-Art by QuentineQuan on Twitter-
I was woken the next morning by the humming of the birds outside my window. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling sparkled from the sun shining through my paper thin curtains. Rubbing my eyes tiredly, I turned my head to the boy next to me. He was still asleep on his side, I watched as his chest rose and fell with each gentle breath he took. He looked so peaceful lying on his side under my bedsheets with the back of one hand on the pillow and the other hand on my stomach.
Trying my best not to wake him, I moved his hand off me and quietly sat up. I looked down sadly at him. His golden hair strands were sprawled out all over the pillow and on his face. Oh, that beautiful face of his. His eyes were closed with tranquil and his lips were parted so slightly. His skin was perfectly smooth, not a mole or blemish in sight. My eyes traveled down to his defined jawline and then to his neck and below. The top two buttons on his dress shirt were undone, revealing his defined collarbones. I gulped as my gaze lowered to his torso.
I almost jumped when he released a soft moan. He brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes gently before looking at me. "Well good morning." Said Kurapika in a raspy voice. I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. He furrowed his eyebrows and sat up. "What's wrong? Your face is all red." He reached out his hand to me but I moved back swiftly.
"I-I'm fine!" I squeaked, trying to ignore the fact I was checking out my friend. Kurapika chuckled before getting out of the bed.
I followed him to the dining area where we talked as we ate the breakfast the chefs had prepared. He took a sip of coffee from his mug before placing it down onto the table once more and told me about his plans for the day.
"I see," I started. "So you're busy all day today, I take it?" He nodded. "That's a shame. I would have liked to spend more time with you today."
He looked at me and then back at his coffee. "I don't understand why you would want to." He paused, staring at the spinning coffee as he swirled his mug. "I may finish my work by the afternoon. If so, we could do something together."
"That would be nice." I smiled, setting down my empty teacup. "Well then, I'll be off. Don't overwork yourself." I reminded the boy. Kurapika only smiled in return, saluting me as I left the room.
I was on my way back to my bedroom when I felt my phone ringing. I took out the phone from my pocket as I entered the room. Much to my suprise, Killua was calling me. "Hello?" I answered.
"Yo, (Y/N)." He said back cooly.
"Hey, Killua! How's it going, is Gon with you?" I flopped down onto my bed, grinning widely as I spoke to my friend.
"Nah, he's in Greed Island right now. I just completed the Hunter exam, actually. I'm heading back to him soon."
"I see. Is there any reason you called?"
"Well I mainly need to discuss something with Kurapika but I wanted to call you first. I heard about what happened with your sister through Leorio. I'm sorry."
I sighed sadly. "Thank you."
There was silence over the phone for a moment before he asked, "How are things with you though?" It was obvious that Killua was struggling with what to say. It was like he didn't know what else to talk about but didn't want to hang up quite yet.
And then, without even considering the consequences, I blurted out what I had been keeping contained inside my mind, locked up like a wild animal that thrashed around at the worst times, "He kissed me, Killua."
"...what?"
"He kissed me and told me he regretted it." Truth be told I never stopped thinking about that day. It was always there, a thought that lived in the back of my head which revealed itself at the most inappropriate moments. And I guess I just had to tell someone I trusted about it.
"What- Who?"
"Who do you think?"
The boy gasped, "K-Kurapika!? Did he really? Wait so- are you- do you two- what?"
"You were right. I'm in love with him, Killua." Silence. "But he doesn't feel the same about me." I muttered, feeling tears rise in my eyes. It was an inevitable fact and I had never felt more pathetic in my life to admit it.
Killua sighed. "Huaaaaah. How do you know he doesn't like you back? He was the one who kissed you, right?"
"As I told you, he regretted it."
"That means nothing! Maybe he was just flustered or sumthin'. Kurapika is a weird guy, you of all people should know that. Did anything else happen between the two of you afterwards?"
"Not really," I said. I summarised what happened over the past few days and how I helped him to retake a pair of his clan's eyes. "That was all. We never spoke about the kiss." I didn't dare tell him anything about any direct conversations Kurapika and I had last night nor did I tell him that we spent it together.
There was a pause over the line. And then, from one idiot in love to another, "Tell him."
"What?" I asked.
"Tell him you love him. You won't ever know how he feels until you do."
"Killua, I can't-"
"No." The boy said strictly. "You can. You're just afraid of what he might say." I bit my bottom lip, ashamed that I was being given life advice by a thirteen year old. But I knew Killua was right.
