Beta: TaintedLetter

(≧ڡ≦*)

Miwa hummed happily to herself as she lounged on the bed and played with her phone. She still had the sweet smell of lavender in her nose from their bubble bath. The bath bomb turned out to be quite a delight, turning the whole thing into a sudsy palace that smelled delightful. Her mood had considerably improved since her argument with Kurapika, but when she thought about him—

'Stupid bastards,' she sourly thought. Thinking about the situation left a bitter taste in her mouth. It was late and her best friends were sound asleep in their bed, but she was wide awake and mulling over what had happened.

She gave up on rest after another hour. She reached for her phone and sent a message.

To: Chrollo

Message: can meet ? .

From: Chrollo

Message: Yes.

(≧ڡ≦*)

She snuck out as the storm hit a fever pitch. She placed a hiraishin mark at their hideout, so she teleported there. She wasn't surprised to find that the warehouse had become nearly filled to the brim with boxes of loot they had stolen from the auction. She looked around, happy to find familiar faces, but then she saw—

"AH!" she let out a shriek, jumping away and pointing dramatically at Hisoka. "YOU STALKED US HERE?!"

Wow. That's a determined masochist.

"Stalked?" The samurai, Nobunaga if she remembered correctly, asked in surprise.

"You're stalking kids?" Shalnark questioned Hisoka, a touch of disdain in his tone.

Maybe he's not here for you? Kurama idly guessed.

'Who else—THE CUTIE!'

"Don't worry, kitten, I'll protect you," Miwa declared as she leapt in front of Feitan, hellbent on making sure Hisoka didn't try anything.

"I don't need protection," hissed Feitan, clearly offended by her insinuation.

Chrollo coughed. "You wanted to talk, Miwa?"

"Oh... right," she said, still glaring suspiciously at Hisoka.

"He won't attack," Chrollo tried to soothe.

"If he does, say the word and I'll kick his ass. I'm not supposed to kill him 'til Gon kicks his butt, but I can definitely maim," she said.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't maim any members of the troupe," said Chrollo.

'Ugh. Why do people keep wanting to keep him alive? He's so creepy. Wait—member?!'

Her face screwed up like she bit into a rotten lemon. "Ugh. He's a member? I have to say, I am severely disappointed by your judgment."

'I don't think I'll be joining the troupe as long as Hisoka's in it.'

Chrollo's nen glimmered in a way that reminded Miwa of when Kurama didn't want to admit he was amused by her. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah. Um... is now okay?" she asked, curiously tilting her head. She twitched in surprise when Nobunaga draped an extra blanket over her shoulders. She looked up at him, blinking. "Huh?"

"Little girls shouldn't be teleporting into hideouts with nothing but a nightgown," said Nobunaga, his tone slightly scolding.

"Oh," she said, a little touched by his action.

Surprisingly paternal.

'Paternal?'

Fatherly.

'Is that good?'

Only if you're comfortable with it.

Chrollo beckoned for her to take a seat beside him. "Come. Let us talk."

"Not with him anywhere near me," Miwa firmly rejected, giving Hisoka a stink eye.

"Hisoka, go stand outside," said Nobunaga.

"It's raining."

"Take an umbrella."

There was a bit more bickering back and forth, but Hisoka and a couple of the other members left the room. Miwa sat down on the wooden crate next to Chrollo, hugging the blanket closer to her.

She quietly asked, "Um... do you guys want to kill the chain-user?"

"He killed one of our own."

"You murdered his family," she retorted. She tilted her head. "If he leaves you alone, will you leave him alone?"

Nobunaga narrowed his eyes. "Uvo is owed."

"And the chain-user isn't?" she asked, wanting to confirm. "If you kill him, someone else will come after you guys again and everything will repeat itself."

Chrollo asked, "Can you make him not pursue us?"

"If I can't," she said slowly, "I will stop him for you."

"Why?" asked Machi.

"He reminds me of someone else," she said, uncertain how to put her feelings into words. She honestly didn't know how to accurately relay her thoughts. They were vague, flashes of memories and pain. Kurapika reminded her of someone else, and she could see him in Kurapika.

