Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
September 4th, YorkNew City, 7:38PM
Nijiiro watched with satisfaction as Killua's cell signal made a beeline for the hideout, bouncing right over buildings, canals, and parking garages without even slowing down. 'Agile, aren't you, Kitty-cat?' she thought, smiling to herself. 'He'll be on this block any minute. I ought to be ready.' She wondered which of the Spiders they would target. If they were smart, it would be herself, but more likely than not, they would try for Chrollo. Kortopi had made no less than fourteen copies of the building they were in, the little rascal, and it was guaranteed to throw Killua off when he got close. Nijiiro slid a pair of earbuds down her right sleeve and plugged them into her phone's audio jack. It was safe to assume that the two boys would be using their phones to coordinate, so if she could monitor their phone calls, and trace their locations in real time, it would be hard to lose track of them during the operation. She could even send them hints, if she felt like it. She slid her phone into her sleeve. That was pretty much all, as far as preparations were concerned. She could always stuff a few hand grenades into her pockets, but it would serve more as a security blanket than a legitimate measure of defense. Besides, Nijiiro had always found that the lighter she packed, the farther she could go. Just one grenade would be alright. It would take a few hours for the Spiders to get clear across the city on a bustling Saturday night, so Chrollo would almost certainly hold a meeting in the next few minutes. Perhaps the only reason he hadn't already, was the surprising level of exhaustion that followed repeatedly using the power of Lovely Ghost Writer. As he had recovered, silently reading next to the light of a single candle, Nijiiro had watched Killua and Gon move about on her phone's screen, still oblivious to the tracking devices in them. 'God bless the Beetle's clunky design and immortal battery,' she had thought. If they hadn't noticed by now, she knew they simply weren't going to. Nijiiro pretended to read one of the books they'd picked up that morning, but even though she read the words printed on the pages of it over and over, they had no meaning which the caliginous mass of her brain could recognize. Nijiiro pulled out a cigarette without thinking about it, reaching for her lighter, but stopped short of lighting it. She opened and closed the engraved silver lighter in her hand a few times, searching the scratched, worn filigree on the sides, the spots where her thumbs had worn through the silver plate. She turned it over, and stared at the initials on the bottom. The reason she couldn't bear to part with this thing, the absolute cheapest object in her possession. 'Do or die, Nijiiro.' she told herself sternly. It couldn't really be helped that both of those options felt like they were the same thing. She secured the white veil over her eyes once again, pulling her hood up over her hair. Her phone hummed against her wrist and she answered without looking, pretending to adjust her sleeves. Killua's voice came on the line, the background noise full of static and rainfall.
“Something's off. I can't figure out where they are, and there're a lot more buildings here than yesterday. I think one of their members might have done this with some kind Nen ability, since I don't see any other reasonable explanation,” Killua said softly.
“I see. That is most likely the work of a conjurer,” said Kurapika's voice. Nijiiro could hear an engine humming in the background, and then the clicking of a turn signal. So he was driving?
“Yeah, that's gotta be it,” said Killua, “these buildings didn't spring up overnight.”
“Man, these people are all crazy...They've got some one who can conjure entire buildings...” another voice said in the background. It was loud and crass, probably on Kurapika's side of the call and not on stakeout with Killua.
“It's safe to assume they're rigged somehow,” Kurapika said slowly.
“Yeah, but this also tells us that they're still using this place as their base... The problem is that these buildings create too many blind spots. I can only surveil about twenty percent of the area at a time...” Killua said, sounding rather put off. Why wasn't he more roused about nabbing a Ryodan member, the way he had been yesterday? Nijiiro wondered if perhaps she'd been too hard on him. No, he was probably after the reward, but found out that it had been rescinded. He'd only had a few thousand bucks in his pockets when he'd been caught, and even for a rich kid, staying in YorkNew for a week wasn't cheap. Of course, there was a large needle of unknown purpose in his head, made of pure gold and inscribed with powerful Nen writing that was worth roughly ten billion in the right market, but removing it was a dangerous and painful prospect. She doubted whether he even knew it was there, but then again, who really knew what kind of weird nonsense the Zoldycks did under the pretense of “training?” Killua continued breathing into the receiver and Nijiiro fought the urge to stick her head out of a window and look for his aura.
