The Same Coin

Slithered

Earlier, at the hideout...

"Our only target right now is the Chain User, so we can pretty much ignore everybody else," Shalnark said pointedly, the tone of his voice leaving little room for argument.

Phinks frowned and looked away, and the brat dressed in green stuck out his tongue in childish retort.

"Not just yet," Nobunaga retorted, and every pair of eyes in the room turned to where he sat on the floor, the shadows of the building settling into the hollows beneath his eyes and under his cheekbones. "I'm not letting the kid go. You want to join the Spiders? Team up with me."

"No. I would rather die than team up with you guys!' the kid snapped.

"We're keeping them here until the Boss gets back," Nobunaga said. "I'm nominating him."

"Are you serious?" Phinks spat out. His features betraying his shock — eyes widening, jaw slack, shoulders tense.

"The Boss will never agree to that," Feitan added.

"I have a nomination of my own," Machi countered, taking a deliberate step forward to claim her space and take the floor. "I nominate Winry."

"Are you serious?" Nobunaga demanded, turning. "The mechanic? You nominate the mechanic?"

Machi crossed her arms over her chest. "You saw her use her Nen ability."

"Did he?" Hisoka drawled. Silence settled over them, and Phinks felt his skin crawl as the magician slithered from his place by the window, then lithely slid a hand over his hair. Hisoka's lips parted into a wide smile. "So what did you think?"

"He's just jealous he hasn't gotten to see her in action," Machi said, and Phinks seized on it — if only to aggravate Hisoka.

"You haven't gotten to see your own protege at work? That's a shame, she was great."

"I have seen enough." Hisoka's neck curved as his head tilted back, touching his fingertips to the hollow of his throat. "She has no scruples when it comes to blood. I made sure of that."

His expression was a little too privately smug for Phinks' tastes, and Phinks was pleased when Shalnark added his voice to the conversation.

"She doesn't," Hisoka's amber eyes darted to the other man, widening so slightly. Phinks wondered how Winry had become labeled as his protege when he hadn't seen her Nen ability. Shalnark continued, his tone upbeat and excited at the prospect, "I also support Winry."

"We're keeping the kids here until the Boss gets back," Nobunaga said again, refusing to relent.

"Fine, whatever, but you've got to babysit 'em," Machi warned.

The Boss won't pick some kid over the mechanic, Phinks thought to himself. Had the Boss lived a different life, he would've been a fantastic politician — scheming yet tactful. The Troupe was all well-aware of the tension between Chrollo and their newest member, Hisoka. To take Hisoka's protege away from him would be a devastating blow, and might guarantee Winry's necessary loyalty for when the tension between Chrollo and Hisoka inevitably reached its breaking point. She needed to back the right horse.