a/n : seeing as my school broke up for a couple of weeks off for easter, i decided that my updates may vary as to when and how fast i can write up chapters - so maybe i'll write a chapter every two days again? we'll see ;)
unedited - there may be mistakes within the chapter
By the time the kids returned home, Jett was already eating his fiftieth meal of the day, in the dining room, feeding a now, much more less exhausted Sniper.
Immediately after stepping into the warmth of the home, Ayako's phone began to ring, and she had stepped out into the dark night - once more - to answer it, leaving Mito to fuss over the other two boys for staying out so late.
The moon was still up, hanging awkwardly in the sky, reflecting itself off of the kitchen window, when Ayako returned from her call.
"Jett? I need to speak with you." Ayako approached him, leaving Gon and Killua to hurry upstairs into their room. Sniper prowled around the floor, sniffing around, suspiciously for potential prey before giving up, staring up at Jett, expectantly.
"Whaphs ibout bhistime?" The boy asked, munching on a sandwich, tossing a piece over to the waiting cat below.
Ayako rolled her eyes, smacking underneath his chin, lightly, shutting his mouth. "Chew, you fool."
"What's it about this time?" Jett repeated, pouting, now that his sandwich was gone, the remainders of his snack being gobbled up by a greedy Sniper.
"I need you to go and file in as a temporary bodyguard. After all, you don't have a ticket to get into the auction, now do you?"
"Wait, hold up." Jett raised his eyebrows, unamused. "First of all, how do you have a ticket, and second of all, how does the job of a bodyguard correlate to an auction ticket?"
"Well." Ayako smiled, mischievously. "After the exam, I made quite a few allies and connections coincidentally using the alias 'Rain', with people in the underground businesses and that's how I got a ticket."
"Does this relate back to your shady phone call, just now, little miss Rain?"
"I wouldn't say shady...but I got intel that the infamous Nostrade girl needs quite a lot of bodyguards, as of right now." Ayako explained, shaking her head at his teasing tone, sitting down beside him. "Sadly, we missed the interviews, but I have some connections and I'm sure I could secure you a spot in the group."
"Ok, and where does the auction come into this...?"
"That girl, is going to the auction herself. She's a collector of 'body parts' apparently, so of course her father is going to allow her to go, with bodyguards of course."
"Ok, so all I have to do, is to try to secure the job, despite the fact that the interviews are long gone, and then if I get the job, I relax with Sniper whilst I bodyguard a creepy body collector, until I see you again?"
"Exactly. Although I'm pretty sure the father would never reject the idea of more bodyguards. His daughter is the reason he's so well known in his world, so really, he wants all hands on deck. Just make sure you do your job well."
"Alright. That was a lot of information to take in. I'm going to bed, so I'll see you in the morning." Jett grinned, ruffling Ayako's hair before jumping up out of his seat and sauntering away, Sniper immediately at his side. On his way out, he waved exaggeratedly at Mito, who was clearing up the last of the dishes.
"Also, you're both setting out tomorrow, so pack your stuff now!" Ayako called after Jett and Sniper's retreating figures, frowning as she fixed her ruffled locks.
"Wait, what?!" The sixteen year old's muffled yells could be heard as realisation sank in. "Tomorrow?!"
"Sorry, about him. He's extremely loud." Ayako chuckled, smiling, apologetically, at Mito. "I'm sure you are much more used to the quiet."
"It's okay. It's kind of refreshing, actually." Mito laughed, quietly. But she seemed to be quite distracted, wringing her hands, as she glanced around the room.
Ayako chuckled, clearing up the last of the cutlery, putting them away in the drawers. "I'm going to head upstairs, if that's okay. Someone's going to have to wake up Jett and Sniper, in the morning. For some reason, they can't seem to wake up, by themselves."
"Um...Ayako?" Mito's gentle voice rose behind her.
"Hm?"
"Could you...could you also get Gon for me? I need to talk to him about something."
"Of course." The girl complied, smiling warmly as she headed out of the room and up the stairs, towards the hushed giggles coming from a room, that Ayako had assumed was Gon's.
The boys were pillow fighting, and quite like the last time they had played, Killua's pillow went flying past Gon and towards the blonde girl who had coincidentally appeared in the doorway. She caught it before it hit her face, silently.
"Shit!" Killua swore under his breath, at the sight of Ayako's blank expression.
"Uh oh..." Gon trailed off, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Ayako..."
Ayako inhaled and exhaled, calmly. "Gon, Mito is calling you, downstairs. She wishes to speak with you."
