The girl seemed to falter a bit before giving her answer. "Rein. My name is Rein."

Killua's eyes narrowed momentarily before he caught himself and slipped back into indifferent coolness.

Was she telling the truth? When he first saw her, she'd been in a room, isolated and clearly in emotional pain. Based on only that, he would have assumed that she was being held against her will by the Troupe. But she had been free to leave the room. The door was rickety and unlocked, the room had basic needs, and there had been food waiting outside of the door, still giving off wisps of steam. She hadn't been mistreated. So while she didn't seem to be lying, she had been in the Spiders' hideout as something other than a captive. He was positive she wasn't a Phantom Troupe member, but there was a chance she could have been working with them... A child of them, maybe? Or manipulation? What if it was a Nen ability? If it was a Nen ability, they were done for. The Phantom Troupe was talented beyond belief. If any of their Nen influence had made it here, there was no telling what information had already been leaked. Their names, approximate ages... heck if they could see through her eyes, hunting them down would be easy! The swordsman Nobunaga was looking for them. He wanted them in the Troupe, and Killua didn't think he would give up right away. They had to be careful.

But if the girl...

"KI-LLU-A!" Gon tapped Killua's forehead with each syllable. "Are you okay?"

"Wha-" The girl—Rein—was looking at him curiously, and he froze under her eye. Was she a spy? One of the Troupe? Perhaps she was nothing more than a Nen puppet by one of the more skilled Spiders. If any of the above was true, he had to be careful of what he said or did, and the same went for Gon. But for that, he had to find an opportunity to tell Gon of his suspicions. To do that, he had to remain calm and act like nothing was wrong, at least until she left them alone. Calm. "Yeah, just blanked for a sec."

"Oh. Anyway." Gon pulled his hand back to his side. "Killua, what's your favorite animal?"

"When the heck did the conversation turn to this."

Rein shrugged from behind Gon. "I like... monkeys, I guess? Birds?"

"I like everything!" Gon smiled and threw his arms into the air. He paused before looking back down. "And yours is...?"

Killua turned away and laughed to cover up the fact that he was still furiously thinking behind his mask he was putting up. He put a hand to his head and made his shoulders shake.

He was probably overthinking this. Gon's absurd question helped him to snap out of his mental rambling. Most likely he was overthinking this, but it was better safe than sorry. Assuming she had positive connections with the Phantom Troupe, she would have had a motive to come along with them and abandon the rest of the Spiders so abruptly, which meant they still had to be careful about what they said and how they said it. Whenever she gave any sort of response, Killua had to see, hear, and analyze it.

It was probably nothing.

But if it was anything else than that, they would be in big trouble.

"Killua, you still haven't answered."

He tried to glare but ended up laughing, for real this time. "Cats."

*     *     *

The train ran underground, rumbling as it rushed ahead. Rein hadn't ridden one before, and the shaking was more nerve-wracking then she'd thought it would be. It was almost as if the separate cars were barely able to stay together, and with every bump, irrational images of the train falling apart jolted her insides. It made her more nervous than she'd expected, but it was still exciting. Scary yet fun. Her stomach turned inside out, but it was good, like riding a roller coaster.

Not that she knew. She'd never ridden a roller coaster either, but she suspected the feeling was about the same.

Though on a roller coaster, she didn't think she would be watched so carefully.

She glanced at Killua to her right, who stayed stock-still while staring at the ground. His eyes stayed fixed on one point on the metal flooring, not something that would happen if he really was staring into space. If he was just staring into space, his eyes wouldn't be in such focus, but rather more dazed. She let out a short and silent exhale.

That fluffy-haired Feitan wasn't fooling anyone.

Rein had noticed Killua observing her every movement, though he did a very good job of hiding it. He really was exactly like Feitan, only more prone to smiling and laughing and overall happiness. How they covered up their observations was different, but when she met their eyes on accident, they turned their head the exact same way in a crude attempt to stop her from thinking that they had been observing her. It happened less often with Feitan, because he was more experienced and watched her behind his bandana from the corner of his eye. Killua was less experienced and only had his fluffy hair and his smiles to hide behind. She'd caught Killua staring in deep thought multiple times before he'd gotten more careful.

The intense look with a meaning: to evaluate her strength and analyze. Why would he analyze?

No matter the answer, she needed to be careful. She was here for the Chain User. For Uvo. She couldn't let these two boys know of her true intentions. To find that Chain Bastard, and finish him off. She'd ki—

The train shook beneath her feet and sent vibrations rippling to her core as a muffled boom sounded in the tunnel. Metal wheels screeched on railing as the train came to an abrupt halt.

"Stars, does this normally happen?" Rein blurted, gripping a pole so she wouldn't crash into Gon and Killua.

"Not really," Gon answered, though it came out sounding more like a question. He opened his mouth to say more, but an announcement from the conductor cut him off.

A beep sounded. "Currently, all trains have been stopped. For your safety, please wait patiently. Thank you for your cooperation." Another beep ended the announcement.

Frowning, Gon dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a stag beetle.

...Wait.

"H-hey!" Rein staggered back, staring at Gon's hand. "Is, that, don't..." She started over. "Don't tell me you stuck a beetle in your pocket."

