oOShinahiOo - Wooray for it lives! I'm really hoping I'll meet a Mishka at the anime con, as original characters sometimes gets played; long shot but here's to hoping! If I remember correctly the Phantom Troupe are going to be there, so maybe I can get a view shots with them.
Hortenseyounka – Reply at the bottom as it's quite long!
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.
We stood in front of the pirates as they remained still. They watched us closely, stopping what they were doing at once. The air was becoming thick with tension. It was choking. But I didn't want to show fear, even though I was frightened in front of these guys. I had to be strong! I had to show that these guys didn't scare me! I stood next to Gon and Killua, who both remained unfazed by the guys, then again they were a lot braver than me by a mile stone; I was getting there though.
Everyone in the bar wore a black rabbit like hat. It made me wonder what it meant; maybe it was what proved that they were all in the same gang.
"Who are you guys? We booked this place for the night. Get lost!" The pick guy on the floor questioned us as he looked over every one of us, his can of alcohol still tightly held in his hand.
"We're here to talk. Would you please leave the city?" Kazsule said to the man, his hands on his hips and a calm look on his face. I couldn't help but look at him questionably, they were pirates! Why would they leave when someone asked them to? Silence fell in the room until the pirates laughed at Kazsule's request.
"Been a long time since I heard those words." One of the skinnier men said as he smirked at us. Us as a big group though put on a front of being unfazed by their laughing. We had to act tough if they were going to take us seriously.
Laughter continued to roar through the bar as the biggest of the group stood up. He kicked the empty beer bottles out of the way with his bare feet and through some alcohol in a circle. The man flicked open a lighter as he stared at us manically.
"Then no need for talk. Use force to make us leave." The man said as he dropped the lighter into the flammable circle around him. The giant man bent down so that he was sitting on his knees, his hands firmly on his knees as he continued to look at us manically.
"I don't care how many of you attack at once. If you can move me from this ring, I'll take you to see our boss." The man said as the flames raged in the alcohol circle. One of the guys from our group stepped forward. He was a bald coloured man with a white vest top and black track suit like trousers.
"We just have to move you out of the ring? If it's brawn you want, I'm your man." He said to the large man. That was when he began summoning his Nen. Something seemed off though.
As his muscles bulged and veins popped to become visible, it almost seemed like it took too long to gather all that energy. I furrowed my brows slightly. Even I was a beginner in Nen, after all I had only just came up with Cat's Cradle and Dog's Wire, but it didn't take me as long as it took him to gather the Nen required into one place. This could turn out bad.
The man yelled as he ran full speed towards the big guy. He ran through the fire and collided with the man inside the fiery ring; he was unaffected by the man's attempts. Instead, he just slammed his arms around him and began standing up, lifting the man off the ground.
"You're pretty strong…" He said as he walked to the edge of the fire ring. The giant man stopped and held the other man over the fire. His foot caught alight, making him squirm and yell in pain.
"Stop it! I lose…let me go!" The man yelled in pain. I clenched my right hand into a fist, summoning some on my Nen into it. I had to help. However Killua placed a hand on my shoulder, making me look at him questionably. Although no words were spoken he gave me a look silently telling me not to do anything with my Nen. I unclenched my hand dispersing the Nen that had gathered around my fingers. Gon quickly jumped into the air and kicked the larger man in the face, making him drop the man he was holding against his will.
Gon landed on the ground, one knee to the floor as he watched the man. The smaller man, whose foot was no longer on fire, began tending to it by rubbing his leg and breathing heavily, more likely from shock than the actual burn. The smell was unbearable. It smelt of burning flesh, which was a smell I didn't feel comfortable to be around.
"He admitted defeat. Why didn't you let him go?" Gon demanded from the bigger man as he stood up. The bigger man just watched Gon, the same manic expression on his face from before. It was as if he was enjoying causing that man pain. I could see a couple of the guys rush to the burnt man's aid to see if he was alright.
"I explained the rules. You lose if you step outside the ring. Anything else, including admitting defeat, is totally meaningless. You kicked me, then stepped outside the ring of fire. You've lost." The giant man told Gon, smiling at his defeat.
"Oh, crap! Hold on! Give me another try!" Gon said to the man, clicking on that he had lost. Me and Killua walked up to Gon on either side. Killua placed a hand onto Gon's shoulder making him look at our white haired friend.
"Don't bother, Gon… You're probably looking to use your new technique. But you shouldn't reveal it in front of all these people. Just let me handle this." Killua said to Gon, stepping forwards towards the man. Gon looked at me questionably as I nodded my head smiling widely at him.
"I think Killua knows what he's doing, let's watch." I said to him keeping the wide smile on my face. Gon nodded his head in agreement allowing the two of us to watch our eager friend.
The giant man inside the ring of fire watched Killua closely as he walked towards the bar. I looked at him questionably, wondering what he could be doing going over to the bar. He wasn't planning on drinking was he?! We're not old enough to drink! We're not old enough to be in a bar! But maybe that was okay because we were with adults who are.
"What's this? You gonna grow a pair now?" The giant man questioned Killua, who remained unfazed by his taunts. It took a minute or two for me to get it, but when I did I pulled a face. That was incredibly rude! Killua grabbed one of the unopened bottles from the bar.
"I'll be using this." Killua said simply to the bar tender. He turned around and leaned his elbow onto the bar, flicking off the top of the bottle with a small smile on his face.
