{Escape}

Aurora watched with amusement as she saw the Phantom Troupe change their clothes into suits. Some even went as far, as to mask their faces with beards and new hairstyles.

"You are good at this," she said with a laugh and twirled the pen in her hand. She sat on the staircase inside of a fine clothing establishment. Her head lay supported by the palms of her hands. She resembled a flower in a flower vase while doing so. Her notebook lay open on her thighs.

Shizuku, Machi, Shalnark, Nobunaga and Phinks were currently preparing for the rescue of Uvogin. Franklin had left for their hideout, taking Owl with him. As for Aurora, as much as she wanted to follow the giant, she was forced to stay with the rest of the Troupe. She was their leverage, as well as too much of a "suspicious individual" to be taken to base.

No one said this, but it was clear that they kept her at arm's length.

There was a little change, however.

'I don't think they accuse me as much anymore.'

Albeit slightly, the Troupe's suspicion towards her seems to have eased. Just an hour ago, the sight of her moving her hands freely was impossible. After she shared her share of information, the Troupe members lowered their guard around her... just a little.

This little bit, was of great luck to Aurora! Just as she indulged in her joy, a voice cut her off.

"Oi- ", A man in blond suddenly said.

Right, there was a member that joined them in place of Franklin.

He looked towards his Troupe members and then pointed at her. "What's up with that?"

Aurora chuckled and tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm not a thing ~ ", she had finally won over a bit of trust and was in a good mood. She didn't need anyone to ruin that now.

"..."

Her response left him blinking. He turned back towards his team once more and repeated his gesture.

"Seriously," he said, "WHAT'S up with THAT?"

His trusted team mates greeted him with a shrug or other lackluster responses. Their blatant disinterest was baffling him. In what world did a hostage run around freely, like that?

It wasn't that the Troupe wasn't taking their job seriously, Aurora was just too much of a white sheet for them to bother. Heck, they were pretty sure that she enjoyed being around them. For her, this was nothing more than a little trip with classmates.

And so, they decided to let her be.

Unaware of that, Aurora sighed.

"I'm Aurora," she introduced herself, "...I just somehow got involved in all of this..."

She tilted her head and her red hair swayed along.

"Aa, sou...," Phinks said.

He had heard about the presence of a third party from Chrollo. And naturally, he was prepared for such a situation.

But when he arrived, the situation was completely different from what he had expected.

He expected for some force and violence, even Feitan torturing the heck out of them.

But the woman in front of him, was nothing like what he expected. She was cordial and even went-along with them. She was at ease around them, and even threw in some comments, remarks, or questions at them.

She approached them with sincerity. No matter, how one looked at it, there was no animosity in her behavior towards them.

'A rarity', Phinks thought.

Her whole attitude supported her claims to be a journalist with genuine interest in the Troupe.

"...Are you not going to introduce yourself?" she asked.

She had noticed him staring at her for a while now. Just from the way he kept a guard around her, she considered him to be one of the more reliable members of the group.

Despite that, he too referred to someone else as their boss. Aurora was growing more and more curious about the rest of the Troupe, and their 'Boss' especially. Just who was this mysterious leader that earned the respect and loyalty of these quirky and powerful individuals?

Phinks didn't reply to her. Instead, he turned away, and rolled his shoulders.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't get in our way."

A tall hotel building resided near the entrance of the West Subway Station, right in the middle of downtown Yorknew City. This was the building in which Uvogin was being held captive, and where Nostrade Bodyguards were gathered as well.

'I didn't know at first,' Aurora thought, 'But Kurapika is... likely involved.'

And so, were the others.

She was half doubtful and worried of her decision, but what other choice was there? Her decision had been made and set from the start. It was already too late to regret now.

'The time has come,' she realized when she saw the Troupe ring the intercom.

Just as she had predicted, Uvogin was held captive at one of the hotels under a chaperone of the Nostrade's. The bulky man was strapped, and tied down onto the metal table. Canisters of muscle relaxants lay stacked onto the corner of the room.

Aurora glanced at it and was surprised to see Uvogin still breathing. The amount was more than enough to take down even a herd of mammoth. It was certainly more than enough to knock a man down.

Your average man, that is.

Uvogin was anything BUT average.

None of the Troupe members she had met so far, could really be considered your average Nen User.

Not even Shalnark, whose abilities she considered as most "easy to find" so far, made up for it with his knowledge and intelligence.

