Beta:TaintedLetter
(≧ڡ≦*)
After a wonderful dessert-filled dinner the three children headed back to the hotel to talk about their next plan of action.
"I wanna kick their butts," said Gon as he patted his full stomach. "They were really strong, to be honest I'm not sure if we could have made it out without you, Miwa."
Killua yawned, stretching his arms up. "It would have been hard, but maybe doable."
"If you wanna kick their butts you'll have to practice your nen and chakra more," Miwa said.
"We should go find Kurapika then," said Killua.
"Huh?" Gon looked over in surprise. "How come?"
"I was thinking about it over dinner. I'm pretty sure Kurapika is the chain user that killed their friend."
"Kill who?"
"Oh," said Gon before turning to Miwa and filling her in on the details of what happened. Miwa was indignant that they threatened her friends, but Gon and Killua were dismissive over the whole thing.
It was basically another Heaven's Arena situation. Gon and Killua had to face stronger opponents to become stronger themselves. It nettled Miwa, but seeing how unbothered her friends were, she felt reassured.
"If they really hurt you I'll kill them," Miwa sternly said. "No amount of cuteness will prevent me from protecting you two."
"Aww," Gon said, nudging Miwa. "You like us, you really like us."
Miwa's cheeks reddened as she grinned. "Yep! A whole lot."
"More than that Feitan right?" Killua muttered.
Miwa giggled at Killua's question. "What a silly question."
"Ooo, is someone jealous?" Gon laughed.
"Shut up," replied Killua, glaring at Gon.
"Eat me," retorted a snickering Gon.
"Stop."
"Eat me," giggled Miwa.
Killua groaned in frustration. "Why am I friends with you two?"
"Eat us," they said.
(≧ڡ≦*)
Miwa offered to send the text to Kurapika. Killua said he had to proof read it for her before she sent it which she thought stunk because she wanted to send eat me to him first. She refrained.
To: Kurapika
Message: Tell us when you are free. We (Gon, Killua, Miwa) need to talk to you about nen and the Spiders. Also: I did it. :)
"Ah," Gon said after the message was sent. "I got something for you, Miwa. I left it in the hotel room."
Miwa blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"We were at the market hunting for treasures to sell, and I saw it and I knew it would be perfect for you," he said with a warm twinkle in his eyes.
They headed back over to the hotel where Gon proudly held out a porcelain fox mask that would cover the upper half of Miwa's face. "Ta-da! Perfect for a thief."
Elated, she accepted the mask. She ran her fingers over it, feeling how sturdy and smooth it was. She slipped it on. Not a perfect fit, but close enough.
"You remembered I like foxes?" she asked in surprise.
"Yep." Gon gave her two thumbs up.
Miwa hurried into the bathroom to admire herself in the mirror.
'If only I was fluffy...'
An idea occurred to her. She used a henge over herself to give her fox ears and a bushy golden tail.
'I'm a fox! Lookie, lookie!'
Congratulations on improving yourself, kit.
Bubbles of joy made Miwa smile so brightly the other boys found her happiness infectious.
"I've gotta go back out and steal again tonight," she said. "I want to properly use this mask."
"You'll need different clothes than your regular ones, then. Let's go shopping real quick," Killua suggested.
(≧ڡ≦*)
Brief interlude
Chrollo Lucifer, leader of the Phantom Troupe, reread his fortune.
Shalnark had been quick to ascertain that the chain-user that murdered Uvogin was from the Nostrade family. The family had risen to high ranks in the underworld due to the head's daughter, a blue-haired young lady named Neon. Neon had a particularly wonderful nen ability that granted her the powers of completely accurate fortunes. She had many important clients in the underworld that granted her family special privilege.
Chrollo had watched the girl for a day, looking for an opportunity to meet her and ideally steal her nen ability. Luck was in his favor, as the girl was anxious to get away from her bodyguards. She had shown him her fortune-telling ability as thanks.
When he had read the first verse of the poem he knew it was perfectly accurate. It had predicted Uvogin's death.
The rest of the poem was easy enough to decipher, it was only the last bit that Chrollo would need more information on before drawing a conclusion.
It was easy to swiftly knock Neon out and slip away in the confusion.
Chrollo knew the mafia would be on his tail shortly. Even if they had not successfully stolen from them the previous night, the mafia would still blame the troupe, and Chrollo had every intention of making tonight's raid a success.
Well.
Chrollo intended for the night to hold more than simply stealing from the mafia.
Uvogin had been taken from them.
In honor of his companion, Chrollo would grant a night of chaos upon the city; one filled with death, mayhem, and gore, that would surely make Uvogin's soul sing in joy where it may be.
