Spider Web

A Kurutanian Promise

If the two Spiders told the truth at the 'Kurapika-girl stole Kurapika-guy's ability and both will die if one of them dies'. It was possible. With the Restraint and Vow in Nen dictionary that is possible but then why was the girl in front of them reminded him of Kurapika. It was like this Spider is Kurapika's girl-Lolita-version. Unless. . .

Killua crossed his arms in thought. Chrollo's wife was weird. She also seemed to drop a red gemstone before they teleported away. It has been an hour since their encounter with the two Ryodan members. Leorio and Gon were still trying to contact Kurapika at the terrace. He on the other hand, remained in the dining table of their hotel room.

Earlier, as soon as the two spiders disappeared, Killua immediately spotted two red gems that one of them probably dropped. He had picked it up and now it was lying innocently atop a white handkerchief on the table. He eyed it suspiciously before taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"I'm a Spider. What do you think did I do to him?"

Killua frowned. There was something that didn't add up in their conversation.

"Killed him and stole his ability."

He narrowed his eyes and placed his mug on the table. He tried to picture the blonde in his mind. Her body was way too tense. Her hands were clenched into fists. Killua closed his eyes to remember every little detail from earlier. Her eyes betrayed what she was saying. She stiffened when Chrollo wrapped an arm around her and she looked away as if in shame before they disappeared. And the red gemstones that were left behind.

"...She had made sure that your Kurapika is alive. Ryodan can't kill him because that would mean our member's death as well."

He dug out Kurapika's earring from his pocket and carefully put it on the left side of the red gemstone and he pulled his ring made of special metal alloy (same one that was used for his yo-yos) that had three red gems embedded at the middle, and placed it on the right side of the gem.

They were all fire diamonds. He knew because all of them had glowing fire embers inside the crystal. They were all Kurapika's tears. There was no Kurapika Lucilfer all along. There was no secret member of the Phantom Troupe. Chrollo had no wife. It was Kurapika all along. His mind drifted into the day before Kurapika had to leave YorkShin with the Nostrades.

"There's another thing I want to tell you before I go." Kurapika said. They were all in the privacy of Gon and Killua's hotel room. All of them were sitting on the carpeted floor. The television was playing an action movie in the background but nobody was watching it.

Kurapika willed his eyes red before tears gathered and fell onto the carpet. However, there weren't any wet patches on the blue covering of the floor. His tears had become bright red crystals with glowing embers inside.

"Kurapika," Killua called, still wide-eyed at the revelation. He knew it wasn't a Nen-ability. He was using Gyo as Kurapika teared up and there was no disruption in Kurapika's Ten. "Why are you telling us this?" He asked. "If anyone else.." He paused. "especially, if the Ryodan finds out about this, they're gonna hunt you down. Without even counting your Scarlet eyes, they're gonna hunt you down just for this!"

"I agree." Leorio spoke up. "You can't protect yourself from all of them, Kurapika."

"I can." The blonde insisted. "It'll be okay. My life is always at risk. Especially because my job is involves the underworld."

"Then you should change your job Kurapika. We will help you to collect your clansmen's eyes no matter what it takes, if it meant you are safe." Gon piped in, his warm brown eyes pleading. Leorio and Killua were nodding in agreement.

"I don't want to endanger your lives again." Kurapika murmured as he picked up his solidified tears. "I'd like you to have them." He reached into his pockets and pulled more of the red gems. "These as well."

"Wha -

"We can't take those!" Gon exclaimed.

"They are too precious to take!" Leorio added.

"They are called fire diamonds." Kurapika said, ignoring their protests.

Killua had a ring. Gon had a pendant and Leorio wore his as stud earrings. Those were one of the most precious possessions they ever had because it was Kurapika's tears. It was given to them by their precious friend.

Their Kurapika. Their kind and beautiful Kurapika, who abandoned his revenge in exchange for his and Gon's lives. He. . .she was in the hands of the Genei Ryodan. And she is purposely making them hate her so they would just stay out of Genei Ryodan's way. She knew that possibility of the Ryodan turning to her friends because of her was high. She was trying to protect them. Killua clenched his teeth together.

She really should stop doing everything by herself.

It was raining. The Burning Princess of the Kuruta tribe sat forlornly in her chamber, reading a book of the outside world that her cousin, Pairo, had lent her. She is having difficulties with it, but her 'translator' has not arrived yet. She had tried asking her handmaidens for help but none of them had bothered to learn the outside world's language. She sighed. He was late. Unusually so.

