Chapter III

"Mhmm… So comfy…" I moved in my sleep until the bright sun shone on my face. "Ughh… My eyes… Someone turn off the sun… mhmm."

"Wait the sun..?" I quickly opened my eyes and sat up, "Where the hell am I?"

I glanced at my surroundings and found that the sun had just begun to rise. "Ouch… My back hurts." Why am I laying on the cold stone ground?

I tried to get up but something was preventing me from doing so. I gazed at the person who was hugging my stomach intently, blocking me from standing straight. "And why is there a cute cat girl hugging me in my sleep?"

I pause for a moment. Replaying what happened yesterday. So, the day before I was with Kite, Killua, and Gon… Then we got attacked and now… I stared at the culprit in hand.

"Oh right," My attention went back to the girl sleeping. "She's not just a cute cat girl but a dangerous one… Crap."

I hovered my hand above her, debating what to do. After a minute I took a deep breath. I placed my hand on her head and patted her. "Hey… Pitou? It's morning." I gulped. She lets out a purr as she stirred in her sleep, "C-Cute…"

Not before long she started to wake up. I just hope she's a morning person.

Pitou opens her reddish eyes which made it scarier, but her expression betrays her as she looks at me like an adorable cat. "Nya~?"

"Good morning?" I let out a nervous laugh.

Pitou stares at me for a moment, her fierce eyes cutting through me. "Shiro?"

"Yep, that's me."

"Did nya want to die or something?" She yawned.

I paused with a blank face. "Preferably no. But I think it's time for us to wake up." I deadpanned, waiting for her to get up. My plan is basically to not offend the cat girl. Might die but hopefully not.

"Then is it time for breakfast?" She looks at me with a grin, "Nya! Are you my breakfast?"

I quickly replied, "No- No! Hey, come on now. Maybe in another context… But come on, we talked about this yesterday. No killing Shiro." I felt a sweat drop coming because of her 'jokes'. One thing that made this more terrifying is how she was still holding onto me.

"I can hear your heartbeat," She whispers, making the hair only my body stand.

I fucking died. Not literally, but my heart dropped as it started to beat faster. "Heh…"

"That was a great nap!" Pitou stood up and stretched, letting out a purr. "Nya~"

I sat there on the ground still paralyzed from what just happened. "I'm glad you think so…" I waited for my blood to rush back into my legs but soon enough I also stood up. My body ached.

"That was a pretty soft bed," Pitou smiles. "Nyaa~"

At least she's in a good mood. "Yeah… It was my pleasure. I'm glad you found me pretty soft to lay on." I pat myself to rid of the dust, "Honestly speaking of food. I'd cook you some if we only had some cooking utensils and materials."

"Does human food taste good?" She stares at me curiously. "I wanna try it."

Her eyes were looking at me innocently. Now that I've seen her properly she looks pretty human, minus the cat ears and the tail, as well as the monstrous aura. She was also around my height.

"Yeah, we can try it. Again as long as you don't kill me."

"I already said I won't…" Pitou says. Weirdly enough, somehow I believe her. A little bit.

"Unfortunately even the nearest villages don't have good utensils for cooking," I sigh. "And with that, I think I should leave for now. Y'know? You have your things and I have my things." I started to walk off.

Pitou hums before quickly replying, "Nope! Nya!"

"Alright- What?"

Before I could finish my sentence, Pitou picked me up and everything went upside down as she quickly jumped away still holding me tightly.

"WOAH WOAH WAIT A MINUTE!" I yelled. But it didn't stop Pitou from taking me. "WAI-AAAAHHHHHH!"

I screamed before being quickly silenced by the rocks that I crashed upon. I coughed as the dust settled everywhere. "Ouch." I stared at Pitou who was upside down- no wait I'm the one upside down. "How come I was the only one that crashed into the rocks?" I glared at her.

"Nya," She shrugs.

I climbed down from the spot I was embedded from.

Pitou takes a seat on the rocks, "I already knew you were going to survive that." She closed her eyes.

"Yeah no that doesn't answer my question… Never mind," I cleaned off the dust in my clothes then sat beside her. After a while, I felt some weird presence and looked around before quickly realizing it was Pitou. "What are you doing? And what am I doing here?"

"Nothing." Pitou glances at me, "I just expanded my En. So nobody can infiltrate the castle."

"Your En?" I focused on my aura and after a while, I see how massive Pitou's aura was. "Wait, does that mean I can't escape..?" I muttered to myself.

"Yes you can't," Pitou confirms as she hears me.

