"Anyways! So! He lured me to Hiso-kun, hoping he would kill me, or I kill him—which is probably not gonna happen in a million years. I would've just passed Hiso-kun, but all around him were these cool butterflies, and I..."
୧( ⁼̴̶̤̀ω⁼̴̶̤́ )૭
"...And that's 'bout it!"
"So, now you randomly teleport at random times?" Kurapika sounded disbelieving.
"It was like every 6 hours when it first started, but now, it's like, every four days." Kosai corrected, before pondering, "...Or at least that's what Nef told me."
"That's so cool, Kosai!" Gon beamed at Kosai, being the ever positive one.
Kosai sighed, before wiping a fake tear from her eyes, "Sometimes...It hurts to be so cool~..."
"No, it just sounds inconvenient."
Kosai sighed again, drooping onto the floor.
"..."
"It is! I wanna sleep! I wanna eat! I wanna go get Killu-kun out of there! He owes me dinner! I want dinner!" Kosai suddenly started wailing, repeatedly hitting the ground with her fist.
Gon crouched down and pat her head, "There, there. Zebro-san can give you some food." He looked up at the old man observing them, "Right?"
He nodded.
Clap!
Kosai clapped her hands together, and closed her eyes. She brought the hands up to her forehead.
"Itadakimasu!"
She immediately grabbed the chopsticks and practically inhaled the food in front of her, and to Nef's relief, finally drank some water.
After a few bowls, she decided to slow down a bit, observing her friends. Leorio, Gon and Kurapika all had vests on, each one weighing fifty kilograms. According to Gon, this was training to help them open the front gate.
'It's understandable,' Nef started, observing the gate from afar, 'It seems even the first level of the gate weighs quite a few tons.'
"Didja' know that a whale can ea-"
'I don't care about your facts Kosai.'
"Well, that's just rude."
"Kosai?" Gon approached her before sitting down right next to her, "Who are you talking to?"
"Oh! Yeah!" Kosai set down her food, before picking up Nef and facing Gon, "Nef has superpowers now!"
"Huh?"
"So y'know how I was super mad about Killu-kun leaving? And, like, I said some cool stuff and left ta' follow him? Right after that, Nef started talkin' to me! In my head!"
"Ohh!" Gon made a sound of realization, "But how? Even on whale island, no animal ever talked to me in my head."
"Nef and I, we're too special ya' see, so even the laws of the world don't apply."
Gon smiled at her. Even he knew that she was spewing nonsense, but he wouldn't ruin her fantasy. That was Killua's role.
"Gon-kun~Not that I mind talkin' with ya', " Kosai looked up at him curiously, "Dontcha have trainin' to do?"
Gon sheepishly scratched the back of his neck with his unharmed arm, "I wanted to, but Kurapika and Leorio didn't let me do it because of my injur- Ow!"
He quickly reeled back from Kosai, who stuck out a finger with a cheeky grin, "If it hurts that much from a poke, how'd you ever think trainin' was a good idea?"
"Well-"
Kosai put a finger to his lips, "Shush, 'yer answer's probably somethin' stupid anyways."
Gon pouted, and stuffed his face with Kosai's food as some sort of revenge.
Kosai took it as her chance to escape. Quickly jumping up and dusting crumbs off her clothes, she sprinted away, waving behind her while wearing a large grin, "Have fun doin' the dishes Gon-kun!"
ヾ(>ω<○)
"Heh. You guys suck~" She crouched down, and repeatedly poked Leorio's side, who was still panting heavily on the ground. Kurapika was taking a break to the side, drinking a bottle of water prepared for him.
"You want to try?!"
"Nope~ I have no chance~" Kosai grinned, rolling back and forth on her heels.
"Oh? So you admit it?" Leorio sounded pleased, before becoming irritated again, "If that's the case, then stop talking down to me! You just admitted that I'm stronger than yo-"
"I'm stronger."
"Wha?" Leorio was caught off guard.
"No, you're not!" He protested, "You have no chance at opening the door! You said it yourself! Stop being delusional, and just admit it."
He got up and mockingly pat the pouting girl's head, "Don't worry, I'm older than you, don't feel too bad-"
A second later, he was sent flying into the air, a small foot-print appearing on his back.
Snap!
He landed in a bush, breaking lots of branches in the tree above him.
Kosai was right next to him, lighting kicking him while fuming, "It totally ain't fair, I could totally tie Killu-kun in a fight! And he can open the door and kick 'yer ass! "
"I'm fast! Not strong! Fast! And so I could totally kick 'yer ass!"
"Yeah! Yeah! I got it!" Leorio yelled out, "Stop kicking me!"
"But, Ojii-san~ It's like stress relief!"
The next hour or so ended up in Leorio chasing Kosai inn attempts to punch her—of course, it only ended up in him landing back up in a tree multiple times.
Kurapika watched from the side, slightly envious, "Well, he got used to the weights quite quickly."
Gon nodded, tugging at his own vest.
"Kosai knows how to make people super energized."
"No, she's just good at making them mad."