She placed her book on the low table and leaned on her zaisu. As usual, she was dressed in white robes, her sleeves were long enough to go past her fingertips. Her feet were covered with white socks and on her head was a white hat embroidered with gold threads and stitched on it was an almost-opaque transparent veil. White beads were stitched on the hem of the veil to keep it from being blown by the wind.

She was only five, yet so many responsibilities has been thrown to her feet. As the Burning Princess, she has to learn the traditional dances of all rituals of their tribe, especially since half of them were for asking blessing from their God. She is also learning how to play the harp. Slowly though, because the first time she touched the strings of the harp, she had a cut. Her parents, the tribe's rulers had panicked, so the entire tribe panicked and it was such a big mess.

There was a series of knocks before the door opened. A pale young man entered. He was wearing the typical clothing of a Kurutanian but he wasn't one of them. He had dark hair and dark eyes, though she couldn't clearly see because of her veil. She prepared herself to stand up, however the table had a splinter that caught her sleeve. And then she started to fall, she could barely hear the exclamations of her handmaidens as the dark haired teen to grabbed her sleeve as gently but at the same time as tightly as he could to prevent her from falling face first on the floor. Her veil shifted as she looked up to her savior.

"You should be more careful, Princess."

"Kuro-san!"

Kurapika woke up on the carpeted floor of a wrecked room. The only object that wasn't harmed was the black metal vault where she kept each pair of Scarlet Eyes she had reclaimed. She had fallen asleep on the floor after exhausting herself in turning her room upside down. She stood up and made a beeline to her bathroom. She wasn't able to wash up before sleeping yesterday and today, she was supposed to go with Chrollo to the Heavens Arena.

Her hair took longer to blow-dry and she is seriously considering cutting her hair. Kanae helped her braid it so it only reached mid-calves and a light blue ribbon was tied from the part near the base of her neck and criss-crossed down to the end. She wore her Kuruta tribal clothes and since it was fall, she wore white boots instead of her blue Chinese flats. She pulled a coat from her closet and was not surprised that it was the exact copy of her Ryodan coat. Her closet had at least twenty of them which made her wonder how many custom made coats Chrollo had. If hers was this many, she would bet her tears that Chrollo had more than hers.

When she went downstairs, she saw Chrollo waiting for her by the door. And with no words, they rode a low-profile black car and headed to the Heaven's Arena. Only a classical musical playing on the stereo filled their silence on their way to the famed building.

As soon as she stepped into Heaven's Arena's vicinity, she activated En that reached until the penthouse of the tall building and she felt Hisoka's Nen perk up at the two-hundred fortieth floor. Chrollo led her inside into an elevator. She pressed the floor button she needed while her companion was in Zetsu mode since they left the car.

The 240th floor had a large restaurant and she used her Nen to find her way into Hisoka's location. He was at the farthest corner of the hall where there was a fireplace and a few leather couches, a chaise lounge and a coffee table where there were two card towers. The jester was working on the third.

She approached the clown who was sitting alone at a couch in the only restaurant in the building. This was where many competitors hung out after or before a match for a good drink or meal. Eyes followed her because of three reasons: one, she had unnaturally long hair, two, she was beautiful and ninety percent in the hall were male, three she was approaching THE Hisoka, the person everyone knew in Heavens Arena to stay away from, alone.

Hisoka was dressed in his usual custom made clothing that was printed with a red diamond and a heart. She wondered if he had the same tailor as Chrollo.

"I always knew something was wrong with you." Hisoka said as he placed two cards on his unfinished tower.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." she replied and sat on the chaise lounge positioned in directly to Hisoka without invitation.

The clown hummed as his eyes traveled from his cards, to her feet, up to her face then back to his cards. She had worn her tribal clothes, the same ones she wore in YorkShin just in case Hisoka did not recognize her. She had left her Ryodan coat in the car knowing that at the mere sight of it, Hisoka would connect the dots and realize she is in contact with Chrollo.

"You smell weird." Hisoka sniffed twice for good measure. "You killed someone recently, didn't you."

"Yeah." There was no point on getting defensive against Hisoka. "I'm sure you know why I came here." She went right into the point.

"And I'm sure you know the condition I will ask." Hisoka shot back.

