"I'm returning to Jianghai."

Gon's hollering echoed off the walls; it startled her enough to drop her phone and cover her ears, "What?! Why?!"

"Did something happen?" Killua questioned quickly, immediately jolting up from his seat.

"It's just for a little while," Rukei explained while pulling her hands away from her ears and picking up the device, "If the process runs well, I'll probably be able to come back within a week. The Alliance needs to run a couple tests on my blood; essentially it's a check-up."

The spiky-haired boy slumped back into his chair and let out a deep exhale of relief, "Oh. Don't scare us like that, Rukei!"

"When are you leaving?"

"Preferably, right now. My doctor's a little...," she broke off and considered the best group of words to describe him, "Upset with me. I haven't visited him in a year where as in the past, they checked me monthly. I apologize about leaving in the middle of all this, Kite."

Kite didn't hold anything against her for leaving, but he was curious at to why, "That's alright. You've been a great help, so we'll be slowed down a bit, but we can manage. I will not force you to explain anything, but are you sick?"

Rukei was sure a Hunter as great as he already received news about the Zyphon experiments, but she still decided against elaborating to save time. She needed to hurry and book a flight to the other crowded city, so her response shortened to something akin to "I'm a bit unusual" following a request to borrow the computer in order to purchase a ticket.

Spin offered to go ahead and do it for her to give Rukei extra time to gather her belongings. It had been a long time since she had been in Jianghai, though she doubted it had changed any. Busy, bustling, indifferent crowds of congested the roads, and she expected them to be congesting it still. Ah, but she may as well get something for Gon and Killua while she was over there-

"Can you buy two more tickets?"

Okay, change in plans. She turned to find them leaning over Spin's shoulders obnoxiously, trying to give her directions to things she already knew how to do. "What are you two-"

"We'll pay you back later!" Gon assured while reaching for the mouse himself, which was promptly jerked away by the indignant woman.

"Uh, Gon, we're Hunters," the white-haired boy reminded him, "We don't need to pay for transportation."

After a couple seconds of dumb silence, Gon broke into a bashful smile, "Oh, that's right. In that case, there's even less reason not to buy two more tickets!"

"Okay, I get it!" Spin yelled over their voices after a frustrated groan, whirling around in her chair and swatting them away, "I'll get you guys a ticket, so just go sit down somewhere!"

Everything had been decided and Rukei could not even manage to slip a word in during the exchange. She felt awkward asking after everything was determined, but she pushed through. "The process isn't very interesting. You should stay here and help Kite-"

"But Jianghai is where you live, right?" Gon questioned she could finish her sentence, "I've always wondered what it's like. We've been to Killua's house, my house, but we've never been to yours."

The looks on their faces enforced their determination as Killua finished up the boy's reasoning, "So, it's only fair!"

"It's really not that interesting," Rukei repeated, though her voice contained very little intention of actually trying to persuade the boys: Rukei wasn't going to waste her time on that.

-

To Gon and Killua, it was the exact opposite.

Jianghai was a very interesting place.

The moment they stepped off the airship, they knew that Rukei did not exaggerate the size or chaos of the crowds. She looked at Killua blankly when he told her that the city really was packed, and shortly replied with a 'wait till you see the subway'.

"The subway?" Gon echoed, while shoving his way through the massses to rejoin with his friends in the most polite way possible, "It can't be as bad as Yorknew."

Rukei stifled a laugh at his comment, before returning, "I wasn't aware that the subways in Yorknew were bad."

Killua cringed at the very idea of riding something like that. With an uneasy and hopeful glance, the white-haired boy asked, "So we're taking this subway?"

They managed to get to a more open area where they could stop for a moment to let Rukei text her doctor without being buffeted by bodies. "No. The apartment isn't that far. But we'll be stopping by headquarters first."

"To see your doctor?"

"Yes."

"What's he like?"