Chrollo pulled out the notebook with his fortune written on it, reading it over one more time.
"The calendar loses a precious component.
The remaining months gather to mourn.
The mourners play a melody, while the eleventh moon quietly rises.
The chrysanthemum withers and falls to lie on the ground beside bloody Scarlet Eyes.
But you will remain supreme.
After losing half your limbs
Join hands with the golden fox, lead it to the city that fell from the sky
It will show you a lifelong sun."
Chrollo tucked the fortune away in his suit pocket. He did not know yet who or what the fox was, but had a feeling he'd know soon enough.
'For now, Chrollo thought, 'let's play a melody for Uvogin.'
(≧ڡ≦*)
Back with Miwa
Miwa admired her new thief outfit in the shop's mirror, turning left to right to look at it. She anxiously looked back at her friends, a shy smile on her face, "Does it look good?"
Gon, cheerful always, offered her two thumbs up. "You look cool, Miwa."
"Mn. It's fine," Killua agreed, looking her over.
"I guess thieves are supposed to wear black," she said, oddly nervous. She had never put much stock into her appearance previously, but now that she was highly aware of how cute certain people and things were she wanted to fit into her own category. She wanted to be cute.
Gon had picked out a black sleeveless zippered up vest with pockets and matching black leggings. Simple, but that was fine. Miwa didn't need battle armor, or many pockets to carry her scrolls. She frankly didn't need any kind of disguise, but dressing up was part of the fun of it.
Miwa reexamined herself in the mirror. She wouldn't call herself a fashionable person, but she didn't think it looked bad. At least it wasn't ugly. She couldn't call it cute...
She henged into her fox ears and tail.
'Okay now it's cute,' Miwa happily thought. 'Um, do you think it's cute Kurama?'
Are we still using the previous definition of fur and heat as cute?
'Sure?'
Well, you've got more fur now so sure.
'Yay.'
"I like it," Miwa boldly declared. "I—I wanna get it."
"Okay," Killua said, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. "Let's go pay. All that's left would be gloves."
"Okey dokey."
(≧ڡ≦*)
That night Miwa got dressed in her official thieving outfit and set back out to steal from the main underground auction.
'I hope I beat the Phantom Troupe again. That'd be funny.'
As she hopped rooftop to rooftop, Miwa started to pick up the stench of blood and gunpowder. Her nose wrinkled—she hated how gunpowder smelled—and she quickened her pace. The closer she got, the more gunshots she could hear. Screams could be caught in the distance, and she got the sweet smell of burning flesh among the acrid smell of burning gasoline.
'Wow,' Miwa thought, hopping over a rooftop to see a slew of bodies leading up to the building where the auction was being held. She inhaled deeply, concentrating as she tried to pick up any familiar scents.
'It's the Phantom Troupe—they're slaughtering all the guards,' Miwa thought in admiration. 'Would it be rude to join in?'
No, do it. Do it now.
Miwa shrugged then dropped from the top of a skyscraper on top of a group of what she assumed to be reinforcements for the mafia. Being careful not to let a single drop of blood spill onto her outfit, she ripped out their hearts. She moved too quickly for the blood to be anywhere else but on her hand—which she removed her gloves from as not to stain them.
She left their hearts on the grass, a skip in her step.
Another group came toward her. She picked up their car and tossed it onto another car, which somehow made it explode.
She skipped all the way to the auction house building, following the scents of some troupe members. She snuck into the building, avoided the rest of the security, and then—
'Hm? Smells like Killua's home!'
Immediately curious, Miwa lost interest in the troupe and followed the scent up the building where she found two men coming down the steps, both a little battered.
"Ah," Miwa said, sniffing them. "Could it be...? Um, are you two Zoldyck?"
The one on the left was an old man, shrunken and hunched over but Miwa could sense his nen core was fierce and impressive. He had cold eyes that assessed her with indifference. The one on the right was tall, muscular, but whose eyes were not as apathetic.
"Blonde pigtails," the younger man muttered, looking closely at Miwa. "Are you Miwa?"
Miwa smiled and politely curtsied like Killua showed her to do to impress rich people. "Yes. Are you both related to Killua?"
"I am his father, Silva," introduced the younger man.
"Hoo? You're the one Kikyo wants for Killua?" the older man—she assumed Killua's grandfather—asked. "Mm. Better scurry away, little girl."
"Okey dokey," Miwa said. "It was nice meeting you both."
They moved past her, and Miwa looked up at the top of the stairs where they had come from. She could smell a bit of blood in one of the rooms, and out of curiosity she went inside.
