Chapter Text
Chapter tags: language, mention of wounds
Chapter 1 - The Fool
“I really wish you would just explain yourself.” Kurapika hissed over their shoulder at the gruff man beside them. After two days of bussing and walking for hours after the last bus stop, Kurapika wanted to know why they were in the fringes of New York City, walking along a stretch of highway.
Izunavi barely seemed phased by Kurapika’s harsh tone and spared the younger blonde a small sigh. “Something you need is here. That is all I can tell you. Have faith and just trust my word, as your—”
“Really? That’s all? After setting up that abandoned building with traps to catch a demon? That’s all you’re going to tell me?” Kurapika impatiently spun around to face Izunavi, clearly not listening to the older man’s lecture.
Izunavi, for lack of better terms, their teacher because Kurapika flat out refused to call the man their Guardian Angel. What kind of protective ethereal being only saves one person and allows their family to perish?
“I can not tell you more. Somethings’ you—“ Izunavi stopped abruptly when Kurapika spun back around with a low growl and more or less stomped out their pent up agitation as they continued on, “It’s a person.”
They stopped. As Izunavi knew that Kurapika would, their hearing had always been painfully selective. “A person?” Kurapika asked, somewhat suspicious of the angel, but mostly in disbelief. Why would they need any one, Kurapika had managed just fine on their own for the past seven years.
Izunavi nodded toward the street. Just in time for a car’s horn to honk and catch Kurapika’s attention. When they looked back to their teacher, he was gone. Kurapika looked back at the beaten up grey four door car that had pulled over. They stared as the man that exited the vehicle and leaned against the hood. “You’re joking.” They huffed, head craned just enough to glare up at the bright blue sky.
As for the strange man he approached Kurapika with a quick excited stride. “It really is you, holy shit.” He sounded breathless looking down at Kurapika from behind his now clear wire framed glasses, “C’mon, don’t tell me that you don’t remember me.”
Kurapika turned their attention back to the man, who they’d last seen on the cusp of the invader’s eighteenth birthday. “Leorio. How in the world would I forget you?” Kurapika asked as they crossed their arms.
“I mean,” Leorio shrugged with a nervous laugh, “it’s been a while. Figured you’d forget all about me.”
“Well, I haven’t.” Kurapika deadpanned back. “Actually traveling without you has been easier, been a lot quieter as well.”
“You also haven’t forgiven me, for leaving.” Leorio nodded and moved to scratch the back of his head, “Listen, if you have time,” Leorio pointed over his shoulder, “you wanna just come to my place for a bit? You look like you could use a shower and maybe a home cooked meal.” He looked just as shocked as Kurapika, did by the quick and sudden offer. After seven years and not one word passed between the two of them, it seemed far too personal of an invitation.
Kurapika clicked their tongue and prepared to step away from Leorio. “Thanks, but—“ They stopped, stumbling as they tried to walk. Kurapika looked back at Leorio, the world spinning and tilting, around the man’s solid form. He stood motionless, but Kurapika’s vision swam.Kurapika tried to speak, but they couldn’t get their mouth to even open, let alone form any words.
“I apologize.” Izunavi’s voice echoed in their mind as Kurapika fell against Leorio, who had moved to catch them. As Kurapika’s vision faded, they heard one final message from their spectral guardian. “This was necessary.”
Kurapika felt Leorio hold them close. Kurapika wanted to fight back, but their arms were limp and they couldn’t open their eyes. No sound would come from their mouth. Soon enough they slipped under and into a deep sleep.
When Kurapika next opened their eyes, they blinked at the heavily popcorned ceiling. For a few minutes Kurapika just laid on their back and slowly breathed, while they counted the cob webs trapped against the smoke stained textured ceiling above them. “Where the hell am I?” Kurapika huffed as they finally sat up.
Their boots had been taken off and Kurapika was on a long full sized cot like bed. It took a moment, but Kurapika realized this had to be Leorio’s room. A few anatomy based posters decorated and surrounded the wall beside his book covered desk. The shelf nearby was filled mostly with books, one of the spaces had a few knickknacks, trinkets, and framed photos. Kurapika stood slowly, and tried to stay as quiet as possible. Outside the room, Kurapika could hear Leorio just down the hallway as he softly sang to himself. Unable to fight back their curiosity, Kurapika peeked at the shelf full of bits and bobbles. A small part of their heart immediately ached. Leorio had his own life now, one that was free of monsters and demons.