“Be careful,” said Kurapika's voice, “If you move around too much, you could be spotted by one of them.”
“I'd like to avoid that,” Killua responded quietly, “But there are too many of them, and too many places for them to hide. I mean, I don't even know what I would do if I heard their voices behind me. My heart's pounding just thinking about it.” 'You and me both, kiddo,' thought Nijiiro. She checked her phone again, and saw that Gon's signal was moving westward towards her at about thirty kilometers per hour, and Killua's was static at about two hundred meters from the hideout. Gon was probably with Kurapika, then. She pulled out a deck of cards and began playing solitaire.
“...Voices...?” Kurapika muttered to himself. He was onto something, but what it was Nijiiro wasn't sure.
“Huh?” said Killua.
“Nevermind, I read you Return to your original position. I'll call you back in five minutes,” said Kurapika. 'Roger that,' thought Nijiiro. Five minutes later, Killua picked up another call from the Golden Boy himself.
“Yeah?” Killua said, not bothering with formalities.
“I'm sending an associate of mine your way, Senritsu. She should be of some assistance to you in detecting the moves of the Ryodan,” said Kurapika, who had never once bothered with formalities.
“Got it,” said Killua simply, hanging up. Nijiiro checked Gon's location once more, and found he was headed for the Cemetery Building. Ah, well, it didn't matter where they were headed, not really. It was her plan they would be following, after all; Kurapika's designs were immaterial. Besides, the more capable associates he brought out, the better it would be for her. It was then that Chrollo called the Spiders together once more, preparing to move out. Nijiiro glanced over at Hisoka, who was still as a statue, still idly shuffling cards in the same spot he had occupied for nearly six hours. She looked back at Chrollo, and it was more than a little apparent that something was still bothering him. Nijiiro knew exactly what it was: Hisoka's fake prophecy had indicated that whether the Spiders stayed in YorkNew, or tried to leave, at least five of them would die. Chrollo had yet to formally announce it, but they were obligated to fight, and to fight a mysterious enemy, who had been powerful enough to take down Uvogin alone.
“You've already told me everything Uvo knew about the chain-user?” asked Chrollo, looking at Shalnark.
“Yeah. When we were investigating the Nostrade family using the Hunter website, Uvo pointed out the three people at the top,”replied Shalnark, holding up the Nostrade personnel page he'd printed out yesterday.
“It was late on the first when we realized they were the daughter's bodyguards,” Chrollo continued, his deep voice mesmerizing and his eyes dark stormclouds, “and I met that daughter yesterday...”
“And that's when you stole her power,” finished Phinks, not sure where the Boss was going with any of this.
“When, and more importantly, where,” Nijiiro said calmly, staring down at her card game. The others couldn't quite understand what she had implied, and so ignored her comment.
“And here is an updated list of the bodyguards,”said Shalnark, holding up a new printout before handing it over to Chrollo.
“There are two new members,” he said, looking it over. He memorized the faces on it before surrendering it back to the rest of the Ryodan.
“Whoa! The Hunter site already has new information up,” said Phinks, clearly impressed.
“One...two...seven bodyguards for one girl?” said Franklin dubiously.
“Well, he must really love his daughter...” Phinks said.
“He probably cares more about her ability,” said Chrollo prosaically, “Her father achieved his current status by using her power.” 'Remind you of anyone?' thought Nijiiro, without looking up from her cards. She didn't like Neon Nostrade, but that didn't mean they had nothing in common.
“But why did she come to the auction?” said Shizuku. Nijiiro laughed softly. 'Bingo,' she thought. She hadn't even needed to say it herself.
“Well, for some treasure or other, I imagine,” said Pakunoda. A light clicked on in Chrollo's mind. He began to mutter under his breath, and the others had to come closer to try and catch what he was saying.
“...Damn, what is wrong with me? If I'd stopped to consider why their boss' daughter was in YorkNew, we could have found the chain-user a lot sooner,” Chrollo grumbled, his eyes were wide with surprise, as if he were genuinely shocked to find himself making a mistake. Knowing Chrollo, he was. He looked at Nijiiro, who was laying out yet another game of cards.
“You didn't ask,” said Nijiiro, feeling his gaze scorch the back of her neck but still not looking up from her cards. The others looked from Nijiiro to Chrollo, then around to each other, at a loss for what was going on.
