Beta:

(≧ڡ≦*)

"So you own a country now?" Gon summarized as he nibbled on the scones in Miwa's office.

"Exactly how often did you visit my family?" asked Killua.

"Yes," answered Miwa.

"That's so cool. What's it like?"

"I dunno. I don't really do anything anymore," said Miwa with a shrug. "I mean, I stamp things?"

"That didn't really answer my question," said Killua.

"What kind of things?" asked Gon.

Miwa gestured to the stack of paperwork on her desk. "I dunno. Chrollo puts it on my desk and tells me to stamp it. I stamp it. And if I'm not here and it needs stamped, he stamps it."

"Miwa," said Killua.

"Yes?"

"Did my—did my family do anything to you?" he hesitantly asked.

"They were very nice," Miwa explained with a smile. "Your momma was very helpful. And look at what Kalluto made me."

Miwa did a little twirl to show off her outfit. It was silky smooth. It glistened when the sun hit it just right. They had even used silk specially woven with nen so it wouldn't be immediately destroyed if she used Kurama's chakra. She loved it.

Killua sighed. "As long as... as long as you're okay, I guess."

"Mm-hmm! So tell me all about what happened."

"Okay—"

(≧ڡ≦*)

Miwa had a few things to take care of before she could leave with Gon and Killua. She first had to let Chrollo and the others know. Chrollo already had a hand in managing the state affairs—although only she and the Troupe members knew that—and he decided to continue to do so for a while longer.

"Are you sure?" Miwa asked with concern. Chrollo had denied an official position. He'd be operating from the shadows, giving Miwa the credit.

"Exceedingly so."

"Okay..."

She wasn't about to say no to that. She trusted Chrollo.

And if he turned out to betray her, well... Kurama told her exactly how to handle that situation.

Nobunaga and Shalnark wished her well on her journey, both promising to have mastered the basics in chakra by the time they met up again. Feitan, who was learning the shadow clone technique, sneered at her and said, "Finally, you're leaving."

"I'll miss you too," said Miwa without missing a beat. He really did remind her so much of her dear Kurama. Although not as petty.

With her affairs sorted out she returned to Gon and Killua and the three friends finally set out on their next adventure. They activated the teleportation spell Gon had acquired as his prize for beating the game, using Ging as their target to teleport to.

Or at least, who they thought was Ging.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Sakura petals blew through the breeze, one of them landing on Miwa's nose. She wiped away at it, glancing around the foggy area. They had been transported somewhere very far. She couldn't sense any hiraishin marks nearby, so even her clones hadn't reached so far away. They were far out from civilization judging by how crisp and clean the air smelled. There was a heavy fog in the area, but nothing too debilitating.

In front of them was a large cherry blossom tree, petals falling away from it with each breeze. Underneath the tree sat a man with his back turned toward them. He was fishing into the lake that surrounded them.

Miwa thought it odd that the man's energy core was so different from Gon's. Gon was a deep pond. Clean, pure, and innocent at the top but dark and consuming underneath. The man's core reminded Miwa more of a field. Wide, open, and oddly lonely.

"G-Ging," whispered Gon as he took a step forward.

The man noticed them. He dropped his fishing pole, and before it even hit the ground he had smacked all three of them away.

Miwa landed beside Killua, surprised Gon's father had done that. He hadn't hit them hard, nor did she even sense malice in his chakra. Her eyes were wide, and she hesitated in what to do next. She didn't think it would be a good idea to attack Gon's father, but—

The man raised his right hand and a small clown-like figure appeared. In a squeaky voice it said, "I got a slot machine in my mouth! It goes from 1 to 9. Each number summons a different weapon. This is my Crazy Slots! Give me something good. Grrrrrrrrr—4!"

Something long and black pushed itself out of the clown's mouth.

"Shit, bad luck," muttered the man as he accepted the weird thing.

'What is that?' thought Miwa, tilting her head. 'Wait, did he say weapon?'

Killua had already gotten up, dashing to Gon and shoving him out of the way as a bunch of small pellets shot themselves out of the weapon.

'Oh! That's a gun!' Miwa realized, standing up. She had seen a few of them before, but they were much smaller than the one the man had.

