Date: August 10th

Busy as always, the shopping district was packed with ever-moving bodies. People called and screamed in the odd excited greeting to a friend, or the screech of a sugar-high child would sound above the dull chorus of the crowd. Violet thanked her luck that the pre-determined coffee shop sat in an area with an open square, which naturally spread the crowd, saving her from the sea of bodies.

The quaint yellow sign hung high where it was fixed to the yellow brick of the coffee shop. The sign swung in the light wind of the partly cloudy day. Blue and yellow contrasted diagonally on the background with a cream mug filled with coffee steaming on the front of the sign. The calm ascetic of the logo design matched the friendly font of the shop's name, Sunny Side New Brew. It played off the brightness of their round brown tables decorated with white and yellow tablecloths and the Yorknew city's name.

As cute and calm as the shop was, it couldn't quell her building anxiety as she waited where Goro, the hunter she was meant to meet, instructed. She fidgeted with the white decorative table dressing before turning her anxiety-based movements onto her outfit.

A black and white dress hugged her curves tightly, ending in a pencil skirt just above the knees. It had been acquired by theft, as all her supplies and clothing were any more. Pickpocketing and sticky finger discounts were rusty skills that she had never possessed excellent proficiency in. As such, she limited utilising such means. It would only be a matter of time before she was caught. Keff had taught her in their first year as a couple. Now he had been a master at it, with fast hands she never gained the skill to follow. He'd told her that, among other skills, had skyrocketed him to the fourth-highest member of the world's largest gang organisation. Rarely did her thoughts return to her deceased husband in the past months, but she couldn't deny the usefulness of the knowledge their relationship had given her. 

She tugged at it to lower the hem over the stockings that followed her legs down to her sensible black flats. She wanted to look the role she had in mind, and no writer would show up in fighting wear when meeting to get more information about portals. It was the story she provided when initially approaching the HunterXHunter organisation.

The scent of floral shampoo met her nose as she restrained the stray hairs trying to escape the braided updo she made herself. She had showered at a local gym and removed the smell of homelessness from her person before arriving at their meeting location.

Everything needed to go smoothly. It was her only opportunity to find information on what happened to her that night with the portal and how to repeat it in reverse to get home. Ideally, that would include removing the killer portal worms, but one hurdle at a time. She released a deep, calming breath.

Broken from her fidgeting, a young man appeared in front of her with a smile lighting his thin lips and oblong jaw. Dark brown eyes spied her with a knowing look. He tucked a stray dark hair behind his ear as he walked towards her table. A small scar showed in a dull shine along his right cheek to jaw. It wasn't noticeable to the average eye, but she could spot another warrior easily. His brunette hair was a few shades lighter than his eyes and speckled with the occasional black strand. He kept it cleanly short over his ears.

"Violet James?" She nodded and stood as he reached out to offer a cordial handshake, which she accepted. His arm rippled with toned muscles from under his navy t-shirt. It pairs with sharp, casual dress trousers and a matching dark cream jacket that he carried swung over his other arm. The defined muscles didn't overwhelm but were clear and strong. "Hello, I'm Goro. It's nice to meet you. I saw you fight with Hisoka. Impressive."

"You came to that?"

Violet lowered herself back into the seat. Goro followed suit after swinging the jacket over the back of the seat and straightening his navy button-up shirt.

Goro laughed. "No. It was broadcast. I watched one of the replays when I had a spare moment. It's not common to see women reach the upper floors, let alone take on a tyrant like Hisoka for their first match."

Violet nodded her understanding.

"May I ask? Why do you want to know about portals?"

Violet sighed and shrugged. "Mostly, I am just curious. I like learning about the physical world. But truthfully, I wanted to research them more thoroughly and figured the hunter organisation knows the most about everything, so it was a good place to start."

Truth mixed well with lies, and she hoped and counted on it sounding believable. A skill she learned from the Grim Reaper Magician himself. She knew it was a weak fib. The amount she would pay Goro to be present, if he agreed to take the case, only to provide her with basic information would spike great suspicion. But, she had yet to release any funds. Their meeting would determine if he would take her on as a client or not.

However, being on the run for so long and tiring, mentally and physically, had put a strain on Violet's systems. At that moment, she didn't have a better excuse or lie. Most of her brain was preoccupied with ensuring she wasn't found. One too many close calls at being discovered left her senses on constant high alert.

"Those are the only reasons?"

"No. I do have another, but it's not one I want to share, if possible." Violet could sense his distrust, but she couldn't trust her ability to read him as well as when she was rested. She told as much of the truth as possible and prayed he would let it remain as it was, hidden.

Goro sighed. "Well. The problem is I'm not a portal hunter or any kind of hunter close to that field. I have no information on them."

Violet's brows furrowed, and then she started to get nervous; this might be a set-up by Zanko.

Goro raised his hands, asking her to settle. She ceased fidgeting and released tension she never realised she gained since his last statement. "I don't have the information. My father does as the only portal or vortex hunter. That's why I met with you. It's him you need to see."

Relief waved over Violet like a welcome breeze in a hot desert. "Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess. Where can I find him?"

"Now, slow down. Yes, my father has the information, and he lives here in Yorknew. Still, he hasn't spoken to anyone outside our family in six years. Even I haven't spoken to him in over two years."

