"It all started with an unexpected encounter."
-Ayushibafna-
CHAPTER 3: YORKNEW CITY
Yorknew City. 3 p.m.
With the auction date drawing nearer, there was a festive mood going on in every corner of the city. Clandestia was enjoying the merry atmosphere and strolling leisurely down the street leading to a day market in the city center.
Clandestia was lost in thought as she ambled along and thought that it was a relief that Neon had no interest in commoner's market stuff so she's got this time all for herself. It's not that she's stopped loving Neon's company or anything; she just wanted some peace once in a while.
She squinted her eyes and looked up, noticing that the sky was a clear shade of blue. The water fountain at the roundabout where she arrived was sparkling like silver; everything in the city seemed to appear with a luminous gleam under the sunlight.
Clandestia loved the hectic daytime when things were all bright and buzzing. It was an effective distraction for her, away from the problem of the prophetic dream. She sighed. It had been 4 years since her last prophetic dream. She was even scared of falling asleep these days.
Ah, this is useless! When did she become this feeble? She puffed her cheeks and gave them a sound slap with both hands as if to wake herself up from her anxious thoughts. It hurt more than she thought it would though.
"Lady Clandestia?! Are you okay?" One of the Nostrade bodyguards escorting her panicked and Clandestia immediately reassured them, "I'm ok. Just a bit tired, don't worry!" Her mouth twitched. Great, she thought, she must look like a lunatic now.
Thinking about bodyguards, she had another issue at hand. Apparently, people in the Nostrade household were convinced that she got the hots for that blond bodyguard. It was annoying at first but after some consideration, she thought it wasn't a bad idea. In fact, it would be the perfect excuse.
They want a rumor? She'd feed them a rumor. Better going along with this joke than letting that guy suspect that she was trying to read his mind, which he might already have speculated about. He seemed inhumanly sharp and frankly, it kind of frightened her. Heaven knew what he would do if he sniffed out something. This kind of lie would save her some unnecessary trouble. She smiled grimly at her own thoughts.
Well, it's not too hard faking an interest in a guy for a couple of days, she thought. While she was busy with her thoughts again, a certain gadget store came into her sight and her eyes brightened. This was just what she needed.
"Welcome!" The store clerk cheerily showcased a cellular phone in front of the store and exclaimed, "This model is hot right now!"
He was talking to two boys around twelve or thirteen years old that were standing in front of her. One of the boys had spiky black hair, and he looked seriously interested in the cell phone. The other boy has messy white hair and a pair of cat-like sharp eyes which were giving off a mischievous vibe. The duo was so pretty that they immediately attracted attention from everyone passing by.
"Boys, it comes in card-size andis very thin." The store clerk took out his own credit card to emphasize the phone's handy appearance and then added in, "It even has a tracking device, so it's good for meeting people."
She heard the spiky black hair boy give a "wow" in reply; his big brown eyes were wide as saucers.
Ha, so cute, she thought, it looks like he's really buying into what that guy is saying. Clandestia tilted her head and looked at the shop clerk and continued her musing, dang, this guy doesn't look trustworthy at all. It's too convenient for adults to prey on young children and make sales.
The amethyst-eyed young woman sighed and jostled forward to stand in front of them. "Excuse me… Can I see the phone, too, Mister?"
"Oh, sure, miss. This will come in handy for young girls like you, too." The shop clerk immediately switched his attention to her as his prey. She smiled and took the card-sized cell phone. She knew this model; one of her students from the university bought it for his grandma or something. He said it's convenient for old people since it only has basic features of making and receiving calls. In other words, it was pretty much an almost useless phone with no features at all.
"How much is it?" She asked, smiling innocently.
"100K. Special price for you, young miss." The clerk said enthusiastically.
Ridiculous! Clandestia thought as she clearly remembered her student told her that the same one only costed him 30K. She smiled wryly at her thoughts and cast the two boys a meaningful glance, and the black-haired boy gave her an innocent look in return. Great, he didn't get the hint, she thought tiredly.
But the cat-eyed boy was staring back at her. He silently put his arms around the back of his head and watched her. Oh, Looks like he got it, she thought. Looking back over at the store clerk she said, "Thanks, Sir. But I'd prefer a phone with a lot more additional features. This is downright expensive for a basic phone."
"SHE'S RIGHT!" A loud male voice was heard coming from behind them and she promptly turned her head. "DON'T BUY THAT ONE!" A very tall guy in a black suit showed himself in front of them. He wore tiny round lensed glasses like a typical office clerk but his eyes were intense as he glared over the rims.
"You've got it right, little lady!" He winked at her roguishly and turned his attention to the boys. "Yo, Gon, Killua!"
"Leorio!" The two boys shouted excitedly. So they're friends, Clandestia considered.
"Guys, calm down! Is this little lady your new friend?" He asked and winked at her again.
"No, we just happened to be interested in the same store." She smiled kindly. Now that their guardian had come, she'd better let them be and get on with her business.
"I'm Leorio." The guy flashed her a wide smile. He was definitely flirtatious but strangely, he gave off a rather pleasant and honest vibe.
Leorio sidled up a little closer to her and slightly lowered his voice, "Thanks for taking the trouble and helping my two friends earlier!"
His sincere thanks promptly made her beam internally. Meanwhile, the bodyguards standing a meter away from the store started getting cautious seeing how close Leorio's action put him to their charge, but she secretly gave a hand sign for them to stay put.
"You can call me Clandestia." Clandestia smiled brightly, thinking it wouldn't hurt to make an acquaintance in town. Her smile seemed to send Leorio into a temporary trance. He failed to react as the sheer brilliance of her visage bewitched him and the white-haired boy finally came up to them and gave Leorio a firm nudge near the elbow: "Oi, Leorio. You're drooling."
