Blood. Blood everywhere. You'd think it was good, what with blood being their medium for nen. But this. This was different. There was too much, everywhere, clouding the water like a plume of smoke. She didn't dare move. Water, unlike air, was so obviously displaced with whatever went through it. And this, whatever it was, knew water quite well.

Hisoka didn't need to be underwater to know what was going on. Whoever had jumped into the lake with them, well, didn't jump in at all. He pretty much submerged himself entirely with little to no ripples left in his wake, which is pretty much impossible if you were to ask him. Unless this person was water himself, which was impossible.

"Just kidding!" Hisoka chuckled to himself. "It's very possible."

Suddenly, a booming sound filled the air. A cannon? "Oh! There he goes."

Like a transparent torpedo, something had somehow rammed into Bryce with such force that he pierced through the surface of the water - upwards - into the air like a stray bullet. One hit was all it took for the floor master of the Heavens Arena to go limp. He slowed down and finally came to a full stop mid-air, coughing out a mouthful of blood before descending back headfirst into the water.

"That must have hurt. Poor man child." Hisoka rested his chin onto his palm as he watched the scene unfold before him. Someone, he still wasn't quite sure who, was definitely going to die today.

Ayaka choked. For a second, she couldn't breathe underwater. Whoever was in the lake with them chose to attack Bryce first. Smart move, considering the only reason they were there to begin with was because of him. Drowning wasn't the way she wanted to go.

We were supposed to be safe here… Looks like we aren't after all.

She closed her eyes. It was getting more difficult to breathe now that the blood was getting thicker.

She opened her eyes again.

Thicker?

She looked around. This was weird. Blood wasn't supposed to be this thick, especially not when mixed with water. She slowly hunched down and walked slowly to where Ryuu was supposed to be. Whatever change was going on here, it had to be because of him.

"Looks like the mosquito is moving." Hisoka smiled widely to himself. "Maybe she's going to die?"

Ayaka froze. The water had gotten colder, almost icy, and it was making her shiver. And… was she imagining things? There, looking down at her, floating in the water, was a mermaid.

Ayaka took a defensive step back.

A beautiful woman. A very, very, very beautiful woman. So beautiful that it actually made Ayaka feel a bit self-conscious. She was probably around her age, if not a year or two older. Her hair was a fiery red, like a blanket of silk dancing around her body. Her eyes, a sparkly gold. Her nose, small but sharp. And she had lips like… like those lipstick models whose face you never really looked at as a whole.

Then, the woman spoke.

"Hi!" She suddenly chirped with a small wave of greeting. Her voice was so light and perky, it was almost comical. "I've been waiting for you. To wake up, I mean."

Ayaka furrowed her brows. She decided to stay silent.

"AYAKA! STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Ryuu shouted from somewhere behind her. He sounded distant. And desperate. The woman looked past her and narrowed her eyes, as if she knew exactly where he was. She frowned. "I would have preferred it if you were alone, but you attract the strong ones, don't you?"

The woman slowly floated down and stood in front of her. She was tall, and the water made her pale skin seem almost translucent. "Not that my brother is particularly strong… He's the weakest in the family."

Brother? Family? What?

The woman giggled. "I love the confusion on your face! You've never really been able to hide your feelings. And this…" She walked towards her. Slowly. Gracefully. Even the mud beneath her wasn't moving. As if she was water herself. Ayaka wanted to take a step back. It was only then that she realized that she was... frozen. Ice crystals had formed around her face, her body, and mostly her feet. She couldn't. Move. "This," she repeated as she planted a delicate finger on Ayaka's armor of mud, "is useless."

"UGHHHHAAAAAHHHH!" Ayaka screamed in pain as the ice crystals surrounding her began to crush her with unparallelled force. Almost immediately, the hardened mud had buckled and cracked under the sheer pressure, exposing her bare skin and cutting away at her clothes.

"Oh no!" The woman chuckled. "We must preserve your modesty. Not that you have any, considering how you chase a taken man."

