Disclaimer: I do not own HunterxHunter, nor do I profit commercially from these writings.
ABC Series
W IS FOR WEAKNESS
Kuroro didn't really go to Ryuusei-gai often. He did his mandatory visit there, as per required of his duty as the Master of the Temple. He went there when summoned by the Council, although none too happily. He didn't go there unless necessary. He wasn't exactly fond of the place. Too many memories.
Kurapika understood the sentiment. She didn't go often to the old Village of the Kuruta either. She only went there for the annual anniversary of the massacre, and Kuroro always accompanied her every time without being asked. It was strange to pay her respect to the dead with the offender around, but Kurapika supposed Kuroro was paying his respect to the deceased in his own way. She could respect that.
Kurapika didn't know this, but secretly in his own twisted ways, Kuroro was grateful that he had committed the heinous and supposedly unforgiveable act of massacring her entire tribe. He was content with his life now, and that was only possible because Kurapika's entire tribe had to die. The least he could do was to pay his respect to them and thank them every year, so their death wasn't a waste.
Still, Kurapika knew that The Temple of Ryuusei-gai and its forest were his place of refuge.
So when Kuroro fled from home after a particularly bad case of relapse in his sanity, Kurapika immediately flew to Ryuusei-gai. When she reached the Temple of Ryuusei-gai, a very concerned-looking Hatsubaba was already waiting for her.
"What happened?" Hatsubaba asked as she immediately turned around and led Kurapika into the temple in a brisk march that belied her age.
"I don't know exactly." Kurapika answered ruefully and with a hint of frustration. "I wasn't home. Meta called me. He was very agitated."
"What did he say?"
"He said Kuroro suddenly just up and do his vanishing act in the middle of the night."
"How did he find out?"
"Bast woke him up in the middle of the night, fur all bristling. His other daemons were restless too. Meta said they were murmuring in daemon language, and he only caught the word like 'demons' and 'evil'. He thought his father had been spirited away by demons."
"Not too far." Hatsubaba said wryly. "Do the kids know about the Solomon Ring?"
"They don't know that it contains demons. They only think it's only a piece of family heirloom from Kuroro's side of family. We didn't correct them." Kurapika said with a frown. Should she have told them the truth?
"That's probably for the best. How about Meta?" Hatsubaba asked, hawk-like eyes glancing to Kurapika.
Kurapika cringed. She still remembered that day ages ago when Kuroro was undergoing the test from the Lady of The Lake. Meta had been able to hear the whispers of the demons of the Solomon Ring, but…
"I don't know. Meta hasn't said anything about whispers anymore since then. I just hope that he's been distracted by his daemons to really notice the Whispers. I hope he can't hear them unless they're being summoned."
Unfortunately, both Kurapika and Hatsubaba weren't aware that Noah could hear the Whispers.
"Who's looking after the kids?" The wizened old woman asked.
"Shalnark and Fino."
They were scarcely out of the back gate of the temple when something fell from the sky and landed near them in a flurry of black feathers. The black feathers quickly dissolved into wisps of black mist to reveal one flustered-looking undead. His hair was unkempt and he looked like he had dressed in a rush.
"I got the message about Lucifer." He told Kurapika briskly.
Kurapika looked at Lucian strangely, before she noticed what was unusual about his appearance.
"You're wearing a cape?"
Indeed the vampire was wearing an inky-black cape. Lucian usually never bothered to dress properly around Kurapika's family. He opted to use more casual and practical clothes, especially around the kids. He only wore the cape for certain occasions.
"It's necessary." Lucian said in dismissive tone. "Where's Lucifer?"
"In the forest." Hatsubaba replied, and proceeded to march towards the forest. "Anansi is keeping an eye on him. Come."
"What happened?" Lucian asked as he and Kurapika followed the witch doctor.
"The Solomon Ring happened." Kurapika said with a spat.
"Damn… So soon?" Lucian murmured to himself.
"Are you saying that this is inevitable?" Kurapika asked in a hiss.
"I've been hoping this will never come, but unfortunately yes. Somehow, this may happen sometime in his life." Lucian said with a grimace. "Remember, Kurapika. He is psychologically unsound. In another time, he might've been a sociopath. He probably was. I know he acted a bit like one when I first met him."
