Disclaimer: I do not own HunterxHunter, nor do I profit commercially from these writings.

ABC Series

G IS FOR GAME

Honestly, this was a game. At least for him, this was just a game. However, he never thought that they would think this as a game too.

"Killua? What's wrong?"

The young silver-haired Zaoldyck didn't reply. The question from his black-haired companion didn't even register to his brain because he was too busy staring. Killua Zaoldcyk continued ignoring Gon Freeces as the latter kept prodding and poking the former.

Currently, both Killua and Gon were partaking in some relatively illegal activities in the underworld. …As in mafia-kind of underworld and not hell-kind of underworld. They wouldn't ever go to hell-kind of underworld; that was more of their dear friend Kurapika's wacko family's expertise. They wouldn't be surprised if one day they got a call from Kurapika telling them that her family was going for some vacation to Hades or the Underworld, or whatever you call it.

Anyway! Killua and Gon were participating in some tournament held by some underground organization. It was a tri-annual event that had no restrictions on anything, including age and Nen. Even if you were a toddler with no Nen abilities, you could still participate as long as you could fight. Also, the rewards ranged from handsome amount of cash to rare artefacts.

"Killua? Helloooo? Earth to Killua?"

Killua and Gon had passed the preliminary stage and were just killing time for the rest of the day as their next match was tomorrow. Hence, they decided to go and check out the Team Category. The tournament was divided into two categories: the Individual and the Team, and they were quite self-explanatory in the rules. In the Team Category, they had to have at least three and maximum five people per team.

Right now, Killua was staring at one of the teams that were fighting in the arena. Team A consisted of five grown-up people, all Nen-users but Killua could tell that individually they weren't very good fighters. Well, in the first place that was why they teamed up anyway. Team B, however, simply blew his mind away.

It was a group of kids. Children.

The two older kids were probably in their pre-adolescence, while the other two were barely out of their preschool age. Only the older boy had the barest hint of muscles, and the rest were just children with soft flesh and round faces. They were so delicate and cute, it was hard to see them as fighters.

"Wow! Kids!" Gon exclaimed, finally noticing the cause of Killua's moment of dumbness.

Killua just nodded silently.

"Ne, Killua…" Gon leaned sideways towards Killua and asked in a whisper, as if asking a secret question. "Don't they look familiar?"

Indeed. One of the reasons why Killua was so dumbstruck when observing the group of kids were because they looked so suspiciously familiar. All of them had brown hair and brown eyes; very plain and nondescript. None of them had any distinguishable features; it was as if they were clones of each other, only with minor varieties like how both the girls had wavy hair.

"Oh, here comes the Kiddies team."

Killua's ears virtually perked at the words. He turned to the spectator who had just said that comment. Gon had opened his mouth and was about to say something, but Killua shoved his fist into his mouth to silence him.

"Those kids are scary like hell. Where the fuck did they learn the art of fighting? It's as if they been fightin' all their bloody lives."

"Yeah. But what made me almost shit my pants is the fact that those two brats there," he pointed at the youngest boy and girl, "ain't even Nen-users."

"Seriously? You're shittin' me."

"Naw, I ain't jokin', pal."

"But how the fuck did they beat the lovin' shit outta those Nen-users in matches before this?"

"Eh, beats me. Maybe they're just bloody damn good."

"No shit."

Killua then observed the expression and body language of the kids. She was jittery like hell, hopping from one foot to another in excitement. That uncannily familiar grin on her face was so wide it almost split her face horizontally into two. Beside her was the youngest boy who looks like her twin, staring at the opponents with passive expression that struck a familiar chord in Killua's bones. Similar indifferent face was on the oldest girl's face, while the oldest boy was so much at ease that he looked more like he was waiting for a bus in a bus stop than waiting for sign to start the brawl.

GONG!

That was the signal for the fight to start, and Killua held his breath.

He scrutinised the kids. He studied their movements. He analysed their fighting skills.

"Shit."

Of course he knew these kids.

"Uh, Killua. Wasn't that your Shadow Steps technique just now?"

Indeed. All of the assassin families; including the Zaoldyck, had Shadow Steps technique in their skillsets but it varied for each family. This particular one that the oldest boy in the group had just used belonged to Killua's family. Killua had only ever taught that skill to one person in the world.

Killua groaned.

There was no mistaking it. Those moves, those attacks, those techniques; those were Meta's.

The more he observed, the more he could see each kid through their disguise, and the influence in their fighting style.

