Itsy Bitsy Spider

39. Heart to Heart

The examiner revealed their next phase would be taking place in a forest about four hours' worth flight from the burning hotel, and that was all the information they got before they were ushered into a private airship.

The five entered the ship together, chatting about nothing and everything almost like old friends and breaking their formation only when they had a door to go through. Occasionally Zushi lingered and meandered down various hallways in wonder, but not for long before someone pulled him along.

They flowed into the break room, and got down to their own needs—Rein grabbed a box of slightly stale crackers, Zepile grabbed a few books off of the shelves, Zushi bought a box of orange juice from the vending machine, Killua grabbed a nearby yo-yo and started to perform jaw-dropping spins and twirls, and Lucky snatched a few pillows, blankets, and bean bags before wandering off in search of coffee—before claiming a corner and settling down to relax. Rein even offered Killua and Lucky two new shirts she'd acquired, and they'd happily changed.

It was nice, sitting there and slouching amidst pillows and carpet, shoving your feet into someone's face while they shoved you away, drinking whatever drink you had and warming your middle with soft beanbags.

Lucky left a few minutes later with an excuse of searching for the bathroom, and with a small breath, Killua stood right after. "Guess it's time for us to talk now. You wanted to know, right?" he asked Rein.

It was finally time to get answers she wanted. She nodded, taking more bites of semi-stale cracker.

"You two are leaving as well?" Zushi asked, taking a sip from his orange juice, eyeing them.

"Yeah." When Rein made no effort to move, Killua grasped her upper arm and dragged her off, but not before Rein grabbed the entire cracker box and waved back at the remaining two as she was hauled through the break room doors.

"Well then," Zepile said as the doors swung shut. He looked down at Zushi, and their hazel eyes met. In such a short amount of time, they'd been abandoned. The space seemed bare without people occupying it. "I guess... You want to go to the outside deck or something?"

His eyes shone, sparkling at the prospect of seeing even more of the airship. "Osu!"

* * *

Killua was strangely quiet as they stood in the empty corridor. Shadows whizzed by as chopper blades on the side of the ship, but in the darkness, everything seemed still. "There are things I want to know too. Can we ask questions in turn, like before? I feel that'd be easier for the both of us."

"As long as I get to go first," she stated, and he chuckled dryly at her to go right ahead. She cleared her throat, but her mind was blank. "What's he doing now? The Chain, I mean, Kurapika."

He shrugged. "Who knows? I've been in Greed Island this entire time, and reception doesn't work there with the outside world. As soon as I left I tried contacting him, but he isn't responding. It's been the same way with Leorio too. He's probably in the underworld trying to get the eyes of his clan back, though, since that's what he mentioned before."

A shiver ran up her spine, and she attempted to cover it up. Eyes, of his clan. "What do you mean?"

"It's my turn for a question now. You get to ask later." Killua gnawed at the inside of his cheek, pondering over what to say and hesitant. "Do you... What do you think of the Phantom Troupe now that you know what really happened?"

"Oh." She still liked them, didn't she? But now that he mentioned it, she'd noticed the thin membrane of hesitance she'd built up around them. They hadn't changed, and she hadn't changed, but the circumstances had. The Spiders had all done what society deemed as bad, and even before, she had been all right with that. Now, thinking about the idea of what they'd done felt personal, private. She thought of them as family, but what about her former one, the one with the Chain User and the others she didn't remember? She would have loved them, surely, if her demeanor now was anything to go off of. The what-ifs, the maybes, the potential friends, parents, cousins, siblings—Rein had always wanted siblings, a brother or a sister her age in a group where everyone had been older than her and didn't have time for fun, meaningless things.