Chapter 6: Eye for Eye
"What the... fuck?" Phinks frowned as he entered the dilapidated building. They were there at the right time yet-- "Nobunaga is not here..."
Feitan scowled. "I can see that."
"Well then where the fuck is he?" Phinks turned back to him with a glare.
"If I knew, we wouldn't be here."
Machi stepped out into the moonlight filtering through the cracked windows, sharp eyes scanning the area. "That place there-" As the pair's heads snapped towards her, she pointed to loose dirt next to a vertically placed stone. "--has been freshly dug."
The atmosphere instantly turned serious.
"You think it's-" Phinks refused to complete the sentence, choosing to check for himself instead.
"It's been dug deep." Feitan noted as Phinks began throwing out dirt with his hands. "We'll need a shovel."
"Then go fucking get one." He growled.
Machi picked up the dirty shovel lying in the corner, quietly walking over and handing it to him.
"That fucking... bastard." Phinks' bloodlust quadrupled, swallowing up their surroundings.
Machi and Feitan shared a solemn look as he began digging. To pass the time, Machi began pacing around the building, checking nooks and crannies for no specific reason other than the illogical hope that she might find Nobu in one of them. Maybe he was just injured and hiding it out. Maybe they took the fight somewhere else and he was on his way to the base right now.
Feitan, on the other hand, kept watch over the task. With every thuck of the shovel against the soil, he felt his emotions slipping further and further away from himself. Until he simply felt... empty. It had always been this way. His heart had to empty before rage could fill it whole.
Phinks finally stopped digging, panting now. "Call Machi." He asked Feitan, eyes still glued to the hole.
Feitan, for once, decided to oblige.
When all three were gathered around, Phinks hauled a wooden box out of it. After a long pause, Feitan crouched down to open it.
Inside, were two vertical glass cylinders in a shiny red metal stand. The three stared at the two eyeballs staring back at them.
Kurapika felt his rage dissipate the closer he got to the city, being replaced by raw exhaustion instead. He wanted to curse himself for wanting a break right now, after all he'd done-- more like, failed to do. Once more, the Spiders had taken from him. And he'd been completely oblivious to the whole ordeal as it'd happened-- too helpless by the time he discovered it.
He should be running around in the outskirts of the city, hunting for the remaining Spiders. But he simply couldn't bring himself to do that. His eyes burned, ached, throbbed-- all sorts of pain assaulting him at the same time. His mind wandered back to the time when he'd returned to his clan for the second last time-- he'd join them for the last in the afterlife... or maybe not. He'd be going to hell anyway.
He'd first heard about the massacre from two men talking about it on the street. He'd instantly turned around, catching the Kurta name and the amused way in which it had been spoken.
"Whatchya think?" One of them had said to the other. "Should we try buying one? I heard they're starting to sell the eyes." The pair had guffawed at that, oblivious to the Kurta child standing next to them-- eyes scarlet with rage.
He still couldn't figure out whether his first kills were accidents or not.
"Should we call the boss?" Feitan murmured.
"No." Machi closed her eyes, begging her tears to stay in. One little tear and she knew she'd break.
"Fucking idiotic bastard. Just had to go alone and get himself killed. If only--" With a huff, Phinks stood up. "Fuck it. Let's go back to the base. And wipe that dead look from your faces. You think Nobunaga would fucking want that? HUH? He died fighting-- doing what he loved. He died a bloody Spider. What fucking more do you want?!"
Machi sucked in a breath as Phinks turned around to leave, tears streaming down hie face.
"Idiot." Crinkled eyes hinted at a smirk under the mask.
"Oh fuck off!" Phinks bit back.
Machi smiled, a stray tear slipping down her cheek. He was dead. Nobunaga was dead. Yet the two never stopped bickering.
Before the pair could continue, Machi slid the lid back on the box and, picking it up, began walking out of the room. The two followed, and they were soon back in the car-- a quiet drive to their base.
[A/N: A short chapter after such a long time I knowww. But I think it has enough plot to compensate that... mmm hopefully. My school likes giving me wayy too many exams and unit tests argh. Didn't even get a proper break during summer vacations. But yea those are still technically excuses _
Thank you so much SpringDawnLotus and FlowerChild23 for motivating me to continue 3]
