his eyes and looked down at the floor, getting slightly annoyed as I stopped rubbing Gon's back; but left my hand on his back just in case he started having a thinking break down again.
"I already know what I want. That's why I'm helping you." Killua said, standing up and opening his eyes, looking down at Gon once more. He stuck his lolly into his mouth again and began walking away from me and Gon.
"That was fast." I commented as me and Gon turned our heads, following him.
"Really? What do you want?" Gon asked him.
"It's a secret." Killua said with a mouthful of lolly. He walked to the door and opened it, looking back at me and Gon with a small smile.
"Gon, I'm going to go start practising my special ability. You keep thinking about it." Killua said, pointing to Gon. He pointed at me next, keeping the same smile on his face.
"You should do the same. Though it's possible that I'm the only one who'll pass the screening." Killua said, closing the door behind him. Gon furrowed his brows and looked to the ground as I glared at the door and stuck my tongue out at it; even though Killua wouldn't see by now.
I stayed with Gon and sighed to myself, looking at him smiling widely.
"Okay, so let's think of something you can strengthen." I said to him cheerfully to try and lift up his spirit. Gon looked at me with furrowed brows over his shoulder slightly.
"Shouldn't you be practising too?" He asked me. I looked over my shoulder towards the door, before looking back at Gon, smiling widely at him.
"What Killua won't know won't hurt him and I want to help you think of something. Besides, you can help me train once I helped you." I said to him, smiling widely at him. Gon brightened up a little bit and nodded his head, agreeing with the idea.
"Right." He said to me simply.
We both sat on the floor probably, sitting opposite each other. Gon sat cross legged with a hand on his chin as I sat on my legs and hands in my lap; both our heads looking at the ground in thought as we tried to think of something that Gon could strengthen. Ideally, something he did regularly in a fight against people; that was our best bet.
Time went on as we thought. Gon and eventually taken off his jacket and threw it onto the bed in anger to himself for not thinking of anything. We both shifted ourselves so that we were lying on the ground, the tops of our heads mere inches away from each other and arms sprawled out beside us as we stared at the ceiling. For whatever reason, this was a lot harder than we first imagined. I heard Gon shift into a sitting up position.
"Damn it! I'll make him eat those words!" Gon said angrily concentrating his Nen into a very angry Ren once more. I shifted my head slightly, staring at his back with furrowed brows; it was either what Killua said or the guy who told us we couldn't play Greed Island that got to him.
"You sound determined, Gon." A familiar voice said, making me roll over quickly onto my belly and sit up onto my hands and knees. Standing at the doorway was Kurapika, holding onto the doorframe with a hand to keep himself upright with a bottle of tea in the other hand. He still looked really pale and ill as well as tired.
"Kurapika!" Me and Gon said at the same time, me smiling widely at him to see him up.
"Are you better?" Gon questioned him. Kurapika smiled back at the both of us.
"Yeah, my fever broke. I'm fine now." He said to us reassuringly. I furrowed my brows; he says that, but he wasn't. He said that the first time he got sick when we were travelling, I believed him of course so we continued to move on, but he just collapsed a hours afterwards. He was stubborn; very stubborn.
Me and Gon looked at each other with furrowed brows. I could guess we were thinking the same thing. The spiders were still here, so if Kurapika found out…I don't think he would stop to try and kill them. Kurapika walked towards us slowly, his feet barely leaving the ground and took a seat on the couch.
"So how did the auction go? I believe you were after an expensive game?" Kurapika asked us as me and Gon watched him while sitting on the floor.
"Oh, yeah…" Gon said trailing off, looking down to the ground.
"It…didn't quite go as we planned." I said, frowning slightly. Kurapika looked at us questionably because of our answers. We looked at each other briefly and then looked back at him, decided silently it was best to tell him why it hadn't gone to plan. I shifted myself so that I was sitting cross legged on the floor myself, my hands on my ankles with the soles of my feet together.
Kurapika placed his bottle of tea onto the table after we finished explaining to him what had happened at the auction, and why it hadn't gone to plan for us.