Of course she knew the condition he will ask. A match. A fight. A duel. Whatever. She didn't want to fight him. Hisoka was unpredictable. And she wouldn't be so foolish to face him in battle. She had witnessed his blood lust, she'd rather not see it again. He could be thinking that he wouldn't kill her one minute and then kill her anyways on the next.

She took the notepad and pencil from the coffee table between them and wrote a message before pushing it towards her fellow hunter. He read it and raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening." he said before pushing a card at the bottom of his completed third card tower causing it to topple over. Kurapika tore the piece of paper from the notepad, crumpled it and tossed it into the fireplace behind the red head.

Kurapika leaned over to whisper in Hisoka's ear. Chrollo saw her cover her mouth so he couldn't read her lips. He wondered what she was telling the clown because whatever it was must have been precious to her and shocking in Hisoka's perspective if the widened golden eyes was any indication. When she leaned away, she had a frown on her pretty face but the jester had a gleeful smile. And that transformed into a genuine laugh.

"You keep surprising me Kurapika." He said when he had calmed down.

"Will you tell anyone?" She asked. Her Dowsing Chain was floating in the direction of Hisoka's heart. Concealed with In.

"No. I'd like to keep it to myself. While it is interesting, I wouldn't gain anything from it." He paused and held his pointy chin. "Actually I may gain something from it but I have no one in mind."

She sighed in relief. While Hisoka was a good liar, he can never lie with her Dowsing Chain out.

"Well, I guess this conversation is over." He stood from his seat. "Follow me."

Hisoka led her to the 245th floor where he was Floor Master and motioned her inside. He retrieved a box from his closet, all the while chuckling to himself. Kurapika used Gyo to check the authenticity of the Scarlet Eyes before she looking up to Hisoka.

"You have ripened well. You shouldn't have bothered hiding your true self. You're much stronger in this form."

She wondered if he could sense her 'Heavenly Fire' that she can only use in her princess form. She banished the thought. "Farewell." She said and kept a tensed front as she turned her back to him and left his suite.

She entered the closest elevator and pressed the ground floor button before hugging the cardboard box that contained the Eyes into her chest. As soon as the elevator doors closed, she heard Chrollo clear his throat behind her. He was still in Zetsu state so he could not alert Hisoka with his presence.

"Do you want me to hold onto the Eyes? I stole a convenient ability from Owl of the Injuu."

She gave him a suspicious glance but handed the Eyes to him. "I guess that confirms it."

"What does?"

"I always wondered why you left Neon alive after stealing her ability. My two possibilities was 'you need her alive because you stole her ability and it may disappear from you if she dies' or 'because you are too lazy to kill her when she's not worth it'. And then I heard that your members released your prisoner from the Injuu alive when one of you could have easily just disposed of him. I thought that perhaps you stole an ability from him like you did Neon which is why you let him live."

He hummed at her deduction. She didn't bother watching him hide the Eyes away. It was one of the advantages of putting the 'you cannot lie to me' condition with Judgement Chain. They walked silently and as they turned to another corner, both perked up from a Nen disturbance and gave a glance to each other.

"We're being followed." He murmured softly.

"I know who it is."

He heard the message under her statement. "Okay. I'll see you in the car in half an hour."

She kept silent and watched the man as he walked into an open elevator, as soon as the double metal doors closed, she turned around. "Come out, Killua."

Her white haired friend appeared at the corner of the corridor. He was wearing the same dark blue turtleneck he had worn in the Hunter Exam, grey baggy pants tied with a black belt around his waist and dark blue Chinese flats. "Kurapika." He murmured and she felt something clench her heart a he said her name. He knew. He knew she was their Kurapika. But how?

"What gave me away?" she asked.

"Your 'story' didn't add up. You implied that you killed Kurapika and stole his identity. But then you said he is alive as long as you are. Had I not looked back to our conversation I would have missed it."

She sighed.

"You are usually better than that. That wasn't like you." He added.

"You're right." She agreed and sat on the bench lined at the wall. Killua joined her in a second. They enjoyed a few minutes of silence. Killua stretched his arms above his head before settling them behind his head.

"So this is your true form." He started awkwardly.

"Yeah."

"You sure have long hair."

"Yeah." She laughed quietly. "The reason why my tears turn," she paused as she pointed the gems on the ring he wore in his index finger. "like that is because I am the princess of my tribe. It's the same reason why I am the only survivor. They all sacrificed their lives just for me."