“Neon Nostrade came to YorkNew to participate in the auction...I was too focused on her fortune-telling to give any regard to that. That girl... According to the Hunter website, she collects human trophies.”
“Human trophies...like...The Scarlet Eyes!” Shalnark said, supplying the last car to Chrollo's train of thought.
“The chain-user joined the Nostrade family for a reason... He knew that the Scarlet Eyes would be sold at the auction, and also that Neon Nostrade would be interested in them. He has at least two goals: to take revenge on the Spiders, and to recover the eyes of his people,” Chrollo said, putting Nijiiro on a back burner for the time being. “Shal, were we able to steal the Scarlet Eyes?”
“I'm not sure,” said Shalnark, “I had the auctioneer on autopilot for the whole auction.”
“I copied them,” offered Kortopi, raising his hand.
“Your copies function as En,” said Chrollo, sensing an even better solution was at hand, “can you find out where they are now?”
“If I'm touching the original,” said Kortopi, his raspy little voice reminding Nijiiro very much of how they'd first found him, half dead in a ditch and unable to speak. He had such a bizarre aura, too, like a bowl full of marbles under a blacklight. She'd always thought of him as a sort of weird little mascot for the Gennei Ryodan, a thought she had always wisely kept to herself. An effort was mounted to find the original Scarlet Eyes, which was something of a task since the Spiders now had over a hundred and fifty crates full of treasure scattered throughout the base. After thirty minutes or so, the original was produced, and Kortopi laid his hand on the sealed jars.
“There's something of this shape approximately two thousand, five hundred meters in that direction,” he said, pointing one tiny finger. Chrollo noticed Nijiiro frowning slightly and looking pointedly away from the Scarlet Eyes. 'You still hate these things, don't you, my Flower?' he thought, and sighed.
“What's in that direction?” asked Shizuku.
“The Beitacle Hotel,” said Nijiiro, holding up her phone's GPS screen. Her other phone, that is. She had three, of identical make and model. The one tracking Gon and Killua remained tucked safely in her right sleeve.
“We should hurry,” said Kortopi, “The En effect will fade in a few hours.” Which was true, of course, since Kortopi's copies only lasted for twenty-four hours at a stretch. Nijiiro checked her watch. It was a little after nine o'clock; Kortopi's copies would only last another two hours or so, and it was almost three hours before she could use Serenity again. This would be a delicate dance, to say the least.
Nijiiro finished her twentieth game of solitaire, gathered the cards, and began shuffling them, preparing to lay out another. Chrollo stood in front of her before she could set the first card down, apparently having recovered his strength completely. He reached for her hand, and she let herself be drawn off of the slab of stone where she had been idling away the evening a mere arm's length away from him. He wrapped one protective arm around her waist, and her heart began to race. He rarely so much as touched her hand in front of the other Spiders, let alone casual gestures of affection. Nijiiro blushed and gripped the pack of cards in her hand, not sure what else to do.
“Boss, let me go,” Nobunaga intoned sincerely, gripping his sword's sheath, “...please.”
“Very well,” said Chrollo. “...But I will accompany you. Pakunoda, Shizuku, Machi, you're coming too. Shal, switch with Kortopi.”
“Yes, Boss,” said Shalnark.
“Nijiiro...” Chrollo began, with perhaps every intention of ordering her to remain at the base. It was then that he looked down at her hands. In between Nijiiro's long, white fingers and sharp jet-black lacquered fingernails, the jester stared up at him, seeming to grin at his decision before he made it. His eyes flashed in the pale lightning from beyond the broken windows. “...You're coming with me, as well.” Nijiiro was surprised, but didn't let it show. She could make her plan work no matter where she was, perhaps even better from the front lines. She didn't have a choice anymore.
“Yes, my Sky.” Nijiiro said passively. Her phone vibrated inside her sleeve and she answered, pressing the 'accept call' icon through the material as she put her gloves back on.
“Hello?” Killua said on the line.
“Oh, Killua-kun?” said another voice, which sounded female.
“Yeah, who is this?”