"You wouldn't…" The giant man questioned in desperation. Killua suddenly vanished and reappeared above the man. He dropped the contains of the bottle onto the giant man's face. Suddenly, his face was on fire. Killua didn't have any lighters or matches, but I could take a guess on how he caused the spark.
The man's face lit up in flames. He began screaming in pain as Killua landed on the ground with his hands in his pockets. The man grabbed his face and rolled onto the ground. He rolled out of the ring and smashed into the wall. The wall broke under the force and landed on top of him. The group behind me and Gon gasped at what happened. I don't think they expected something like that to happen.
"There, I win." Killua said to him calmly and smugly. He held a smile on his face as he spoke. The larger man's head eventually went out leaving behind only smoke and a terrible smell of burning flesh. I couldn't help but cover my nose, it was revolting!
The larger man breathed heavily as he sat on his hands and knees. He sat up slowly and looked over his shoulder, his face twisted into a malicious glare as he gazed at Killua through burnt skin.
"D-Damn little brat!" The giant man shouted as he launched himself towards Killua. Killua turned himself round, getting ready to fight the man once more. The fight however never happened. Instead, one of the skinnier men kicked the larger man square in the face sending him flying towards the wall. I dropped my hands as we all gasped in shock. The skinnier man landed on the floor on his feet and glared at the large man with a glare so powerful he could set him on fire once more.
"You made up the rules… Don't get upset." The skinnier man scolded towards the larger man, who laid in a crumpled heap on the floor. The skinner man looked at Killua through the corner of his eyes, not moving from the spot he stood at.
"Come with me. I'll take you to the boss." The skinnier man said to Killua as he turned around and began walking away. All of us watched his retreating back before following him quickly, wondering where he was about to take us. At least he was true to his words.
We had followed the skinnier man through an underground tunnel. I stood next to Gon and Killua as we followed the man, feeling a lot safer that way in an unknown place. None of us had any idea where it was leading to. I was beginning to miss the doors, although somewhat grateful. At least it was warm in the underground tunnel, nothing worse than wearing a vest top and it feeling absolutely freezing.
The man shoved his hands in his pockets as we reached the end of the tunnel. In front of us were two giant orange doors that promptly opened once he stood in front of them. The doors slid open revealing an entire gym filled with people wearing white shirts, black rabbit like hats and green trousers. I looked around in awe, it had just about everything you could want in a gym!
"Eh, so your boss is in here?" Killua questioned as the skinny man walked into the gym. Killua's question was ignored; I wondered if Killua even expected an answer.
"Boss, we have visitors." The skinnier man called out to the person in front of him. I took a good look at the persons back. He was very muscly and it looked like he was doing weights. His white shirt was very tight fitting; it made him look kind of scary, or maybe that was because he was very muscly and that creeps me out a little bit. He had very tight looking red shorts that stopped at his mid-thigh.
"Who are these guys?" The man answered who I could only assume to be the boss of this place.
"They want to chase us out of town." The skinnier man told him calmly.
"Chase us out? Ah… Let's have a contest." The boss said as he placed his weights down and turned around to face up probably.
I looked at him questionably; he seemed very calm about everything, considering we wanted to chase him out of town.
"If you win, we'll leave the island. However, we choose the contest. How does that sound?" The boss questioned us. It sounded reasonable to me. But at the same time it could work against us, it wouldn't make much sense for it to work in our favour anyway.
"What happens if we lose?" Goreinu asked from the back of the crowd.
"Nothing. You'll just have to leave." The boss said to us. I looked at him harder, the questionable look on my face. Something didn't seem right. Why would they let us go so easily? Maybe I was over thinking it but it didn't seem right to me.
"Okay, let's do this." Kazsule said smugly with his arms crossed around his chest.
"The theme of this battle is sports. Each of these members will challenge you to a match in their best sport. One win per person. The first side to nine wins will be the victor." The boss of the pirates explained to us. All of us kept quiet as we took in his rules. They weren't all that bad, the pirates didn't seem to match the description given by the town.
One of the guys walked to the front. He smirked at us as he began speaking.
"I'm up first…I'll go with boxing." He said to us, his smirk turning into a smile as he held up his fists that were covered in a red pair of boxing gloves. The boss pointed to the Boxing ring that stood a few feet away from him. He kept the smile on his face and his eyes closed. The Boxing ring had a blue base and like any other Boxing ring it had normal black strings to keep the two fighters in.
"Well? Who's up?" The boss questioned us, turning his attention to all of us in our rather large group. A man with tanned skin and blonde hair walked forward. He wore a white vest top like most of us here and green baggy trousers.
"I've got this." He said confidently at the boss and his boxer.
The two fighters climbed into the ring and stood at opposite corners. The blonde man was given a pair of red Boxing gloves. The two of them leaned into the corners, their elbows resting against the Boxing ring rope as the boss of the pirates stood in the middle of them acting as referee.
"There's one special rule. You may use any item created by Nen." The said to both the fighters. I furrowed my brows. That's not how I remembered Boxing.
"You can't call that boxing!" One of the guys shouted from our crowd, confirming my thoughts. So we had a pretty good idea at what Boxing was, but did the pirates?
"Don't worry, I'll only use my fists. That rule's for your benefit." The Boxing pirate reassured as he pushed himself off the Boxing ring rope.
"Wanna tag out?" The pirate asked our Boxer, who was jumping from foot to foot warming himself up. He slammed his boxing gloves together and looked at the pirate staying as determined as he was when he walked in.
"No, I'll do it." He said confidently. The boss swung his arms outward and moved backwards, keeping out of the way of the two boxers.
