Thanks again for keeping with me! And special thanks to those who gave me the pleasure of knowing their thoughts via review~ Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please don't hesitate to leave some feedback! ;D
Notes: (1) The house here is based on the 1999 version.
(2) Disclaimer: I wish I own HxH.
…
Chapter 5: CROSSROADS
Kiriko Residence
"Well, this is an interesting taste." Kurapika noted as he sipped his tea, lounging in the living area of their new house along with the others. It was a sweet, yet refreshingly cool taste. He wondered what it was.
"Thank you," Kiriko said with that nonchalant human (sort of) smile of his. "It's a family recipe, brewed from the cocoon of the famous Eastern Munthel beetle."
Fssswshhhhh—
Kurapika sweat-dropped when Hanzo literally squirted out the tea. Kaito only coughed, while Gon and Ging seemed like they didn't mind. "What the heck do you feed us?"
"Well, it is tasty isn't it?" Gon asked, puzzled, and Hanzo looked at her as if she just ate a bug. Which she did.
"Is it normal for you people to eat weird stuff?"
They crew looked at each other and shrugged. "Pretty much."
"And it's not weird." Gon even added. "Are you really a ninja?"
"Anyway," Ging interceded before Hanzo could rant. "We should start the meeting now." He said, chewing on some green fruit.
Ging was usually into trivial conversations (especially fun ones at the expense of others) but he had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. It was uncharacteristic for Ging and none of them were used to it. The man shrugged under the stares. "Time to decide what jobs you'll take."
Gon's spoon stopped midway. "Huh?"
"Each job has their respective special exams, even when many tests are done by all." He said. "So you should decide according to your skill set."
"Oh."
He told them of the possible career paths in the palace, and gave them a few minutes to decide. "Remember not to underestimate the exam." They were all very qualified, but it was better be safe than sorry. This was a mission they absolutely could not fail.
In the end, it was Gon who decided first. "I'll take on the body guard position." She said, looking at the next dish she'd eat with gusto. "Yep, it suits me better than any of the others."
Kurapika stared and pondered if he should take the same job, but figured they'd probably be assigned to different nobles and hence decided against it. "I'll do the scholars' job, probably in administration or secretariat department."
"Then I'll take an ambulatory job, since you'd be limited in offices and meetings." He shifted his attention to Ging. "What about a Gardener or a footman?"
"Both jobs can allow you to walk around, even in town… but you look like a mushroom so I think you'd fit in quite well in the garden."
Kaito's eye twitched while Hanzo was shaking from laughter, just before he exploded. "HAHAHAHAHAHH—"
"You look more like a mushroom though, Hanzo." Gon said, pointing rudely at his shiny bald head.
"How rude!"
Somehow, the conversation shifted to cuisines one could make with Huozo mushrooms.
…
"So…" Kaito intercepted the conversation, which had once again shifted, this time to vegetarian lizards (that liked mushrooms). "What type of exam will we go through?"
"No idea." Ging plainly uttered. "But I know you can do it."
"Lazy ass."
"Alas, are you saying you're not resourceful enough?" Ging smirked teasingly. "Kaito…that won't do if you're planning to marry my precious cousin."
And Kaito turned into a long-haired blonde tomato.
…
After a while of discussions and chats about trifling matters (especially ones that particularly embarrass a certain multi-weapon wielder), it was around this time that Ging blinked as if remembering something. He turned to Hanzo. He brought Hanzo here to have a choice, after all. "We're here in Padioka." He said. "Isn't this your original destination?"
"To serve these people?" Hanzo's face turned dire, which entirely changed the light-hearted mood of the table. Hanzo found the unusually annoying hierarchy stifling. The urge to admit that he wanted to stay and train with Ging instead only intensified. He had a similar sort of system in his country, but his patriotic spirit did not see sense in its usage in other nations. Or perhaps it was because of this similarity that he didn't want to serve. Hanzo did not know the reason, but he knew what he felt, and he was planning on standing by it. "My pride won't allow it, unfortunately."
"Is that so?"
"I apologize for troubling you." He said and as he did, in case Ging wouldn't take him in after all, he tried picturing himself a monk, sworn to celibacy. He cringed immediately. But as soon as they came, Ging quickly relieved him of his worries.