"I see. So they're screening players…" He said, making me nod my head slightly.
"Say, what kind of training did you do?" Gon questioned him. I looked at him with interest as well, I was interested to know what Kurapika did to get really strong with his abilities; in a way I kind of wanted to copy as I wanted to get just as strong as him. Kurapika looked up in thought as he spoke.
"Once I decided to conjure chains, I did a lot of image training… I closed my eyes while feeling real chains. I drew hundreds, thousands of sketches. I looked at chains, licked chains…I also smelled and listened to chains. My master told me to do nothing but handle chains all the time." Kurapika explained to us. I looked at him slightly wide eyed…that sounded…dodgy…really dodgy. If it was anyone else than I would think they had a problem, and kind of did think maybe he had a problem; but I had to reassure myself that that was only done because he was told to do so by his master, not because he has a problem with chains. Kurapika looked back at us as I wiped the wide eyed look off my face and looked at him interested once more.
"After a while, he took them away. That was when I began to hallucinate chains…Eventually, those hallucinations began to feel heavy and cold, and I could hear them grating. Once I reached that point, I was able to conjure chains. Other than that, I did the same training as you. Ten and Ren." Kurapika said to us, finishing off on a lighter note.
Gon thought to himself once more, placing a hand onto his chin and looking down in thought. He then looked up once more, smiling widely.
"I know, Kurapika…You can be our master!" Gon said making me look at him in question.
"Why me?" I asked him, pointing to myself slightly. Gon turned his head to me, smiling widely.
"Because you can conjure barbed wire, but you have no idea what to do with it or how it works." He said to me cheerfully. I looked at him slightly annoyed, no need to put it so blankly. Gon looked back Kurapika smiling widely as I did the same. I furrowed my brows slightly; Kurapika looked at Gon with wide eyes, as if in shock about the question.
"You can point out what we're doing right." Gon said, continuing to smile widely. Kurapika closed his eyes and held up his hand to us.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot." He said to us, making me sigh somewhat in relief. It wouldn't have bothered me, but Kurapika still looked really sick; so I didn't want him putting himself through that pressure of training us while he was sick. Gon looked at him confused.
"My boss will be leaving tomorrow. I am obligated to accompany her." Kurapika explained, making me furrow my brows at him. I didn't want him to go yet; we only just met up again.
"You're leaving Yorknew City?" Gon questioned him.
"Yeah. I'm still concerned about the spiders… But it's been two days, so they're probably already gone." Kurapika explained to us. My frown widened, they weren't gone at all; but I couldn't tell him that. If need be I would handle the spiders myself while he got better, then he could stop worrying about them. Gon thought to himself, furrowing his brows and then looked up at Kurapika, smiling widely.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Gon said to him.
I thought to myself, if Kurapika was leaving tomorrow, then who knew when I would get to see him again. I would need to see him off tomorrow no matter what and I wanted to ask Melody to look after him for me and to text or call me if anything goes wrong. I was determined to look out for Kurapika in any way I could, even if I was so far away. Kurapika smiled at the two of us, deciding to change the subject.
"Who taught you two Nen? You should probably ask them rather than me." Kurapika said to us, making Gon's face light up. Wing… we could ask Wing. But would Wing do it? Or would he brush us off?
"Thanks, Kurapika!" Gon said, smiling widely at him. Kurapika smiled back at him and nodded his head slightly, grabbing his bottle of tea.
"You're welcome. Mishka, may I speak with you for a moment?" He asked me. I looked at him a little surprised and nodded my head, then turned my head towards Gon.
"I'll probably try and find my room afterwards so I can practice a little bit, so I'll meet up with you later okay?" I said to him. Gon nodded his head quickly, smiling widely as he began digging through his shorts pockets for his phone. I stood up off the floor and waited for my brother to leave the couch. Once he was up and walking towards the door, I followed him closely behind; making sure he wasn't going to fall over any time soon.