"Fight!" The boss shouted, allowing the two boxers to begin their match.
The fighters bounced from one foot to another, neither one of them making a move to punch each other. Our guy was muttering something, I could only tell because I saw his lips move. I wasn't able to lip read, so I couldn't tell what he said. Suddenly our guy through his fist towards the pirate Boxer. His fist glowed a white Nen. The pirate boxer moved his head out of the way missing the punch; however his cheek started to bleed. I stared in owe. Our Boxer had managed to cause some damage to the pirate without touching him, in a way it was kind of amazing, but also frightful. Soon, our Boxer began a flurry of punches, I watched carefully. I saw the pirate move, it was sudden and too quick to see what actually happened, but he moved. The flurry of punches soon sent the pirate flying onto his back. The pirate grunted as he hit the floor hard.
"Yes, he's down! Too easy!" One of the guys in our group said excitedly. Something didn't feel right though. At least to me. It really did seem too easy, I had a feeling it probably wasn't over for our guy.
"No, it was a simultaneous hit." Gon said, only confirming my uneasy thoughts. I heard gasps as our Boxer fell to the floor with the pirate sitting up smirking to himself.
"What just happened?" Kazsule asked in shock as we stared at the limp body of our Boxing volunteer.
"He moved." I said simply to them, watching the ring closely. I saw Killua nod his head in agreement as he turned his attention back to the ring as well.
"He used teleportation. Of only his fists, with a short uppercut. His goal was to land a knockout counterstrike. It was obvious." Killua explained simply. It might have been obvious to Killua, but it wasn't obvious to me. I just knew that he moved, I didn't know how he did it though.
The boss of the pirates walked over to our boxing guy. He knelt down beside him and placed a hand onto the back of his neck. Our guy was lying flat on the floor, his face in the ground. The boss slowly stood back up after his short examination.
"Seems he's out cold… That's one win for us." The boss said to us calmly as he stood up straight. I looked at our members as they clicked their tongues in annoyance. Getting to eight wins was going to be hard. I looked at Killua. He held a hand on his chin and looked deep in thought. I furrowed my brows, maybe he was thinking about the worse for our team.
Soon another guy stood up. He balanced a football on his finger and held a rather cocky smirk.
"Okay, I'm up next… I'll go with juggling soccer balls." He said to us, wiggling the football on his finger. Gon walked forward determined.
"I'll go up…" Gon said only to be cut off by Killua.
"Wait, Gon." Killua said to him, drawing his attention. The white haired boy gathered me, Gon, Biscuit and himself into a small circle. He began whispering a plan to us as we stood closely together. Biscuit nodded her head at Killua's words. Our plan? Lose every fight. Killua had explained how it seemed impossible to win with the group we were with, if we wanted a chance, we needed to lose now and then come back when we had a proper plan.
"Indeed, that would be wise." She said in a whisper as Gon looked annoyed. We had decided to let Biscuit go up instead. Biscuit was good at many things, however out of all of us she looked like a girl the most, seeing as everybody was mistaking me for a very feminine boy. We could use that to our advantage.
The four of us broke away from our circle. Biscuit began walking up to the man who continued to balance the football on his finger.
"Okay, I'm up next." Biscuit said as she stood in front of the man with the football.
"A little girl? Now I'll have to take care not to injure you." The man said to Biscuit.
"Injure me with juggling?" Biscuit questioned innocently. The man chuckled slightly at Biscuit's question.
"We're allowed to attack using Nen. Provided you don't touch the ball using your hands." The man explained. Biscuit nodded her head slightly at the man's words.
"I understand." She said to him, keeping up the innocent act. It was kind of nerve whacking. We knew Biscuit wasn't the innocent little girl she was currently playing, but a fifty year old girl masquerading as a little girl who was brutal in her training methods.
"Moving anywhere inside the building is allowed. Whoever drops their ball first loses." The man explained further and bounced a ball towards Biscuit. Biscuit caught the ball in her hands and stared at it for a second before looking up to the man once more.
"Right! Got it!" Biscuit said to him. The man held his ball in one hand as he watched Biscuit almost lazily.
"Okay, let's get started. Ready…go!" The man said.
The two of them dropped their ball towards the ground and began lifting up a left to bounce it off. The ball lightly touched Biscuit's foot then rolled onto the floor. Everyone gasped at what happened as Biscuit smiled widely and giggled a little bit.
"That was harder than I expected… I lose." She said ending her sentence with a small chuckle. Killua began walking up with his hands in his pockets and a wide smile on his face.
"I'm up next, then. You wanna go, big boy?" Killua said and then taunted at the large man he had earlier set fire to. The large man glared at Killua and held his hand in a fist.
"You bet! Prepare yourself, brat!" He shouted over at Killua, still angry about what had happened earlier.
Killua and the large man walked over to a sumo ring. The man had chosen sumo wrestling, which wasn't that much of a surprise considering his size and what he did earlier. The man bent down with his fists touching the ground as Killua stood with his hands behind his back and a confident smile on his face. The boss stood in between the two acting as referee once more.
"Ready, begin!" The boss shouted, moving away from the two wrestlers. The large man launched himself towards Killua. I felt uncomfortable; it felt like he was planning on tearing Killua into two.
"I'll crush you!" He yelled as he ran towards Killua at a speed I didn't think would be possible. As the man got closer Killua jumped backwards and landed outside of the ring, his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, sorry about that… I stepped outside the ring." Killua said simply to the large man as he placed his hands behind his head once more.
