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Chapter Text

Kurapika probably should have expected to end up in this kind of situation tonight. He knew that in his quest to track down the Scarlet Eyes he was bound to run into members of the Phantom Troupe. He doesn’t regret trying to bring Uvogin in, he was on a rampage, and they needed to find out what happened to the auction items. But he would rather not be here fighting. There’s a pair of Scarlet Eyes at that auction and Kurapika would much rather be focusing on that.

At some point in his life, Kurapika may have been blinded by a desire for revenge. Seeing a member of the Phantom Troupe is still enough to send him into a rage, but more recently it’s a rage he can still think through. He doesn’t know if it’s because Melody’s song is still stuck in his head or because he’d cooled his head, but for some reason, looking at Uvogin didn’t make Kurapika want to drive his chains directly through his heart the way he thought he would. He’s still angry, obviously, but he doesn’t want to kill the person in front of him. Haven’t enough people died already?

(A part of Kurapika wondered why he was hesitating to kill Uvogin, and yet he had no problems with risking his own life. Kurapika hushed that part of himself. He didn’t want to deal with it right now.)

The moon was a deep scarlet, though Kurapika couldn’t tell if that was because the moon itself was red or because everything he was seeing was shrouded in a red haze. Even now, he could hear his blood pounding in his ears. A part of him still wanted to rip this man apart for what he did to his family, but another part of him felt sick at the thought of killing another human being.

“Sorry for the hold up,” Uvogin said, making his way over. Kurapika just sighed. “Got a question for you. Who the hell are you?” He crushed the beer can in his hand and tossed it to the side. Kurapika didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what he would say if he opened his mouth, and he didn’t want to start spilling his whole backstory to this man unprompted. “You’re not normal. I feel extraordinary determination in your Nen.”

“Before I answer your question,” Kurapika finally said, “There’s something I need you to tell me.” He threw his tribal clothes to the side. This would be a hard fight, and he didn’t need them getting in his way. “Do you remember those you’ve killed, any of them?”

Uvogin groaned. “Yeah, some of ‘em. But mostly just those who made a lasting impression on me. This some kind of vendetta?”

That was rich considering Uvogin was the one seeking out this fight. Kurapika was just doing his job (he wasn’t, though he could pretend he was.) Uvogin attacked the mafia, Kurapika’s boss is a part of the mafia, so Kurapika captured him. Was it a little personal? Yeah, it was. Kurapika couldn’t stop his scoff.

“Who are you trying to avenge?”

“The Kurta Clan.” Kurapika watched Uvogin closely, but no recognition flashed in his eyes.

“Never heard of them.” Kurapika’s vision flashed scarlet. He didn’t remember? Was genocide really so common for him?

“The Lukso province,” Kurapika snarled. He could feel himself starting to lose control. “A small clan with scarlet-colored eyes. And five years ago, you attacked us.” He was shaking. Was the worst moment of Kurapika’s life really just another passing moment for the Phantom Troupe, something that meant so little that they didn’t even stand out?

“Scarlet eyes? What’s that, the name of a jewel or something?” Uvogin looked thoughtful.  “Yea, sorry that doesn’t ring a bell, but I was definitely a member five years ago. I know that much.”

Kurapika’s vision was still tainted, but he could feel his heart calming. He needed to keep his head on straight. Senseless killing is what led to this, he wouldn't let it continue. All killing Uvogin would accomplish is more pain and suffering. It wouldn’t fix anything.

Don’t get him wrong, Kurapika still hated the Phantom Troupe and everything they stood for. But Kurapika wasn’t going to sink to their level. He could lay his clan to rest by laying their eyes to rest beside them. Kurapika wouldn’t give the Phantom Troupe the courtesy of being an important part of his life.

“When you kill people, people who have done no wrong in any way, how do you feel?” Kurapika walked forward a few steps. “What goes through your mind?”

“Nothing, really. Not a thing.” Kurapika grit his teeth. This man really wasn’t making it easier for Kurapika not to kill him.

“You are scum,” He snarled, raising his hand. “And you will pay for your sins!” And with that, their fight began. And yet, through the whole fight Kurapika just felt empty.

Anger is a secondary emotion , he thought. What am I really feeling?

It wasn’t hard to guess. After all, Kurapika was no stranger to grief. He was trying to use anger to cover up his pain, but there was no point. It would just make him tired.

He couldn’t just stop being angry. His clan was murdered, he had a right to be angry. But there was no reason to channel that anger into hating other people. His condition based upon hatred would only cause him more pain.

In the end, Uvogin still didn’t stand a chance. Despite his hesitations, he still didn’t plan to go easy on him. It ended with Uvogin trapped in his Chain Jail. Kurapika had originally planned to go into a long-winded explanation about his chains and the purpose for him, but he just felt tired. Tired of being angry, tired of being the last of his clan, and tired of this whole fight with Uvogin that had spanned the entire night. He held him in the chains and just stared at him intently.

“Well?” Uvogin asked. “What’s the holdup? Are you going to kill me or not?”

“Tell me something,” Kurapika said. “If you had to choose between your life and the safety of your troupe, which would you pick?”

“I’m not answering any of your questions!” Uvogin snarled.

Kurapika enhanced his fist with Nen, his scarlet eyes making it easy due to his specialist ability, and slammed it into Uvogin. His opponent coughed up blood, choking. “So my enhanced fist is stronger than your bare flesh. That means that, so long as I’ve chained them, I can defeat every member of your troupe bare handed.” Uvogin wouldn’t be cooperative, so Kurapika had to give him an ultimatum. “Tell me what the abilities of your other troupe members are. Don’t leave anything out.” Uvogin scoffed, and Kurapika hit him again. He certainly wasn’t planning to kill him, but this was slightly therapeutic. He gagged, choking out more blood that spattered on Kurapika’s face. Kurapika didn’t even blink.

“You and your clan can go to hell,” Uvogin said. Kurapika hit him again. His mind kept flashing to other moments: Uvogin telling him that he doesn’t remember the massacre, coming home to see the bodies of his clan strewn everywhere, defiled. His vision blurred red and all he could hear was his blood roaring.

By the time he came back to himself, Uvogin looked half dead. Kurapika thinks he may have broken his arm. There was blood on Kurapika’s face and arm, dripping down.

“I won’t tell you anything,” Uvogin rasps. “You’ll have to kill me.”

“I’m sorry,” Kurapika says instead of responding. “I didn’t mean to lose control. I’ve been working on my anger lately.” He looked away. “I didn’t want to start a circle of violence. If I kill you, it’ll only make your troupe members want revenge. I’m not here for revenge. I just want to put my clan to rest.” Kurapika looked down, his hand shaking. “All of this makes me sick.The way my hand feels, the grating sound of each strike, the smell of blood, every sensation makes me sick.” Kurapika looked up, his vision tinging red again. He had to take a deep breath to stop from losing control. “I just don’t understand how you can commit such atrocities and not feel anything! How is that possible?”

Uvogin groaned. “Just kill me.” Kurapika sent his judgment chain forward, striking it through Uvogin’s heart.

“I’ve pierced your heart with the stake of retribution,” Kurapika said. “I’m now going to set a rule. If you break it, the chain will activate. The rule is: You will let me leave, and you will not seek retribution. If you do, you will lose the ability to use your Nen. Understand?”

“No,” Uvogin said, spitting blood at Kurapika’s feet. “Why won’t you kill me? You won.”

“I don’t ever want to cause someone to feel the pain I did.” Kurapika released his chains and Uvogin fell to the ground. “I won’t kill you. I just want to collect the eyes of my clan and bury them with my people. So long as you stay out of my way, we won’t ever have to see each other again.” Kurapika turned to walk away, then paused. “And one more thing, don’t send the phantom troupe after me or my friends. I don’t care about your wounded pride, and if you hurt my friends, I don’t care about my morals, I will kill you.” He sent one last punch to Uvogin’s face, knocking him out.

He stood up and attempted to wipe the blood off his hand, but he only managed to stain his clothes and smear it more on his arms.

His phone rang  and he checked the caller ID. It was Gon. He should probably stop ignoring them.

At the very least, if the Phantom Troupe came after him, then at least he knows his Chain Jail would work.

***

It took Uvo the better part of the next day to hobble his way back to their headquarters. He was sure that he’d missed a good portion of their plans. Even so, he hadn’t woken up until the sun was well in the sky, and he was barely able to heal the most dangerous of his injuries before his Nen was completely depleted. And it was a long walk back to headquarters.

When he got there, he was welcomed by the sound of arguing. It seemed that there was a bit of a disagreement on how to proceed. It would probably wind up in a coin flip soon. But he may as well make a grand entrance.

“Can you guys pipe down? My head is killing me!” He snapped, stepping into the building. It’s not like he was lying, his head really was killing him.

“Uvo!” Multiple people yelled, and someone launched towards him. After his vision stopped swimming he recognized that it was Shalnark.

“Watch the ribs,” He groaned. He almost dropped, but Shalnark managed to keep him on his feet.

“Whoa, the chain-user must have really messed you up!” Shalnark helped steady him. “But at least you beat him!”

“I didn’t.” Uvo had dreaded this. He didn’t want to discuss his complete failure, but he couldn’t exactly leave them thinking that the Chain User was dead. Not when he was dangerous enough to leave Uvo fearing for his life.

“But you’re here,” Nobunaga said.

“He let me live,” Uvo said, and he couldn’t keep the confusion out of his voice. “I didn’t understand, because he was on some kind of revenge quest. Just being around me made his eyes turn scarlet-” He cut himself off when he saw the way that everyone blanched. “Okay what did I miss?”

The rest of the troupe quickly explained the prophecies Chrollo had given them discussing their fated encounter with the Chain User.

“The chain user is going to kill half of the troupe?” Uvo eventually asked.

“Not if we have anything to say about it,” said Phinks. “We’ll take care of him before he even has the chance to try.”

“Well, I’ll have to sit this one out,” Uvo said, grimacing as Shalnark helped him sit down on a rock.

“Because of your injuries?” Shalnark asked. “You don’t have to worry about that, we’ll get you all fixed up and you can get your revenge.”

“It’s not about my injuries,” Uvo said. “He had some kind of ability with conditions-”

“Hisoka mentioned something like that.”

Uvo frowned. He hadn’t known that Hisoka had met the chain user, though if he was forced into silence then that would make sense. “Well, if I attempt to attack him, I’ll lose the ability to use Nen.”

“What?” So many voices were overlapping that it was difficult to keep track. “We’ll kill him for that!”

“I don’t care, he could have done a lot worse.” Uvo frowned. “He had a lot of opportunities to kill me.”

“I think you need to get us all caught up,” Chrollo said, stepping into the conversation. “Tell us everything you know about the chain user.”

In the end, they figured it was easier to just use Paku’s memory abilities to show everyone what Uvo remembered of the fight. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much. He’s a little fuzzy on the details, but he thinks the Phantom Troupe murdered his family. Or something?

After Paku shot them with her memory bullets, a lot of his friends wound up storming around the hideout cursing.

“He’s strong,” Hisoka purred, using a voice that always made Uvo’s skin crawl. “How delightful.”

“We can’t let him get away with this!” Nobunaga said. “Look at what he did to you!”

“Yeah, well, if you want revenge I can’t go. I like using my Nen.” Uvo leaned back against the wall of their hideout. “Have fun, make sure Paku can shoot a memory of it into me cause I’d like to see that kid get his ass handed to him.”

“Don’t worry, we will!” Shalnark said brightly. “I think the best thing we could do is go after his friends like he did to us!”

“That’s what got us into this mess in the first place,” Machi said. “I say we just kill the chain user. Then this is all over and we can move on. He should have killed Uvo, now we know what he looks like and how he fights.”

“Thanks,” Uvo said dryly.

“No offense to you of course.”

“Besides, even if we wanted to go after his friends, how could we? We don’t know who they are,” Phinks pointed out.

