September 2nd, 11:43 AM
Nijiiro came to in the wrong room, or at least it seemed like the wrong room, on account of the two dead bodies she certainly had no memory of leaving there last night. She felt lovely, but the police uniform on one of the corpses meant she might be in for a headache any moment. The other body seemed to belong to some mafia woman in business casual. She didn't recognize either of them. She looked down and found she was fully dressed. That would save a few moments, she reasoned wordlessly, packing the two bodies onto a maid's trolley under some sheets and wheeling them down to the ground floor trash incinerator. Hopefully, there would be some helpful evidence on her phone, since drunk Nijiiro was more of a screen-queen prima donna than she cared to admit. She grabbed a few covered plates of hot food on her way back through the kitchen and brought the trolley back to the room. Breakfast would be a surprise today. After scrubbing down the blood-soaked bathroom, she settled in to a double cheeseburger the way some one else liked it and the cellphone video of herself of going full beau-coup-dinky-dau on the late Mr. Francisco the Teeth's daughter and her steroid-powered personal paid police stooge. Ah, the glamorous life of a professional thief. That did, at least, explain why half of YorkNew's finest hadn't descended on her misbegotten hotel room in the middle of the night. Of all the drunken states to come out of using Serenity, the blacked-out-psycho Nijiiro was the very rarest, showing up perhaps time in a thousand, and by far the most dangerous; and she had some pretty terrible ideas about what to do with assholes that tried to wake her up a full three hours before her alarm went off, according to video. Sober Nijiiro sat in bed laughing like a moron and eating french fries until the thirty-minute video ended, then got up and stretched her legs. She needed to get some materials together before Uvo made his appearance. She brought the ID she'd lifted off the woman's body to the front desk and rented her current room in the dead woman's name and credit card. “It's what she would've wanted,” chuckled Nijiiro under her breath. The hotel staff, who were used to the bizarre idiosyncrasies of a mafia business, never questioned a thing.
With the help of Fortune, Nijiiro piled up some funny money from the slot machines in the casino downstairs before hurrying out into YorkNew in search of a few black-market electronics, a couple handguns, and a milkshake. When she returned five hours later, every Nostrade Family vehicle was accounted for, and still in its original parking spot. Not one of the hotel staff had seen Uvo, either. Excellent. Nijiiro tagged all of the cars with custom micro-trackers and slapped a little “invisible” paint on the steering wheels, which to her was absolutely not invisible, but would show the prints of anyone who touched the cars' controls with radioactive ultraviolet ink. After sunset, she began to worry. What if Uvogin really was too dumb to find the hotel room, even with Shal's help? She weighed the pros and cons before deciding to use one of the public computers downstairs to make sure her scheduled uploads to the Hunter site were being posted according to their schedule.
She had only made it down one flight of stairs when a familiar Nen presence stopped her in her tracks. Uvogin was here, probably on the ground floor, and he was angry. Shit. She took a deep breath and focused, knowing that the feeling of a Nen like hers panicking would only set off sirens in the back of Uvo's brain. Backing out of the stairwell, Nijiiro went back to the elevators and rode one down to the ground floor as Uvo ascended up the stairwell, thankfully focused on his target and not his surroundings. She knocked the hotel valet unconscious with a, er, light tap to the head, and glanced over the selection of keys in his logbook until she found a black four-wheel-drive SUV. Taking the keys from the corresponding peg, she removed her necklace and hung the massive sapphire pendant in their place. It would make for a nice severance package, assuming he woke in time. She fetched the car from the lot and pulled it around to the hotel entrance, nearly missing Uvo and the Kurta as they walked out, and, to her utter amazement, climbed into the same black sedan and pulled away, heading west toward the highway. It was a remarkable display of restraint, especially for Uvo. Nijiiro tailed them, three cars behind, until they pulled off on an exit just six kilometers from where they got on, and from there out to a dirt road that led into empty desert to the northwest of Yorknew City. She switched off the headlights and continued to follow them, her eyes being able to see them in the light of the full moon the way most people could see under a blazing midday sun. When the sedan stopped, she pulled the SUV around a large boulder sixty meters back , concealing it from the roadway, and sought high ground. At this distance, her eyes would be able to pick up even the most minute details in their faces and gestures, but the threat of being detected was also that much higher. Using a trick she'd trained six months