Small warning;

What you guys are about to read in this chapter is kinda harsh, but not really, so I just wanted to add a warning just in case (for some of you who are younger and read this story).

You guys get to see a small smidge of Valentine's contract killer side or what I like to call; her dark side.

Now, she is still that little ray of sunshine that we all love, but, similar to assassin's (or well, similar to Killua's situation), she has a bit of a overprotective... kill drive? I guess you could call it, drilled into her by her family.

So pretty much, it was if any one of her siblings were to get hurt, Valentine wouldn't hesitate to protect them and would snap, you could say; killing the person for harming them.

So, a little bit of that shows in this chapter to pretty much show that even though she is as innocent as the sun, she still has a bit of darkness in her from her family that she can't really escape.

I think it's a nice touch and a good development for her character to show that even though she doesn't want to hurt anyone, that instinct to protect will always be there and she won't hesitate to k!ll someone if needed.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

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sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ ᴅʀᴀᴡɪɴɢ ʙʏ ᴍᴇ

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The halo of the horizon arrived with golden grace and lacy white-edged clouds rolled in over the blue sky, rays of light shinning through the puffy softness.

The three now surrounded Binolt and the golden eyed beauty glanced at her friends out of the corner of her eyes, before looking towards the man with a hard stare.

After a moment, the man sat down on the ground and held his hand to his wound, a low groan of pain leaving his lips.

'What're you waiting for!?',Biscuit shouted down at the three and didn't spare a glance at the hawk that sat atop of her shoulder, trying to keep a straight face as he nuzzled against her,'Are you going to stand there while he heals his wounds?'

The first one to strike was Killua.

Racing forward, the silverette was about to attack when a gleam caught his eye and he quickly leaned back, just barely missing the swipe that would've taken out his eye.

Swiftly jumping back, a bleeding cut formed under Killua's eye and seeing the wound, eyes of thunder darkened into that of the darkest of rust, a dark aura emitting from her body.

Almost suffocating in the harsh air that had suddenly surrounded him, Binolt looked towards the blonde girl and tightened his grip on his weapon at the deadly gleam within her eyes.

A sharp and rather painful ringing filled the air causing everyone around to wince and grimace in pain at the harsh pitch that chimed within their ears, sweat gleaming on their faces at the suffocating aura that surrounded them like a blanket.

As she disappeared into nothing, the only thing that was left to prove her existence was the small cloud of dust that rose from where she stood and a drop of sweat fell down the side of the man's face as his eyes swiftly glanced from side-to-side; trying to find the golden-eyed girl.

Appearing behind the man from a blurred apparition, Valentine swiftly turned her body and her leg swung towards the back of his neck, connecting as soon as Binolt had sensed her, his arm swinging back as he went to turn her way.

The breath in his body had all but left the man's lungs as the harsh kick coming from the girl's heel struck the back of his neck and his eyes widened slightly, small sprays of saliva flying through the air as his body shook in shock of the strike.

Stinging waves of pain struck the blonde's leg and a harsh ringing filled the air as her eyes narrowed, before her figure blurred as she disappeared; appearing back to the spot she had been before.

Slowly, small beads of blood gradually trickled down from the cut on her leg and Valentine had merely glanced at the small wound, before looking back up at the man with her darkened eyes.

The bloodlust that leaked out of the innocent girl's body had caused both boys to tense as they glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes, small beads of sweat glistening down the sides of their faces.

'Guys, let's make this a battle of attrition'

Picking up a few rocks from the ground, Killua looked between the two and threw one of them into the air slightly, before catching it.

'What's attrition mean?',Gon questioned.

Neither of the boy's had noticed that their blonde friend wasn't even paying attention to anything either of them were saying and the only thing she could hear was the ringing in her ears as her blood furiously pumped through her veins, her eyes shinning as brightly as the moon as the piercing rusted color all but burned into the man's very soul.