The man was shooting at where Gon once was, but he did not follow where Killua had tackled Gon out of the way. It looked like Gon hadn't been his intended target, rather her friend was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. That would explain his lack of malice toward them.

The man lowered the gun, approaching the trio. He pulled off his blue cloak and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Huh...?" Gon's face fell upon seeing the man.

He was a tall, spindly man, with long white hair, and a sharp face. There was tiredness in his eyes that could only be accumulated from years of lack of sleep, or years of persistent worry. Miwa was surprised to see how kind he looked.

Maybe she had gotten too used to: Chrollo's poker-face, Feitan's sneers, Kikyo's mania, Kalluto need to hide, and Shalnark's toxic smile. Nobunaga could be kind, but that kindness was reserved for children, and there was always a hidden level of cruel callousness.

The man before them lacked any type of hidden darkness.

He was an open field.

Gentle, nurturing, and oddly lonely.

'What an odd core.'

What do you mean?

'I didn't know any adult could have such a... purity to them,' thought Miwa, wondering if the man was secretly a child. Purity didn't seem like the correct word, but she had no other way to describe his core's natural sincerity. She only saw that kind of unconditional kindness in children.

Gon murmured, "That's not Ging."

Killua's eyes widened at Gon's disappointed expression. He snapped his head around to glare at the man. "Hey, explain yourself. First you push us down, then you fire at us. Enough fooling around."

"Fooling around? I was dead serious. If I hadn't opened fire, you would have been attacked."

"By what? The ant you shot?" sneered Killua, standing up.

'Ant—?' Miwa got up, brushing the dirt off her shorts and kimono as she looked around Killua's feet. Upon closer inspection she could see the remains of some type of ant-like creature that oozed blue blood.

Although—

'Why does it—Kurama, are you feeling this?'

I don't... I don't understand.

It was faint—extremely faint—but Miwa felt the tiniest echo of something that reminded her of Kurama.

Why would ants feel similar to Kurama?

It was not chakra, nor nen. Or maybe it was? She couldn't tell because it was so faint.

Kurama was a creature composed only of a type of chakra. It was not chakra that originated from nature, but from somewhere—

'—out of their world—'

—and by consequence, he was unique. He and all the other bijūs were entirely unique.

The fact that a bug had even the faintest resemblance to Kurama was puzzling.

'Could another bijū have made them?'

I—I do not know.

Miwa was prevented from further conversing with Kurama when she heard Killua let out a sharp, "Ow!"

She tensed up, and to her surprise the head of one of those ants had latched onto Killua's leg. Miwa hadn't even thought in her reaction, she instantly dashed to his side, her fingers laced with Kurama's chakra.

If it was a creature similar to Kurama, removing it would require extra care. She swiped the head off Killua's leg, burning it to ash in her hands.

The man had also moved to Killua, but Miwa had been faster.

"Fool," he scolded. He grabbed Miwa's hand, forcing her palm open to reveal the ashes of the ant. "You shouldn't have grabbed that with your bare hands. That was no ordinary ant. It's a Chimera Ant."

"Chimera Ant?" echoed Killua.

Satisfied that she hadn't been bitten by the ant, he dropped her hand and explained, "An aggressive, carnivorous insect, currently under a class-1 quarantine. From time to time, they even attack humans. You were standing right in front of their nest. Had I not fired, a Chimera Ant army would have consumed you by now."

'Chimera Ant? Have we heard of that before?'

No. At least, I don't think so...

'Do you have your memories back?'

I do.

'Oh, then—'

"Here," said the man. He had pulled out a small jug to hold out to Killua. "Apply this, it's antibiotic."

Killua quietly accepted it.

"If that's it, you should leave," said the man, turning away. "Because of this interruption, I'll need to start over. But the nest was destroyed. Damn, forced to take another life..."

"AH!" Gon loudly exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Are you—are you maybe the one who saved me from back then?"

"Back then?" the man asked.

Gon sat forward. "On Whale Island, after I stumbled into the territory of a Foxbear with its cub."

'Foxbear?!' Miwa thought, instantly picturing what had to be one of the cutest creatures to have ever existed, ever.

"Whale Island?" the man turned back around, peering at Gon.

