❴"I'm a journalist."❵

"Do tell me... How come you guys listen so well?" Aurora asked from her spot in front of the convenience store.

"You wouldn't even listen to me..." she muttered under her breath.

Compared to how well the members listened to their 'Boss', their treatment towards her was a difference of night and day. The experience of being rendered immobile still haunted her. It was bone-chilling.

"Hm? Is that so...?" Shizuku said. "I just joined and don't know much yet. But Boss has rules. And everyone agrees."

The short black-haired girl with glasses leaned over Aurora's shoulder to take a closer look at the screen of Aurora's laptop. This little laptop was Aurora's trusted device. She always carried it around with her.

From one side, a long cord smoothly looped around mid-air, before it ended inside of the powerstation. Thanks to the circumstances, Aurora was allowed to use her hands freely. She was by far not cleared of surveillance though.

"Do you really think I can escape from you?" She asked the people involved.

From what she had gathered so far, Aurora knew that the group consisted of two forces. The combat force and the support force. She would put Shalnark, Shizuku, Machi and Franklin into the support force, although they were strong enough to be considered as combat force in other organizations.

"Haaa..." she sighed.

Her chances of winning a fight against them was slim. Her Nen specialized in gathering information and intel. Fighting against a group of bandits was far above what her combat ability could handle.

'Their Boss sure is wise,' Aurora thought. 'Maybe even crafty.'

It wasn't unusual for individuals with high intelligence to have a skills that relies on that intelligence. She had seen it in many people before. Even her own abilities are working together with her intelligence and exptertise. After all, Nen abilities are often what works best for ones' personality. Following her line of logic, their leader was bound to have an interesting and unique ability as well.

"Does that mean, you have to follow all of your boss's orders, unconditionally?" Aurora asked in an attempt to pry for some more information.

Shizuku just shrugged. "Who knows?"

"..." She blinked once or twice at Shizuku's response and finally mirrored her gesture.

The dynamic between the Spider's was more complex than she had initially assumed. On one hand, there was a strict integrity. They moved in teams and acted on behalf of the team: Their actions were focused on the team and prioritized the team.

On the other hand, the members seemed to be quite free-spirited, to the point of being careless towards authorities, and even others well-being.

In a sense, they were treating life as a game - a stage play in which everyone just had to fulfill a role. And once that was done, they'd shed away the skins and roles they had been playing. She was sure that the Troupe would be remembered as a group of notorious thieves.

But who would remember the people behind those radiant roles?

The way things are, no one would know about the individuals that make the Troupe who they are. They'd be forgotten without anyone ever knowing the name of the actors and actresses.

'That's...' Aurora thought, 'utterly saddening.' Her heart felt a devastation, like her own. She didn't know where it came from and quickly shook it off.

'I guess, I can only understand them better, once I meet the Boss everyone respects so much.' Aurora concluded.

"So? How much longer," Machi interrupted. "Until you're done."

"Oh," Aurora gasped. "It's done. I was just waiting for everyone to gather."

Machi's eyes widened. She hadn't seen or notice Aurora do anything peculiar, how could she have missed it?

When she looked at her fellow Troupe members, she sensed a similar reaction from them. She wasn't the only one that had been caught off guard.

"Surprised?" Aurora smiled mysteriously. "...I told you I'm a journalist. It's the least I can do."

Notes

The original title idea for this story was supposed to be Light & Shadow. In the end, I decided for Lycoris / Red-Spider-Lily because of its meaning as well as Aurora's and Chrollo's designs, black and red

Double chapter today because this one turned out a little shorter.

Here are my thoughts on the stage play metaphor without spoiling too much:

In multiple scenes (from the HxH 2011 Anime) The Troupe's being told and acting under the assumption that any of them can be replaced at any time. (Even Chrollo only sees himself a gear for the Spider) Meaning, that outside of their role for the group, they have no other value or meaning.

Here, Aurora is putting that into context with a stage play with actor and actresses that are known as a character or person they portray. The only difference is the stark value of loyalty and devotion. While the Troupe members are willing to die for their "role", - quite literally, I may add, - real actors and actresses are able to have a life and be their own person outside of an act.

As an OC of my creation, Aurora is here to mess up those dynamics and add some spice and flavour into the dutiful lives of the Spiders'. How will she do that? ^-^

A Hint: I threw in some "candies" (plot elements that are hinted at, and are to be used to elevate the plot at a later date) here and there. How many can you find? ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

Thank you for reading!

Please continue to love & support Yoshihiro Togashi and HxH for a long time!