It was a ballroom. It was mostly destroyed with one of the walls completely collapsed and a giant crater in the middle of the floor. There was a man on the ground on the opposite side of the room, although upon her arrival he immediately sat up.
The two stared at each other.
He was a young man, Miwa observed, with dark hair and gray eyes. His core felt about the same size as Killua's father, but it was hard to get a distinct read on it. As if it were a mirror, merely reflecting the world around it instead of showing its own truth.
'I don't think he's someone I want to fight willy nilly,' Miwa thought, a little on edge. His core wasn't as strong as Netero—a man Miwa did not want to fight without good reason—but the fact that she couldn't identify him made him dangerous. She now understood that their abilities in this world could be literally anything due to how odd nen formed. A man who had a core like mirrors—
'Potentially could reflect my damage, or maybe even steal abilities.'
He asked, his voice softer than a gentle breeze, "Are you the golden fox?"
His tone threw Miwa for a loop. Netero was hard to get a read on, but the man before Miwa felt...
Not nice. Nice was not the word she could use to describe him, but...
'Like me?'
He feels like someone lost, Kurama commented, feeling the man's nen.
Kurama was best at judging people, so Miwa instantly trusted his words. The man before Miwa was lost. Lost in what, or how, she didn't understand. Maybe he didn't have home anymore like Miwa or—
A thought occurred to Miwa, so brief and alarming she instantly shredded it to pieces before it could finish forming.
Miwa pointed to herself. "Me? Um—I mean I am disguised as one at least. Do you—do you like my fluffy tail?"
He looked at her tail and Miwa proudly presented it. Gon and Killua weren't nearly as fond of fluffy things like Miwa. She hoped to one day find someone else who enjoyed fluffy stuff. Maybe the lost man was looking for the fluffy things?
"It is a nice tail," he politely praised, slowly standing up and brushing off debris. "What's your name?"
"Miwa," answered Miwa without thinking. "Oh, wait. Aren't thieves supposed to use fake names?"
"I've never bothered," said the man.
"O-Oh. Are you a thief too?"
"I prefer bandit."
The man looked her up and down before extending a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Miwa."
"Likewise," Miwa accepted the hand. "What's your name?"
Before the man could answer the door to the ballroom opened up and members of the Phantom Troupe came in. As soon as Miwa spotted Feitan her entire demeanor lit up like the sun pouring out behind storm clouds. She excitedly waved at him, unable to keep from bouncing on her toes. She was super relieved that Gon and Killua only wanted to kick his butt, she'd be a little sad if she had to attack such a cutie.
It'd be like attacking a baby black cat!
She'd do it if she had to in order to keep her friends safe, but it'd bum her out.
Feitan's face screwed up like he bit into a rotten lemon as he glared at her.
'Like you when we first met,' Miwa happily thought. She didn't have specific memories, but she definitely remembered that Kurama insulted and glared at her every time she visited him before they became friends.
I was nothing like that cretin.
"Ah, it's you again," said Machi as the rest of the troupe members recognized her.
"Do you know her?" the man from before asked.
"She's the one who stole everything from last night's auction," explained Machi.
The man smiled in brief amusement. "Here to steal again?"
"Maybe," Miwa said, looking around at the gathering troupe members. "Hello again."
"So this is the one Nobugana wanted to invite into the troupe?" the man mused. "And do you want to be a Spider, Miwa?"
Miwa shrugged. "I don't know. Is it fun?"
"Hmm. That's a good question," said the man, looking up at the ceiling. "Is it fun? Why don't you watch us tonight?"
"Wow, being invited to watch sounds much better than quietly stalking. Thank you, I will."
(≧ڡ≦*)
Miwa was silent as she saw them get to work. She hovered near the man who was clearly their leader. She wanted to catch his name, but they only referred to him as Boss. She watched as they effortlessly infiltrated the staff of the auction, and started it up. In the back of the main room where the auction took place, they would create duplicates of the items up for bid, then sell the fakes created while taking money for the real one. It was done with such ease that Miwa was admittedly very impressed by them.
And then she spotted one of the items up for sale.
A jar with scarlet red eyes.
She stared at them, her memories blurring together between a black haired boy with red eyes that burned with pain and hatred, and a Kurapika whose own eyes were haunted by a similar pain.
"Um," Miwa said, drawing attention to herself. "Would it—Would it be possible if I could take those eyes?"
"How come?" the boss asked, his tone always so soft that Miwa couldn't tell what he truly felt.
"It's just—these eyes—I can't quite remember but I think I need to give them back to someone," Miwa tried to explain, her brow furrowed in thought.
Back in the exam they said that Kurapika's clan had been wiped out for their eyes.
'He'd probably want these back to put them to rest.'