"I never exactly refused your plead to be my student." Ging hid a smirk at Hanzo's very shocked face. "Gotta call me Ging-sama from now on tho." And Hanzo beamed, and made a stern gracious bow.
"Hai!"
Ging laughed (although he would've preferred if everyone called him that), before turning to the ones who would be left behind. "I don't say this often—but you're all extraordinary little kids." He said, standing up, and then walked to hold Gon's shoulder firmly. "So I don't have much qualms in giving the responsibility of saving a whole country in your shoulders."
Ging then nonchalantly headed to the door, mentioning something about other things he needed to accomplish. He was suspiciously vague about it, though no one bothered to ask.
Kurapika sighed at that. Was that supposed to make them feel better? In any case, Ging only kept his proud grin. "Good luck, kids."
.
However, as Kurapika discovered several minutes later, 'saving the whole country' did not seem to make Gon nervous at all, as he was seeing at the moment, and this made him sigh. "Can I go around town, pleasepleaseplease?"
"Are you taking this mission seriously, Gon?"
"Of course I am." She said, those huge eyes of hers sparkling as she pleaded. "We have to gather data, right…? We'll just do a little exploring (and socializing) along the way!" "You should come with me!"
"I suppose so…"
"YAY!" was the last thing he heard before getting dragged out of the house.
…
After some time exploring later, Kurapika realized that he ended up watching the town closely the whole time by habit. His eyes wondered from shop to houses to people to the ground and to the skies… and his eyes ended up at the practically panoptic castle high up—visible to everyone ingraining that the palace's omniscience to the people's subconscious. It was in no small part of disciplining the citizens...
"Kurapika!"
"…yes?"
"You're thinking of something deep again, aren't you?"
"Perhaps."
"Then I won't ask." She replied quickly, making him chuckle. By experience, Gon always had a hard time comprehending whatever he was thinking about, and usually ended up with him having to fan all the smoke coming out of her ears away.
"Thanks." He said and looked at her deeply. "So, why did you call on me?"
"Ah…, look at that." She said pointing at the marketplace, which was teeming with energy from its people: shopkeepers and customers alike. They all looked well, and the economy seemed to be stable. He realized Gon was still pointing at something, so he followed her line of sight more closely. It was a small contraption of sorts, made of metal (by its color he was guessing Iron. "Isn't that cool?"
He nodded in agreement, and the man behind the contraption—an aged man with a goatee—smiled proudly. "Thanks." He touched his mechanism and held it closely, before passing it to Gon. "This is what I am good at, after all."
Gon played around with the toy, moving its arms and legs and making sounds by a push of a button. She looked like a child, one that had just received her first toy. Then again, she had always been happily child-like, and Kurapika didn't think he'd ever want to innocence to change.
"It comes with a sword you know." The old man said as he watched Gon and handed her a wooden sword the size of her thumb. Gon's smile brightened (Kurapika would forever wonder how that was still possible) and added the accessory. "I actually wanted to be a knight." He said, mumbling, and perhaps had the habit of blurting out past failures. "But I wasn't good enough, so I wasn't allowed to train.
"So here I am, making my toys live out my dreams for me."
"But someone who could create something so awesome, I think, has a lot more chance of making his dreams come true isn't it?"
The man stared at Gon for a while before chuckling sardonically. "Sweet and inspiring words, child." He said and patted her head. "You're a foreigner aren't you?"
"Eh?!" Gon exclaimed, sounding a lot like a child yelling 'how did you do that?' to a carnival magician. "How did you know?"
The old man chuckled again. "Because that naïve perspective won't do here. People learn that at a very early age."
"But—" Kurapika held her shoulder to stop her from saying anything. By the looks of it Gon wouldn't be able to open the old man's mind, even if she was potentially the most influential person he met. He'd rather they spend their time somewhere else.
"Thank you for your time, sir." He said and smiled that political smile of his. "We'll be heading off now."
As they walked away Gon started tugging on his shirt. "What was that for?"
"I'll tell you once we explore a bit more." He said as he patted her head. Gon stared at him for a moment, before nodding and they went their way.