to master, she activated Zetsu so slowly and gradually it would seem as if her Nen was walking away without her; a small precaution that paid off more often than not when dealing with Nen masters. Nijiiro found a scalable cliff rather close to where Uvo and the Kurta had gotten out of the car, and climbed it slowly and deliberately, careful to maintain absolute silence, even going so far as to belly-crawl the last few meters to the edge of the rocky outcrop and line the darker and lighter parts of her outfit up with the pools of moonlight and shadow in the bare rocks around her. Even an expert man-hunter, staring straight down at her from above with a scope, would be hard-pressed to spot her right away. From her position, she could see the entire exchange between Uvo and the Kurta clearly, which began, to her eternal embarrassment, with watching Uvo relieve himself while facing in her general direction. Well, there was something she'd never cared to witness. She looked over to the Kurta. 'He's so...young. And pretty to boot. His aura...it's incredible...I've never seen anything like it. He's almost certainly within a year or two of my age, which is nineteen now, I think...I was only about thirteen when the Kurta clan was massacred, so he must have been eleven, perhaps twelve? His resolve must be staggering, to have come to such a level, and so quickly...Come to think of it, it was only January of this year when Hisoka and this boy passed the pro Hunter Exam, and from Hisoka's description, he didn't use any Nen at that time.' Nijiiro watched them exchange a few terse words, and by the end of it the Kurta was dripping with rage. His aura really was incredible, and she couldn't pull her eyes away from it for even a second. Her heart was beating faster as he met Uvo blow for blow, holding his own against a battle veteran who outweighed him by at least threefold. He danced around the giant Uvo with catlike grace, and Nijiiro felt blood rushing to her face as he pulled out his chains, slamming them into the cliffside and nearly hitting her twice. 'I must be getting feverish...from using Nen earlier,' she thought to herself. Of course, that wasn't entirely the case, but admitting anything else made her feel uncomfortably like a voyeur rather than a spy. It wasn't long before Uvo slammed his fist into the Kurta's left arm, which the Kurta miraculously guarded. The implication was clear. 'He must be a specialist, then. Interesting.' Seeing other specialists use Nen always made Nijiiro feel a little itch, a vague sort of tingle, a sense she could never quite explain. Where's a fresh bowl of popcorn when you need one?
September 3rd, 2:43 AM
“You're wasting my time,” Kurapika said, glaring at Uvogin tauntingly. Uvo grimaced, regretting the restraint he'd shown heretofore and wishing he could just crush the kid and get it over with before wunderkind mouthed off again. Well, it wasn't like he'd used his full strength yet. He would show the featherweight who was wasting whose time. Uvo grinned.
“Okay, jackass. This time I'll come at you with EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!” roared Uvo. Of course, it wasn't like him to attack blindly. He slammed his fist into the ground, raising massive clouds of dry dust and rocky debris around Kurapika.
“That's an incredible aura...”said Kurapika. Up on the cliffside, Nijiiro rolled her eyes. 'Clearly, this boy has a penchant for stating the obvious,' she thought, watching dust surround his slender silhouette. And if anyone was wasting time, it was the Kurta who had chains wrapped around his target, yet insisted on testing him like a guinea pig instead of sealing the deal. She watched as Kurapika tried to block Uvo's full-force punch, receiving a crushed arm for his trouble.
“This time, I crushed your arm. No one can withstand a full-force Big Bang Impact! But I'm impressed. You reacted immediately... I'm guessing you noticed the slight shift in the dust particles.” said Uvo.
“I am impressed as well. I didn't think you knew how to use In,” Kurapika replied confidently, “Striking the ground to raise a smokescreen was intended to conceal both your physical body and your presence. However, I, too, can use In.” He raised his hand slightly, the Nen chains attached to him clinking a little. Uvo, finding himself suddenly paralyzed, realized his mistake a minute too late. Nijiiro smiled. 'Should've used Gyo from the outset, eh, Uvo?' she thought.
“N-No way!” Uvo stuttered. The Nen chains around his body began to tighten menacingly.
“You can see them? I guess you can use Gyo.” Kurapika said. Nijiiro suppressed a giggle at the statement. 'He did it again,' she thought. “These chains were forged with conjurer Nen, which means I can use In to render them invisible,” Kurapika continued with his exposition.
“So...by keeping the chains out, you tricked us into thinking they were real chains.” Uvo stated, trying to think his way out of said chains and coming up blank. This kid seemed bent on giving him a lecture for some reason, so Uvo figured it would be better to let him talk . Maybe he'd slip up and show Uvo a way out. Over-explaining one's abilities was a rookie move, after all.