After me and Gon had deliberately lost our matches, much to Gon's distaste it was the last match to go. Goreinu was the last person to go. The guy he was against chose Basketball. Goreinu of course lost. The boss blew his whistle ending the match as Goreinu began walking away from the Basketball hoop and towards our group once more.
"That's nine wins for us." The boss said simply to us as the rest of us turned around to walk away from the pirates.
"Get out. And we can do as we please in this city." The man who had beaten Goreinu said to us as we made our way towards the exit.
"Damn it you brat! Get back here! We need to fight again!" The large man who Killua had said on fire yelled at his retreating back. Guess he really didn't like Killua after his two stunts from earlier.
All of us had made our way out of the Pirates bass. It was still dark out, so we probably weren't in there for long. The oceans smell and breeze and turned into a welcoming thing after being in a stuffy hall filled with pirates and other bodies. Me, Gon, Killua and Biscuit all stood in front of our group as we stared at the Pirates base. We had done the right thing, even if they didn't agree, we had done it. At least that's what I wanted to believe anyway.
"When you saw we couldn't win with this line up, you decided to lose deliberately and gather information, huh?" Goreinu said to us, never taking his eyes off the Pirates base.
"But once a party has lost, they can't make another attempt." Kazsule said to us, although he didn't seem upset at the outcome.
"But it's okay if we simply switch out one member. It was a worthwhile risk." One of Kazsule's henchmen said, seeming rather okay with the outcome as well. I could only assume everybody was taking the loss extremely well.
"You can count us out." Asta has said on behalf of her team. We turned out attention to Asta and her team. They had their backs turned to us getting ready to leave.
"We've accomplished our original objective, keeping the Bombers from completing the game. It'll be impossible for them to assemble a team of sixteen. You should probably give up on this contest. If you end up obtaining the card, you'll just become a target." Asta said to us as her and her team left. What she had said and brought doubts into everyone's mind. One by one everybody began vanishing into the air leaving the area and most likely quitting the game. I furrowed my brows, it was kind of sad.
We stood watching as people one by one left us, leaving just a small handful of us and now nowhere close to actually having a team large enough to beat the Pirates. In our small handful, it was only me, Biscuit, Gon, Killua and Goreinu.
"They don't get it… It makes sense to obtain this card quickly." Goreinu said as we stared at the sky.
"To avoid potential internal conflict." Killua finished off as me and Gon looked at him.
"Excatly." Goreinu said to Killua. Killua was full of answers today; then again out of me and Gon he was usually the one who used his head more. Gon looked at Killua confused as I furrowed my brows, I didn't really get what he meant either.
"You need at least sixteen people to participate. Even if you use Clone, you can only obtain three copies of Patch of Shore. This even was designed to incite fighting. That's what you meant." Killua explained to me, Gon and Biscuit who apparently didn't understand either, but turning his attention back to Goreinu. I thought back, wondering what Killua meant with him saying "That's what you meant." Did it have something to do with what Goreinu said earlier?
"I had to think about that, since I didn't understand right away." Killua said, looking up to Goreinu who looked towards the Pirates base on top of the hill.
"Assuming we five are capable of winning, we still need five more to take up the task. And ideally, they'd already be in a party of twelve. Do you have any leads?" Goreinu asked us, a wide smiling appearing on his face.
Me, Killua and Biscuit hovered around Gon as he summoned his book. He ran his fingers down the names, trying to figure out who would be the strongest.
"Looking at the names on my list, Chrollo's probably the strongest." Gon said, instantly sending shivers up my spine. Even though he was a fake, the name still sent shivers up my spine. He was a powerful man and me; Gon and Killua were only a few feet away from him when Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe were having their hostage exchange.
"Kurapika said he was a fake though." I said to them, which made Gon and Biscuit look at me in question as Killua continued to look at the book.
"Who is it, then?" Gon asked, making me shrug my shoulders. I didn't know who it could be, it could be anyone.
"Well, it's probably a member of the Troupe." Killua said to Gon, which only sent more shivers up my spine. Knowing a member of the Troupe was here had made the game sound much more undesirable.
"Why would a member of the Troupe be here?" Gon asked Killua.
"Maybe to beat the game?" Killua asked back equally as baffled as Gon.
"But wouldn't they have used their own name?" Gon argued back only getting more confused.
"That's true." Killua admitted in defeat. I poked in between the two, furrowing my brows.
"Do we have to find out if it's a Troupe member or not?" I asked the two of them, making them look at me slightly before shrugging their shoulders.
Silence fell between the five of us as we tried to decide if we really wanted to know if it was a Troupe member or not.
"We can use Sight Vision." Goreinu suggest to us, catching mine, Gon's, Killua's and Biscuits attention.
"If this person isn't here to beat the game, they won't bother to collect cards." Goreinu said to us, making the four of us nod our heads in agreement. He was right about that, but if they weren't here to beat the game did that mean they were only here for fun? This game was brutal, really brutal, being here only for fun seemed a little farfetched to me. But this was my first game after all and maybe that's why people played them, only for fun.
We used the Card Sigh Vision like Goreinu had suggested to see how many cards the person had collected. The results were disappointing. They had no cards in their restricted slots and six cards in their free slot.
"This guy's not even trying." Killua said as me, him and Gon were bent over looking at the book. Gon pressed the book expanding what the cards were.
"His only cards are for food and water." Gon said, seeming very confused as to why he would have those cards.
"That makes it easier to invite them." Goreinu said to us. I quickly turned around and shook my head at him; I didn't want to invite them. If they were a Troupe member I would be as good as dead. Gon looked over his shoulder at Goreinu.
