"I don't trust her," Killua announced sternly to his friend as the two strolled at a walking pace down the heavily congested street.
"Why not?" Gon asked, genuinely surprised to hear the news. "She was just going to tell us where to buy an umbrella. I'm the one that asked her in the first place."
The blue eyed boy's expression soured noticeably. Truth be told, he didn't particularly trust anyone upon first meeting them. However this situation was (he was convinced), somehow abnormal compared to dealing with the typical suspicious passerby.
"If all she wanted was to answer your question, why would she bother introducing herself?" he pointed out matter-of-factually.
This was hardly enough to deter his naïve friend, and Gon simply replied with a shrug, "She already knew who I was, so she was just being polite, I think."
Killua forced his relaxed fists in to his wide but shallow pockets, lowering his gaze to the sidewalk below. As much as he appreciated Gon for his openness and his honesty, he was aware that the tanned boy needed him during times like this, since he was admittedly the more cautious of the two when identifying impending danger.
"How would she know anything about you fighting at the Heavens Arena, anyways?" the former assassin challenged. "I fought there as little kid, and nobody recognized me for it. Besides, why would you be famous for losing half of your nen fights?"
Gon's face fell, baffled and enthralled in thought.
After a moment he captured his chin in a sweaty palm before agreeing in a pensive, half-persuaded murmur, "Oh, I guess that's true…"
A wave of relief washed over Killua at the response. It was not exactly the way he'd have preferred Gon to react, but at least he was coming around. Besides, it was unlikely that the stubborn island boy would surrender entirely to his arguments, so in retrospect this was probably the best case scenario comparatively.
The two continued in silence for a few consecutive moments before Gon's voice started up again:
"Hey Killua, how will we know when we've found the person that will guide us to the Volcanic Islands? Satotz-san didn't give us any clues besides saying that we could find his friend on this continent."
Killua removed his hands from his pockets, stretching his arms out vertically before bending them in at the elbows behind his head.
"I guess we'll have to search for Archaeological Hunters that either live or spend a lot of time here," he mused aloud. "Of course, if they're Archaeological Hunters, there's no guarantee they would be so easy to find, assuming that information is even available at all. They would probably be travelling all the time, too, and if they've discovered something then it's not very likely there would be anything posted about the location for a while..."
"If Satotz-san sent us here, then there must be a way to find them," Gon piped up, and the sincerity in his tone was nearly enough to set his companion's mind at ease.
With a small smile Killua said, "You're probably right."
'Ah, so they're searching for a guide to the Volcanic Islands,' Misaki pondered optimistically to herself.
She narrowed her amber eyes at the two prepubescent boys as they rounded the corner ahead of her, ignorant as to how physically close she'd dared to advance behind them. She loitered back for several moments now, unwilling to risk being detected- especially now that she had discovered something she could use. This was (in her opinion), an excellent binge of information, and one that coincidentally played actively in to her favor as well. A true (often closeted) nature fanatic at heart, the girl was adequately familiar with the Volcanic Islands; a tourist-attracting region located on the Yorbian continent.
Now the challenge that presented itself so delicately before her was rooted in whether she was capable of convincing the boys that she was indeed the hunter they sought. This alone she deemed as fairly difficult, however the tip of the iceberg revealed itself as the inescapable hands of time, which continued to count down an indiscernible collection of perhaps days, hours, minutes, or seconds as to when and if they would happen upon the real hunter they'd been sent for.
If a third party winded their way in to the mix, Misaki knew her job would become unnecessarily complicated. Thus, she had to be that third party among the boys' travels.
'How to do it?' she wondered.
Killua was admirably suspicious of the unknown, or so she had realized between their first actual encounter and the conversation she was not supposed to have overheard. While this trait held a great quantity of purpose in practice, it also hindered the young woman from performing an action as relatively simplistic as openly unveiling her false "secret identity" as this hunter that "Satotz" had expected them to greet. No, the young assassin boy would never buy such contrived bullshit.
'His little friend probably would,' she thought with mild amusement. 'Illumi is worried for nothing it seems. Killua is the rational one. Gon is so trusting that he would be the one to lead them to hell's gates, if the devil smiled sweetly enough for him...'
...And that's when the solution practically unfolded itself neatly in her lap. With a determined expression, Misaki resumed trailing the boys with her fingers crossed that ultimately their search for the unrevealed Archaeological Hunter would lead them toward the dangerous regions of Berraudney, which she was insistent to prohibit them from falling prey to.
'The race is on,' she mused earnestly, expertly securing her closed parasol diagonally in the suede sling across her back, 'but all I can do for now is wait in the shadows.'
A/N: I just wanted to thank Princesspeachie99 and Colorless Butterfly for reviewing. Much appreciated! :)