The following day the three friends were at a gym, lifting weights.

"Not that I don't like training at the gym," said Miwa, "but how come you both stopped training with your nen?"

"Eh? 'Cause mine got sealed," said Gon. "Ooo, did I forget to tell you?"

"Yes," she said. "What happened?"

"Knuckle's technique. It'll be sealed for thirty days."

"A whole month of no nen training?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Then..." Miwa tilted her head. "Could I see if I can purge it?"

Both boys looked at her in surprise.

"Yes," immediately said Gon.

"You didn't even ask for an expla—"

"Yes," he said again. "Purge me now."

Miwa smiled in amusement.

Miwa bit on her thumb, separating her physical energy from her spiritual energy to create nen. She channeled her nen through her arm, hand, and finally thumb until it coagulated atop the blood. The blood dripped upwards, defying gravity. It disappeared into the air, morphing into a shimmering golden-white butterfly. Three drops of blood for butterflies.

They fluttered about, slowly and gracefully moving to land on Gon's shoulder.

As soon as they touched Gon's shoulder, a mischievously adorable purple cat appeared on his shoulder. It would appear that the cat was the cause for suppressing Gon's nen. The butterflies moved to sit atop the cat, absorbing its energy into them.

There was the sound of a sigh as the cat completely disappeared along with the butterflies.

At once, Gon let out his nen. "Wow! All fixed up—thanks, Miwa!"

(≧ڡ≦*)

(Miwa's Clone)

The next time Miwa visited the ants, she was surprised that they were no longer at the nest. Rather, Miwa found they were somewhere in the forest. Miwa barely had time to process that fact until she noticed a fourth ant with them.

He was green, average-built, and had a thick striped tail with a pointer at the end. His purple eyes coldly assessed Miwa. He didn't have a strong smell, and whatever Miwa did smell from him, she couldn't identify. Even his nen core was ambiguous.

Blank, almost.

"Who is this?" the new ant coldly asked.

"A toy," said Neferpitō.

"An annoyance, my king," said Shaiapouf.

King?

"Friend," said Miwa, wondering if she ought to curtsy.

"You are not human," observed the king.

"Oh? You can tell right away?" the clone exclaimed. "Wow, you've got really good intuition. I'm a clone. When you kill me I go poof."

He promptly severed her head, so poof she went.

(≧ڡ≦*)

(Miwa)

Miwa blinked at the new memory, pausing mid-bite in her slice of pizza. She, Killua, and Gon were eating out at a pizza shop Gon found by chance.

'A king, huh. Hmm...'

More like a baby.

With the king now being born, Miwa had to wonder how the royal ants would change. Or would they at all?

'Shame he doesn't have a name.'

Shaiapouf was adamant that a king did not need a name because he was only ever meant to be the one king.

'So what is he outside of being a king?'

An infant?

Miwa ignored Kurama's sass. Outside of being a king, Miwa didn't know what his purpose was. She was never given an answer on that. The royal guards certainly didn't know, at least.

Maybe now that he was there, she'd find out.

'Does he even know?

Gon's phone started to ring. He scarfed down his last slice of pizza, licked his fingers clean, then answered it. "Hweowwow?"

"Finish eating before you answer," Killua sighed.

Gon swallowed. "Hello?"

Miwa's ears twitched when she recognized the voice on the other end.

Kite said, "Hello, Gon. I wanted to give you guys an update on the chimera ant situation."

Killua must have also heard Kite's voice over the phone, because he frowned and turned his chair to face Gon. Miwa took that opportunity to swipe his last pepperoni slice. He swatted the back of her hand, glaring at her. When she tried again, he grabbed her hand.

"Oh? What's going on?" asked Gon, watching as Miwa tried to use her other hand to grab the slice. Killua grabbed that hand, too.

"The king had been born. He killed the queen along with some other ants. The royal guards defected," said Kite.

Miwa went for the Hail-Mary and dove to grab the slice with her mouth. Killua shamelessly headbutted her.

"Ehhh," said Gon, giving his friends a tired look.

"It looks like the remaining ants are going to scatter to try and build their own nests," said Kite, "so we'll be pulling back to re-asses and hunt them down."

"So when are we meeting up?" asked Gon, grabbing Killua's slice while he was struggling to keep Miwa at bay and eating it himself.

Killua and Miwa gasped at Gon's betrayal.

"I appreciate the two of you wanting to come help," said Kite over the phone. "But you recently lost to Knuckles and Shoot—"

"We can still help!"

Kite was silent for a minute.

"One month," he said. "Then I'll come test you myself. If you fail my test, you have to stay put until the chimera ants are entirely dealt with—no complaints."

"Deal," exclaimed Gon excitedly, hanging up.

"Go get us more pizza, you thief," ordered Killua.

"Hehehe, okay, okay," giggled Gon.

The three ordered a couple more pizzas, and once everything had been devoured, they leaned back in their seats and relaxed.