It was more than that, though. Kurapika... Kurapika wasn't like her. Vengeance for someone like him felt... wrong.

She fidgeted, struggling to find words but failing. She would need to ponder it a bit further.

"The chain-user," said Chrollo carefully as he watched her fret, "is someone we would like to avoid fighting."

"Boss," hissed Nobunaga, but Chrollo looked back at him with apathy then pointedly looked down at the piece of paper in Nobunaga's hands. Nobunaga clutched at it, looked away then scoffed. "Fine."

"Oh—that's—that's good," she sighed with relief. "You're not lying?"

"Unlikely."

'That's not a no.' / That's not a no.

Kurama snorted. If he lies to you, kill him.

'That'd be a shame. But he's clearly at least a little bad if he's defending Hisoka.'

Gon defends Hisoka.

'Gon is insane.'

This is true.

Chrollo kept looking at her which made Miwa shift in her spot. "Um?"

"Do you have plans after the auction?" he asked her.

Miwa blinked in surprise. "Well—"

(≧ڡ≦*)

Still in her nightgown Miwa decided it was time to talk with Kurapika again. Then she'd sleep away the day until Greed Island was up for auction, steal it, and conclude her business in the city. She was happy to come to some type of agreement with the Phantom Troupe.

That agreement meant shit if Kurapika was hellbent on his useless revenge. Therefore, it was time for Miwa to beat some sense into him.

It was storming heavily outside. The rain made it hard to pick up Kurapika's scent, which meant Miwa had to rely on her nen-sensing capabilities. She was decent enough at it, but she was significantly better at tracking with her nose than her chakra.

But! The longer she put it off, the worst it would get. She'd prefer to kick his ass, then maybe they could get some breakfast, take a nap, and be done with the fiasco.

She leapt from rooftop to rooftop. When she started to feel a touch cold from being absolutely soaked by the rain, she circulated chakra throughout her body to warm up. About thirty minutes into her hunt she felt something—

Something—

It was nen that was—

It was—

Indescribable.

Perplexed, Miwa walked vertically down the building. She peered into one of the windows and saw something truly fascinating.

There was a beautiful woman with long golden hair intricately woven together in an odd hairstyle. She wore a silky dress soaked in her blood. Her chest had been torn open, Miwa could see straight through it. She was plainly dead, yet her nen sung otherwise.

A cat, large, fluffy, with an eerie smile, formed behind her made out of pure nen. Its smile stretched widely, full of malicious glee as it reached out a massive paw and grabbed at another man. Miwa could only see the man's back, and hear his blood-curdling scream of agony when the cat's paw touched him.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" cried out another man. There were a dozen or so living men surrounding the deceased woman, with several more bodies laid strewn on the floor. Clearly there had been a scuffle. The men standing all wore the same suit.

The man being picked up and—

'Is he melting?' Miwa thought, utterly fascinated as she saw the man held by the cat turn into ooze.

Even more surprising, the woman's wound began to mend itself. Her heart was regrown, lungs, ribs, everything stitched together by some unseen force. As the man died, the woman returned to life.

What the fuck?

'THAT IS SO AWESOME!'

"She's fucking coming back!"

"Shoot her again!"

"Kill her again, and again, whatever it takes!"

'No way,' Miwa thought, busting in through the window and decapitating the first man. 'Someone that awesome doesn't deserve to die.'

By the time Miwa had finished dispatching the rest of the men, the woman had fully come back to life. Her dress was utterly ruined, she was soaked in blood, and the otherworldly cat behind her was cackling with glee.

She was the most beautiful thing Miwa had ever seen.

Ahem.

Miwa was in awe of the woman. The woman's icy blue eyes looked down at Miwa, then around the scenes. She smiled coyly and without warmth. "My savior."

"Uh," said Miwa, flustered. "N-No. I mean—I saw—that was awesome. You—you're really cool."

She laughed delicately. "Thank you. What is your name, girl?"

"Miwa," she answered eagerly.

"Miwa," the woman repeated. "What a lovely name."

