ANIMOSITY | hxh

twenty-one

Tsuno sighed, sitting a top of the building where the Uvogin assailants currently resided. The other members of the Phantom Troupe were on their way, but they got held up by the rest of the Shadow beasts. This was what her normal work looked like, since joining the Troupe. Reconnaissance. Her job was to find ways in and out of places when they didn't want to be seen, or keep an eye on someone. Her presence was unnaturally quieter than most, with a decent speed. Not as fast as Feitan, probably. But she'd never admit it to him.

Unfortunately, she was unable to get into building without being spotted. But using her nen ability, it wasn't too hard to figure out where they were keeping him. She also didn't know which out of the group was the wielder of chains. They would surely get on her ass about that one. One thing she noticed was the blonde one that left not too long ago. He was her current highest suspicion, but it'd be too risky to follow him than to stay with Uvogin.

She'll note him to the Troupe later. If only she knew his name.

–– –– ––

Kurapika had met up with Hisoka. At an abandoned circus, ironically. Only to find the mysterious clown flipping cards on a run-down carousel.

He quickly used Gyo, attempting to spot anything Hisoka may have been hiding. "Don't worry," The clown muses before he could say anything, looking up at Kurapika with a narrowed gaze. "I have no interest in fighting you right now." Kurapika's gaze remained steeled, "Get to the point. Tell me about the Troupe." Hisoka smiled, tilting his head. "Very well. There are 13 spiders in all, identified by the numbers on their spider tattoos. The members are replaced easily. You can defeat one to join the Troupe, but if they were to lose a member for another reason, the leader will fill the vacancy." He pauses, playing with the cards in his hands. "They mainly steal and kill, though they do some philanthropic stuff every once and a while." Kurapika, interrupts him, "That much I know already."

Hisoka continues regardless, "I replaced number 4 a few years ago, because I want to fight the leader."

"Why?" Kurapika asks, crossing his arms. "To test your strength?" The clown shakes his head, his expression shifting to something bone-chilling. "It turns me on... thinking about fighting the boss." Kurapika didn't let his face even grimace. "I've never had a chance though. He never lowers his guard, and he's always with at least two others. Not to mention, the little one always by his side." He sighs. That piqued Kurapika's interests, he takes a shallow step forward. "Little one?" Hisoka hums with a knowing smile, "Hm? Did I not mention her?" The blonde's eyes narrowed. But Hisoka didn't give any additional information.

–– –– ––

Back at the Hotel, Dalzollene received a buzz. Someone requesting to come inside, most likely the Mafia. Earlier, He had called to transfer this 'Uvogin' over to them. Because there's nothing physically, they could do to him. His skin was like steel, and his will was even stronger. But they had the upper hand as long as he was paralyzed. And it was better to hand him over to the Mafia than let the bastard rot here until the drugs wore off.

He led the Mafia associates straight to him, as Uvogin's eyes never let them form. "The clothes really do make the man.." He commented. Dalzollene was confused, but before he could even ask, there was a sharp hand that pierced his chest. Unbeknownst to the bodyguard, the 'associates' he invited were merely the Phantom Troupe in disguise. The one that killed Dalzollene was Phinks. Accompanied by Shalnark, Machi, Shizuku, and Nobunaga. The blonde smirked, "I couldn't believe my ears when I'd heard you been kidnapped." Uvogin smirked back.

The rest of the Troupe ripped off their disguises, before Nobunaga began looking around the room. "Isn't Aurum supposed to be around here?" He muttered, rubbing his chin after ripping off the fake beard. "She probably couldn't get through. Her message was vague." Machi commented casually, putting her hair back into its ponytail. The long-haired man shrugged. Shizuku approached Uvo's lying body. "Blinky, time for work." The vacuum appeared with a silly roll of its tongue. "Suck out the poison paralyzing Uvo." She commanded, Blinky immediately following. After that it wasn't long before Uvogin simply busted through his metal restraints, taking a deep breath before letting out a mighty swear. One loud enough that it alerted the rest of the bodyguards who happened to be resting in the next room. "I'm going to kill that damn chain user!" He snarled, bursting a large hole in the wall that they were just in. Only to reveal they had already escaped. "Where is he!?" Uvogin screamed, raising his head as anger pounded in his chest.

