The Wilted Flower ⁀ 𝐤. 𝐳𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐲𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝔂 • 𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓶

✿ﾐ

After a couple of days, Gon was back on his feet and as good as new. He was extremely thankful to Hyacinth, but he apologized at least a thousand times. 

"I swear, I'm really really sorry for making you take care of me! I wasted your time when you should've been looking for your target! I shouldn't have made you worry and I'm really really sorry!"

"Gon, it's fine, really." Hyacinth sweatdropped.

"Really? But I-!"

"There's nothing to worry about, I promise."

After Hyacinth succeeded in convincing Gon it was okay, they parted ways and promised to see each other at the boat. Neither of them had anywhere in particular to go, so they wandered around the island, Gon hoping to survive, and Hyacinth hoping to find her target. 

Another day had gone by, and she only had two days left. She quickly cleaned herself up at a pond before continuing. She was currently on a deep forest path that she wasn't quite sure where it lead to. It was completely out of instinct.

She felt watched. Well, for the entire duration of the Fourth Phase she knew she was being watched by a guard or someone of the nature, but she knew someone else was watching her.

She abruptly stopped walking. She didn't know who was watching her, but she knew how many. She always knew when people were watching her. Always.

"Hey." She addressed her pursuers. "Who are you?"  A familiar figure seemed to emerge from the shadows behind her. "Oh, Killua."

"Yo!" he greeted. "You're sharp."

Hyacinth shrugged in response, and could tell that Kurapika didn't tell him. She turned to the direction Killua had come from. "Who are the other three?"

The silverette frowned and turned that way as well. "I'm not sure. They've been following me since I got here."

"Really? Three of them?"  She turned to the direction the trio was hiding in. "Do you think it's the brothers?"

"I couldn't tell."  He walked to her side, facing the same direction. "Hey! We both know you're there! Come out!"

At first, there was only silence, but eventually, they heard a faint rustling, and three figures emerged from the brush. All three were different heights and builds. "It is the brothers. . ."

"Heh! These kids got some nerve, ordering us around." said the middle one, number 198, Killua's target.

"I think we need to teach them a target, right, bro?" the smallest one said. Number 197, Hyacinth's target.

"Agreed. Hey, you two!"  The bigger one, number 199, spoke with confidence, but truthfully, he was frightened to know that they'd been following knew they were there all along, and the little girl figured out instantly. Seriously, who are they?! "Give us your tags, and maybe we'll let you off the hook!"

"Huh? As if, you geezer."  Killua stuck out his tongue, but then his expression turned slightly amused. "In fact, I was about to say the same thing to you!"

"Wha. . ? You little. . ."  Killua was met with a hard kick to the gut from the smallest one, which sent flying into a tree.

"Killu-" Hyacinth was cut short by an attack from the medium one, but she dodged it and lept backwards to where Killua rested. She could tell he wasn't hurt, but the other three didn't know that.

"How does that feel, you brat!?" one of the brothers said, cracking his knuckles. "Better give us your tag now, 'cuz  there's more where that came from."

Much to the trio's disbelief, Killua calmly stood up and smiled at them. He handed Hyacinth the tag he secretly grabbed from the smallest one. "Here."

"You grabbed it for me?" Hyacinth asked, her eyes widening in disbelief. Killua continued to smile. 

"Yep. Take it." Hyacinth returned a small, faint smile as he placed it in her hand. She let out a familiar sigh and handed Killua the item she hid in her pocket, tag number 198. After all, she did once pride herself in pick-pocketing doctors. Stealing his tag was a cinch.

"Eh?! You grabbed it?!" Killua blurted in disbelief. For a moment, you could see him smirk, but after a second his innocent smile returned. "You're better than I thought."

"It's nothing."  She had a stupid grin on her face, she was so proud of herself. It kind of felt relieving. She hasn't smiled like that in a long time. Then, a small wave of guilt washed over her. Kurapika would soon tell the others and her relationships would be lost, but she was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

"H- hey! Give me my tag back!" the little one whined. He patted down his pockets in astonishment. The middle brother did the same.

"How did you even grab them!?"

The oldest brother looked furious, and he started stomping towards the pair. "Hey, you wanna be kicked into a tree again?! You better give my bro's their tags back or-"  He abruptly stopped talking when Killua instantly appeared behind the youngest brother, his happened nails threatening to pierce the teen's neck. 

"I guess the tables have turned, haven't they?" Killua said, continuing to innocently smile. " I think you'd better hand Two your tag, old man, before your brother gets your head severed. These hands are sharper than knives."

The remaining brothers panicked at their dire situation, unsure of whether he was serious or not. The older brother took his tag out, hesitantly walking towards Hyacinth. "If you attack her, your brother is as good as dead," KIllua warned, continuing to smile. The brother scowled and placed his bag in her outstretched hand and backed away. Killua released the youngest brother and shoved him towards his siblings, who crowded their brother in fear.

"And don't follow us. Or next time, I'll give him more than a papercut."  Hyacinth and Killua walked away, leaving the brothers to fend for themselves. After a couple hundred meters, they started talking again. 

"Killua," Hyacinth whispered, grabbing the attention of the male. He hummed in response with a questioning look. "I remembered my name."

"Really? What is it?"

"Hyacinth."

Killua paused and contemplated it. He thought it was pretty. "I'll call you that from now on."

"Thank you."

"What are you gonna do now that you have the tags? You still have yours, right?" Killua asked.

"Of course I do."  Hyacinth pondered over the previous question for a moment. "I guess I'll just have to survive for the last few days, won't I?"

Killua was glad that she still had her tag, and she wasn't planning on going after more. "Right. We should split up, and then meet up at the beginning of this path on the last day."  Hyacinth nodded in agreement, and Killua held out a fist.

The brunette looked at him in confusion and gently pat his hand, not knowing what to do. Killua sighed and silently instructed her, forming her calloused hand into a fist and colliding it with his own. "Fistbump," he said, putting out his fist again. "Like a high-five."

Hyacinth complied and met his fist with her own. "Fistbump?"

bump"Mhmm, like that." Killua didn't know how she didn't know what a fistbump was, but he decided not to question it. The pair parted ways, and promised to meet each other on the last day.

✿ﾐ

Word Count: 1226