The eldest of the bunch (at least by appearance) was definitely Meta; who fought mainly bare-handed and obviously favoured good ol' physical brawl. His martial arts skills utilised his arms for deflecting attacks and his legs for the offensive; something that Killua suspected was taught by Kuroro Lucifer himself. His overall combat style was, strangely enough, predominantly Gon and Killua style. He was aggressive, unlike his father who preferred counter-attack. Perhaps it could be attributed to the fact that Kurapika, Killua, and Gon were the ones who taught combat to the boy for the earliest years of his childhood. He could only imagine that the Spider Head decided to let the kid developed the fighting style he was most familiar with, and built it from there. The man also obviously had ridiculously high expectation on the kid. For obvious reasons, Meta never used any 'special' Nen skills, opting only to use those advanced techniques of Nen to enhance his combat abilities. He couldn't possibly summon any of his daemons to the arena as it would cause uproar. After all, those daemons weren't supposed to exist in the eyes of the masses.

That older girl who fought extensively—and by extensive Killua meant massively—using Nen was definitely Bia. That kind of finesse in Nen manipulation—courtesy of long gruelling years of training and the presence of one very particular mentor (you know who)—only belonged to that girl, along with her utter aversion in close combat. She hadn't moved from her spot since the beginning of the fight! Besides, she had the lousiest combat skill among her adopted siblings. She had no weapons on her, but Killua was pretty sure she had some kind of electromagnetic barrier erected around herself that would automatically incinerate anyone that managed to get close to her person. She was ruthless like that. Killua wasn't very familiar with Bia, but he had the suspicion that her combat training was overseen mostly by the Spiders. Kurapika had told him once that her biological brother was the newest member of the Ryodan; that half-dead man that they saw during their infiltration to Bensalem years ago. The man was nice enough, if not a bit too reserved to Killua's liking. From what he knew, the Spiders were the types that took care of their own. It seemed that Bia was as good as being a Spider. Kurapika would throw tantrums if she knew. Or maybe she already knew?

The youngest boy was unmistakably Noah; what with that blank face. He fought with a bisento that was twice his height and he swung it around like it was hollow inside the shaft, but Killua knew better. He was the counter-attack type—much like his father—using momentum and redirecting attacks to cut short his energy expense and effectively using backfire tactics on the opponents. He fought with cold calculation and precision, it was giving Killua the chill. No child his age should have that kind of precision in their movements. The kid was creepy like hell, and Kurapika once told Killua that Noah took on his paternal grandmother's trait more than his parents. Killua didn't even know that Kuroro had a mother—he assumed that he had none since he came from Ryuusei-gai; suffice to say that most Ryuusei-gai people were orphans—but whoever Kuroro's mother was, she had to be THE shit. Kurapika also mentioned in the passing that the bisento belonged to said grandmother. Well, at least the lady had some great taste in weaponry. The bisento was wickedly beautiful.

The youngest girl—who happened to be the most overzealous of the whole bunch—was obviously Lucian's Little Banshee; Sarai. She was using a weapon that was reminiscent of Kurapika's tanto during the Hunters Exam, but was far modified as it looked more like combination between nunchaku and katana rather than a pair of tanto. It was basically two short katana connected by a slim chain to each other by the butt of their hilt. She mainly used the weapon in two-sword style sword fighting, but she would periodically use the wicked weapon like a three-section staff or a morning star. This form of weapon fighting was passed down from Kurapika, as she claimed that it was her family's specialty in the Kurutan martial arts. She was very agile but wasn't very strong, so she compensated by slipping around and going for the small openings of her opponents. But oh Lord. The kid was just like a bull from Hell with its butt on fire. She charged head-on recklessly, and it was as if she had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. Leorio often complained about the ungodly amount and frequencies of injuries on her body, and wasn't shy in voicing his opinion that the girl probably was secretly masochistic. The comment earned him a gusto bite on the arm by one indignant Sarai. Killua was pretty sure that her Nen would be the Enhancement type, once she managed to unlock it. Her fighting style was akin to Kurapika-on-sugar-high or Kurapika-on-steroid-overdose. Killua didn't understand where the heck all those energy came from.

And right now, those kids were beating the loving shit out of their opponents.

"They are obviously playing." Gon said gleefully.

"I'd say they got this sadistic tendency from their sire." Killua deadpanned.

"But how come they're here? I'm surprised that Kurapika let them participate." Gon said innocently.

Killua snorted.

"She obviously doesn't know."

"Oh, actually she knows."

Both teenagers spun around abruptly, surprised by the new voice that had just joined their conversation. It was no other than Kuroro Lucifer himself, with a devilish smirk on his face.