"If that's the case, why are you sacrificing your life for revenge. Wouldn't your clansmen want you to live peacefully?"

"They would want that, yeah but. . ." she trailed off as her white-haired friend narrowed his eyes.

"What were you doing in the company of Chrollo?" he asked and he could almost hear the gears in her head stop at his question.

"It's a long story, but basically, Nostrade discovered my true form and decided to sell me in an auction bound by anti-Nen choker. Chrollo bought me. In 'payment' I will assist his team for three years and we both have Judgment Chain in our hearts with conditions we chose for each other. If we break one of them, we will die." Kurapika sighed as she leaned back to the wall, closing her eyes as she did so.

"What are these conditions?" Killua asked as he pulled out two boxes of ChocoRobo-kun from his pocket and offered her one. She shook her head in refusal and he shrugged as he popped one box open. He would take one chocolate ball and throw it in the air before catching it with his mouth.

"He will not harm my friends, he will help me collect the Eyes and he will never lie to me." She hesitated to tell him of the conditions Chrollo asked of her.

"What were the conditions he set for you?" Killua asked when he realized her second-thoughts of informing him of Chrollo's side of the 'contract'.

"I can't kill myself, I can't kill any of his Spiders and. . ." she paused to look into Killua's eyes. "I will obey his every command."

Killua choked and almost dropped his ChocoRobo-kun box. "What?!"

"Killua, calm down." she hissed and looked around if someone was eavesdropping.

"How can I - That's stupid! He can easily take advantage of you!"

"I know, but he wont."

"How can you be so sure that he won't?"

"I just know."

Killua sighed at Kurapika's stubbornness.

"I killed many people in one night." Kurapika buried her face in her hands. "One command from him and I burned people alive. I'm a horrible person."

Killua sighed for the second time. He didn't know how to comfort his ex-male friend. "I've killed more people than you. I've killed more people in much worse manner. For money." He placed a hand on Kurapika's shoulder as he would usually do with Gon's. "I could have refused but I didn't. You, on the other hand would die if you didn't kill them. If I have to, I'd kill twice as much people you did that night if it means your life will be spared."

The determination in his eyes was blinding. He was dead serious.

"Thank you." She checked her watch. "I better be going." She said. Her thirty minutes was almost up. Killua removed his hand from her shoulder and tucked it in his pocket as he stood up.

"Promise me that you will not tell Gon about this. I fear that he might come after me if he knew." Her head was lowered in shame.

Killua didn't like seeing Kurapika like this. He also didn't like keeping something from Gon but he knew that it was the best course of action because knowing Gon, he will come after Kurapika to save her as soon as the words 'Kurapika is with the Spiders' sinks into his head. He slowly nodded. "Promise me you'll be safe."

She smiled at him. "I swear on my Scarlet Eyes that I will finish everything involving my clansmen's eyes and Spiders so that I can return to you guys."

Killua pouted. "You didn't have to swear it on your eyes."

"It's how Kurutanians give a promise." Kurapika wrapped her hand around his wrist and conjured a Nen-chain bracelet. "Normally, we cut a lock or our hair and braid it into a bracelet and give it to the person whom we gave a promise to, but I'm sure you wouldn't want that."

Killua lifted his wrist to his eye-level to study the bracelet. It was exactly the same chain she had for Emperor Time. It had no lock, so he had no way removing it unless he wanted to destroy the bracelet. Or he could dislocate his wrist like he did when he and Gon were caught by Machi's Nen-threads.

"As long as that chain is around your wrist, I am safe." She reached up to ruffle his unexpectedly soft white hair.

Killua pushed the offending hand away. He pouted as he blushed. "Stop that, it's embarrassing." He was about to say something else when he was interrupted by his cellphone. He checked his screen.

"Is it Gon?" Kurapika asked with hesitation.

"Yeah." Killua replied. He didn't miss the longing look in her eyes before she hid it with a smile.

"You better answer it." She said as she placed her hands on her knees.

"Gon, did you find him?" Killua asked in lieu of 'hello'. With this question, he didn't have to lie that he met Kurapika. All he had to do was never say anything about that topic.

"No, I didn't." Gon answered with a sigh. "I was hoping to see him watching the tournaments so that we don't have to go to his suite but I guess it can't be helped."