A rubber duck, a few garishly cheap plastic bits of jewelry, and horribly trashy stickers from some of the many pit stops they had made after they ran away from the orphanage they’d both been raised in together. A photograph of Leorio with another brown haired man on the front steps of a building, both happily pointed up at the large engraved name of their medical school. There was an old crucifix and Leorio’s cross necklace he had always worn.
“You’re up.” Leorio’s voice was calm and suddenly beside Kurapika, “Being a bit nosy? That’s rude ya know.”
Kurapika made a soft sound as they opened their mouth and looked between Leorio and the shelf. “I,” They huffed, “I just wanted to see what was up here.” Stubbornly they turned their back to the shelf and faced Leorio.
“I’m only teasing you. I don’t care.” Leorio smiled and leaned against the door, “I’ve got food almost ready. You wanna take a shower and borrow some clothes? I can take your laundry and wash it before you leave.”
Kurapika felt like they should turn him down and bolt, but the temptation of a nice hot shower and clean clothes had crumbled their resolve. So they nodded, “please that sounds great.”
Leorio seemed relieved that Kurapika had agreed to the shower and easily, he found a pair of boxers, a T-shirt, and then some sweatpants that’d loosely fit Kurapika.
As Leorio handed off the clothing he waved for Kurapika to follow, “here’s the bathroom. Heads up, the shower takes a second. So definitely give it a minute before you hop in, I definitely learned that the hard way once or twice.” He laughed and Kurapika felt their lips quirk up into a soft grin, for just a moment, “ I’ll wait here if you wanna pass your clothes out to me.”
“Thank you, Leorio.” Kurapika gave as they stepped in, “what about a towel?”
“Grey one on the hook is mine.” He offered and quickly pointed behind Kurapika.
Kurapika closed the door and began to strip free of their clothing. First was the worn leather jacket, then the black hoodie they wore underneath. A band t-shirt that Leorio was sure to recognize that formerly belonged to him, only now far more thread bare and full of small rips and tears. Then Kurapika tugged off their thick socks and stepped out of their jeans and underwear. Kurapika nabbed Leorio’s towel from the hook and quickly covered themself before they cracked the door open and held out the pile of clothes. “Thank you again, Leorio.”
“It’s no problem.” Leorio replied as he took the clothes and Kurapika closed the door. As they waited for the water to gradually heat up, as Leorio had advised, Kurapika removed their earring and left it on the counter beside the sink. Kurapika turned to the shower and dropped the towel as they reached in to test the water before they finally stepped in themself. A few fresher wounds stung with pain as Kurapika ran their hands over their body, they examined them before deeming them ‘okay’.
Kurapika snorted when they saw the bottle of body wash that they knew Leorio used since they were teens. “He never changes.” They chuckled to themself as they lathered the strongly scented soap and finally felt clean as they suds were rinsed away. Kurapika repeated the same action for their hair, not bothered to try and figure out which set of Shampoo and conditioner belonged to a Leorio and just resorted to scrubbing their hair with the body wash. They weren’t picky or concerned about the state of their locks.
For a while they stood under the shower, just enjoying the calm that came with being clean, warm, and feeling for the first time in a long while, safe. However, the water soon started to turn cold. Kurapika stepped out and quickly dried themself off and redressed in Leorio’s clothes. They replaced the towel and stepped out into the hallway. “Hey, looks like everything went okay.” Leorio smiled as Kurapika rounded the corner and looked around the rest of the apartment. “Here. Some coffee.”
“How long was I out?” Kurapika asked as they accepted the cup, and waved off Leorio’s offer for the cream and sugar. They hopped up onto a bare part of the counter and Leorio leaned against the wall opposite them.
“Just a few hours.” Leorio shrugged, “You honestly look like you could use a lil bit more sleep, but I’m gonna guess--”
They both spoke at the same time,
“You don’t have time for that.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
Both of them stared at each other, Kurapika seemed a bit flustered at how easy they were to read. While Leorio looked rather smug. From the other end of the room, the dryer buzzed loudly. “Your clothes are done.” Leorio proudly announced as he shoved back free of the wall and walked towards the stacked washer and dryer in the corner beside the fridge. “Also thanks for taking such good care of my Skid Row shirt.”
“It has served me rather well.” Kurapika laughed as Leorio pulled the pile of clothes out. “Did you do all my clothes?”
“I grabbed the rest from your bag while you were in the shower.” Leorio nodded. “It’d be kind of pointless to just do one set, right?”
“I supposed, thank you.” Kurapika made their way over and shoved Leorio back to grab and fold their clothing, “Why are you…” They paused and tried to think of what it was exactly they wanted to ask, “Why are you being so, formal?” Leorio looked at them clearly confused, “Like you’re acting like you don’t know me.”