"Hmm." Pfft… Clandestia tried hard not to laugh. She did not want to come off as rude, so in an attempt to distract herself, she turned to the boy in front of her and asked "And you are?"
"The name is Killua." He replied, openly scrutinizing her with his cat-like sharp eyes.
"And I'm Gon." The black-haired boy came up and beamed at her. "Nice to meet you!" He added cheerily.
She grinned back at him. How could she not? He was just so adorable.
"Nice to meet you all, too," She said, thinking to herself that she kind of liked them.
"Here is my business card." She offered them the card, her purple eyes shining. "I'm a professor at Ionia University and also a doctor."
"Oh, Leorio's a doctor, too," Gon said, "Doctor Ellis? Is that how you're called?"
"Just Clandestia is fine." The young professor beamed happily at Gon.
"A professor looking so young?" Killua asked with a sly smirk. "Or… are you secretly an old lady?"
"Hey! I've only turned 17 last month!" She scowled.
That earned Killua a hard slap on the head from Leorio. "How rude, that's no way of speaking to a girl!" He scolded.
"Ouch! You damn old man!" Killua fumed, shooting Leorio a dirty look.
"Pfft, hahaha…" Clandestia broke out laughing. Her intuition was right, they really were fun people. "You guys are really close," She added amusingly, which made Gon and Leorio chuckle in turn.
"Oh, I'm an internal medicine doctor by the way," Leorio added as he flashed the young professor another wide smile.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Doctor Leorio," Clandestia said and giggled softly, her reaction efficiently giving Leorio a nice blush.
"Ahem... By the way, what are you looking for at this store?" Killua asked and gave an awkward cough to change the topic. He couldn't stand the sight of his stupid friend anymore.
"Well, I need a phone with a lot of languages." She replied. "I know the one you were checking out earlier was crap but I'm not sure what to buy either. I'm just a tourist here anyway." She said and realized that their friendly chat made her almost forget what she originally came here for.
"In that case, I recommend Beatle version 07." Leorio pulled out a cell phone, which, true to its name, looks like a cute beetle figurine. He went on, "It is a little heavy and a bit pricey but it has worldwide usage, a 200 language translation function and you can watch TV and record, too." Leorio explained enthusiastically. She laughed to herself and thought, well, looks like he'd work well as a salesman, too. And she knew that phone, she had seen that Kurapika guy using it, too.
"WOWW, let's get that, Gon!" Killua yelled excitedly. "I want it!"
"Hmm, agreed! I want it, too," Clandestia added and turned to her new doctor acquaintance. "Leorio, since you're good at this. Can you help us choose that beetle phone?"
"Roger that," Leorio playfully posed a salute. "Anything else?"
"I want some accessories for the phone, too. Like maybe a smartwatch, I guess?"
"Beetle smartwatch, huh? Ok. Guys, wait for me here. I'll get you the best price!" He winked and made his way into the store. And indeed he really kept his word; it seemed like merely a moment later when…
"80K for each?!" Clandestia said in total amazement. "You really got us the best price, Leorio!"
"I know, right?" Leorio patted his chest which was now swelling with pride. His nose was pointing high to the sky.
"There was even an audience forming around us just now." Gon said in utter disbelief.
"You really went overboard." Killua cocked his head, hands in his pockets. "I've never seen anyone be applauded for buying a cell phone."
"Neither have I," Clandestia agreed and continued, "And the watch was only an additional 35K. OMG…"
"Yeah, you're the best Leorio!" Gon exclaimed cheerily. "Thanks to you, we've all saved a lot of money!" With that, everyone laughed to their hearts' contents.
At that moment, Clandestia noticed some of her procession of bodyguards getting restless from the corner of her eyes. Ah, that's right, she thought, it's almost noon. She needed to return to Neon, and while she loved spending time with her cousin, she still sighed, feeling a bit thwarted.
"Are you alright, Clandestia?" Gon asked, as surprisingly, he was the first to notice her troubled look.
"Well, I guess it's time for me to go." She replied a bit sadly, "I've got some business to attend to."
"So soon?" Leorio asked with disappointment evident in his voice.
"Yeah, thanks for your help. I had a lot of fun with you guys today." She beamed at each of them in turn, and said, "I guess it's goodbye then. If we have the chance, I hope we will all meet again."
"Sure, Clandestia," Leorio said. "We'll definitely meet again."
"See you next time, Clandestia!" Gon added, waving at her cheerfully.
Killua only gave her a short salute.
The young professor waved her hand and gave the trio a bright smile before she pivoted on her heels and left.
Back on the crowded streets of Yorknew city…
"Hey, are you coming with us or not?" Killua clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Leorio had an extremely gloomy expression on his face ever since the purple-eyed girl left.
"Hurry, Leorio. We're starving!" Gon shouted.
"Right, right! What do you boys even know other than eating and playing?" Leorio sulked as his mood fell even further into the doldrums.
Killua gave Leorio a side glance and sighed deeply, "Oh? But you know that she's not simply a professor or doctor, right? Didn't you notice her bodyguards? They definitely didn't look like normal bodyguards."
"Of course, I know. She must be from one of the mafia families," Leorio sighed heavily and continued, "It also means that she's here for the auction just like us."
"What's wrong with that?" Gon asked and tilted his head in question, before adding firmly, "I think she's a nice person."
Both Killua and Leorio went silent as they couldn't bring themselves to disagree with him. Gon might be naïve and simple-minded but he could be surprisingly insightful when needed.
"In fact, I think I've really found my soulmate." Leorio comically clutched his chest and spoke solemnly.
"Right, you fall in love with everything that wears a skirt," Killua replied as he rolled his eyes. The three friends continued their familiar teasing and disappeared into the crowded street of the city.
Little did they know that the encounter that day was the start of their tangled fates.