Itsy Bitsy Spider

57. Nen Ideas

After Lucky woke up and was deemed to be making a full recovery, Feitan was gone for three days. No one knew where he'd gone or why, and he didn't tell anyone about it when he came back.

A few were tempted to press him for information, but he locked himself in his room and wouldn't come out or respond until they left him alone. So the mystery of where Feitan had disappeared to was never solved.

During the time he was away, it was a miracle no one attacked the lodge they were staying in. In fact, they hadn't sensed any presence of a force around them at all. They occasionally took turns patrolling the area, but it seemed as if the entire attack had only been a dream. Even Lucky's blood, which had dripped out onto the forest floor, had been cleanly brushed over with leaves and dust.

"This is something else," Killua commented, leaning down to touch the dirt with his fingertip. "I don't think any normal person can tell that Lucky got his guts shot out right here."

Lucky squinted at a leaf, but it would take a luminol reaction to determine if the smear on it was blood or dirt. "Since I went through all that pain, I'd at least like someone to notice."

Rein looked through the gaps in the woods, looking for the flash of a rifle or traces of an ambush. "I just hope that group is really gone."

"It's concerning." Killua brought his hands behind his head and lay down on the grass. "An attack pulled back so suddenly has to have some other motive behind it. The whole operation was organized and carefully executed. There were lots of talented Nen users too, and you guys only managed to get away alive because of me."

"And me!"

"And Gon." Killua's eyes trailed clouds through cracks in the canopy. "Think about it. The enemy force was too perfectly parred with the members of your group. They knew where you were going and were waiting for you to pass by with a plan in mind to keep Feitan occupied, and a buttload of machine guns to keep it that way, because they knew that only one wouldn't be enough to hold him back. Isn't that weird?"

"Then they retreat for no reason," muttered Gon, a hand cupping his chin. "I guess that is weird." He sat down, and everyone followed. He asked Killua, "Do you think Kurapika has anything to do with it?"

"The reason they retreated was because two people they weren't prepared for came crashing in." He gave Gon a small, triumphant fist bump. "But the reason they aren't coming back despite the fact our forces just shrunk for three days has two options. Feitan could have gotten rid of them all in three days, but judging how he looks perfectly fine, I don't think so. So the retreat was probably, like you said, because of Kurapika."

"So," Gon gave a hopeful grin here, "He'll pull away from the organization?"

"Idiot," he drew out, sitting up to look at Gon like he was crazy. "With that kind of optimistic thinking, we wouldn't be here in the first place."

Lucky shivered when the wind ran through. He zipped his jacket up all the way, trying to huddle in its warmth. Today was the last day Machi said he would need to keep his bandages on, but because most of the injuries were on his thighs or torso, his normal denim jeans had been replaced with loose khakis, and he'd refrained from having a shirt entirely because it hurt to put it on. Since the bandages covered up most of his chest anyway, he'd figured it would be easier to go without a shirt. But now, outside in a thin jacket, he was having some regrets.