"But if it really is a Troupe member, we won't invite them. We'll just ask a few questions." Gon said making me look at him in confusion. That was just as bad!
"Then there's no point in bothering. Since it's defiantly one of them." Killua said, making me panic slightly as I turned around to look at the book again, my brows furrowed in worry.
Gon turned his attention back to Killua, annoyed at what Killua had said.
"Finding out who they are is important, but I'd rather learn why they're here!" Gon said to Killua in annoyance as I shook my head quickly again.
"I don't want to talk to them if they're a Troupe member!" I said to the two. It was dangerous and stupid, they saw what the Troupe was capable of, and we were even held hostage by them. If that happened again, Kurapika wouldn't be here to save us this time. Killua stood up straight and towered over me making me sink to the ground slightly as he moved closer to Gon, my face turning into one of annoyance.
"Are you an idiot?! You're gonna ask them why they're here? They aren't gonna tell you!" Killua spat angrily at Gon. Soon Gon pushed back at Killua, glaring just as hard at him as I sunk to the ground a little more watching the two, growing more and more annoyed.
"Yeah, I'm an idiot! I'm an idiot, so I'm still gonna ask!" Gon spat back at Killua, pushing his nose against his. It was now getting ridiculous. I pushed myself between the two and glared at both of them, pushing them away from each other with a hand on each of their chests.
"You're both idiots arguing about it now! What if they are the Troupe and they're really close?! They might find us now!" I spat back at the two of them, only earning glared from the two of them. The three of us ended up colliding heads with each other as we glared at each other, before breaking away. Killua turned his back toward me and Gon, Gon shoved his head back into his book and I turned my back towards Gon and Killua.
"Then go right ahead!" Killua spat back at Gon as he placed his hands onto his hips.
"I will!" Gon spat back at Killua as he sat cross legged on the ground.
"Idiots!" I spat back at the two of them, crossing my arms over my chest with a glare on my face. If Gon wanted to talk to the Phantom Troupe then fine! He's being an idiot anyway!
Eventually day break come. Me, Gon and Killua ended up ignoring each other until Gon took out the card to leave us and go see who this person pretending to be Chrollo was. Gon held the card out in front of him.
"I'm off." He spat at me and Killua.
"Knock yourself out!" Killua spat back at Gon.
"You're both idiots." I spat back at the two of them. Our little conversation only irritated the three of us even more and made us return to our glaring at each other. If looks could kill, all three of us would have been dead. We broke away from each other allowing Gon to hold up his card into the air.
"Accompany on! Chrollo Lucilfer!" Gon shouted, making all five of us disappear into a bright yellow light, travelling towards the place where the person using Chrollo's name was. Even though me, Gon and Killua were angry at each other, we still wouldn't let each other face impending doom alone.
The five of us landed on the ground once more after our travelling. It didn't seem to take long at all. It was actually very fast. The light disappeared. We stayed crouched to the ground, looking ahead of us for this person using Chrollo's name. The area was covered in fog; it smelt damp as if it had been raining recently. Tree's surrounded the area; it was pretty cut off from any sort of civilisation. Perfect spot to dispose of us all without anyone knowing.
We listened closely as the fog began slowly lifting away. The sound of moving water flooded my ears. I could only just about spot a body in the fading fog. As the body began clearer and clearer me, Gon and Killua gasped to ourselves having a vague idea of who it was.
"No way…" Killua said quietly to us as not to disturb the person who was standing up in the water. As the fog cleared a little bit more, the bright red hair made me feel confident of whom it was.
"Hisoka!" Gon gasped quietly to us as I nodded my head. Suddenly he turned his head around and part of his body. I felt my face instantly turn red at the sight.
"Well, well… I have unexpected visitors. And I thought I told Kai to keep people away. It's been a while." Hisoka said to us as he turned around fully to face us. He was completely naked. He had mentioned Kai but I was too distracted at the moment to wonder how Kai ended up here. My face was burning, and yet I couldn't get myself to move at all, or even turn away.
Hisoka then began glowing purple with Nen. I felt Gon and Killua cover themselves with Nen, making me snap my head away from Hisoka and look at the two of them. I decided to do the same and activated my Nen to surround me just as violently as Gon's and Killua's did. What was I going to do?! I felt really uncomfortable. Hisoka was after all naked and I've never seen a boy or man naked before! This is a shock!
"As I thought. You've matured quite a lot. It appears you found an excellent teacher." Hisoka said to us as he placed a hand onto his hips. Me, Gon and Killua however couldn't concentrate, our Nen had disappeared. We could only stare at one thing. The thing between Hisoka's legs. It was just…there! My face was extremely hot and red in embarrassment. Gon and Killua pulled awkward faces as we just stared at it. The three of us were just unable to move, it was so awkward and uncomfortable and I didn't know what I was meant to do in this kind of situation.
"As I anticipated, you grow more appetizing every day." Hisoka said as the three of us awkwardly moved our eyes to look at Hisoka's face. It was doing….things.
"Wh-Who is this pervy freak?" Goreinu stuttered as Hisoka turned his attention to him instead of me, Gon and Killua.
"Are you their teacher?" Hisoka questioned before turning his attention to Biscuit. Hesitantly I turned my eyes towards Biscuit, my face still very hot and red. Biscuit looked to be enjoying the site. That just made me confused. Once she realised Hisoka was looking at her she turned away acting embarrassed.
"Stop it!" She squealed in delight and began walking away a little bit in her own thoughts.
