Midnight Resolve [Kurapika x Kurta!Reader]

[6] Steel Reality

From the moment you were aware that this was just the usual nightmare that looped over and over again in your brain like a broken record, something inside the dream had changed. You had been running through the woods, the Kurta compound familiar around you. Unlike your usual nightmares, though, it was empty. No dead bodies. No wailing, no blood and organs scattered over the ground.

No, this wasn't a dream. It couldn't be.

The buildings were older, reminiscent of your most recent visit. Abandoned and crumbling, nature taking back its land as grass grew over the path, ivy crawled up the gates and threatened to consume every house it touched. It was a ghost town in every sense of the word.

But you weren't alone. No matter where you turned, despite seeing nobody, you felt eyes on you. Felt eyes through you. Everything was still, as if the world was stuck in time. The usual chitter-chatter of forest creatures was gone, the breeze nonexistent. You could move, but everything else around you seemed to be at a permanent stop.

You slowed to a walk, gazing at yourself in the dusty and cracked reflection of a house window. You were... you. 18 years old, your baby fat gone. You were the you now, the you your family would never get to see.

Why were you here? Where was everybody?

"Bisky? Hanzo?"

Nobody answered you.

Thinning your lips, you felt your feet carry you to your old house as if they had a mind of their own. The door had magically been repaired, the only house that looked untouched from time, that looked just like it used to in your childhood.

In trepidation, you opened the door to be met with...

"[Y/n]!"

A person came at you, immediately enveloping you into a hug. You stumbled back in surprise and looked down at the mop of brown hair. You wanted to ask what was going on, but you didn't seem to have control of your tongue, either, as you spoke without your own permission.

"Hey, Pairo! Is my mom almost done with dinner?"

The smell of something warm and spicy hit your nostrils hard, stomach grumbling instantly. Pairo peeled away and grinned, his eyes somewhat dulled from his lack of working eye sight. From the kitchen, you heard a bright laugh, sounding like wind chimes in the spring. Your heart leapt as a warm face peeked around the corner. Her face was smooth, [e/c] eyes twinkling in joy. Her [h/c] hair had been messily pulled back into a bun, and the only signs of aging were the few silvery strands that highlighted her hair. Without hesitation, you bolted forwards, wrapping your arms around the woman.

"Mom!"

The woman caught you, chuckling gently as a hand came up to run fingers through your hair. You hadn't realized you had been weeping until she gently shushed you.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm fine now. You're home."

Words that you longed to hear.

Dinner had been done quickly, a spicy chicken curry that you had been obsessed with when you were a child. Your father was out tending the crops late, and so at the dinner table sat you, your younger sister, your mother, your grandma, and — of course — Pairo. They were currently laughing as you told them about Gon and Killua and how the two seemed to exist on an entirely different, more carefree plain.

"You'd probably really get along with them, Pairo! Gon is such a sweethear, and Killua is rough around the edges, but he means well!"

Pairo smiled wistfully. "I wish I could meet them."