"I hope Kurapika's fever doesn't break..."

Rukei hoped so too. Leorio managed to convince her that he would be able to handle it, but she was still really worried over the blonde. So, like Gon- Wait, what?

Killua looked up suddenly, "Wait, did you just say what I think you said?"

"Kurapika shouldn't fight the Troupe anymore," Gon explained his previous words with a hint of sadness in his tone, "I thought of something when Kurapika told me about his powers. If he'd just wanted revenge, he would have chosen different abilities. If he'd only wanted to kill them, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of chaining their hearts."

"Maybe if he only had one target," Killua corrected, believing it to be different, "But Kurapika's dealing with the entire Troupe," the boy pointed out, "Even if he captures one, he can't kill them right away. And he needs to extract information about the other members. Personally, I think his powers were meant specifically for revenge."

Rukei remixed the cube in her hands again as she spoke. "I still hope it's as Gon says though. I've had enough of watching people fight for revenge," the cube was solved again and the colors jumbled amongst each other once more. She felt similar. "It's far more difficult to protect people from themselves."

"Shichi. Wistle. Solriss." Rukei tensed as Killua called out the names, "They all have to do with you're talking about, right?"

The smaller squares flew left and right in between her hands as she answered curtly, "Essentially."

Gon wanted to know just as much as Killua did. "You keep bringing up things but we really have no idea what you're saying. What happened, Rukei?"

"A lot happened," the girl replied simply, but the simple words tinged with melancholy said quite a bit.

The white-haired boy sighed as he saw that she obviously wasn't too willing to go about the history, "Could you at least tell us who Wistle and Solriss are?" He saw a moment of hesitation at the stop of clicking and clacking and he grabbed at it, "It may tell us a little more on the reviving Zakuya."

This convinced her, though she took a couple moments of silence just to continue jumbling and re-solving. "Okay."

Gon and Killua shared a look, one of them having a very accomplished expression across his face, before turning back to the girl.

"Solriss is the one who created Zyphon."

Rukei glanced over her wrist. There wasn't much of a scar left from Elaine's claws, but there was a very light pink line running across it still visible.

"He was the head scientist of every Zyphon project," she clarified, remembering that she had hardly ever seen him outside of the lab or without a clipboard. He never took the white coat off either. "He's the Zakuya's genius. He started the Zyphon project at the age of sixteen. He had completed eight successful projects by the time he was twenty-three. My project was still underway at that time."

"Wait," the white-haired boy broke in, realizing something that had been off since the first time Rukei had told them about her blood and subject number, "He's completed eight projects? There are only eight complete subjects, right?"

The brunette nodded, not quite sure what the boy was trying to get it. "You're correct."

Gon however caught on to what Killua was saying as the boy continued talking, "Doesn't that mean that every Zyphon experiment done by Solriss has a 100% rate of success?"

The brunette paused for a moment. She hadn't explained it to them yet. Because while she wanted to hate Solriss, she couldn't. "Yes. He is guaranteed success in every Zyphon experiment. Subject 9 would be a success too, had he the time. It's because of his blood."

"His blood?" Gon echoed and Rukei finally looked up from the cube in her hands.

"Solriss is Subject 1," she informed dully, "He managed to experiment on himself and figure out how to stabilize his own conditions. His intelligence is among the Zakuya's most dangerous and useful weapons. He's adjusted himself to stimulate his mind even further. He imagines the impossible and then completes it. His agent number is 63. His codename is Professor."

Both boys stared at the girl. She was afraid, they could tell. Whenever she was truly frightened her voice would be duller and more mechanical than it usually was. She would only give out facts like bullet points or reports. Like if she acted like a machine, she wouldn't have to feel fear anymore.

"Sorry for asking," Killua mumbled and the girl looked up with surprise, "I didn't realize how scared you were of him."

"I'm not scared," Rukei denied quickly at the boy's words, "And you shouldn't apologize. Both of you should know this information," the girl concluded, "As you said earlier, it's highly likely that Solriss still operates with the Zakuya. There's a chance that we may run into him. I won't have time to explain anything then."

