So... I finished this far faster than I thought I would. And for a little bit, I was confused as to why the chapter didn't satisfy me as much as I thought it would.

Then it kinda just hit me. 

This is definitely a "chapter 1" rather than a one-shot. But I can imagine where the story would lead with a chapter two if I decided to write it. That part depends on if this chapter is liked though.

Although... it may end up coming out either way.

But still, I hope you enjoy this one-shot that I really didn't expect to go as it did!

Tell me if you like it or not!

-----

Pitou awoke with a jolt. Her hands shot towards her chest, gasping heavily. Sweat ran down her face as leaves fell from her hair and the soft rays of the sun hit her face.

The... sun?

"My King, Komugi...!" Neferpitou's voice leapt from her body a half-second before she moved. The night had passed, and with it, the boy, no, Gon Freecs, would certainly be incapacitated due to the immense power he displayed the night prior, but that didn't guarantee the King's or Komugi's safety. There was still several unidentified enemies around when Pitou was forced to leave the castle.

Shaiapouf did guarantee Komugi's safety, but, at the very edges of her memory, she could remember the white-haired boy approaching her and Gon. She wasn't sure of Komugi's safety if he was so willing to leave her to run to his ally's aid.

Pitou leaped up, entirely ignoring the hole in her clothes where her enemy's arm once was. She didn't bother to touch her face, which should've been destroyed from the devastating blow the green-haired boy dealt her.

The Royal Guard raced through the destroyed area. It was only then that she realized the scope of the damage. Nearby trees were shattered, uprooted, and generally destroyed, and the location she came from was the center of all the damage, a supermassive crater with blue and red blood alike strewn all about. It was her own blood as well as Gon Freecs's.

But even then, her observations were at the very corner of her mind. Her true thoughts were focused on one thing, the safety of her King and Komugi.

Neferpitou moved very quickly, and she was at the edge of the forest in less than a minute. She panted, holding herself up with a hand to a tree. She looked out, towards the castle, and her heart sunk.

Several airships, all dawning the logo of the Hunter Association, hung over the King's palace. Even without En, Pitou's animal senses warned her of several threats, but that wasn't where her fear stemmed from. Rather, it extended from a lack of her King's presence.

The King had an overpowering and awe-inspiring aura, so much so that Pitou could locate the King based on her animal senses alone. However, that ability was no longer assisting her.

Whether it was because King was too far away or because the King was... too far away, she didn't know. She grew desperate at the thought that she wasn't there for her King when he needed her the most.

She crouched down, her thigh bloating up to monstrous sizes, and she pulled her hand away from the tree. When she did though, she caught a glimpse of Nen writing left behind on the tree. She activated Gyo without thinking.

"You probably shouldn't go to them. They were poisoned, and the poison will unfortunately spread to you. The King has passed away, but he died alongside Komugi, playing Gungi," the message read. Pitou's heart shook, but she continued. "You should move to the future rather than linger on the past, *-*."

A bead of nervous sweat ran down the side of Neferpitou's face. Confusion ran through her mind. But just as confusion arose, denial arose alongside it.

Her King would never pass away so easily! Her senses were fooling her! Her King had... escaped! He must've escaped with Komugi!

But... even if that was true, that meant she had no point in going to the castle either. If she recklessly threw herself into danger, she'd never get a chance to meet her King again!

Neferpitou was stumped. Her thighs slowly shrunk down to their normal sizes, and she fell to the ground, tapping her finger against her chin.

"What should I do...? My job as a Royal Guard is to protect the King, but if I recklessly use En I risk bringing attention to the King if he escaped...." Neferpitou's mind raced. She ran her clawed fingers through her hair before sighing and calling backwards, looking up into the cloudy sky.

She sat there for a moment, breathing.

For some reason, her mind traveled to the white-haired man she killed, Kite. Her heart ached. She didn't know why it hurt so much. That man wouldn't have been a threat to the King, so for a moment, just one instance, she questioned if she could have let him live.

But she pushed the thoughts away, sitting up and beginning to run towards the palace.

The past was done, and she didn't have the time to linger on it when her King's location or state was still questionable.

Pitou ran fast, but she was also stealthy. She tried to not stand out, and by the time ten minutes passed, she'd entered the palace. Gladly, there weren't any Hunters on the ground, but Neferpitou wasn't too sure of things staying that way.

She moved quickly. First, it was to where she healed Komugi. Just a hallway away, Pitou suddenly stopped.

"Doctor Blythe," The female Chimera Ant activated her Nen ability, causing the large doll-like puppet to appear above her, attached to her tail. She held her hand up, and after a moment, the puppet dropped a gas mask in her hand. Pitou put it on, unsurprised that her ability could do something it never had before.

Pitou entered the room, but Komugi and her King were nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh of relief, turning around and preparing to look elsewhere. However, when she did, her eyes locked onto another message left in Nen, although this one was fading more by the second.

