༺♥༻

Sitting at the table, Gon was patiently awaiting more people to come up and challenge him, but as word of the boy's strength spread around, no one wanted to step up and he beaten by a kid.

Suddenly, a man pushed his way through the crowd and Valentine's eyes narrowed at the sight, a glow of amber yellow taking over her eyes for a moment.

It was clear to her that he had ties with the mafia.

'Out of my way'

Pushing through the crowd as if the were nothing, the large man came to stand in front of the group and Leorio smiled at the man.

'Oh, do we have our first challenger?'

A shorter man came to stand next to the taller one as he pushed his way through the crowd.

'Not quite',The man stated,'I already know my man can't beat your kid. I was watching yesterday'

It was clear that he was the boss.

'Then what do you want?',Leorio questioned.

Eyes of obsidian narrowed and a low chirp left Zeus's beak as he ruffled his feathers, moving closer to Valentine's head; not liking the aura that was coming off of the man.

'Are you interested in making some real money?',He questioned.

A low gasp left Leorio's lips and he leaned forward, his eyes wide as he questioned the man, asking him what he had meant.

A small, but confident, smirk formed on the man's face and he leaned forward, his eyes glistening as he stared at Leorio.

'I know where you can make some serious cash',He stated,'Not the measly pocket change you're pulling here. You could make hundreds.. no, thousands of times more, easy'

Grinning at the offer, a greedy chuckle left Leorio's lips and he immediately agreed.

༺♥༻

Walking down an empty street, the two men began to lead the group somewhere; Leorio and Gon quietly talked, while Valentine stared at the ground, her hands shaking with anxiety.

'What's wrong?',Killua spoke up and looking up from the ground, Valentine stared into his eyes of ice, her own eyes betraying her; showing her fear,'...You're scared..'

Swallowing slightly, quickly averted her eyes and stared at the ground, her heart pounding in her chest as the sound of her blood rushing through her veins, pulsated in her ears.

Feeling his hand gently brush against her own, eyes of opalescent lilies slowly looked up at him and his eyes filled with worry.

Taking in a shaky breath, Valentine knows she couldn't lie to him, because he would see right through her and so, she softly began to explain.

༺♥༻

Standing in an elevator, Valentine's shoulder was against Killua's and feeling as the elevator came to a stop, she shakily breathed out through her nose.

The doors slowly opened, revealing a huge room; it was full of money-hungry men and they eagerly watched a match below.

'Oh wow, I can feel the bloodlust'

Anxiety spread throughout her body like a wildfire and Valentine anxiously glanced around the room.

If she wasn't careful, someone in here would most likely recognize her and know exactly who she was.

And her family didn't exactly have the best reputation.

Being a Nitsune meant that you'd have to constantly look over your shoulder because you'd never know, the target could've had family members that would definitely want her and her family dead.

With her heart pounding against her chest, Valentine anxiously looked around the room and feeling a hand being placed on her shoulder, she jumped and hurriedly turned around, fear blossoming in her eyes.

Realizing that it was only Killua, a shaky exhale of relief left Valentine's lips and seeing the concern in his eyes, caused the girl's heart to stop for a moment.

'What's wrong, Valentine?',He quietly questioned, his hand on her shoulder; his touch was soft and comforting,'And don't lie to me.. I can tell something's bothering you'

Bringing her gaze towards the ground, Valentine grew worried and began to wonder if she should tell him about her family.

She had accepting him when she learned that he was an assassin, but would he be the same if he found out that she was from a family of contract killers?

Contract killing was a form of murder in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons.

Or in other words, she was from a family of hitmen.

"I-.. I need to tell you something",Valentine stuttered,"..About my family"

But, just this once, Valentine put her trust in someone and finally told them about who she truly was.

Who her family truly was.

And why she had left them.

She didn't want to be like them, her heart was too pure to kill and she would never take an innocent person's life away.

༺♥༻

After she had told him about her family, Valentine was staring at the ground and her hands shook with anxiety.

The silverette had been silent for a bit since she had told him.

Would she lose another person, just because she told them about her past?

As she was wondering this, Killua stared at her and had quite a bit of questions running through his mind.

