ᴇᴅɪᴛs ʙʏ: ᴀᴛʜʏ𝟤_𝟢𝟦

༺♥༻

Rain heavily pelted down from the sky as Pokunoda walked behind the three children, the droplets soaked their hair and clothes, causing them to become damp and stick to their skin.

Walking towards the airship, eyes of thunder narrowed in on the figure that moved amongst the shadows and watched as they walked towards them.

Spotting the familiar face, Valentine's eyes widened and her breath hitched as she watched Hisoka walking towards them, a phone held to his ear as he smirked at the four.

They had taken the airship to a deserted area and were a couple yards away from Kurapika, Leorio, Melody and Chrollo.

Watching as Killua placed the phone next to his heart, wide eyes of thunder blinked in confusion and Valentine tilted her head as she glanced towards the others, watching as Melody nodded her head.

That's right, she had very good hearing and so, she was listening to their heartbeats to make sure they weren't being controlled.

'Okay! Begin the exchange!',Kurapika yelled from across the pillar.

Instantly, the four began to walk to their sides and as soon as Chrollo and the children passed by one another, gold and dark grey connected as Valentine and the leader stared at one another with glowering gazes.

༺♥༻

Standing in front of one another in the airship, Valentine, Killua, Gon and Zeus were looking up at Kurapika and Leorio, as the blonde boy stared down at them with a sorrowful expression.

'I'm sorry for exposing you to danger',Kurapika apologized.

Closing his eyes, Gon shook his head and looked back up at the boy, a serious expression on his face.

'You used your chains on the boss, didn't you?',The green haired boy questioned.

Nodding his head, Kurapika looked towards the window and as the light shone on his face, Valentine caught sight of the dark bags that lined underneath his eyes causing worry to spread throughout her body.

'Yes, but.. something tells me that this isn't the end',Kurapika stated.

The deep rumbling of thunder crashed throughout the air and the patter of the falling rain grew harsher as the droplets of water poured from the clouds as lighting crashed through sky.

༺♥༻

Sitting on the ground, Valentine's left leg anxiously bounced up and down as her eyes shone with worry.

In the other room, Kurapika was currently suffering from a harsh fever and the young blonde girl felt powerless, she couldn't even help her friend through his suffering.

'I sure hope Kurapika's fever doesn't go down',Gon stated.

Sitting on the couch, Gon was currently looking at the silverette who sat next to him on the ledge of the window and watched as he ran his fingers calmingly through Valentine's hair, as if to ease her anxiety.

But it was only half of the solution to calming her worries and they both knew that.

Until Kurapika was feeling better, they knew that Valentine's worry would only grow and she'd be reluctant to leave her older friend's side.

'Yeah..-',Killua began and realizing what the green-haired boy had said, his eyes quickly snapped towards Gon's direction as they widened in shock,'Hold on, what did you just say?!'

Looking towards the ground, a frown tugged at Gon's lips and a small sigh left him.

'I feel like Kurapika shouldn't fight the Phantom Troupe anymore',The green-haired boy said.

Humming in confusion, the silverette furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at Valentine, watching as she tilted her head; confused as well.

Seeing their confusion, Gon decided to explain his words better.

'When he told me about his abilities, I though of something',The green-haired boy stated,'If all he had really wanted was to get revenge, then he probably would have taken on different abilities'

Looking towards Gon in curiosity, Killua rose an eyebrow and hummed slightly.

'You think so?',Killua asked.

Nodding his head, the boy kept his gaze on the table in front of him and the frown on Gon's face had only deepened as a small sigh left his lips.

'I do',He stated,'Because if he had only wanted to kill the Troupe, he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of chaining their hearts. I wouldn't have'

Shrugging slightly, Killua reached over with his free hand and grabbed a chip from the bag beside him, turning his head to the side so that when he bit into it that no crumbs would fall into the girl's hair.