They managed to get some information since then, now walking around town for more than hour, but they were primarily about the people's lifestyles. Everyone had their own roles, determined according to skill and since childhood, which made sense, but the lack of freedom made Kurapika cringe (which also made Gon furrow her eyebrows when he told her). His rebellious side almost wanted to flout whatever rules the royals had to say.
But he ended up smiling at the fact he could actually think that way now. Freedom: A concept of great importance to him. And it was because of this girl beside him. He turned his head reflexively to look at her, but instead his eyes caught a movement not too far from them. It wasn't supposed to be out of the ordinary, but the smooth movements told his instincts otherwise.
It was a rather gruff looking man with a headband, looking around as if watching if he was being followed. He sharpened his sights to follow the figure, not realizing he halted his steps, earning a puzzled stare from his companion. Kurapika narrowed his eyes by habit, before turning to Gon with a calmer expression. "It's getting dark."
"But there's still so much to do!" She said in disagreement and crossed her arms, pouting in the way he had little immunity to. "And you know well the place's spirit often changes when the sun sleeps."
Kurapika stared and sighed, trying to figure out a way to convince her otherwise. She frowned, unmoved, and unconsciously made that pout of hers a lot harder to reject. He mused that this girl really had too much energy to spare. Still, he didn't spend all those years with her as a sitting duck. He did build some sort of immunity to her charms. "I think you should go home…" He said (managed) in a way that he wasn't up for a contest. And so after a while of staring each other down, Gon's proud stance slumped and she sighed in defeat.
"…okay."
"Thank you." He said and patted her head. "Good night, Gon."
"Ah…" She mumbled dejectedly before turning and finally walked to Kiriko's house. But only after some dozen steps a little girl ran in front of her, and Gon's eyes followed the kid by instinct as the child ran to her mother, who happily ushered her in her home.
She suddenly wanted to go somewhere—hopefully to sate that plucking of heartstrings in her chest caused by the sight—and she immediately turned to Kurapika to tell him. "Ne, Kura—"
But he was no longer there.
Gon paused, thinking whether or not she should go. She probably wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't. Besides, she shouldn't take so long! So even if Kurapika did get back to Kiriko's house earlier than she would, he wouldn't worry so much… right?
Besides…, technically speaking, that place was her home. So there's no harm done.
She hoped.
…
Gon followed her mental map of where the house was. Naturally, she wouldn't remember it by experience, she was too young to. So she trusted the map she created in her head using Mito's stories and meandered around the eastern woods for some time before stumbling in a disintegrating pathway marked by gravel. There were still small quantities of it were still visible (at least to her eyes) and thanked her luck.
And very soon, she arrived at the clearing that more-or-less looked just as Mito described: The two sharp rocks at her right, check; the large orange mango tree beside it, check; and the house (which was actually a lot more eccentric than how she imagined it), check.
It was a pretty house in-between two trees, which must have been a lot smaller back then. They (the trees) grew at an angle, so they were basically part of the structure now. Gon walked to the door and reluctantly entered the house, even muttering a 'pardon me for intruding' even in her own (former) house simply because Mito taught her to.
She passively sat down one of the couches and looked at everything—the custom wood furniture (a lot of which Ging probably made himself, given his lack of woodcraft abilities and the various misplaced nails), the combination of stripped wood and parquet floors, and the open ceiling which showed the roof support—before she surveyed the house for a sign of life.
As expected it was certainly abandoned and for as many years as Mito said, yet… it still had a distinct homey feeling. She wasn't sure if it was naturally like that—or some memory of her time her made her feel so, but in either case it was lovely.
And she wondered what it would feel like to live here again.
…
Meanwhile, some few dozen or so meters above the ground, sharp blue eyes looked even sharper as it tried to minimize the sting caused by fast winds hitting his orbs. He was going fast, but fortunately his training allowed him to tolerate the air pressure almost effortlessly. Regardless, slowing his descent posted its challenges.
It was harder to control the glider than he had anticipated. That and perhaps he created a not-so-perfect model.
In any case, he was so screwed.