They both relaxed a little when Rukei returned to the old, always denying, and we-need-to-plan Rukei. "Then who's Wistle?" Gon questioned, "You said he was important once, right?"

The brunette grew quiet again but the mixing of the cube sped up, "Wistle was Subject 7. And Shichi's best friend. Information on him won't do you any good though," Rukei went on, voice flat and dreary, "He was killed during the rebellion."

They didn't reply, but decided to watch only. It wasn't only fear, they realized, that Rukei put defenses up for.

"It was probably because of the ability given to him. Wistle had the capability of causing disturbances in the minds of others with his eyes. He wasn't very good at using it though," Rukei added, the last part a bit more metallic and monotonous than the others. That last part made her sad with nostalgia then, "Do you understand? Wistle's ability is a direct counter to Solriss'."

"So Solriss killed Wistle?" Killua suspected at the news that Rukei gave him but the girl shook her head.

"No. Wistle... Wistle meant a lot to Solriss too," the girl told them quietly, "I don't think anyone who knew Wistle would have wanted anything to happen to him."

"Then the person who killed Wistle... Is that guy still alive?"

Rukei stopped for a moment. "No. But that's enough of that," she wrapped up hastily, not wanting to go on any further because she knew what came after that, "We have an immediate problem at hand."

"'Immediate problem'?" Gon repeated in confusion, "What is it?"

The girl sighed and pointed at the boy in an unimpressed manner, "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

Killua hopped off the window sill and got up in Gon's face, "Yeah, do you really have a plan for obtaining a copy of Greed Island?! Your plan is all we have to go on!"

The boy flinched, but managed a grin, "Y-yeah, it's a fifty-fifty deal though."

"Originally, didn't you say it had a 70% chance?"

-

Rukei couldn't help but feel a little victorious.

Sure, she was about the same height as the boys. If not, just slightly shorter. But she felt like one of them would overtake her in a day with a sudden growth spurt and if she was left too far behind on the height chart, they would, or at least Killua would, never let her hear the end of it. But that day had been pushed back thanks to a certain invention.

Heels.

They were a little low, granted, as Shichi said that Rukei probably wasn't that used to them, but the girl had a good sense of balance and could manage. Shichi had helped her quite a bit with the auction dress code. Rukei wasn't too happy about having to ditch her leggings and didn't like sleeveless things like the white dress, as she felt that she could be attacked any minute and her odd blood color would be revealed. But the new sense of height would be worth it.

Rukei almost smiled as she reaffirmed it by glancing over the boy's heads. I win.

"What are you looking at?" Killua frowned. His frown told the girl that he knew exactly why her eyes gleamed with a smugness as she turned away to face forward.

The girl replied simply and the boy grew more annoyed as she dodged the question he knew the answer to. "Nothing."

"You little..."

Rukei whipped her head back over and straightened her posture at the offense and repeated the boy's words with a heavy hint of complacency. "'Little'?"

Gon had to hold Killua back as they got awkward looks from the adults entering the auction hall.

They had managed to settle down and work their way to Hall B. It was quite the sight, the giant auditorium filled with men and women of a far different class than hers, there to spend and win or to merely watch an intense match of people throwing money left and right.

She glanced over the rows as they descended the steps, white roses to indicate bidders left and right. It was a good idea to stick to Gon's plan after all. There was no way they could knock out this competition, Rukei concluded looking to her right for one last affirmative glance-

They turned around and fled.

"What are they doing here?!" Gon managed out as they sped down the hallways.

"How would I know?!"

"Just keep running!"

Contrary to her words, they came to a screeching stop as a blur circled around them and loomed over. "Hey, that was cold."

They spun to take the open path but the open path closed as the shorter man blocked up the road behind.

"No need to run away," the man added as she looked left and right, deciding which path was less formidable. She reached for her gun in her holster- except she didn't have it on her. She was forced to leave the fake weapon in the hotel.

"Don't worry, we're not going to kill you," Feitan assured.

Rukei wasn't in the position to be antagonistic but she did narrow her eyes and question, "And why should we believe you?"

"Because we can't kill the chain user now," Phinks replied to her surprise and she unintentionally let her posture slacken.