Kurapika fell silent. That was very probable. That was perhaps why he had very little qualms in murdering her entire clan.
"Somehow, at some point, he improved. Probably because of me, probably you. Or maybe it's the kids. I don't know. But the Solomon Ring demons just have to mess everything up." Lucian let out a string of curses in Romanian that would've made Buddha's ears bleed.
Suddenly, Kurapika remembered. She recalled that night, when Kuroro was behaving very unsettlingly and had attacked her. It was one moment of insanity, but it had never happened again after that night. Had it happened again the night he fled from home? Oh God…
"Kurapika?"
Kurapika looked at Lucian with wide eyes, and rather reluctantly told him of that night of insanity. By the end of her report, Lucian was near apoplectic.
"Why didn't either of you tell me?!" Lucian hissed furiously. "That was the Solomon Ring demons trying to get rid of YOU!"
"What?!"
"I daresay it's you and the kids that are anchoring him to sanity. You are his buffer from the demons! At the same time, that makes you and the kids his weakness!"
Kurapika chewed her lower lips. She still remembered his words from so long ago.
"The Solomon Ring exploits its master's weakness, Kurapika. You are my weakness. One and only."
"So—"
"He escaped to protect the kids!"
Kurapika was quiet for the longest time as they traversed the dense forest of Ryuusei-gai. Lucian was busy with his own thoughts, while Kurapika was trying to govern her emotions. Her eyes stung and burning from unshed tear of righteous anger and indignation.
"Can't we just destroy the goddamn thing?" She ground out between her teeth.
"We would've done it eons ago if we could, Kurapika." Lucian said with gentler tone. He could sense her distress; it was just so palpable.
Kurapika swallowed the bile in her throat and blinked back her tears.
The fight was of an epic proportion. Hatsubaba had to evacuate herself from the forest in order to avoid being part of the collateral damage and Anansi had to ask the Lady of the Lake's assistance to minimise the damage. The earth was gouged out like sand and boulders were shattered like chalks. Trees were broken and blown away like toothpicks. The beasts that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time were torn apart like ragdolls.
The Lady of the Lake observed the fight with sorrowful eyes; this fight reminded her too much of that tragic battle in that fateful night. The rain didn't help the memory either. It had been raining in the aftermath of that battle, too. Diluting the blood spilled and washing them to her lake.
My Lady Ishtar… She whispered woefully as she watched the two figures fleeting here and there across the Ground Zero.
"Acest lucru este ridicol! (This is ridiculous!)" Spat the drenched man standing nearby.
The Lady of the Lake spared the grumbling vampire a glance, before turning her attention back to the ongoing fight.
Why are you here? The Lady asked softly, voice devoid of any accusation. It was just a simple question.
Lucian stopped wringing his drenched shirt uselessly, and stared questioningly at her.
Why are you not assisting Kurapika in subduing him? The Lady clarified.
Lucian snorted.
"Kurapika can handle him." He paused, and added, "at least as long as Lucifer's not using the thrice-damned ring."
Lucian had a reason for his confidence. For one, Kurapika knew Kuroro's fighting style intimately. She and Lucian were probably the only people on Earth who were intimate with the nuances and subtleties of Kuroro's fighting style, much as Kuroro were intimate with theirs. The three of them had spent too much time sparring with each other and fighting side-by-side to the point that they had developed muscle memories and instincts attuned to each other's fighting styles.
Not only that, Kuroro also made sure to train Kurapika in the art of combat. He liked having her on par with him. He once confessed to Lucian that the reason he did so was because he wanted to make sure that Kurapika was always ready and capable to restrain and take him down should the need arise. He was perfectly aware of his corroding sanity. He also made Lucian promise to do the same favour as Kurapika had promised many years ago.
"If you lose yourself…I will tell Meta that his father is dead…And then I will hunt you down and kill you personally."
Lucian had agreed, though most reluctantly and unhappily. He looked up and observed the duelling pair.