“One of Kurapika's colleagues. Could you please look to your left?” said the voice. There was a slight pause, and then, “Now hang up the phone, and whisper a command to me,” she said. The line went dead. What a confusing call. But according to his last position, Killua should be on the roof of a narrow outbuilding next to a line of condemned townhouses, with barely five meters to either side of him. Which means whoever the mystery woman was, she expected to hear Killua whispering through the rain from the next rooftop, or even farther along Killua's line of sight. Interesting.
Nijiiro walked behind Chrollo as they walked through the rain, somewhat wishing they could return to the way things were just that morning, as they strolled arm in arm through downtown without a care in the world. The rest of the Spiders walked around her in a defensive pattern, and Nijiiro hated it. If anyone should have been in the middle, it was Kortopi, who had almost no combat ability. She stared at the cross on Chrollo's back. She'd sewn it for him, of course, and she knew every last stitch of it. She was the very idiot who, in a rush to complete it for his birthday gift, had put the sleeves on the wrong side, forcing the cross to wind up upside-down. She could still see him smiling graciously, overlooking the fuck-up and accepting it anyway. She looked down at her own coat, made of the same outrageously expensive black stingray leather and arctic fox trim, prizes she had taken from the unfortunate poachers that tried to hide in Meteor City over six years ago. “We're 'cut from the same cloth,' eh? What a wonderful perspective,” he had said, pulling her closer, wrapping her twelve-year-old self in the circle of his arms for the very first time, in a way that made her heart pound dangerously fast. Nijiiro bit her lip. The hem of her coat swished against her calves in the driving rain, reminding her that she was six years older, six inches taller, and a thousand times wiser than the girl whose coat had dragged the ground behind her, the one who hadn't seen what he was capable of just yet.
“Didn't we already try this place before?!” Nobunaga said loudly, interrupting Nijiiro's melancholic reverie. “Hotel Beitacle is one of the places where the Nostrade family is staying!”
“Yeah, but when Shalnark checked the website, they'd already checked out,” Machi added.
“It's likely that they checked back into the hotel under a different name. They're being cautious,” said Chrollo. Nijiiro slid her hands into her pockets as her wrist began humming once again. Killua's voice came on the line once again, his soft Padokia accent becoming familiar to Nijiiro's ears.
“The woman's here,” said Killua. Nijiiro's back stiffened a little in spite of herself. Did it mean they were targeting her, after all? “She's with her buddies, there's seven total, moving together. The top-knot guy's here too. And one more person who wasn't there yesterday, probably their 'Boss.'” Killua continued.
“Can you describe him?” said Gon. 'Describe him? I could say things that'd curl your hair, kid,' thought Nijiiro, despite knowing the question wasn't for her. Nijiiro noticed that the engine noise from Gon's last call had quieted, and she could hear traffic passing by; they were probably pulled over on the side of the road, waiting.
“Black coat, with an inverted cross on the back. He has combed-back black hair. I can't see his face... And they're way too alert!I'm afraid to circle around in front!” Killua hissed. Nijiiro smiled a barely perceptible smile under the deep cowl of her hood. 'You're safer than you think, Killua' She thought.
“Let me speak to him. Where are you now?” demanded Kurapika's voice.
“In front of the Motoba building. They're walking west, on Continental Street.” Killua said.
“There's a station nearby...can you make it onto their train?” Kurapika asked, still rather brusque.
“It depends on the circumstances,” Killua offered, not wanting to commit to anything that chancy. “If it's busy, I can manage.”
“Leorio, take us South!” Kurapika said. With that, Nijiiro had a fairly good idea of where they were, and when they would run into one another. The stage was set, on a manner of speaking, and there was no time to relax. The show must go on. Nijiiro followed Chrollo onto a subway car, taking an unoccupied corner as the other Spiders stood glaring around at the other passengers, looking for threats.
“The station's pretty packed,” Killua said, “We're going to go for it.” After a few minutes of silence, “Senritsu's in the same car as them. I'm in the last car. This train's headed toward Castor.” Nijiiro lifted her head slightly, unable to resist the urge to look around for this sharp-eared associate of her scarlet-eyed avenger. She couldn't pick out anyone who seemed even remotely threatening.
“Castor...” Kurapika muttered.
“The auction site's that way!” Gon yelled in the background.
“So is our hotel,” Kurapika added, sounding worried. Not nearly worried enough.
