It was already late night, after spending several hours in trick tower, Kiri wasn't sure whether she was expecting the sun or the moon when she emerged but it was a night sky full of stars that had greeted her. She breathed in a lungful of fresh air to clear her mind. Her memory was fuzzy as she tried to recall her last few hours in the Tower.
She remember waking up on the cold hard ground, head pounding and her chest feeling heavy. Her clothes were so soaking wet and clinging to her body. Spluttering water, she propped herself up on an elbow and flung her arm around to grip her chest. In the process, it connected with something allowing the response of a displeased 'ow'. It was not until later that she had learnt she had almost drowned and it was Kurapika who rescued her from the depths of the lake, however, at that moment as they were running out of time, the Kurta and Kiri hurried down the rocky passage without sparing a moment for explanation and to their relief, reached the exit.
After reuniting with the others, the young blonde didn't go into detail about his heroic action, only a 'yea, I turned around and you weren't there so I went back and found your semi-dead form at the bottom. You came around pretty quick though,' earning a swipe to her head from Killua telling her to be more careful next time.
At this point, Kiri had reverted back to her feline form to avoid suspicion but she couldn't help noticing the concern underlying Killua's pretend anger. A slight pang of guilt squeezed her heart and she licked his cheek in apology.
'Thanks though...For taking care of her,' muttered Killua to the direction of Kurapika, from whom he then received a small smile from.
'We were real worried about you!' exclaimed Gon. 'You guys just went BOOM and the next time we knew you were gone.'
'We were fine,'Kurapika reassured him. 'How about you guys? What happened?'
'Meh, nothing much'. Killua replied. 'The usual endurance obstacle course. Nothing we couldn't handle. Although I was worried this guy wouldn't be able to make it', he added, jutting a thumb over to Leorio.
'I was perfectly fine, my personal health records show me to be a fit and healthy young male I'll have you know,' snorted Leorio. Killua's dissmisive tone of 'yea yea' and Gon's 'Young male?' only acted to fuel his anger more. Luckily, they were saved by the shrill ring of the bell, signalling the end of the examination.
Nothing much eventful occurred after. After a brief round up, the remaining contestants (Kiri looked around and noted Illumi's presence, still in his strange form, by the wall) were ushered onto the airship.
After being assigned their respective rooms and a belly full of dinner, Kiri retired to her room and flopped onto her bed. Gon and Killua had swapped rooms with their roommates and so were sharing the same room, to Kiri's convenience meaning that she didn't he to hide from the eyes of other contestants by being in her feline form. The boys had gone to explore the mysteries of the ship being the excitable and energy bound youngsters that they were, and Kiri, feeling exhausted from the day's event, wanted nothing more than taking a long hot shower and falling into a nice sweet nap, lulled by the gentle whirring of the airship`s engines. Leorio was knocked out with tiredness and made a beeline for his room without even eating and Kurapika had probably also went to room as Kiri noted that he was not present for supper.
After a good solid hour of twisting and turning in bed, this proved to be difficult despite her tiring day and Kiri found her mind unable to settle down. Sitting up with a frustrated sigh, Kiri grabbed the TV remote and began flicking through the channels in hopes of finding a nice boring documentary to act as her sleep-aid.
It was a already late and Kiri was beginning to wonder where the two youngsters were at when
one of the channels caught her attention.
'Misaki...' A young man in suit was seen crying out the name in exasperation. The scene appeared to be set in a bustling airport with a young attractive brown hair woman, walking away from the man with her suitcase.
What is this, thought Kiri to herself. Why is this man throwing himself to the floor.
'Misaki! Don`t leave me, I cannot be without you', he pleaded.
At this point, the woman (whom Kiri assumed to be Misaki), turned around sharply to face the man kneeling on the floor before her, who now was on the verge of tears. By now, a circle of audience had formed around the spectacle.
He is attracting a lot of attention to himself, if he wants to assassinate her, he`s not doing very well. Kiri thought. He needs more practice. Little did Kiri know, she was watching a rom-com.
'Satoshi!' The woman let go of her suitcase and flung her arms around the man who now stood up and began swinging her around in a circle. The audience were clapping and cheering. Utterly confused, Kiri remained enraptured by the change of events. After about three full revolutions, they pulled slightly apart. With tears in her eyes they whispered each other's names once again. Satoshi wiped away a tear escaping from Misaki's eye with his finger.
'Don`t cry,' he whispered and their heads leaned together as they shared a kiss.
What...What are they doing, Kiri thought, slightly boggled-eyed but unable to take her eyes away from the passionate scene. Why must they do that.
Suddenly, Kiri had an image of blonde hair flashed across her mind. A soft brush lips against her own. As quickly as the imagery arrived, it disappeared just as fast. Kiri brought her fingers to touch her lips. How was it that she felt like the knew what this sensation would be like? How was it that she knew what a kiss would be?
Drawing her pillow closer to her chest, she tried to delve deeper into her memory. The blonde hair, slightly damp, leaning in close. A familiar, unique scent that she wouldn't quite place who it belonged to. The face touching hers. She noticed the gentle release of pressure from her lips as her partner drew away from her, the face still obscured by the hair. Then, the eyes. She saw the eyes. Warm and brown with a hint of concern and also, utterly recognised. Kiri recognised them straight away.
She could feel her face growing hot and well as being accompanied by a strange feeling she had never felt before and buried her face in her pillow. Her heart was beating slightly faster than usual.
What is this? She placed her hand over her chest trying to calm herself down. Did he poison me somehow? Why am I so unsettled?
Throwing the duvet over her head she squeezed her eyes shut but she couldn't ignore the realisation creeping up on her.
The realisation that she had shared a kiss with the Kurta.