The Kurta

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Aurora waited with bated breath. In the stillness of the hall, the sound of her heart echoed in her ears like thunder.

A tiny droplet of water rolled down her lips, which she wiped away with her the back of her hand. The cold liquid smoothed her parched throat like droplets in a dessert.

In front of her was a large door. it was one amongst the many doors that connected her to the same room behind it.

Behind these doors, were Zeno and Silva Zoldyck.

Behind these doors, was also the Leader of the Troupe.

Just minutes prior, Aurora had reunited with the assassins again and tagged along with them as they checked out each floor of the building. In the end, she safely arrived her. But the grandpa and his son wouldn't allow for her to enter.

This did not deject her. Of course not. Not. at. all.

In the end, she had no choice but to let go and figure her way out on her own..

'Am I anxious?'

Not quite right.

Though her heart was beating loudly in her chest. Thump- Thump

Her fingers inched with the urge to write, to see, to think and to capture the moment and scenery in front of her. Be it as a picture, a novel, a story or a poem. Aurora felt the urge to imprint her experience onto something for the world to see.

She opened her bag and grabbed her little notebook.

After checking her surroundings, she scuffled towards a corner in the hall at the end of the place was now her little base of operation.

She flipped her notebook and opened up a random page. In it, was a little picture of Zeno Zoldyck.

She closed her eyes and focused her aura.

«Nen Ability "Focal Point" (The Centered Gaze of Knowledge)»

The moment she activated her ability, she felt the scenery around her shift. Her vision grew dim and with it, her body gradually numbed.

Her senses shut down one by one, until she felt herself floating in a state of total darkness. She soon felt a familiar, magnetic tug and pull.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in a brightly lit room.

'Success!' She thought when she took in the things she could see.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the familiar man in front of her.

He looked a little bit different, but it was that same raven-black hair with the pale skin. His sharp lifeless eyes look like they could swallow her whole. Dressed in a white shirt and black dress pants, he looked like a well-mannered, rich man but something about him frightened her to her core. She couldn't help the little shiver that crawled down her back.

'Is this really... Kuro?' she asked.

His appearance told her without a doubt that it was him.

'But he looks... so cold.' It was as if the person in front of her was nothing more but an empty shell, a mere husk of his former self. An invisible shadow in the shape of a man wrapped over him like a blanket. Was he still human?

A familiar flash flittered through her head and she saw a picture pop up in her mind. It was only for a very brief second, but she saw it clearly.

In a darkened world, there was an event that would only occure once every few years. The brightly lit sun overshadowed by the moon.

'A solar eclipse?' Aurora whispered.

Before she could ponder on it any longer, she was pulled back to 'her' reality.

Both Zeno, Silva and Kuro leapt away so suddenly, she had to focus all of her senses into not losing her grip on her ability. The speed in which they were fighting at, was straining her focus.

She saw the way Kuro went, head first, against the Zoldyck's with a knife in hand. He actually managed to cut Silva with that poison imbued knife.

She heard herself, no grandpa Zeno, check up on him. His own voice resounded in her ears. It was a sensation, she could never get used to no matter how many times she used her ability like this.

She saw Kuro discard the knife as he suddenly conjured a book.

'This must be his ability,' she thought.

"Be careful, father. He can steal your abilities with this," she heard Silva say.

Aurora bit her lip at that.

"What a frightening ability," she mumbled. And yet, what a fitting ability it was. The leader of the Thieves' Nen ability allowed for him to steal other's abilities.

Just as Aurora attempted to figure out the conditions of his ability, she suddenly felt a buzz run through her brain.

'Urgh-', she winched at the pain. Her vision slowly blurred again. From the corners of her eyes, dark spots appeard. She tried to blink them away and focus on the conversation and scenery in front of her, but it was to no avail.

Her ability has reached its limit.

It didn't take long for the familiar darkness to engulf her again. Sound, sight, smell, touch and taste dimmed. Back came the floating, and then another magnetic pull.

"NOOOO," Aurora yelled when she saw the familiar floor and wall in front of her again.

She buried her head in her hands and lamented the forced closure of her ability.

"I was so close too! AHHHHHH, ****!" A colorful vocabulary left her mouth as she sprung up from her sitting position and punched the innocent railing of the stairs once and twice.

In her initial fit of rage, Aurora didn't notice the familiar blondhaired that happened to stand there for his own goal.

Kurapika looked at her. His eyes wide-open as he slowly lowered the phone in his hand, limbly. His mouth stayed frozen openly, the moment their eyes met.

...

...

"Hello~," Aurora greeted him with a smile, "...Kurapika."