Nijiiro rode the subway in relative silence for over forty-five minutes. They were all either too cold, too tense, or too stupid for conversation, and Nijiiro decided then and there that she wasn't going to miss this one bit. Machi wouldn't stop glaring at her, and Nijiiro wished she could just pitch her through the side of the train hic et nunc, but then looked up at Chrollo's tensed shoulders and thought better of it. Her wrist buzzed twice as they stepped off at Liber station, and Killua made another call detailing their movements. It was then that Kurapika finally realized that the Spiders weren't headed for the auction hall at all. 'Attaboy' Nijiiro mused, 'now, why don't you come out and play?'
She didn't have to wait long. As soon as they stepped out the station entrance, Nijiiro scanned the eyes around her, and had him picked out in an instant. White sedan, three occupants, including some guy in a teal tie she hadn't seen yet, his face obscured by a lowered sun visor. 'That must be Leorio, then' Nijiiro reasoned, by sheer process of elimination. Kurapika's aura was on fire, full of anxiety and rage, with Gon's directly behind it, determined but not nearly as emotional. The car was one of Nostrade's, which meant it had her tracker on it. Not that it would help much, as the car was stuck in rush hour traffic. People milled about the busy street, obscuring Kurapika's line of sight in a way that meant he couldn't see Nijiiro eye's focus on him intently for a moment before turning away, scanning the crowd as if she hadn't already uncovered her target.
“They're on the move,” said Kortopi. “Descending slowly.”
“An elevator,” Chrollo said darkly, “We'll have to hurry... We'll apprehend him as a group. Stay close enough to provide support. Pakunoda, once we capture him, get the information on Uvo. Nijiiro, stay close to me, and watch for any surprise attacks. Do not use any of your powers unless I tell you to. Nobunaga, you take the front. Once Paku is done, he's all yours. Go!” And with that last word, all seven Spiders took off like a shot, sprinting up and around the pedestrian milieu, running across the sides of buildings and bouncing off streetlamps. 'Catch me if you can, Kurta,' Nijiiro thought, her pace a little faster than even Nobunaga's, before she dropped it down to run behind Chrollo. Her wrist hummed again.
“We're in front of the station. The Spiders ran off to the northeast,” said Killua.
“Yeah! I'm following them!” Kurapika yelled back. Nijiiro was disappointed to find she couldn't see him or hear him outside of the phone receiver yet. Gon seemed to be behind Kurapika, yelling something over the traffic noises.
“Stop! They'll notice you! Wait, you're running after them?! Stop! They'll - ” Killua snapped at Kurapika, who disconnected. 'Too late,' thought Nijiiro. Ahead of her, Kortopi pointed his right hand ahead of him.
“Target moving forty kilometers per hour, in a two o'clock direction,” Kortopi said, and the Spiders adjusted course. It was then that Killua made another call, this time to Leorio.
“Where's Gon?!” he yelled, clearly agitated.
“He took off running after Kurapika,” said Leorio's voice, “I'm driving to Beitacle hotel, but I'm stuck in traffic.”
“Damn it! Fine! We're going after Kurapika!” Killua howled, before hanging up. 'What a fun game of tag this is turning out to be,' Nijiiro thought, delighted. She caught a glimpse of Kurapika's aura in a tinted car window as it turned a corner thirty meters ahead of them, and decided it was close enough.
“We're being followed,” she said, and the six others immediately tensed, even as they continued to run.
“Damn...Since when...?” Machi said.
“I was too focused on the target ahead,” Shizuku admitted.
“Damn it all!” Nobunaga yelled, “Is the chain-user in front or behind us?!” Nijiiro thought it prudent not to answer, but simply looked at Chrollo. As if she didn't know exactly what he'd say next. She licked her lips.
“Nobunaga, Kortopi, and Pakunoda, pursue the target ahead of us!” Chrollo said quickly.
“Yessir,” said Paku. The three Spiders darted forward and continued the chase. Through her earpiece, Nijiiro heard a sound very much like a ball-peen hammer tapping a glass jar. The proximity alarm on her tracking program was telling her a device she was actively tracking was within fifteen meters. It sounded for a second time, and Nijiiro, now running in front, pivoted suddenly to face the two behind her. Kurapika and Gon darted away, but not before Machi and Shizuku glimpsed the two of them on their way to stow away behind a barrier. Perfect.