“Phinks is right, let’s just focus our energies on the chain user,” Chrollo said, once again taking charge. “After we kill him, then we can destroy everything he’s ever cared about. It’s what he deserves for hurting one of our own.”

Chapter Text

Kurapika wondered how long he’d known that he didn’t want to kill the Phantom Troupe. He thought he’d only come to the conclusion tonight, but was that really the case? How much has he actively searched for them? Everyone knows they’re based out of Meteor City, but Kurapika hadn’t even bothered doing any research. It’s like he doesn’t even want it.

“Are you okay?” Killua asked, dragging Kurapika out of his thoughts.

“How did you decide that you didn’t want to kill anymore?” Kurapika blurted out before he could stop himself.

“What?” Killua leaned back.

“Sorry.” Kurapika straightened. When had he started to slouch? “That was inappropriate of me, you don’t have to answer-”

“I don’t think it was anything specific that made the decision for me,” Killua said. “It was something the rest of my family enjoyed, but I didn’t. It didn’t seem right. I didn’t want my whole identity based around death.” He sighed. “Kurapika, everyone has the choice to kill or not. Some people can kill and still come back from it, like me. Some people get a taste of it and can’t stop, like Hisoka. We’re all worried about you because we don’t want you to go so far that you can’t come back. We don’t want you to get so lost in your revenge that you lose who you are.”

Kurapika had thought for a long time that his life meant nothing. His identity was based around the tragedy of the Kurta Clan. He was alone and all he had was this quest to set his clan to rest. But then he made friends. And he realized that his life holds meaning. He can make sure his clan is remembered. He can move forward. He’s spent his whole life looking back and all it’s done is cause him grief and keep him from moving on.

He still wanted to collect the eyes. His clan deserved to rest in peace, every piece of them. But hatred was exhausting. Wouldn’t it be much easier to let go of his hate for the Phantom Troupe?

For his hate for himself? He’d always been angry at himself for some reason. But anger is a secondary emotion. In actuality, he always felt guilty. Why did he have the right to live while they didn’t? He didn’t even want it. He often wished he had died with the rest of his clan. But what right did he have to be ungrateful?

“I don’t think I want to go after the Phantom Troupe,” Kurapika said. “I won’t ever forgive them, but I’m tired of letting them be a part of my life. They don’t deserve it. Unless they have some of the Scarlet Eyes, I don’t want to see them ever again.”

“Then don’t,” Killua said. “Unlike me, no one is going to force you to kill someone. I promise.”

***

“I’m really glad Kurapika is done with his whole revenge quest,” Gon said as he and Killua walked the streets.

“Me too,” Killua said. “I was starting to worry about him.” The streets weren’t super crowded since it was starting to get dark, even though it wasn’t even seven yet. Killua glanced around, taking in his surroundings as he had a habit of doing. He froze. “Gon, don’t look now, but I think there’s a member of the Phantom Troupe at our five o clock.” Gone started to turn and Killua smacked the back of his head. “I said don’t look!”

Killua glanced again, and yep, there she was. It was the memory reader. Great, that’s exactly what they need. That lady is the worst troupe member they could have possibly run into. She turned and made direct eye contact with Killua, and he turned away.

“We should go.” Killua grabbed Gon’s arm and dragged him into the crowd. He used his other hand to pull out his phone and dial Kurapika.

“Killua? Are you alright?”

“Gon and I may or may not have run into the Phantom Troupe again,” Killua said. “I think we can lose them but if we’re not back in the room in fifteen minutes then we got delayed.”

“I’m on my way,” Kurapika said.

“Hey we still have fifteen-” The phone clicked. “And he hung up.” He dragged Gon through an alley and started in the general direction of their hotel. Another Troupe member was wandering on this street, and Killua cursed his luck.

“This way.” Gon started dragging him in the opposite direction. “Maybe they haven’t noticed us?”

“Hey! It’s those kids!” Killua was pretty sure that was that Nobunaga guy. Not good.

“We should probably just run.” Killua turned to start in the direction of the hotel, only to come face to face with someone he’d never met before but definitely gave off the same vibes as the rest of the troupe. He was wearing a long black trench coat and carrying an air of authority. This must be the Spider Head.

“Can I help you?” Killua asked. The girl with the pink hair was approaching as well.

“You know the mafia reward has been canceled, right?” She asked.

“Of course I know that,” Killua said, crossing his arms. “We weren’t following you. I didn’t realize it was a crime to walk down the street.” The leader looked at him, unimpressed.

“What should we do?” Pinky asked.

“Seize them,” He said, which Killua thought was pretty rude considering they hadn’t even really done anything. Stupid Phantom Troupe members, no wonder Kurapika hated them so much. “I have faith in your instincts. You suspect that they’re connected to the chain user?” She nodded. “We’ll keep them alive for now.”

“My instincts aren’t all that trustworthy,” she said, but wrapped her weird Nen strings around their arms anyways.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Gon spoke up and if Killua had the ability to move his arms he would have facepalmed. “How can you kill people that have nothing to do with you?” Wow, great job. That’s not a suspicious thing to ask. You’re definitely unrelated to the Chain User. Killua resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Gon and their leader appeared to have some sort of staring contest.

“You have a lot of hostility,” The black haired man said, “for someone who’s just surrendered. Perhaps because they have nothing to do with us. No. On second thought, it’s not that simple. My motives are not important now. I don’t like speaking of them. But, surprisingly enough, or as I expected…the reason is the key to understanding myself.”

Okay. Killua was lost. Had he missed something here?

“Head to the hotel and wait for Phinks and the others. If they try to escape, kill them.”

***

“Damnit!” Kurapika snarled, slamming his fist into the wall beside him.

“Kurapika, it's not a good idea to punch brick,” Leorio said, though it was clear Kurapika was ignoring him because he hit the wall again.

“I don’t care!” He snapped. “They took Gon and Killua!”

“I know, but punching bricks isn’t going to help them.” Leorio put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away before he could rear back for another shot. “It’s okay, I have a plan. They don’t know what I look like so-”

“You are not putting yourself in danger,” Kurapika said. “No one else is getting involved. I brought this on myself, so I’ll rescue them. Maybe if I offer up my own life then they’ll-”

“Stop.” Leorio shook him slightly. “You aren’t turning yourself in and I’m not putting myself in danger. I’m just going to pretend to be on a loud phone call to give them a message. Exactly at seven, take out the lights. Then you can use your fancy chain jail thing to grab them.”

“I can’t,” Kurapika said. “My chain jail can only be used on the Phantom troupe members, and I can only capture one at a time.”

Leorio cursed. “Okay, then we take their leader and exchange him for Gon and Killua. If they won’t trade both, then we’ll capture another one later. We’ll get them back.”

“This is all my fault,” Kurapika said.

“How?” Leorio pressed.

“I drew the Phantom Troupe’s eyes to them-”

“No. They did it themselves earlier today.”

“I pissed off the Phantom Troupe.”

“So did they.”

Melody placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t your fault, Kurapika. But you can help save them. It’ll be okay.”

Kurapika took a deep breath. He could do this. They would rescue them. Kurapika refused to let the Phantom Troupe destroy another family for him.

***

Thankfully, the plan went well. Unfortunately, that meant Kurapika was stuck in the backseat with the leader of the Phantom Troupe.

“What are you looking at?’ Kurapika snapped.

“Are you wearing contacts?” He asked. Kurapika was proud of the fact that he didn’t hit him. He really wanted to. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to hit him a little…

“Go to hell.” Thankfully, he wasn’t the one driving this car, so he didn’t have to focus on the road. He could instead put all his energy into ignoring the man beside him.

“You brought this on yourself, you know,” he said.

Technically, Kurapika had been blaming himself for everything that was happening. And yet, the moment this man said that he was to blame Kurapika felt his vision tinge red. Funny how that works. “And how, exactly, is this my fault?”

“You provoked us.”

“When?” Kurapika snarled. “Was it when I captured your troupe member in my chains because he was slaughtering the members of the mafia, whom I’m employed to? Or maybe it was when Uvogin barged into the hotel and demanded to fight me? Or maybe it was when I let him go because I didn’t want my life to revolve around you?”

“You were planning on tracking us down and killing us.”

“No I wasn’t, though if that’s the only way to keep you away from me and the people I care about then maybe I will.” Kurapika glared at him. He couldn’t read this man very well, but he seemed unsettled. “I don’t want to kill the Phantom Troupe, but if they hurt those two kids I will stop at nothing to make sure your entire little family is completely eradicated. You have no right to act high and mighty when I spared your family after you massacred mine!”

“I-” Kurapika cut him off.

“I’m done talking. You can shut up now,” he hissed, sitting back in his seat. For some reason, the Spider Head listened, and the rest of the car ride passed in an uncomfortable silence.

***

Pakunoda came alone, just like he asked, though Melody mentioned that Hisoka was on the airship as well. Odd, but Kurapika honestly didn’t care. The clown wanted to fight the Phantom Troupe leader, but Kurapika couldn’t care less about that.

For Kurapika, something felt wrong about the exchange. Was he really just going to release this man back into the world to massacre another person’s family? Wouldn’t it be better to do something about it? But what gives Kurapika the right to play judge, jury, and executioner?

Paku was still watching them, and Kurapika couldn’t help but feel unsettled. He’d do anything to get Killua and Gon back, but what was stopping the Spider Head from tracking them down tomorrow and killing them as well?

It was that thought that sold it for Kurapika. He shot his judgment chain through the Spider Head’s heart. He still didn’t feel right threatening to kill him (Kurapika didn’t want anyone to die, is all), but he could make sure there were consequences.

He managed to seal his Nen away. Maybe Hisoka would still just kill him. Kurapika found that a part of him didn’t care about that either. This was out of his hands. (Maybe, just maybe, a part of Kurapika was hoping to avoid that fight to the death. Maybe he was hoping that he could go another day without someone associated with him dying.)

“You still didn’t kill me?” He asked.

“I won’t taint my hands with your blood,” Kurapika said, none of his conflict showing on his face. “Now go.”

Kurapika watched them leave. Knowing Hisoka, he wouldn’t fight the Phantom Troupe leader without his Nen. So their fight would be delayed until he could find an exorcist. As they walked away, Kurapika could feel his body starting to give way. It had been a long few days. He was exhausted. He barely managed to make sure Gon and Killua were both here before he felt himself drop as his vision went black.

***

Maybe, Kurapika just didn’t want anyone to die, even those that may have deserved it.

Chapter Text

For a while, Kurapika forgot about the Phantom Troupe. They had nothing to do with him.

Unfortunately, the universe must hate him. Because just a few weeks later a member of the Phantom Troupe approached him while he was reading at the library. It was the one that could see memories, he believes her name is Pakunoda.

“Can I help you?” Kurapika asked through gritted teeth. Just because he didn’t want anyone dead didn’t mean he wanted to be around them. As far as Kurapika was concerned he wanted nothing to do with the Phantom Troupe.

“I’m not looking for a fight,” she said, coming to sit down beside him.

“Then go somewhere else.” Kurapika had been in a good mood thirty seconds ago. He’d had a good day. He’d gotten to hang out with Melody, he’d just heard that Killua had passed the Hunter’s Exam, his tea was steeped perfectly. And now it’s all ruined.

“We found an exorcist.”

“Congratulations,” Kurapika said dryly, then paused. Wait, if they had found an exorcist then why were his judgment chains still attached to Uvogin and their leader? Pakunoda seemed to realize exactly what he was thinking.

“The exorcist couldn’t get past your conditions.”

Conditions? Kurapika didn’t have conditions for his judgment chain, so what on Earth could she be talking about?

“I see,” Kurapika kept his face blank to prevent Pakunoda from seeing his inner turmoil. Is it even possible to accidentally enforce conditions? Kurapika didn’t think that’s how it worked. Besides, to make the condition strong enough to prevent an exorcist from undoing it, Kurapika’s life would be on the line and how could he have a life or death condition without knowing it ?