"But isn't that the same thing?"
Kurapika shrugged—which was surprisingly hard to do with the extra weight sitting on his shoulders, "In some ways, it is."
୧( ⁼̴̶̤̀ω⁼̴̶̤́ )૭
The next few days consisted of Kurapika and Leorio training. Gon also did some in secret, which only Kosai seemed to have noticed. Every time she caught him in the act, she would—without hesitation—kick him in the arm, teaching him in a somewhat roundabout way that he shouldn't be hurting himself.
Of course, Kosai wasn't just wasting this time. She had long since given up on her strength, but building it up a little wouldn't hurt. So, she asked for a weighted vest as well.
For the first three days, she couldn't even get up from being face flat against the ground. Not to mention, the amount of time it took
The teleportation curse became less and less frequent. Kosai prayed to every god out there that it would eventually become non-existent, but hopes of that were dashed when its pace gradually steadied itself at once per week.
Luckily, the range these days has also gotten much shorter. Now, the incident with the phantom troupe in a foreign country was by all means impossible. Nef, apparently, had something to do with it, as he said so himself. Kosai never asked about it though, it seemed she didn't really care for anything but the results.
However, she still would be brought to unknown towns, and sometimes, miles away from any civilization. It took her an average of two days every time she had to navigate back to the Zoldyck household. She dreaded the inevitable day she would be dropped in the middle of the ocean.
"Go! Go! Gon-kun!~" Kosai cheered, pumping one fist in the air and using the other to cuddle Nef.
Gon had just taken off his cast and weights, joining the other two in opening the door.
"Gon..." Kurapika started worriedly, "Why are you using your left arm?"
"It's okay. My arm's healed now."
"Healed?"
"Are you sure, Gon?"
"Want me to check, Gon-kun?~"
"No, thank you!" Gon urgently denied, "Anyway, we have to push together, right?"
They nodded, "Here we go!"
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
Rumble...
"It's opening..."
"It's opening!~" Kosai jumped up, and dashed to the door, jumping above Gon and going between the two doors.
"Finally!~" She danced around, more than happy.
"You're the only one who didn't do any work!" Leorio yelled, stumbling through the doorway, struggling to stand straight-up.
Kosai turned around, wearing a cheeky grin, "I did the cheering!~ It's just as important!"
"Maybe." Kurapika allowed, "But, you only cheered for Gon."
"What's ta' problem with that?"
"He wasn't even pushing the door until a moment ago!"
"Gon deserves the support! I cheered for Kura-kun too, sometimes!"
"What about me?!"
Kurapika and Gon simply high-fived each other, breathing still heavy—they've pretty much gotten used to Kosai arguing pretty much anyone and everyone by now. It's her special skill, they concluded.
"Follow the path, and head for the mountain." Zebro instructed, "The mansion should be somewhere up there."
"I'm ashamed to admit that even though I've worked here for twenty years, I've never been up the mountain."
"Sorry that I couldn't be any help."
"No, that isn't true!" Gon shook his head, "You've both been a huge help! Thank you for everything!"
He ran up to the others, waving behind him.
"Goodbye!"
(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
"I'm just sayin', cereal goes before the milk."
"Nuh-uh! Kosai, milk should always go before cereal!"
'Disgusting.'
"What are you even arguing about?!" Leorio yelled from the side, only having heard the last part of their conversation.
"We are not arguing, I am simply teaching Gon the ways of life."
"Yeah...right. The ways of life."
"Kosai, it has been approximately 7 days since the last teleportation, do you assume that it will occur again soon?" Kurapika inquired from the side.
'Probably. Pay attention. You don't want to get back sent into the town now.'
Kosai nodded her head to both Kurapika's question and Nef's suggestion, and pouted, "Dontcha' think life is unfair? Givin' a poor innocent soul like me such a horrid curse~"
"Oh please," Leorio scoffed, "You're anything but innocent."
"Gasp! 'Yer bullyin' a poor innocent girl? Not cool Ojii-san."
"I just said you weren't innocent! And who says the word 'gasp'!"
'You too. Pay attention.'
Kosai looked forward, spotting a young girl across the path, holding a staff of some sort. She was also wearing professional clothing, probably a butler of some sort.
"Please leave." She called out, "You're trespassing on private property."
"I cannot allow you to pass without permission."
"We called ahead." Gon objected, "And we came through the Testing Gate."
"The butlers' office did not give you permission to enter."
"What do we need to do to get permission?"Gon pointed at her accusingly, "I said I was Killua's friend, but they wouldn't put him on."
"I wouldn't know. Because no one has ever received permission."
Gon grew an irk mark.
"Pfft.." Kosai stifled her laughter from the side, it was amusing to see Gon, out of all people, get irritated. Even she couldn't do that easily.
"Then we'll have to trespass!"
"I suppose so."
"In any case..." She lifted her staff off of the ground, and drew a line in front of her, "...This is where I draw the line."
"If you take one step beyond this line, I'll remove you by force."