"That guy really gives me creeps." Killua complained as he turned his back to Kurapika. He didn't want to see her fake smile as he conversed with Gon. It would certainly give him away. "Anyway, where should we meet?"

"The cafe at the lobby, I think I saw Zushi and Wing-san."

"See you then." Killua hung up. As he pocketed his phone, he realized, he was alone in the corridor.

Chrollo drove safely on the road on their way to the abandoned buildings where the rest of the Ryodan were hanging out. Their leader could easily provide them with fine lodging but it was hard to break their habit. Kurapika fiddled a lock of hair that escaped her thick braid and welcomed the silence. When they arrived the hideout, he parked in an underground garage of an abandoned building before leading her into a half destroyed church.

"Shal," Chrollo called. "Come."

Shalnark jumped from the indoor balcony onto the floor before walking to the other side of their leader. The Spiderhead led them to his usual spot at the altar where all of the accessories were all destroyed. They took their seats on large rocks and once they were comfortable, Chrollo handed Shalnark a set of papers.

"We are stealing quietly tonight." he started.

"Define quietly." Kurapika demanded. She was sitting with one leg bent, her chin resting on her knee while her arms were loosely wrapped her leg.

"It means, if everything goes smoothly, no one will die." Chrollo answered.

At this Kurapika perked up. She liked the sound of it.

"It is more challenging than when we're allowed to kill." Shalnark added cheerfully. "It is the least style we use. Feitan hates it."

"Alfonso del Toro is throwing a party for his wife on Friday. We are infiltration their mansion as guests. I have met Alfonso in my business transactions and he sent me an invitation. I can only take a date and two bodyguards."

He paused as his members argued who was going to come. "Kurapika, obviously, you're coming as my date."

"Obviously." She muttered sarcastically.

Chrollo handed Kurapika a folder from where he sat. She raised an eyebrow at him before opening it to inspect the contents.

"Shal, you are coming because of the vault and you may choose who's the last one who will come with us."

"Roger." Shalnark saluted and along with his folder and envelope, he jumped down to talk with the others.

"What's this?" She asked as she flipped page after page.

"That will be your identity. I can't just bring you without expecting others to be curious of you. After all, I am a sought after bachelor."

She scoffed. "What will the Golden Kingdom say about this?"

"Oh, they owe me so they're fine with it."

She found it ironic that a kingdom had a debt to Chrollo. Maybe the kingdom was attacked and Chrollo had saved them from a beast. It was a possible explanation.

Her new identity was Princess Kiara Aurum, youngest daughter of King Jeremiah and Queen Marion of the Golden Kingdom. She's 20 years old, two years older that what she actually was and Charles Weinberg's (Chrollo's) fiancee. The folder had written script and made up story of how they met, what Chrollo's interests were and business associates list with names and pictures.

"I kept the new identity as close to yours as possible."

She pursed her lips. She knew he was right. With her long hair she would stand out and no doubt, will be questioned about it. If her cover was a princess, it's not so weird. Most princesses were forced to grow their hair long.

Their target was a middle aged man with twin daughters who were Kurapika's age. He was rich, no questions asked, and was popular for collecting horror paintings and/or ancient war items. That includes weapons as well. Chrollo's goals were another Benz weapon for himself and Scarlet Eyes for Kurapika. The man had two pairs, for each of his daughters. The rest of the crew have plans as well. While Machi did not need a solid weapon, she still wanted the shinobi weapons used long time ago,if there were any. Nobunaga wanted swords or katana and Kalluto would decide when they get back to the hideout.

Kurapika glared at the mirror as Kanae did her magic on her hair. She was sitting on a stool already in the gown Chrollo had his 'slaves' prepare. It was a corset backed white ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. The torso was embroidered with diamonds and the skirt flared from the hips. She was wearing high heels but only with three inches and her neck was adorned with the most expensive looking diamond necklace she had ever seen. And she had seen a lot. She was also wearing a pink diamond engagement ring for appearances sake.

Kanae told her to let her hair down and had curled her hair so it wouldn't trail on the ground. She refused to wear make-up but the maid was able to convince her to wear concealer for her birthmark and eyeliner to make her eyes pop. She had no need for mascara because her lashes were thick and long without its aid.