The fog had lifted away completely. Me, Gon and Killua had managed to move ourselves away when Hisoka decided to walk forwards. I turned myself around to allow him to get dressed, although Hisoka didn't seem greatly concerned about my presence there. I could hear rustling of clothes of Hisoka began getting dressed on dry land. My face still felt hot and very red. That image would forever be burned into my brain, I didn't want it to be but it was. I would never be able to look at Hisoka the same way again. Biscuit looked at me questionably before turning around to face Hisoka once more.
"So what do you want with me…No, with Chrollo?" Hisoka questioned us.
"I have a question. Why are you here?" Gon asked Hisoka straight forwardly. I felt a poke in my side and looked at Biscuit who had poked me. I took a deep breath and turned around to face Hisoka myself, my face still bright red.
Hisoka turned his attention to me, Gon and Killua as if deep in thought. He slid back some of his fringe from his face as he smiled at us.
"I'm looking for Chrollo. There's actually a way to remove Kurapika's Nen from him." Hisoka said to us, taking the three of us back by surprise. Hisoka knew of a way to purge Kurapika's Nen from Chrollo? That would be bad!
"You can purge it." Gon said to him simply, as if knowing Hisoka could do just that. I could feel my face returning back to normal with the seriousness of the conversation. Hisoka looked at us amused before speaking again.
"So you knew? Then that makes this easier. I'm looking for Chrollo, to give him that information, but I have no leads. That's when I remembered that some of the spiders were interested in this game. I thought that maybe they would know Chrollo's whereabouts. And by choosing this name, I ensure that they will come to me." Hisoka said explained to us. That made a lot of sense, but it also meant that the Phantom Troupe were probably in this game too. That just made to game so much more dangerous knowing that, a danger I didn't want to put myself into. But it seemed I have no choice but to.
"I get it. He was just pretending to be a member of the Troupe." Killua said to me and Gon, the both of us nodding our head. Whilst it was nice knowing Hisoka wasn't part of the Troupe, it still didn't make him any less freaky.
Hisoka placed a hand onto his hips and looked at us, keeping the same sly grin on his face. He moved his hip a little to the side as we watched him carefully.
"Now, it is my turn for a question. You didn't come here just to ask that, did you?" Hisoka asked us.
"No, I did." Gon said point blank. I looked at Gon with a small smile on my face as Killua dropped his head, not really knowing what else to say. Hisoka looked bewildered; he thought we had come here to do something else. But what would that something else be? To fight him? We weren't that stupid.
"Um…" Biscuit said from beside us, drawing mine, Gon, Killua and Hisoka's attention. Me, Gon and Killua looked at Biscuit in disbelief. She had her hands together and put on a very innocent act. It was almost unsettling.
"Actually, we are looking for people who are really strong. Won't you please join us?" Biscuit questioned Hisoka, pouting her lips and looking as cute as she could possibly muster up. Me, Gon and Killua continued to look at her in disbelief. Did…did she like Hisoka?
"Hmm? Sure. Why are you looking for strong people?" Hisoka agreed and then questioned Biscuit. We dragged Biscuit in front of us. Goreinu crossed his arms over his chest as me, Gon and Killua glared at her.
"Wait, h-hold on…I'm against this. It's too dangerous." Goreinu said to Biscuit as me, Gon and Killua nodded our heads quickly agreeing with his words.
"Yeah, you don't know who this guy is, Bisky!" Killua yelled at her. Biscuit shook her head disagreeing with Killua as me and Gon nodded her ours agreeing with him.
"Oh? That's not true. I can sense that he has a kindred spirit." Biscuit said to us, holding her fingers cross her chest with the words written in Nen "His lying."
After going along with Biscuits untold plan we allowed Hisoka into the group. However he did make one demand. If he joined, then Kai had to join to. I had almost forgotten about Kai. In fact I had forgotten about Kai completely. We had to agree. Me, Gon and Killua knew Kai was strong; he was once a floor master at Heaven's Arena which spoke for itself. However, Kai scarred me.
"How did Kai get here anyway? He doesn't have Nen." I asked Hisoka, remembering that Kai didn't have Nen, he even said so back in Heaven's Arena. Kai was psychic instead, but he never told how the two worked. Hisoka looked at me briefly before smirking slightly, only sending uncomfortable chills down my spine.
"You'll have to ask him. Kai!" Hisoka said, and then yelled out into the woods that surrounded the area. Rustling came from behind us, making the five of us turned around quickly to see who or what was coming; although the answer should have been obvious. Kai emerged from the tree's, looking very annoyed.
"Oh good, you're done with your bath." Kai said sarcastically to Hisoka, who took no notice of his attitude. Kai turned his attention to me, Gon and Killua before raising an eyebrow at me.
"What?" He asked as I looked at him questionably.
"How did you get here? You need Nen to come into the game." I asked him. Kai rolled his eyes and pushed his way between me, Gon and Killua, clicking his tongue in annoyance as we watched him stand next to Hisoka.
"Yeah well nobody stays the same." Kai said simply as he turned around to face us. He shoved his hands into his pockets as me, Gon and Killua regrouped between Goreinu and Biscuit. Hisoka smirked at Kai before turning his attention to us once more.
"We should head to the City of Love just ahead, Aiai. It's a great place for new meetings. Perhaps you can find strong people there." Hisoka said to us. We had nowhere else to go, that was our best bet.