Rukei paused for a moment to find a more respectful synonym for 'crabby' and settled with, "He's a little irritable. But he really does look out for everyone, and he's quite skilled."

It was a vague  answer so of course, Gon still bubbled over with curiosity not limited to her doctor, "Hmm... Who else will we meet?"

"A couple of the other experiments will be there," she replied, explaining a little more over the process, "Apparently, they're gathering the experiments that aren't with the Zakuya to the Alliance to run some tests. 'Why do the Zakuya still need us'? 'Why haven't they taken on new projects'? They're trying to find the answers to things like that."

The spiky-haired boy brightened up at the prospect of the gathering. "Does that mean Jen will be there too?"

The brunette nodded. She forgot to mention this; of course, they would be happy to see him again. She was looking forward to seeing him herself. "Yes. Jen offered to lend us a hand."

"I wonder how that guy's doing," Killua mused with a small grin, "With all the fighting he does, I bet he's become a Floor Master by now."

"Yeah," Gon agreed excitedly, before whipping around to face the girl only to be told to turn back around so he wouldn't collide into anyone, "What are the others like?"

Rukei looked up towards the skies as she mulled over it. Evening was slowly falling upon them as the blue began to be painted over with orange. "Well... There's Yona. She's the sixth subject. We rarely worked together, but she's very serious. She disappeared three years ago, so I was surprised they managed to contact her. Wil already's with the Alliance, so of course, there were no problems with finding him."

"Wil?"

"His real name is Wilbur, but everyone calls him Wil. Subject 2. He's quite popular in the Alliance," she added, pressing down a smile, "Well, he's cute, so it's no big surprise."

Killua barely caught himself before his face could connect with the cement below them. Gon asked if the boy was okay and he took a few moments to respond, "No, I just thought I'd never hear a block like you say that. I honestly kinda thought you weren't interested in that. "

"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded with a hardly withheld frown, before giving up with a huff, "In any case, I believe you'll like Wil too. I think Marron is coming as well. He's got a bit of his own mind though, so I can never say... You both may have seen him on the news before."

"Seriously?" The white-haired boy shoved his hands into his pockets as they waited at the pedestrian light, "What does he do?"

The girl opened her mouth to explain but quickly stopped herself out of consideration for the teen. Of course, he wouldn't want his identity being spread around. Though not found on records, nor tracked easily, it would be an inconvenience if his name was released. She was so close to making that mistake-

She hadn't escaped just yet; Gon's interest shot up with Rukei silence. She searched hastily for some kind of excuse or answer as the boy waited. She couldn't lie well enough for the two of them to let her off the hook. "Hey, who's Marron?"

A voice climbing a mocking higher pitch that jumped into their conversation saved her. The familiarity behind the bad disguise spun her round on her heels. "Marron is a handsome, cool, heroic gentleman who helped us during the rebellion! He's the best!"

Gon and Killua shortly followed her actions to find a neatly dressed, young man, no older than fifteen or sixteen with light hair and a bright smile. Blue eyes so clear that she could practically breathe in crisp morning air twinkled mischievously, freckles dotted his face and added to his smile its childish whimsicality, and he carried a very buoyant, easy air.

"Marron."

"Aw, come on. It's been like three years and all you got to say is 'Marron'?" the boy queried playfully,  leaning down to look her in the eye, "Can't you be more enthusiastic?"

Rukei blinked and continued her impassive stare that greatly opposed her next words. "I am enthusiastic."

He huffed and rolled his eyes while straightening his posture. "Iron faced as ever I see. I feel like you hate smiling or something."

"Right? It's such a waste!" Gon chimed, giving the girl no time to brace herself for the kindness in the boy's next few words, "Because Rukei has a pretty smile!"

The comment made her acutely aware of the tempting twitch of the corners of her mouth that she was trying to control. She cleared her throat as an excuse to cover it with her fist, but Marron's boisterous laughing who was dragging much unnecessary attention towards the group cut off her attempted sentence. "This kid is so smooth! What's your name again?"