Rukei was curious but she highly doubted that she would receive an answer so she did not ask. But Gon, however, did not see that. "What do you mean?"

"Huh?" Phinks looked over the clueless kids, "Didn't he use his chains on the boss? That means we can't kill him."

"Why not?" Gon inquired and Rukei was surprised by his boldness, "Isn't it the other way around?"

She was more taken back by how willing Phinks was to answer them. "Nen doesn't necessarily disappear after death. Nen that's driven by hatred and regret can persist a long time after death. That Nen will direct itself towards the target of those emotions. Since the boss can no longer use Nen, he could be overwhelmed by that assault. Residual Nen can be quite fearsome."

I suppose that's where the myths of ghosts and spirits start. Rukei concluded.

"That's why we can't kill the chain user," Phinks stopped suddenly, and looked over their heads.
He recovered fast enough with a casual, "So, we're done with you kids. We just came to enjoy the auction. The other members wanted to go home."

"Um, what happened to Pakunoda-san?" Gon asked quickly as Phinks brushed by them. Rukei remembered the silent and melancholic reunion between the leader and his subordinate.

He let out a sigh as he turned back to answer, "She died."

Oh.

The enemy was killed after the mission. Any thought of grief would be absolutely ridiculous. It was simply what is was and she should not care.

She was absolutely ridiculous.

"Paku..."

Phinks' expression was difficult to read, but Rukei could do so because she understood it. Phinks' had learned something.

"Paku wanted to thank you."

-

The first copy of Greed Island had been won by Mr. Battera, a man who claimed that he would be going after all the copies of this game during the auction. So, he was their target.

"Um, we're Hunters."

"We're willing to help clear Greed Island."

The reception was cold of course as several men in suits and sunglasses stood up to refuse. "Don't joke around. Go on home."

Gon grew indignant at the accusation. "We're not joking! I'm a pro Hunter."

One of them muttered nonsense but Mr. Battera seemed to at least offer a small chance, "Do you have a license?"

The boy brightened up at this and replied with a confident 'yes!' but was reminded that he didn't have it on him at the moment. It was still at the pawn shop.

"See, he's lying," one of them concluded but Rukei swiftly reached into her pocket to show the plastic card.

"Will this convince you, sir?" the brunette questioned with a very slight edge to her tone upon all the accusatory and scoffing looks, "My name, Rukei Nazoku, should be printed there."

Mr. Battera nodded in approval as he looked over the card and handed it back to her, "Yes, it does appear to be an authentic Hunter license. And the fact that you are all here means you're certainly not ordinary. However, I can't blindly accept that you are all Hunters. I am indeed looking for Hunters to clear this game but I cannot hire you at this time. Because there can only be so many players."

The brunette hid nervousness behind an iron mask. If he was looking for Hunters, than he should at least check them, right?

"There can only be so many players?" Gon echoed the new information.

"Each memory card only has the capacity to store one player's data," Battera explained, "With multitaps, you can have a maximum of eight players per console."

This sparked a memory in the spiky-haired boy. "Oh, that's right. The Greed Island save used up all thirty blocks on that memory card," the man was surprised that they knew this, "We have a Greed Island save file."

"Have you played the game before?"

Gon honestly denied it, "No, we only have a memory card."

"If that card is real, you would need another item to remove the card from the console," Battera continued as if he were looking for some kind of confirmation from them.

And when they had with the knowledge of the ring, another man with a beard was called to give them a very short exam as they were apparently worth considering.

"I assume you know how to use Nen. Show me your Ren."

She wasn't quite sure how to describe how she felt, but right now, she would settle with very, very pissed.

They had been told that letting them play would be an absolute waste of time from an apparent Greed Island veteran. That they'd run around in circles until they died. They were practically told "too bad, try again" at the player screening on the final day of the auction.

Oh, she was going to "try again" alright.

"I'm so mad!" Gon yelled, his Ren bursting through the room, "I can't believe how he spouted off!"

Killua was a bit more relaxed on the side in contrast to Rukei who hadn't said a word because she knew she would snap if she did and Gon who stood in the center of the room pouring out as much aura as he could to release some anger. "Still, he's right."

