Hate You Most | Kurapika x reader

[Chapter 17] - A Change of Tactics

"So," she interrupted his thoughts, "what are our plans for the rest of the day?" Y/n scoffed at the papers littering the table. She sat up from his grasp and rustled the unorganized papers. "Stupid papers," she mumbled. In contrast to moments ago, her muscles were tense. She felt her chest tighten.

"We could continue here –"

"That would be pointless," she stopped him. "All of this," she motioned over the papers, "it's all pointless."

"It's not pointless," he said, leaning forward.

She zipped her head towards him. Her face was close to his. "Tell me, how have we progressed since we met with Kel– with Blue? What have you figured out?" Her voice wasn't harsh, rather it was gentle contrasting her stiffened body and her hands tightly gripping the edge of the couch.

He sighed, leaning his face into his hands. "Yeah, you're right. But what else are we supposed to do?"

"You have a lead, right?" Kurapika always had information at his disposal.

Kurapika nodded hesitantly. He didn't like where this was going.

"Let's follow it."

"We can't," he stated, leaning back into the couch. The fabric hugged his back, and the exhaustion that accompanied him every day tugged at his consciousness.

Y/n studied his vulnerability. His comfort around her made her freeze for a moment. She hadn't a clue why it put her on edge, but something in her chest told her this would become a problem. "Why not?" she asked.

Kurapika let out an exasperated sigh, "I sent Linssen, Melody and Basho."

"Wait, what?" she breathed. She could feel her heartbeat unmercifully against her chest. "Why?" His name shook her calm voice, her words going shaky.

"Because I trust them," he said, "they're just scouting a Phantom Troupe sighting. They're suited to tracking. Plus, I can't leave right now, I've been away too long." He looked at her softly, "if I could go, know I would. I would - but I can't," he put a hand on his healing wound.

"So send me. Not him– them," she argued.

He stayed quiet.

Y/n stared blankly at him. "Send me," she said roughly.

Y/n's words had always been harsh with him from the start. They jabbed back and forth at each other. It was their normal from the start. So, Kurapika didn't know why her tone was surprising. Maybe it was that she switched from gentle to almost hostile at the names of his friends that caused him to stir. Something in his gut told him to refuse. "No," he stated.

Y/n took another shaken breath, seething through her teeth on the exhale. "Tell me where they're going."

There was a tug at his head telling him he should've never involved her. This bad feeling no matter how hard he tried to push down kept surfacing. If he was smarter, more calculating and less strategic, he would've never partnered with her and never would've spoken to her that day in the meeting. He would've left her uninvolved. He didn't know what made him speak up that day. "Trust them to do their job Y/n," he said.

"I don't," she raised her voice. She should've told Kurapika about her uneasiness with Linssen before they left.

Kurapika shook his head.

Linssen was now at the top of her worries. Everything was progressing as it was supposed to. She was working with Kurapika as they uncovered the clues left behind. Yet he swept in and disrupted her thoughts.

She stood up from her seat. She left noticeable marks on the couches fabric from her hands that gripped the edges. "They haven't been gone that long," she said to herself and no one in general.