Okay. Stay calm. What condition could he have made? What would he rather die than use his judgment chain to do?

Kill people obviously. And hurt his friends. Kurapika didn’t want anyone to die (except, sometimes on the really bad days, himself.)

Did that make Kurapika incapable of using his judgment chain to kill others? He had blocked their leader’s Nen and enforced an inability for Uvogin to track him down, but did he give them any form of death penalty?

Had Kurapika sworn not to kill people without even realizing it?

“So, I’ve come to ask you to remove your Nen from my troupe members. I’m willing to offer any price, including my own life.” That didn’t sound right. Uvogin had refused to give them up at the expense of his own life, and their leader was convinced his own life meant nothing. Which meant that, according to those two, they would never allow Pakunoda to make this deal. Which means…

“Your leader had no idea that you’re here right now, does he?” She didn’t answer, but averted her gaze from him, choosing instead to focus on the table in front of them. “You don’t have anything I want.” The only thing Kurapika wants is the Scarlet Eyes. The Phantom Troupe has a pair, it’s true. But it’s under the control of their leader. If Pakunoda is here without his permission, then she can’t promise that to him.

“Please,” she said, and Kurapika refused to look at her. He knew she would be pleading with him and Kurapika didn’t have the kind of heart to be able to ignore her. “Just Chrollo, just so he can use his Nen again.

Kurapika snorted. “Why, so he can use his abilities to massacre another group of people? No.”

“He’s a floor master,” she said. “Hisoka has chosen to fight him. He’s impatient and pushed for an earlier fight. He figured if Chrollo would never get his Nen back then he’d take his place as a floor master at Heaven’s Arena and fight better opponents there.” Kurapika still refused to look at her. He didn’t want to see her despair. What gave them the right to come to him and ask this of him? After everything, what did he owe them?

Nothing. He owed them nothing.

But Kurapika didn’t want anyone to die. And even so, if the condition strengthening his judgment chains were that they couldn’t be used to kill anyone (except himself, and what does that say about Kurapika, that his own life is meaningless to him?) what would happen if their leader died because he couldn’t use his Nen?

“I can’t release it from here,” he said. “I’d have to be able to see him. I’ll do it on three conditions. First, after I release my Nen you allow me to leave unharmed.” That was a given. There was no way he’d release his Nen if it led to an ambush. “Second, if at any point the Phantom Troupe comes across the Scarlet Eyes, they either leave them alone or bring them to me. Third,” he grinned, “I want tickets to the match.”

“Tickets?” She asked. “Why?”

“I have no love for Hisoka or your leader. One of them will lose that match and I think I’d like to see that.” Kurapika leaned back. “Go tell your leader about my terms. If he agrees, I’ll remove my Nen from him and Uvogin.”

“Thank you.” She stood up but paused and stared at him for a moment without leaving. “There’s something I still don’t understand.”

“I don’t care,” Kurapika said, turning back to his book. She didn’t leave.

“Why didn’t you kill Uvo when you had the chance?”

Kurapika blanched. “That’s none of your business!”

She wasn’t touching him, so there was no way that she could see what he was thinking of. There was no way she could see how when he saw Uvogin, covered in blood but refusing to give up, he couldn’t help but think of Gon at the last phase of the Hunter’s Exam. Hanzo couldn’t kill Gon then, and Kurapika couldn’t kill Uvogin. Not when he was holding firm to something he believed in. It was easier to claim it was because Uvogin didn’t mean enough to Kurapika for him to bother staining his hands with his blood, but that wasn’t true.

Kurapika really didn’t want anyone to die.

“I see,” was all she said. And she left. Kurapika hoped that would be the last he’d see of her, but he was sure that wasn’t the case.

***

“I’m not in the mood,” he said. He really just should have left York New. What was the Phantom Troupe even doing here right now? Aren’t they based in Meteor City?

“Will you ever be in the mood?” A smooth voice chuckled. Kurapika sighed and followed the Phantom Troupe leader into the alley he was hiding in.

“Did Pakunoda tell you my conditions?” He asked instead of answering.

“She did, and I have a bit of an edit.” The Phantom Troupe leader (Chrollo, that’s what Pakunoda had called him) leaned back against the wall. “As a thief, if I find a rare and precious object, I can’t exactly leave it alone. And I can’t give it away for nothing.”

“Then I guess our business is finished,” Kurapika said. He wasn’t willing to compromise on the eyes.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you get them,” Chrollo said quickly. “Here’s my proposition. We both look for the eyes. When we find a pair, you work with my troupe to get them and any other valuables from those that have them. You keep the eyes, my troupe keeps the rest.”

That sounded like a lot of quality time with the Phantom Troupe. Quality time Kurapika did not want to spend with them. It’s likely that Chrollo just wanted to drag Kurapika along to get him killed so that he didn’t have to deal with him anymore.

On the other hand, it had been months and Kurapika had only found one pair of eyes. Having the Phantom Troupe’s resources could be incredibly helpful, not to mention that they may even have records of who originally bought them in the first place.

If the choice was between laying his clansmen to rest and working (and possibly dying) around people he hated, then it was an easy choice to make.

“Fine. But don’t expect me to turn my back to you during any mission,” he said. “I assume Uvogin is nearby so I may release my Nen from him as well?”

“Yes. And he has tickets for my upcoming match. It’s next week.” Chrollo pulled out his phone and shot a quick text. “I’m afraid I haven’t properly introduced myself. Chrollo Lucilfer.” He held out his hand. Kurapika did not reach out to shake it. Instead, he focused his Nen and shot the judgment chain through his heart. He released his condition and could see in Chrollo’s face the moment that he’d regained control of his Nen.

Uvogin showed up a few minutes later, with five tickets to the match. Kurapika released him from his Nen as well. Afterwards, he could feel his body deflate in exhaustion. Judgment chain wasn’t the deadliest of his chains, but it definitely took the most concentrated Nen to maintain.

“I’ll find you after your fight and we can figure out a plan to find the Scarlet Eyes then,” Kurapika said. “Until then, like I said earlier, I’m not in the mood.” He walked out of the alley, watching out for Nen just in case. No attack came.

He wondered if Gon was done with Greed Island yet, and whether or not he would want to go to the match.

***

Gon and Killua weren’t available, they were apparently deep in research in the NGL. How they got roped into that, Kurapika had no idea, but if they needed help they would find a way to let him know. Leorio and Melody were both happy to come with him though.

“This match was sold out like three minutes after it was announced,” Leorio said. “How the hell did you get tickets?”

“I know a guy,” Kurapika said. “Now be quiet, the match is starting.”

Kurapika wasn’t sure what he expected. It certainly wasn’t Chrollo commandeering an army of puppets and proceeding to use them to bury Hisoka.

“Whoa,” Leorio whispered.

Kurapika watched the fight, somehow both enraptured and sickened. Their Nen control was amazing, and yet their brutality made his stomach turn. He was almost relieved when the fight ended with Hisoka’s death and Chrollo was named the victor. They did go a little overboard, what with blowing up the arena. Maybe Chrollo hoped to kill him  in the explosion and get out of their deal. Either way, Kurapika still planned to track him down and discuss their plans. Chrollo wasn’t getting rid of him that easily.

“I’ll meet you guys out there,” Kurapika said. “I have to meet with someone.” He wandered in the opposite direction of the exit, figuring that was the best place to find Chrollo. He walked by the bathrooms and saw the blonde Phantom Troupe member on the phone. Kurapika could probably just ask him to bring him to Chrollo.

He popped into the bathroom first. The guy on the phone seemed pretty engaged, so the phone call likely wouldn’t be over by the time he was done anyways.

When he got inside the bathroom, it was like his body moved before he could even process what was going on. He blinked, and one of the Phantom Troupe members, the one with the long hair covering his face, was suddenly behind him in his Chain Jail. There was blood seeping through the links, and he wasn’t conscious, though as far as Kurapika could tell he was still alive. Hisoka was on the other side of him, somehow still alive and looking extremely murderous.

“Are you getting in my way?” He asked, a sickly smile on his face. “I’m going to kill the spiders, all of them. I thought you of all people would understand my desire for revenge.” Hisoka hadn’t attacked yet, which meant that maybe Kurapika still had a chance to talk his way out of this. He’d managed it before. Unfortunately, Kurapika’s mind couldn’t seem to focus. How was Hisoka even alive? Where was the rest of the Phantom Troupe? Kurapika was still somehow replaying their fight in his head, wondering how the hell Hisoka managed to escape it alive. “What? You aren’t going to say anything? I always thought your wit was your best weapon against me, and you won’t even use it?”

Did his chains consider Hisoka a member of the Phantom Troupe? He used to be, right? Is that enough for his Chain Jail to work? If not it would literally kill him, so this isn’t exactly the kind of thing he can mess up on. What was his exact condition? He could use it to restrain the members of the Phantom Troupe only, or he would die. Hisoka definitely didn’t count. So no Chain Jail there. Probably. But then again, there wasn’t exactly a precedent to living ex-members so he hadn’t thought to clarify. Hisoka had infiltrated them, so he hadn’t considered himself a member, but the other Troupe members had.

“I’m just surprised,” Kurapika said. “I thought you died. I acted without thinking.” The Phantom Troupe Member’s head lolled to the side, his face twitching slightly. Good, he was alive, but he wouldn’t be any help.

“Then I suggest you get out of my way,” Hisoka practically purred, and Kurapika knew that things were starting to get dangerous. “You’re not my target but I have no problems with killing you. You’re interesting, but not so interesting that I’ll let my prey get away.” Man, Kurapika wished that he had a better grasp on the Phantom members abilities. With the Phantom member in his chains, he could tell that he didn’t have access to his Nen. Had he lent his Nen to Chrollo?

“I’m also surprised that you’re going to kill him now, when he can’t use his Nen.” He needed to act calm, like he didn’t care. “That’s more of my move. Don’t you like having an actual fight?”

“I just had an actual fight, and now I’m going to rip the spider's legs off one by one.” Could he change his condition to use it only on those trying to harm him or his friends? Probably not fast enough to mean anything here, but that was a thought he should come back to if he managed to get out of this alive.

Kurapika should just leave. If he had to choose between himself and the Phantom member, he should leave. He’s the only one capable of setting his clan to rest.

But Kurapika didn’t want anyone to die, except, perhaps, himself.

Which only left him with one option.

He released the Phantom Member from his chains.

“Good boy,” Hisoka said. Kurapika stepped aside and Hisoka stepped towards the downed Phantom Troupe member.

And Kurapika struck. And he waited, but death didn’t come.

“I guess former members still count,” he said, as Hisoka struggled against his Chain Jail. “And even if your intentions were off, you were a member of the Phantom Troupe.” Okay, so Kurapika could keep his Chain Jail up until his Nen depletes itself, but he doesn’t know how long that will take, and Hisoka still might be able to outlast him. He needs some kind of plan.

His phone rang. It was probably Leorio. He should answer it, and yet he really wants to keep Leorio and Melody as far from the homicidal clown as possible.

Isn’t there another Phantom Troupe member right outside?

“Hey Kortopi what’s taking you so…” He trailed off, looking at his unconscious friend, then at Kurapika, then at Hisoka. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Let me go,” Hisoka said, “and I’ll make your death fast and painless. If you keep trying to interfere, then I’ll rip your eyes out and feed them to you before drowning you in your own blood.” He was practically vibrating in Kurapika’s chains, eyes flickering between the three other people in the room.

“I’ll have to pass, thanks,” Kurapika said dryly before turning to the blonde. “I caught him trying to kill your friend. I figured your oh so great leader would be sulky if one of you died and then he’d be less likely to help. Think you can call him back here? Or do you have any other solutions?”

“Just let me kill him again,” he said, and before he could go for a weapon, a cold and sharp pain burst in Kurapika’s chest.

“No,” he choked out through the pain. “Not while I have my chains on him.”

