Remember My Name

Year of Silence

"Chrollo!?!" You didn't mean to, but you nearly bellowed his name across the room, confusing everyone. You started sprinting towards Chrollo without thinking, leaving no one in the room time to respond. You extended your arms and smashed your body into his, nearly knocking him over. You wrapped your arms securely around his body instantly. Feitan started advancing toward you, ready to attack you after what you had just done, but Chrollo raised his hand to prevent anyone from approaching you. Everyone in the room was still bewildered, how could you possible know their boss?

You let go of him and took a step back after what seemed like an eternity. "Fuck, I'm sorry!" You said, finally breaking the silence, looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to act so dramatic; I just hadn't expected to see you again! I had no idea you were the Phantom Troupe's leader!" You tossed your head back, laughing as if what had just happened was the most hilarious thing you'd ever witnessed, but in reality you were just trying to relieve the tension.

Everyone in the room was still staring at you with shock, except for Chrollo. He knew exactly who you were.

You two met in Meteor City when you were eight years old, and he was eleven. Your mother abandoned you in this hidden city after losing your father, with no intention of ever seeing you again. During the time you resided in this city, Paristons whereabouts remained unknown; he never came to find you, although knowing you were there. Pariston finally had personnel come grab you from the city at the age of sixteen, sending you off to a specific training program run by the NGL Association, one he had gone through himself. You had always loathed the organization because your father did, but your mother was devoted to serving them, and she had influenced Pariston to feel the same way. As a result, there was no choice but to complete the program's four years of torture. That's correct, four long years.

Your major goal now was to save Pariston from the ongoing war the organization was waging, which would be a difficult undertaking given how secretive Pariston was towards you and in general.

Regardless, during your time in Meteor City, you and Chrollo became close and became extremely reliant on one another. You knew him better than anyone else did. You were the one person who made him feel like he belonged someplace, even in a city where no one does. You never left one other's side until you were forcibly removed from the city, never seeing each other again until this moment. You were only kids, but that didn't take away from how important it was. In your view, this is purely coincidental, but Chrollo sees it as fate.

"I never expected to see you again either, y/n." Looking into his eyes, you could see he'd changed since the last time you two had met. They appeared vacant, and his entire manner was lifeless, as if he didn't care about anything. He was a little more anxious than usual, having just lost Shalnark and Kortopi a few days before, but you had no idea.

You took a step forward and side smiled him, laying your right hand on his shoulder; you weren't sure what had transpired since you left, but you knew it had to be a lot. You had also gone through a lot, you could understand it.

"I'm not going to take no for an answer; this job is mine. I just need to go collect a few items from my apartment and I'll be right back; try not to kill yourself in five minutes!" You said, and then were gone before anyone could say anything else.

Nobody in the room comprehended what had just happened because they couldn't detect any aura emanating from you the instant you stepped through the door, which was extremely strange. Was teleportation one of her nen abilities? But wouldn't someone have picked up on it? Was she really exceptionally good at looking after Zetsu?

They all had these thoughts, but they were more intrigued by how you knew Chrollo.

With you abruptly gone, Phinks started babbling about how he had no idea you two used to know each other. Even though Illumi had just joined them, he said that his entire strategy was to hire someone as a hidden distraction that their enemy would kill while they had time to devise a perfect plan.