Killua and Gon were slightly taken aback by Misaki's unspoken refusal to assist in constructing a plan, though they pushed forth regardless and managed to come up with something that seemed relatively useful. Haku had argued (following the plum haired girl's sudden exit from the conversation earlier that day), that the possibility of a Nen Exorcist having entered the scene was unlikely since he still was capable of tracing the devices he had planted. This had peaked the boys' attention, particularly Killua, who now had nothing left of which to throw at Haku. Perhaps he was being truthful this time.
The plan was simple, but that had indeed been the intention of the duo. It was decidedly beneficial to keep interactions with the members of L.I.G.H.T. limited until they had collected enough vital information to close in safely. Haku would inconspicuously point out who the devices were attached to, and each of them would be assigned a single member to shadow and study until something of distinct use could be uncovered. There was certainly an advantage to mirroring their number, and they were ready to take advantage of it one step at a time.
"He's going back in to the mayor's house again," Gon whispered in to his phone, which was multi-linked to the remaining three.
"Looks like mine is headed there, too," Killua agreed, peering around the side of the building.
"My gentleman is already in there," Haku admitted, sighing.
Silence claimed the line.
"Misaki, what is your position?" Killua asked as the square-jawed man he was trailing reached the property line.
Still, there was no response.
"Misaki…?" Killua hissed quietly in to the phone.
"Misaki-san?" Gon chimed in to assist his friend.
"Onee-san?" the silver haired boy tried, assuming she might have purposely been ignoring them because they had failed to use her alias.
'What in the world is that girl up to now?' Haku wondered after checking his screen to confirm that she was indeed still linked in to the call.
The man Misaki had been appointed to pursue was extraordinarily simple to keep in sight. He had remained in the open nearly the entire time she had been stalking him and she was able to place an otherwise unrealistic distance between them without losing track of his whereabouts.
'He must already know that someone will follow,' she decided suspiciously when he had returned to the mayor's house for the third time that hour using the most open and (incidentally) least direct route possible.
However as she waited soundlessly for her victim to re-exit the building, her eyes became magnetized to an unsuspecting Gon- or rather his defenseless back. Clearly he hadn't sensed her and was completely vulnerable to an attack, as of course he had fallen in to Zetsu in order to avoid his presence being noted by the man he was following.
'If I aim to collapse his spine from the correct angle, it wouldn't take much aura,' her mind tempted her as it waved images of her previous evening just behind her eyes.
As if in a trance, her hand slipped down the nape of her neck in to the collar of her kimono and gripped the concealed umbrella handle. She had managed to retract half of the hooked base before a sharp voice at her ear drew her from her fixated state of being.
"Misaki, stop messing around!"
The voice belonged to Killua, and it was reaching her through the receiver of the cellular device she had long forgotten was still held against her left ear.
Without recalling her stare from her true victim, she finally replied a little too seriously, "I never 'mess around' in the middle of a mission; I assure you."
"Uh… okay," the former assassin said awkwardly, obviously confused by her answer. "We just wanted to know where your guy is, and you didn't say anything…"
"Oh," she mumbled, blinking several times in an attempt to dispel the allure of concluding her contract. "He's in the mayor's house still."
"We have to go in there," Gon insisted determinedly.
"W-What?" Haku protested.
"They all keep going in there, so there must be a clue inside," he elaborated.
"It's the mayor's house in a village," Haku explained. "There are plenty of legitimate reasons for anybody here to visit- even repeatedly!"
"I don't know," Killua disagreed, "they've been going in and out all afternoon. I think Gon is right and we should check it out when they leave next."
"B-But…"
"Haku and I will be your reinforcements," Misaki interrupted, much to the chagrin of the bespectacled man. "The mayor and his wife might be in there even when those four aren't, so make sure you're careful and have a good excuse for going in if you're caught."
Both boys nodded firmly.
"We'll find out what's going on," the tanned boy promised.
"Yeah, we can handle it," Killua said.
