The Same Coin

But The Chain

"Flowers for the pretty miss?"

A man offered her a fragile glass rose that caught the rainbow lights of the street surrounding them. It cast shattered fragments of yellow, green and red across the vendor's face. Winry only held up a hand in polite decline and continued past him.

She had been in Glam Gas Land for two weeks, lying low and waiting for what would happen next. Chrollo had told her that they would come for the loot and she believed that — it had been an enormous display of trust for him to have let her leave with it. She had no intentions of letting him down.

Her boots made a satisfying thump with every step as she walked. She'd had to change her clothes to blend in better; everyone in Glam Gas Land lived on the precipice of eccentric, and many of Hisoka's nuances suddenly made sense. There were jesters and magicians, circus performers, fire eaters. She'd seen a woman walking naked with a hulking orange and black striped hunting cat the day after she arrived. Even the tourists dressed en vogue for the atmosphere, and Winry had reluctantly changed her attire to something better to blend in. She had kept her togi pants, but now wore a simple brown tank under a light brown hide bustier embellished with copper buttons. She had dark brown shoulder pads and a chest holster, along with a matching utility belt slung around her hips, and wrist guards. She'd split her hair into two buns on top of her head.

The food here was as unpredictable and eclectic as its people. There were delicacies to try that she'd never heard of before. Her favorite that she'd found thus far were hemotropic butterflies that had been cooked in scalding oil, and powdered with sugar. She carried some in the satchel hanging from her arm, along with something called balut. She was willing to try things, but had quickly learned she was better off not asking what things were.

She paused outside the door to the warehouse she had been staying in, glancing to her left, right, and above her. She reached out with En to inspect her surroundings, but found nothing. Only then did she lay her palm flat against the jamb and let her aura spill out. She had used her Hatsu to meld the metal of the frame to the metal of the door, sealing it while she was gone. She'd done the same to the other doors and windows of the warehouse to ensure the loot would be safe.

A hand touched her shoulder.

Winry spun on her heel, lashing out instinctively. Her initial blow was blocked by a forearm, but she wasn't caught off-guard by it. She was still turning, and slammed her elbow up into their face. They stumbled back a step and Winry followed with a step of her own, wrapping her arm around their neck and flipped them over her shoulder. Chrollo landed flat on his back with a grimace, blood streaking his face, but didn't make a sound.

"Boss!" she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in surprise.

"Winry-san."

Chrollo pushed himself to his feet, dusting his clothes off. He had changed his clothes, too. He wore a white button-up shirt with light pink pinstripes over a brown waistcoat, with plaid pants. There was a gold collar chain at his throat. His sleeves were rolled up to expose his forearms, with a bandage covering his spider tattoo. He'd worn his hair down with another bandage to cover the ink on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't expected—"

"Don't apologize, it was an appropriate reaction."

Winry felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment for striking him, and quickly pushed the door open so that they could duck inside. She sealed it again behind them before turning to face him.

Something was wrong with him.

She looked at him for a long moment, lips parted as she scanned him from head to toe once, twice, thrice, and still it evaded her. Chrollo wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand, the noticed her stare.

"I'm not using Ten," he said briefly, "or Zetsu."

"But—But your aura—"

"The Chain User placed a Judgment Chain in my heart. I cannot use Nen or communicate with any Troupe members, at the price of my life." Winry inhaled a sharp breath, stepping toward him. "I'm uninjured," he reassured her quickly. "The Chain User lacked the resolve to physically harm me, because the Troupe took two of their friends hostage. Calm yourself."

She hadn't even realized her hands were in fists. Winry forced her fingers to open.

"Sit down and eat. I'll tell you everything that happened in Yorknew City."

Chrollo talked while she ate, detailing their initial attack and the confusion that had followed, along with Uvogin's abduction. He told her about the Owl. He told her about the boys they had captured, and the tangled web that had led them to the Chain User.

"Nobunaga nominated one of them to replace Uvogin," Chrollo said as she ate her butterflies. "The boy was an Enhancer, like Uvogin, and strong for his age. But the boy had no interest." A pause. "Machi nominated you to become Number 11 instead."

Winry choked on her food. She took a sip of water and cleared her throat. "Machi?"

"Yes. I'm inclined to agree with her. Shalnark and Phinks also supported the nomination. And Hisoka, of course. I'm not certain his voice matters though, since he left the Troupe."

He left?

Chrollo read the question on her face, and nodded. "Hisoka was on the airship when the Chain User place the Judgment Chain on me. He declared he was no longer a member and challenged me to fight. But the chain was already in place, and without any Nen, he lost interest."

The laughter that bubbled out of Winry was borderline hysterical. Her head fell back and the sound echoed off the rafters and pipes.

"Two years," she choked out, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "For two years his only goal was to fight you. And when he finally finds the opening, you have no Nen!"

"There is a certain irony to it," Chrollo agreed, at last smiling. "But that has left two places in the Troupe to fill — once I can communicate with them again."

"So you have a plan to remove the Judgement Chain?"

"The Nostrade girl predicted I would find help to the East. I've acquired a copy of the game Greed Island, and Hisoka has agreed to go into the game to find a Nen exorcist to remove it."

"Of course." She rolled her eyes. "I question whether he lives a single moment that isn't entirely self-serving."

And, looking back, she felt it was the truth. She had known him for years now, had lived alongside him, but she doubted any moment that had transpired between them had been for her ultimate benefit and not his own. They were not friends, she didn't think. Hisoka couldn't be capable of friendship. The Troupe, however, she had seen their camaraderie and closeness. How Hisoka had ever fallen into their ranks?

"His self-interest is to my benefit now and I intend to exploit it to its fullest."

"He'll want to fight you again afterward."

"He will," Chrollo agreed with a nod. "But he will be so primed to fight me by that point that he will agree to whatever terms I lay in place. It will not be advantageous for him."