'Again?' You haven't even met him before. Rukei sighed and guessed that Crimson or someone else must have been in contact with him, and the spiky-haired boy payed it no mind. "I'm Gon! Nice to meet you, Marron."

"Gon, huh? I like your style," Marron chuckled, before turning to look at the other boy, "How about you?"

Killua gave the older boy his name shortly before asking the question that hung over their heads just a few seconds before. "So, Rukei said that you show up on the news. What do you do?"

The girl flinched upon hearing the matter resurface. Her eyes nervously flit towards Marron for his reaction; thankfully, he did not seem angry or unsettled. Of course, Marron wouldn't be. He was very good at getting out of situations like these and he- "I'm a phantom thief!"

Or... Not? The three of them stared at him stupidly as he jabbed a finger to himself to further heighten his shamelessness of the fact. The white-haired boy waited for a moment, as if the thief would take back his statement if he was given a few moments to reconsider his idiotic choice of words. "So you're... A robber?"

"I'm not a robber!" Marron snapped indignantly, pressing a hand to himself for emphasis, and Rukei gave a concerned glance towards the passing crowds, "I'm a phantom thief!"

"Are they different somehow?"

"Of course they are!"

Just as they were about to get an earful about the difference between them, Killua bumped his fist against his palm. He remembered now! "Oh, the dumb burglar that sends advance notices!"

"Phantom thief," the boy corrected, annunciating every syllable slowly, "We aren't that dumb, considering that there are still some of us out there that haven't been caught."

"But you might be caught now," Rukei threatened, though no real sort of danger lurked behind her words, because she doubted Killua or Gon would hunt down the boy in front of them anyways, "You shouldn't be so... Straightforward about it. It's still a crime."

"But you'll keep them in line, right?" Marron teased, knowing the girl's answer already. Rukei would help him hide his identity from whoever sought it and him harm, "Besides, these guys seem nice."

She huffed, trying to at least appear that she wasn't giving in his sweet, winning smile, "You're the one who needs to be kept in line, Marron."

The evident undertones of anger in Gon's voice as he spoke surprised her. "So you're like the Phantom Troupe?"

"Will you stop comparing me to bandits?!" He groaned in exasperation; Rukei was more surprised with how easily he handled a possibly, ready-to-blow Gon. "Phantom thieves have much more class than that. We're gentlemen. And well, sometimes gentlewomen. We always politely tell our vict- hosts when we're dropping by. We have lots of rules too. No killing, no maiming... It's a very strict business!"

"I don't think that makes it any better," Killua laughed dryly.

"It makes everything better! It makes it ten times more challenging, which makes it fun."

Instead of appealing to any sense of justice or insisting on morals, Marron had captured Gon's innocent curiosity with the daring and enigmatic nature of his trade that bypassed both of the latter; Marron picked all the correct moves.

"Phantom thieves have rules?"

"We have lots of rules!" Marron insisted, staring so incredulously at the boy, one would have imagined that Gon asked what one plus one equalled, "Every profession has a set of rules, unspoken or spoken. If you break them, you lose your title. A title is everything to a phantom thief."

"Gon, don't let him influence you," Rukei sighed watching the gullible rustic unconsciously lean forward, "He just likes to show off."

The boy folded his arms with an angry puff at the girl's statement, "That's not true. I'm doing a lot of this for my hometown's sake."

Killua asked, "Where are you from?"

"Meteor City. Like most of the Zakuya members."

"Well, that explains why the cops haven't been able to pin you down yet," he concluded. Marron was a lot like the Troupe; while he insisted that he wasn't anything like them, it was probable that he was heavily influenced by their legends among the residents of the city.

Like a teacher proud of the correct answer by a student, Marron nodded, "Exactly! Everything I do has a-" He was interrupted by his cellphone, "Ah. It's Noriko. You're heading to the Alliance, right? Better hurry," the boy grinned as he accepted the call, "Doctor Galen doesn't like working at night."