Because for some reason, Kurapika's conditions based themselves more off what was in his heart than what he said. Which is good for this moment, but also bad because who knows what his conditions actually are. Somehow, he knew that if Hisoka died while in his Chain Jail, his judgment would pass upon himself and Kurapika would die.

For a moment, he wondered if it would be worth it to get rid of Hisoka. But then the bastard would probably just come back again.

"Well then I'm all out of ideas," he said. "Let me call Machi, she should be nearby."

Hisoka laughed. "Machi's found herself in a bit of a…sticky situation."

Had the troupe member been of the Kurta clan, Kurapika was sure his eyes would have flashed red. "What did you do to Machi?"i?”

“She’s a little indisposed. Don’t worry, she’s still alive,” Hisoka sounded way too amused for someone who currently couldn’t use Nen. “For now.”

The troupe member surged forward, pulling a knife out. How he managed to smuggle that in Kurapika didn’t know, but he did figure out pretty fast what Hisoka’s goal was.

“No!” Kurapika couldn’t stop him with his Chain Jail unless he wanted to release Hisoka, which he definitely didn’t want. Hisoka wanted this guy to kill him, he probably had some way of staying alive, but it would kill Kurapika and leave Hisoka free to do whatever he wanted.

The troupe member stopped, looking back at him. Kurapika honestly hadn’t expected that to work. “If you kill him, it’ll kill me too. And death doesn’t seem to stick too well for him, we need another plan!”

“Sorry,” he said, stepping back, taking a deep breath. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know!” Kurapika could feel himself tiring. Hisoka was fighting hard against the chains, and his bloodlust was permeating the air enough that it was nearly suffocating. “Where’s your boss?”

“He’s not here.”

“Obviously. Maybe get him here?” Kurapika grit his teeth. “This isn’t exactly easy to keep up, you know!”

“You held Uvo for way longer!”

“I was in a rage and after that whole mess I passed out for like three days,” Kurapika said. “Look, I can probably hold him for a while, but he’s not exactly making this easy.”

“Well well well.” Hisoka grinned. “How long have you been working with the Phantom Troupe? Don’t you hate them?”

“They’re my best resource for getting the Scarlet Eyes, so I’ll deal with whatever I have to.” It looked like the blonde guy was finally taking his advice and calling for help, and the other guy seemed to be stirring. Kurapika’s phone rang again.

“Are you going to answer that?” The guy from the floor asked, trying to push himself up.

“No.” Kurapika turned away. “Also, you probably shouldn’t get up, you’ve been unconscious for the past few minutes so who knows what kind of injuries you’ve got.”

“Oh don’t worry, you interfered before I could rip his head off like I planned,” Hisoka said. “But rest assured I still intend to remove his head from his shoulders.”

Kurapika leaned against the wall. If anyone looked closely enough, they’d be able to tell that his hands were shaking. He’d used his Chain Jail on Kortopi first to get him out of the line of fire, and then he’d used it on Hisoka. It can’t have been more than ten minutes. So why does he feel so drained?

When he held Uvo, he was sitting down most of the time. And it was just for the drive to their compound before they paralyzed him. 

Kurapika watched the blonde troupe member put his phone away. “Is he coming?”

He grimaced. “He’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

If this guy was grimacing, then Kurapika must look like he’s wearing down. Hisoka was much stronger than Uvogin, and Kurapika could feel his energy draining away fast. But he can last another fifteen minutes, especially if these guys can run interference so Kurapika doesn’t have to worry about planning anything.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to sit down.” Kurapika allowed himself to slide to the floor, thunking unceremoniously on the ground. He tuned out Hisoka’s increasingly disturbing threats and focused his eyes on the ceiling. A part of him wanted to close his eyes and meditate, but with his energy draining away that wasn’t a good idea. If he fell asleep then everything would get messy fast.

The door to the bathroom opened. Kurapika turned his head to see who came in only to regret it immediately when his vision swam. How long had he been looking at the ceiling for?

Hisoka took his moment of weakness as an opportunity to get out, but luckily Kurapika’s chains remained unbreakable. They considered Hisoka a member of the Phantom Troupe, so nothing he did would let him free.

“There you are!” Leorio sighed, squatting down next to him. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’re waiting for Chrollo to come take care of him before he goes off on a murderous rampage,” Kurapika said, gesturing to a furious Hisoka. “He’ll be here soon.” 

“You look like shit.”

“You always say the nicest things to me.” Kurapika smiled at him. “Where’s Melody?”

“She’s waiting outside. You are in the men’s bathroom you know. She’d know if she needed to help us out here.” Leorio looked at the two Phantom Troupe members. It looked like the blonde guy had pulled out some cards and they were playing a game. Rude, they hadn’t even asked Kurapika if he wanted to join.

Actually, thinking back on it, they may have, and he hadn’t heard them. He was pretty focused on the Chain Jail for a while.

“Who are those guys?”

“I don’t know.” Kurapika shrugged. “They’re Phantom Troupe Members.”

“Oh wow, we didn’t introduce ourselves!” The blonde turned to them. He had a big smile on his face, but Kurapika could tell that he was hiding his concern beneath the surface. “I’m Shalnark, and this is Kortopi.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kurapika. That’s Leorio.” Kurapika waved a hand in his friend’s general direction. “How much longer until Chrollo gets here?”

The door opened. “I’m here.”

Kurapika stared at him. “Were you waiting outside for the right moment to come in or something?” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Think you have another fight in you?”

“Ready for a rematch?” Hisoka asked, a wry grin on his face.

“It won’t be much of a rematch,” Chrollo said. “Release him Kurapika.”

“I don’t take orders from you,” Kurapika grumbled, but he released his chains anyway. As soon as he did he felt a backlash of exhaustion wave over him. Leorio clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

“You okay?” He asked. He helped him up, lifting him onto his back. They walked out of the bathroom.

“Tired,” Kurapika said. “Did we get him?”

“He was ready, and he got away.” The bathroom door closed behind them and Kurapika rested his head on Leorio’s shoulder. “Alright, don’t worry, I’ve got you.” Somehow, Kurapika wound up on his back.

“How do you even get yourself into these kinds of situations?” Leorio asked. “You’re as bad as Gon!”

“Take that back! Gon is way worse than me! I bet he’s getting into some kind of trouble right now!”

(In the NGL as he watches Killua fight a giant crocodile man, Gon sneezes.)

“Well, you’re clearly in no state to discuss plans for retrieving the Scarlet Eyes,” an infuriating voice said.

“Just cause you couldn’t manage to kill Hisoka properly.” Kurapika wanted to raise his head to glare at Chrollo, but Leorio’s shoulder was comfy, so he didn’t.

“No need to cast blame,” Chrollo said. “Shalnark has your phone number now, I’ll text you about a time to meet up to discuss things.”

“That’s a gross invasion of my privacy,” Kurapika said, though a part of him was glad that they could reschedule. Any planning he did right now would be bound to mess up their operations.

“I guess it is,” Chrollo said, and Kurapika heard his footsteps walking away.

“I hate him,” Kurapika said.

“Sure you do.” Leorio started walking too.

“I do! He’s insufferable!”

“You agreed to work with him.”

“Yeah, to put my clan to rest. I’d work with anyone for that.”

“Even Hisoka?”

“Even Hisoka!”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Shut up, I’m going to take a nap on your back.”

Chapter Text

Saying that Chrollo was furious was an understatement. Hisoka had no right to attack his troupe members because he was a sore loser. Both Shalnark and Kortopi had no Nen and no good way to defend themselves. If Kurapika hadn’t been there…

Which only serves to add insult to injury. Ever since meeting the Chain User all Chrollo has managed to do is wind up in debt to him. He spared Uvo, he released them from his Nen, and now he’s saved Shalnark and Kortopi. It was infuriating! Chrollo had never met anyone that he found so difficult to understand before. Kurapika loathed them, but he still saved them.

Chrollo had never been surprised so much by one person. He hated it. And he hated how intrigued he was by it.

Originally, he had hoped to kill the Chain User as collateral during his match with Hisoka to get out of searching for the Scarlet Eyes. If that hadn't worked he had planned to find some way to get him killed on a mission to find the Scarlet Eyes. But now…

Chrollo wanted to see him again. He wanted to know if he would be surprised.

***

Kurapika didn't know what he expected when he went to meet with the Phantom Troupe on some random Thursday. He wasn't expecting to meet them in a random bar as if they'd rented the whole thing out.

"He's here!" Shalnark said, running forward to greet him. "Hey Kurapika! Sorry, you fell asleep before I could properly thank you for saving Kortopi!"

Kurapika noticed that he didn't mention that Kurapika had also saved him. Then again, Kurapika would care more about someone saving his friends than saving himself. It would mean more to him.

"It was nothing," Kurapika said in response, even though he knew it wasn't true. It was something, but he didn't know what yet. He could see from the rest of the Troupe's faces that they also didn't agree with his statement.

"Come on, let's get you a drink!"

"I don't drink," Kurapika said, which isn't strictly true. He'll indulge every once in a while with friends. But he's not about to impair his judgement while surrounded by a group of mass murderers.

"Then we'll get you tea or something!" Kurapika allowed himself to be dragged to the table the rest of the troupe was sitting at. He could feel all their eyes on him. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't like him much, considering he's seriously injured one of their members, removed their leader's Nen, and blackmailed them into helping him. He hasn't exactly made the best impression. He wouldn't be surprised if they treated him with dis-

"There he is!" A loud voice boomed and a hand clapped on his back. It was Uvogin. "Now that I don't have to worry about losing my Nen, I can challenge you to a rematch!"

Multiple of the troupe members sighed. Apparently this was a common topic of conversation.

"Kurapika isn't here to fight you, Uvo," Chrollo said dryly. "He's here to discuss our plan for the second pair of Scarlet Eyes."

Kurapika frowned. "Second? I don't have any pairs yet."

Chrollo summoned his book and Kurapika had to stop himself from reacting. A part of him wanted to ready his chains, but he was sure the troupe was watching to see if he reacted with hostility. He had to prove he could work with them.

"Second," Chrollo said, "because I don't like being indebted to people." He brought out a small cloth bag and unraveled it to release a set of Scarlet Eyes. "I believe these will suffice as payment for Shalnark and Kortopi's lives?"

Kurapika didn't answer at first. He couldn't take his eyes off the eyes in front of him. He could see the edges of his vision tinting red, but took a deep breath.

"Yes," he eventually said. "They will."

If his hands were shaking when he took them from Chrollo, no one mentioned it. No one mentioned how wet his eyes were either.

For the first time since he was twelve years old, Kurapika had made progress in his quest to bring his family rest.

The meeting mostly consisted of them discussing where the Scarlet Eyes were most likely to be and where they wanted to go to track them down first.

Eventually they decided on a mission. They'd meet up next Thursday then head out. Shalnark was practically buzzing in excitement already.

Kurapika didn't know whether he was excited or dreading it. Maybe a little bit of both.

***

"There he is!" Uvo greeted once again the next week. "Took you long enough!"

"I'm ten minutes early," Kurapika said. "Chrollo isn't even here yet."

It was true, it seemed the rest of the troupe was all gathered. None of them were drinking at least, which Kurapika appreciated. They were taking the mission seriously.

"The boss will be here soon," Shalnark said. "Want to play cards until he gets here?"

"No thank you," Kurapika said, glancing toward the door. He should have just waited and come in exactly in time. He wanted to spend as little quality time as possible with the Phantom Troupe.

"Damn, we needed one more for Pinochle," Shalnark said. "Machi?"

"Fine," she sighed, sitting at a table with Phinks and Shizuku. Kurapika tuned them out, sitting at an empty table as he waited.

Chrollo got there five minutes before the agreed upon time. "Good, you're all here," he said. "Let's go."

***

The mansion itself was unassuming. Then again, most of the people that had the Scarlet Eyes wouldn't be powerful themselves, they'd have powerful guards. They wouldn't need to be wary of the rich guy collecting people's eyeballs, but they would need to worry about his security.