"Oh—thank you. Ah—can I ask—can I ask for yours?"

"You do not know?" the woman asked, bemused by her. "I am Camilla Hu Guo Rou, second prince to the Kakin Empire."

Miwa blinked in surprise. 'Royalty? She's a real life princess—er—prince?'

She vaguely remembered that Killua told her only outdated empires used the term princess as it was considered sexist. Modern empires used prince for all of their heirs, regardless of gender.

Miwa beamed. "It's an honor, prince."

Camilla's smile stretched a bit further. "It is. My dear, I have noticed you keep looking behind me. Do you see something?"

"Your cat is super cute!" exclaimed Miwa. "He looks so fluffy."

"You can see him?"

"Yep!"

"Are you a nen-user?" Camilla asked with intrigue. "You're so young."

"I'm a Hunter," Miwa declared proudly. She pulled out her IDs from her nightdress pocket, proudly holding it up.

Camilla gracefully accepted the cards and raised an eyebrow. "Ah. A Zoldyck, that explains it. I must say, I am terribly impressed by you."

'A what?'

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Kurama howled with laughter in Miwa's head as it took her several seconds to put the pieces together.

'KILLUA PUT MY LAST NAME AS ZOLDYCK!?'

She—

She was honestly impressed, wow that was smooth.

Camilla handed back the cards, chuckling. "Tell me, Miwa Zoldyck, are you already for hire?"

"Sure?"

"Lovely. I'll contact your family when I need you."

"Sure," Miwa said agreeably, nodding furiously. "Please contact me whenever. AH! I have a phone! Ah... I don't—I don't know the number, yet—but—"

Miwa eagerly pulled out her Totoro-83 phone. Camilla accepted it, amused by Miwa's enthusiasm, and opened it up. "It says your number here."

"You can call me wherever," said Miwa. When Camilla handed Miwa's phone back, Miwa lightly brushed against the back of her palm where she subtly placed a hiraishin marker. Her skin was velvety smooth. Camilla must have noticed what Miwa had done, but the gorgeous lady only kept smiling with lethal chillness.

'I want to be her when I grow up. She's so cool. I wish I could have a nen-cat.'

Ah-hem.

Miwa hurried to explain, 'It'd be pointless to want a nen-fox because you're already the best fox.'

Mm-hmm.

"I will enjoy seeing you serve under me, Miwa," purred the lady.

Miwa's cheeks turned red and she spluttered. Kurama chuckled at her flustered state.

'I better leave before I say something stupid to the prince.'

(≧ڡ≦*)

Back outside in the pouring rain, Miwa slapped her cheeks. 'OKAY! No more pretty ladies, I need to find Kurapika.'

Even though she thought that, it still took her forty five minutes to hunt down Kurapika. He was at a hotel, likely working as a bodyguard, so Miwa had to try to subtly get his attention outside. She stood on the outer wall, peering into the window. When he caught her eye, she waved him over.

He sighed, went over. He opened the window, "Wha—"

She grabbed him by the collar and teleported him to a little flower meadow she had found when she first woke up. Thankfully, it wasn't raining there.

"Miwa," Kurapika said sharply. "What are you doing?"
"We need to sort this out," she said stubbornly. "I talked to the troupe. They won't bother you, if you don't bother them—"

"That is none of your—"

"It is my business," she snapped. "ER—well—I made it my business you stupid Uchi—stupid bastard."

Kurapika glared at her. "I'm not changing my mind. The Phantom Troupe deserve to die."

"More than the flesh market?" she countered.

"I can't—"

"I can," she insisted. "I can. You don't have to do this alone you stupid bastard."

"Stop calling me a stupid bastard!"

"Stop acting like a stupid bastard then!"

The two were in each other's faces, their cheeks red from anger as they glowered furiously at one another. Miwa broke off first, sighing roughly. "I get you want—why you want that stupid thing. I get it. But I feel like if you chase after it the way you are you're—you're gonna end up regretting it."

"That's not for you to decide," Kurapika coldly returned.