At that note, Rukei's eyes darted to the sky that turned considerably darker than it was before and began rushing her two friends, leaving Marron with a short thanks.

-

"You're late, Rukei. You trying to keep me up here the whole night?"

Rukei hadn't exaggerated her doctor either. Gon laughed nervously as the old man sat her two friends down, before going on to lecture her. He would jump from one subject to another, talking about the experiments one second before the youth and then switching to all the reckless Alliance members that he always had to look after.

"Oh, that reminds me," he started again while Rukei weakly pressed on with her iron facade, "You thought I wouldn't notice when you snuck out those Anti-Zyphon formulas, did you?"

Rukei jolted to a stand at the mention of it, trying to justify her actions, "But Cheril said that the possibility that I would lose control remained, and that I needed to contain myself to prevent-"

"What does it matter what Cheril said? Cheril isn't the one taking your blood and checking your conditions! Now, sit down!"

The girl obeyed immediately, though glumly, as she continued to listen to the Galen rant on and on as he readied a needle, wiping it in an almost furious manner.

"They had me see... What's his name again? I think it was Hyoshi or something. Had to look at his arm that you snapped. You made a clean break, so luckily it'll heal nicely. It's good to know that your skills haven't rusted with your brain!"

Gon perked up at the mention of an old ally. Even if they did not know where he really stood, for them or against them, she personally found it enough that he hated the Zakuya. "Is Hyoshi still here?"

"Hm?" Galen turned to the spiky-haired boy, "Yeah. I heard he's been looking for Jen so I told him to stick around."  

"Have you checked Jen yet?"

"No. I've only checked Wil, that pickpocket, and now you. He hasn't arrived as far as I know."

Ah, that's right. She hadn't seen him yet. "Where's Wil?"

Galen shrugged as he gave her a band-aid; Rukei wanted to protest about being given such an embarrassing bandage with cartoon characters over it, but she refrained from doing so when she realized that they were from one of the old comics that she liked. "Who knows? I'm not in charge of him. Alright, that's it for today. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

-

"Where is Shichi?" Gon asked as they made their way out of the building, "She's supposed to be here, right?"

The brunette had that question on her mind to, but she more or less knew where Shichi was, otherwise Rukei would have seen her already. "Probably out for work somewhere. Glass and Crimson aren't here either so-"

A black blur rounding the corner slammed her to the ground before she could finish her sentence, and single short bark echoed over the hallways.

She gently scratched his neck, getting him to calm down enough for her to sit up properly on the hallway tiles. "Haven't you gotten bigger? They said you were done growing, Wil."

Killua looked between her and the canine incredulously, "Wil's a dog?!"

She returned his dubious stare, before looking down at the dog vying for her attention, "I didn't tell you?" She thought over it for a moment, "Oh. I suppose I didn't."

The boy gave her a scoff of 'yeah, really?' as Wil sniffed at the two foreign boys. He was a large, mainly black dog with a square frame, spotted with a couple brown splotches here and there on his short coat. He naturally took a liking to Gon, who had some questions regarding the dog, "Wasn't he one of the experiments?"

"Yes. I never said they were all human," Rukei clarified, "Though, Wil is the only one who isn't. I'm not really sure why they wanted to experiment on a dog after... Solriss proved to be a successful human experiment."

She smiled as Wil suddenly jumped up on the rustic, and given his size, toppled him over as well. Killua laughed at the scene as Rukei tried to get Wil to relax and get off her friend.

"Good evening."

Rukei immediately started to her feet, becoming as rigid and stiff as a statue upon hearing the voice nearing them. Her hands folded behind her back instantly, her feet perfectly aligned right along her shoulders. "G-good evening," she echoed, unsure of what she could call respectful and disrespectful in front of him, she stayed silent. With false hope, she told herself that her stutter was undetectable enough.

