• Akari •
That face. It enraged her so much. Why was he laughing at her? Why was he enjoying her suffering? What was he planning next? She was already defenseless, much to young to do anything to counter the strength of any adult. Wait a second - why was he pulling out a knife? Why is it being pointed at her? It was getting really hard to focus or breathe. The anticipation was too much.
The knife was pointed at a part of her neck right above the aorta. She could feel blood trickling down her neck. How could she get out of this?
"No!! No!! Leave me alone!!" Akari woke up to her own screaming. She was breathing heavily and could feel a splitting headache. She was drenched in sweat. What concerned her most was that she hadn't had this kind of nightmare in a while. What could have triggered her unconscious mind to create such a brutal dream?
Akari looked at her alarm clock. 4:13, it read.
She decided to get out of bed since she was not expecting to be able to fall back asleep, at least not now. Maybe she'd take a nap after her meeting with Kurapika.
• Kurapika •
Kurapika spotted Akari as soon as she stepped inside the cafe. She looked exceptionally drained as she looked around. The bubbly girl of yesterday was replaced with the frazzled girl of today. Kurapika wondered what had happened between last night and this morning.
He decided against asking too many questions, instead offering to pay for her breakfast. They quickly ordered some food, settled down into a booth, and dove right into the topic.
"I hope it's okay for me to just jump in with questions." He waited for a reaction.
Akari nodded.
"So, tell me about your role as a Crime Hunter. Like, who or what are you hunting?" Kurapika inquired.
"Well, originally, my main focus was to investigate the Zoldyck family and any assassinations potentially related to them. However, I met one of the Zoldyck kids, and he convinced me to drop my investigation into his family."
"Was it Killua?" Kurapika asked.
Akari's eyes widened at the mention of the familiar name. "Yes! Do you know him?"
Kurapika nodded then took a sip of his tea. "I met him during my Hunter exam."
"Same! Though, he did knock me out in the first phase. I came across him shortly after, and he apologized." Akari giggled. "He was happy to learn I had no hard feelings."
"Mmm, sounds like Killua," Kurapika smiled. "So, what did he say to convince you to drop your investigation?"
Akari explained that Killua had an older brother, Illumi, who was obsessed with him to the point of constantly watching over him. Since Akari had crossed paths with Killua, and seemed to have a good relationship with him, it was likely that Illumi would also be keeping Akari on his radar, at least until she was no longer associated with Killua.
"I see. Basically, it was for your own safety," Kurapika concluded.
"Right," Akari confirmed. "After taking the Hunter exam, I switched my focus to the Phantom Troupe."
Kurapika stiffened at the mention of that name. "The Spiders, huh? What do you know about them?"
"A lot, actually. Did you want to know something specific?"
• Akari •
Akari noticed Kurapika's change in body language once she mentioned the Phantom Troupe. She wondered what made him feel this way all of a sudden.
"Well, I'm hoping you can help me with what I don't know. I know a lot about them myself," Kurapika said as he looked down.
Akari studied the young man. He looked crestfallen. "Well, a lot of people say they know stuff about the Phantom Troupe, and there's a lot of information available out on the Hunter website. If there is something specific you need to know, maybe I can help."
Kurapika looked up at Akari all of a sudden. "Pardon me if this sounds a little rude, but how would I know if your information is credible?"
Akari laughed. "Not rude at all! I have the same approach when it comes to learning information from others." She took a bite out of her bagel. "Let's just say I had the displeasure of encountering three of the members personally." Akari watched Kurapika's face for some kind of reaction.
Kurapika's mouth dropped. "Really? Which members?"
"I'm not sure I want to disclose that."
Kurapika continued. "Well, I got rid of their #11 at one point, and I captured the leader as well. Unfortunately, the Troupe was holding my friends as hostages at the same time, so I exchanged the leader for my friends. Otherwise, I would've disposed of the leader just the same."
Akari listened with amazement. "Really? You let that jerk Chrollo go?" Why anyone would do that was beyond her. Chrollo deserved hell.
Kurapika gawked. "So you know about Chrollo?"
"Of course! He tried stealing my nen abilities." Akari hoped Kurapika wouldn't press for any further details.
"No way! He's dangerous in more ways then one, that's for sure." Kurapika pounded his fist on the table. Clearly, he was enraged.