"What do you mean?" Gon demanded furiously to which the boy stood up, holding a hand out.

"Chill out a little. We, or at least me and you, Gon, should start thinking about taking this to the next level."

Rukei glanced up in confusion noticing that she had been left out. "You and Gon?"

"The next level?"

"Hatsu," Killua replied as he leaned against the window sill, "You know, our special abilities. Kurapika started learning Nen when we did. But he was able to fight the Troupe because of his special abilities."

Gon nodded, following the boy's explanation clearly, "Yeah, Kurapika obtained powers that make him basically invincible against the Troupe by placing his life on the line."

"We can't follow his example,"

"You better not," Rukei muttered quietly.

Her words were most unheard to her relief as Killua went on, "We need abilities without too much or too little risk, which still fits our specialities. Something practical and effective. Like how Rukei already has something figured out. That's what we have to come up with."

Gon began to think. Shortly after, his brain began to fry.

Killua tried to lend the boy a hand, bending down to eye level, "First, what kind of abilities do you want?"

The boy's brain continued to sizzle.

"Hey! You must have at least a vague idea!"

"What would you want to have in a fight?" Rukei pitched in trying to help as she realized just how stumped Gon really was.

The boy actually began to sweat as he racked his brain for ideas, "Uh, a really strong power!"

"That's too vague."

"Why don't you try to start within your own category?"

Killua took on this point to help the boy, "You're an Enhancer, so think of a power that strengthens something."

Gon nodded.

"Then we ask, what part of you do you want to strengthen, and how?"

His brain smoked and Killua hit him across the head getting an indignant reaction and crocodile tears. "That hurt! What about you, then?"

"I already know what I want," Killua stood up and began to leave, "That's why I'm helping you."

The white-haired boy refused to share any details with is friends with the excuse of 'it's a secret' as he left but not before a taunt that it was possible that only Killua would pass the screening.

Rukei realized a moment later that he was jabbing at the fact that Rukei might not pass too. That jerk! I already have my ability too. The girl paused all of the sudden, remembering how much it took out of her just to lift a rusty pole. Granted, the distance was longer, but it wasn't that far. Though it's proven to be inefficient so far.

She gave a short "good luck" when she realized that she was going to need a lot of practice.

-

"A screening, huh?" Shichi hummed at the information that Rukei gave her, "Well, passing that would be a lot easier and realistic than trying to earn enough money to get one of those copies. If only you got that bounty."

The brunette sighed and shook her head as she played with the weight in her hand, finding it good enough to use as her subject for training, "It can't be helped. The Ten Dons gave out the direct order after all."

The girl jolted as her sister shot to her feet and turned around suddenly with a terrifyingly serious expression, "When?"

The younger could barely manage a "What?"

"When did the Ten Dons give that order?" Shichi interrogated harshly, the kind of harsh that was spoken during missions.

"September 4th," Rukei replied immediately to the woman's grave demeanor.

She cursed loudly as she snatched up her phone, "I should have known!" She snarled while booting up the device. She had thought that when the reward was rescinded that it was just a collective decision from the mafia. If she had known that it was by the Ten Dons directly-!

The brunette moved to face the woman cautiously, "Shichi-oneesan, what's wrong?"

The younger could hardly understand a word the other said as she spat out a collection of information that the girl had no background to, "The Ten Dons were killed September 3rd! They can't give an order if they're dead! There's someone pulling the strings behind them and I've got a good idea who."

And Rukei remembered.

"The Mafia who put a reward on us are gone."

The reward was gone because the Ten Dons were gone. But there was someone there now and if Shichi was this worked up about it there was only one answer.

The Zakuya.

"Noriko? This is Shichi. Get this message to everyone on the case. We've got a tail."

-

Rukei gripped her head as she sudden saw a flash of blue stretch across her vision. Perhaps she had overdone it, but there was no other way to improve during that four day time limit she had. She slowly moved over to the weight and picked it up, ready to set it up again for another Trace.

"Work smarter, not harder," was the advice from the annoyed woman standing at the doorway.

