Itsy Bitsy Spider

21. The Chain User

She grabbed a bottle of water and chugged. Rein gulped down her drink a bit too quickly, and struggled to keep from coughing when it burned her gullet.

The Chain User.

He looked almost innocent in daylight, without foreign blood on his clothes or the torturing actions or the death threats. Without his red hands. Without those chains.

Rein found herself gritting her teeth, but she forced her jaw to relax. Not here. Not now.

Gon left Killua behind with his food-smeared face, and jumped up to greet the blond.

"That idiot," Killua growled immediately, and slid his hand under the cream pie. He got up and snuck toward the two. The glint in his eyes suggested he was out for revenge.

Well, so was she.

She found her face becoming a bit stony and veering toward hateful, and immediately slapped a smile back on; tried to. She brought the pizza to her mouth again just to have something to do with it, so she didn't have to force herself to smile or anything. For the rest of her face, she figured if she didn't look at the Chain User, she had nothing to hate. So she brought her gaze down to the grass and thought of anything else, of clouds, the nice smell of the bakery, of her rocks... her lucky rock...

She stopped herself before she could go down that path any further. Perhaps she could seriously consider taking the Hunter Exam instead, like Gon brought up. It certainly wasn't the worst idea. Even Shalnark had a Hunter's license, and it came in very handy. Hisoka had one too, but Rein doubted he would use it in any way that was legal. He might kill a few people with it in place of his cards. She had successfully manipulated her train of thought into imagining how he would look when flicking the card up to his fingertips before doing away with his victim, when she was interrupted.

"Kurapika, this is Rein!" Gon was in front of her now, pie crust and filling smeared on his face and some in his hair. Behind him, was a face she'd made sure not to forget.

Gon pulled her up by the forearm and she finally found herself face-to-face with him. His blond hair, those white clothes he covered with his tribal blue, those gray, empty, clueless eyes that were... underneath, the same as hers. A peculiar mix of anger, duty, and nostalgia overcame her before she quickly shook it away. If she tried to act all friendly now, either he or Killua would notice she was acting. 

She had planned ahead for this, at least. Awkwardness was easier to fake than amiability because everyone expressed it differently. No one would question if she didn't look him in the eye, or acted differently.

Awkwardness, right.

Rein drew into herself, hunching her shoulders just a bit. "H-hey! I am umm... that is to say, I... uh..." She pursed her lips and stuck out a stiff arm. "Hello?" she squeaked. She cleared her throat. "I've heard some things about you from Gon! So... y-you're Kuri... Kira... Kura...um."

"Kurapika," he said firmly, and nodded in greeting before taking her hand.

The lack of chains almost surprised her.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance."

A fire was burning in her, and he was only fanning the flames. How could he be so polite now? So calm? So not covered in thick blood? "I-it's nice to meet you, Kurapika." Yeah, sure, real nice. It was just great. Fantastic.

She tried to strike up a conversation about the weather, but Killua soon came along and dragged Gon into another food fight. The Chain User followed them with no intention of joining in, just observing and laughing. Thankfully, it left Rein alone.