Chapter Text
Starting a story is always the hardest part, Pairo always told others. It’s easy to create a middle after the ball is rolling, and if the ending comes as a surprise, then that’s all the better. It was sitting down and thinking that wasn’t Pairo’s strong suit. Not that he wasn’t intelligent or clever, oh no, not too many people would get that impression after meeting the slim, brown haired Kurta.
He was witty, and unafraid to speak his opinion. Years of growing up with a cousin who was as exciting as burnt toast had turned Pairo into what he was now. A charming young man who was considered the more livelier version of Kurapika, if not just as pretty.
Where Kurapika was book smart, Pairo was street smart.
Where Kurapika faultured in conversation, Pairo managed to pick it up and continue without a single hesitation.
They were quite a duo, these Kurta’s. They were smart, articulate, and attractive, and unfortunately the only two left after a great tragedy had happened to their family. Apparently somewhere in the world there was a third Kurta, although no one could really confirm such a thing. Kurapika and Pairo, however, were the kind of boys who would amount to great things if ever given the opportunity.
Or at least, that’s what Leorio kept telling Pietro about them.
Not many know of Pietro, probably because he had lived most of his life bedridden in foreign hospitals as he hung onto Leorio’s coattails. If he had to describe himself, he would say that he was earnest and stubborn, despite having reddy brown locks that curled loosely, making him appear more boyish than rugged. That, and without a doubt Leorio was his closest friend, a brother even.
There was something sad about having to stay behind as his best friend ventured the world without him.
It was about a few months after Leorio had left home to enter the Hunter Exam when Pietro had gotten a call from Leorio that went into strict detail about the entire exam, not that Pietro had asked. They texted daily, but calling had been more sporadic than preferred. Being a good sport, how ironic, Pietro had listened to the man rave about a certain blond he had met during the hunter exam, how tactful and graceful the Kurta had been when it came to fighting and how quick he was when it came to anything bookish.
“You had to see it! If you thought I was good and fighting, this guys better. But I can’t tell him that, he’d never let me live it down.” Leorio had said excitedly, planning to brag fully about the new hunter license he had obtained, which he did, before going into the whole September first drama.
“I never thought you fought well,” Pietro replied in good humor as he listened attentively to Leorio’s stories from an ocean away, relieved his best friend had made it out alive, and with a new identity apparently, only to be horrified as the conversation continued. The hell that had happened in Yorknew was not something that gave Pietro comfort, especially seeing how the news of the attack had made it as far as to Padokia.
“You’re telling me you were in the car with the leader of a group of phantom killers?” Pietro splutters, practically leaping up from his bed,his blood pressure rising quickly.
“It’s alright, Kurapika handled it! But Gon and Killua almost died, it was honestly a wild trip,” Leorio doesn’t mince his words, playing it off as nothing, “If you thought that was bad, just wait until I tell you what was happening in NGL. There were these giant ants, and they had Nen-”
When Leorio had finished explaining about the Zodiacs, Gon’s transformation, Killua finding his sister, and the whole Chairman Election, Pietro was both thrilled by Leorio’s influence and disgusted by his stupidity.
“And then I accidentally mentioned something about jacking off on live tv, but at least Gon was ok!” Leorio chuckles to himself.
Coughing into his hand, Pietro holds the phone close to his ear, “Leorio, do me a favor.”
“Ah, sure, what is it?”
“Can you stay exactly where you are so I can come over there and kick your ass, you embarrassing bastard! What the hell is wrong with you!”
God, distance was a funny thing.
With each new story, Pietro realized that he was closer to being part of the past for Leorio, rather than someone in the present. It saddened him that his best friend was moving on, but he figured at some point it was bound to happen.
Leorio and Pietro had been attached at the hip for years ever since they were children. Everyone in this new age Spain had known of the happy go lucky duo. Pietro was the broad shouldered boy with bright hair, while Leorio stood out with hair a colour closer to espresso. They were rowdy but lively, like young boys are. They had only gotten closer after the doctors had revealed to Pietro’s family, which by extension included Leorio and his family, that Pietro might not make it to his next birthday without a life saving surgery.