The girl gave her older sister a tired glance, "I would if there were another way. The only thing I can do is get used to the amount of energy it takes to use Trace-"

"You're using more than you need to accomplish something like that," Shichi cut the girl off in an irritated tone, "You're unconsciously setting too much aura into the object. Manipulators don't need to do that. You're forcing yourself to use emission when you don't need to. Explain to me your abilities."

The brunette set the weight down, a little confused at the woman's sudden input.

"C'mon. Tell me. I'll help you out."

The girl was delighted to hear that Shichi would be helping her out, but that didn't mean the brunette had forgotten everything all together. "But don't you have to investigate the Ten Dons?"

"They assigned Cheril that case for whatever reason. Personally, I'd love to go deal with it myself but if they want to assign a less adequate Crime Hunter, then they can," Shichi admitted, obviously more than a little sour about the case assignments.

And so, Rukei explained her abilities to Shichi; Trace and Stain.

"Okay," the woman crossed her legs as she sat into a chair and cupped a hand in her chin, "I see. Not bad really. But where the heck did you get the idea of paint from? I thought you'd choose something like gunpowder or technology or something."

The brunette gave a small shrug, "I remembered something while visiting Whale Island. I liked painting I believe, when I was younger."

"Painting?" Shichi repeated incredulously, "Never told me about that. Did your parents paint?"

"No," Rukei replied simply.

Shichi stared at the girl for a while without saying anything. The woman was in very deep thought so Rukei did not disturb her. She suddenly smiled, the smile that seemed a little more faraway, as she finally spoke again. "Well, I'm glad there's something that belongs only to you."

The brunette blinked and was about to question when Shichi cut her off again.

"Though, I get that you're manipulating paint, but you're a Manipulator, so you really should have some way of manipulating a person or an animal or something just in case."

Shichi had a point. "It's come across my mind before," Rukei admitted, "But I'm not sure how to go about. It appears like it would take a lot more power than Trace or Stain would."

"First of all, I already told you but you're not using your Nen correctly. You're using way more energy than you need," Shichi explained while throwing out a fist for emphasis, "Secondly, manipulating is your strength. Give it a shot. It'll probably be a lot easier than you think it is."

Rukei pondered over the woman's words for a little before realizing something, sitting upright, "Shichi, what's your Nen ability?"

She was a little surprised at the girl's sudden question and leaned back in the chair, "Well, I'm a Conjurer. And my secret ability is...," the woman paused for a little while before breaking out into a grin, "A secret."

Rukei huffed in vexation, "Why?"

"Because it's my secret ability," Shichi repeated with an irritating laugh that made Rukei want to punch it straight out of her older sister. But sibling battles usually ended up in the girl's loss, "Anyhow, give the manipulation some thought," the woman instructed while standing up, "Remember, things important to the Manipulator will respond better. I'm going to get a drink."

Things important to the Manipulator...

Shichi shut the door behind her after seeing the girl go into deep thought. "I'm actually pretty surprised..."

"By what?"

The woman turned around to see the blonde standing across from her in the hallway in front of the door to Gon's room. He still had dark bags around his eyes and said eyes seemed pretty dull. "Rukei's Nen. More importantly, are you really supposed to be moving around?"

Kurapika gave a dismissive "I shall be fine," before going back to what he wanted to know, "And what may be so surprising about it?"

"I didn't think she'd choose something like paint to manipulate," she replied, glancing out the window at the end of the corridor with something akin to a tired, sarcastic sigh, "Rukei... It doesn't look like it on surface level, but that girl is heavily influenced by the people around her. That's why I'm surprised. No one around her has ever done something like... Painting."

"I see...," Kurapika hummed following her gaze. The sun began to set over the buildings, and soon the rest of the city would wake up with lights and glowing signs, "Does that worry you?"

Shichi gave a ragged grin, "Yes and no. I mean, it's kinda like she's growing up. She's finally doing something by herself. It's really about time she got to this point. But she's my little sister. I kinda have to worry about her, y'know?" the girl gave a short laugh to herself at the thought.

The blonde smiled softly at the woman's words, "Rukei is very important to you."