…
Her back shot up at the unexpected loud sound over a kilometer away, and her brain reflexively sent signals—eyes closes, ears sharpens, skin tingling, and adrenaline rushed in—as it always did, when threats seemed to appear.
The rustle of leaves was strong and she swore she heard a 'bang' before that. She opened her eyes and stood. She felt that she better check it out.
…
He was hanging from a tree. It was very humiliating during the 5 seconds he just hung there. He groaned and turned his head around to see how high he was or perhaps what kind of tree it was. He caught sight of an odd shaped fruit that had an orange hue to it just at arm's length. He took his free hand and bit it (he was hungry, and if it was inedible the worse that could probably happen was a mild stomach-ache anyway).
He blinked at the familiar luscious flavour that invaded his tastes. It was the famous Mango orange, he was certain. He never saw one unsliced before though. So that was what it looked like…
Moving on from the awe caused by a fruit, he effortlessly maneuvered himself for a more stable position before finally jumping down. He clicked his neck to get rid of that annoying feeling of discomfort in that area, before stretching his arms as he threaded across the woods. He was very obviously in the woods, and silently wondered which part.
It was sometime then that his eyes caught something in the tree trunk: scratches. He froze at the flash of knowledge that passed by his head, and remained that way because that was what the flash indicated. Too soon he was hearing rustles of leaves at least a few dozen feet away. A large bear-fox appeared from the bushes and stood up—gesturing for an attack—and Killua stared at the animal twice his height before he closed his fingers together, forced out his long nails, and sharpened his hand—Indubitably going for the kill. And barely a second later when he and the animal were heading for each other's throats.
But in an instant the bear was out of his way and his attack was stopped by two soft hands sandwiching his lethal ones. "Stop!"
His eyes widened as he registered what happened, and when he saw huge chocolate-colored eyes on a pretty face staring at him down, he lost his guard immediately. He watched her passively as she pulled him away to the outside of the bear's territory before bumping his head with hers.
It hurt like hell.
However, she did not seem to care. "You idiot!" She yelled and glared.
"…Ha?" The nerve of this woman…, he told himself, but oddly he didn't feel offended at all. However, Prince Killua was never one to submit to someone below his rank—and that was practically everyone. So, instead, he straightened his stance and crossed his arms, and sending a glare that met hers. "I'm the idiot?! You were the one who head-butted me!"
The girl was not faltered. "Why are attacking her?"
"I could have easily taken him (her, how do you know that anyway?) you know, for your information." She shook her head at this, and Killua realized she believed that he could indeed do that, and hence saw that she was upset for some other reason entirely.
"Look—"She pointed at the direction they came from and he narrowed his eyes for a closer look. A smaller version of the animal, a cub, entered his sights and licked the unconscious one lovingly. "She could've lost her mother thanks to you."
He was taught anything that threatened his life should be eliminated. Still… "Oh."
There was an air of silence that passed then, but their eyes never left each other: one (his) looking curiously at the other masked by feigned annoyance and arrogance, the other one on the other hand was undoubtedly scolding.
This girl saw how much effort (or the complete lack thereof) it would've taken him to take the mother's life, and she frowned at him condescendingly. Killua felt a little intimidated. "You shouldn't take lives so easily." She said and his eyes widened at the words.
Who was this girl—so sure of herself—and why did she keep telling him things opposite to what he was taught? His expression betrayed his thoughts, apparently, when the girl furrowed her eyebrows again and tilted her head in puzzlement. "Is there something on my face?"
He flinched. "No. I just thought you were weird."
"And you're mean."
And once again, under the oddly non-hostile sort of tension that surrounded them, his sharp blue orbs met her bright russet ones.
But then… for some unknown reason, a few seconds of mutual glaring after that—as if a stretched string was plucked—they ended up laughing.
What an odd day…
…
"So…" Killua begun as soon as they calmed down. "What are you doing in this isolated part of the forest?"
She cleared her throat and smiled. "I used to live around here."
"Oh?" He asked, very interested, if not slightly skeptical (who lived by these dangerous woods anyway?), and silently thought she was even prettier when she smiled.
"Yeah." She shrugged and grinned. "What are you doing here? Were you the one who caused all that noise?"