"You did an excellent job in apprehending Flask," the man praised, and Rukei's heart swelled with a sense of accomplishment as she returned a nervous nod, "I presume that these two boys helped you?"

"Technically, she did all the catching," Killua brushed off, and she somewhat envied how casual and easy some could be with the authoritative figure, "We just beat Greed Island together."

Harold Andor called the dog back to his side with a short whistle before continuing the conversation, "That is still not a simple task."

Gon wiped off his wet face from Wil with his sleeve, before getting up and grinning, "But it was fun!"

Harold had wondered at first how Wilbur was so eager to befriend Gon. He tended to be very guarded towards strangers due to what many of those strangers had done to him. Yet Wil jumped up on him in the matter of seconds; Gon bore a very strong resemblance to another man Wil liked. This boy would be a good Hunter, like the Hunter before him.

"I'd like to hear about it one day. But," he smiled before giving a glance out of one of the windows in the corridor; the window was framed in an almost gothic fashion to fit the rest of the building: old walls rather effaced by time and the elements and an architecture that resembled something of a church.

Nobody would have been surprised if they were to discover that the building originally was such a place of worship that had wooden doors open to all taken away and replaced with the technologically advanced and secure locks and barricades inside.

"Jianghai gets hectic during certain hours of the night. You should hurry."

Rukei was defintely lying when she said Jianghai was not interesting.

Gon knew this as a fact.

The lanky stranger that stood on the side of the path gave the boy a small grin and gestured for him to stand closer. Lucky for him, Rukei walked ahead a little so he could stop for a little bit without being pushed along. Killua noticed him however, and quickly returned to the boy's side. "What's up, Gon?"

An odd hourglass shaped object thrown above them, falling back down on a thin string connected to two sticks: that's what was up! The object spun on the line, bouncing from one edge to another as the man shuffled the batons up, down, and around. His grin widened as both boys applauded him after catching it from another throw.

Soon enough a crowd had gathered around him, and he had added another one of the odd things to the line resulting in much cheering. The rustic turned to his friend quickly and excitedly, "Hey, Killua, what are those?"

The white haired boy looked up, as if the dark sky would give him some kind of answer and placed his finger against his head in some sort of attempt to remember. "It's like a yoyo... I think it's called a... Uh, diabo?"

"Diabolo," a quiet yet annoyed voice corrected from behind them. They turned to find Rukei holding a frightened woman by the wrist who screamed for the girl to let go. Reading the uneasy, confused glance he gave her, she explained. "She tried to pickpocket you."

Killua shrugged, trying to brush off Rukei's frustration, "He would have sensed it-"

"That is not the point," she corrected him crossly, barely audible over the yelling next to her.

Gon noticed that Rukei was unintentionally taking out her irritation on the woman next to her with her grip. With the girl's strength it was natural for it to be bruised, but the vexed girl went ahead and dug her fingernails into the poor lady's skin, "Rukei, maybe you should let her go just this once," the brunette was indignant over the idea, but Gon ignored her for a moment as he bounced up to the woman with one of the world's greatest weapons. His sweet, pleading face, "But can you promise not to steal again?"

Of course, the woman agreed. Wether or not she was going to carry it out or not was a very shaky and unstable matter. "Gon, just because she promised does not mean-"

And then he turned to look at her with the same, stupid expression, so Rukei glumly released the lady who promptly zipped off, most probably never to be seen again.

Like a child that realized that his plan for slipping out of trouble failed, his smile of resolving an incident quickly faded as Rukei turned back to him. "Do you know how long it normally takes to walk from the apartment to headquarters?"

She always used rhetorical questions when she was about to give them a lecture. Killua exhaled and slumped over.

"About five minutes. Do you know how long we've been on these streets?" Rukei asked, "Forty-two."

"Sorry, Rukei," Gon apologized, scratching the back of his head with a bashful smile, "We just saw something so interesting-"

He stopped mid-sentence as Rukei held out her arm expectantly towards them with her usual unreadable face. They all stared at each other stupidly until she spoke with a stern edge to her tone.