"Is there a reason you're bringing every member of your troupe to this mission?" Kurapika asked. Chrollo had even brought Hisoka's replacement, Killua's brother Kalluto, along. They'd split into teams of two, with Kurapika going along with Chrollo. He wanted to protest the arrangement, but he could see the logic in it. Leave the outsider with the leader, and see how he fares. They were currently sneaking into the top floor to check their section of the mansion, while the other teams checked the other sections.

"They all wanted to come and I figured the more the merrier," Chrollo said. "It'll make checking the entire mansion go faster. Besides, they're all capable, so this mission should be easy."

Almost as if his words had invited the problem, alarms immediately began blaring through the mansion.

"Which way?" Kurapika asked.

"In my experience, the more security there is the closer you are to something valuable," Chrollo said, leading them down the hallway. They came to a fork. On the left was an empty hallway, on the right was a few security guards that were heading towards them.

"Right it is," Kurapika said, sending some of his chains forward to knock a few guards back. Chrollo was weaving his way by then, easily knocking them out with a single chop to their neck.

They continued with this method until they neared the end of their section of the mansion. They turned once more, finding the largest group of security, and quickly disposed of them.

"It's a dead end," Kurapika said, staring at the blank wall.

"There's probably some sort of secret passageway," Chrollo said. "If we can find it then-"

Kurapika didn't wait for him to finish. He whipped his chains forward, leaving a large hole in the wall. There was an empty space behind it, a long hallway that led into a lighted room.

"Or we can do that," Chrollo said.

"They already know we're here," Kurapika said. "There's no need for stealth if it compromises speed."

Chrollo led the way into the room. A cold feeling suddenly washed over Kurapika and he quickly used Gyo to check their surroundings. There were multiple blotches of Nen on the floor.

Including one right where Chrollo was stepping.

Kurapika didn't even think, he sent his chains forward, warping Chrollo in Chain Jail and throwing him to the other side of the room, towards a spot with no Nen concentrated on it.

Kurapika watched as a bolt of pure Nen shot through where Chrollo was standing. It would have gone straight through his chest.

Kurapika had been standing right behind him. He tried to jump out of the way, but he had taken too long getting Chrollo out of the way. Luckily, he moved so it only shot through his shoulder, but it still hurt. Well, mostly. So it was kind of his shoulder and kind of his chest, but he was pretty sure it wasn't fatal. He managed to stay on his feet, mostly by leaning on the wall next to him, and instead of screaming he let out a loud curse so it really wasn't too bad. If he could just focus enough to use his Nen to heal it then he'd be just fine.

"-would you do that?" Chrollo was right next to him, so he must have zoned out for a second.

"You're welcome," Kurapika said. "I can't believe you walked in there without using Gyo."

"We hadn't run into any Nen users so I assumed it wouldn't be a problem." Kurapika bit his tongue to suppress a cry when Chrollo started putting pressure on his bad shoulder.

"An oversight on your part," A voice said. Kurapika turned to see an older woman standing inside the room. "My traps can be lethal even to Nen users if they aren't paying attention."

There were patches of Nen all over the room, which upon closer inspection was definitely the treasury they were looking for.

"Killing me won't disable the traps. You'd need an exorcist to take care of them." She smiled slyly. "Lucky for you, you've only activated one of my less deadly traps, though even that one has killed anyone that's attempted to break into this room before."

She continued speaking, something about how they need to bypass all her traps to get out or something. Kurapika wasn't listening anymore.

She was cut off by a knife embedding itself in her throat. Kurapika blinked and looked over at Chrollo who had a steely look on his face.

"These traps aren't even a problem if you're a Nen user," he grumbled, stepping around them. "Since the homeowner has to be able to navigate them, there has to be a path that's safe." Kurapika pushed himself off the wall to follow behind him, but Chrollo turned to glare at him. "Stay out, don't you dare aggravate your shoulder."

"It's not even that bad," Kurapika said, even though he didn't know how it looked. He was trying not to look at it. So long as he remained distracted it really didn't hurt too bad. Chrollo would be dead if Kurapika hadn't interfered so he regrets nothing.

Judging by the look Chrollo sent him, he wasn't impressed. While he searched, Kurapika focused and accessed his Emperor Time, healing himself to the best of his ability. It wasn't perfect or complete, but at least he wasn't in danger of bleeding out anymore. And now he could stand without feeling dizzy.

"I thought I said to stay down," Chrollo said.

"I'm fine, I can heal myself." Kurapika started stepping around the traps, glancing at the weird treasures in the room. There was an old finger situated next to a pile of rubies, so obviously this guy had no internal decorating sense.

Chrollo didn't say anything, but Kurapika suspected if he looked his way he'd find an exasperated look sent his way.

It was the third table he was searching that Kurapika found what he was looking for.

Well. Sort of.

He found a note that said You should have stayed out of it , sighed with a star and a tear.

"Son of a bitch!" He snapped, crushing the note in his hand. Of course Hisoka would interfere, he knew exactly what Kurapika was looking for.

“What is it?”

“Hisoka beat us here.” Was Hisoka going after all the Scarlet Eyes, or was he going to hold on to these ones and disappear?

"Don't worry. He won't be able to hide forever,” Chrollo said, coming up behind him.

So Chrollo assumed it was the latter. Either way, it was frustrating. Here he was, with a bloody shoulder and nothing to show for it. A part of Kurapika just wanted to collapse on the floor and cry until he couldn't anymore. But a greater part of him refused to show vulnerability in front of Chrollo.

"Grab whatever you want," Kurapika said. He sounded hollow, even to himself. "Let me know if I can help."

He didn't know how long it took Chrollo to grab what he wanted, he spent the entire time staring at the crumpled ball in his hand. He probably looked pretty pathetic, covered in his own blood and defeated by a one sentence note.

Chrollo may have said something to him at some point, but Kurapika didn't comprehend it. He followed him out of the vault and towards the designated meeting point.

"You need to get that treated," Chrollo said. "Machi can help."

"I'm fine," Kurapika said. It looked like they were going to be the last group to come out. It made sense, since they'd been the ones to find the vault. Everyone else just had to clear their floors and move on.

"Whoa what happened to you?" Phinks asked as soon as he saw them. Like a switch flipped, all eyes turned to them.

"Looks like you guys had some fun!" Uvo grinned. Was it really that bad? Kurapika looked down and had to spread a wince. His shoulder still looked pretty mangled. Had he not healed it as much as he did it would probably barely still be attached. Nen based injuries were the worst.

"It's fine," Kurapika said. "I'm fine." He just wanted to go back to his hotel room and sulk on his bed.

"At least let me look at that," Machi said, walking over. "What even happened?"

Kurapika glared at Chrollo. " Someone walked into a big treasure vault without using Gyo and needed me to save his stupid butt."

"We hadn't run into any Nen users yet," Chrollo attempted to defend himself. Kurapika gave him his best unimpressed look. He sighed. "Fine, I'm sorry. You got hurt because I was careless. And thank you for saving my life."

Kurapika…didn't know what to do with that. He didn't expect the Phantom Troupe leader to start being so genuine. He huffed and turned away. "Whatever. The eyes weren't there anyways."

"Aww man, we were so sure he had them!" Shalnark complained.

"He did," Chrollo said. "Hisoka broke in and stole them first."

"Son of a bitch!" Uvo snapped.

"That's what I said," Kurapika remarked.

"This might hurt," Machi said. "Hold still."

Kurapika didn't acknowledge that she spoke, but did brace himself. Then he hissed as a feeling like a thousand tiny needles pricking his shoulder suddenly spread through his shoulder. He stayed still though, and after a few seconds Machi stepped back.

"My Nen stitches should take care of it until it's healed," she said.

"Thanks," Kurapika said.

"It's the least I could do considering you took the hit for our boss."

"How long until we go after the next pair?" Phinks asked.

"Let's go next week," Chrollo said. "That way Kurapika's shoulder can heal."

"We don't have to wait that long," Kurapika said. "Once I regain some energy I can use my Nen to heal it more. I'll be fine in a couple days."

"Then you can get some rest."

Kurapika gave him his best deadpan stare. "Do I look like the kind of man who rests?"

"One week," Chrollo said. "I'll text you about our strategy."

"Yeah, whatever." Kurapika rolled his shoulders. His left one twinged slightly, but it definitely hurt less than before.

"Where are you staying, we can drop you off," Pakunoda said.

"Just bring me back to the bar," Kurapika said. "I can walk from there."

"You do realize we're just going to follow you home to make sure you get there safe anyways, right?" Shizuku chimed in. "Might as well cut out the middle man."

"Fine." Kurapika sighed.

Why not give a bunch of murderers access to his hotel room? He's already pretty much lost control of every other aspect of his life.

Chapter Text

Things were going decently for Kurapika. With the help of the Phantom Troupe, he’d actually managed to recover a few of the Scarlet Eyes. Then, the Chimera Ants started their attack, and just like that everything was put on hold.

The first he’d really heard of them was when the Phantom Troupe canceled one of their operations because they’d invaded Meteor City. The next thing he knew, Gon was in the hospital and it was like Kurapika fell apart. He never should have left Gon and Killua alone, he should have gone with them wherever they were, he should have checked in on them, though as far as he knew they were with the NGL and therefore unable to be contacted, but he still should have found a way.

Just like with his clan, he left and everything fell apart. Everyone suffered but him. Even the Phantom Troupe had to join the fight, but Kurapika hadn’t.

Part of him didn’t even want to visit Gon in the hospital. He didn’t deserve to go see his friend, not when he hadn’t been there for him. Another part of him argued that he should go see him because it’s what Gon would want.

In the end, Kurapika was selfish.

“Hey,” Killua said as soon as he noticed him. “You came!”

Kurapika pulled Killua into a hug. He couldn’t talk, he didn’t know what to say. How could he stand here and try to be there for them now, when he wasn’t there when they needed him most?

But Killua was trembling, and Kurapika wondered if it was possible that his friends needed him just as badly now. He wanted to apologize for not being there, he wanted to wrap Killua up in ten blankets and hide him away, he wanted to promise that he’d never let anything happen to him. He wanted to swear vengeance on anyone that might have hurt him.

He didn’t do any of those things. He just kept his arms wrapped around him until Killua stopped shaking.

“Thanks for coming,” Killua said.

“Of course,” he said, even though everything still felt wrong. He still felt like he didn’t deserve to be here. But he ignored that part of himself, because he knew that in the end, what Gon and Killua needed mattered more than his own feelings.

He should count himself lucky that this time it wasn’t a massacre, the Killua is here, and the Gon is still alive, and that Leorio and Melody weren’t there, and the Phantom Troupe are all okay.

And since when had he counted the Phantom Troupe in his “People I Care About” list? Was it when Franklin pulled him out of the way of an attack during one of their missions? Or when Machi healed his shoulder? Or when Chrollo apologized?

It didn't matter. They meant something to him, which only made it worse that he wasn't there for them.

Kurapika didn't press Killua for details. He figured he'd probably had to retell the story so many times already that he needed a break from it. By the time Kurapika left, Killua looked like the weight he had been carrying was just a little bit lighter.

***

Sometimes, Kurapika wonders if he's cursed. He's spent so long focusing on putting his clan to rest, and yet even then he knows that it won't bring him peace. Kurapika hasn't known peace since he was a twelve year old boy returning to his village to find one hundred twenty eight corpses.

Sometimes, Kurapika wonders if the only way for him to find peace is to join the rest of his clan in death. But there's always been something pushing him forward. He has to become a hunter, he has to find the Scarlet Eyes.

But then what about after?

Deep down, Kurapika is scared of finishing his quest, because then he won't have a purpose anymore. And if he's barely continuing on with life when he has a purpose driving him forward, how will he live with no purpose driving him forward?

But being afraid isn't going to stop him from finding all the Scarlet Eyes.