"That time, too, you had to kill in order to protect me," Gon went on.

The man smiled. "Oh, I remember now. I never expected to run into you again here. You've grown, Gon."

"How do you know my name?"

"I heard it from your dad, Ging."

"Old man, you know Ging?" asked Gon.

"Old—?" The man grimaced. "... Yeah, my name is Kite. Ging was my master."

(≧ڡ≦*)

With that revelation, Gon's entire face lit up like the dawn. Then his stomach loudly growled because apparently the tea and scones from earlier weren't enough.

The four decided to eat. Killua and Miwa quickly caught several fish from the lake—Killua proudly showing off his water-walking which Miwa praised him for—while Kite and Gon prepared a fire. As the fish cooked over the fire, the four of them sat around and talked.

Kite, as it would turn out, had been a student of Gon's father. Ging had trained Kite to use his nen, and even prepared him for the Hunter exam. Kite was keen to listen to their story—how they became Hunters, and what happened in Greed Island. Gon was disappointed that the teleport didn't take him to Ging as expected, but it was apparent to everyone that Ging had planned for Gon and Kite to meet somehow.

The four companions chatted all night long, Gon constantly asking questions about Ging, and Kite in turn asking questions about Gon.

When the sun had arisen, Gon transitioned his questions away from Ging, more curious about Kite now.

"What kind of work do you do?" asked Gon.

"Biological surveying. I focus on discovering and researching new species. Oh, have you heard of the Camp Tiger?"

"Camp Tiger?"

Kite pulled out a laptop from his backpack, opening it up and typing something inside. He said, "They can use fire. They use branches that have been ignited by lightning as live kindle. Other than certain Magical Beasts that walk on two legs, they're the first of their kind: animals that eat their meat cooked, not raw."

Kite handed the laptop over to show a video of two tigers with long horns on their heads. They had pierced animals on their horns and they hovered their prey over fire, cooking it.

Killua brightened. "Wow, they're actually cooking it."

"They really are using fire," exclaimed Gon. "What else do you have videos on?"

"Oh yeah—you said that thing that attacked us was a Chimera Ant?"

"Yes, a Chimera Ant. Under a class-1 quarantine. Normally, no one would be allowed near such a dangerous insect," said Kite.

"Did you discover them?" asked Gon.

"No, I specialize in larger creatures," denied Kite. "But currently, I am investigating these insects. Something has been bothering me... Unfortunately, it appears that now I'll have to move to a different location. I must make a call, but I'm not getting any reception here."

"A call?" Gon inquired, closing the laptop.

"I'm working with others," said Kite. "Seven of us are working as a team. I guess I must wait for their arrival. Once they're here, I'll introduce you. They're amateurs, but they're still skilled Hunters."

"Um," Miwa hesitantly began, "about the ants, um, where do they come fr—"

"Oh." Kite turned around. Miwa fell silent as she realized a group was approaching them. "Speak of the devil."

A group of four humans quickly approached their camp. There were two women, and two men, although one of the women dressed androgynous so she wasn't confident if the woman wanted to be called a woman. Biologically female, but that didn't always mean they wanted to be called a girl.

As Kalluto had steadfastly proven, boys could like cute things just as much as girls.

The women up front with long, dark pink curly hair, asked, "Kite, who are these kids?"

Kite gestured to the children. "My friends. They dropped by a visit on their travels."

The woman said, "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you all the way out here. I'm Spinner Clow. Call me Spin."

Spin held out her hand as she blew a bubble with her chewing gum. Gon was the first to accept it. He said, "I'm Gon Freecss. Nice to meet you, Spin."

The woman's gum popped. "Freecss... hey, are you—?"

"Yes, he's Ging's son."

"No way," said two of the people behind Spin.

"And you?" excitedly asked the third one, pointing to Miwa and Killua. "Are you two?"

"No, not us," said Killua. "My name is Killua Zoldyck."

The group cringed, and the man who had been excitingly pointing looked downright terrified. "Z-Zoldcyk."

The androgynous woman(?) hesitantly asked, "... Forgive me, but are you part of that famous assassin family?"

"Mm-hmm. This is my fiancé," said Killua, gesturing to Miwa.