It wasn't uncommon to find Kurapika and Kuroro turning their argument into a physical fight. Somehow, they could resolve their difference better when they took out their frustration at each other through 'sparring'. Perhaps because when they fought their emotion was suppressed while their concentration was turned up, leading to clearer thought process. It didn't happen very often, but it did happen from time to time. By no means were they a perfect couple. They did fight, they did argue. This was, however, perhaps the most violent of their argument by far. The collateral damage was beyond massive.
When they had found Lucifer, he had been kneeling in front of Ishtar's grave. His hair was dishevelled, like he had been raking it with his fingers anxiously for Lord knew how many times. That could only mean that the guy was seriously distressed, and that scared Lucian. Lucifer had a bad habit of concealing his emotions behind that goddamn frozen mask of his when he was feeling disturbed. The only people who could see through the mask were only Kurapika (because of their Nen bond) and Lucian (because he had known him for so long). Lucifer didn't like showing his emotions. To see the guy so rattled to the point of showing his distress so damn plainly was just…
Lucian fingered the edge of his cape anxiously. He had hoped he didn't have to jump in and took drastic measure, but who was he kidding? Lucifer wasn't the type of man who would do things by halves. He was extreme.
No. Lucian was biding his time…
The first thing that Kurapika did when she saw Kuroro slumping in front of Ishtar's grave so pitifully was to go to his side, naturally. However, before she could even take three steps, Kuroro's cold flat voice sliced through air and stabbed her in the heart.
"Stay away."
Kurapika had frozen in her step, surprised by the hostility in his voice. She hadn't heard that tone since forever.
"Kuroro?" She took another step.
Kuroro abruptly shot to his feet and practically fled the scene. His action left Kurapika blinking stupidly and Lucifer sputtering incoherently in Romanian. It took her a full minute to register that Kuroro had just treated her like a goddamn plague.
"Why, that little…" Kurapika said through gnashed teeth as she basically catapulted herself after Kuroro, leaving Lucian to explain what was going on to the very worried-looking Lady of the Lake.
The chase had lasted for at least two hours; Kuroro trying to shake off Kurapika and Kurapika persistently following him like iron to magnet. Kurapika wasn't Kurapika if she was not that stubborn. However, past the two hours mark Kurapika realised that Kuroro would continue avoiding her forever unless she put a stop to it. The man had infinitely more patience than her, after all. The chase then soon turned into a vicious fight the moment she summoned forth her Nen chain. Responding in kind, Kuroro had summoned his Nen book.
The fight went on for hours. Both didn't know how long they had been fighting; for all they cared, it could've been days. They didn't say anything, concentrating solely in trying to one-up each other. Kurapika tried to capture him using her Nen chain, while Kuroro tried to knock her out cold. They were so absorbed in their fight that they didn't even realise the extent of collateral damage they were inflicting. Even Kurapika, who was usually the one concerned about such thing. They didn't see anything else but each other. It would have been romantic if not for the fact that they were after each other's throats.
They were evenly matched, but alas, Kuroro still had the more superior stamina. Kurapika could feel herself tiring out, and she started to lose her cool.
"Kuroro! Stop running away!" She screamed at him in frustration.
"I told you to stay away!" He screamed back.
Kurapika reeled for a second. Kuroro actually screamed back at her? The man hardly ever raised his voice against her.
"Like hell I'm gonna do that!" She yelled as she hurled her chain towards his legs.
Predictably, Kuroro avoided it but Kurapika was counting on that. She her other set of Nen chain from the other hand—the result of gruelling Nen training for years and boatload of creativity—and aimed at Kuroro again when he was mid-air. She had also predicted him to catch the chain with his bare hand and pull her towards him.
What she didn't predict was that he would actually shatter her Nen chain on purpose. Her Nen chain wasn't that fragile, but Kuroro had special advantage against her Nen because of their Nen bond. Similarly, Kurapika also had that special advantage against his Nen. The equivalent of Kuroro shattering her Nen chain would be when she tore his Nen book. Kuroro could re-conjure the book just as Kurapika could re-conjure her chain. But the pain—
Kurapika gave a strangled cry the moment her Nen chain shattered. Kuroro had never tried shattering her Nen chain before, no matter how bad their fight was. NEVER. He knew very well the extent of the damage it could inflict on Kurapika. He could feel the damage through their Nen bond, too. If Kurapika had somehow paid attention to his face as she collapsed from the agony, she would have seen the grimace that marred his face.