"Yeah, probably." This time he shrugged and grinned. But then he realized something, which made him bat his eyelids. "Wait—you heard that?" That must have been a few hundred meters from there. He only received a proud smile in response.
"I have strong hearing." She said nonchalantly before stepping closer and staring him down again, but this time eyes beaming with curiosity. It's interesting how easily he could read her, and unlike the others he found transparent—he didn't think of her any lowly at all. "How do you make that much noise, anyway?" She asked, obviously having no idea of the thoughts running through his head. "It's like you fell from the sky."
"I did." He said smugly and to his surprise she didn't look surprised (nor impressed) at all. Darn it.
In any case, after climbing the trees (she just jumped up when he told her he used a contraption) and jumping from branch to branch, they found the glider. "That's so cool!" She squeaked all of a sudden that he almost lost his footing (almost. Princes do not lose their footing). She then held it and gently carried it away from its compromising position. They ended up in front of her house and sat with it in the middle. She poked at it, assessing its state, and looking a little disappointed. "Too bad I'm no good with these things. Maybe Kurapika will be able to fix this. Do you need it fixed?"
Who's Kurapika? "Nah. You can keep it." And now that he thought about it—he didn't even know her name yet. She didn't seem like she knew either and seemed really taken by his creation. She beamed at what he said.
"I can?"
"Yeah." He nodded after freezing a little. He was simply not used to such show of emotions every single second and with such intensity that he couldn't keep up with. However, and thankfully, he managed to keep his proud face. "This thing's easy to come by for me. So it is no trouble."
She still didn't look mildly impressed at that. Instead, her eyes were still on the glider. He felt somewhat annoyed at this and he told himself that it was only because as a royal, he was not used to being ignored. (Not that he ever wanted attention other than his father's, but still.)
But then she turned her head to him and looked deeply into his eyes. He swore his insides bubbled a bit. He then recalled it was almost lunch. "Thank you."
"A-Ah."
"I'm Gon." She smiled. "Weird how we talked so much and didn't even know each other's names."
"Yeah." He chuckled. (He sure was doing that a lot). "Killua." He said and wondered if she would recognize it. (Partly, he wanted to see registration on her face).
She didn't. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "Don't tell anyone you met me here though."
"Why?"
He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You're not from here are you?"
If she thought it was odd that he knew she didn't say so. Instead, she only shook her head. "I was very young when we left." She said as they strolled. "We just came back today, actually." She paused her steps as she finished the sentence.
"I didn't think anyone would live around these parts. It's famous for its wild animals."
"My father and I understand animals." She said. "Not talk to them, of course, but you know what I mean." "My aunt and grandma, however, don't have much to worry about because of the house itself."
"Eeh…" He nodded, rummaging his head for one of the few pieces of knowledge on building he retained during his few bookish lessons (most of the lessons were, after all, about sheer power). "So it was built on wood of animal-repelling trees?"
She grinned at that. "Even better." And then grabbed his hand, sent him her seriously disarming beam, and proceeded to drag him towards who-knew-where. And he found that he didn't care a bit.
"We're here."
He stared at the odd girl, then to their entwined hands, and then found that itching want to loosen his collar since he was finding it hard to breathe. He really wished there was training to deal with whatever these sensations were, but there were none. There was, however, much conditioning to not showing his feelings and gaining his composure at the speed of light. The latter he managed to do.
"What an unusual house." And he turned to her with a grin. "I'm guessing anything connected to you is odd."
"You're rude." She puffed her cheek in annoyance. He chuckled (he enjoyed making her pout, didn't he? Not that he'd admit it). "Anyway, these Acuscia trees." She said, pertaining to the two trees crossing in the most peculiar way that Killua did not realize he was staring in awe.
She laughed and he realized he ended up being the one impressed. Darn it.
He cleared his throat and once again put up his cool princely façade. "That's interesting. I wonder how small that was when the house was built."
"…"
"What?"
"Why do you do that?" She asked and he shivered a little at the fact that he suddenly felt… vulnerable under her stare. And he thought she was transparent. Hah.