'Maybe, if he only had one target. Instead, he was dealing with all of them',The silverette countered,'He couldn't catch and kill one right away. He'd need to extract information about the others'

All sorts of candies and snacks littered the table and small toy robots stood tall to their feet, only one of them had fallen over.

'Oh..',Gon said and looked down.

'I think his ability was created solely for revenge',Killua explained.

Hearing this caused a frown to form on Valentine's lips and a small sigh left her, feeling her chest tighten.

But the fingers that softly ran through her hair caused her muscles to relax and she closed her eyes, even though worry still ran through her, Valentine's tense muscles relaxed as her body slumped slightly, a small smile on her lips.

'I see..',Gon muttered.

Looking up, the scene in front of him caused a small smile to twitch at Gon's lips for only a moment and it faded away as that frown replaced that smile once more.

'But you've got a point',Killua spoke up,'He really should stay still for a little while. If their boss doesn't come back, they're gonna be even more determined to find him. Either way, we're going to have to be very careful when we go to the auction house'

Leaning forward, an angered look was on Killua's face and he pointed his finger in Gon's face causing Valentine's eyes to widen at the quick change in emotion as she looked between them, a small drop of sweat falling down the side of her face.

'So, do you really have a plan!? Something to get our hands on Greed Island?',Killua asked,'Cause that's all we have to go on!'

Hearing the small chirp that left Zeus's lips, Valentine glanced towards him out of the corner of her eye and seeing his expression, she could almost see the drops of sweat on his feathered face.

Feeling a drop of sweat fall down the side of his face, Gon gave the boy an anxious smile and glanced towards Valentine, his eyes pleading for her help.

Looking towards Killua once more, Gon closed his eyes and his nervous smile grew as he anxiously chuckled.

'Uh, yeah, but it's a 50-50 chance'

Feeling her eyes widen, Valentine slowly looked towards Killua and knew that he had noticed the change in the percentage as well.

With his face falling into a deadpanned expression, Killua looked at the boy and blinked slowly as his eyes narrowed.

'Wait, didn't you say 70 percent earlier?',Killua questioned.

Realizing his mistake, Gon had quickly explained his plan and once he had finished, his chocolate eyes looked between his friends.

With his hand resting on his chin, a small hum left Killua's lips and his eyebrows were drawn together.

'I get it',Killua spoke up,'That's pretty clever. And it might be our only shot. It's practical and sound, too'

Humming for only a moment, Killua perked up and looked at Gon, a smile pulling at his lips.

'Yeah! The way I see it, our odds are 80 percent!',Killua calculated.

Standing to his feet in shock, Gon's eyes widened and a small gasp left his lips as his eyes glistened at the news.

'Really?'

'Really, let's do it!'

Realizing just what that meant, Valentine's eyes lit up and her body perked up slightly.

༺♥༻

Standing besides the boys, the young blonde was currently wearing a single, white, one-piece sleeveless dress; which was tied together with a butterfly knot at the back.

'The auction is in Hall B'

'That's it over there'

As Gon walked a few paces ahead of the two, eyes of the ocean glanced at her and quickly looked away before she could even react.

But before long, a small huff of air left Killua's nose as he turned his head in her direction and he gritted his teeth for a moment, before spitting out whatever was on his mind.

'You look... really.. —... You look really nice, Valentine'

Blinking in shock, eyes of thunder quickly snapped in the boy's direction and were as wide as saucers as Valentine stared at the boy, her lips parted as her heart hammered against her rib cage.

A flush washed across her skin as her body was set ablaze with a wave of heat as vermilion painted her cheeks and ears in a shade of bashfulness, feeling lightheaded for only a moment.

"T-Thank you, Killua.. you look really nice as well-"

As the doors were opened, the three gaped in amazement at the huge room and gazed at the several seats that aligned the room.

Walking down the isle, the group stopped in shock once they had seen familiar faces and while Gon and Killua's eyes were wide, Valentine glared towards the two and slowly lifted her hand, pointing at them.