“It’s been seven years, Kurapika. I kind of don’t know you. Listen, I’m gonna get food served up. If you wanna change, go for it, but don’t feel like you need to rush out.” Leorio added. “It’s been a while, I’d like to catch up?”
Kurapika glanced over to Leorio and nodded. They really couldn’t stay and knew that. With their clothes gathered and folded, Kurapika headed back towards the bathroom and changed into their earlier outfit. Once they were done, they returned to Leorio’s room and stored away their extra clothes into their grey duffel bag and tossed their coat on top of the bag, rather than wear it while still inside.
Kurapika paused at the bedroom door and listened. As they were redressing the front door had opened, there were a few heavy footsteps before, “Leorio! I’m ho--Who’s shoes are these?” A new voice caught Kurapika’s attention as they began to walk back. Immediately Kurapika recognized the man, he was in the photo in Leorio’s room. A chill ran up Kurapika’s spine, instinct alone told them something wasn’t right with him, “Uh, you are?”
“I’m Kurapika.” Kurapika introduced themself and held out a hand.
“Ah.” The man didn’t offer such formality and kept his own hands sheathed in his pockets. “So you’re Kurapika.”
“Hey, Pietro,” Leorio began to cautiously step between the both of them, “Kurapika is an old friend of mine, you know that. I’ve told you that.”
Kurapika looked between the two men, who were both stared intently at one another. As if they were still arguing with looks alone. “Well, Pietro, it’s nice to meet you. Leorio mentioned you, God ,” Kurapika exhaled, “a number of times as well, you’ve been a blessing to him.”
“What are you here for?” Pietro snapped his eyes darkened with something akin to seething with rage, he glared down his nose at Kurapika.
“I,” Kurapika readjusted themself and stood a little straighter, they kept their own topaz colored eyes locked with Pietro’s deep amber colored eyes, “I fainted on the street while Leorio was talking to me. He was kind enough to bring me here to keep me safe.”
“So he’s saving your ass again.” Pietor scoffed, “I thought we agreed you’d drop this loser on their ass the next time you saw them?” He sneered at Leorio.
Kurapika was taken aback by Pietro’s harsh words and gave Leorio an anxious and bewildered look. “Leorio?”
“Okay yeah, when I first got back and got tanked, I said some dumb shit.” Leorio admitted. “Pietro what the hell has gotten into you?” He reached out and squeezed Pietro’s shoulder, the gesture looked firm and reassuring to Kurapika.
Pietro however recoiled and swatted Leorio’s hand away. “Do what you want. I’m gonna go lay down. I’m exhausted.”
Leorio and Kurapika watched as Pietro marched down the hallway and into his own room. Loudly the door slammed shut behind him. Kurapika slowly turned to face Leorio once more, their own arms crossed over their chest. As if it could protect Kurapika from the hurt that Pietro’s words had caused. “So, how do you know him exactly?” They asked.
“He was a friend of mine from the orphanage. Pietro, he was there before you were admitted.” Leorio began and gestured for them to return to the kitchen, “When we were kids he was sick, real sick. He needed to goto the hospital and just, they’d never tell me if or when he was coming back so eventually I just stopped asking the nun’s when he’d be coming back.” Leorio plopped back into one of the two dining chairs. Kurapika followed suit into the other open chair, “Besides, then you showed up and I had someone else to annoy.”
Kurapika felt their lips twitch, but they were still weary of Leorio. Just how did their former friend really feel about them after all these years? “I see.” Kurapika nodded, “I know you just went through all the trouble of preparing a meal, but I do not think I am welcomed here any longer.” Kurapika explained, “I should get going.”
“Are you sure?” Leorio asked, he looked hurt that they were already leaving, but when Kurapika nodded, he didn’t press them.
“I am. It was good to see you.” Kurapika smiled.
“Oh, yeah wait I wanted to ask you, what are you doing here?” Leorio asked suddenly and rather abruptly.
Kurapika blinked at him and tilted their head. “I- you brought me here?” They pointed out half concerned. Did he really forget how Kurapika had gotten into his apartment.
“No. Smartass,” Leorio chuckled, “What are you doing in New York?”
“Oh,” Kurapika felt their own face flush, “You really ought to be more specific.” They chided, “I’m here because of Izunavi, he said that someone I would need was here, but as always. He’s cryptic and only gave me the bare minimum.”