"Do what?" He prided himself with his strength, skill, and stealth. And this girl probably wasn't very strong physically (at least not as strong as he was used to) and yet he still felt... readable.
"You know…" She mumbled. "Hold yourself back."
He stared at her for what felt like a few, very long, seconds, when another rustle of leaves, only a few meters away, fortunately distracted his attention away from this weird woman in front of him.
It was the cub. The cub whose mother he almost killed earlier. He had to admit it was cute. He was spending too much time with cute things (i.e. Gon) that he was starting to feel very embarrassed. But as the cub looked at him with those huge innocent eyes he ended up walking towards it. He stopped himself of course, but familiar soft hands hand his and lifted it up, before being pushed down to a sitting position in front the cub.
"Relax." She said, keeping her palm on the back of his hand, and he mused how the heck her voice suddenly sounded even gentler. (That's it. She must be an alien.)
As if on cue the cub walked very slowly towards him. It was measuring him up, but he lacked the wariness he was used to see in animals (humans included) when approaching him. He flinched a little when it got to close to his hands, making it back up a little, but Gon held his hand even tighter, and even reflexively put her other palm over his shoulders, making him relax with just those placid touches.
He petted the cub and it seemed to like it, as the purring indicated, and a soft chuckle escaped his lips as he continued to pet it. Slowly, he turned his head to her (he didn't really know why) and saw she was looking at him so softly that he swore his heart stopped for a moment.
What magic was this woman doing to him?
"You're doing good, Killua."
He blinked. Well at least that impressed her. And he had to admit he was feeling a bit smug.
But before he could say anything, a burst of aura (the abrupt sort caused by anger) burst from the palace. He gulped, partly thankful for the escape route from something so utterly unfamiliar, and partly terrified of his mother's, father's, and Gotoh's wraths. His face showed his exasperation.
He really had just wanted to escape because he was bored, but he didn't want to return so soon. He stole a glance at Gon. Damnit. But he'd rather not create chaos for the entire city. "I got to go."
"Eh?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "Did you do anything bad to the royal family?"
He flinched. But then he realized… to come to that conclusion—she must know nen. How unexpected… "We haven't exactly known each other for long."
"You can tell me. "She said confidently. "Mito-san said that sometimes it's better to tell strangers." Who's Mito-san?
He stared at her again, still cursing the heavens why the topics he had with her were all putting him in awkward positions, before answering. "Not really no." Well, technically.
"Really?" "That's good!" She believed him. "Because then I would've had to turn you in."
"You're a dutiful citizen aren't you?" He asked in amusement. And she hadn't even been here very long.
"I'm not a citizen yet." She shrugged. "But I am applying as a servant."
His eyes widened, and it was very much full of…what? Hope? "You are?"
"What a rude reaction." She muttered immediately and then remembered it was the third time she said that. "You're a really rude person."
"Sorry." He snickered, before feeling another burst of aura and reminding himself it was time to go home or be killed. "Well, I hope you pass then!"
"Thanks!"
"See you soon." He said, and turned to run.
Gon blinked at that. He sounded so sure they would meet again. She wasn't the sort to overthink things, so she ended up beaming at his words after absorbing them.
"See you soon, Killua!"
.
END OF CHAPTER
CHAPTER 6: Preparations
She wondered if she could meet new friends…
REPLIES TO ANGELS (AS OF APRIL 2020)
Loralie Gold Dream – heheh shall I add an arm wrestling competition? Hehe. Thx for the comment
Sarahmounik – (Ch1) Thank you! I hope you get to this chapter and enjoy it! Thanks for reviewing!
WhiteAngelKillua – First of all thank you for your comprehensive comment! *hugs* I really appreciate that you reviewed, and with additional effort too! And you read pretty much all my HxH Stories. Thank you really, that added to my inspiration in writing for them (I am by the way, but the chapters are simply not upload material yet). Two Rivers Part 3 will start when the Dark Continent arc is complete, whenever that will be ahaha. And oh, you're reading fics from other fandoms, too? That's awesome! I am so happy you're liking this so far! I hope you continue enjoying my stories, and again—thanks so much for your time!
Female – Updated! I hope you like it and thank you for reviewing!
…
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