'Huh? Me? By force? No way. I'm stronger. I'm totally stronger. Nef, I'm stronger than her, right? Definitely stron-'
'Get ready!'
"Ah! Too loud!" Kosai covered her ears, and prepared herself. She didn't know how, but Nef would always yell something along the lines of 'Attention' and 'Get ready' when she was about to teleport. Normally, she could also feel a weird sensation across her limbs, as if they were being pulled by an unknown force, but that was only when she wasn't distracted. Which was hardly ever.
"Kosai!" Gon worriedly called out, alarmed of her sudden shout.
"Are you okay?!"
Kosai looked up at them, then at the young butler behind them, and grinned from ear to ear, "Perfectly fine~"
"But, I kinda gotta go now."
And in a flash, she was gone.
The butler widened her eyes, clearly not expecting the scene she saw, and judging from the others' reactions, this had happened before.
There was a moment of silence, no one knew how to continue.
"Hey, Kurapika!" Gon called out.
"Yeah?"
"Is there any chance Kosai went that way?" He asked, pointing behind the butler, towards the large mansion where the Zoldycks actually resided.
"It's possible, since her ability doesn't seem to have any limits, but why do you ask?" Kurapika looked closer where Gon was pointing, more specifically, a small figure falling through the sky.
"Oh ."
╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ˂ᵒ͜͡ᵏᵎ⁾✩
"Kil."
Killua sat on the opposite side of the dimly-lit room, facing his father, Silva. Beside him was a giant dog, it looked a lot like Mike—the guard dog— but this one had three heads and was sleeping peacefully.
"I heard that you've made some friends?"
"Yeah."
"What sort of people are they?"
"What sort of...?" Killua repeated under his breath, "...They're people I enjoy being with."
"I see."
"How was the Exam?"
"It was easy."
"..."
Silva pat the space beside him, signaling for Killua to sit there. The conversation clearly wasn't going to progress otherwise.
"Kil, come over here."
"Huh?"
"I want you to tell me more."
"What did you do during the Exam?"
Killua's breath hitched and he widened his eyes.
"Who did you meet? How did you feel?"
"You can tell me anything..."
Killua's eyes shined, "Okay."
"....And guess what Gon said next...He didn't want his legs cut off, but he didn't want to surrender, either!"
Silva chuckled as his son explained the fight animatedly.
"He's so self-centered."
"Sounds like an interesting boy."
"And then his opponent pointed a blade at Gon's forehead, but Gon still..."
Killua stopped and looked up, where he swore he could hear faint screaming.
"...aaaaaaAaaaaAaAAAAaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Killua's eye twitched, '...That sounds like Kosai...'
They scream gradually got louder and louder, until...
CRASH!
Something fell through the roof, covered in a dust cloud. You could make out a little girl and a small animal from the silhouettes.
"Oww...."
Kosai scratched the back of her neck, before looking up.
She quickly jumped up, clearing her throat.
"...Uh, hiya!"
She awkwardly waved at her friend and the much larger adult beside him. It didn't take too long to understand the situation
"...So...I'm Kosai...and uh...I'm Killu-kun's friend..."
"....I'll get goin' now."
She pointed behind her, slowly retreating, before dashing behind the door, slamming it behind her.
Creak.
The door opened again, and Kosai poked her head into the room, "And, ya' should really let Killu-kun go."
" 'Cuz, like, I'll burn 'yer house if you don't."
"..."
" I probably won't be able to, but like, I'll still try."
"..."
" Kay...'cya"
"..."
She slowly closed the door, leaving the other two to stare at the hole in the ceiling.
Killua held up his fist, veins popping out and nails sharpened. His face wore a sadistic smile, 'Kosai...you're so dead.'
Silva simply laughed it off, "She seems quite interesting."
"Interesting is not what I would call her. "
"Kil."
"Huh?"
"Do you want to be with your friends?"
"..."
"You don't need to hold back. Tell me the truth."
"Thinking back, we've never had a father-son chat before. I was raised by my parents to be an assassin. And I raised you the same way."
"You and I are different."
"I didn't realize that until you left home. You are my son. But you are your own person. Live as you please. If you get tired, you can come home. "
"I'll ask you one more time..."
"Do you want to see your friends?"
"Uh-huh." Killua nodded.
"I understand. You're free now."
"But..."
Silva bit his thumbs, drawing blood. He held it up towards Killua.
"Promise me one thing."
"Never betray your friends..."
"...Understand?"
Killua nodded again, and bit his own thumb holding it up to his father's.
"I promise, I'll never betray them."
They connected their thumbs together, blood mixing with each other's.
"Ever."
Kosai who stood just outside the door, relaxed against its frame, a small smile making its way to her face. A giggle surfaced, and it echoed in the empty hallway.
"I'll promise that too."
~~~~~
Kosai's Fun Fact of the Day
Kosai has officially turned twelve. It happened last chapter when she was still trying to get out of the palace she was teleported in.
Unfortunately, she was only able to celebrate it with Nef and an empty suit of armor.
Published 8/10/20
Edited 6/23/21