He didn't sound irritated with me at all, surprisingly. He spoke patiently as if he understood me. "Just tell him, (Y/N). You and Kurapika always got along well, too well to the point where Leorio and I began to think it was suspicious. You two even each other out and I think you guys were made to meet the other."
I broke out into laugh which shut up Killua on the other end. "It's odd to hear you so serious and caring." I paused. "Thank you, Killua."
"Geez don't say it like that, you're embarrassing..." He mumbled. "Anyways, I need to talk to Kurapika now."
"Right, take care of yourself then. And don't tell Kurapika anything I said to you."
"I wasn't planning on it, you loser. I'll be gone then, see you around, (Y/N)." And them he hung up.
Dropping the phone, I leaned back onto my bed. Killua's last few words reminded me very much of what Leorio had said to me all those months ago. And perhaps they were right. The only way I'd know for sure is if I did tell him.
However, I knew myself, more than anybody, and I knew that I'd rather die than risk rejection. Kurapika meant everything to me and losing him would be like losing a part of me so wouldn't it be better to zip my lips and continue life peacefully like this? I concluded that that was my only option as I leaned against the backrest of my bed and took the novel from the side table in my hands.
~
The heavy knocking on my bedroom door made me put down the book I was reading. Getting up, I waddled to the door.
"(Y/N)," Melody said as I opened the door. "Theres a meeting for all the bodyguards. It's important." I nodded and followed her to Light's study.
At first, I was worried something had happened. I hadn't actually gone out of my room since the morning so I was not informed of anything, that is if anything did happen. Melody and I, along with all the other bodyguards hired by the Nostrades, rushed to the study we were called to.
Without missing a beat, I turned the door's handle and walked in. The room was filthy. There was trash all around the place. The floor was covered in documents, empty bottles and crumpled pieces of papers. Light Nostrade was sat on the couch, holding his head in his hands miserably. He looked like a mess. Kurapika stood in front of him with a stone face as if he had been waiting for us all to arrive.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice." Kurapika said once the door had shut. "As you know, Neon-sama has lost her Nen and is unable to regain her powers." Light sobbed pathetically as the younger boy spoke. "Because of this, the Nostrade family is losing money incredibly quickly and is no longer able to maintain their influence within the Mafia Community. Due to these unfortunate circumstances, Light has handed down the business to me. I'll be taking care of things from here."
Basho raised his hand. Kurapika nodded in his direction so he asked his question, "And how do you plan to fix the financial problem? Will it include illegal work?"
Kurapika shook his head. "I plan on gaining money through legal methods. As the current head of the mafia, I will be turning it into an organisation involved in gambling and bodyguarding. And if my calculations are correct, we will recover from the economic fall within a year." He said. "Any objections?" Nobody uttered a word. There was no other plan as genius as this. But what struck me most was the fact that Kurapika must have came up with all this within a few hours of him being appointed the mafia head.
The boy looked around the room before continuing. "Since there appears to be no argument, I will assume everybody is on board with it. I have already made preparations with the body guarding jobs. Melody and Linssen, I am appointing the two of you to serve as bodyguards for some client offers I have received. As for Basho, (Y/N) and I, we will be taking part in the gambling plan. Melody, Linssen, I will inform you both of the details of your jobs later this week. Us remaining three are scheduled to begin collecting money through gambling the upcoming Friday. That is all. You are dismissed." And with those final words, we were sent away.
I was kind of glad that Kurapika was the boss of the new organisation. With his leadership, we were bound to retake our rank in the mafia community soon. And I intended to remain by his side as we did, and after that, and for as long as I could. It never occurred to me how much I wanted to be next to him. I chuckled. The old saying was right, home isn't a place, it's a person. And my home is Kurapika.
Sitting down at the small table in my room as I poured some tea, I couldn't help but face an overwhelming amount of guilt. Was it wrong to think of him this way? I wasn't good for him, I will never be enough. But I continue to attach myself to him because my heart thrives to see his brown eyes everyday. And, worst of all, he'd never know because I'm too afraid of what he might say if I do tell him. I'll never tell Kurapika. Never. It's better to remain silent than ruin everything.
~
This is the stage where Kurapika becomes the mafia boss and where the Nostrade becomes an organisation involved in (legal) gambling and bodyguarding, which has all been confirmed in the Hunterpedia.
Also, gotta love little brother Killua helping our big sister (Y/N) get with her mans 👀 I'm sure you've noticed that I enjoy writing about her and Killua's somewhat close relationship, I just like this idea of this trust being between the two which allows them to have a conversation like this. That's all. Thank you.