Violet frowned. "What? If he won't see me, then this is all a dead end. I travelled a long way from Heaven's Arena to be here, Goro. You could have said all of this over the phone."

This seemed like a colossal waste of time and a dead end. Claustrophobia wreaked havoc on her systems, and she tensed once more with a spiked heart rate. The walls were closing in as the exit door disappeared with the new information. The stress was drowning her, and she could feel the terror she locked away grasping for the key to access her mind. Her whole world seemed to shake, and she clutched hard at the phone in her pocket. She had spent nearly six months looking for answers that didn't even exist? She grasped for the only thing that seemed to provide any stability and sanity to her to try and ground herself.

Hisoka...

"I will contact my father and check if he will see you. You just need to understand he only sees one person at a time, even within my family. He's a shut-in and not all there in the head anymore. The research with the portals... Something happened with it around eight years ago. He hasn't been the same since."

Violet clutched to the glimmer of hope Goro provided. She dropped the death grip on her phone in favour of the new promise.

"It could be dangerous. If I hadn't seen you in Heaven's Arena, I wouldn't even be entertaining this idea," Goro said before resting his elbows against the table and intertwining his fingers together. He watched her over his interlocked hands, searching for something. She could only surmise signs of weakness.

Violet rested her elbows on the table and concentrated, feinting relaxation and confidence. "Is he likely to attack me?"

"Not really," Goro admitted, then continued, "There's no evidence of that, and he is mostly wheelchair-bound. However, it's always a risk when one of our kind goes a little off the rails."

"Our kind?"

"Nen users."

"Oh."

"I'll get you the address, but even if he okays it, there's still a high likelihood he won't even let you in the front door."

"How high?" Violet asked, knitting her brows with concern.

"Ninety-eight percent, I would say. It's about a ninety percent turn-away rate for our family. Much higher for others."

-------

Date: August 11th

Bold was an understatement for the extravagant gated home. Black metal gates with intricate swirling designs surrounded a large front garden and were secured tight. A mixture of roses of every colour, lilies and lilacs decorated the meticulously tended flowerbeds beyond the gate. White and purple lilacs were her favourite flowers, and she spared herself a moment to enjoy their pleasant wafting scent from a distance. 

When her attention turned to the multi-levelled home and the task at hand, she couldn't help gawking at the money the professional hunter needed to possess such a place, and in Yorknew of all cities. There was a tan circular driveway splitting up the gardens. She couldn't even imagine how much property lay beyond what she could visualise from the gated modern-day castle-type home. She knew all properties in the city were expensive. Still, indeed, this was far beyond all others, even in the affluent area.

She hesitated as nerves rose and clutched at her throat and chest, causing an uncomfortable tightness to spread. She needed his help, but something hindered her from walking the necessary path. A warning continued to sound, buzzing across her mind the entire morning. Her exhaustion lay thick against her shaking muscles and heavy eyes, too. She couldn't trust her instincts any longer. Who was right, the exhaustion or sirens of a pending threat? The only path forward was through the crisp black gates. 

Will he even see me? Is there any way to ensure he does? But what?

Violet's unease about meeting the older professional hunter spiked the moment she reached the gates to his home. Although the mental questions were valid, there was something more, something stronger, which nagged deeper within her psyche. Even now, the uncertainty plagued her as systems, and her heart raced far faster, pressing the limits of what she could handle. It wasn't as if she was immune to fear or apprehension, but the situation appeared tame compared to her past endeavours as a supernatural hunter when such survival systems would rightly activate. 

However, searching for a way home was more important than ever. She was certain Zanko had set the bounty and was still seeking her capture. The reasons for his actions remained a mystery, but there was no question they were malicious and dark in nature. Pushing her nerves back with a mighty force, she recentered and focused on achieving her goals.

A buzzing from her pocket jarred to life for the hundredth time that day. Another text from Hisoka. She hadn't responded to him at all since her birthday. Her chest tinged every time the phone danced. However, if this worked out, she would be home. 

A tug worse than the one physically experienced when Hisoka saved her from the demons tore at her emotions. The longing to return only intensified with every moment, but along with it, a snaking cold sensation in her mind also flared to life. He would sell her to Zanko. He would betray her. The thoughts wouldn't stop, and they pulled against one another in equally powerful opposing directions. A need to return to Hisoka for security kept her from blocking his messages but was always followed by the crippling anxiety of what would happen if she read any message or spoke with him again.

Soon, she would truly evaporate, and she hoped the emotional seesaw would end with her disappearance. 

It was best they never spoke again. No matter how much she wanted to respond to him, the more they interacted, the worse the separation would be later. She needed to stop courting death and cautioned herself about who Hisoka really was.

He's just being persistent because I'm one of the few to fully get away for this long. I know it won't last forever, so I need to take advantage of the time I have now.

Turning back to the task in front of her, she fretted again about how to sway the anti-social hermit of a professional hunter named Haruka. He never left his home and only entertained people one at a time. Only a select few even gained the right to a visitation with him.

Sighing, she readied herself. There was no helping it, and she was already at the front gate. What did she have to lose in trying? If she had to stay, knocking every hour or come back every day, then that's what she would do. But it would be far easier on them both if he answered and permitted her entry. 

She stepped forward and pressed the call button on the large control panel a few feet from the gate, announcing her presence to Haruka, the man within the castle.