But Kuroro wasn't done. The moment Kurapika doubled over from the agony, Kuroro had grabbed her by the throat and slammed her bodily to the ground. He hadn't hesitated either, if the explosion of the ground upon impact was anything to go by. Unfortunately for Kurapika, the torrential rain might have softened the soil but the solid rocks beneath the soil were another matter. Without Ken to cushion the impact, Kurapika's body had to absorb all the damage. Kurapika coughed out blood as she felt her ribs cracking.
"For once, Kurapika, listen to me and stay away from me!" Kuroro hissed under his breath as he pinned Kurapika by her throat to the cold, wet ground.
Kurapika continued coughing blood, but Kuroro didn't seem to notice that.
"...n…no…" Kurapika managed to spit between her gurgling cough. Had she punctured her lungs?
Kuroro tightened his grip around Kurapika's throat as his eyes narrowed.
"Why is it so fucking hard to just—"
Aside from the fact that Kuroro had just cursed, Kurapika was more alarmed by the way his dark eyes shone. It was the same shine as when Kuroro was having his moment of insanity. Her eyes then caught the cold cruel glint of the Solomon Ring that dangled from the metal chain around Kuroro's neck.
"That was the Solomon Ring demons trying to get rid of YOU!"
Lucian's words rang in her ears and Kurapika felt her rage rising. How dare they?! She was Kurapika Kuruta and she was NOT letting some godforsaken demons use her man like a fucking tool. She would be damned if she got done by Kuroro when he wasn't even aware of himself, and she would be thrice-damned if she condemned Kuroro by letting him killed her in his moment of insanity.
Her rage allowed her to forget about the pain of her broken arm—the bone had shattered upon impact when Kuroro had slammed her to the ground—as she lashed out with it and socked Kuroro in the jaw. In her subconscious, Kurapika was surprised that she managed to punch him with enough force to knock him off her because she hadn't laced her fist with Nen. The punch, however, did break her knuckles.
Kurapika staggered to her feet painfully as Kuroro recovered from the shock. The pain hadn't affected him as much as the surprise of being caught off guard had. He hadn't expected her to be able to move so fast when she was clearly extensively broken and damaged.
"You ass!" Kurapika hissed after spitting a mouthful of blood. "You murdered my mother and killed your foster mother. Will you kill the mother of your children, too?"
That was probably a stupid move, but Kurapika couldn't help it. She was just so angry!
Much to her surprise, her words actually managed to smack him into reality. Kuroro looked like he had been physically slapped by her, and the shine in his dark eyes was gone as he blinked.
"What the hell are you trying to accomplish here, you bloody idiot?!" She screamed, ignoring the agonising throbbing of her much abused body. She was on a roll here. "Are you trying to orphan the kids?! Are you trying to abandon them?! What am I supposed to tell them?! That their father has abandoned them? That their father doesn't want them anymore? That he has had enough of US?!"
"Kurapika, you don't know…" Kuroro's voice was losing its edge and hostility, and it was underlined with a pleading tone that broke Kurapika's heart.
"Then tell me what's wrong!"
"You know what's wrong!"
"NO I DON'T! I don't know what those fucking demons are saying to you in your head! I don't know how much they are killing you inside out! I don't know why you're running away from us! I. DON'T. KNOW!"
Her shrieking was hysterical, but Kurapika didn't care. She was furious. She was in pain. She was panicking. She was scared. She just wanted her Kuroro back.
"Why don't you tell me anything?! Why are you treating me like I can't help you?! Why are you shouldering all these alone?! Why aren't you letting me help?! Tell me, Kuroro! Tell me and let me help you!"
The words had just scarcely left her mouth when her mind suddenly decided to shut down and her body went into shock.
"Kurapika!"
In less than a heartbeat, Kuroro had Kurapika in his arms. Her eyes were still wide open, but they were unfocused and the pupils dilated so much that her eyes were almost black. Her body was twitching uncontrollably and her mouth frothing. Her breathing was erratic and gurgling; like she was drowning in her own blood. Her face had paled so much it rivalled Lucian's paleness.