Miwa's words stirred something in the boss and he asked, "Back to?"
"Mm-hmm. I know one of the survivors," Miwa explained. "I think he'd want to put them to rest."
Miwa's words instantly caused all the troupe members in the back of the auction room to slightly tense. If Miwa's eyes hadn't been so well trained she likely would have missed the subtle reaction.
"This survivor," the boss said slowly, gently, "do you happen to know if he uses chains?"
"Chains?" Miwa repeated the word carefully. "I haven't seen him use it, but when I think about it his nen core feels like chains."
"Feels?" Machi inquired.
"Ah. I can sense nen," Miwa explained. "Like you: you feel like a ball of tight threads and needles."
The Phantom Troupe members exchanged glances. All of this was done while they carried on with the auction, picking out the items up for bid and making copies of them.
"Oh wait, Gon said you guys lost someone to a nen chain user," Miwa said, putting the pieces together.
'And Killua thought Kurapika might have been the one to do it, but we have no confirmation.'
Miwa thought about Kurapika. She wouldn't call him one of her friends, but he was a nice enough boy. She liked him. His nen felt colder than the first time she met him, but he was still kind enough to sit with her in a restaurant and teach her how to read the menu.
Miwa couldn't say she was... fond of humans. She didn't see them any different from the animals she hunted in the forest. Animals didn't like it when they died, but if they were in her way she wasn't going to shed a tear about it. Humans could be cute like animals, but they could be annoying like them too.
At the end of the day, Miwa's general opinion on life was closer to apathy.
The only value it had was the value Miwa herself put it in. She liked Gon and Killua therefore their lives were important to her. She liked Kurapika enough to not want him to die, but she liked the Phantom Troupe equally. They were interesting and fun to watch work.
It would be... annoying if she had to choose between the two. She didn't care for them on the same level as Gon and Killua to make it an obvious choice, but she wasn't so disinterested that she wouldn't be upset if she had to choose.
Kurapika wasn't dumb. Gon repeatedly told them Kurapika was the smartest person he knew. He surely wasn't so stupid to antagonize such a professional group of thieves without good reason.
More than likely if Kurapika had killed Uvogin it was done in self defense. Miwa had seen Uvo in action before, he struck her as a berserker type. If he had attacked Kurapika in a frenzy, it'd only make sense for Kurapika to defend himself.
'Surely,' Miwa thought, 'such a professional and calm group of thieves won't be too butt hurt over losing a member in self defense.'
And if that boss is more like you than you thought? Would you let it go?
'No,' Miwa answered, thinking about what she'd do if Gon and Killua had died from attacking someone. After she thought about it, she figured she'd be more concerned protecting whoever lived. If they had both died—
A bijū bomb in the city of their death didn't seem too far fetched as something Miwa would do.
Hunt down any member or friend of the person who had done the deed.
She could... she could see herself doing that. Gon and Killua were her only connections to humans. If she lost that... what was the point?
A depressing thought for another day.
Returning to her original thoughts on Kurapika and the Phantom Troupe, Miwa decided to cut straight to the point, "Do you want me to ask him if he killed one of you?"
There was surprise on some of their faces, but the boss only tilted his head slightly and asked, "Would he tell you?"
"I don't see why not," Miwa answered with a shrug. "Gon and Killua were planning on meeting up with him earlier to learn more about nen."
"Then," the boss paused, "if you wouldn't mind, I'd be curious to know his response."
"Okay," Miwa agreed, pulling out her phone. "Here, put your contact information in here and I'll text you."
He accepted the phone, punching in his information before handing it back to Miwa.
Chrollo, Miwa read. His name was Chrollo.
"Then can I give these eyes to him?" Miwa asked.
"Sure. A gift from us," Chrollo mused.
"Thanks! You guys are really nice." Then Miwa remembered the slaughter. "Well, to me you've been nice, I can't really say the same for the ones killed."
For some reason that made them laugh, and the blond man who had a gangster face put a hand atop Miwa's head and said, "You're a good kid. You should join us."
"Can I think about it for a couple of days?" Miwa asked. "It seems like a really important decision I shouldn't rush."
"Of course," responded Chrollo. "Are you having fun, then?"
"Yeah! I like watching Feitan work, too."
Feitan glared at her.
"Oh?" Chrollo probed.
"Because he's cute," Miwa explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Isn't it fun to watch kittens and puppies play?"
"Ah. Congratulations, Feitan, someone thinks you're cute," Chrollo, with a straight face, politely congratulated the furious Feitan while members of the troupe snickered.
(≧ڡ≦*)
Answer: Thief!
Question: Movie you can easily watch on repeat without getting bored?
Reviews are love!