"You're ready." Kanae stated as she placed a white shawl over the blonde's shoulders and hooked it onto each elbow. Kurapika stood and looked at herself at the mirror. For a moment, she saw a five year old girl dressed in white robes, golden blonde hair brushed away from her pale face and held back with a gold headband revealing the butterfly tattoo that made her tribe worship her...

"Kurapika-sama?" Kanae called, concern laced in her voice.

In a blink of an eye, her childhood reflection was gone. And this time she saw a young adult-an avenger, a murderer, dressed in white clothing as if her hands wasn't tainted with blood. Her fringe casted a shadow over her eyes as she turned away from the mirror.

She walked a few steps to get used to the heels of her footwear. Then she did a kick, a jump and a few other moves to make sure her capability of defending herself won't be jeopardized with her clothing. She sighed in relief when she found that despite the layers of her skirt, she could still fight in it. Not that she really needed to move to fight her opponent. If they weren't Nen-Users, she only has to use her Dowsing Chain to knock them out.

Shalnark chose Phinks to accompany him in his 'bodyguard duty'. His first choice was Machi but she didn't like dressing in suits or any other clothing that wasn't kunoichi garments if she had any say about it. Next choice was Feitan, but he wouldn't go anywhere without Kalluto and vice-versa. If Shalnark wasn't assigned specifically, he'd gladly step back for the two assassins. Franklin was too large for low-profile, Kortopi was too small. Bonolenov refuses to remove the bandages on his face so he'd just look suspicious. Shizuku was too forgetful and Shalnark would rather not take the risk. Phinks was more subtle than Nobunaga so he was chosen. It wouldn't look good if Nobunaga shows hostility to his own employer's fiancee.

They were waiting at the foyer. Shalnark was beeping away on his phone while Chrollo sat comfortably on a chaise lounge,reading a book. Phinks and Nobunaga were causing a racket fighting over who should go to the party even though it was already decided. Machi was cross-stitching, awaiting for orders beside Shizuku who is reading a book. Feitan and Kalluto were both at the corner, reading a book written by Zeno Zoldyck entitled, To Restrain, To Torture and To Kill. Both of them looked so engrossed in it. The others were nowhere to be seen but are surely to appear as soon as their Danchou calls for them.

"Why does it have to be white?"

All heads turned to see who had spoken. It was Kurapika. She looked stunning and it took Nobunaga and Phinks a second before they continued fighting again.

"I did not choose the color." Chrollo answered as he turned a page of his book, not even bothering to spare a glance to the dressed-up girl. "I only asked for a dress suited for my fiancee. Perhaps they mistook our appointment today as our engagement party?" Finally, he looked up to her face. If he was surprised at her transformation, he did not show it.

She glared at him. She knew he wasn't lying, or else Judgment Chain would have pierced his heart. But did he have to look so smug? He knew anyone will assume its for an engagement party if he mentioned 'fiancee'. She wanted nothing at this moment except punch his face. She was about to step forward when she felt a light weight over her head.

Phinks and Nobunaga's 'battle' if you could call it that, had caused the nearest curtain to fall when the samurai had grabbed on it to avoid falling. The white transparent cloth fell on Kurapika's head like a veil.

Chrollo could still see her golden hair clearly but the cloth made her face look blurry to him. For a moment, he saw a small child with the same hair and clothing, looking up at him. His eyes narrowed as he felt a headache. He raised a hand to massage his temples.

'Kuro-san!'

"Danchou? Something wrong?" Machi asked.

And just like that, the child in white had disappeared, along with her voice that he bet was a beautiful as a song of a phoenix.

"No." Chrollo answered as he dropped his hand and shoved it in his pocket. "It's nothing." he added as a verbal battle started between Kurapika, Nobunaga and Phinks.

It wasn't pretty.

As soon as they entered the party hall, people swarmed around them like bees to honey. Especially because the unattainable bachelor had a date. He had never taken anyone as date in any of his parties before. As soon as they had exchanged greetings, some of them dispersed to give them space and perhaps to gossip about them to the other guests that did not dare approach them.

Two brunette young women walked towards the engaged couple and Chrollo pressed a hand on her lower back to shift her position to face the brunettes. Kurapika bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from screaming her head off at the offending hand on her vulnerable back.

"Hello, señoritas." Chrollo greeted pleasantly. "How are you?"

"We're doing fine, Señor Weinberg." the short-haired one said.

"How about you?"