I followed him to the room where he was staying at. He opened the door, it was empty; I had no idea where Melody or Leorio had gone off to but I wasn't going to question either. He walked over to his bed and sat down slowly again. I took a seat on one of the chairs that was beside the bed. There was silence between us until my brother broke it.
"I can see you managed to find the trousers alright, that's good." Kurapika said making me look at him questionably.
"I assumed you didn't have any money as you, Gon and Killua are no longer in the hotel room." He said to me, making me laugh nervously and fiddle with the sleeves of my shirt, he was right about that; I had no money to my name now.
"Melody and Leorio said you were helping a lot to look after me, and wouldn't leave for the auction unless Melody gave you permission to under the conditions that she rung you if anything changed with me." He said to me making me look at him and nod my head, looking at him sternly.
"You always looked after me when I was sick; so it was my turn this time." I said to him. He leaned forward and dropped a hand lightly on top of my head, smiling slightly.
"You didn't have to. But thank you." He said to me. I furrowed my brows slightly and watched him from, my line of sight following up his arm. Kurapika looked at me with a questioning look and brought his arm back to him, putting his hand back into his lap with his other hand.
"Are you okay?" He asked. I thought over my words briefly, looking towards the door through the corner of my eyes and then back at him sternly once more.
"After I helped Gon and Killua with what they need to do, I want to join you and Melody and become a bodyguard." I said to him, looking at him seriously.
Kurapika looked at me with wide eyes at what I said. It wasn't a whim thing, I had been thinking about it for a while and after seeing Kurapika ill again with a mystery fever and still not looking his best now; I had decided that if I wanted to keep a good eye on my brother then working with him was probably the best thing.
"You always look out for other people, but you never look out for yourself…After I've helped Gon and Killua with what they need to do then I want to become a bodyguard and help look for everyone's eyes and look out for you." I said to him seriously. Kurapika continued to stare at me, wide eyed and shocked at what I said as I shifted in my seat slightly, fiddling with the sleeves of my training shirt once more and looked at my lap. The silence in the room was becoming unbearable, uncomfortable. I found myself fiddling with my sleeves more and more; trying to take my mind away from the silence. I heard Kurapika sigh, making my look up at him.
"You were right about not being the same little kid anymore. Travelling with Gon and Killua has made you mature more." He said to me. I furrowed my brows slightly, frowning widely at him. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"No, it's a good thing. It means you're growing up into a respectable young woman." He said to me, making me nod my head slightly. He looked at me sternly once more, taking in what I had said earlier about being a bodyguard.
"As for your statement about becoming a bodyguard. That's not up to me. You'll have to find someone and ask them. I'm not going to give you any more information but that; if you're serious then you'll find the person I mean." Kurapika said to me, making me nod my head, bringing back to seriously look to my face.
I looked out of the window, it had gotten dark; I should probably leave Kurapika to get some sleep and try to find my room so I could practice Hatsu, plus then I also knew where I would be sleeping for the night. I turned to face Kurapika again, smiling widely at him.
"I'm going to try and find my room now. I'm going to meet you and Melody at the airport so I can see you off; who knows when we'll get to see each other again!" I said to him, smiling sadly at him with furrowed brows. Kurapika nodded his head as I stood up to leave.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then." He said to me, as I smiled slightly at him and nodded my head. I was about to turn around to leave until I stopped.
"What's wrong?" I heard Kurapika. I took a deep breath and quickly turned around, walking hastily towards Kurapika. I stopped in front of him and threw my arms around his neck lightly so that I didn't hurt him or push him over by accident and buried my face into his shoulder. As said before, I didn't know the next time after tomorrow I was going to see him and I knew I was going to miss him again. I felt a pair of arms around my back, hugging me back, making me smile widely back into the fabric of my brothers tabard.
"See you tomorrow, big brother." I said to him, muffled through the clothing fabric, hugging him slightly tighter.
I was going to miss him, a lot.
Author note: If you can guess the part where I broke down laughing for a good half an hour or more before I could type/take anything seriously again, you win the internet.