"So.. that explains what she had done during the Hunter Exam. And Akari.. this is why she was trying to get her to go back home."

Feeling arms gently wrapping around her, Valentine's eyes widened and her body stiffened.

Killua was.. hugging her?

His hold tightened for a moment and he pulled her close, his chin resting on her shoulder; which Zeus didn't appreciate even though he was perched on her other shoulder.

'Like you said Val.. you're not like your family',Killua muttered.

Feeling her eyes tearing up, Valentine looked up at the silverette as he pulled away and looked down at her, a small smile on his face.

'You and Gon accepted me when you guys found out that I was an assassin',Killua explained and watched as her wide eyes glistened as she stared up at him,'So.. why wouldn't I accept you?'

Feeling her lips part, Valentine held back her tears and her lips slowly spread into a smile, her eyes glistening as she smiled as brightly as the sun and as softly as the moon.

He accepted her.

He didn't leave her.

As everyone began to walk down to the ring, Killua gently grasped the girl's hand in his own and kept her close to his side.

If she was this anxious being here; and with good reason, then he wouldn't let anyone here touch her.

And if they tried, well, it was a good thing that Valentine wasn't too squeamish around blood.

Just as Gon was about to enter the ring, the lights turned on and a weirdly dressed man stepped into the ring, holding a microphone.

'Sorry to disappoint you, folks! But the arm wrestling has officially been canceled!',He announced into the microphone,'Instead, we're gonna do a little bit of conditional auctioning'

Shouts of aggravation and disappointment bursted through the air like an arrow and Leorio stood in front of them, leaning down to look at the shorter man.

'What's going on?',Leorio shouted,'Why's it cancelled!?'

With a drop of sweat falling down the side of his forehead, the man looked towards Leorio and was just as confused as he was, telling the teen that he had no clue as to what was happening.

'I, uh.. I don't actually know..',The shorter man replied.

'And all you have to do to win is.. play a game of hide-and-seek!'

Murmurs of confusion arose from the crowd and the five turned their gazes towards the stage, confusion on their faces.

'We'll start by handing out flyers! Now take a good look at those pictures, folks! Don't forget them, because the seven guys and gals you see are your targets'

Targets.

Seeing the faces on the flyers, Valentine stiffened and her eyes widened slightly, a feeling of anger and fear rushing through her all at one.

But why?

But soon, Valentine's gaze turned towards the woman and her eyebrows immediately furrowed in confusion.

That was the girl Gon had arm wrestled.

'Hey, I've seen that girl with the glasses',Leorio spoke up.

'Me too, she arm-wrestled me',Gon stated.

Hearing as Killua let out a small gasp, Valentine looked up at him and saw that he was looking towards someone.

Turning her gaze towards where he was looking, the young blonde saw that he was looking towards two man chatting and she figured that he had heard them talking about something.

'In order to win the bid, all you have to do is capture a target and deliver them to us',The man explained,'For each, you will walk away with the tidy sum of... wait for it.. two billion jenny!'

Blinking in shock, Valentine's eyes widened and she looked back down at the paper, before realizing something.

If they were paying this much for these people to be captured, then there was definitely something about them and if the mafia wasn't able to catch them, then there was something else going on here.

Leaning forward with a small chirp, Zeus's eyes studied the paper and seeing the woman from before, he tilted his head in confusion.

'There is no time limit! And it doesn't matter if they're dead or alive!',He exclaimed,'Interested? Then catch one and call us!'

'Two billion each is a lot!',Gon stated and looked up at Leorio, his face coated with shock.

'And if we catch all seven, that's 14 billion!'

With a small frown on her face, Valentine slowly shook her head and glanced towards Killua, their eyes locking as he was already looking at her.

Having a silent conversation, the two knew that they didn't know if they were capable of catching them.

There was a reason the mafia wasn't able to catch them.

'All it costs to participate is a mere five million jenny!'

As everyone was starting to exit, the blonde quickly made her way out of there and tried her best to keep her head down.

Even if there was a bounty out for these people, she still didn't want to take the risk of someone recognizing her.

