"We're being followed."

   There was no show of worry or hurry on the boy's face or posture; his hands were buried in his pockets, like they almost always were, and he stared out into the passing crowds casually. The tanned boy next to him however, though generally calm seemed anxious- or was it curiosity? His expression was always changing, but it was clear that he was already aware.

   "You're pretty good," Jen noted with an amused grin, but it faded completely with his next statement, "But so are they. They aren't just some pickpockets."

   "There's more than one?" Killua asked, nonchalantly standing still for a moment, pretending that he dropped something.

   Jen stayed with him and laughed, as if he were making fun for the boy for being clumsy, "I can't tell. But it's safer to assume there's always more than one."

   "But no more than three," Gon brought up suddenly- he remembered from Yorknew, "Rukei said that the Zakuya never trails targets in groups bigger than the ones they're following."

   Walking ahead without glancing behind him, the white-haired boy stood up again,  "Can we be sure it's the Zakuya?"

   "Well, I do make a lot of enemies," Jen grumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he racked his brain, "How about you, Killua Zoldyck?"

   Killua shut his eyes, it seemed like it was out of annoyance but he was trying to sense for their presence. "That's also entirely possible."

   "I thought so," the man nodded to himself, before saying 'sorry' to someone he bumped into, which was a good excuse to look behind him. For a moment, he caught a blur that leaped from one crammed building to another, "Well, it's more likely to be the Zakuya in this situation, so let's go with that."

   "So they're after you?" Gon questioned. He too, could catch the slight fluttering of blankets left out to dry, blowing in the direction opposite to which the wind was blowing. Someone had just darted across from that balcony with an unnatural swiftness.

   "Probably," Jen answered, "Do you wanna split up?"

   "If there's more than one of them, then there's no point," Killua pointed out quickly, before Jen could step away from the group, "Do you think we can draw them out?"

   Jen gave them a simple shake of his head and a shrug, "Not without looking really suspicious. Or splitting up."

   "So in the end, we have to split up," the white-haired boy concluded reluctantly, "Alright. Got a step two to that plan?"

   By the unusual pondering look the man had on his face, Killua guessed that Jen hadn't thought that far. The man gave an unhelpful, carefree question along with his sloppy grin. "Can't we just wing it?"

   "Of course not!"

   Jen sighed exhaustedly- he couldn't think this hard! The man glanced over to both of the boys, giving him a half-baked solution, "Uh, how about you two turn right at the next crosswalk, and I'll go left. Count to about a minute, and then try coming back."

   Normally, the white-haired boy would have called out the flimsy plan, but it had worked in Greed Island, so it should work fine here, right?

   But then, it was Bisky. Their teacher. Now, Killua glanced to the man with a very unreliable look on his face, it was Jen.

   "Okay," Killua let out a vexed breath, "What kind of Nen abilities do you have?"

   The look on Jen's face was the most baffled, perplexed look he had seen in a while, like he had completely forgotten what had happened back in the colosseum so long ago. "Nen abilities?"

   Gon returned the surprised look, equally confused as Killua. "You sounded like you had one back at Heaven's Arena..."

   The man gave them a weak smile and scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Oh, that. I mean, I had a Nen ability."

   "'Had?'"

   Whatever happened, happened a long time ago, Killua concluded by the somewhat, vaguely lost expression that surfaced. It was unusual seeing that look on Jen- while he always had that odd nomadic spark on his features, he hardly ever looked lost. Jen always knew where he stood: where he wanted to. "I haven't been able to use my Nen ability for long time now. I can still use Ten, Zetsu, and all the other basic techniques, but my Hatsu is gone. Which is a shame. I had a really handy Emitter technique."

   He would have to ask for the details another time, but the intersection was coming up and Killua had to devise a new plan. If Jen didn't have a Hatsu, Zyphon experiment or not, Killua didn't think Jen should go alone. "One of us should accompany you then. We're just brats in their eyes, right?"

   The man didn't seem to care too much about what happened to him; that or Jen was simply confident that he'd be fine 'winging' it, like he always did. "Well, you can if you want."

   Gon immediately raised his hand, as if he were in some kind of classroom, offering to take the position, "Then I'll go-"

   "No, I'm going with Jen," Killua cut him off shortly, without even a glance to the spiky-haired boy who lost his eager gaze and began pouting as he dropped his arm.

   "What? But I called it first!"

   "And it was my idea."

   When there was a fight, the solution was always the same. It had proven itself many times, not only in their friendship, but across many years between many different people with its rational effectivity and constant fairness.

   Rock-paper-scissors.

-

   Kurapika spoke first, knowing that the woman behind the old, chipped counter would understand him. The woman who looked surprisingly young, perhaps in her mid twenties, did not make any move to acknowledge their presence.

   She had been chalking some black cloth, she did so still, while humming quietly, in the most satisfied manner. Dark eyes had been glazed over with a sort of drowsiness, and her smile was that of one reminiscing on the past, being content with the present, and untroubled by the future.

   She appeared as, to Shichi especially, the epitome of ignorant, blissful peace.

