༺♥༻

Fire and water weren't compatible.

Separate they were beautiful forces of nature that could destroy any monument or structure with a single blow.

But together, they were a force of danger and destruction, demolishing anything in their path.

Those two forces described the two sides of Valentine Nitsune that resided within her body and mind; one side was beautiful and kind like the beauty of a sparkling river and the other side was dangerous and raging, much like the blazing sparks of a fire.

After Knuckle had recovered from the brutal attack Valentine's other half had bestowed upon his body, Gon was back to try and win the tile once more, while Valentine and Killua had their own battle to overcome.

The night before, the silverette had trained with Biscuit since he hadn't fought for a while and the young blonde had a cup of mint tea in front of her, her golden eyes staring down at the steaming cup held within her hands.

Drops of blood flashed across her vision and the angered growls that had left her mouth filled her ears causing the young blonde to slowly close her eyes as they teared up, a harsh wave of indignity washing over her body as her grip strengthened and her hands tightened around the mug in her hands.

Ever since, Valentine made a promise to herself and that promise was, no matter what, she wouldn't let that side of her hurt her friends ever again.

Even if that meant taking herself out of their little group to keep them safe.

Safe from her.

Stars filled the sky like snow falling onto freshly turned ground. It was the promise of life in the darkness, a sense of warmth arising from the cold.

The four began to approach Knuckle and Shoot, their eyes narrowing as the opponents stared at one another.

'The loser-..',Knuckle began to say.

'-Hands his token over to the winner',Gon finished and his eyes sharpened.

In order to go and save Kite, the four would have to beat Knuckle and Shoot, taking their tiles or else they wouldn't be able to return to the NGL.

༺♥༻

Following Shoot deep into the forest, eyes of gold glanced towards Killua and Valentine watched as he stared at the man in front of them, a determined flint filling his eyes.

Coming to a stop, the two watched as the man turned towards them and took a deep breath, his aura a green hue as it surrounded his body, his intimidating aura causing the silverette to shiver.

'You both should know, that I take no pleasure in hurting people',Shoot told the two and pulling up his sleeve, revealing a vermilion colored star printed onto his shoulder as multiple hands floated around the man,'However, the three of you helped me realize something. There are times where it becomes necessary to fight as a sign of respect to your opponent'

Staring at the floating hands with a calculated look on her face, Valentine kept her guard up and she glanced between each of the hands, alongside the strange cage by the man's side.

While Killua was studying the ability, Valentine was trying to figure out how the two of them should attack and where his weak spots; if he had any, would be.

The noise of a metal-like string being extended filled the young girl's ears and she glanced out of the corner of her eye, watching as Killua caught two yo-yo's in his hands.

Stepping to the side, Valentine went around the man so that her and Killua were each on opposite sides of him so that when one attacked, the other could come up from behind and help the other if needed.

Lunging towards Killua, Shoot sent the hands shooting towards the boy and watched as he threw out his yo-yo's, the harsh metal smacking against them, sending the hands flying back.

Swinging the two yo-yo's around him in a protective way; making a dome-like barrier around him, Killua's eyes narrowed and dust kicked up in a circular motion, harsh smacks filling the air each time he hit away the hands.

Racing forward, Shoot got quite close to the silverette and watched as Killua jumped back, but the young blonde noticed something.

Killua's reaction time.. was much slower than usual.

Realizing what he was doing, Killua's eyes narrowed and lightning sparked between his fingers, causing Shoot to glance down at the ability.

Thrusting his arm forward, Shoot's palm smacked into the boy's side of his face and a strange rippling effect spread across Killua's cheek.

The force of the hit sent the silverette flying back and as soon as he landed, Killua began to rapidly back away from Shoot, his body shivering with fear.

Watching as the boy turned around and began to run away, Valentine perked up with concern and watched as Shoot ran after Killua, causing her jaw to tighten as she clenched her teeth together.

As Shoot raced after the silverette, he didn't hear the sharp, piercing ring that filled the air, nor did he realize the young blonde that had suddenly appeared beside him and if he did, he didn't show it.

The girl's leg swung forward; but hadn't struck her target, and instead, she struck one of the hands that had suddenly hovered beside him, a harsh wind-like force blowing through the area as her hit connected.

Gritting her teeth, Valentine pulled her right leg away and as quickly as she could, she turned her body, her left leg swinging forward, trying to land a strike to the man's face.

But alas, her hit had never connected as Shoot held up his arm and his aura protected him slightly, only a small pain spreading up his arm from her strike.

One of the hands beside her landed a punch to her side and her breath was almost taken away as she went flying forward, her back smacking against a tree, a wince forming on her face as her knees hit the ground.

A pained cough left the girl's lips and she looked up through one eye, watching as Shoot went to strike Killua, only for the teenager to jump back.

An impressed hum left Shoot's lips as he stared at the boy and he glanced towards the blonde girl, watching as she slowly stood to her feet.

'You both react quite quickly.. but in different ways'

Clenching his teeth together, Killua harshly breathed out and glanced towards Valentine, his body shaking as he tried to fight against every fiber in his body that told him to run away and never look back.

No.

He didn't want to leave her behind. He wanted to protect her, he wanted to fight alongside her and let her know that he had her back; just like she had his.

Clenching his fists together tightly, Killua felt as the metal bands of the yo-yo's; that were wrapped around his fingers, snapped and fell to the ground as he ran forward, a determined yell leaving the silverette's lips.

Hitting away the hands that rushed towards him, Killua held out his hands to his side and brought them close together.

Remembering what had happened before, Shoot jumped back slightly and prepared himself.

'Electric shock..',He mumbled.

Eyes widening, a shocked expression shone within Killua's eyes and a small gasp left his lips as he came to a stop, his whole body shaking.