Being poor and too young to work legally had caused Leorio to have more anxiety in that year than ever before. Only after months of working late nights and being paid under the table, doing things that Leorio would never reveal to Pietro or his family, had the boy showed a jar full of jennies, enough to pay for the surgery.
There wasn’t a single day that Pietro didn’t thank Leorio for his efforts.
“Don’t worry about it, we’re brothers, alright?” Leorio would tell Pietro time and time again, never expecting to be repaid.
Despite Leorio’s good intentions, Pietro wasn’t someone who could accept such charity without giving something in return. Through their teenage years Pietro always found himself falling ill, something to do with having weak white blood cells, leaving him prone to illness often, where something as simple as a cold could turn monstrous overnight. Leorio made it clear at nineteen that he would do all he could to make sure Pietro was never at risk of dying again. That was the reason for Leorio taking part in something as dangerous as the hunter exam.
When Leorio left, Pietro wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He had heard only horror stories about the hunter exam, and although he was confident in Leorio's ability to get out of tricky situations, he knew Leorio wanted to be a healer, not a fighter.
When Leorio got the chance, he would send messages to Pietro's old, rusty nokia cell phone that barely got connection from his spot in the hospital. It didn’t help that calls and texts from different provinces had racked up pietro’s expenses, including the cost of his hospital room, Pietro was sure that he’d bring his debt to his grave.
And then one day, that very same debt Pietro had been hoarding had disappeared into thin air, paid off quietly and in one shot.
The very same day a letter had appeared in the hospital with a private plane ticket, to Yorknew’s most prestigious hospital.
Once again, it seemed that Pietro owed even more than his life to Leorio.
He cried that day, feeling relieved that he hadn’t been forgotten.
Never having been on a plane before, flying was terrifying, but being able to see Leorio again had been enough to force Pietro to close his eyes and bare with the trip.
“There he is!” A loud voice boomed in the airport as a medical team stood on standby, waiting to take their newest patient to the best hospital in the world (claimed Leorio).
Pietro wasn’t aware he was going to be greeted by a group of young faces who were beaming up at him, for the most part, as he exited the plane on a wheelchair. Based on Leorio’s descriptions of them, he could tell who they were right away.
Grinning brightly with hair almost as sharp as Leorio’s was a boy who must have been Gon, waving excitedly as he fidgeted in his spot, eager to talk to this new stranger. Beside him was a slim boy with white hair: Killua. And beside the boy was who Leorio had described to him as Killua’s sister, although they didn’t quite look alike. Alluka was just as sweet as Leorio had said she would be. Alluka smiled at Pietro, and he found a smile falling onto his lips as well. On Leorio’s other side were two men, one blond, the other brunette. The infamous Kurta cousins.
Kurapika regarded Pietro with a quick nod as he turned away, speaking quietly into his cellphone. Fortunately, Kurapika’s younger cousin Pairo gave a charming hello as Pietro was rolled over to the group, a little overwhelmed by the sea of faces. Pietro was thinner then he was in his youth, but nothing like how he was when he was first hospitalized.
Hands grabbed onto Pietro, and Leorio was on his knees, clinging to the twenty two year old, a stupid grin on his face. “Welcome to Yorknew, Pietro,” Leorio chokes back his tears, too thrilled to let them show. “We have so much to catch up on. I don’t even know where to start!”
“The beginning of the story is always the hardest,” Pairo chimes as the group heads towards the exit, “but middles are easier. Once you get started you won’t have to worry about running out of steam. Actually, it’ll be the opposite!”
With a curious smile on his face, Pietro had to wonder just what kind of story he had been given a front seat ticket too. Hopefully, it was something that wasn’t too crazy, but after hearing about this group of misfits, Pietro was only sure of one thing.
With Leorio around, nothing was ever boring.