Leoiro snorted. “Well he did help you and I out a lot when we first started hunting…” There’s a moment and then it dawns on Leorio, “Wait. He knows that I’m not one of you, a hunter? You told him that it can’t be me?”
“If I could steer God’s plan don’t you think I would?” Kurapika clicked their tongue and grabbed a napkin from the center of the table, and slowly began to rip the cheery yellow tissue paper into long thin strips, “I don’t even know if it is you. I just know what he told me. Someone that I would need more than ever would be in this city. That somebody probably leads to a case.”
Leorio watched them as he considered what exactly their situation could mean. “I see...Listen, Kurapika.” They looked up to Leorio and met his eyes, “What Pietro said earlier, I-”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not insulted, shocked that you harbord such distaste for me, but I can understand.” They smiled at Leorio and stood. “I really ought to be going. Thank you for all your hospitality.” Kurapika bowed slightly before they headed back to Leorio’s room. They tugged on the leather coat and situated their hood over the leather collar, before they grabbed the duffle bag and tossed it over their shoulder.
Leorio watched silently as they pulled on their boots. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but Kurapika wasn’t going to pry. “So this is it?”
“For now, I suppose maybe I’ll see you in another seven years?” Kurapika teased, “Only hopefully next time, no fainting on my part.”
Leorio offered a weak laugh and opened his arms, “Humor me? We didn’t say goodbye on the best of terms and I have to admit, I…” He paused, his throat looked tight and eyes glassy, “I was really worried about you, Kurapika.”
Kurapika took a small breath and stepped closer, they allowed Leorio’s arms to wrap around them once again. This time, they could take in how much taller Leorio had gotten since they parted. How much stronger he felt.
A comfort they hadn’t allowed themself to feel in a long while. They shrugged him away quickly, “Thank you again, for everything.”
“Anytime, if you’re ever in the area. Please stop by.” Leorio nodded, looking rather teary eyed.
Kurapika turned their back and heard Leorio close the door behind them. Getting back out onto the street was easy enough. However now they needed to get their bearings in the new part of the city.
They weren’t far from Leorio and Pietro’s shared apartment. Maybe a few blocks when they realized that, unfortunately, Kurapika didn’t know how to get back to the 440, that would lead them towards the bus stop. As they walked, hands shoved into their own pockets.
Kurapika couldn’t place the feeling that was coiled tightly in their gut. Something between longing and wanting to turn back and stay with Leorio a little longer, Pietro be damned. Or the annoyance they felt with Izunavi. This was pointless. Kurapika had lasted on their own for seven years. They didn’t need help, they didn’t need anyone else.
A moment later they looked up and realized that they had really managed to get lost in the massive concrete jungle. “Dammit.” Kurapika clicked their tongue. Well that’s just great. They’re, well, God knows where and a demon is on their tail.
“Need some help Dollface ?” An almost painfully smug voice offered. Kurapika took a moment before they could place who the voice belonged to.
“Funny, after your outburst in the apartment,” Kurapika stopped and turned back to face Pietro, who stood in the alley way, “I would have assumed you would rather me lost and dead in a ditch.”
Kurapika watched him with suspicion. A part of them had wished that they had acted sooner, but they wanted to spare Leorio seeing Pietro like this, that is if the real Pietro was still even alive.
“Tsk. A guy can’t change his mind?” Pietro strolled up to them and nodded his head towards an alleyway. “C’mon, wouldn’t want the innocent people of New York to see this would you?”
Kurapika was about to speak when they heard their name being shouted distantly, it was Leorio? They glanced back the way Leorio’s call had come from. He was running towards them. “You left your earring!” In his hand, Leorio jiggled the silver chain and the red gem glinted in the afternoon sun.
“Dammit! That stupid fucker.” Pietro hissed. “Sorry, guess i'm gonna mess up that pretty face of yours.”
Kurapika tried to turn back and stop the attack, but Pietro was faster. He threw them into the alley by their shirt collar and smashed their head against the brick of the nearest building. Kurapika stumbled, they tried to stay on their feet, however they couldn’t make sense of any direction. Pietro kicked their legs out from underneath them and put a hand around their neck as Leorio jogged around the corner.
“P-Pietro?” Leorio stammered.
Kurapika tried to fight back, and warn Leorio to run.
Pietro laughed and looked up from Kurapika to Leorio, the entirety of his eyes taken over by a grotesque inky black. “Yeah, sorry.” Pietro’s voice took on an eerie and demonic edge as he smiled like the devil, far too wide and with far too many sharp jagged teeth, “Not quite."