"You..",She muttered under her breath.

For a moment, they all stared at one another but the boys had soon snapped out of their trance and feeling a hand wrap around her own, Valentine's eyes widened in shock as she was pulled along, being forced to run in order to keep up with the two; Zeus quickly flying after them with a panicked screech.

'What the heck are those guys doing here!?',Gon questioned as they ran down the hallway.

'How would I know!?',Killua stated.

Suddenly, Phinks had appeared in front of the small group and blocked their path, causing the three to skid to a stop.

Going to go the other way, they were quickly blocked by Feitan and feeling as her hand was tugged slightly, Valentine looked up at Killua with a wide-eyed expression as he attempted to hide her behind him as he glanced between the two Troupe members.

'You know, that was cold',Phinks stated, causing the four to look towards him,'No need for you to run away'

Looking between the two, Valentine scowled and tried to figure out the best way to get her and her friends out of this situation.

But so far, she came up empty handed.

'Yeah, don't worry',Feitan said,'We're not here to kill you three or anything'

Looking back and forth between the two as they each spoke caused Valentine's head to spin and it were almost as if her eyes had become spirals.

'He's right',Phinks informed them,'It's not like we can kill the chain user now anyway'

Confused by this statement, Gon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he side-eyed the man in suspicion.

'What?'The green-haired boy asked,'What do you mean?'

'Well, he used his chains on the boss, didn't he?',Phinks said,'That means we can't kill him'

Still confused, Gon's furrowed eyebrows lessened and he blinked in confusion, a small frown on his face.

'I thought it was the opposite',Gon stated.

"Me too.. wouldn't you want to kill him, just to free your boss from the chains?"

Blinking in shock, Killua looked towards Gon and Valentine, figuring that it was nice to have someone around who never shies away from asking questions.

At least than they can learn more.

'When you die, it doesn't mean your Nen disappears',Phinks explained,'Nen that's driven by hatred and regret can last a long time after death. And it will direct itself toward the target of those emotions. Since the boss can't use Nen himself anymore, he's all the more vulnerable to that kind of assault. Scary, that residual Nen. That's why we can't kill the chain user'

Smart.

Seeing that the man looked at Feitan; who was behind them, Valentine watched as Phinks closed his eyes for a moment and let out a small sigh, before looking back towards the three children.

'So, as you might've guessed, we're pretty much done with the three of you',Phinks stated.

Feeling left out, Zeus ruffled his feathers in anger and screeched quietly, his obsidian eyes burning into the man's soul.

'The only reason we're even here is to enjoy the auction. The other members decided to pack up and go home already'

Watching as the man walked past them, the three children glanced towards one another and blinked in shock at Phinks' words.

'Hold on',Gon called out, causing the man to stop and look back at them,'How's Miss Pakunoda?'

'She died, actually'

Feeling her heart break, Valentine's eyes softened and her chest ached for the woman.

Even though she was a murderer, the young blonde didn't think that she deserved to die.

'Oh.. I see',Gon mumbled softly and slowly looked down.

Staring at the three for a moment, Phinks thought back to a memory of Pokunoda's and recalled their words.

'Paku.. Paku was very thankful to the three of you',Phinks told them and the three looked up at him in shock.

Watching as he was about to walk away, Valentine's eyes widened and she quickly looked up at the man, stepping forward for a moment.

"Hold on!"

Hearing the young girl's voice, Phinks came to a stop and turned his head, looking down at the young girl, watching as she stepped out from behind the silverette's protection.

"I was wondering.. is-.. is Shalnark—"

Seeing that the young girl was struggling to finish her sentence, Phinks slowly nodded and gave the girl a reassuring look.

'Shalnark's fine, kid'

Feeling reassurance fill her body, Valentine's shoulders relax and she smiled in relief, slowly nodding.

She felt guilty for a moment since her old friend had killed her friend's whole family, leaving him alone, but she couldn't help but still care for the green-eyed Spider.