"I still think this is extremely moronic. We haven't even agreed on a rational plan further than th-."
"Best of luck, Riku and Rin," Misaki broke in over him as the four alleged L.I.G.H.T. members slowly filtered out of the house, snapping shut her phone afterwards.
Killua clenched a fist and Gon readjusted his dress before the two simultaneously headed toward their neighbors' house.
Nearly ten minutes of constant, fruitless searching was beginning to rattle the boys' confidence some. With busy eyes and hands, they had performed a shallow scan of the living room and kitchen before going as far as to open all cupboards and reach between cushions for any hint that might link them to L.I.G.H.T.
Just as they were preparing to abandon this plan, Gon realized something.
"We haven't looked in the bedrooms yet."
"The mayor and his wife might be in one of them," Killua warned.
"They might not be," the spiky haired boy argued back.
"There's no convincing you," the ex assassin sighed.
"I know!" Gon exclaimed in an excited whisper as he offered out a sideways fist. "Jan Ken Pon?"
Killua shrugged. At least this way there was a chance to avoid having to follow through with this probably foolish plan…
"Show me rock…"
At first it appeared that the bedroom Killua had entered was as ordinary and ultimately futile to their goal as the last rooms had been. The severe lack of furniture and closet space certainly limited the possibilities of turning up anything particularly useful. That was, of course, until the boy pulled open the only drawer to the night stand to the left of the twin sized bed.
As if it had been waiting there for him all along; a small, rectangular business card with severely shrunken world flags surrounding the double X symbol on the hunter's license stared him in the face. It was neatly positioned atop a dark blue, hard covered Gideon bible; the only other object even present in the drawer. The registry number "020" was displayed in thin, metallic silver. In slight awe, Killua seized the card between his thumb and the second knuckle of his index finger.
"Taiki, I told you to stop carelessly leaving your membership card around!" a vaguely familiar female voice shrieked from the doorway behind him.
In an instant the boy dropped the card and spun to face Mei, who was studying him with a cold smirk and an air of authority that he had not expected from a woman in such a conservative village. As if on cue, Bao appeared behind her with his palms on the shoulders of a rope-bound and de-wigged Gon. Gyo revealed the rope to be shrouded in a fairly thick, but smooth aura.
"I'm sorry, Miu, dearest!" Bao apologized hastily, bowing his head low to the woman.
"Now," she said to Killua, ignoring her husband, "you have the choice of either surrendering quietly or dying painfully."
Locking stares with his comrade, the silver haired boy shifted a single step forth. He wasn't certain how he could have failed to sense the two until they had him practically surrounded, but nonetheless he kept his wits about him as best as possible.
'Misaki and Haku are outside, and they'll realize something is wrong and come for us,' he told himself, desperately hoping that he could count on the two for support.
His hesitation trigged a small, girly sort of laugh from the woman.
"Oh, I see; you must think your friends will save you. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but…"
She trailed off just in time for the four alleged members of L.I.G.H.T. which they had been previously shadowing to enter the confines of the hallway behind her, perfectly aligned to Killua's span of vision. One man held Haku with both hands secured behind his back. His glasses were hardly on as the frames had slipped to the very edge of his nose. The remaining three surrounded Misaki; two on either side grasping her arms and one standing guard just behind with her long, white wig clutched in his fist.
"So you see," continued the woman, drawing one step nearer to Killua (who instinctively withdrew one back), "you haven't got a chance. Give yourself up now…"
Reaching in to the front pocket of her checkered apron, she retrieved and held up another L.I.G.H.T. card, this time with the numbers "006" in shimmering gold. Her face turned deadpan and her entire demeanor transformed in to more of that of a high-ranking officer than the cruel, playful maniac that had been practically teasing the blue eyed boy only mere moments ago.
"In the name of the Legion of International Governments' Hunter Troops, you four are guilty of interference with government-appointed conspiracy concealment and clean up, and are hereby sentenced to death."