***

Kurapika met with the Phantom Troupe at a bar in Yorknew City on Thursday instead of their typical meeting place in Meteor City. At this point, he’s pretty sure Thursdays are regular meeting days for the entire troupe, and every other day of the week they can do their own thing (though they often wind up doing things together anyways.) It was an unspoken rule: Always be there for Thursday nights.

Apparently, Hisoka was the only Phantom Troupe member that ever missed one for anything but an emergency. A small part of Kurapika felt warm at the thought that they invited him to these meetings, even though he knew it was just until they found the Scarlet Eyes and their alliance was finished. After that, they would want nothing to do with him. Kurapika wondered what it said about him that he didn’t feel the same way anymore.

“You look terrible,” Shalnark said immediately upon seeing him.

“Thanks,” Kurapika said. “It’s the lack of sleep.”

“When was the last time you slept?” Paku asked.

“It’s Thursday right?” Kurapika plopped himself down at one of the tables. “I don’t actually know. I think I took a nap on Tuesday.”

In his defense, he was still working for the mafia and looking for clues to find the Scarlet Eyes, and it seems every day the Nostrades are putting more and more work on him. He spent more than eighteen hours yesterday as a security detail for a meeting because they’re understaffed. Not to mention the things he has to do on the side to keep up with the Phantom Troupe, and he’s trying to keep an eye on Killua, Leorio, and Gon. Killua had just come out of a whole thing with his family and the Zodiacs. Kurapika wanted to keep an eye out for him to make sure he was doing okay, though he seemed happy to be traveling with Alluka.

The biggest drain on his time is the fact that as of right now Kurapika is the only person Mr.Nostrade trusts to get the job done, so he’s in charge of his security, his daughter’s security, his treasure’s security, while also being in charge of communications between the different Dons. Getting a full night's sleep is just impossible, let alone having time to eat three proper meals every day. The Yorknew auction is coming up next month and he’s already overworked.

“Do they have coffee here?” Kurapika asked. As soon as he’s done here he has a meeting with the other heads of security to plan for the auction, then he has to check in with Neon to confirm her wishlist and research what items will be available, then he has to interview other people for security, and even if he hires everyone that applies he’ll still be understaffed because last year the Phantom Troupe massacred the mafia’s entire security detail. Which just meant there was a lot of pressure on him this year to make sure that it didn’t happen again. Which meant that his phone rang pretty much every ten minutes with someone making a comment about the current security setup.

“I am not giving you coffee,” Paku said. “Take a nap.”

“I don’t have time to take a nap,” Kurapika said. “I have things to do. Sleep is for people who don’t have day jobs on top of whatever the hell we’re doing here.”

“Just quit your day job,” Shizuku said.

“Unlike you guys, I’m not getting paid for this. I’m not selling the Scarlet Eyes.” Kurapika dropped his head onto the table. “Wake me up when Chrollo gets here.”

He closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep. He wonders what it says about himself that he can instantly pass out in a room full of people that murdered his clan.

***

Kurapika woke up to his alarm for his meeting with the security heads going off. He had fifteen minutes before he had to be at the meeting.

Which isn’t right, because he was supposed to meet with the Phantom Troupe first, right?

“Shalnark, I thought you turned off his phone!” Kortopi’s voice rang out.

“I turned off his notifications, I didn’t think to check his alarms!”

“What time is it?” He asked, grabbing his phone and looking at the screen. 6:45. It’ll take him fifteen minutes to make it to his meeting at a dead sprint, which he’s in no shape to be doing right now. He’s definitely going to be late, which means the meeting will start late and then it will run late, so he’ll be late meeting with Neon, who will complain about it for at least thirty minutes before they can actually discuss what he was there for, and…

Well. Kurapika didn’t want to sleep tonight anyways.

He stood up and turned to run out the door when he felt himself being lifted up.

“I don’t think so,” Phinks said, sitting him back down. Had Kurapika been well rested, he probably would have been able to avoid it. “You are going to get some actual sleep, not that pitiful hour and a half you just got.”

Kurapika still wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. Did he miss his meeting with them? Is that why they’re keeping him there?

“I have a meeting in fifteen minutes,” Kurapika said. “Sorry for sleeping through our meeting, I can probably come tomorrow on my lunch break, or maybe I can do it before I check out the venue for any tampering in the security cameras. That would only give us like ten to fifteen minutes either way, though, so if we need more time I can do it after my meeting tonight, but I probably won’t be done with those until after two, and we’ll have to be done by three thirty because I have to pick Neon’s friend up from the airport at four and traffic is bad over there no matter what time it is and-”

“Okay I’m getting stressed just looking at you,” Kalluto said. “When did you get so busy?”

“Yeah, isn’t this supposed to be a day job?” Franklin asked. “Why are you working until four in the morning?”

“The mafia’s entire security detail was murdered last year, thanks a lot, so this year they’re going overboard with it despite how understaffed we are.” Kurapika tried to stand up again, but his vision was slightly swaying. Or maybe he was swaying and that’s why his vision was like that. “And for some reason I’m in charge of literally everything and I can’t delegate to anyone because there’s no one to delegate to because they also got murdered.” Kurapika turned to Uvo. “If you murder any more of our security I might cry.” Uvo at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“Kurapika, I’m saying this as kindly as I possibly can,” Nobunaga placed a hand on each of his shoulders, forcing him to sit back down. “You look like shit.”

“Also did I hear right that your lunch break is only fifteen minutes?” Franklin asked. “That can’t be legal.”

“It used to be an hour but I don’t have time for that anymore,” Kurapika said. “And I appreciate the concern, but I’m already running late and the later I am for my meeting the later my other meetings will go and I can’t forget to pick Neon’s friend up from the airport because then I’ll have to schedule two hours of my day to deal with one of her tantrums and I honestly don’t have the time for that tomorrow unless I decide to skip both sleep and meals.”

“Well, unfortunately for you, you missed out on our discussion for the mission we’re starting.” Kurpika looked up to see Chrollo sitting at the bar. How long had he been here? “We decided that we’re going to completely dismantle the security for the Yorknew Auction.”

That’s it. Kurapika hated him. He gave him his best death glare, which was only made better by the giant bags under his eyes. He could feel his stress multiplying at the implications of that statement. “I will kill you.” Judging by the looks of the other Phantom members, they hadn’t even discussed that. They didn’t seem to know what Chrollo was talking about.

“Too bad.” Chrollo smiled smugly. “See, all we have to do to destroy the security for the auction is remove one person from the equation.”

“That won’t work,” Kurapika said. “I can do just about everyone’s jobs, so if you kill someone I can fill in until we find a replacement.” He saw the realization on the other troupe members before he realized it himself. “Wait-”

“Consider yourself kidnapped.” Franklin and Phinks both grabbed one of his arms and dragged him up. Before he knew it he was thrown over someone’s shoulder and was being treated to the sight of Franklin’s ass.

“Let me go!’ Kurapika snapped, reaching up to pinch Franklin in the neck. He didn’t budge. “Look, you guys don’t know where all the Scarlet Eyes are, and the mafia has a tendency to find them. I can’t just quit!”

“You aren’t quitting,” Chrollo said. “You’re being kidnapped against your will. I’m sure they'll understand.”

“They’ll probably fire me.”

“Can they even afford to fire you?” Shalnark asked. He was holding Kurapika’s phone. He turned it around to show everyone the calendar he’d pulled up. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a calendar this busy. Are they at least paying you overtime?”

They weren’t. Kurapika decided not to tell them that.

Kurapika sighed, turning to Kalluto. “Will you at least inform your brother about my kidnapping so he doesn’t freak out?”

“I texted him already. He’s on board.”

“We have to make it look legit,” Shalnark said as he shoved a bag over his head. “Sorry. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll love Meteor City!”

“So you’re forcing me to take unpaid vacation days?”

“If you want, we’ll pay you,” Chrollo said. “Consider it being bribed to let us steal everything from the auction again this year.”

Well, if Kurapika couldn’t really argue with that. And by couldn’t he means literally, he’s already falling asleep. They didn’t even have to sedate him.

***

The security for the auction fell apart, as was expected. A part of Kurapika isn’t even upset. It’s probably the part that was hanging out in Meteor City with the Phantom Troupe having fun and relaxing for once. They’d even managed to pick up three pairs of Scarlet eyes just in that month. He still had a long way to go, but it was nice to feel like he was making progress.

They’d brought him to some kind of safehouse in Meteor City. There was always a troupe member with him to maintain the facade of kidnapping (maybe they just wanted to hang out with him.) Thanks to Shalnark, he’s now familiar with Poker, Hearts, Pinochle, BS, and Gin. Kurapika has played more cards this month than he ever had in his entire life (he hadn’t had someone to play with in a long time.)

“Are you guys back from the auction already?” Kurapika asked, when every member walked into the room.

“Yup,” Kortopi said, coming to join him on the couch. Uvo threw something at him and Kurapika automatically caught it. It was a pair of Scarlet Eyes.

“Happy Birthday,” Uvo said.

“My birthday is in April,” Kurapika responded.

“Half birthday then.”

“Close enough.” Kurapika accepted the gift and set it on the table. He just needed a few more Scarlet Eyes, he was so close to finally fulfilling his lifelong goal. He ignored the twinge of fear about what may be coming next. What would his life hold in store for him? “Does this mean the auction is over? Am I free to go now?”

“That depends,” Chrollo said. “Are you going to go back to working for the mafia?”

Kurapika had planned on it. Then again, at this point he had enough contacts in the mafia that he could keep in touch with for updates about the Scarlet Eyes. And he was able to be much more productive when he wasn’t busy babysitting Mr.Nostrade and his spoiled daughter. “Probably not. I’ll find somewhere else to work where I can get information.”

Kurapika wondered where he’d be without the Phantom Troupe’s influence. Exhausted, possibly even dead. He’d likely have run himself into the ground despite having made even less progress. He’s glad he had the foresight to force them into a deal to help collect the Scarlet Eyes, even though he really should have known better than to trust them.

“Then go ahead.” Chrollo gestured to the door.

“What would you have done if I intended to stay with the mafia?” Kurapika asked.

“I would have found some way to make sure they weren’t an option, even if I had to kill all the Dons again and frame you for it,” Chrollo said bluntly. “They didn’t appreciate your talents and overworked you despite your loyalty to them.”

Kurapika couldn’t decide whether he was flattered or disturbed. Maybe a little bit of both. “Thanks, I think. Any suggestions for where I can go to find work?”

“Just steal the money, it’s way easier,” Feitan said.

Kurapika sighed. Of course they would be of no help.

***

“I heard you met your dad,” Kurapika said into the phone as he finished packing up his things. “How did that go?”

“He’s okay, I guess,” Gon said. “Apparently Leorio punched him.”

“Good for Leorio,” Kurapika said. “Sorry that I haven’t been able to see you for a while.”

“That’s alright, Killua told me you got kidnapped by the Phantom Troupe for a forced vacation because you were being overworked by the mafia.” Gon sounded as cheerful as ever. “We should all get together sometime in June to celebrate all our birthdays! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I’d like that,” Kurapika said. “Where should we go?”

“I guess that depends on what everyone will be doing. We could always plan to meet up on Whale Island, that way you could meet my Aunt Mito! And if all else fails we can go somewhere else if we have jobs that we’re in the middle of.”

“That sounds wonderful, Gon.” Kurapika closed his suitcase. “I can’t wait.”

***

“I can’t believe you got me dragged into this!” Kurapika hissed at Leorio as he passed by him after arriving in Swardani City.

“I wasn’t going to accept at first,” Leorio said. “But I figured this would give us a good chance to see each other, especially since you just quit the mafia. You needed a job, right? The Zodiacs have lots of influence.”

“And lots of responsibility,” Kurapika grumbled.

“You didn’t have to accept,” Leorio pointed out.

“They promised me Scarlet Eyes,” Kurapika said, and Leorio knows him well enough that that’s reason enough. “There was a video a while back on the darkweb of a man with multiple pairs."