“That's exactly right. I pretended to be a manipulator using Nen-controlled chains, so my enemies would only be alert to the visible chains. And my bluff just paid off. While you were making empty threats, my chains were already wrapped around your body. You've been captured.” Kurapika's confidence in these last few words seemed genuine. 'Damn...But how?' thought Uvo, trying to parse the abilities Kurapika had displayed thus far, 'He has an enhancer's defensive power, and the Nen in his conjured chains is incredibly strong...Has he fully mastered both conjurer and enhancer techniques..? That shouldn't be! A Nen user can only fully master their innate category...'
“I see you're having trouble understanding. Allow me to illuminate you, before I send you to the other side,” Kurapika said ominously. 'Oh, goody... And here I thought I'd have to analyze all of these Nen techniques for myself,' thought Nijiiro, sitting up. The two below her were so focused on one another now that she wagered even a Zetsu with a quarter of the efficacy of hers would have been plenty to remain hidden. She crossed her legs and rested her head on one hand. The Kurta reached up towards his face and removed two small pieces of something. 'Contact lenses?' thought Nijiiro, 'Well I suppose that makes sense, for a Kurta...It's kind of like my veil...' Still, it made a chill run up her spine. It had been a while, since she had seen the Scarlet Eyes...and she certainly had no fond memories upon which to attach them. Kurapika's eyes glimmered a dozen shades of vermilion in the light of the full moon, and it made Nijiiro's heart begin to pound once again, even faster than before. It was as if the rubicund glow tethered to some primal human instinct, warning one to stay away or risk annihilation. And like so many other dangerous things before, they were pulling her in for a closer look. After all, she'd never actually seen the Scarlet Eyes on a living person before. Nijiiro crawled to the very edge of the cliff on all fours, biting her lip. The Kurta continued speaking, unaware of his titillated onlooker.
“I'm using specialization Nen. Only when my Scarlet Eyes appear, do I become a specialist, capable of using techniques I've learned from any category of Nen.” Kurapika stared into Uvo's bewildered face as the gears finally clicked into place.
“Those eyes...I remember now. There were a bunch of them, in the middle of nowhere. The Saisho really liked those eyes. They were really strong! Then, you're a survivor? Hmm, he he he he he...I'm getting excited now...Let's see what is stronger! Your grudge, or my power!” Uvo chortled, perhaps forgetting in his excitement that he was immobilized.
“You bastard...is that all you can think about? You'll never be able to break these chains!” Kurapika shouted, hoping it was true. It was, as it turned out. In spite of Uvo's considerable brute force and powerful roars of frustration, Kurapika's chains held fast to their prisoner, strained but nowhere close to breaking.
“What the hell?!” Uvogin growled, not comprehending how normal metal chains, conjured or otherwise, could refuse to yield to the diamond-crushing force of his muscles.
“With my specialization ability, Emperor Time, I can use any category of Nen with one hundred percent efficiency.” Kurapika explained, drawing out his Holy Chain. It was time for a demonstration. He activated the healing powers of the Holy Chain on his shattered arm, healing it instantly. Uvogin's eyes widened.
“I can use enhancement category self-healing to completely recover from a broken arm,” said Kurapika coolly. Nijiiro, for her part, found this to be a very strange interrogation indeed. 'What is this, show-and-tell? Having him explain his powers certainly is convenient for me, but how does this help him...Isn't he...going to...ask any questions, or...?' she thought, unsure of the Kurta boy's motive. Her best guess was that he was planning on impressing Uvo with his abilities first in order to make Uvo more willing to talk. Which was laughable from her perspective, but she would let the Kurta figure that out on his own soon enough. But the expositive continued on, unimpeded by Nijiiro's confused thoughts.
“There were a number of reasons why I chose you to be my first target,” said Kurapika, “While you fought the Mafia and the Shadow Beasts, the other spiders stayed out of it altogether. That told me you preferred to fight alone, and that they trusted your strength would prevail. I prefer to fight one-on-one. That made you a perfect target. Next, you were an enhancer who was confident in both offense and defense. You met every requirement I had for my first target. Because then I could test to see whether my Chain Jail would be effective on the rest of the Gennei Ryodan. Chain Jail forcefully activates Zetsu upon any Ryodan member it ensnares. It also paralyzes them.” At this, Nijiiro felt fireworks going off in her cranium. What a delightful ability he had there. No, better than that, it was damned useful, particularly for her designs on the Ryodan. You had to hand it to the Kurta boy, he really had it all mapped out. Perhaps that was why he'd looked so promising right out of the gate; unlike the Injiyuu, he had anticipated that he'd be fighting opponents far stronger and more experienced than himself. Yes, this Kurta Clan avenger would make a fine asset, indeed. Uvogin was now looking perfectly horrified, understanding the implications of Kurapika's powers in a one-on-one combat situation such as the one he currently faced. 'So that's why I can't muster any aura,' he thought, straining to rip the chains apart.