"Excellent. May I introduce you to my novia, Kiara Aurum."

"She is a princesa!" Both gasped. Everyone knew of the surname 'Aurum'. It was the official family name of the royalties from the Gold Kingdom. 'Au' being the keyword.

"She is lovely!" Miss short hair said.

"She has such long hair!" the other added.

'She is right here.' Kurapika was tempted to remark, her left eye twitching.

"Sweetie, this is Ofelia," Chrollo gestured to the short haired teen wearing a shimmering mermaid style purple dress. She was wearing a headband adorned with amethysts and her brown eyes were outlined with kohl. "and this is her twin sister, Maria." The other girl had longer hair. While Ofelia had a pixie cut, Maria's hair reached her elbows and only wore a jeweled hair pin. She was wearing an A-Line pale pink gown.

"Pleased to meet you." Kurapika lied as shook hands with the two.

"Likewise." Ofelia replied. "So, how does it feel to snatch World's Most Admirable Soltero (Bachelor)?" She dragged the 'o' sound dramatically.

"Ofelia!" Maria chastised and Chrollo only chuckled.

"How did you two meet?" Ofelia askedd, elbowing her sister away.

Kurapika pretended not to see that and started her 'it was so romantic I'm gonna vomit sugar' tale. Princess Kiara was attacked by thugs and ruffians in the forest after having tea with the princess of the nearest tribe from their kingdom. The thugs was about to kill her and Charles came to save the day!

"It was love at first sight."Kurapika officially wanted to vomit. Kurapika stood on her tippy toes so she could lean into Chrollo's ear. "So unrealistic and very, very cliché." s

"Rich people dig drama." Chrollo replied as if it was so obvious.

Maria and Ofelia del Toro were worse than Neon Nostrade, and that's saying something. They had started bragging about treasures that their father had acquired for them followed by an argument of which one of them had more suitors then another argument in which one of them was more talented. Of course, Chrollo and Kurapika laughed and nodded along politely in correct timings as if the twins were the most interesting people they had ever met when in fact the two Nen-users would rather prefer to read a book no one ever wanted to open rather than listen to the two bicker. Their bickering was only interesting because it was hidden in subtle sarcasm and 'sisterly love'.

"Wow, your engagement ring is goh-orgeous!"

They grabbed her hand to see the ring better. The ring had a circular blue diamond at the center with pink diamonds on either side and the platinum band was twisted in vines, leaves and flowers studded with smaller clear diamonds. If the circumstances were different, Kurapika would've thought of the ring as 'perfect'.

"Thank you."

"I just have to greet a friend." Chrollo said. "If you could excuse us?"

"You know what, you can leave Princesa Kiara with us, we'll take care of her." Ofelia said.

"Please, just Kiara is fine. There is no need to be so formal." Kurapika smiled at them pleasantly but Chrollo knew it was fake. In fact, it was so fake that the twins were idiots to fall for it.

Chrollo bent towards her ear. "Five minutes." he murmured. The blackout will occur in five minutes, was what he meant. His minty breath that brushed into her ear caused goosebumps all over her body and she unconsciously tightened her shawl around her. To others, it looked like he was just giving an affectionate kiss on the cheek to his beloved fiancee, so the twins sighed dreamily. The twins waited for Chrollo to disappear in the crowd of well-dressed people before squealing in delight.

"Oh dios mio!" the two chorused before looking at her ring again. "You are so lucky to have Mr. Weinberg."

"Yeah. So lucky." In her mind, Kurapika was rolling her eyes. Behind her was Phinks, completely engrossed in acting like a real bodyguard.

"Rosa diamantes (pink diamonds) are very rare." Maria muttered thoughtfully.

"He has been single for so many years that other heiresses gave up trying to snag him."

"Oh really?" Kurapika wanted to laugh at the image of women attacking Chrollo with flirtations and suggestive winks. It was kind of funny. How many times had Chrollo resist to kill women in parties like these? "Charles never told me anything about that."

"Oh come on, do not be jealous Kiara. I'm sure you are the only one in his heart."

Yeah. My Judgment Chain is the only one wrapped around his heart.

"Oh yeah, have you heard about Neon?" Ofelia's voice lowered into a whisper.

"No." Kurapika lied. Inwardly cringing because this is the first night she had lied so many times in a row. "Who is she?"