She coughed awkwardly and blushed as she shoved her hands into her pockets and turned away. It was a quiet grumble so Kurapika could barely catch it but he did, "Of course she is. She's family."

Family was important. It was what she had left.

The woman stopped suddenly just as she was about to descend the stairs and turned around, "Hey, how long are you going to be staying in Yorknew?"

"I'll be leaving tomorrow," the boy informed, "Neon wishes to go home and I am obligated to go with her. Why?"

Shichi shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck with a bashful smile, "Oh. Never mind then. Can't be helped."

This only made the blonde curious now was he turned towards her fully, "What is it? Is there something you're planning?"

The woman let out an embarrassed chuckle, "Not really. It's just that... See, Rukei's turning thirteen real soon. Her birthday is on September 9th. And she really likes you guys so...," she felt even more embarrassed under the blank stare of the other, "What?"

"I just never struck you two as someone to celebrate birthdays," Kurapika noted and the dark-haired girl exhaled deeply.

"We weren't," she admitted, "It was just something to track our age until Crimson came along and made a big deal out of it. She was like 'what?! You guys don't celebrate birthdays?!' and then she yelled at Glass for not practicing the celebration of a child's birthday. Honestly, the woman's crazy," Shichi ended with an unintentional and entirely noticeable mark of fondness in her voice.

"I will see what I can do."

Shichi looked up suddenly at the random words, "Huh?"

"I doubt I'll be able to change anything, but if I am able to stay for the ninth then I will stay," Kurapika concluded with his back turned so she couldn't see his expression.

But she didn't really need to. The fact that the boy was willing to try for her little sister's sake was a good thought to put her at ease. Shichi grinned and gave him her thanks.

-

"The Rubik's cube?"

Rukei nodded as Shichi tossed an incredulous look towards the girl with the puzzle of faded colors in between her hands, "Yes. It's important to me."

The woman sighed and dragged a palm against her face, "Rukei, how are you going to tie that to paint? How are you even going to control someone with a Rubik's cube in the first place?"

Surprisingly enough, the girl had it all planned out in a logical clean order that even Shichi was impressed that she thought of that in the short time span of her chat with Kurapika and her getting an energy drink.

"I would have to mark my opponent six times with the paint gun," Rukei started, "It increases the risk and makes sense. There are six sides to a Rubik's cube, right? After that, I can control the target by using different combinations with the cube for different actions. That should be more than enough considering there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different combinations."

"Just saying that number makes you sound way smarter than you actually are," Shichi huffed, plopping down into the chair, "But since you've played with the same cube for the past seven years, I'm not surprised if you already got a good portion of those combinations memorized."

"Not all of it yet," Rukei admitted, "But enough to get quite the amount of action out of someone."

"Alright, have you tried out this ability?"

"No...," she almost flinched at the unimpressed look of the dark-haired woman, "It wouldn't be polite or safe to simply pick a victim and practice on them."

To her surprise, her impolite, rough, older sister agreed with her slumping over the back of the seat, "Well, you got a point there. Just work on Trace and Stain for now. I'll figure something out."

-

Soon, Rukei and Shichi had to take her training to the small clearing outside the hotel. Rukei still hadn't gotten Shichi's point apparently, and Shichi had Rukei spar with the older using Ten and Ren, so that the younger could flow between the two more smoothly and initiate both faster. Shichi thought that it may assist in helping Rukei use only the necessary amount of Nen in her Hatsu. Their sparring was too loud and dangerous and Leorio told them to take it outside as Kurapika was trying to rest and the frantic doctor was concerned over his patient.

Though Rukei wouldn't really call it sparring. It was always losing match on the brunette's side who currently was laying flat down on the cool grass after being thrown down.

"Rukei, you're too stiff," Shichi pointed out, hands in her pockets casually which made the girl question how serious the woman was actually taking this, "I thought you'd learn by now."

The girl stood to her feet tiredly, ready to be taken down again. She had been told that too many times, along with 'predictable' and 'rigid' but it's not like Rukei knew how to fix it.

The woman sighed and seemed to get the unspoken message. "Come at me one more time. I'll show you exactly what you're doing wrong."