   "Julia Sember," the blonde started. He was not successful in getting the woman to look up; it was as if the woman were working while sleeping. He concluded that she heard him and ignored him. "I assume that you have heard of the death of your brother."

   Julia did not seem to respond. She continued to very carefully and precisely, but because of the faraway look she held, unsettlingly study the black cloth. Shichi decided to stay out of the conversation entirely, watching the relaxed woman continue to chalk out and measure the sable garment.

   Shichi wondered why it took her so long to realize what it was for.

   "I believe he left you something."

   The woman smiled (why did it look so pleased?) and she set down the tools in her hands gently. Julia finally looked up at them, and Shichi took the moment to scrutinize the woman's face more carefully. Where was the woman who made millions by the hour, the woman who controlled all of their twisted entertainment, the woman who had stood at the top of the underworld?

   Where had she gone?

   It all seemed like a dream now. But surely, Shichi remembered it! Her memory was not as strong as Rukei's but Shichi could pick out the backs of her parents that had guided her there. "Watch," they ordered. "This is what lies for the traitors."

   The colosseum was grand; it had been meticulously and elaborately built to mimic another era, and on every side she would see people she recognized. Mafia heads, syndicates they had made truces with, organization they were rivals with, all united to cheer on the same side, to watch the same thing.

   The punishment of the traitor.

   She couldn't recall much of what happened after. It was a blur again, though she could pick out a vicious looking magical beast or two (what were their names? She can't remember), but there was still blood and there was still death, so it was not so different than the rest of her memories.

   But Shichi still remembered something. Down on the remains of what used to look human, Julia Sember cast down a look of complete contempt and absolute disgust. It was the same look that Moon died with. What about it had made her so angry, furious, wronged, angry, she didn't know but-

   "Is it the eyes?"

-

   "You want to learn about the experiments?"

   Leorio nodded, hoping that the skeptical doctor would see how serious the situation was, how serious he was! The doctor sighed; he didn't seem against it, but he certainly wasn't supportive. "You know, Leorio, learning how to treat them takes a lot of time. You should be focusing on your basic studies first, before even thinking about targeting weirdos."

   "But if something happens to you, Rukei can't get treatment, right?" the bespectacled man reasoned quickly, getting into the senior doctor's face, "She and all the other experiments are basically screwed!"

   Galen held his hand to stop his rant before it came. The man slid back in his chair, and unlocked one of the drawers full of files; it almost looked like it would burst! "Do you take me for an idiot? I gave their information to the Hunter Association. Sanbica Norton and a selected few are already very familiar with their altered systems."

   The man's furrowed brows and wrinkled nose relaxed at the information, and he straightened his posture while he watched the man pick through the mass of papers. The old man got tired with it and moved over to his computers to look for digital files instead.

   "That being said, it wouldn't hurt to take a look. I've sent you the basic explanation of how they've been altered," Galen relented, "If you actually make it through that whole document and don't change your mind, I'll tell you some more."

   Leorio told Galen that he wouldn't.

   In the adjacent room, Rukei played with the Rubik's cube and listened to Marron's ludicrous stories about duping the police and evading captures. Galen had strictly told Rukei to watch Marron, knowing that the youth was likely to try and escape to entertain himself. But the youth knew better; he wasn't about to run around and faint from dehydration.

   He said that would be unstylish.

   Rukei glanced at the time- they had to take a pill to move along the process in fifteen minutes. She reminded the boy while he was in the middle of talking, and he grew upset.

   "Have you even been listening this whole time?!" The boy demanded; his voice was melodramatically sported hurt.

   Rukei's short response was, "Of course."

   "Okay, then what did I say happened before I-"

   She interrupted him again to take a phone call. Rukei ignored the fumed boy, flipping open the oddly shaped cell to pick up the call.

   "Hey, Rukei!"

   It was Gon! The brunette was not expecting a call from them so soon, it had hardly been an hour and a half. Had they perhaps gotten lost? Rukei smiled to herself lightly.

   But wherever they had gone, the reception seemed bad (she couldn't hear much against the sound of the wind. Was he running?). "So, um, I'm going to have to make this really fast-"

   She faintly heard Jen's voice- it was hard to make out what he was yelling, but it sounded like "watch out!". She sat up straight quickly, and her shoulders tensed. "Gon?"

    "Have you ever heard of Left and Right?"

   The girl immediately jumped to her feet, and Marron stopped his nagging once he knew something was wrong. The image of twins flashed across her mind. "What about Left and Right? What's going on?'

   "They're kind of after Jen, so we're running away right now, but we're okay!" the boy added quickly, "I just- woah!"

   The line went dead.

   The girl appeared normal; her stance was rigid, but it was always rigid. However, the very fast, blurred together words she sped out to Killua over the phone when Gon wouldn't pick up, made it obvious that she wasn't calm.

   "Gon told you?! What is that idiot doing-"

   "You weren't going to tell me?!" Rukei shot back, the sharpness of her pitch was alarming and painful, "Where are you? What's happening?"

   There was heavy hesitance before he spoke up reluctantly, "We sort of split up."

   The reply was immediate. "You split up?! Are you-"

   "Uh, I gotta go, Rukei," he managed out before the girl could get any answers, "See ya."