'Now that's scary'

Noticing the way Killua had froze, a small noise of anger left Valentine's lips and she shot forward with a burst of speed, catching Shoot by surprise when her foot struck against his face, sending the man flying back.

Dust kicked up as Shoot slid back and he looked back up, bracing himself when he saw the young girl speed towards him, becoming nothing but a blur.

This girl, Shoot realized, had an amazing amount of speed and stamina, which made a lot of sense due to her height and build.

Even though she had a spectacular amount of strength, it was clear to the man that she relied more on her speed as well as her legs and foot to attack her opponents rather than her fists.

Standing in front of the man, Valentine's leg rose high as she held it into the air slightly and then, immediately slammed it down, a small shout leaving her lips.

The sound of a hit landing echoed throughout the air and crows screeched out as they flew away from the trees, soaring through the air.

༺♥༻

Joining Shoot and Knuckle as they went to the tree at the border of the NGL, the four stood alongside the men and stared up at the large tree; Jaxon's mouth parted in awe.

'Hey Knuckle',Gon spoke up, catching the man's attention and he watched as he looked down at him,'Just promise me, that you'll save him! You have to save Kite, no matter what!'

Seeing the tears that filled Gon's eyes caused Valentine's gaze to soften with grief and her lips pulled down into a frown, her eyes gleaming with emotion.

She could almost feel the sorrow that radiated off of the teenager and it made her eyes tear up, filling to the brim with water.

'Leave that to me',Knuckle told the boy,'I promise you that I'll bring him back'

Holding up the two token in his hands, a determined look gleamed on Knuckle's face and he looked back up at Gon, a serious expression shining through.

'I swear on this tile'

Watching as Knuckle and Shoot headed towards the entrance, a small sigh left Valentine's lips and she stuffed her hands on her pockets, turning around to head back towards the truck.

Kicking a pebble that was in front of her foot, the young blonde's eyebrows furrowed and slowly, her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes slowly closed, images flashing behind her eyes.

The drops of blood that had stained the ground, the look of fear on Knuckle's face when he saw the state she was in and the way her friends and her brother struggled to hold her back, getting slightly injured in the process.

The way her friends begged for her to control herself rang in her ears and made her heart clench, her chest hurting with guilt.

Chirping in concern, Zeus looked over the blonde and slowly leaned forward, rubbing his beak against her cheek to comfort her.

'Valentine.. Killua..'

Hearing Gon speak up, Valentine came to a stop and tensed up, snapping out of her thoughts as she glanced towards him out of the corner of her eye.

'I'm so... weak..',Gon spit out with hurt in his tone and ragged breaths left his lips, tears running down his cheeks,'I-.. I never... I just never thought that being weak and powerless could be so frustrating'

Noticing how tears were beginning to fall down Killua's face as well, Valentine slowly reached forward and gently intertwined their fingers, watching as he looked down at her; noticing how her beautiful and sparkling eyes stared up at him.

He could see the way she worried about the both of them and this caused the silverette to softly tighten his grip on her hand, a sad smile twitching at his lips.

Seeing both of her friends hurting, hurt Valentine in more ways than she'd like to admit and no matter how much she wished she could take away their pain and make it her own, she knew that she couldn't.

Getting into the truck, they began to head back to town and the young blonde kept glancing towards her friends, that same worry still remained the longer she stared at the two.

By the way Gon sat on the floor with his head buried in his knees caused Valentine's eyes to soften with sadness and she wished that if she were to hug him now, all of his worries would disappear.

But she knew she couldn't help her friend with a simple hug.

Staring down at Gon's saddened form, a frown tugged at Killua's lips and a small sigh exhaled through his nose.

For the thirty days that Gon couldn't use Nen, Killua swore to Gon and himself that he would protect him.

Whatever it took, he would keep him safe.

However, after that, they would have to go their separate ways and looking towards Valentine, his eyes slowly trailed down to their intertwined hands.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to tear himself away from her and leave her behind.

After all, he had made a promise to his girl that he would never leave her like many other friends she had before him and if he left her behind, Killua would never forgive himself.

Staring at their intertwined hands, Jaxon's left eye twitched and a dark aura began to leave his body as his eyes narrowed, clenching his hands tightly.

After a little while, Gon quickly stood to his feet and slapped his hands to his cheeks, a yell leaving his lips.

'Right, I'm over it now',The boy stated out loud and glanced towards everyone, his eyes landing on Valentine and Killua, causing a small smile to twitch at the side of his lips,'Knuckle and the other Hunters are going to save Kite, I'm sure of it! So, I have to get a whole lot stronger because Kite's coming back and I won't disappoint him'

A pop echoed throughout the small space as Spin's bubblegum popped and she sat up straight from her slouched over position, staring at the boy.

'So, your heads on straight after all',Spin spoke up and this caused the four kids to look over at her,'It's true that you may have met Kite before we did, but the fact remains that we've spent much more time with him then you have'

Placing a bookmark in her book, Spin closed it and placed the book in her lap, looking between the four teenagers.

'If you were still moping around after we'd crossed the mountains, I was going to beat you up'

With a small smirk spreading across her lips, Valentine crossed her arms over her chest and rose an eyebrow, a gentle chuckle leaving her.

"But not after I smacked him around a little bit though"

Watching as Gon snapped his head in her direction with a shocked look, a cry of surprise left his lips and a pout formed on his face as his arms waved around in the air, speaking quicker with every word.

Staring at the two as they playfully argued, a small smile twitched up at Killua's face and his eyes softened as a gentle chuckle left his lips.

These two.. meant so much to him.

So much so that he would protect them with all of his might, no matter the cost.

But what Killua hadn't realized, was that it would be Valentine who paid the cost to protect them instead.

༺♥༻