"Ok! See you guys, later!" Gon exclaimed, more than happy to make his exit, as he bounced out of the room, leaving the other two alone. Ayako's eyes narrowed once again at Killua.
"Uh, that was an accident-..." The silver-headed boy tried to defend himself coolly, but was silenced himself at the sight of Ayako, as she raised her arm to toss the pillow to the floor beside him.
Before Killua could say anything else, Ayako marched over to him, silently flooring him with her leg, proceeding to then picking up the fallen pillow to smother him with.
"You." Ayako began, grinning as she let go, sitting back up. "You were the one that hit me with the pillow when we were trapped in that room, in the Hunter exam, correct?"
"Why are you bringing that up, now?" Killua huffed, his face red and stuffy from being suffocated by a pillow.
"So it was you!" Ayako's brows furrowed, lifting another pillow, and launching it at the boy beside her.
"Ok, I'm sorry!" Killua caught the pillow, but the throw was still strong enough to throw him off balance, knocking him back onto the floor.
"I'm still not forgiving you."
"Fine, don't then!" The boy stuck his tongue out, stubbornly.
There was a tiny bit of silence between the two, before Ayako spoke up.
"Killua?" She mumbled, lightly, getting up from the floor, and holding out a hand for him to take. He grabbed hold of it, allowing the girl to pull him to his feet.
"What is it?" He replied, boredly.
"Count on me, ok?" Ayako smiled, strands of loose blonde hair dancing around her face.
Killua raised a brow, his cheeks tinted pink, stepping back. "Where the heck is this suddenly coming from? Stop being so random! You're starting to sound like Gon!"
"Shutup, stupid." Ayako laughed softly, amused by his current state, making her way to the door. "I'm just telling you to count on me. I'm always going to be here for you if all else fails. Remember that."
I'm going to be a better friend to you, and to Gon, Ayako promised herself, looking over her shoulder.
Killua remained silent, refusing to reply for the fear of sounding like an idiot. But he couldn't deny the warmth he felt when he heard those words. And that warmth continued to surge through him to rest on his tinged cheeks.
"Goodnight." Ayako enthused, looking back ahead, as she glided out of the room and into the hallway, leaving the silver haired boy, to his thoughts.
•••
"So, Jett, what's the plan?"
It was morning, but the sun hadn't risen yet. Ayako had just rolled Jett and Sniper out of bed, and had forced them to get ready, so they could catch their ship early, and began to quiz them, before they took their leave.
"We get the job, blah blah, we protect a creepy body collector, blah blah, we get into the auction, blah blah, and then we bump into you." Jett droned on, boredly, gesturing with his cane.
He was back in his usual attire - his turtleneck gone, along with his baggy pants, and instead replaced with his famous red crimson bow, his waistcoat, the top hat, the black boots - it was all there.
"Good." Ayako beamed, opening the door. "Try not to mess around too much. I'll call regularly. And remember, I go by Rain, in the underground, not Ayako. Now, make do with yourselves and leave."
"Wait!" Jett ordered, his tone serious, and firm.
Ayako froze on the spot, wearily. "What?"
"Did you know that one time, I witnessed an actual ladybird cult? Like the actual ladybird insects - I saw a ladybird cult! I'm not trying to fool around but I actually witnessed it, and it was the strangest thing I've ever-!"
"Stop stalling and get out." Ayako demanded, deadpanning the boy as she shoved him out of the house, waving him away.
"Ah, you're such 'buzzkill'. Loosen up, grandma." Jett grinned at her annoyed stature, before turning on his boot heel and walking back down the pathways and onto the grassy roads, spinning his cane between his hands.
"You too?!"
"I'm sorry, but your grumpy boyfriend has a point! Also, say goodbye to Miss Mito for me!" Jett laughed over his shoulder.
"Bye! Take care, and eat properly!" Ayako rolled her eyes, waving, as she watched them go, before lapsing into thought.
Do I really act like a grandmother? she thought, self-consciously, closing the door behind her.
•••
It was midday, and at this moment in time, Gon and friends were sitting around what seemed to be a small metal box, staring at it intensely.
Gon had explained that during the night before, in his chat with Mito, she had explained everything to him, about his dad Ging, and how he had instructed her to give this box to the boy once he became a Hunter.
Ayako tensed, everytime Gon mentioned Ging's name; the name continued to probe at her memories, and it unsettled her greatly.
"Oh, I see." She murmured, fiddling with her hoodie string, anxiously. "So you couldn't open it?"