Admittedly, Kurapika likely would have accepted anyways just to see Leorio again. It had been too long since Kurapika had seen any of his friends besides the Phantom Troupe Members, and he had missed them. They'd all managed to get together in Yorknew to have a big birthday celebration for them since Kurapika was in the middle of a job there and wouldn't have been able to take the long trip to Whale Island. He promised Gon he'd meet his Aunt Mito in September, on her birthday, to make it up to him.

He and Leorio talked for a while before Kurapika had to go and meet with Mizaistom. As he went to his meeting, however, Kurapika could tell he felt lighter.

Was this what it was like to have people he cared about in his life? He'd almost forgotten what that felt like.

***

Kurapika was preparing his things to leave on the voyage on the Black Whale when his phone buzzed. He saw his vision tinge red as soon as he understood the text.

I'll bring them on the whale. Find me if you can.

It was from Hisoka. Kurapika didn't even need to look at his typical signature to know that.

He should tell the Phantom Troupe. He's going on the Black Whale to find Scarlet Eyes, and Hisoka will be there with the last pair. He should invite them to help.

But Hisoka was dedicated to killing the members of the Phantom Troupe, and while Chrollo and probably Feitan could take him, everyone else would be in danger every moment they're there. Besides, Kurapika has relied on them enough. They've helped him retrieve all the other eyes, he can handle these ones on his own.

He just had to do his job as a bodyguard, find the other eyes, defeat Hisoka and get his eyes, and make it out alive. Easy, right?

Chapter Text

After meeting with Queen Oito, Kurapika was excited to go back to his room and finally get some rest. He'd barely gotten here and he was already exhausted, which didn't bode well for the rest of the journey. Not to mention he now had to plan an escape route for the Queen and her child on top of everything he's already doing. He hadn’t even seen or heard any sign of Hisoka.

He walked into his room in a daze and dropped on his bed with a sigh.

"Long day huh?" Kurapika shot off his bed to see Chrollo leaning against his wall.

"How the hell did you get in my room?"

Chrollo gave him a look. "I picked the lock, obviously. It was easy, the locks on this ship are pathetic. Promise me you'll set a trap or something because otherwise you're sure to be murdered in your sleep."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kurapika dropped his head back on his bed. "Why are you here?"

"I can't understand what you're saying with your face in your mattress, but I'm going to assume that you want to know why I'm here?" Kurapika let his silence speak for itself. "Leorio called me, said something about you going after a bunch of Scarlet Eyes with no backup?"

Kurapika had backup. Melody and Bisky were here!

"He also mentioned that you told him that Hisoka was also going to be here." Damn it. Kurapika should have kept that to himself, of course Leorio would snitch on him. Something about being "worried about him" or something, which is ridiculous because Kurapika is an adult and can take care of himself. "Which is something that I was sure you would have mentioned, so imagine my surprise when I checked in with everyone and you apparently assured all of them that it was going to be a quick risk free mission." Kurapika could feel Chrollo's glare.

"It must have slipped my mind," Kurapika said, face still stuffed in the mattress.

"Still can't understand you, so I'll just assume you were apologizing for lying and being reckless. To make it up to us you're going to host the meeting in your room tonight."

That got Kurapika to sit up. "Meeting? How many of you are on board?"

Chrollo gave him another exasperated look. "With Hisoka here? All of us."

Great. That's just what he wanted. All of them. Here. With Hisoka. Kill him now.

"How long until they get here?" Maybe Kurapika could at least plan out how to best keep them out of harm's way while he tackles most of it. He's sure he can find busy work for them.

"They're just waiting for me to let them in," Chrollo said.

Great. Perfect. Fantastic. Kurapika’s day just keeps getting better.

Was it a bad sign that even his innermost thoughts are sarcastic?

They were definitely listening in, because as soon as Chrollo finished talking the burst into the room like a flood.

“Heard you might be in over your head,” Bonolenov said. “We had to come and bail you out.”

“I had things under control,” Kurapika said sourly. He didn’t need their help, or he would have asked for it. “Besides, how did you even get on this ship?”

“How did anyone?” Franklin shrugged. “We got hired as bodyguards, obviously.”

“I didn’t need your help,” Kurapika said.

“Well we’re here, so you have it anyways,” Shalnark said cheerfully. “So, what are we doing?”

In the end, Kurapika wound up losing control of almost the entirety of the mission. The only thing he could still control was how he was getting he Queen and Prince off the island. And Chrollo even had something to say about that.

“We could fake their deaths,” he offered. “Kortopi’s cloning ability is pretty useful for that, and that way no one would look for them.”

Kurapika hated to admit it, but it was a solid plan. “Fine. But I’m still taking point on everything that happens with Hisoka.” The room immediately erupted with protests. “He has some kind of murder vendetta against all of you!”

“He hasn’t bothered any of us since the fight,” Machi pointed out. “He has, however, done a lot to mess with you and your plans. I think we should be more concerned about you than us.”

“There’s an easy solution to this,” Feitan said. “No one goes anywhere alone, not even Kurapika.” Great. Kurapika wasn’t a big fan of having no alone time, but he couldn’t exactly argue that it was a bad idea. It would be nice to be able to keep an eye on the other members of the Troupe at least.

“Fine.” Kurapika let himself flop backwards onto his bed, but there wasn’t much room on it considering both Kortopi and Kalluto had curled up on it already and fallen asleep a few minutes ago while they were arguing. “If any of you see Hisoka, immediately send out an SOS.”

“Obviously,” Pakunoda said. “Who’s shadowing who?”

“I’ll stay with Kurapika-” Chrollo started, before Kurapika interrupted him.

“No,” Kurapika said. “I can restrain him with my chains if I can sneak up on him, and you’re capable of holding him off in a fight, so we should be in separate groups.” For some reason, a few members of the troupe looked disappointed . Did they not want to be on a team with him?

“I see,” Chrollo definitely looked disappointed. Did he want to pair up with Kurapika? Did Kurapika want to pair up with him? He liked being around Chrollo, he wasn’t horrible and he and Kurapika got along well. He wouldn’t mind shadowing him, but Kurapika would never forgive himself if two other troupe members died because they were unprepared to hold off Hisoka.

In the end, Kurapika was paired up with Paku. He didn’t mind that, he liked Paku, she was blunt and also kind.

Now he just had to add “make sure the entire Phantom Troupe Survives” to his to do list.

***

“Hey Kurapika, what’s up?” Gon asked.

“Before we get into all that, how are you doing?” Kurapika said into the phone. “It’s been too long, I may have to come visit.”

“You’re still coming for Mito’s birthday, right?” Gon asked. “That’s only a month away!”

“That’s true.” Kurapika smiled. “I’m excited to finally meet her, you talk about her a lot.”

“Well, I’ve realized that between the four of us, I’m really the only one with a family to introduce you guys to,” Gon said. “Besides, I already know that Aunt Mito will love you and Leorio! Anyways, what were you calling for?”

“There’s a couple of people that I’m helping to disappear,” Kurapika said. “I was wondering if I could send them to Whale Island and you could keep an eye on them until I can pick them up? It would just be until your aunt’s birthday.”

“Of course!” Gon said. “Killua and I can be at Whale Island in no time, how are they getting here?”

“I’ll probably have Bisky and Melody escort them,” Kurapika said. “And maybe a member of the Phantom Troupe. They’ll probably get there in about two weeks, is that okay?”

“Yeah!” Gon sounded excited, which was a relief to Kurapika. “It’ll be so good to see Bisky and Melody again!”

He and Gon talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. Kurapika breathed out a sigh of relief. That was one task down, only a million more to go.

***

No matter what, it seemed like they couldn’t seem to find Hisoka. It had been a week of preparations and planning, and while they’d managed to find out that Tserriednich had the rest of the eyes and found a way to get Oito and Woble off the ship, Hisoka has continued to elude them.

“We’ll find him,” Paku assured him. “He has to be around here somewhere, right?”

“Unless this is all some wild goose chase to distract us while he does something back home,” Kurapika grumbled.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Paku said. “But for now, we just have to keep being vigi-” A blaring alarm came from Kurapika’s phone. He ripped it out. It was an SOS from Kalluto. She was paired with Uvogin.

“Where are they?” He asked, running towards the stairs.

“They’re nearby, I think they were near your room.” Kurapika skidded around a corner, hearing crashes down the hallway. When they got there he had to take a moment to decipher if his vision was tinged red, or if there really was that much blood splattered around the room. Kalluto was still standing, barely holding Hisoka off while standing between him and a downed Uvogin. Paku kneeled down to check his pulse while Kurapika leapt into the fight.

“There you are!” Hisoka purred, knocking Kalluto to the side again, causing the boy to hit his head against the wall and fall down dazedly. Kurapika launched out with his chain jail, but Hisoka managed to avoid it. The clown booked it down the hallway and Kurapika cursed.

“Stay with them,” Kurapika said and ran after him, ignoring Paku’s protests. He wasn’t going to let him get away, what if he had killed them? Kurapika won’t let him ambush any of the rest of the troupe, he had to stop him here and now!

Hisoka weaved through the ship like an expert, so he’d definitely been there for a while. How had he managed to avoid them? They’d been searching all week!

Hisoka headed for the stars, and Kurapika jumped over the railing, pulling himself up the flights of staris in the middle instead of wasing time walking in circles. It left him slightly off balance though, and he barely dodged out of the way of one of Hisoka’s cards as he ran past him.

“Damnit!” He snapped. He could keep this up for a while, his endurance was good enough to run around this ship a hundred times without getting out of breath. The biggest concern was that Hisoka was planning to lead him into a trap, so Kurapika was quick to pull out Gyo to make sure that wouldn’t be a problem.

Hisoka finally skirted to the deck of the ship. There was no one there currently, most people choosing to stay close to their bodyguards and away from the other guests, leading to most of the ship looking like a ghost town.

“Is this where you’ve been hiding out?” Kurapika asked.

“Oh no, I just thought this was a great place to have a rematch,” Hisoka said with a smile. “I’ve been hiding all over the ship, it was easy with my texture surprise.” Of course! Hisoka could change the appearance of anything with his Nen. No wonder they couldn’t find him.

Kurapika wasted no time, sending his chains out to attack. Hisoka was good, but Kurapika was fighting him with his full strength, conditions included. His vision had been tinted red since the moment he’d seen Uvo and Kalluto in danger.

Hisoka managed to dodge the chains easily, his grin widening. And with that, they were both moving fast enough that any random bystander watching wouldn't be able to tell who was winning. But as the fight progressed, it was clear that one of them was stronger.

It was Hisoka.

The fight turned in his favor when the boat rocked slightly and Kurapika hadn't expected it, sending his chains flying wide. Hisoka took advantage of the less than a second it took for Kurapika to reel his chains back in and started an aggressive offensive.

"You shouldn't have interfered." Half a dozen cards flew towards him from all different directions and Kurapika only managed to dodge a few while the others left deep cuts on his arms that began bleeding quickly. "Both now and back then. You're interesting but not interesting enough to leave alive."

"Kurapika!" Someone burst through the door onto the deck and Kurapika's eyes flashed in their direction. He cursed himself for being distracted and quickly dodged to the side. But it was too late.

He managed to roll so that instead of embedding itself in his throat, the playing card slit it open. He could already tell he had less than a minute before he bled out, he needed to focus. He closed his eyes and tried to use his Nen to close the wound, he barely even felt himself being lifted off the deck.

"It really is a shame Gon couldn't be here to see this, I'd have loved to see the look on his face," Hisoka purred in his ear, and suddenly Kurapika was falling.

Hisoka must have thrown him overboard.

He pressed his hands to his throat and grit his teeth. He had to focus. He still has enough energy to heal this wound. He can do this.

His throat healed enough for him to take a breath right before he hit the water.

***

Chrollo felt nothing but blood pumping through his ears.