"Kurapika! Kurapika!" Kuroro called to her frantically while checking her vitals. Her heartbeat was very faint and her pulse weak.
"Lucifer!"
Kuroro barely had the chance to look up when suddenly Lucian had landed right in front of him and Kurapika with quiet grace. His cape fluttered behind him, dry and untouched by the rain. Lucian dropped one quick yet thorough look at Kurapika, and his eyes quickly snapped back up to stare into Kuroro's dark ones.
"Allow me." He said softly, pale hand gripping the edge of his cape at ready.
Kuroro had no idea what the vampire was going to do, but if Lucian looked like he knew what he was doing, then Kuroro could only trust him. He nodded wordlessly, eyes pleading. Lucifer grimaced when he saw that pitiful expression on his best friend's face—he never wanted to see that expression ever again. With one graceful swing of his arm, Lucian's cape obscured Kurapika's body completely from Kuroro's eyes. Kuroro suddenly felt the weight disappearing from his arms, and true enough, Kurapika's body had disappeared from his arms when Lucian lifted up his cape.
"I sent her to Hatsubaba." Lucian said by way of explanation, eyes never leaving Kuroro's. "She should be able to fix her good."
Kuroro didn't reply. Instead, he stood up slowly and looked over to the direction of the temple. Lucian stood up and took several steps back out of Kuroro's personal space. He said nothing, merely observing the other man. His grey eyes noticed Kuroro's hand clenching and unclenching, and he made a decision.
"Lucifer."
Kuroro would have ignored Lucian if not for the instinct to duck. Indeed, Kuroro had just dodged a projectile aiming for his head. Kuroro spun around to face Lucian, but was caught off guard when Lucian's clawed hand was right before his face. Kuroro managed to evade the claw, but he felt Lucian's hand tearing something from around his collar. By the time Kuroro had regained his balance and was glaring at Lucian for all his worth, Lucian was already several metres away from him with a hand fisted. Kuroro felt around his neck and immediately knew what Lucian had just grabbed from him.
He had just stolen the Solomon Ring from him.
Before Kuroro could bark a particularly vulgar Romanian curse at the vampire, Lucian had thrown the ring high up to the raining heaven. Kuroro's eyes followed the trajectory of the ring, and he was astonished to see the ring snatched by a spider hanging in the middle of the sky. With a speed faster than any spiders had the right to have, the spider scurried up towards the heaven, carrying the accursed ring with it. He was even more surprised when he saw the spider being swallowed in a blink by a black hole that had appeared and disappeared in the sky.
Kuroro threw an accusing glare at Lucian, and the vampire raised two placating hands.
"Anansi could isolate the Solomon Ring from this world for a little while."
"And?" Kuroro snarled.
"Come on. You still have a lot of tension to let go. Besides, it's been too long since the last time we sparred." Lucian said as he stood straight with his cape spreading like a cobra's hood. The cape looked sentient, the edge quivering like the feathers of an excited avian.
Kuroro looked surprised for a while, before his expression morphed into one of feral anticipation that would have scared even his Spiders into absolute obedience.
"Indeed."
When Kurapika came to, the first thing that came to mind was:
It hurts like (insert the foulest and most vulgar curse you can think of)
The second thing that came to mind was:
Where is that guy I'm gonna beat the shit outta him and some common sense into him that asshole…
Of course the thought was thrown out of the window when Kurapika finally saw the man in question. He was sitting by her bedside, back hunched, head hung low, and his hands holding her uninjured hand (the one with unbroken knuckles) to his face very gently. He was thoroughly drenched, and Kurapika couldn't see his face because it was obscured by the wet hair and her hand. He had a towel draped around him, but he obviously wasn't making use of it.
"…Kuroro?" She asked, voice hoarse like she hasn't used it for a full week. It made her wonder; how long had she been dead to the world?
There was no visible reaction from him; not even a twitch. Kuroro looked like he had been petrified.
"Kuro—"
"I can't remember…" Kuroro cut her off, voice so soft that Kurapika almost didn't catch it.
"…what?"
"I can't remember the last time my head feels so clear and light…"
Kurapika blinked several times, not comprehending his words.