"I tried a bunch of methods, but it won't open." Gon told her, frowning.
"Hm. Let me try." Killua picked up the metal object and attempted to twist it open between his bare hands.
Alas, it was no good, for the box stayed rigid.
"Wait, Gon. Your dad told Mito to give this to you when you became a Hunter, right?" Ayako asked him, clogs turning inside her head.
Maybe there's another way...
"Yeah..."
"Oh, I see!" Killua exclaimed, catching on to what Ayako was hinting at. "Gon, there's one thing you haven't tried yet!"
"What was something you didn't have before you were a Hunter, that you have now?" Ayako grinned, taking the box out of Killua's hands and pushing it towards the dark-haired boy.
"Ah! My license!" The boy yelled out, excitedly pulling the card out, and inspecting the box.
Ayako and Killua watched him, blankly.
"But there isn't a slot..." Gon pouted, confused.
"We didn't mean that..." The other two mumbled lowly. "We meant nen."
"Oh!" Gon smiled, eagerly, picking up the box and holding it out.
He shut his eyes, focusing on his surroundings before his aura nodes opened out, his smooth yet raw ten spreading around him evenly.
Ayako watched in silence; this was the first time she had witnessed Gon with nen and to be honest, the whole ordeal piqued her interests, greatly.
Inhaling quietly, Gon spiked his aura out firmly, noticing the box begin to rattle between his hands.
"Nice." Ayako commented, impressed.
After a millisecond, the tiny box shattered, plates of metal landing on the floor, scattering unevenly.
Ayako picked up a thin plate, inspecting it. "Look at the patterns. Seems to be some kind of inscription."
"Yeah." Killua agreed, turning to the dark haired boy, who was also examining the patterns on the pieces of metal. "Don't you recognise it, Gon?"
"Yeah, remember that promise thread that Wing wrapped around my finger? It had the same pattern on it."
"Yeah." Killua agreed.
"Wait, fill me in, I'm confused." Ayako interrupted, her brow raised. "Wing inscripted a thread, for what?"
"It was to stop Gon using nen, when the idiot broke his arm in his first nen match." Killua explained. "We told you, remember? You lectured us for 5 hours straight after we told you."
"Hey!" Gon pouted once more, at what Killua had called him.
"Anyway, do you know what the pattern is, Ayako?" The silver-haired boy ignored Gon's offended wails, peering over the girl's shoulder as she continued to inspect the markings, on the steel plates.
"It's a slight mystery to me. It seems to be an inscription that when applied to something, it increases the durability for it." She concluded, her brows still furrowed in confusion. "Despite your obvious strength, you couldn't open the box bare handed."
"Yes, but it broke apart when nen was involved, so I'm guessing nen is involved with this inscription thing." Killua added, nodding slowly.
Gon on the other hand, watched them communicate, not understanding a word they were saying, his mouth ajar in uncertainty. "Guys, I don't understand..."
"It's 'cause you're stupid." Killua teased, smirking evilly. Ayako pushed the boy aside, patting Gon's head tenderly.
"No you're not, Gon." She smiled, kindly. "Even I don't understand the concept much myself, and neither does that idiot. But simply put, we think those inscripted patterns have something to do with nen."
Gon nodded slowly, understanding her simpler words, before his attention shifted to a new object that sat amidst the metal mess.
"Look, guys. There's another box." He wandered over to it, picking it up, carefully.
Killua and Ayako stood behind him, peeking at the purple object, in curiosity.
"There's a slot." Ayako pointed out, over Gon's shoulder, at the box.
"It must be for my Hunter License!" The boy exclaimed, beaming, as he popped the card into it's slot.
There was a click, before the box opened up.
The trio exchanged determined glances.
Bingo.
a/n
question: fave anime opening? (thAt iSnt hunter x hunter's cus i wouldn't be surprised if any of y'all chose departure - which i can't lie to you, it's my favourite anime opening eVER)
but if i had to leave hunter x hunter out then i would probably choose tokyo ghoul's unravel, because it's so beautiful omg
or maybe a naruto opening, or an ass class opening
yo i can't choose
ALSO AHHHHH CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING KILLAKO (killua x ayako) FANART DRAWN BY THE ONE AND ONLY QUEEN PurbleShoe ❤️❤️❤️❤️ (i am not worthy of your presence 😭)
thank you immensely for your hard work, i appreciate it so much x❤️❤️❤️
*whispers* it's so good 😔❤️