ANIMOSITY | hxh

eighteen

About two months had passed and Gon and Killua were finally in Yorknew city. It was a week before the Grand Yorknew Auction.

Currently they were scrounging the local market. A place that was like a target for tourists. These past few weeks, the boys had discovered something that Gon's father left for him. It was a small box — that could only be opened using nen — and a tape with a message on it. The tape gave Gon some background information on Gon's dad, and how he was truly inspired to never see him. Inside the box was a ring, and a game SD card, for a game called Greed Island. Gon believes this to be his next clue, and together they found it was available in the Grand Yorknew Auction. It was expensive, and the boys had acquired a lot of money from Heaven's Arena, but spent a decent amount of it trying to earn money. Turns out Killua is a gambler.

Another thing, Tsuno. Gon didn't even want to think about Greed Island until she was found and back with them, but they decided to go to Yorknew, meet up with Kurapika and Leorio, and try to buy the game before heading to Meteor City. It was mostly Killua's plan, Gon wanted to rush straight there before making it to the auction but Killua was sure that'd be a terrible idea. They have no clue where Meteor City is, how dangerous it is, or if Tsuno is even there. It didn't sound like something that could be done in such a short amount of time, and Gon needed to worry about his other priorities as well. Which is why they're here right now.

"Wow, there are so many people!" Gon exclaimed, looking around with sparkles in his eyes. Killua nodded, "They're all here for the auction too." He explained. "Is this the auction?" Gon asked, looking at Killua, who snorted. "Absolutely not. The Yorknew Dream Auction is held once a year, it's much grander than this. This is just a marketplace for tourists to spend more money." Gon nodded with understanding. "Also, do you think we should use this time to get you a phone?" Killua asked, and the two of them ran off to go buy him one.

———

These past few months with the Phantom Troupe have been... good, if you asked Tsuno. She didn't think it would turn out this way. In the beginning, after officially introducing herself, she pretty much stuck to Chrollo the whole time. She didn't trust them, and she didn't really want to say she trusted Chrollo. To be honest she barely trusted herself.

However, one time, the burly man, now known as Uvogin had challenged her to a spar. He wanted to "get to know her" as he put it. Tsuno hesitated, she didn't think she had any fighting skills at all. She doesn't fare well with humiliation. But her pride wouldn't let her say no. In front of Chrollo, in front of these horrifically strong individuals, she didn't want to be underestimated. So imagine her surprise when she realized how fast she was, how strong she was, how cool she was. She dodged and avoided and threw some instinctive blows. It was like her body moved on it's own. She was nothing compared to Uvogin, but it really helped her confidence. It also raised some questions. These skills, these moves, where did they come from? She could feel Chrollo's curiosity through his burning gaze, but he never asked so she never answered.

Uvogin was surprised, grinning as he gave her some small praise, "Not bad for a kid." It was then that she started being allowed to join in on jobs, though the Troupe was usually split up during those times. And she wasn't really allowed to fight either, she mostly assissted with infiltration and lookout whenever she was needed. Chrollo called her "their spider lily." And from then on everything grew so much more relaxed and comfortable, for every job she went on, she would get to know each member a little bit more until she was fully affiliated. She was the closest with Shalnark and Uvogin, and by association Nobunaga. But Feitan and Phinks ended up being the butt of all her jokes.

And they helped her get stronger. Uvogin and her would spar more often, Chrollo taught her how to read, and also educated her on nen as much as possible. She learned the basics, and found out that she was a specialist. From then on, Nobunaga would help her expand on her nen type and help her design her signature attacks. Though, it wasn't very furitful, Npbounaga wasn't the best teacher and their techmiques were vastyl different. She had to figure it out for herself, and quickly if she wanted to be of any use. These things weren't often because she was never with the same people enough, so a lot of it was still in progress, but these were her favorite memories since being with the Phantom Troupe.