Me, Gon, Killua and Biscuit walked in front of Hisoka, Kai and Goreinu. Hisoka and Kai walked a bit further behind us, which meant Goreinu was waiting for them quite a bit to make sure they were keeping up. Me, Gon and Killua turned our attention to Biscuit as she smirked at me, making me look at her in confusion.
"So why was your face bright red? You act like you've never seen a guy naked." Biscuit said to me. I shook my head at her, continuing to look at her confused.
"I haven't….until today. I don't think I want to ever again!" I said to her, shaking my head quickly and closing my eyes tightly. I was so sure of not wanting to. I heard Biscuit hum in confusion making me look at her again as I placed my hands behind my back, holding my fingers lightly together.
"But you're a boy. How are you going to avoid seeing yourself naked?" Biscuit said to me, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Mishka's a girl." Gon said to Biscuit as we continued walking towards Aiai. Biscuit looked at me and Gon in disbelief as Killua nodded his head, shoving his hands into his shorts pockets.
"Y-You're lying." Biscuit stuttered out. I shook my head disagreeing with her and smiled apologetically at her with my brows furrowed.
"I did try telling you earlier." I said to her, continuing to hold the smile on my face as Gon and Killua nodded in agreement with me. Biscuit turned her head away slightly, looking annoyed and rather embarrassed at what she had learnt.
"You should dress more like a girl then. People are getting confused because you look like a feminine boy with the way you dress." Biscuit said nodding her head slightly. I looked at her, annoyed at her remark.
"Yeah I'll keep that in mind." I said annoyed to her.
Our conversation turned quiet as we continued on our journey. We crossed over a bridge that looked just barely able to hold us up. The City of Love, Aiai seemed to be quite far away. No matter where we walked we were still surrounded by trees, stuck in the middle of the forest.
"What did you mean about him lying?" Killua asked Biscuit after our long silence as we re-entered another tree covered path. The trees had vines attached to them; things like Snakes probably lived and slept on the vines, so we would have to be careful not to disturb anything.
"Technically, I should say he wasn't speaking the truth." Biscuit said to us. I looked at her confused; I thought they were the same thing.
"How could you tell?" Gon asked her equally as confused as I was.
"I had a gut feeling. After lying for fifty years, I can recognise a fellow liar." Biscuit said all too proudly of herself. I looked at her with my brows furrowed. That wasn't something to be proud of, being able to lie for fifty years. Biscuit laughed at the end of her sentence as me, Gon and Killua continued to stare at her in disbelief. Biscuit was…something.
"Since he's hiding something, we'll keep him around to see what's up. Plus he's really strong, right?" Biscuit said to us. Strong was one way to put it. He was creepy too…really creepy. At that moment me, Gon and Killua felt shivers run down our spines as our faces turned pale and shoulders hunched up. Hisoka was staring at us. Me, Gon and Killua immediately stopped walking.
"Hey, Hisoka! You walk in front!" Killua demanded from Hisoka.
We watched as Hisoka walked past us. The three of us stood closely together as we watched Hisoka closely. Goreinu walked with Hisoka and Kai to the front. Once the three of them were in the front, we began walking towards Aiai once more. Hisoka turned his head around to look at Biscuit, who immediately started acting awe struck once more by clapping her hands together and pursing her lips. Hisoka turned his head around once more to talk to Goreinu, but about what I wasn't sure. They spoke too quietly and I could only see their backs. Not that I wanted to be near Hisoka anyway, he was too creepy! I couldn't help but think over his story…it seemed too odd. I looked at Killua who had his hand back onto his chin. He seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Our journey was long, but we eventually made it out of the forest and to the City of Love, Aiai. A giant pink heart with a smiley face stood out in the sky above Aiai. It shouted "Aiai" into the air. It did it repeatedly. This City seemed very strange.
We entered the gates of the city. Killua seemed disinterested in the city. Biscuit seemed interested though and me and Gon just looked around at all the sites of the city. It was huge and the giant heart yelling Aiai was starting to grate on my nerves. Did everyone in this city just ignore the giant pink heart? Or where they so used to it that it faded like background noise to them? As we walked a girl tripped over in front of us but behind Hisoka.
She wore a green dress with a yellow and lighter yellow long sleeved stripy shirt underneath. Her hair was brown and tied into a pony tied that had multiple ties in it. Her dress ended just short of her ankles. She wore yellow and lighter yellow stripy socks with brown shoes.
The girl began feeling around as her book and glasses lied on the floor beside her. She seemed almost blind without her glasses, which looked as if they had swirly lenses. If that was the case than how could she see anyway?
"Where are my glasses?" The girl asked as he felt around for them.
"Why not give them to her? You might become friends." Hisoka questioned then said to Gon, who looked at the girl very confused as she continued feeling around for them. As Gon looked as Hisoka we heard another small squeak. We looked at Goreinu, who was staring at a girl sitting on the floor with toast in her lap.
This girl had blonde long hair and blue eyes. Her dress was pink and like the other girls, it ended short of her ankles. Over her shoulders was a red and white shawl. Her shoes were red with a red and white tongue. Her bag was also red and white and laid on the floor next to her.
"Hey… Watch where you're going! Be more careful!" The girl said to Goreinu, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"S-sorry." He stuttered out apologising to the girl. The girl stood back up and dragged her bag up with her. She shoved her toast back into her mouth and began running away from Goreinu.
"I'm gonna be late!" She complained as she ran towards her destination, wherever that might have been.
"You weren't supposed to apologise. You should have told her to watch where she was going and started a fight." Hisoka said to Goreinu. That seemed a bit…odd. But it also seemed like Hisoka had been here before so many that was the way to go, listen to Hisoka's advice here; no matter how odd and backwards it seemed.