"Aww…" I stared at her, "What am I even doing here?"

"You seemed interesting," Pitou answers honestly.

"Oh… uh, uhmm… hehe…" I blushed. "Aww."

"Then a thought occurred to me that you're more interesting alive than dead."

"Oh," I paused. "Thanks?"

Who knew my annoyingness could be a good trait?

"Why'd ya even put up your En?"

"So that I could guard against intruders," She answers.

"Isn't this place teeming with hundreds of Chimera Ants?" I asked, stating the obvious. "Feels like there's no point guarding the area."

"They can handle themselves," Pitou says, agreeing. "But, my priority is guarding the King and waiting for the other two Royal Guards."

"K-King Chimera? Uh… I'm definitely dying when he's finally born." With how strong Pitou was right now, I wondered how crazy strong the King would become. And wait?! Two more Royal Guards? Are you telling me there's gonna be two more ants on the same level as Pitou…

"That's fine!" Pitou exclaims.

I scoffed, "For you maybe! I don't wanna be dead…"

"I can still fix you up after that!" Pitou smiles at me with a cat-like expression.

"Cute but again… I'd rather be alive and just skip the dying part."

"Hmm~" Pitou hums, "Hey, Shiro?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Calling you what? Your name? Pitou?" I frowned, "You don't like it?"

"That's not what I meant," Pitou shook her head, "I mean why do you keep calling me cute? I also heard you say it earlier." I blushed in response, "Is that supposed to mean something?"

My face was flushed. "I uh- UH… IT'S NOTHING! YOU JUST CALL SOMETHING CUTE WHEN IT'S CUTE NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT."

"Nya?" She tilts her head more confused than earlier.

There was a small silence, "Just ignore me. I'm just saying nonsense."

"Nya~ Humans are pretty weird, huh?"

"Nah, I think I'm just a special case," I replied proudly. "Which I don't think is a good thing."

"You are?" Pitou smiles, "I wonder if you taste good then…"

"I- Okay, maybe I ain't so special now," I said anxiously. "Please don't eat me."

"I won't," She says with a toothy grin. "Weirdly enough, I haven't tasted a single human so far."

I glanced at her with a raised brow, "Really? Well, I guess you're special too." I chuckled, "I mean, you don't really need to specifically eat humans, right…?"

"Hmm," She hums. "Not really, nope. But everyone says they're delicious though."

"L-Look how 'bout I just cook ya some food eh?" I offered, "It's definitely going to be better than some rotting corpse I can assure you that."

"If it doesn't taste good, then do I eat you in return?"

"Okaaay, let's not go there, heh." I tried to shift the subject, "I'm just saying ya have to try human food. I'll cook them for you. I just need to find some sort of kitchen somewhere…"

"There are human houses near aren't there?" Pitou asks.

"Yeah… But I doubt they'll have good equipment," I paused for a moment. "Ah! Great idea- How 'bout I just cook for you back at my house eh?"

"And… Where is that?" She stares at me intently.

"I… Wait, it's on the other side of the continent…" I sigh.

"Oh? Now I'm interested… Are there some strong humans on the other side of the continent?" Pitou asks with excitement. Maybe a little too excited…

I held out my hand, "Okay you're being excited for the wrong reason. I mean yeah, there is a lot of strong 'humans' back home. But that's beside the point!"

"Nya~ I just wanna fight someone strong."

"Wha-? Am I not strong?"

Pitou shakes her head, "You are strong. But I don't want to kill you."

Honestly, I forgot that Pitou was a Chimera ant. Completely slipped my mind. And I told her that I want to take her back home. Great idea genius.

"Fighting is fine… But maybe we can lay off the killing part y'know?"

"But that's part of the fun! Nya!"

"That's true, that's true. But I'm sure there are other fun things we can also find."

"You're right we should just fight."

"What- That's not what I meant…" I let out a sigh, a little stressed. "Sure, whatever I guess. As long as you don't start killing other people."

"Hmm?" Pitou's ears bounce. "Something's coming…" She stares into the darkened horizon intently

"Huh?" I turned around and gazed at where she was looking. There were white specks approaching the ant base and they were growing in size exponentially. I honestly have no clue what I was staring at right now, but it seemed like clouds or smoke to me.

And if I remember who has that Nen ability… Then I think I know who that person would be.

Pitou smiled clearly happy that there was finally an intruder of some sort. Her playful personality was still there but this time it was much more sinister.

"You may as well wait," A soft-sounding voice said from out of nowhere.

Crap! I didn't hear or feel any presence at all.

…

Chapter End