"In Bizeff's quarters, underground. The Association is hesitant to send Hunters in due to the poison's generally questionable effects. I recommend just getting in fast and leaving fast, but if you can't do that, just try to avoid touching anything for long," the message read, and the Royal Guard was moving before she could truly process the words. "Be careful, (ง'̀-'́)ง."

The "why" was just an afterthought for her. She needed to know her King's status before anything else.

Pitou became a blur, tearing her way through the palace's elevator doors and dropping down the elevator shaft as quickly as she could. She leapt as soon as she hit the floor, shooting through the underground pathways.

She arrived at her destination in no time at all, and she shot towards one of the many homes that were around, her incredible vision allowing the utter darkness to seem like the normal daylight she was in moments prior. Her hand shot to the door handle, twisting it, and throwing the door open.

She looked in, and her heart sank.

There they were, Komugi and her King, dead. They were hand-in-hand, smiling.

She fell to the ground.

She screamed.

She cried.

She mourned.

And eventually, she no longer had anymore tears to cry. She didn't even have any more energy to scream.

She left the palace, eventually. The days blurred, and she couldn't tell if it's been hours, or days.

She considered dying. She considered attacking the Hunters. But in the end, she couldn't gain the energy to do anything.

Without a thought, words leaked from her mouth.

"Without my King... I have no purpose.... Is this... is this how humans live? Is this... how I made Gon Freecs feel?" Neferpitou was stopped in her tracks, her empty gaze falling on her feet, and, soon after, the Nen letters under her soles. She took a step back, reading the words absentmindedly.

"You definitely feel miserable. And well, that's probably an understatement. If you want some direction, try to keep a low profile, and go to Swardani City. We'll meet there, if you'd like, ~(˘▾˘~)."

Neferpitou couldn't figure out why, but after spilling out all her emotions, the little emoticon at the end of the mysterious person's Nen message caused her to crack a smile. It was small, almost completely unidentifiable, but it was still a smile.

-----

(Y/n) walked down the street with a little bit of tiredness in his step. He hadn't had his coffee, and he had an early shift, so all-in-all, he was feeling miserable.

He groaned silently, "Ugh, I really should just start my work as a Hunter back up. At least then I could make my own hours. What's the point in being a Nencromancer if I feel like a zombie everyday...?"

The streets were filled for a Wednesday morning. President Netero's final words were playing on big screens all around. It had been about a week since his passing, but most of the information ended up buried under the reveal of Diego's passing and the attack on the capital.

However, for a nine-to-five worker like (Y/n), that didn't matter.

He rounded the corner, entering an alleyway that would normally count as a shortcut, but then he stopped in his tracks. Next to a trashcan, a young woman with white hair and cat ears protruding from the top of her head sat, looking around all. Her eyes fell onto (Y/n), and then they stuck to him.

An awkward smile rose to his face, "Uh... hey."

The woman rose faster than he could react to and leapt at him. She slid to a stop a few inches away from him and looked his dead in his eyes, standing in what would certainly be his "personal bubble."

Before he could open his mouth, she did. Questions fell from her mouth endlessly.

"Did you bring me back to life? How did you know the... my King passed away? Why are you helping me? Are you a Hunter? What should I do next?" The questions went on and on, and for just a moment, the woman looked helpless. That left a bad taste in (Y/n)'s mouth.

"I'd love to answer all of your questions, but...." (Y/n)'s voice faded, and as if it was in response, a middle-aged man stuck his head out of a door.

"Oi, (Y/n)! You can talk to whoever that is whenever, you're shift already started! Come on, today's already on a rush!" The middle-aged man, (Y/n)'s boss, quickly closed the door, the sounds of the frantic employees becoming muffled once more.

"Eheh... I'm sort of busy right now. Here, you can stick out here and I'll be back out in a few hours, okay?" (Y/n) slipped passed the woman, letting out a small sigh, but he was suddenly stopped when the woman's hand wrapped around his wrist. He looked back to see her gaze, unflinching.

She said nothing, but her emotions were clear.

"Can you learn absurdly fast?" He asked.

She nodded once, her grip on his wrist tightened.

He swallowed once.

He opened the door to his workplace, bringing the almost meek woman behind him.

"Boss, we've got some more help!" (Y/n) called out to his manager, and the middle-aged man shuffled towards him rather quickly.

The middle-aged man looked the white-haired woman up and down, softly mummering to himself before a uniform appeared in his hands, Nen fading as he pushed them into the woman's hands.

"She's yours to handle. If she doesn't pull her weight, you're both outta here!" The man spun on his heels, quickly shuffling back to his job.

(Y/n) let out a low sigh, glancing softly at the petite white-haired woman. He smiled softly, a gesture that the cat-eared woman tried to return. It was a bit awkward though.

"Your name is...?"

"It's Neferpitou."

"Well, Neferpitou, I'm (Y/n). It's nice to meet you, └(＾＾)┐."

Pitou blinked for a moment.

Maybe... just maybe, this man, (Y/n), would lead her on a new journey.