“Did you see him?” Chrollo asked, his face deadly serious.
“I caught a silhouette,” Nijiiro said slowly. “There's one behind the dumpster, and another in the alley.”
“Shizuku, Machi...keep using Gyo. Stay with Nijiiro, and be on your guard,” Chrollo said. His aura looked coiled and ready to strike.
“Yes, sir,” Machi said dutifully, pulling out her threads. And she was serious, of course. If Chrollo told her to, Machi would gladly lay down her life for Nijiiro, a person she hated more than any other human being on the planet. 'Loser,' noted Nijiiro's inner monologue. Chrollo advanced menacingly toward the alleyway, his hand gripping a hidden pen within his pocket. It was then that a wide-eyed Gon suddenly hopped up from behind the trash can, his open palms raised in a clear sign of surrender.
“Sorry!” Gon said loudly, his face a paragon of goodwill. “I'll stop following you, so, er...can you let me go?” Chrollo's aura looked like he'd been dumped in an ice bath, and Nijiiro bit her lip to keep from giggling.
“We meet again,” said Nijiiro, walking towards where Chrollo and Gon stood facing one another, the latter obviously impressed with the truly overbearing presence of the former.
“Is this the boy you mentioned?” asked Chrollo calmly, not moving his eyes a fraction, or anything else for that matter.
“Yeah. The other one's here, too,” said Machi, and her voice had a heavy sour note. Killua strode out from the alleyway, hands raised, and Machi glared at him, as if anything that had happened yesterday was his fault. 'If you want to tattle, Machi, now's the time,' Nijiiro thought. Of course, even Machi knew an irrational feeling should be held at arm's length. It's what made her intuition so sharp. “What do you want?” she said, one peremptory eyebrow raised at Killua, “The mafia reward on our heads is gone.”
“Wh-what?! Seriously? Why?” Killua said, the epitome of sudden dismay. If anything, his acting was too good. Chrollo continued to stare at them. For some reason, these two sent prickles across his back, and he wondered whether, on some level, they might be similar to himself. Or perhaps the opposite?
Nijiiro stared at Chrollo's back, watching his aura become unstable, uncertainty creeping over him, wishing she could help him somehow. There was no helping this, she knew. It was what happened whenever Chrollo faced children, specifically boys, something Chrollo's mind refused to see, and something Nijiiro had never found the words to tell him. Nijiiro knew precisely why it happened, too, but even remembering that sort of thing at a time like this was begging disaster, and she forced it from her mind.
“What do we do, Boss?” said Machi.
“Tie them up,” replied Chrollo flatly. Nijiiro wanted to hold Chrollo, wanted it badly, but also didn't care to be punished again. She frowned. Watching him try to ignore his own painful confusion, even when she was standing right next to him, was easily the most frustrating thing about him. Nijiiro sighed as Chrollo turned away from her and called Phinks, Shal, and Feitan, ordering them to Beitacle hotel.
“Shouldn't we just kill them?” Machi asked, as Chrollo hung up.
“I trust your instincts,” Chrollo said. Nijiiro could hear the lie in his voice, without even looking at his face. “If they're connected to the chain user somehow, we should keep them alive.” His aura continued to twist with agitation. 'This isn't good,' Nijiiro thought. Perhaps she was the only one who could feel the danger radiating off of him, in spite of the scant aura the surrounded his form. Confusion, not anger, was the prelude to Chrollo at his most frightening.
“I have a question for you,” Gon stated, his hands twisted behind his back in Machi's threads. Machi and Shizuku looked down at Gon. Chrollo turned slowly to face the boys again, his eyes intense. Nijiiro looked at Killua, who also seemed surprised to hear his friend suddenly speak out. “How can you kill people who have nothing to do with you?” It was a deep question, at the worst possible moment. 'Goddamn it, don't ask him that. Not now. Your life just became a coin toss,' Nijiiro thought desperately. 'Wait, coin toss? Could I...' She'd never considered using Fortune to sway a person's thoughts, and with Chrollo, there was no definitive outcome to hope for. She searched for something, anything, that would stop Chrollo if he decided to snap right then and there. Her heart leaped into her throat, as she realized not one of her powers could protect her plan from the idle curiosity of this one reckless brat. The next moment would be guided by fate, and fate alone. 'Please, keep it together, my Sky, and let him live' she thought, closing her eyes, 'he's just a tactless child.' As if by some divine cue, lightning knocked out the streetlamps on the block. After a long pause in the darkness, Chrollo finally spoke; the lightning crashing overhead held nothing to the tempest in his black eyes.