“Zetsu nullifies aura. Meaning, you'd need to use physical strength alone to break these chains. If the Ryodan member with the most physical strength cannot break the chains, the others will certainly not be able to escape Chain Jail,” Kurapika went on, Uvo's situation seemingly growing more dire with every new bit of intelligence. Uvo had to get out of these chains and crush this guy before he himself was killed, or worse, the other Spiders were caught unawares. 'His forced activation of Zetsu here is bad,' thought Uvo, straining against his bindings, 'Aura is the basis of all Nen. If it's sealed off, you can't use your power. A technique for sealing Nen...this guy really thought everything through...' It was at that moment that Kurapika rammed his Nen-charged fist into Uvo's unguarded abdomen, breaking several ribs and sending blood shooting out of his surprised mouth. Nijiiro looked on, thinking, 'I guess show-and-tell is over, then...' She felt almost sad, watching a brawler like Uvo forced to stand still and passive as an old tree being hewn down by an unmercifully blunt Nen-charged fist. That being said, she'd have to step in and finish Uvo off herself if the Kurta failed to kill him for a second time. That didn't seem likely, though as Kurapika calmly continued narrating the process, now doubly confident in the restraining powers of his chain. “It seems my enhanced fist is somewhat stronger than your physical brawn. That's valuable information. That means I can beat every Ryodan member barehanded, provided I've chained them.”
'Valuable information...' Nijiiro thought slowly, an important realization slowly dawning on her. By god, it couldn't be. No, it made too much sense now. 'He's using these Nen abilities for the very first time...and needs real data on how they behave in combat. Not because he imagined them all up yesterday, or because no one was training him...but because he couldn't use them on anyone else. That's why he keeps saying 'Ryodan member' instead of 'target' or 'opponent.' Eureka. He's using a convenant-restriction system, and a nasty one at that. The exorbitant consequence he's laid against the amount of Nen power in these chains must be quite dire.' Six months ago, he had no Nen abilities whatsoever, yet now, he was sitting pretty with the monstrously strong Uvogin's balls in a metaphorical sling. There weren't many conditions that fit the bill, either. 'He's almost certainly staked his life, his Nen, or both, on this power. Of course, an asset this good naturally comes with a massive liability like that, doesn't it?' Of course, this is also meant that, should the Kurta prove hostile to her proposal for an alliance between themselves, she probably had sufficient leverage to convince him otherwise. So long as the Spiders continued to meet their end one by one, as with Uvo, he would probably be fine working alone, but reality rarely afforded anyone such optimal circumstances, much less twelve times in a row. Nijiiro made herself turn her eyes back down to the scene below and grimaced. It was a scene she'd created, but not one she cared to watch. She knew, even without looking, that Uvo would do the Spiders proud. That he would refuse to yield, until his dying breath. As the one who'd arranged Uvo's funeral, the least she could do was bear witness to his final moments.
“Tell me everything you know,” demanded Kurapika, “...Where are the rest of your friends?”
“...Kill me.” Uvo growled. Kurapika hit him again.
“What are their abilities?”
“Kill me.” replied Uvo, a little softer.
It went on like this for a while, back and forth, until Kurapika was spattered with blood and Uvo could hardly stand on his own, the latter wheezing and struggling for breath but faithfully responding to every question with the same stoic reply. Kurapika intensified his efforts, striking Uvo multiple times at each inquisition, but to no avail. Nijiiro watched the the face of the Kurta boy become increasingly twisted with disgust, his mind a riot of conflict and anxiety. 'He's never tortured anyone before, has he? And it shows.' she thought. Ironically, it was Uvo who stood proud and menacing in these circumstances, while for the Kurta she felt only pity. Eventually he stopped, unable to keep up with the stress of causing Uvo pointless physical agony.
“It makes me sick...” Kurapika uttered, his face wracked with emotion. “The sensation left on my hand... The grating sound of each strike... The smell of blood...It throws all of my senses into disarray! How can you do all of things, yet feel and think NOTHING AT ALL?! ANSWER ME!” Nijiiro had a strange urge to laugh at these last words, although she knew the situation was far too serious for that. It was such a stupid question, a rookie question. An incorrect question, brought by a boy unfamiliar with the ways of never-ending violence, the effects of undertaking one's own survival as a sort of spiritual dictum, and the laws of the jungle that was Meteor City. Indeed, in that place, in that savage garden, “thoughts” and “feelings” were often the only things one had...and they were not for sharing with strangers. The 'answer,' if one could answer, was that no one did such things without thinking or feeling anything at all, not even her. It was the fire-hardened steel nerves of those who had thrived, dared to live, and triumphed against the very worst of what this world had to offer that allowed them to quaff human suffering, and even death itself, like a fine red wine. It was more of an acquired taste, a necessary skill, than any sort of random personal quirk. It was the kind of aphorism the Kurta himself would need to internalize, if he was serious about annihilating the Gennei Ryodan. Nijiiro smiled to herself, knowing exactly what Uvo's “answer” would be.