"Mmmhmm," Akari hummed. "So, if you captured Chrollo and got rid of Uvogin, does that make you the Chain User?"
When Akari asked this, Kurapika looked angry and fearful. Did he really think she wouldn't figure it out?
"So you do know the Phantom Troupe pretty well, it seems," he said.
Annika nodded. "Yeah, I mean, Chrollo wasn't too happy to admit that he had been captured. He thought he was invincible." She chuckled. "He is good at his work, but even he can be outsmarted, it seems. You're amazing, Kurapika! I want to assist you if I can."
"You said you encountered three different members. Chrollo is one. Who are the others?"
"Oh, that would be Feitan and Phinks." Wait. That dream she had this morning - was that Feitan?! The face was similar to his, and that dream was a subconscious replay of a childhood trauma.
Kurapika wore a concerned look. "Are you okay, Akari? Is something wrong?" He reached out to hold her hand.
"Uhh, yes, I think I'll be alright." Suddenly, Akari wished she had a glass of water to drink from instead of her coffee. Her mouth felt dry.
Had she really seen Feitan twice in her life? Was he her previous abductor? Was he?!? Someone was, but she never figured out who. She had been rescued by her father and a friend of his. Oh well, it wasn't worth thinking about this now. She was already exhausted from the dream itself, and she could use anything to shift her focus from that. She should be focusing on helping Kurapika.
Just then, a pair of teenagers burst through the door of the cafe, chatting excitedly about whatever was on their mind. They were about to walk right by the pair of Hunters when Gon spotted them.
"Kurapika!" he shouted.
Killua turned towards the direction Gon was facing and was shocked to see another familiar face. "Akari!" He looked at her in disbelief. "You two know each other?"
"Well, I was at the library yesterday and met her there. She works at the library," Kurapika answered.
"Mmm, I see." Killua narrowed his eyes at Akari. "I thought I could stay away from you for your own sake, but it seems our paths have crossed again."
Akari could only nod.
"You do understand what that means, right?"
Akari nodded again.
Kurapika motioned for the two teenagers to sit at their booth. Gon jumped into the space next to Kurapika, while Killua hesitated for a moment, then plopped into the seat next to Akari.
"Don't you guys want to order some breakfast?" Akari asked.
"I'm not hungry," Killua quicky responded.
"I already ate!" Gon exclaimed.
"Oh, then why did you come here?"
"Mmm," Gon laid a finger on his chin, deep in thought. "Ahh!" He perked up. "We just wanted to come to a place where we could catch up!"
"I see."
"Why? Is there a problem?" Killua turned to Akari.
He seemed a bit more hostile than the last time Akari saw him. "No, no, just asking. It's odd to come to a cafe to not eat or drink something."
"Really? Killua and I do it all the time!"
"Oh. I guess cafes are a great place to see friends." Akari smiled sweetly at Gon.
• Kurapika •
Kurapika quietly observed the other three Hunters. He felt quite uneasy for some reason, so he decided to discreetly look around the cafe without getting up. He did not want to attract any unwanted attention, though, admittedly, it was hard with Gon being so loud. Kurapika brought his finger up to his lips, signifying for everyone to bring down their voices.
"Oops!" Gon put his hand over his mouth while smiling with closed eyes.
Someone was here, and their presence was definitely not a friendly one. It appeared as though they were hiding themselves so that they wouldn't be easily detectable. Kurapika wondered who they were after.
Suddenly, Killua stood up and grabbed Akari's hand. "I need to talk to you."
An alarmed Akari snatched her hand back. "About?"
"It's private."
Akari looked fearful. Kurapika wondered why her reaction was one of fright instead of confidence. After all, they had parted on friendly terms, hadn't they?
I guess I could ask her about it later, he thought.
Akari followed Killua outside.
Gon looked over at Kurapika and shrugged. "Killua's been acting kinda funny ever since we got here. Do you know about their history?"
Kurapika wondered if he should say anything to Gon, then decided it would probably be best to let Killua or Akari tell Gon if they wanted to. "No." Kurapika shook his head.
"Ohh. Well, I hope they don't take forever."
➖
On the other side of the cafe, a pair of charcoal grey eyes and a pair of dark, soulless eyes watched the events unfold at the Hunter table.
"What do you think of her, Illumi?"
➖