Out of nowhere, a large white cloth floated towards her and landed over her. With little strength, Ayaka grabbed it and wrapped it around her like a child hiding under a blanket. She glanced at her trembling fingers. Cuts. So many tiny cuts. No doubt the rest of her body received the same kind of damage. But this was good. She could draw blood any time.

"Who are you?" Ayaka muttered, looking up at her. She could feel her own eyes bleeding from the attack. "I've never seen you in my life. And I'm no homewrecker. You've mistaken me for someone else."

The woman frowned. She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could utter a word, Bryce materialized behind her and grabbed her by her neck.

"What are you doing here, Bree."

Ayaka took this chance to turn around and run, but Ryuu was right behind her. He glanced at her, covered in nothing but the white blanket, and she flinched. For a moment, he looked almost sad. He gritted his teeth and looked away. "Bryce, give her your shirt."

"Why me?"

"Just do it."

Bryce grunted. "If you move, Bree, I'm going to kill you."

Ayaka took yet another step back. This woman, Bree, just attacked them, and they were letting her go? For a short moment, the red-haired girl seemed annoyed. She raised her arms up in surrender, "Yes, yes. Even I know you mean it when you say things like that."

Bryce took his shirt off and handed it to her. "I'm sorry about my sister. She doesn't like you. I knew she had it out for some girl. I didn't know it was you."

Ayaka grabbed the shirt and hid under the blanket. What the hell is going on? She hastily put it over her head. Except it was so big that she had mistakenly put it through one of the sleeves instead. UGH! THIS IS SO DUMB!

It almost seemed like a dress on her. She looked absolutely stupid. If Hisoka sees her… She shook her head. She pushed the thought away. She stood up and shoved the blanket back at Bree.

"Look, I don't know who you are. I've never met you. I've never even met Bryce until he became the floormaster. So believe me when I say: I have no idea who you are talking about. I'm not involved with anyone. I never have been-"

"But Hisoka isn't just anyone, is he?" She cut her off, her voice piercing. "You. Touching him. Biting him. Watching him. He isn't yours."

Ayaka's mouth dropped open. "I… I'm sorry. What?"

"You heard me!" She yelled, waving her hand upwards. A geyser popped open beneath Ayaka's feet, but before the scalding water could even eject upwards, Ryuu grabbed her and slid his feet over the crevice, a blanket of blood forming over to cover it. "Stop it, Bree. You can't win with all of us here."

"Stop protecting the weak, Ryuu!" She yelled. "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her in front of Hisoka. Then he'll see how weak she is!"

Silence.

Ayaka jumped from Ryuu's arms and propelled herself towards her, landing gently a foot away. She shot her hand upwards, grabbing Bree's neck and raising her off of the ground. From the small cuts in her feet, she released a few droplets of blood onto the mud beneath her, molding it solid. "Who…" She muttered in between gritted teeth. "IS WEAK?!" With all the force her dominant arm could gather, she slammed her down onto the hardened ground.

Hisoka giggled. "Wow."

Bryce and Ryuu had jumped away from the sheer destruction. A small crater had formed beneath them. Ayaka slowly let go of her neck. Her hand had left a blackened imprint on her pale skin. From the ground, Bree stared at her, eyes and mouth opened wide, disbelief strewn on her face. "Y-you-"

"Shut up," Ayaka mumbled as she walked away. "I was scared for my life, only to be confronted by a woman who thinks I'm after her man? Sure, I'm not as strong as you. Or anyone here. My nen… isn't perfect. In fact, it's useless. But I am NOT weak."

She reached the edge of the shore and scrambled herself out of the water. She had almost forgotten that the surface of Bryce's prism could slice her in half. She squeezed the excess water from the shirt she had borrowed and started walking towards a random direction. "I need to get back to work…"

After taking a few steps, she stopped. Dead in her tracks. It was there. The feeling of being watched by a predator. Watchful gazes piercing her skin. She held her breath as her heart skipped a beat. And then another. She could feel it. She could feel… him. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

Someone was sitting gleefully up high on a tree, chuckling softly to himself as he watched her. She knew who it was. Only one person could have this effect on her. She opened her eyes again and slowly turned to him.

"Hi, mosquito."