“...Kill me.” Blood soaked the front of Uvogin's white shirt and dripped down the length of his eight-foot-plus frame. His mind had long ceased to think angry thoughts at this kid. In fact, he felt nothing but respect. In a way, he was glad his ticket had been punched by one of the droves of avengers whom he owed a painful death. But that didn't mean he'd give up even one of the Spiders, no matter how much suffering he had to endure. Hell, compared to Feitan's work, this guy was nothing. Kurapika screamed in frustration and launched his trump card, the Judgement Chain, into Uvo's chest. The Nen chain wrapped around Uvo's heart, threatening him instantaneous death. Uvo breathed a sigh of relief, while doing his best to look frightened. Nijiiro bit her thumb and tried not to laugh at Uvo's unconvincing “scared” face.
“This your last chance! I've just placed a conditional bond on your heart. If you break the rule I set, the bond will activate, crushing your heart.” Nijiiro clamped both hands over her mouth. Her terrible habit of laughing at inopportune moments was going to give her away, if she didn't try harder. But the clueless Kurta wasn't helping. 'Chance? He thinks Uvo is looking for chances?' She tried scolding herself then, thinking, 'it's not funny, it is NOT funny, your Spider is dying, Nijiiro,' and so on, but still, the corners of her mouth continued to grin. “The rule is that you must answer my question honestly. Abide by that rule, and I shall allow to live a bit longer.” Kurapika continued, insensible to the hilarity of his words. In fairness, only the utterly depraved, nihilistic humor of the two Spiders who heard him would find it the least bit comical. Uvo grinned a wide, bearish grin. 'About damn time,' he thought.
“Where are the other Spiders?!” Kurapika demanded once again.
“Go to hell, dipshit.” Uvo sneered, and then collapsed. He was dead before he hit the ground. Nijiiro fought the powerful urge to give him a standing ovation, liking him more in that moment than she had ever before. Uvogin was dead, but her plans were still very much in motion. Speaking of motion... Nijiiro stood up before her legs began to cramp too much. The Kurta boy stumbled.
'...I spent too much time in that state...' thought Kurapika, his eyes fading back into their usual warm brown. His phone began ringing for the ten thousandth time that day, and he decided to answer it. It would be nice to hear a friendly voice, after that...ordeal. It was Senritsu. His face softened considerably as he picked up the call.
“It's me.”
“Kurapika, what's going on? Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I'm okay. What about things over there?”
“Thank goodness...The boss is safe. She's asleep in her room. And also, the boss' father won't arrive until late tonight, due to weather complications.”
“I see. Understood.”
Kurapika ended the call and looked at Uvo's corpse. He could simply leave it there. After all, the Spiders had not bothered to bury a single one of his clansmen after they slaughtered every last one of them and plucked the eyes from their corpses. But he was better than that. And he'd brought a shovel.
Nijiiro watched as the Kurta quietly buried Uvo's massive body in the dry desert soil, his arms and back trembling with fatigue by the end of it. 'Using the Scarlet Eyes must take a lot out of him. I guess we have that in common, eh, Kurta?' she thought. In spite of her perfect Zetsu, Nijiiro was still feeling a fair amount of fatigue herself. Tonight had been a very successful endeavor, in terms of intelligence. She knew what the Kurta boy looked like, how he sounded, and how he moved. She knew how his powers worked. She knew he had friends in Yorknew. She knew, without even having to ponder it, that Chrollo would intensify the war between the mafia and the Gennei Ryodan if Uvo failed to return in a few hours, sending more of the Spiders from the safety of the hideout into mafia territory. She knew Chrollo could be lured away from them, when he went after the Nostrade girl's powers. She knew...she could win this time. It was all coming together. Nijiiro watched the Kurta drive away, presumably back to the Beitacle hotel, before sliding down the cliffside to where Uvo was buried. She knew it was pointless, hell, it was probably insulting, given that she'd caused this, but she gathered a large pile of extremely heavy stones anyway, and stacked them carefully in a pyramid over the spot where Uvogin lay in his final rest. Having finished her task, she sat and looked at it for a moment, before saying the only words she could think of.
“I'm sorry, Uvo.”