"Stop it!" We heard someone yell. We turned our attention to see a girl with short brown hair and purple eyes.
This girl wore a blue tank sleeveless belly top. She wore a blue skirt to match. Around her waist was a blue ribbon like fabric. It seemed to connect to the blue collar around her neck. On her chest were two dark blue swirly circles. She was being grabbed by the wrist of one man and cornered by the other two.
"Release me! I'll scream…" We heard her say. Gon was the first one to immediately step into the scene.
"Hold it! Let go of her!" Gon shouted at the three men at the top of his lungs. Killua soon joined Gon and punched him in the back of the end sending Gon to the ground. I looked at him confused and immediately walked up to the two myself.
"That hurt…" Gon whined to Killua, rubbing the spot where Killua had punched him as Killua glared at Gon with his hands on his hips.
"How could you fall for such a cliché?!" Killua said to Gon. I reached the two and punched Killua in the back of the end, making him sit on the ground with Gon. Killua looked up to me, glaring with his hand on the back of his head.
"Why did you do that?!" Killua yelled at me as I glared at him with my own hands on my hips.
"Cliché or not Gon was going to help her!" I said to Killua, bending down close to his face and glaring back at him.
We glared at each other until we heard a shriek of joy and turned our attention to it. Biscuit was standing in front of a man with short brown hair tied into a pony tail. She looked very loved up. Killua dropped his head in annoyance as me and Gon looked at the scene slightly confused.
"You want me to model for your hairstyling?" Biscuit shrieked happily. I didn't get it. It was just hair.
"Please allow me to cut your long, lovely hair." The hairdresser asked Biscuit, who agreed without hesitation. I stood up straight and sighed slightly to myself. If we stayed here we weren't going to get anything down and I really doubted we would find strong fighters here.
"There's no point in hanging around this city." Killua said annoyed as I nodded my head.
"There probably isn't anyone strong here." I said keeping my hands on my hips as I furrowed my brows slightly. Biscuit was just….weird. Killua pushed himself off the floor and walked towards Hisoka. I removed a hand from my hip and offered it to Gon to help him stand up. Gon smiled widely at me and grabbed a hold of it, pulling himself off the ground.
We let go of each other's hands and began making our way towards Killua. When we caught up with him we began following Hisoka through the city. Biscuit had somehow managed to drag herself away from the hair dresser that wanted to cut her hair. Goreinu followed us, standing behind Biscuit. I looked at Killua who seemed to be deep in thought before turning my attention back to Hisoka.
As we left the crowded part of the City of Love Aiai, the seven of us slowed to a halt. Gon turned his attention to me and Killua as we turned around to face him.
"Hey, Killua, Mishka….I've been thinking. We should probably try and recruit Tsezgerra. Even if he doesn't join we should still meet with him, so he'll be on our binder list." Gon explained to us. I smiled widely and nodded my head; it seemed like a good idea. If I remembered correctly Tsezgerra had already completely the game, so he would have no reason to try and complete it again.
"It would be good to know what they're doing." Killua said to Gon as he turned his head away. Gon walked up to Hisoka and stood in front of him. Hisoka stared at Gon questionably.
"Hisoka, let me see your binder. I want to see if Tsezgerra is on the list of players you've met." Gon asked Hisoka. Hisoka looked at Gon confused.
"List?" He repeated after Gon, wondering what Gon could have possibly meant. Gon had explained what the list was. Hisoka summoned his book and began flicking through the pages to the back. He looked through the names.
"There's Tsezgerra." He said simply. Me and Gon ran to either side of Hisoka and looked at his book as he pointed to Tsezgerra's name.
"Really?" Gon questioned as we stared at the spot he pointed at.
"Yes, right here." Hisoka said to Gon. Killua came up beside me, he seemed annoyed, agitated even. I looked at him questionably before looking back at Hisoka's book.
Gon summoned his own book and began flicking through the pages. He held up the spell card to Hisoka, but didn't allow him to touch it.
"Then, Hisoka, recite this spell… We'll do the talking." Gon said holding the card up to Hisoka's face. Hisoka nodded his head and recited the spell.
"Contact on, Tsezgerra." He said simply to the book. We soon heard Tsezgerra's voice through Hisoka's book. Gon did all the talking until we agreed on a place to meet up. Once the place was agreed Goreinu summoned his book and recited the spell "Accompany". In a burst of yellow light, we shot towards Tsezgerra's destination, ready to meet with the man who had completed this game in hopes asking him to join us.
It was a long shot, but we had to try.
Hortenseyounka - Yes, I'm back! I understand what you're saying about Mishka's naivety, but here is my take on it (you don't have to accept this so please don't feel like you must). Mishka and Kurapika are the last surviving members or a now dead clan. It's very clear that Kurapika want's revenge. Due to what was witnessed at a young age, he wants to try and keep her as pure and innocent as he psychically could; obviously this can't always happen because what he does will rub off onto her, such as wanting to get back everybody's eyes. For the most part though, Kurapika would want to keep his little sister exactly that, he's little sister; almost like a denial that she will grow up one day.
I'm glad you like Dog's wire! It is honestly my favourite Hatsu, Cat's Cradle being my second favourite.
Don't worry about the long wait for a review, this story was on pause for a long time! The manga's are amazing aren't they?! Believe it or not, the 2011 version closely follows the manga, while the 1999 version does not.
Author Note – Football = Soccer ball. Mishka is now scared for life, I hope you're happy.