Gon gasped. "You've accepted it."

"Hi," said Miwa, waving her hand. "I have a higher kill count than Killua now."

Kite's colleagues were giving them nervous looks.

"Show off," chuckled Killua while Gon reached over and patted the top of her head.

"I'm happy for you," praised Gon.

Miwa preened, leaning into Gon's touch.

"AH!" gasped Gon as a tail popped up behind her.

"Fluffy!" she said. "You like it?"

She offered it to her friends. Both friends patted her henged tail. She had been predicting summoning it whenever she was happy to show her friends. She wished they would join her in loving fluffiness, and what better way to do that than to pet a fluffy tail?

Kite cleared his throat. "Additionally, the three of them are pro Hunters. So you should show them some respect."

"Wow," they said.

Kite's colleagues took seats around the dying campfire, introducing themselves. The largest man with a bear-like face was named Monta Yuras, but he went by Mon. The overly excited man with the afro was named Stick Dinner. The androgynous woman introduced herself as Banana Kavaro. She apparently had a very cute fluffy white puppy in her backpack that was all too happy to introduce himself to everyone.

There were two others in Kite's group, but they had apparently headed to a different area.

Mon pulled something out of his backpack. "Oh, and you were right, Kite." He held up a glass tube with a faint trace of—

'That presence again...'

"This looks like the claw of the Chimaera Ant Queen. We ran some computer analyses and the result was a 99% match."

"Can I see?" asked Killua as he stood up. The large bear-like man held out the jar and Killua accepted it. "This is a claw? It's as big as a human finger."

"Does that mean there are huge ants?" asked Gon.

Kite said, "We don't know."

Killua mused, "Maybe one mutated and grew really big?"

"That's possible, though it may also belong to a completely different species. Regardless, we just don't know right now. That's why we're investigating."

"It all started off with the wonkiest thing," said Spin.

"A Kakin official named Won," added Stick.

"Kakin?" echoed Gon curiously. "What's Kakin?"

"Right here," answered Mon. "It's this wild land, in the middle of the Azian continent."

Banana added, "We had just completed a biological survey they had requested when they brought in something completely odd..."

The group explained the massive insect-like arm they had found, citing its odd traits. They had been allowed to take a few samples. While the group would research what they had, Kite went forward with his own investigation. Although now they were united and confirmed that the large arm belonged to a Chimera Ant. It was time to do further investigation.

"Can we tag along?" asked Gon.

"Sure," said Kite.

"Glad to have you," said Mon.

"Having three pro Hunters with us is reassuring," added Spin.

"On top of which one is Ging's son, and the other two are part of the Zoldyck family," chuckled Banana.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Also: here's a scene I forgot to include earlier in the previous arc. :)

"Hiraishin... is it possible to teach that to us?" asked Chrollo.

"My teleportation? I mean, technically yes but I won't."

"Why not?"

"Gotta either marry me or adopt me, because these techniques are family exclusive," said Miwa stubbornly.

Chrollo stared at her for several seconds. "Might I see your Hunter and ID card again?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Miwa handed it over to him.

"Would you mind dropping me off at the next city over tomorrow then picking me back up?" Chrollo politely asked.

"Uh, sure."

(≧ڡ≦*)

When Miwa came to pick him up the next day he handed her back her hunter and ID card. He was holding up a piece of paper that Miwa couldn't read because the font was all curly and tiny. She also noticed he had purchased a frame.

Or stole a frame. Whatever.

"Um," said Miwa as she tried to read the paper. "I'm sorry, I can't read that very well."

"These are adoption papers. I have adopted you," Chrollo informed her.

"Wha—"

"Let us return home, daughter."

"Wha—uh—okay.... Uh... um... "

"You will show me the Hiraishin now?" he asked.

"... Yes."

Chrollo smiled and patted the top of her head. "Good daughter."

'Are Killua and Chrollo that clever, or am I that stupid?'

Both.

'Owie.'

(≧ڡ≦*)

Answer: WAR!! CONQUER. My Warhammer love will not accept anything less.

Question: You may choose three people from any multiverse to faithfully serve your city—and you—for their entire lives. Who do you choose and why?

Reviews are love!