   The line went dead.

   Rukei opened up the nearby window, much to Marron's concern. The boy also got up slowly; it was his first time seeing the brunette like this. "Uh, Rukei, you aren't really going out, are you?"

   "Do you expect me to really stay here?" The girl demanded, retying one of her mint laces quickly, "It's Left and Right, and Gon, Killua, and Jen are separated. It's the worst possible situation."

   "Weren't we ordered to stay here?"

   Rukei paused, one foot on the ledge, one hand on the window. She glanced back towards Marron. That wasn't a question she was expecting him to ask, and it wasn't a question she was prepared to answer.

   Yes, but that wasn't completely true! She wasn't told to stay in the room... Right? Those weren't her orders. So it was okay, right?

   "I was ordered to make sure you stay here," Rukei reiterated slowly, carefully, before craning her head back to glare at the ginger, "And you will stay here."

   "Yes ma'am."

-

   Shichi wondered how Kurapika felt to look into the black box set on the counter by Julia. She couldn't see it, and part of her felt like it wasn't right to. She was pushing her limits by staying in the room and watching Kurapika's back as he reclaimed the eyes. Like she had stepped onto something sacred.

   "Thank you, Julia," the blonde stated. Shichi could not see his face, but his voice said it was painful to get it off his tongue. It was almost as if the words had been choked out of his throat by some invisible hand, "I apologize for your loss."

   Julia smiled lightly, the detached smile again, continuing to chalk and mark away at the cloth. "It doesn't matter any more. Since he's dead, it doesn't matter. I'm not sure why it matters to you either."

   For some reason, Shichi didn't think Julia was talking about her brother. The sleepy spell of her shop seemed to have been cast over the room for a long, long time.

   She grabbed the man's arm quickly after hearing Julia last sentence, stopping him before he could speak. "C'mon. We're done here."

   Kurapika had grown too stoic for her liking- it was similar to Rukei's iron mask, but there was something much more unsettling about it. The silence that annoyed her in Yorknew, now crawled up her skin and wrapped her spine in a chill. He turned to her with the black box in hand, and she let him go.

   A ring of her phone broke the heavy atmosphere, and she answered it as if it were some sort of divine intervention, holding up the cracked device and answering, "This is Shichi Tsujou."

   "Shichi-oneesan," the voice addressed her quickly- there was an urgency in her voice (and was she running? She was supposed to be taking tests), "Jen's being attacked. Gon is with him, but Killua is separated, I don't know where they are, and I need-"

   "Wait, what?" The woman blurted, instinctively spinning around towards the exit, "Who's attacking? And are you outside the Alliance building?"

   "That doesn't matter." Though it did. "It's Left and Right."

    The woman groaned, running a hand through her bangs. The siblings? "Okay," the woman started sternly, "We'll handle it. Rukei, go back to the building, it's not safe-"

   The line went dead.

   Shichi stared at the screen in disbelief, before whirling back around towards Kurapika, as if to affirm with another that in the unworldly, distant room this was a reality. "Did she- did she just hang up on me?"

   The blonde was not sure what Shichi was trying to affirm but he heard 'Rukei' and 'not safe', in the same sentence so he knew it couldn't be positive. "What happened?"

   "I wish I knew," Shichi mumbled, adjusting the guitar strap around her shoulder as she scrolled through her phone, pulling the device back to her ear. She muttered a curse as she drew it back away. It had gone straight to the voice message; the only time Noriko would have her phone off was when Shichi needed her. She'd just go straight to Crimson in that case.

   "Hello? Shichi?"

   The woman felt a brief relief at the sound of the redhead's voice. "Track Rukei down. Her friends have been attacked and she's apparently running after them."

   Crimson reacted similarly to how Shichi responded, which was not so far from how Rukei replied. Perhaps it was a family thing but in any case, the conversation between Crimson and Shichi was fairly unproductive and very confused. "Wait, do you even know where they are?"

   "If I knew, I wouldn't have called you! Your En is much better than mine, and Glass can't use Nen for a while after Magic Mirror; search the general Auri district. I heard that stupid song that's always blasting in the Auri market while she was talking."

   "Well, who's attacking them?!" Crimson demanded, seeking answers that Shichi too was lacking in. "Elaine? Knight?!"

   Shichi grimaced at the thought of those two showing up. That would put them into a much grimmer situation. "No. It's Left and Right."

   "That's impossible."

   She thought that Crimson had hung up on her too, until her voice returned, its usual cheerfulness and energy replaced with a baffled disbelief. The blood running through her veins was replaced by a chilling floe, and the gears that kept her thoughts running froze.

   "I killed Right three years ago."

。。。

I've rewritten chapter one. Please go check it out if you have the time!

I'm sorry for the delayed (and short) update. This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I think that it will end up being too long, so I'm splitting it into two parts. As a result, the art in the media was done very recently so it's very simple, since the art I originally drew for this chapter, is getting moved to the next chapter. The second part will hopefully come out soon! Thank you for reading!

Depictions of Glass and Shichi have been posted to Frog in An Inkwell. Shichi's is under the prompt 'Long' and a much younger Glass is under the prompt of 'Filthy'.