But as she walked, Valentine began to think to herself and got lost in her thoughts as she made it outside, her friends quickly catching up.

Things like this were her speciality and even though she was experienced in this area of expertise, she was quite nervous.

She hadn't done this since she left for the Hunter Exam.

Together, the group walked down the street and many other around them discussed how they were going to catch their targets.

'We're gonna need to hurry',Leorio explained as he thought about the competition.

'No rush',Killua stated confidently,'They won't be able to catch our targets'

Looking towards him in surprise, Gon and Leorio let out hums of curiosity, wondering what he was talking about.

"Killua and I realized that even the mafia is having a hard time catching them",Valentine explained, causing the three boys to look towards her.

Blinking in confusion, Leorio tilted his head and frowned, not understanding just what they were talking about.

'What do you mean?'

'The "conditional auction" they're having?',Killua said,'It's nothing more than a big bounty hunt'

Looking forward, Valentine pursed her lips and let out a soft sigh.

'It's like the Mafia's admitting they can't catch these targets',Killua stated,'Or not alone, anyway'

Looking forward, Leorio looked up at the sky and let out a soft hum, stuffing his hands inside of his pockets.

'You've got a point there',Leorio agreed,'They were willing to put everything else on hold just so they could track them down..'

Lifting up the paper once more, Leorio examined their faces again and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

'I heard, last night, someone attacked the underground auction',Killua stated.

Eyebrows shooting up and eyes widening, Leorio quickly turned his head and looked towards the silverette, shock clear in his expression.

'But, who would do that!?',Leorio questioned and looked down at the paper,'Unless it was them. You think that's the reason they've got a bounty on their heads?'

Referring to the seven people on the paper, Leorio frowned and looked towards the sky, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

With a small smile spreading across his lips, eyes of azure glistened and Killua nodded his head.

'Yup',Killua said,'And if they stole from the Mafia, they've got a screw loose. But think, who do we know that's crazy enough to do that?'

Suddenly, the image of a spider flashed through Valentine's head and her eyes widened, her breath hitching as her body tensed up.

There was only one group of people that would be crazy enough to do that.

"The Phantom Troupe..",Valentine breathed out, her eyes glistening with fear.

Hearing her words, Leorio and Gon came to a stop, their bodies tensing up and they immediately turned towards her.

Nodding at her words, Killua watched as she shook slightly and looked up towards him, her golden gaze glistening.

'Now that you mention it, what's Kurapika been up to?',Gon questioned.

Shrugging slightly, Killua looked between the three and began to wonder the same thing.

'Dunno, he should be here in the city by now, but he hasn't called yet',Killua stated.

Looking at one another, Gon and Valentine nodded towards each other, before the blonde pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Staring at the phone for a moment, the golden eyed beauty hesitated and then, slowly put in the boy's number, bringing the phone up to her ear.

The gentle ring of the call filling her ears and realizing that he wasn't answering, Valentine looked up at the three, slowly shaking her head.

"He's not answering",Valentine said, keeping the phone to her ear.

The ring continued to fill her ear as she continued to try and reach him.

'Maybe he's working',Leorio answered.

Looking up towards the teen in confusion, the trio tilted their heads and Zeus let out a confused trill, his head tilting to the side.

'Working?',Killua questioned.

Neither of them knew he had gotten a job.

'Yeah, I heard that he picked up a job as a bodyguard a while back',Leorio told them,'I bet it's some big shot VIP. He's looking for the Scarlet Eyes, so it's probably someone in the underworld'

'What if he was guarding them at the auction hall and then got caught up in the act?',Gon questioned.

Eyes widening in fear, Valentine quickly looked up towards Leorio and hoped that wasn't true, worry flooding through her veins.

If the whole Troupe was there, he would've been severely outnumbered.

'He wouldn't have let something like that happen',Leorio reassured them,'If the Troupe attacked, Kurapika would be tracking them down as we speak. I wouldn't be surprised, if he's captured a few of them already'

Feeling reassurance crash over her like a wave, Valentine's shoulders untensed and she let out a sigh of relief.

'I hope you're right..',Gon muttered and tried calling Kurapika once more.