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "Ultimately it is your choice. But as your fr—as your frie—as someone who cares enough about you, it is my right to do whatever I can to make sure you don't get yourself killed or worse."

Kurapika barked out a laugh. "Worse? The worse case scenario is that I fail."

"No. The worst case scenario is that while you've been focusing on chasing after a group of thieves, the flesh market targets another clan with your eyes. You fail to kill the troupe, and the flesh market goes unpunished. Everything you did was meaningless."

"I can't do anything about the market. I can—"

"I can!" Miwa shouted. "I know I can. You're smart, but I have the power. Use me."

In the distance, thunder rolled.

'It better not rain here, too,' Miwa thought sourly.

Even in the dark, Miwa could clearly pick out Kurapika's facial expression. There was indigent anger, but there was a flicker of something else. His glacial nen had cracks, and his chains rattled ominously. His face and nen screamed conflicted. She could see it in his eyes, he wanted her help—

No.

He didn't want her help.

He just didn't want to be alone in it.

Miwa held out her hand to him, her heart skipping a beat as she dared to hope that maybe she finally said the right things. Maybe, just maybe, tragedy could be averted.

Kurapika, under all that ice and pain, had a good heart. He wasn't as sunny as Gon, but she thought he felt kinder. Gon could be sweet, but there was a callous curiosity that took precedence over empathy. Gon, Killua, and Miwa were three who were comfortable in bloodshed and violence.

Kurapika was not.

He had a gentle soul that did not belong in their world. He and Sasuke were not meant for such darkness.

Miwa could completely understand why he'd want vengeance, but he simply wasn't the type of person who could take utter revenge and walk away unscathed. Miwa could slaughter hundrds of thousands of humans and sleep peacefully the following night. Death meant nothing to her, and lives only held value if she personally placed value in it.

Kurapika could never do such a thing, which was why his vengeance was ultimately detrimental and useless.

"Don't seek revenge. Seek to defend," she whispered to him.

Motive meant everything.

"Fight to protect, not to hurt."

Choice meant everything.

"Use that brilliant mind of yours to make sure no one hurts the way you do now."

Kurapika's hand trembled, his scarlet eyes burning underneath the contacts he used to disguise them. He tentatively placed his hand in Miwa's and he said, "Prove to me you have the power."

"Okay," she agreed.

In that remote, isolated clearing, where not a single human soul could be found for hundreds of miles... Miwa showed Kurapika exactly what it meant to be a jinchūriki.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Miwa returned back to their hotel room wearing only Kurapika's suit jacket. She hadn't anticipated Kurama's chakra destroying her clothes—neither had Kurama or Kurapika. Kurama said it made sense since they (the world they were in now) had never encountered his chakra before and none of their clothes were made with chakra woven in for durability.

Which meant Miwa had to figure out how to weave chakra in clothes if she didn't want to fight naked every time she pulled out Kurama's cloak. It wasn't much of an issue currently, but the thought of fighting Hisoka or someone similar without anything—

She nearly vomited at the thought.

Killua and Gon were already up. Killua looked her over in surprise. "What are you wearing and what happened?"

Miwa took a deep breath, then explained everything.

"Wow," said Gon. During the explanation Miwa had changed into her other set of pajamas. "That sounds exhausting."

"How come you haven't shown us all your powers?" asked Killua.

"Do you want to see them?"

"How dare you even ask that," said Gon.

"Okay, I can show you both," she agreed. "But then I want to sleep."

"Okay," the boys agreed.

"Before I forget, though," she said, pointing an accusatory finger at Killua. "You put my last name as Zoldyck."

"Yep," he said with a cat-like smirk. "Welcome to the family."

Clever little shit.

(≧ڡ≦*)

Camilla is manga only right now from the Dark Continent Arc and I flippity flappity love her.

Answer: Killua / Kurapika. Both sensible, capable, and pretty non-judgmental. Killua's got that touch of yandere that would be super fun, but Kurapika got that touch of big-brother that would be super comforting.

Question: Who would you want to be the eternal maid/butler/chef for?

Bonus question again! Are we pro saving certain ant people or are we pro burn them alllllllll?

Reviews are love!