She saw the way, they planned to infitrate the mafia security and building with Shalnark's strategy.

'They make this look like a child's play!' was what she thought back then. It was a bit ridiculous how easy this looked to them. A part of her was filled with jealousy, another part of her - the bigger of them two - was... thrilled.

Despite that, Aurora had her own plans.

After spending the last few hours with the Phantom Troupe, she had not only realized the difference in their abilities and skills, but she had also gathered enough information for her to form a new and better plan.

She needed the information, but even more, she needed the strength to live with it. 'Information was power.'

And -

'With power, comes danger.' Solomon had taught her this.

In some situations it was better to retreat and regroup after a successful haul. It was better to be the hunter and not the hunted.

Right now, Aurora had no powers to protect herself. She couldn't possibly hope to enter negotations if their leader proved to be as powerful and dangerous as she assumpted him to be.

This situation was about the best chance she could get for her impromptu plan:

'Make use of the chaos and escape.'

"l hope to see you again soon," she whispered and focused her Nen onto the tiny slip of paper, that lay hidden beneath her sleeve. "Under more favorable circumstances."

Machi was the first to notice that something was off, and yet she was a tad bit too late.

"Damn," she mumbled. Her senses dulled, and her sight grew cloudy as a wall of dust and mist blinded her.

It was only for a moment. But this temporary moment was enough for her Nen imbued strings to shatter.

Aurora had used the dust, that came from Uvogin's knocked down wall as a curtain to activate her skill.

She summoned a thin veil of mist along with the dust. It was very subtle, but quite efficient as it temporarily diluted the senses of those affected by it.

'I have to hurry,' she said, 'Knowing them it won't last long.'

Swift like the wind, she disappeared from the scene.

She ran without looking back. Her heart palpitated in her chest.

She considered this as her only chance. Her one and only.

There was no way to fix this, if they caught her now.

Aurora breathed out a shaky sigh and diminished her presence nearly instantly. She continued her dash in the shadows of the night like a mad(wo)man.

The hotel she was residing in, was located to the Eastgate of Town. It was a well-visited area with a lively nightlife. That's why, even though it was late, the streets were still filled with people.

Aurora stopped her mad dash once she saw the familiar scenery.

The sight of the nightlife city calmed her. She calmed her breathing and surveyed her surroundings. Nothing was off, everything seemed normal.

'Did I suceed?' she thought.

She waited a little more just to be sure, but when she noticed nothing strange after that, her fear was shed away and instead replaced with joy.

She hummed to herself pleasantly.

"This is only going to be a short goodbye~ " she sang, as she put on her favourite pair of pinkish glasses to hide away the pink shimmer in her lilac-blue eyes.

"Next time, " The pretty redhead said, "I'll go straight for the Head ~"

Notes

[Nen Ability] ︎ Fragmentation (The Creator's Right)

I. The User is able to summon a piece of writing to life. (f.e. Mist- A poetry/article about Mist)

II. Once used the Nen-imbued writing disappears. One Time Use only.

III. The strength and duration of this ability differs from the effort, time, concentration and Nen-imbued into it. It is required to be self-written and crafted through Nen.

?

"Machi, why didn't you say anything?"

"..."

"If you've noticed, you could have said anything. Atleast one of us would have reacted in time."

"... *sigh* I had... a feeling she would be back soon."

"... A hunch?"

"A hunch."

"Hm..."

- Phinks and Machi after Aurora's Escape

How many of you did foreshadow Aurora's escape (attempt)?

I like Phinks. But then again, I pretty much like all of the Troupe Members! Is this Machi being a softie here I see? Kya, I feel like her intuition and hunch is pretty spot on, which is why she leaned towards trusting Aurora's words. (Yes, she heard them.)

In a messy and sudden situation, it is easy to get swayed by your feelings/gut/instincts^^

I'm currently reading "Regressor's Instruction Manual". Every character in it, has a certain disposition that matches their personality and stats. Personally, I think Aurora's dispositions would be something like this: "Well-Meaning Strategist", "Innovative Coordinator", "Unpredictable/Whimsy Journalist".

Did Machi's intuition prove to be correct or not? Please look forward to the next chapter for more!

Thank you for reading!

Please continue to love & support Lycoris (RSL), Yoshihiro Togashi and HxH for a long time!