The Ninth || Chrollo x Reader

XVI. The Rescue

My fingers clasp my wrist and rub them as I grimace at the sight. The skin is a coarse red, and uneven to the rest of my arm. The metal chains are also undone around my ankles and neck, and the coolness of the metal begins to subside.

Having been released from the table, I step down to the ground, where the ground stings at my bare feet. After I'd been contained, the Zodiacs had stripped me of my clothing and replaced it with a plain nightgown, the kind that one would find at a hospital. My wounds had been hastily tended to, and the handiwork was unsatisfactory.

Casually leaning against the doorpost is Kurapika, who coolly looks at me before asking,

"Where would you like to have lunch?" His question is a restatement and remembrance of the day before my first interaction with the Troupe, a time in which we had both been mutual friends. However, I realize now that his words give me no choice to refuse his offer, and that there must be something that he'd like to discuss.

The bitterness that had been carried on his shoulders yesterday thickens the tension before I reply,

"I'm not sure, but we can eat wherever near the park. I don't have a preference." I realize that it's the better choice to accompany him for a meal, as it was the more civil way of confrontation rather than being hostile. And this way, I would be able to have food as well.

Kurapika nods briefly and swiftly exits the room, leaving me to follow him. His pace does not falter, even as we dodge hoards of Hunters that have arrived in their unique clothing and colorful patterns. Their murmured conversations drift about the carpeted hallways that graze my feet.

We pass through hallways, and staircases, all the way to the lobby that has been refurbished accurately. Each corner of the room was restored to it's former presentation, and not a single drop of blood painted the walls.

My eyes curiously searched along the roof to find the hidden weapon, only to find that the platformed opening in the roof was gone. The Hunters had most likely moved it to a different panel in the roof.

After we'd passed the sliding glass doors, and my feet burned over the sun heated concrete, Kurapika led me to the grass fields where we'd once sat happily.

Around this area were a few food stands that were each elaborately decorated. We approached one that was labeled, 'Drinks', and as advertised, had many different assortments of liquids from hard liquor to cold water. The stand was covered in a large tapestry of blue and white stripes that effectively shielded us from the burning sun.

At this stand, Kurapika and I ordered our own separate drinks, and sat down in the field without saying a word. The silence was not unbearable, however not comfortable either, and was quite literally a simple emptiness. There was no emotion that was detected in Kurapika's movements; no strain, no tension, and no anger. From that, I merely sat and awaited his words.

"(y/n), I've been thinking about what you did the other day when you were with the Troupe." Kurapika began. "I just-" He turned to face me, and I was subtly surprised to see a vague sense of hysteria in his eyes.

"(y/n)," he began again, his voice steady. "How many lives did you end to save your own?"

I reply, "It was for you." Kurapika's head snapped up to me abruptly, as he was shocked with my response. "I did it for the Zodiacs, and therefore you are included. Everything I did that day was also for the lives that may be taken in the future from the Troupe. There's no such thing as life without sacrifice."

Kurapika says quietly, "But you don't seem remorseful. You don't mourn the lives that you've taken."

I notice that he didn't counter my statement about sacrifice, as Kurapika, as well as many others in the Zodiacs were quite accustomed to the act of sacrifice. They understood that not anything was neither good nor bad.

"Kurapika, I've never really spoken to you about this, but how did you feel when the Kurta Clan was massacred?" I ask. "I would assume that you were heavily burdened by your loss, but did you mourn each person individually? By name? Or was it just your close relatives and friends?"

His jaw clenches, and he adds, "(y/n), that's different. I didn't kill them, but you killed those people at the headquarters two days ago. Through the cameras, the bomb that you dropped killed 12 people in the lobby."

Kurapika continues, "It's strange, how many Hunters are. It's strange that they perceive emotions differently than a normal human being, and that they are able to do so many horrible things, especially the Zodiacs.

"Even now, there isn't an ounce of remorse or regret in you, (y/n)."

The words blurred her head, her vision, her mind.

"Even now, there isn't an ounce of remorse or regret in you, (y/n)."

She wanted to scream, she wanted to tear out her heart and watch it's beating fade. It would be the second time, really, that she'd die. After all, she'd died so many years ago when her mother breathed her last.

But now, she stands in an alleyway, her shoulders hunched, and a bloodstained blade in her hands. The corpses were sitting along the halls, and their bodies were heavily burdened with stab marks, slashes, and deep wounds.

However, the girl didn't cry. She was not disgusted by the sight, or the stench of the blood that stained her hands. Rather, she seemed to be at peace, and her focus steadily regained itself to the constant beating of her heart.

Because it was so long ago that she'd stopped feeling for others. It was so long ago that she couldn't care for others. Because those types of emotions would get her killed.

And there were more people in this world who she wanted to kill first.

                               ***
As I climb the stairs to return to my isolation quarters, I hear scrambling and the sounds of agitated voices from below the stairs. I hesitate as I reach the last few steps to my destinations' floor, as the Hunters below have gained volume.

I sigh heavily, and begin to escalate the floors, my feet swiftly tap against the ground until I reach the second floor. A hurried Hunter slams into me, and she falls backwards down the stairs. Her eyes are wide, and she briefly nods in apology as she picks herself up from the floor.

She has short, brown hair that frames her round face and kind blue eyes. A hat that resembles that of a mushroom cap is adorned on her head, and freckles paint her face. I smile as I extend a hand that she gratefully accepts.

"I'm so sorry, I just need to go to the third floor very quickly, as there's an emergency-" She does not complete her statement, and her words die down as she closes her mouth as if reprimanding herself for speaking something she was not supposed to.

The Hunter quickly begins to climb the stairs, and I grasp my fingers around her wrist. She turns around in confusion, as I ask,

"What is it? What's the emergency?" I notice the Hunter's panic that she tries to subtly hide. Though she may not tell me, I try my chances anyways. Surprisingly, however, she answers with full honesty and conviction,

"They're coming. The Phantom Troupe."

Author's note: Hi! Thanks for getting this story to 800 reads! I'm so grateful for your support! I also wanted to apologize for the late chapter, I've been really busy lately because of school, but I'm on spring break now, so hopefully I can manage more chapters than usual for a week. Hope to see you again soon ;)
~Amorevolous