'You and Val go get some rest',Killua stated and caught the rocks as he threw them,'I'll stay and keep an eye on him for now and use these to attack. Switch every six hours'

"No."

Hearing the dark voice, the silverette tensed up slightly and he turned his eyes towards the blonde beside him.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Killua took in her tense figure and a small frown of worry formed on his face as his eyes looked her over, before landing on the cut on her leg.

It wasn't anything serious, only a scratch from the man's knife, but the sight of it alone caused the silverette's heart to stop for a moment and he slowly looked back up at the girl, his confusion growing at the look on her face.

Her eyes were dark and almost void of any emotion.

Seeing this expression that had now coated her innocent face, caused worry to quickly electrify Killua's body as his frown deepened and just as he was about to argue, the girl's darkened eyes snapped in his direction, which only made his worry grow as he went silent.

The darkness within her eyes wasn't at all like the girl he admired and he worried that whatever was going on now, was causing the girl to lose herself in rage.

"You two get some rest. I'll handle this for now"

Before either of them could even think to argue with the girl, Valentine had disappeared as a piercing; and much harsher than usual, ring filled the air and a small cloud of dust rose from where she stood.

A burning pain spread through the man's ribs as he stumbled, a fist harshly slammed into his chest and he began to fall back, his eyes wide as he jumped away.

But, his efforts were futile and the girl wouldn't let him escape from her grasp that easily.

The same piercing sound from before filled the air and Binolt looked around for the blur that was the girl, but it was useless as another harsh blow struck the back of his neck, causing a painful breath to be inhaled into his lungs as he choked.

Bursts of pain struck the man's face as another strike bashed against his cheek, the fist that was barely seen had the force and strength of iron.

His mind all but blurred together as each strike rendered him powerless and no matter how many times he slashed at her skin, drawing blood, the blonde only continued her relentless attacks.

Another harsh kick struck him with the force of a boulder and a pained groan escaped the man's lips as he stumbled to the ground, laying there in a heap of pain, feeling as if he were being crushed with no way to stop it, blood slowly pouring down his nose as purple and black bruises painted the skin like a canvas; his face becoming the artwork of her brutal attacks.

A sick giggle filled the air and painfully turning his head to the side to look at his attacker, a look of fear formed on his face as he trembled in horror, his hands clenching the sand underneath him as his body shook, his eyes wide with distress.

The blonde's eyes were an endless void of darkness and her smile; that had once shone with elegant and heavenly light, all but radiated wickedness as a shadow casted over her face like a curtain.

The dimness in her eyes was like the darkness of the moon and the villainy that was the night sky who shone with no stars or moon to guide them.

The innocent girl that had once stood before him was no more and was now replaced with this monstrous being that stared down at him as if she were the reincarnation of death itself coming to claim his soul, blood coating his lips from the harsh stomps to his ribs.

It was like she was the ravenous beast in a horror story and only craved death and destruction.

She was the monster that parents warned their children about before bed; she may have been a flower, but that only hid the beast that resided within her.

His blood coated her knuckles, but it didn't seem to faze her one bit as she sickeningly smiled down at him and slowly raised her leg, her shoe about to come into contact with his neck to land the final strike causing him to slowly close his eyes.

But the only thing that came to him was a slight gust of wind and the sound that reached his ears weren't of his bones breaking, but instead, was the angered grunts of the girl as she seemed to be struggling to break free of something and the sound of a voice trying to calm the rage of the storm that was brewing within her.

Slowly peeking his eyes open, Binolt's eyes widened at the sight in front of him and he would've been grateful if it weren't for the fear that shook him to his very core.

Holding back the struggling blonde in their embrace, was the silver-haired boy from before and the man watched as the boy had almost stumbled as the girl tried her best to throw him off of her, her mind stuck within the killer mode she was brought into.

The arms around her body strongly held her back against his chest as she struggled with all of her might to break free from the grip restraining her, harsh breaths of rage leaving her lips and her face was twisted into that of anger as her darkened eyes burned into the man's soul.