Of course, Rukei obeyed, powering up Ren and darting forward, preparing for a feint and then reaching for Shichi's other arm to toss the woman over her shoulder, but Shichi quickly stepped out of the way and guided the girl's own arm to send her toppling to the ground again.

"See? You're way too stiff. You're too focused on generating power that you don't need," the older sister explained, "I guided that excessive power you generated elsewhere. It's like your Nen."

Rukei opened her eyes, staring up at the night sky while laying on her back, "My Nen?"

"Yeah. It's fluid, right? Kinda like water," Shichi described, the soft crunch of grass beneath shoes as she headed over next to her sister, "Water can pound and water can flow. It adapts to what's around it. Your Nen should be the same. Along with the way you fight."

"Water..." Rukei mumbled to herself before closing her eyes again and sighing, "That analogy isn't yours is it?"

There was an annoyed snort, "I thought I sounded so natural when I said it."

The girl sat up once more, a new, crisp determination to learn.

Rukei had been improving vastly and rapidly as Shichi's punches were turned aside by soft blocks. There was once where Rukei had actually managed to toss the woman, granted, she landed on her feet and knocked the girl down with a sweep of her leg quickly afterwards.

All the brunette needed was a little explanation, and her Nen was improving too. There was a smooth switch between Ten and Ren when she needed the two and when she didn't need the two. With this, Rukei's Trace should be much easier on the girl's body and mind then on out.

"Alright, good work-" Shichi's words were cut off by a yawn that she didn't bother to hide as she evaded Rukei's kick by simply lifting the girl's foot up a little higher and throwing her off balance, "Too many openings," the woman corrected suddenly.

The girl gave a quiet growl of frustration as she stood up, brushing green blades off her clothes. She was irritated, Shichi knew, but Rukei was advancing a lot faster than she realized. At this rate, passing that screening is no pipe dream.

"Hey, I'm going to get some coffee. I need to stay awake," the woman finished, hauling the younger up, "You need to drink something too. Can't fight dehydrated."

And so, both of them filled the little styrofoam cups provided in the small inn's lobby, one with water, the other with coffee.

Rukei glanced up to her sister who leaned against the wall, a little skeptical. "Is the coffee any good?"

"It's nasty," Shichi replied with a straight face while taking another sip, "Which is why it keeps me awake."

And it was at that time, that Rukei found her first target for her new ability.

An unsuspecting drunk man stumbled through the lobby and grinned at the sight of the woman alone, the little girl aside. She didn't stand out too much, but she was pretty enough, the man concluded. He hobbled up to her and slurred some crude things, only to be splashed with cup of burning hot disgusting coffee and received a punch right after that and he was out.

That was when Shichi was struck with a brilliant idea.

The woman yanked the man up by his collar, turning to her sister, "Hey! I found your target!"

Rukei was not so keen on the idea of using a random, unconscious, intoxicated man as her target to practice manipulation, "That doesn't sound safe. If something goes wrong I could kill him."

"Nah, he'll be fine," the woman brushed off the idea easily, "If worst comes to worst, I can knock you out before anything happens! It's completely foolproof."

Rukei took back any idea of Shichi becoming any more polite or considerate. At the end of the day, Shichi was still Shichi.

。。。

The water analogy is from Bruce Lee. I believe the original quote is "Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water in a bottle and it becomes a bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes a teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash." I thought this could apply to Nen pretty well too.

Rukei's style is a very, very loosely based off of judo (not that judo's stiff and rigid, that's just Rukei). Rukei can only really fight in situations she's trained to fight in. If some weird, out of the world move is thrown at her during a fight, she won't be able to respond. At this point, Rukei is learning to adapt faster. Shichi, on the other hand, has a very, very loosely based Jeet Kune Do fashion of doing things. It was kinda difficult to show how she thinks and moves according to the water principle in her fight against Chrollo because he's... Well, Chrollo.

Gah, I haven't actually studied in Jeet Kune Do or Judo so this is tough! I mean, if you have (or if you haven't and still know something) and I screwed something up, I should like to be able to correct it! Do inform.

And here's a picture tied into this chapter that I do not have the energy to color. Yet.

Thank you for reading everyone!