The x Other x Kurta

II. Breakfast Meeting

• Akari •

That face. It enraged her so much. Why was he laughing at her? Why was he enjoying her suffering? What was he planning next? She was already defenseless, much to young to do anything to counter the strength of any adult. Wait a second - why was he pulling out a knife? Why is it being pointed at her? It was getting really hard to focus or breathe. The anticipation was too much.

The knife was pointed at a part of her neck right above the aorta. She could feel blood trickling down her neck. How could she get out of this?

"No!! No!! Leave me alone!!" Akari woke up to her own screaming. She was breathing heavily and could feel a splitting headache. She was drenched in sweat. What concerned her most was that she hadn't had this kind of nightmare in a while. What could have triggered her unconscious mind to create such a brutal dream?

Akari looked at her alarm clock. 4:13, it read.

She decided to get out of bed since she was not expecting to be able to fall back asleep, at least not now. Maybe she'd take a nap after her meeting with Kurapika.

• Kurapika •

Kurapika spotted Akari as soon as she stepped inside the cafe. She looked exceptionally drained as she looked around. The bubbly girl of yesterday was replaced with the frazzled girl of today. Kurapika wondered what had happened between last night and this morning.

He decided against asking too many questions, instead offering to pay for her breakfast. They quickly ordered some food, settled down into a booth, and dove right into the topic.

"I hope it's okay for me to just jump in with questions." He waited for a reaction.

Akari nodded.

"So, tell me about your role as a Crime Hunter. Like, who or what are you hunting?" Kurapika inquired.

"Well, originally, my main focus was to investigate the Zoldyck family and any assassinations potentially related to them. However, I met one of the Zoldyck kids, and he convinced me to drop my investigation into his family."

"Was it Killua?" Kurapika asked.

Akari's eyes widened at the mention of the familiar name. "Yes! Do you know him?"

Kurapika nodded then took a sip of his tea. "I met him during my Hunter exam."

"Same! Though, he did knock me out in the first phase. I came across him shortly after, and he apologized." Akari giggled. "He was happy to learn I had no hard feelings."

"Mmm, sounds like Killua," Kurapika smiled. "So, what did he say to convince you to drop your investigation?"

Akari explained that Killua had an older brother, Illumi, who was obsessed with him to the point of constantly watching over him. Since Akari had crossed paths with Killua, and seemed to have a good relationship with him, it was likely that Illumi would also be keeping Akari on his radar, at least until she was no longer associated with Killua.

"I see. Basically, it was for your own safety," Kurapika concluded.

"Right," Akari confirmed. "After taking the Hunter exam, I switched my focus to the Phantom Troupe."

Kurapika stiffened at the mention of that name. "The Spiders, huh? What do you know about them?"

"A lot, actually. Did you want to know something specific?"

• Akari •

Akari noticed Kurapika's change in body language once she mentioned the Phantom Troupe. She wondered what made him feel this way all of a sudden.