“You look pretty hostile, considering that you've just surrendered,” Chrollo said. The uncomfortable prickling feeling had earlier returned tenfold, but this time he looked at Nijiiro, who stood behind him. She lowered her eyes, even though she knew Chrollo couldn't see them under her hood and veil, feeling his eyes boring into her face. He was no longer thinking about Gon at all. “Why indeed?” he muttered, lost in the question, but not really trying to answer. “Because they have nothing to do with us? No. On second thought, it isn't that simple. How to verbally express our motives...I'd rather not...But oddly enough, or, perhaps it's not that odd...Could that... be the key to understanding myself?” He looked up at the sky, and Nijiiro wondered whether he had calmed down, or become even more confused. The streetlamps returned to their yellowish glow, and Nijiiro reached out, hoping perhaps a little too much that the danger had passed. As it turned out, the danger had passed. It had passed straight from Gon to her.
September 4th, 9:49PM
Killua stood breathless as Gon uttered his unbelievably blunt question, glaring at the supreme leader of the Gennei Ryodan as if they weren't both about as powerless before the Spiders as an ant colony might be against a thermonuclear bomb. He then watched in sheer disbelief as that same leader of the Gennei Ryodan attempted to answer the question, stumbling over his words and ultimately failing to create even a single coherent sentence. 'The hell is he on about?' Killua wondered, somewhat relieved that Gon hadn't been killed on the spot for being insolent, or something very like it.
“We should go, Sama' Allayl,” said Nijiiro, her face nearly covered in its entirety under her deep cowl. She slowly reached out, as if to touch the arm of the Spiders' captain. He caught her hand, and what happened next didn't seem real, even as it happened half a meter from Killua's own eyes. Wrapping Nijiiro's smaller hand tightly in his own, Chrollo gripped it hard enough to crush several bones, while Nijiiro stood motionless, her face, however hidden, not showing any sign that she had felt anything at all. 'He just...but...why?' Killua thought, his eyes widening at the muffled but still audible crunch as Nijiiro's right hand became irrevocably maimed in an instant. Neither of the other two Spiders seemed to hear or see anything amiss, either. 'Something's...very wrong here...that was definitely painful, it had to be...his own comrade...he just suddenly...' Gon didn't seem to notice, as Shizuku happened to be standing in his line of sight. Killua almost began to doubt that he had seen correctly, but Nijiiro's grimace of pain, as she calmly pulled her broken hand out of his grip and took his hand again – the very same hand that had crushed her own – and interlaced her shattered fingers with his, was unmistakable. Nijiiro took a deep breath and a half-step forward, and Chrollo seemed to acquiesce, walking ahead of her once again, only now pulling her by her injured extremity.
“If they try to run...kill them,” Chrollo ordered, his voice low and terrible. Killua looked at Gon, who had already turned his eyes in Killua's direction with a look that could only mean 'what now?' There was the sound of a cellphone ringing, and Chrollo used his free hand to withdraw his mobile from within his coat pocket without breaking stride.
“It's me.” Chrollo said, before listening to Nobunaga's report. “Meet us in the lobby of the Beitacle Hotel,” he said, hanging up. He looked back to Shizuku and Machi. “We now have the chain-user's identity,” he announced, “It seems he has three remaining allies.”
Killua had a sinking feeling in his chest. 'What do we do now? There's no point in capturing Pakunoda anymore...If I were Kurapika, I'd switch targets. If I wanted to crush the Ryodan...I'd target the boss. Senritsu should be listening in on their conversation, so they'll know where we're headed....Now it's just a question of when he'll attack. We'll have to be on alert for any signal indicating when it might be, and be ready to move in one second, probably less. The first instant will decide everything! Any slight delay could cost us our lives...' he thought, hoping Gon had some inkling along the same lines as he. Gon looked at him and nodded.