As the day drew to a close, Misaki found herself still fairly wide awake and therefore restless during her second evening in the hotel suite. Truthfully she'd have preferred to be moving along, as needlessly lingering in one spot irked her some. However, the boys had exerted themselves so laboriously while fighting a considerable wave of bandits back in the forest (disguised as her intention of "training"), that she opted to allow them a night of rest rather than travel.
This of course had served more so for Misaki to evaluate both Gon and Killua by setting her up in a position to study their approach to battle. It also gave her a bird's eye view of their nen abilities in action, and the strength of their resolve and morale. While she had indeed been genuinely impressed by both boys' agility and stamina, which were admittedly greater than her own had been at such a young age, something still bothered her.
"The rules are: there are no rules," she'd announced before they came to arms with the first group. "You're free to kill them if you wish."
Yet, neither of them had even attempted to take advantage of this liberty. More correctly, the young woman was abashed to discover that Killua was unwilling to slaughter his opponents…
If there had been only a single, truly significant test that could be pin pointed in her desire to pit the boys against the bandits, this would have been it… and Killua Zoldyck, the assassin, had somehow failed.
Now Misaki sat propped against the headboard on her temporary bed, her hiking boots still on and her right knee tented up as she worked to analyze her observations. She happened to glance toward her phone, which was placed at her right upon the unused collection of secondary pillows, and reached half-heartedly for it as the bluish-green light signaled an incoming call.
As she brought the device nearer to her, the display name Illumi Z came in to focus. In spite of herself, she smiled slightly as she positioned the receiver to her ear.
"Slow work week?" she teased immediately upon accepting the line. "I would think you'd generally have a job on a weekday evening."
Ignoring her joke completely, Illumi said, "Have you gathered any information yet?"
"Not much," she admitted, her lips turning neutral, "but to be fair, today was the first day I really spent with them."
"You've joined with them?"
"I found an opening, so I couldn't resist," she explained. "It's the best way to make a judgment based on the criteria you've given me, anyway. They were looking for a friend of this 'Satotz' guy, and I guess I fit the bill."
Silence.
She continued, "I did get to study their combat techniques today against that troupe of bandits I used to use as target practice. They were quite impressive." She bit her lip, momentarily hesitant to add, "They wouldn't kill any, though. I told them they were free to, but even so they refused… My first impression is that you're probably spot-on about Killua's friend being a bad influence on his skills as an assassin."
"I figured as much," Illumi replied hollowly.
"He definitely comes across as pretty naïve, especially next to Killua. I wouldn't doubt that he was the one that decided to trounce through the forest last night without any knowledge of the dangers in it… but that's speculation. I'll be able to judge something like that a lot easier now from this close up."
"Good," he stated flatly. "Don't forget, if the verdict is that Gon is a danger to Killua…"
"…I'll kill him at once," Misaki agreed, finishing his sentence. "Yes, I remember the deal."
"See to it that you don't forget," Illumi warned, his tone nevertheless still monotonous.
"I never accept a contract that I don't intend to finish completely," she reminded him firmly. She delivered a quick parting sentiment of, "Later," before selecting the 'end' button on her keypad.
The electronic click in Illumi's ear urged him to holster his phone. Things seemed to be going far better than expected, and with any luck Misaki would be capable of relaying to him a full conclusion within the week. Certainly he'd hired the right person for such a feat.
Still, he found it necessary to perform check-ins on her every so often, as he was not particularly trusting of those who did not share his blood. Being an assassin- called upon repeatedly to dispose of individuals- also left him uneasy at the notion of hiring a separate entity to carry out a job he should have been able to do himself.
However, he did not hold any desire to tangle with Hisoka, to whom he had previously agreed that he would not advance upon Gon. Misaki was a very useful tool in this way, as he was able to then enforce his duty as elder brother and protect both Killua and the family business which the latter was to inherit.
He was not a threat to Gon, Misaki was, and such an alibi was almost a perfect cry of innocence as far as his old acquaintance should be concerned. Then if there was any possibility of Misaki becoming Hisoka's target after the fact, he would simply kill her himself to avoid the opportunity for her to betray him during battle by unveiling his involvement as far as Gon's demise.
Meanwhile, he simply had to sit back and wait… and occasionally meet with Misaki to encourage her with sexual interactions, but this was a very small price to pay considering the weight between the lines of the contract.