"I don't believe you." Killua said with narrowed eyes. He didn't even feel his presence approaching them. This man was dangerous.

"Oh, you never do believe me, Zaoldyck boy. At least most of the time." The smirk grew wider, and Killua understood why Kurapika was often itching to claw that smirk off his face.

"Why would Kurapika allow them in this tournament? And why isn't she here?" Gon said innocently.

Whatever misgivings Gon had with the Spider Head, it seemed to have gone since long time ago—at least when it came to Kurapika and their kids. The spiky-haired boy still didn't fully trust the man when it came to other things. They didn't know whether it involved copious amount of threats or anything, but they only trusted Kuroro Lucifer when Kurapika gave her words to vouch for him. If Kurapika said that Kuroro Lucifer was or wasn't going to do something, the man would damn well behave as accordingly.

"Our dear Kurapika is busy with Netero and his whimsical missions right now." Kuroro nodded with a knowing smirk.

Killua had the suspicion that the Spider Head and Netero was conspiring together to ensure that Kurapika was busy during the duration of the tournament.

"And as for why she would allow them in the tournament, you can guess." The man said entertainingly.

"You have to be here to oversee them?" Gon immediately guessed.

"Oh that goes without saying, but no that's not why Kurapika agreed." The man still smiled.

Killua snorted. For the criminal head honcho he was, Kuroro Lucifer was amusingly protective of his little Hell-spawns of children. But then again, a lot of criminal big shots were.

The young Zaoldyck observed the fight as Gon proceeded to fire off even more outrageous guesses to the Spider Head. For whatever reasons, Gon got along with the Spider Head and the latter obviously had a kind of soft spot towards the former. Perhaps it was because of the connection that Kuroro Lucifer had with Ging.

"She made them swear not to kill anyone, didn't she?" Killua finally guessed, after seeing how the kids simply beat up their opponents and avoided the vital points.

"Indeed." Kuroro said dryly, and Killua swore he head the hint of frustration in his words. Was the man frustrated at Kurapika for sheltering the kids?

"You want them to kill someone in this tournament?" Gon asked candidly.

"I have nobody that I wish dead in this tournament, if that's what you're implying." The man replied readily. "But Kurapika can be so naïve sometimes."

"Naïve as in?"

Like you, Gon. Killua was tempted to say that out loud.

"There is no point of sheltering them from killing, really." Kuroro shrugged, and both Gon and Killua could hear the unspoken words: sooner or later, they would have to do the deed, so might as well condition them to it. "But she made valid point with the argument."

"What point?"

"Defeating an opponent without killing them is harder than going for the kill immediately." Kuroro Lucifer gave a deadly smile. "This is a test of control for them."

Killua shuddered. This man was seeing this as a game. An opportunity to test the kids. Killua's mind and instinct whispered the same word over and over again:

Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.

"So how are they doing so far?"

"Decent enough. Sarai, not exactly."

Killua agreed on that. How many limbs had that girl chopped off anyway?

"Why do you make them disguise themselves?" Gon asked again. He sounded like he was playing twenty-questions game.

"Their identities have to be kept secret. Kurapika would go ballistic if people can track their origin to the Kuruta tribe and the Genei Ryodan. That's another condition that Kurapika imposed, isn't it?" Killua said while turning to stare at the man before him.

"Indeed. Not so much a condition, but more of an agreement between us. It would be most inconvenient if we have to deal with the repercussions."

Killua couldn't agree more. If they discovered the kids to be Kurutan and children of the Genei Ryodan, that was it. They would be hunted down by the world, and where could they run away to? …Well, the Genei Ryodan probably could systematically exterminate the armies and the underworld forces, and then there was Ryuusei-gai. He had heard from his parents that all Ryuusei-gai people were Nen-users to certain extents. Perhaps that was why Kuroro Lucifer deemed it as inconvenience rather than anything else.

This whole tournament is a game for Killua and Gon. They didn't want the rewards, they just wanted the challenges.

This tournament was also a game for Kuroro Lucifer. This was a field test for his children.

And if the expressions on the kids' faces were anything to go by, Killua was damn sure that the kids thought of this as a game to kill time.

Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous family.

Meanwhile, many miles away from the arena, one Kurapika Kuruta was fuming mad that she couldn't watch her kids in their game and to make sure that they behaved.

Author's Note: Killua is paranoid of Kuroro, Gon is getting along with his father's acquaintance, Netero and Kuroro are conspiracy-buddy against Kurapika, and Kurapika is just as crazy as Kuroro. Reviews please!