(Drawing by Julie)

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The group had regrouped at the hotel; after leaving the items with Zepile as they counted on him to get a good price on the items and after they formulated a plan about how to approach the Troupe, they were now sitting at a round table.

'Okay, so we should decide our next move. So, how should we go about capturing these two?'

'We don't'

Looking towards Killua in shock, Leorio and Gon's faces dropped as they tilted their heads.

'Look, they're way out of our league',Killua stated,'It's not happening'

Standing up, Leorio banged his hands on the table and an irritated look formed on his face.

'Oh, come on! We won't know until we try, and besides, why didn't you mention this before!?',Leorio shouted.

Putting a finger to his lips, Killua scolded the man and told him to stop yelling because the troupe members would surely notice them.

Letting out a small sigh, Leorio quickly sat down and stayed silent.

'But it's the truth, I knew it as soon as I saw them',Killua stated,'A while back, my dad killed a Spider for a job'

Shocked by this, Gon, Valentine and Leorio looked towards Killua in shock, rendered speechless for a moment.

His father could hardly beat one of them?

'He doesn't complain much.. but he said the job wasn't with the price',Killua said, taking a sip of his milkshake,'And that, is the highest compliment he gives a target. He even got all of us together and told us we should steer clear of the Phantom Troupe. But that was years ago, so I thought we might stand a chance'

'They can't be that strong... can they?',Leorio shakily questioned.

Slowly looking up at the man, Killua watched as a drop of sweat slowly rolled down the side of Leorio's face and he tilted his head.

'Just imagine if the people sitting at that table were both Hisoka's',Killua stated.

Just imagining it caused the three to freeze up and Valentine shuddered, her eyes wide.

Both Gon and Leorio froze up even thinking about it and they're eyes widened.

'I guess.. it's safe to say that that's a lot more than we can handle',Leorio admitted.

Slowly looking towards Leorio, Valentine pulled a face and slowly shook her head.

You think?

'Okay, so what do you think they're doing here?',Killua asked.

'They're dating. It's a date, right?'

Slowly looking up, shock covered Gon's face and he looked between them.

'Wait.. is it really?'

With their faces falling into deadpanned expressions, Valentine and Killua looked towards one another.

Of course that's where his mind went.

With a blank look on her face, Valentine slowly took her dagger out of her shoe and without looking, threw it Leorio's way.

Hearing a thud and then a small shriek of fear, the three turned their gazes towards Leorio and saw his head was moved to the side, his eyes were wide and it looked like his soul had left his body, the dagger stuck into the wall just inches away from his face.

Meanwhile, Gon's eyes were wide and he slowly looked towards the dagger, before pulling it out of the wall.

If she had thrown it more to the left, she would've hit him but she knew what she was doing and how to use the daggers.

And besides, it shut him up so it was worth the fifty-fifty.

'No, of course not',Killua stated and tried to contain the laugh that, oh so, badly wanted to bubble up his throat,'They noticed that other couple behind them. I can tell that they're paying close attention to their surroundings. I thought they were just being cautious since the mafia's after them, but if that was the case, they wouldn't be sitting in a public area like that. Instead, they act like they don't have a care in the world. They're waiting for someone to find them, acting as bait and trying to draw out their prey'

Feeling a strike of aura, the four tensed up and stayed still, wondering if they had sensed them.

'The atmosphere has changed',Killua observed.

'I'm getting a bad feeling'

'Do you think they noticed us?'

Slowly shaking her head, Valentine look towards Leorio and her eyes glowed momentarily.

"No",She answered,"Not yet anyways"

With a panicked look in his eyes, Leorio looked towards Valentine.

'Are you sure about that?',Leorio questioned,'Remember, I can't use Zetsu to make my presence like the three of you'

Looking up towards the man, Valentine explained that Zetsu would only attract their attention and they couldn't use it here or else, they'd definitely be in trouble.

'They can sense Nen but, they aren't trying',Killua explained,'They're looking at people in the area, trying to find anyone who acts suspicious. Be careful and wipe those looks off your faces. Just act natural'

Strange smiles coated Leorio and Gon's facesas awkward laughs left their lips, causing Valentine to lean back and wince in horror.

Those were the scariest faces she had ever seen them make.

Seeing why she had reacted this way, a drop of sweat slowly fell down the side of Killua's face and he shook his head.

'You know what?',Killua said,'Forget it'

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The three had used Zetsu and were now tailing the Troupe and in the meantime, Zeus was flying around, keeping an eye on the three from the sky.

If they saw them, they would immediately give up and if it weren't possible anymore, they'd stop everything.

The signal to abort would be one ring and so, the three kept their phones on vibrate.

Since Valentine had done things like this a little bit in the past, she knew what she was doing and if they possibly did get caught, the blonde hoped that she was quick enough to escape.

If they split up, they'd follow the woman.

'The targets have passed the plaza and gone down a side street',Killua said.

'Roger that',Gon replied before asking,'Do you think that they know we're here?'

Valentine was with Killua on one roof, while Gon and Zeus were on another.

With a small hum, Valentine thought it over for a moment and then, realized that they wouldn't sense them.

'We're using Zetsu, so they won't unless something goes wrong',Killua replied,'But they're expecting someone to follow them, so be careful'

'Okay. You guys too'

Huffing out a laugh, Killua glanced at Valentine out of the corner of his eye and watched as she turned towards him, confused as to what was funny.