"They all left." A new voice sighed, echoing in the room. A wave of nearly transparent smoke slid into the room, smelling of ash and fire. A decent amount filled the room, before whirling viciously to materialize into Tsuno's form. The young girl sighed again, a puff of smoke leaving her mouth as she put a hand on her hip. "It's because you were screaming so loud." Shizuku commented from behind, tilting her head. "We're leaving." Phinks added, already making his way to the door. "We finished the job. And we got the treasure!" Shalnark added cheerily, him and the other members following along.

"No!" The large man growled, turning his fierce eyes towards them. "Tell the boss... that I can't come back until I've dealt with the chain user."

–– –– ––

Killua, Gon and Leorio had continued to make money using arm-wrestling. And Tsuno was never spotted again. Made the albino nearly believed he imagined the whole thing. In a weird way, he felt almost spiteful towards her. As well as himself. If she wasn't actually there, did that mean he kept her in thoughts so much that he tried to manifest her? That's not like him at all. The thought of being so vulnerable made him annoyed. But if she was there, it only confused him more. Tsuno looked him directly in the eye and didn't seem to recognize him at all. Didn't approach him, didn't say anything, didn't hint towards anything. Killua felt like something different was going on, and he just couldn't put his finger on it. Which was probably more annoying.

As they sat in their regular positions, the boys waited for the plan Leorio had surmised to come to fruition. And it wasn't long until they were approached by what seemed like a mafia big shot. "You boys want to make some real money?" The short don smirks, before leading them to an underground arm-wrestling ring.

The ring was packed. Filled with the sounds of roaring cheers and money being wasted. Leorio and the guy talked money, while Killua and Gon let their eyes wander. "The winner gets 10% of the bets. And we're talkin' billions bet on each match." Leorio cut in, a greedy smile on his face. "That would mean millions for each win!" He cheered. They continued and discussed how the distribution of the earnings would go. But as soon as it seemed like everything was going in the right direction, a disruption came in the form of a clown in skimpy clothing.

"I'm afraid that the arm-wrestling is canceled!" He declared extravagantly, a uncanny grin strectching his lips. "We'll be doing some conditional auctioning now!" He giggles, but his words make the crowd murmur. Leorio turns to the man who invited them here, immediately asking questions. "What happened? Why is it canceled?" But he had no answer, he simply stuttered in the midst of the confusion.

The clown wasn't finished, and with a wave of his hand many women came around and handed flyers out to everyone there. "Instead, we'll play hide-and-seek! These eight people are your targets." As soon as Killua received a flyer, his eyes narrowed at the paper. Eight photos all together, taken from the same scene that was indescribable. With a reward of 2 billion jenny written under each one. But Killua's eyes were caught by one in particular. A picture of a girl with short, lavender hair.

Looks like he didn't imagine her after all.

"Tsuno." Gon reaffirmed what Killua saw, his eyes stuck on the flyer with a determined expression. Leorio hummed, "So she is here... And that girl with the glasses who you arm-wrestled. Then they are together." He noted, taking his eyed away from the paper to meet Gon's. Killua's attention was caught by the voices behind him.

"Hey, are they the ones responsible for last night?"

"Yeah, you mean the attack on the auction?"

At the last part, the albino's eyes widened before silently returning to the flyer. The underground auction? For an organization as powerful as the Mafia, they got one-upped by these individuals? If the mafia couldn't capture them, then almost nobody here stood a chance. But the three of them weren't just anyone, if you asked Killua. And it was worth it. Not only for the money, but they needed to get their friend back.