"Your hands."

"Huh?"

"Give me your hands," Rukei demanded seriously, "It should not have taken us longer than thirty minutes to get to the apartment."

Killua was the first one to object, flushing red at the suggestion of such an embarrassing solution, "Wha-?! No way! I'm not a kid!"

"Then you should have listened to me when I told you to stay close to me," she replied immediately, already grabbing Gon by the wrist as he attempted to sneak away.

And on that note, with the usual swiftness of her hands, Rukei snatched up Killua's, setting off a plethora of loud complaints.

Rukei did not only have an iron expression, but also an iron grip. That she proved as she dragged both boys along the road. Thankfully, Gon walked behind her more meekly and felt bad about dragging Rukei along her home street for over half and hour, so she could devote all her energy to arguing with Killua for the next two or three minutes until they reached the apartment.

She sighed as Killua finally yanked his arm free, and she did not bother to try and grab his hand again.The chance of the two somehow getting lost up a set of stairs was little, she hoped.

They stopped in front of a door with a potted plant in front of it. The key sat in an obvious spot: underneath the vase. "Are you two hungry? I can try to make something," she brought up as she snatched up the key.

Killua wasn't too keen on the idea of her doing culinary work, "Wait a second, didn't you fail the cooking phase in the exam?"

"Any normal person would have failed that," she defended as she unlocked the door and swung it open, "I can at least make simple things. Make yourselves at home-" Rukei paused as she just stepped through the hallway and resisted frowning at the sight, "The best you can, in any case."

It wasn't as nightmarish as Rukei dreaded but to find empty cans of energy drinks lying about and empty instant food containers sitting on every possible flat surface was a disconcerting. Obviously, being sanitary was not the first thing on Shichi's mind and Crimson and Glass hadn't been harsh enough with the woman about it.

Her health probably didn't quite make her priorities either, Rukei concluded as she retrieved a trash bag from a cabinet near the door. Shichi always yapped and griped at the brunette, and yet Shichi hardly led an example. "I apologize for the mess. You can go ahead and sit down somewhere. I'll clean this up."

"It's okay!" Already bounding around the living room and taking a look around, Gon excused it all cheerfully. He seemed fascinated by the regular (and currently fairly dirty) apartment that Rukei resided in, "So this is where you live..."

"It's pretty simple," Killua pointed out. Simple as it was, he seemed interested enough on whatever was left about, like the picture frames sitting along the shelf. Most of them were insisted to be put up by Crimson, ranging from a picture of their Alliance division to just the residents of the apartment.

Rukei managed to swipe off the majority of the junk in the living room, which was all (thankfully?) piled up in a disheveled heap on the table. The boys both pressed against the window overlooking the street, currently crowded with people and bikes still at this time of night. Rukei stifled a laugh as she caught them smashing their faces up stupidly against the window at the sight of some interesting cart.

She busied herself with the giving the counter a quick wipe down. Shichi still purchased the same spray that left a light scent of lemon behind. Cleaning was oddly nostalgic.

"Rukei, are these albums?"

The brunette looked up to see a leathery book in between Gon's hands. He knew what he was going to ask next, so she went ahead to answer, "Yes. You can look at them if you like."

Both boys grinned as they flipped through the pages filled with random photos, laughing every once in a while when they found something funny. Eventually Rukei gravitated away from the kitchen and to look at it as well.

"What's going on in these pictures?" Pointing to several photos during one of Jianghai's festivals, Gon questioned. A couple of the pictures included Glass being chased around by what appeared to be a giant dragon suit.

"They're from the Lunar Festival a couple years ago. Glass' division wanted to surprise him so they rented a very unnecessary costume."

Killua hummed, flipping through another page to see yet another one occupied with the Lunar Festival, "What kind of festival is it?"