"…What…happened?" She asked softly.
"Anansi manages to seal the Solomon Ring in another dimension for a while." Kuroro murmured to her hand. "It cuts off the ring's influence on me."
Kurapika's eyes widened comically. If her body wasn't in so much pain, she would have whooped in joy and then proceeded to throttle Anansi for not doing it earlier. Alas, her body was currently useless. She did make a mental note to hunt down Anansi when her body was able, though. Kuroro seemed to notice her train of thoughts because he gave a weak chuckle.
"It's only for a little while. A day at most."
"You could use that…break earlier…" Kurapika muttered grouchily. "We could've avoided all this hassle…Probably…"
"Perhaps." There was a pained smile in his voice.
And I'm still throttling Anansi, Kurapika thought moodily.
"Kuroro…Let me see your face…"Kurapika said, and added more forcefully, "…and for the love of God…use the damn towel and dry yourself!"
That elicited a genuine chuckle from him and Kuroro finally released her hand and straightened up. The towel had done a good job covering his body, so Kurapika was surprised to see Kuroro's face quite beaten up and bleeding all over. There was a deep purplish black bruise blooming on his left temple and there was a nasty horizontal gash across face, cutting right below his eyes and across his nose. His lips were split and his right eye was slightly swollen.
"What—"
"I sparred with Lucian."
"Sparred?! More like beating the shit out of each other!" Kurapika sputtered, pain forgotten temporarily but it soon caught up with her because she immediately groaned agonizingly.
"It was a spar, really." Kuroro said with a small smile. "I needed it."
Kurapika had stopped wriggling like a dying worm and had finally settled on her bed quite comfortably. That outburst had revived her spirit, though.
"So where is he? You haven't killed him, I hope?"
Again, Kuroro chuckled.
"No. It takes way more than that to kill him. The Lord of Cockroaches, remember?"
Kurapika gave him the biggest grin her facial muscle could afford for now.
"So you're good now?"
The smile dropped slightly from his face.
"I suppose." He murmured as his eyes strayed to the bandages wrapped around Kurapika's arms and torso.
"Hey, I'll be fine. I'll be as good as new when I can use my Holy Chain again." Kurapika said with a grimace. Her Nen was still a mess, it would take some time for it to fully recover.
"I'll fix that." Kuroro said eagerly and a tad guiltily as he quickly took her hand and immediately flow his Nen into her.
The eagerness with which he tried to pump her full with his Nen sent her reeling. Vaguely she remembered that day long ago when they were on the run from Jorougumo; the first time they linked their Nen so that Kurapika could use her Holy Chain to fix herself. Absentmindedly, Kurapika summoned her Holy Chain and began healing her own injuries. In a matter of minutes, she was fully healed.
"Well…this is so much better." She said in a slur; being pumped full of Kuroro's Nen made her feel drugged, her tongue sluggish and her mind slightly foggy.
Kuroro discreetly released a breath of relief, and his posture went slightly lighter. He was rather taken aback, however, when Kurapika's Holy Chain immediately turned toward him and began healing the wounds on his face. In no time, his face was unblemished.
"So…" Kurapika said again as she sat up and shook her head to get rid of the fogginess. "Where were we in our conversation before I went out like a light?"
From the corner of her eyes, Kurapika caught Kuroro tensing a little bit. To her bewilderment, Kuroro immediately relaxed and squeezed her hand gently.
"I should have told you exactly what's wrong." He murmured with apologetic tone. "Should have let you help me."
Kurapika didn't let it show, but her heart soared at his admission. Instead, she gave him a cocky grin.
"Damn right. I'm not so useless, you know."
"Mmhmm." Kuroro hummed with a smile.
"And you ain't getting rid of me so easily."
"Yes, ma'am. Of course." He responded, tone light and sincere.
"And we're going home now. Pronto. The kids are waiting."
This time, Kuroro's smile was brighter and eager.
"Yes. Let's go home."
Author's Note: A ridiculously long chapter. My gosh. Enjoy it and don't forget to review, people! Let me know what you think of this chapter. This is quite a heavy chapter. Been planning on writing about this occasion for quite a while now.
And help with with the letter X! Any suggestions?