Up above them, Biscuit stared down at her students and not an ounce of worry was within her eyes as she merely smiled down at the three, watching with interest as the ex-assassin struggled to calm the raging girl in his hold.

A low hum left her lips and she slowly leaned forward, tilting her head to the side as she watched the two, beginning to wonder the silverette's plan to calm the blonde.

'Val..entine.. calm down, damnit!'

It was clear in his raspy voice that he was struggling slightly to hold her back and his feet slid slightly against the ground as she dragged him forward, before Killua dug his shoes into the dirt, the two of them now staying in place.

The darkness that clouded the girl's mind was struck with the electricity that ran up her arms; but it wasn't from the silverette's nen, causing a small ray of light to shine through as her eyes softened slightly and her fighting lessened.

No, it wasn't his Nen that had calmed her and instead, it was his voice that had brought her out of the void.

The harsh breaths that had once left her lips slowly turned shaky as her body shook with the fading anger and adrenaline, the darkness in her eyes was being pushed away by the thunder that began to spread throughout her irises.

The look on her face softened gradually as the rage that was once traveling within her veins was pushed out and serenity filled her body as the darkness in her was chased away by the light she had once possessed, her muscles loosening as she untensed; her body relaxing once more.

A sigh of relief echoed from beside her as Killua's arms relaxed and his hold around her loosened.

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A few days had passed since the incident and each day the three trained, they got faster, swifter and stronger than they were when they had first started.

The way Valentine had acted faded from everyone's mind and only one person remembered what had happened.

He didn't fear what she had become in that moment, but only worried about her well-being.

It was clear to the silverette that she was shaken up from the incident and refused to look any of them in the eye as they continued to train.

Like she feared that she would see nothing but disgust in their eyes when they looked at her.

But she would find nothing of the sort.

Only the worry of friends.

Soon enough, Binolt had enough and collapsed to his knees, harsh pants of exhaustion leaving his lips as sweat fell down his face like the rain in the clouds, looking at the ground in defeat.

'Enough already.. there's no way I could beat you. Just kill me'

Looking towards the man, Gon blinked in confusion and slowly tilted his head to the side, a confused frown tugging down his lips.

'But.. why would we want to do that?',The green-haired boy questioned,'We've gotten a whole lot better and it's all thanks to your help. So thank you, Mr. Binolt'

Watching as the boy bowed to him, Binolt's eyes widened slightly in shock and his vision of the boy faded away as he began to see the younger version of himself standing in front of him.

All he had ever wanted, was to live as a decent human being.

Exiting the crater, they all stood in front of Biscuit and the girl looked down at the man.

'You may go'

Standing to his feet, Binolt removed the belt around his waist and slowly set it on the ground, the metal of the scissors clicking against the rough stone floor.

'I'll go turn myself in'

Watching as the man walked off, a rush of guilt formed in her chest and a painful sensation rushed through her body, causing Valentine to glance towards the ground.

Once he had left, Biscuit raised her hand and watched as the three turned towards her.

'Alright, it's time we head to Masadora!'

'Osu!'

"Osu!"

'Osu'

Seeing that she was still holding up her finger, their eyes widened and aura quickly formed around their eyes, seeing a number made out of aura appear.

"The number 9!"

Smiling at the three, Biscuit pointed towards them and watched as their eyes widened in shock.

'Too slow!',The girl scolded,'Now give me three thousand push-ups!'

A groan left Valentine's lips and a small pout formed on her face as she tilted her head back, her shoulders slouching as she leaned back.

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Once they were done with their push-ups, the four were running to get to Masadora and as they got closer, bright smiles formed on their faces, an excited screech leaving Zeus's beak as he perked up from atop of Valentine's shoulder.

'There it is!'

'Help me look for a department store!'

After finding the store and getting everything they needed, Biscuit had informed the small group that they were heading back to the rocky area, causing them to look at her in shock.

It was going to be a very long day.