Rukei skimmed over the photos. There was one where Shichi was being asked to leave by the shooting booth, another where Rukei had been given a balloon and the former would not stop making fun of her for it.

"The Lunar Festival is probably the largest festival Jianghai celebrates," Rukei explained, "There are lots of performances like dragon dancing or drum performances," she paused as they looked over the next page and found Crimson acting in a mock swordplay on stage, "Crimson used to be in a performance troupe so she really likes events like these. She gets to show off."

Gon smiled widely, looking across the pictures with fascination, "That's awesome!"

Rukei agreed quickly. Gon and Killua could tell how much Rukei looked up to Glass and Crimson by the way she subtly bragged and how fond she was of them by the way her eyes lit up when they met a familiar picture. They hadn't seen Crimson in a while... They only met the lady once after Rukei was attacked. They hardly knew a thing about Glass.

Gon looked at the photos on the next page curiously; they were unlike the other happy and light pictures. They were heavy, serious, and closely resembled one another. They seemed to be taken as a profile for some sort of ID. But the two in the pictures seemed vaguely familiar, though he was sure he had never seen them before.

"They're my biological parents," Rukei explained, "The Zakuya already transferred me to the headquarters in Aos Langes before I woke up, and by then they had already died. So I don't have any other pictures of them. Crimson said I should at least hang on to these two."

"So you haven't returned to your birthplace since?"

"I suppose I haven't."

The boy nodded as he looked back down at the photos. "You look a lot like your dad," Killua noted, and it was true. She had the same brown hair, roundish eye shape, snub-nose. The similar split bangs really added to the image. But her father looked rather fresh-faced and somehow earnest.

This was where the differences between her and her father and the similarities between her and her mother began. Rukei did not get the dark hair or slanted eyes, but there was something very stern about the woman. Maybe it was just the picture, but her expression seemed to be locked somehow, and it carried the same harshness that Rukei's 'iron face' did.

Rukei did not make a reply to Killua's statement; her silence did not translate to anger or anxiousness. She had simply spaced out. But there was something unusual about her expression, different than her normal blank and unresponsive stares. Her daze was marked with an odd softness.

A particularly loud car horn from below brought her back, and she flipped the next page for them while chattering rushed words. They went along with it, laughing at the small things she pointed out, like the fact that Glass was trying to casually hide his face in every picture. He claimed that he wasn't photogenic. Quite honestly, with either his long hair blown ridiculously and hilariously out of place or when his eyes were always looking everywhere but the camera in nearly every picture, it was easy to agree.

Killua wouldn't have noticed it if Rukei did not purposely avoid pointing at the photo and saying something, as she did to almost all the pictures. It was a regular photo; just a picture of Shichi and Rukei together. But the edge of something poked out from behind the picture. From the looks of it, another photo. Curiously, Killua pulled at the white border.

Unfortunately, Rukei took the album from their hands and placed it on a nearby shelf. He stared at her back as she brushed her hands together. "Alright, that's enough lounging around. Help me cook something."

"Aww... Do we have to? We're guests, right?"

"Help me out. You kept me on the same street for forty-five minutes."

"You're still holding that against us?!"

-

At the same time, in the same city, a man waited, nervous, but unaware of it.

This man's name was Jul Sember. He was known for working with chemical weapons. He was also known for collecting body parts. He would attain them mostly through odd deals and trades, usually exchanging information or chemical weapons for his precious items.

That night was especially important to him. He would be getting a piece he had been looking for for years, something that he wanted so desperately that he would even make an exchange with them for it. He had searched for it as if it was his lost child and now it would finally come to him.

That night was especially important to him.

It was the last night of his life.

。。。

It's summer break and I feel like I'm updating slower than I normally would when I'm in school... ^^; hopefully the next chapter will be faster. I have large portions of it already written out. Characters will return, and characters will appear! In the next chapter things, events will start to explode and things will be lit.

Thank you very much for reading!!