"She is Mr. Nostrade's daughter." Maria answered in a low voice. "She is really good at writing poetry. The Ten Dons are her fans."

"She must be amazing." Kurapika wanted to vomit at her own statement. That girl was a spoiled brat, but she didn't deserve the manipulations of her father. Though her collection was just creepy. "What happened to her?"

"She was killed in her bedroom." Ofelia said and Kurapika had to lean closer to hear what she was saying. Not that she needed to. She knew what happened to Neon. Hell, she was the one who killed Neon.

"Yeah." Maria piped in. "She was burned alive I believe. It was a closed casket. Mr. Nostrade couldn't even attend this party because he is still grieving."

'Oh I'm sure he is grieving alright. Probably because of losing money rather than his daughter. The man was corrupt."

"That is terrible." She placed a hand over her heart as if to calm her not-really-scared heart.

"It has been a long time, Calvin!"

She heard a familiar voice behind her. She shifted slightly to see and there was a young man with his back facing her that possessed blue hair dressed in a dark suit with blue tie that matched his hair.

"Who is that?" She asked the twins. Chrollo had given her another folder with a potential guest list earlier, complete with pictures that she had memorized but the blue-haired young man was not there.

Ofelia squealed as quietly as she could. The conversation about the Nostrade daughter forgotten. "Let us introduce you to him." She grabbed Kurapika's left arm while her twin grabbed the other and started dragging her to the new guy's direction as fast and as elegantly as they could in a gown and heels. Phinks was just following quietly. Damn the man was a good actor.

Kurapika looked back to see Chrollo with his so-called friends at the other end of the hall. She glared at him at the predicament he had thrown her in. The dark haired bastard just raised his champagne flute with a smirk.

That jerk.

"Nathan!" Maria called.

The young man faced them and she caught her breath. Her eyes burned scarlet beneath her dark contact lenses as her emotions went haywire. That face, those eyes. Ofelia and Maria gave him a kiss on each cheek unaware of Kurapika's tenseness. The blonde could sense Phinks behind her tense as well. She didn't know why though.

"Kiara, this is Nathan Nostrade."

Author's Note

I'm back! First of all, I'd like to apologize to you guys for going on hiatus without warning. I don't have a valid excuse. My life was filled with drama for the past three years. (That is no reason to leave you guys hanging, I know and I really do apologize.) I have a restriction order on my foster parents, my biological parents are not in the same continent as me, I have four half siblings on another country, I actually have a grandniece because my oldest half-brother is now a grandfather. I am a godmother and I am still on my teens...huh, it sounds really overwhelming when I type it into words. (It didn't sound this heavy in my head.)

Anyways, I'm sure you have noticed the 'crystallizing tears' familiar. I will say it now. My version of FemKurapika, the Burning Princess of the Kuruta tribe is inspired by Yukina the Ice Maiden of Yu Yu Hakusho (her tears turn into white gems), young Princess Cheonmyeong of Queen Seon Deok (costume only though), Amaya of the Filipino epic series Amaya (where the idea of 'burning princesses are sacred' came from and in this drama the princess is not allowed to step on the ground and her skin has never been touched by the sun), Shana the Flame Haze in Shakugan no Shana (will be explained why on later chapters), Victorique de Blois of Gosick (her hair), C.C. of Code Geass (for the red forehead mark) and Empress Tianzi of Code Geass (will be explained why on later chapters as well). I know that that is a lot of characters but hey, I like how Princess Kurapika turned out and hope that you do too.

Some of you may be disappointed that Killua found out, since I started this fanfic by Kurapika making an effort for them to hate her, but I think Killua is just that smart to figure it out. Whenever I think of out beloved ex-assassin, I always remember the scene in Greed Island Arc when he deducted that Hisoka had met the Ryodan members in the game because Hisoka had slipped that he was 'bored'.

I also have nothing against Spanish people. This chapter is implying that two girls are really spoiled. Not because of their nationality, it's just the way they were brought up by their parents. A Spanish friend of mine had to transfer school and I miss her presence very much that Spanish words just entered the chapter and I just went with the flow. Though I was only assisted by Google.

If you have trouble picturing young Princess Kurapika in the flashbacks, just go to my profile and you'll see my avatar of the young Princess Cheonmyeong. Just picture her clothing in white and imagine that a child is wearing it.

Thank you for reading my story and I really apologize about the sudden hiatus and late update. I hope you guys like it.