The Dancer & The Magician (Hisoka Romance)

Chapter 7: Plan B

After escaping from the underground and the troupe, I climb up to the top of the building where the other guards are keeping watch. There's a short, stocky, balding woman with buck teeth and a scrawny boy with blonde hair and honey eyes. Melody and Kurapika.

"I can't hear clearly, but it sounds like some commotion's taken place," Melody, one of Nostrade's guards says while cupping her ear.

"Something bad must've happened," Kurapika responds looking through his binoculars.

"It did," I say 10 feet away. Startled by my presence they immediately fire up their nen.

"Who are you?" Kurapika demands.

"Your Plan B. My name's Oby. I've been hired by the Nostrade family. You can confirm with Dalzollene."

After they call in, I tell them what happened. The Phantom Troupe's ambush. The missing treasure.

Kurapika reaches the phone out to me. "He wants to talk to you."

I take it. "What's up?"

"Your new mission is to track down the troupe's hideout. See if we can cut them off at the pass," Dalzollene states.

"A little late for that, don't you think?" I say.

"Cut the sass. We've had spies out for weeks now in the mafia, the police force, streetwalkers, trying to find the troupe. No luck. Our sources just saw them get away in a hot air balloon so we don't have much time," he explains.

I sigh, wondering how I'm supposed to find an untraceable crew, especially with the police on their way about to damage any potential evidence. The troupe's getaway won't take more than an hour and that's if the mafia can find a way to delay them for that long. I'm curious what the second half of the troupe is doing. Likely protecting Chrollo. It makes sense that he'd always have guards around him. Handling the dirty work doesn't seem like his style.

Unfortunately I don't think Hisoka's gonna get his chance to fight the boss anytime soon. But maybe it's for the best. I would like to meet the man behind the legend. All the thievery and murder mixed in with philanthropy of all things has me curious....and of course my favorite magician. I wonder if he'll remember me. Either way I'll make sure not to disappoint. First, let's see how well connected Nostrade is. "Do you have the Chief of Police's number?" I ask Dalzollene.

*

Ten minutes later Kurapika, Melody, and I are down in the building where the auction was held. I asked that the police wait 20 minutes before coming in so we can look for clues.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Kurapika asks.

I expect to see the remnants of the bloodbath, but instead find a spotless floor. Shizuku conjured a vacuum earlier as her weapon, so she likely cleaned up behind the troupe. Shit. My plan was to look for footprints and examine their soil compositions, even a partial could work. However, Feitan, Shizuku, and I all fought in mid-air. That means we likely landed against the wall at some point to gain momentum for our jumps. There might be left over residue on the walls. And since they left fairly quickly, Shizuku probably focused on cleaning this level of the building since this is where most of the evidence was...so there might be a print downstairs by the vault. But we should check everywhere.

"We're looking for footprints. Keep an eye out for any dirt, debris, or odor if you find one. Melody, check downstairs by the vault. Kurapika look at the walls in the great room where the auction was held. I'll stick around the entrance and see if I find anything."

I look around and only see a golden map of Yorknew City splayed against a wall as a centerpiece. A few minutes later Melody comes up to get us. "I think I found one."