"What? Oh, this!" He held it out to her, ignoring how she jumped back and seemed to hiss at the object. "It's not a beetle. It's my phone. See?" He entered his password before showing her the gradient blue backdrop of his phone.

"A." Rein blinked. She allowed herself to relax. "A phone." Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, Killua has one too! Our friend was able to bargain for us and got a pretty low price."

"Wait." Her eyes snapped open. "Why in the world would you choose that design? Of all things? Not that I'm criticizing your taste or anything, even though your taste obviously has something wrong with it, but that? That?"

Gon nervously chuckled for a moment before holding up a finger to explain. "This phone is pretty bulky and expensive, but our friend said that it's really high quality and other cool stuff that makes it better. Like it normally has great reception even in the countryside." He looked down at his phone and frowned once again. Gon showed her the screen. "Except my phone isn't connecting from down here. I guess we're too far underground." He turned to Killua. "And we don't know when the train will start moving again..." He trailed off.

Killua closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "It can't be helped... guess we'll go run."

Pushing open the side doors, Killua and Gon leapt out and started to run through the dim tunnel.

"Hold on!" Rein called, but they were already far ahead. She gripped the door. "Stars, they're fast," she muttered.

"Hey, you! Keep up, would ya?" Killua's voice echoed. "We don't have time to babysit you all day!"

With those words, Rein pushed off, feet furiously pounding earth and metal as she caught up to them. "Where are we running to?" she shouted straight in Killua's ear, loud enough for him to slap his hand to the side of his head.

"Just shut up and run, loudmouth!" he spat back, palm still covering his ear.

"I have a question, so answer it, Fluffy!"

"I don't have to!"

"I can make you talk!"

"Is that a threat coming from a puny midget?"

"Are those angry words I hear from the literal dirt I walk on?"

"Wow, shouting back a question in the same format! Real original!"

"Why are we yelling?" Gon yelled.

"Gon, stay out of this!" Killua barked.

Rein snickered, then immediately slapped a hand to her mouth. Did she just laugh? She fingered her lips. Stars, she was smiling. She was actually smiling. She hadn't teased anyone in what seemed like forever, so she supposed that maybe this suddenness had made her kind of happy. Well, 'happy' was stretching it a bit, but this change in her feelings was nice. Her fingers brushed her lips again. She was smiling. She was actually...

Her expression froze and slowly melted away.

After what had happened that night, what right did she have to smile?

Reaching into her pocket, her hands frantically searched for the rock that wasn't there. Comfort. Stars, why hadn't she gotten back the rock when... that had happened? She grappled at other rocks and pebbles, but none were her lucky rock. Hesitantly, she drew her hand out of her pocket. She shouldn't be doing this while she was running. Tripping was not an option. She would get over this. Sure, her lucky rock wasn't there, but that wasn't a big problem, right? It wasn't. She knew it wasn't. It wasn't. It—

Her eyes started to sting, and she rubbed at them. Now, of all times? It was nothing. It wasn't a big problem.

*     *     *

Somehow, she forced the tears back down.

They finally found a station and were able to run to the surface, and continued to go wherever they were going. It occurred to Rein that she'd never gotten an answer on where. No matter. As long as she followed Killua and Gon, they would lead her to the Chain User eventually, even if their destination now was different.

The sudden cold air cut into her lungs, burning and making her warm as she continued to run. She caught a whiff of smoke. Smoke? She slowed to sniff the night air.

"Do you smell it too?" Gon asked.

Rein's eyes widened. "Yeah. You can too?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but you're the first person I've met who's shared the same acute sense of smell." He sniffed, his nose pointed straight up into the sky. "Something is burning."

"Probably a car crash or something," Killua said. "But that has nothing to do with us. For now, we need on focus on getting back."

Gon nodded. He tapped Rein on the shoulder to remind her to get moving, and they started running yet again.

Those two may have brushed off the smoke as something small, but Rein thought differently. Gon was wrong on one point. She had been able to smell the smoke, and she was amazed that Gon could as well. But she didn't have his incredible sense of smell, her senses were just honed to picking up traces of destruction. It often surrounded her, so she was used to it. And this?

This wasn't a car crash.

Smoke of flesh, of car lacquer and metal, of wood and cloth and gunpowder. Burning of this level only got her one answer. The Phantom Troupe had made an attack, probably in retaliation of Uvogin's death, a warning to all and an offering to him. The others were already doing something for Uvo, and she wasn't there. If it was something big, she probably just would have been in the way though...

She looked to the dark and depressed sky, hazy with the aftermath of destruction. Now, she couldn't be with the Troupe to help in their tribute to Uvo. She couldn't mourn with them. But in her own way, with her own methods, she would avenge him.

Properly.

*     *     *

Only about a five minute run from the station, Rein found herself following Gon and Killua into a hotel, to a higher floor, down a carpeted hallway, and finally to a door with golden numbers hanging next to the handle, paint flaking from the metal with age.

Killua whipped out a card from a hidden shirt pocket and unlocked the door to the room. "Hey, Leorio! We're back..."

All three stared at the sight before them.

"What the-"

Killua's next word was drowned out by the passing train, which had finally started up again.

well then lets see where this goes.

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