She approached him whilst quickly adjusting her hair and expression at the same time.

"...", Kurapika stared at her for a moment and then sighed, "We meet quite often."

"Funny coincidences, right?" she said cheerfully.

"It's truly a relief to see you're okay though," she softly exhaled, "I'm sure you have seen all the corpses on your way here as well."

"..." Kurapika didn't say anything for a moment and merely looked at her.

She knew what that gaze means. He had something to say, but wasn't sure whether to bring it up.

"... You're angry," she stated.

"..." Kurapika's stare penetrated her, until he finally said.

"Dalzonelle is dead."

"Ah...-" she said and looked down, "my condolences."

"Do you... really mean that?" she heard Kurapika's cold voice say. This was followed by the sound of chains rustling.

The air around him suddenly shifted. It was controlled and sharp, like a hand on a hilt, ready to be used at the owner's choice.

He directed his chains at her.

"Just one question," he said, "Are you one of them?"

She felt it.

His wrath.

She saw it in his body language. She heard it in his voice. She knew, that he wouldn't hesitate to attack her if she answered wrong.

But...

She wasn't scared of him. Because, beyond that fury what Aurora saw was compassion.

Kurapika's heart was bursting in a flame of rage... and pain. He felt anger, joy and sorrow like anyone else. Right now, she was sure that his fury and thirst for revenge was driven by the sake for others, as well.

"No," she said.

One word. Followed by nothing but a clear gaze. This was her only response, and the only thing she had to say at this point.

Kurapika gritted his teeth at the overwhelming sense of frustration.

He knew that she wasn't lying. That she isn't wrong. That all of this was merely a coincidence. These weren't the eyes nor words of a liar and neither did the dowsing chain react. His heart and body agreed. He should be relieved, that she wasn't one of them. But... How can he get rid of this frustration and avenge the lives taken?

She saw that he was battling himself, and hoped that the worst was over... for now. She sighed slightly and relaxed a little.

"Damn," she heard him curse.

Kurapika abruptly retracted his chains. They disappared back into his sleeves.

He turned around to slowly descend the stairs.

"Wait a minute-," she stopped him.

Kurapika stilled without turning around.

Now that she had stopped him, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Why..." she said slowly, "Why do you hate them so much?"

The quiet hallway suddenly seemed so loud. It echoed the silence and tension in the air obnoxiously.

"Because there's evil that needs to be chained down," Kurapika said.

She watched the young boy retreat with a dark shadow of death looming behind him.

She had no words to console him with. Someone that has set their eyes on something with a resolve like that, wasn't going to listen to anyone.

'Much less an outsider like me,' she mumbled to herself.

She knew that there wasn't much she could do or say at the moment. And so, she would just bid him goodbye and wish him the best.

Atleast, that's what she intended to do...

"... Hang in there, Kurapika,"

... but this time, she took a chance.

"Don't lose sight of what's truly important to you," she pointed a finger at him as if to challenge him.

Kurapika stopped, speechless at her action. "Uh-.."

"I don't agree with what you've said. So... let's live and see who's right after we have grown a little wiser!~", she said with a smile.

She saw him blinked a few times, before the tiniest helpless smile played with the corner of his lips.

He turned with a shake of his head. Nobody really knew what was going through his mind at the moment.

Seeing him leave, Aurora steeled her resolve as well.

'I need to do the same...' the next step towards her important mission was right before her.

It's time to meet the Troupe!

NOTES

Focal Point (The Centered Gaze of Knowledge)

I. The user is able to see the perspective of a target when certain conditions are met.

Conditions:

A) Human Target

1. The Target's Name is required.

2. The User has to see the target in real at least once or is able to visualize them in 3D-Detail.

3. The User has to speak with the target at least two sentences and receive a response in turn.

4. The User needs an item, picture, or article related to the target to activate the ability.

5. Once all conditions are fulfilled Focal Point can only be used on that target within the next 24h.

III. If this ability is used for too long, the User will experience a backlash due to prolonged immension and experience everything the target does (fear, pain, confusion, etc.)

IV. The User can not move their body during the time of use. (Refers to rule I.)

"The road you chose will be full of hardships but I hope you can see the light that awaits you at the end of it. I hope you live a long life."

- Aurora to Kurapika

I'm being based here, but seeing Kurapika and Aurora interact with each other, makes me support and root for them.

Writing this makes me think, whether Kurapika counts as a vigilante. And if he does, I wonder how much I can exploit traits of this characteristic to form his personality as the story goes. His duality makes him a hard character to write, but then again... none of the HxH are simple to write. The author did an amazing job in creating them. Heads up to Toshiyuki-sama.