"Miwa!" said Gon. "Let's train in chakra for this month."

Miwa smiled. "Okay."

(≧ڡ≦*)

Before going to sleep that night, Miwa teleported to Kite, surprised to find that the other Hunters weren't with him anymore. He was running through a forest, so Miwa had to start running to keep up with him.

'Are we still in the NGL?' Miwa wondered.

"You are still in contact with the royal guards?" asked Kite as soon as he noticed her.

"Yeah," she said.

"Do you still feel there's a chance for peace?"

Miwa smiled. "I sure hope so."

Kite glanced away. "... It doesn't hurt to tackle a problem from multiple angles. At this point, however, the ants have killed a lot of people. Even if they do agree to peace—would they be allowed it?"

Miwa frowned.

"Something to consider," he advised her. "A life taken cannot be undone."

"Yes... thank you."

"Thank you," he returned with a kind smile. "How are the boys?"

"Eager to train. Um, do you need a lift?"

"I would be grateful for one. Thank you."

(≧ڡ≦*)

(Miwa's Clone)

The next time Miwa showed up, they were in some type of palace. She had appeared in a room with only the king and Neferpitō. Miwa looked around, staring at all the marble and architecture. It sure was a fancy place. Fanciest place Miwa had ever seen!

She wanted to steal everything inside it.

Maybe later, she thought. She didn't think it would help her friendship(???) with the ants if she stole stuff from their new home.

"Toy," the king coolly greeted her.

"I'd prefer Miwa," she said.

The king's eyes narrowed. "You are bold. Because you cannot die?"

Miwa smiled. "Maybe?"

"Then what games do you play?" the king coldly asked.

"Hide and Seek?" Miwa cocked her head. "I can do whack-a-mole with my clones."

"Whack-a-mole?"

"I make a bunch of clones and you try to kill them before the times out," said Miwa brightly. "You can't destroy the environment, though, otherwise you lose."

"I see," said the king. "Then let's play."

"How many?"

"How many can you make?"

"I could literally make us drown in clones," she giggled. "Pitō's record is one hundred clones in an hour—but we were using the entire forest."

"Then one thousand clones," ordered the king.

"Roger!"

He popped them all within fifteen minutes.

(≧ڡ≦*)

On the third day of Miwa's clone showing up to play, the king had decided Miwa's games weren't intellectually stimulating enough. She might have been offended, but he was absolutely right. Miwa would be the first to admit she wasn't clever when it came to strategy or long-term plans.

The next day Miwa showed up she found that the king was playing with a human. The human was shaky, sweaty, and judging from the smell had likely peed themselves in sheer terror. Despite how distressed the human was, none of the ants seemed to care.

'Smells horrible,' thought the clone.

"What's the king doing?" asked Miwa, staring curiously at the game. The king lounged on a cushion with a board in front of him and the trembling human on the other side of the board. Shaiapouf and Neferpitō were leaning against a wall to the left of the king. Neferpitō's tail twitched when Miwa showed up, the cat-ant flicking their airs to acknowledge the clone's presence. Shaiapouf, however, did not even spare her a glance.

"Playing," said Neferpitō. "Ahhh, I wish I could play~"

"It's called chess," said Shaiapouf. "Get out or be silent."

Miwa mimed zipping her lips shut while Neferpitō rolled their eyes and left the room. Shaiapouf pushed off against the wall and took a seat on a small stool. Miwa sat on the floor beside him, silently watching the game played.

Ten—no, fifteen?—minutes passed, and the human whimpered something about forfeiting.

"Return to your room," intoned the king dismissively. The human cried in relief, scrambling to run out of the room.

There was a long moment of silence until the king turned his head to look at Miwa.

"Can you play this?" asked the king.

"I'm definitely not smart enough to put up a challenge," she said with a shake of her head.

"Pity."

"But," she said, "I'm told I'm a good storyteller."

The king cocked his head. "Tell me a story."

Miwa smiled. "Okay. Once upon a time there was a lonely little bird..."

(≧ڡ≦*)

(Miwa)

Another week ticked by.

Killua and Gon studied chakra in between their standard training routine. Both boys were excited to learn ninjutsu. Killua wasn't surprised to find that he had a raion (lightning) affinity, but Gon was delighted to find out he had a katon (fire) one. Ninjutsu would provide both boys with a long-range attack, something they sorely lacked.

The handseals were awkward at first, but until they learned how to manipulate their chakra without the seals, they'd have to suck it up.

Miwa found both boys to be quick studies. She was hesitant to use prodigies, but she found no other explanation. They had an intuitive grasp of how to manipulate the energy inside them, and within the two days of practicing ninjutsu, they were able to perform C-Ranks without fuss. In terms of core size, Miwa placed them at Chūnin level, which meant they were okay to pop out several C-Ranks and a couple of B-Ranks until they were exhausted.