'Nah, if anyone should be careful, it's Val',Killua replied.

With a deadpanned look, Valentine blinked slowly and sighed lightly, slowly shaking her head.

He didn't have to tell her to be careful.

She's been doing this for a long time, she may not be a killer but she still knows what to do.

Hanging up the phone, the two quickly ran across the roof and while one of them hide behind one of the dormers, the other hide behind the second dormer of the roof.

Just barely peeking out from being the dormer, eyes of the goddesses glowed momentarily and Valentine watched as they walked past a truck, nothing seeming out of the ordinary.

And it looked like they didn't know they were failing them, which was good.

After trailing them for a while, the two spiders walked into a rundown area which caused Valentine and Killua to slow down.

They were moving into a deserted area which would make it a lot harder to follow them.

'Crap, they're moving into a deserted area',Killua mumbled under his breath.

Moving as quickly as the shadows themselves, the blonde and silverette hid within a bush, trying to decide their next move.

Since they were moving into a deserted area, it would make it harder to follow them without getting caught.

But if they played this the right way, then they wouldn't be discovered.

Finally coming to a decision, Killua looked towards Valentine, icy blue and goddess gold connecting as one.

'We'll continue',He told her.

Nodding her head, Valentine followed alongside him and once they had made it to an abandoned plaza, they split up.

Gon and Zeus were in one building, Killua was in the other while Valentine was only a floor below him.

The three had planned this out and if the other two got caught, since she was on a lower level, she'd have a better chance of escaping than they did.

Carefully gazing out the window, Valentine's face blended with the shadows and her eyes narrowed as she watched the Troupe members.

After a while, it was clear that they were trying to bait them out and when it didn't work, they talked among themselves.

Hearing the man's phone ring, the young blonde's eyes narrowed and she watched as he answered it, talking to whoever it was.

Watching as the man turned his eyes in her direction, Valentine's eyes widened and she immediately took off towards the door, but seeing someone there, she came to a halting stop, a small gasp leaving her lips.

And seeing who was there, was someone she didn't expect.

There stood a boy with ear-length blonde hair, a fair skin tone, pine green eyes and he was wearing a lavender outfit.

Holding her breath, Valentine's eyes widened at the familiar face and she felt her heart pounding so loud, that she swore it would've bursted through her chest.

"...S-Shalnark"

With a small closed-eyed smile, the boy tilted his head and waved slightly.

'Hey'

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Looking between the window and the boy in front of her, Valentine realized that she didn't have anywhere to go, swallowing lightly.

Watching as he stepped closer, the young blonde stepped back and watched as he came to a stop, a small frown on his face.

Letting out a sigh, Shalnark placed his hands on his hips and slowly shook his head.

'You know I'd never hurt you, right?'

"I don't know that. Your Troupe has killed innocent people before, Shalnark"

With a look of surprise in his eyes, Shalnark reached up and itched the back of his head.

He didn't know what to say to her.

Throwing his arms out, Shalnark let out an aggravated sigh and shook his head.

'That doesn't mean I'd hurt you',The boy stated,'You and I go quite a ways back'

And indeed they did.

Before Valentine had found out Shalnark was a part of the Phantom Troupe, her father had sent for him; asking for him to help her out on a mission.

One that had almost been her last, if it weren't for him showing up just in time.

And they had become somewhat of friends, before she found out what he was apart of and what they did.

Not only were they thieves, but they were murderers as well.

This wasn't the Shalnark she knew, the Shalnark she knew died a long time ago.

'So, Tiny—'

"Don't call me that.",Valentine stated and her tone was emotionless, her eyes void of any emotion.

With a frown on his lips, Shalnark slowly nodded and let out a small huff.

This was going to be difficult.

'Do you know the chain user by any chance?',The blonde boy asked.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Valentine scrunched up her face in confusion and tilted her head to the side.

The chain user?

Was that someone that fought with rusted chains or something?

It was an odd weapon to use, you couldn't hurt someone too much with it, unless you swung the metal hard enough and with enough force.

"Chain.. user?",Valentine questioned,"What is that? Someone who fights swinging around a rusted chain or something?"

With a small sigh, Shalnark slowly shook his head and a small smile twitched at the corner of his lips, before he looked back up at the girl.

'So, I'll take that as a no',The boy stated,'Anyway, what're you doing here?'

Blinking slightly, Valentine tilted her head and thought about it carefully for a moment.

If she didn't answer right, Valentine had no idea what he'd do.

She didn't know the shell of the person in front of her who was once her friend.

This was a different person entirely.

"The mafia put out a huge bounty on you and your friends heads",Valentine stated,"You know how I am with a bounty.."

Pretty much knowing almost everything about the young girl and her family, Shalnark didn't have to ask her too many questions since he already knew the answers.

Soon, a vibration filled the air and a confused look formed on the boys face as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone.

Once he hung up, he looked towards Valentine once more and placed his phone in his pocket.

'That silver-haired friend of yours surrendered quietly'

Letting out a shaky sigh, Valentine turned her gaze away from the person in front of her and looked towards the ground.

If she wasn't careful, he would most likely kill her.

She didn't know this teen anymore.