tw: mentions of blood
SEN DIDN'T sleep that night.
Her brother called two more times but she didn't pick up. Sen didn't need a reminder that she had failed her family. Her brain did that ten times better than Kotaro ever could.
Or maybe she was creating things in her head again.
Sen felt naked without her ugly sweatshirt. The tank top did nothing to hide the scarring on her left elbow; the mottled, jagged skin stood in stark contrast to the rest of her russet coloring.
Her leggings had holes in the knees from when she'd fallen in Trick Tower. Her sneakers were speckled with blood (there went making them last another year).
Her friends seemed more concerned about the lack of sleep.
"Here," Leorio shoved a can of Red Bull at her. "You're small, so don't drink the whole thing."
"Don't give her that stuff," Kurapika frowned, snatching the can away.
Killua kept eyeing her scar but didn't say anything. At least the one on her torso wasn't visible.
"Good luck," Sen told Gon, voice scratchy.
He nodded, face stony.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Sen wondered if she jinxed Gon by saying that.
Hanzo showed no mercy.
"I can't kill you," he told Gon, "and I can't find a way to force you to surrender. So, I'm taking my chances next round."
Three hours in, a bloody and unconscious Gon was taken from the room.
Sen's head was buzzing from the lack of sleep, but the thought of Hanzo not taking her seriously made her blood boil.
She was going to win. What use was Sen to her family if she couldn't even beat a human? This Sen, the one whose big dumb heart got her into this mess in the first place, was utterly useless.
Her brother was probably furious with what she'd done. Her sisters would be disappointed. Sen was, too.
That sort of openness was uncharacteristic of her. Maybe she was like her mother.
Killua gave her shoulder a firm pat when it was Sen's turn to step into the ring.
"Give him a good thrashing, girlie," Leorio said firmly.
The floor was streaked with Gon's blood. She was constantly stepping on it.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
This girl was the last person Hanzo wanted to fight.
He studied Sen. "I don't know if you remember, but we took the same ship to Zaban City."
"I remember."
Sen did not look surprised or even remotely interested.
He heard rumors of where she came from. Hanzo's masters called Inariyami Island 'a cursed place'. Some areas of Jappon crossed it off the maps entirely.