Kurapika was-

Hisoka just stood there, laughing. He'd seriously injured Uvo and Kalluto, and he'd…

He'd killed Kurapika. Kurapika who was kind enough that despite everything they'd done to him by murdering his clan, he still refused to kill them. He still saved them. He became their friend.

Chrollo wondered if this is what Kurapika felt when he first met them. This righteous fury, this overwhelming urge to make the person that had hurt someone he loved pay.

He was already throwing Hisoka into a wall before he realized it. He pinned him, pressing an arm over his throat.

"Look at you," Hisoka purred. "It's a shame you aren’t from the Kurta clan, red eyes would suit you.”

"Shut up!" Chrollo snarled. "I'll kill you! And this time I'll make it stick, no miracles!"

"I'd like to see you-" Hisoka choked on his next words, blood blossoming on his throat around a small hold. Chrollo was so focused he hadn't even heard the gunshot. 

Chrollo let him go. Hisoka was dead before he even hit the floor. That wasn't good enough. It was so fast. He should have suffered more. They had to make sure he didn't come back. Not again. Chrollo wouldn't let him hurt anymore of his family.

"When did you get here?" He asked. He felt a strange numbness spreading through his body. It was weird, a year ago he wouldn't have cared if Kurapika lived or died. How long did it take someone to become so important to you that it hurt to realize they were gone?

"Just now," Franklin said. "What happened? Where's Kurapika?"

Chrollo didn't cry. He wondered what it would have felt like if he had. He wants to sob and tell Franklin what he saw so his friend could comfort him. But he wasn’t a little kid. He was the Spider Head. He needed to lead.

"Let's find everyone else first," he said instead. "I'll catch you all up together."

What does it say about him that he can function so normally despite the fact that he hurts so much he feels like he can't breathe?

***

Kurapika hit the water on his right side, and he heard the snapping sound over the blood roaring through his ears. He could only focus on the pain as he careened through the water, quickly losing track of which way was up. He was just grateful he managed to take a deep inhale before he hit the water. Thanks to Gon's example during the Hunter Exam, Kurapika had trained to be able to hold his breath. He was no Gon, but he could last a little over five minutes. Which gives him five minutes to figure out which way was up before he started really drowning.

It was dark, and the water was freezing, but that combined with the pain in the right side of his body was enough to shock him to his senses.

First things first, he needed to find the surface. He can't be too deep in the water yet, but he's too exhausted to use his Nen chain right now.

He relaxed his body slightly, and squinted, trying to focus on seeing in front of him. It was dark, but if he focused on what he could feel more than what he could see then maybe this would work. He blew out a tiny bubble of air and…

There! It rose past his face!

He reoriented himself and tried to start swimming upward only for pain to shoot through his body.

Shit. He'd forgotten about what happened on impact. He'd probably fallen at least twenty feet before he hit the water and he hadn't braced himself at all. He's lucky he didn't die.

He'd expended most of his air when he gasped in pain, and his lungs were starting to burn. He braced himself and started swimming upward, ignoring the way his elbow was far too stiff and he struggled to move his right leg enough to propel him.

He coughed when he finally broke the surface, expelling a little bit of water from his body and doing his best to tread water. The ship was already far off with no hope of Kurapika catching it unless he could use his chains, and right now that was out of the question.

Right. Time for an inventory. His ribs on his right side were aching bad enough that it was hard to take deep breaths, and his elbow just bad enough that he suspected he'd broken it. He was pretty sure he'd broken his right leg in multiple places, but it was hard to be sure since his head was buzzing and he was still trying to stay afloat. The injury on his neck was healed, but the cuts on his arms stung from the saltwater getting in them. He needed to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't get infected.

It could be worse. He supposed he could be dead. And while Kurapika didn't fear death, it would really suck if he died so close to getting the last of the Scarlet Eyes.

Which just means he can't give up. Somehow, someway, he needs to figure out how to get back on that ship and not drown in the middle of nowhere. He could wait for rescue, but he suspects that at this point everyone is convinced he's dead, and there's not likely to be any other ships tailing the Black Whale, except of course the ship that he got for Queen Oito and-

That's it! That boat is catching up, it should be passing by this area in less than an hour!

He just needed to make it an hour. That was all.

***

"Wow, it's been a while since I've been on a ship!" Gon stared over the side, eyes focused on the water below. "I think last time was during the Hunter Exam! Remember Leorio?"

"Are you referring to the end of the fourth task or the pre Hunter Exam ship test?" Leorio asked.

"Both!" Gon beamed. "If Kurapika were here it would be just like old times!"

"I wasn't there for the first one," Killua said.

"Oh right! We didn't meet until we got to the test!" Gon said. "Sometimes I forget that we haven't known each other for years and years!"

"You can't just go around saying stuff like that!"

"Why not?" Gon asked. "You're my best-" he cut himself off, looking around.

"Gon?" Leorio asked. "Are you okay?"

"Something's wrong," he said. "I smell blood. Human blood."

"Well with the whole succession thing it wouldn't surprise me if someone got murdered and tossed overboard," Killua said. "That's probably what you're smelling."

"Maybe," Gon muttered, leering even further over the edge before pointing in the water. "Over there! And they're still alive!"

Leorio squinted. In the distance, he could see a figure bobbing in the water, though with the sun down and only the moonlight to guide them Leorio couldn’t make out any distinguishing features.

"Should we head over there?" Killua asked. "What if they're an enemy?"

"Then we'll lock them up," Gon said. "We can't just leave them to die!"

Leorio agreed. He wanted to be a doctor, which put him in the business of saving lives, not ending them.

They managed to convince the captain to redirect their course slightly and as they got closer, a cold feeling settled over Leorio.

"Is that Kurapika?" He asked. Gon didn't answer, proceeding to dive over board. "Gon! What are you doing?"

Gon was already paddling as fast as possible, which turned out to be pretty fast. He quickly pulled ahead of the boat.

"Who knows how long he's been out here," Killua said. "It's possible that seeing us come his way made him so relieved his body relaxed and his adrenaline will fade. He could drown right in front of us. Gon being there will prevent it."

Leorio felt like kicking himself. He knew Kurapika would run into problems, especially with Hisoka planning to be on the ship, but he had hoped that the Phantom Troupe would be enough protection.

He was wrong.

They caught up to Gon quickly, he had Kurapika draped over his back as he tread water. They draped a ladder down and Gon pulled himself and Kurapika onto the ship.

Leorio hated to say it, but Kurapika looked dead. His skin was pale and there was blood all over his soaked clothes. Leorio could hear his wheezing breaths, which was never a good sign.

Well. He wanted to be a doctor, right? He has his work cut out for him, but like hell was he going to stand back and let another friend die.

***

Kurapika thought he would wake up slowly, but instead he shot up with a gasp that dissolved into coughs.

"Easy," a familiar voice said. Kurapika turned to see Leorio holding a glass of water. "Don't strain yourself, okay?"

"Leorio?" Kurapika croaked. "What-" he cut himself off with another round of coughs.

"Gon, Killua, and I decided that we would come pick up lady Oito," Leorio explained. "We wanted to surprise you."

"Thanks," Kurapika whispered. "How long until we pick her up?"

"Later today," Leorio said. "We're close enough that we've caught a glimpse of the ship."

"We'll need to use Zetsu to sneak up on the Black Whale, and in a much smaller ship," Kurapika said. "We should leave now so we have time to catch up."

"Why are you talking as if you're going?" Leorio asked, though he sounded resigned.

Kurapika didn't even dignify that with a response.

***

Part of Chrollo had been tempted to dive into the water and retrieve Kurapika's body. He was sure that the Chain User would prefer to be buried with his clan. In the end, it just wasn't possible. The Black Whale is a fast ship, as soon as the thought entered his mind they were too far gone.

He would make it up to him. He'd finish what he started.

The rest of the troupe had already helped him break into Tserridnich's room and steal the eyes. It was simple once they worried less about actually concealing themselves. At this point, they just didn't care and they figured they'd leave the ship with Oito and Woble.

Now, he just had to help them get off the ship. Simple and easy. Then he'd go and bury the eyes with the rest of the Kurta clan and make sure Oito and her son were taken care of.

Maybe then, Chrollo would allow himself the luxury of grieving. 

"How much longer?" Oito asked them.

"The extraction team will be here any minute now," Chrollo said. "They'll take good care of you."

"Thank you," she said. "You didn't have to do this, it wasn't your job."

"I disagree," Chrollo said, then, in a softer voice, "It's what he would have wanted."

Kortopi took care of the fake bodies. They're making it look like they stole the eyes and killed Oito and Woble on their way off the ship. No one should look into it too closely with all the chaos occurring.

They were standing on the deck, with Shalnark watching the door and using his Nen to redirect anyone that came by. Chrollo felt them before he saw them. Even though they were using Zersu, he could tell they were there because he was expecting them.

"Now," he said, and Machi started using her Nen threads to lower people down. Chrollo waited until they were the last ones on the ship, watching to be sure each of his members made it down safely. He and Machi climbed down together, slipping into the long canoe style boat.

Chrollo did a quick head count. All twelve of his spiders were here, thirteen if you included Kurapika, along with Oito and-

Wait. Kurapika?

By the time Chrollo processed Uvo had already pulled him in for a bear hug.

"Watch the ribs," Kurapika groaned. "They're very broken!"

"Shut up," Uvo said. "We're going to hug you as much as we want because apparently you aren't dead."

"Not for Hisoka's lack of trying," Kurapika said dryly. "Luckily, they brought a doctor along on this boat." Chrollo just now noticed the rest of the extraction team: Gon, Killua, and Leorio were all sitting back watching their reunion. There was a little blood on the cuffs of Leorio's sleeves, so he must have been the one that treated Kurapika.

"You're alive," was all Chrollo managed to say. He let himself drop into a seat, feeling a wave of exhaustion hit him.

"Not to ruin the moment," Killua chimed in. "But we need to start rowing if we want to get back to the other ship before someone notices us. Zetsu can only do so much."

Chrollo turned his eyes to the oars. And if anyone noticed they were wet, well the ocean is rather misty right now, isn't it?

***

"You guys got all the eyes?" Kurapika asked, feeling a little touched. "But you thought I was dead!"

"The boss figured we could take them back for you," Machi said. "He's sentimental like that."

Kurapika wasn't sure what the look that Chrollo sent Machi meant, but it didn't change how he felt.

"Thanks," he said. "It means a lot to know that if I died, they'd still be able to be at peace."

Kurapika packed all the eyes away a few days later, making a plan to travel to Lukso. Chrollo even used his Nen to put them all in a small little bag so he didn't have to lug around all the glass cases.

The entire Phantom Troupe offered to come, but Kurapika refused. It felt wrong to have them there, especially since he knew that most of them still held no remorse for the event.

No, Kurapika may see them as friends, but that doesn't change what they did. He didn’t want them there. While he may have forgiven them, he wanted them nowhere near his hometown. All it would do is cause hard feelings.

"When will we see you again?" Shalnark asked.

"I don't know," Kurapika said. Their deal was over. There were no more eyes to help him find. A small part of himself wondered if they were relieved to be rid of him. The larger part of himself decided that it didn't matter, because they were his friends and he wasn't going to lose touch with them. "I'll reach out when I'm done and we can see from there, okay?"

It's a goodbye, but not a permanent one. Kurapika could see the way the rest of the Troupe relaxed at that. They were just as attached as he was.

Kurapika set out, convinced that by the time he returned, the restless weight he'd carried since he was twelve would be lightened significantly.

***

"Interesting," a man muttered, eyes fixated on the screen in front of him. The image on screen was one of Kurapika in York New, his eyes a blazing red. "I didn't know there was a survivor of the Kurta Clan." He grabbed his phone, quickly dialing a number.

"Good Evening," He said. "I have a business opportunity to discuss with you. But first, get me in touch with your best bounty hunter."

His eyes glinted with something evil. Possibly greed, possibly malice.

The person on the other end said something and the man's grin widened. "How would you like to commercialize the Kurta Clan's Scarlet Eyes?"