They did not have a chakra network, so Miwa wasn't sure if they could expand their base power by repetitive use. Their core felt bigger compared to when they began their nen training, but Miwa wasn't absolutely certain. She'd have to monitor them over the course of months.

If they were able to make their cores large enough to throw out several A-Ranks without becoming exhausted, then Miwa would teach them the base Rasengan.

After all... they were family.

Her family.

(≧ڡ≦*)

(Miwa's Clone)

"Nya!" Neferpitō groaned in frustration. "I hate not being able to leave my post. Guarding is so boring."

Neferpitō leaned back, flailing their arms reminiscent of a child throwing a tantrum.

"I wanna play! I wanna fight!"

"What do you wanna play?" asked Miwa.

"Anything," they said.

"I brought cards?"

"Nyeeehh... something more active."

"Tag?"

"YES!" Neferpitō hopped up. "Can't leave the palace, however."

"Okay," agreed Miwa. "Gimme three second head start."

"One—two—"

(≧ڡ≦*)

Time spent at the palace was surprisingly lackluster.

Her clone would appear and either entertain the king or entertain the guards. Neferpitō was forever stuck on guard duty thanks to their excellent nen use, and welcomed any distraction. Neferpitō, Menthuthuyoupī, and Miwa always enjoyed themselves when they were able to.

It was actually starting to feel like Miwa was becoming friends with them. Neferpitō would pat her head, and Menthuthuyoupī even smiled at her from time to time.

Shaiapouf was harder to read. If Miwa wanted to spend time with him, it had to be done with the king since the butterfly-ant rarely left the king's side. Most of the time, Miwa would sit beside Shaiapouf and watch the king play a new board game against some poor shivering human that rank of nasty sweat, body odor, and fear. A couple of them had even lost their bowel movements, they were so terrified of the king.

Miwa didn't understand. The king wasn't oozing malice and didn't really seek to kill them. The king only wanted to be entertained.

A shame Miwa wasn't smart enough to offer that kind of entertainment.

Not to say they couldn't have any fun. The king seemed to enjoy when Miwa accidentally antagonized Shaiapouf by arguing with the butterfly-ant. In fact, Miwa thought she saw the barest hint of a smile when she made Shaiapouf so frustrated with her, he turned red in the face.

It was made funnier—to the king—because Miwa was actively trying not to upset Shaiapouf. She wanted to be his friend, but gosh darn it, he just—he just—he was just so dang stubborn about the stupidest things! She found it nearly impossible to see eye with him because they kept disagreeing on fundamental philosophies.

He argued with her over food! Over music! Over books! HE SPOILED THE ENDING OF ONE THE BOOKS SHE WAS READING OUT OF SPITE, TOO.

Ooooh, Miwa was so angry she tried to strangle him but got popped in the process.

He likes arguing with you, Kurama had told her.

'WHY!?'

She didn't understand it at all, and she was extremely upset with him for a whole day afterward. Why, when she brought crêpes for them to enjoy, she even purposefully took a bite of his so he'd have one less bite to enjoy.

What a jerk.

Miwa's clone appeared next to Shaiapouf one rainy afternoon. She was surprised to find a young woman now playing with the king. Even more surprised that she didn't stink of fear, or even looked perturbed about the situation.

Miwa sat down next to Shaiapouf, the butterfly-ant barely sparing her a glance as he continued to read from a book.

Ever since Shaiapouf spitefully spoiled the ending of one of Miwa's books, he had taken to covering all the books he was reading with a black cover so Miwa couldn't see the title and spoil it in return.

Clever bastard.

Miwa glared hard at the book, leaning on her knees to try and read it.

'Oh that's so not fair,' she thought, realizing that he was reading it in another language. Miwa barely learned the common language.

He smirked at her when he noticed her dirty look.

Sticking her nose up in the air, Miwa hopped up from her seat and left. She was just going to get more upset if she stuck around.

"Pitō!" Miwa called out, running through the palace halls in search of the pretty kitty.

"Up here," they called out in response as Miwa caught their scent. "Nyow what do you wanna do today?"

"Strangle Pouf."

Neferpitō giggled. They beckoned Miwa over. "Come here."

Miwa hurried over to their side, and to her utter delight, Neferpitō patted her head.

"There, there," said Neferpitō.

Miwa beamed. "Poor me?"

"Poor you. There, there."

"Hehehehe."

(≧ڡ≦*)

We are 11 days before the canonical climax of the arc for those wondering. ^^ Sorry for the transition chapter, but the next chapter is already really long & has a lot of Plot Stuff in it, so I wanted to add some padding before I posted it.

Miwa is putty for anyone who gives her headpats.

Answer: Smaug as a baby. :)

Question: An omnipotent being has given you a choice. It will grant you one wish, but in exchange, the country you have spent building up these past several chapters will be completely destroyed upon activating the wish. Everyone, but you, will die for the sake of your wish. Do you accept this wish, and if so, what do you wish for?

Reviews are love!