Feitan x Reader; Tangled in a Web of Spiders

You Have a Thing for Spiders

'Ants?' you asked, putting your fork down and staring in surprise at Kalluto. 'They've gone off to fight ants?'

'Yes. Both he and Gon. I don't think it's normal ants though,' Kalluto answered. 'Killua wasn't very specific, but I got the impression that the Hunter Association is involved, so the threat must be significant.'

'Interesting. I wonder how those two got involved, or never mind. Your brother and his friend seem to have a real talent for stumbling into all kinds of trouble.'

'That's true. Mother and father are not amused. It's lucky for Killua that he is father's favorite, or he would be punished.'

His face didn't change, and neither did his voice, still you got the feeling that there was a deep sadness behind his words. Growing up as a Zoldyck can't have been easy, especially as the youngest of the bunch. You suddenly felt surprisingly grateful that he was now part of this mismatched "family" instead. The Phantom Troupe might be bandits and cold-blooded murderers, but they did seem to care about each other. That much was clear, even after this short time you had been around them.

'Is Illumi going as well? He is a Hunter too, isn't he?' You shuddered a bit at the thought of the third Zoldyck brother, though you'd only met him briefly he seemed vastly different from his charming younger siblings.

'No,' Kalluto shook his head, 'Ani is busy with missions for the family. With both me and Killua gone, there's more work for him.'

'Well, we're happy to have you here with us,' Machi told him, looking up from her plate. It seemed she had picked up on the same feeling as you had, and he smiled a bit hesitantly.

'I agree,' you said, smiling at him as well. 'You know, Shalnark's a Hunter too isn't he? Maybe he can tell us more about those ants.'

'Who cares?' Machi said indifferently, 'If they come here, we'll kill them. Otherwise they're not our problem.'

'Just thought they might fetch a price on the black market. Strange body parts or mutated creatures seem fairly popular in some circles.'

'True,' she said after giving it some thought, 'but, I'll let the Boss think about that.' Her face darkened when she spoke about Chrollo, and you got a hint of just how worried she was about him. Not that she'd ever admit to such a thing.

It had been some time now since the chain-user had managed to seal him off from his nen as well as his Troupe, still most of the spiders seemed to believe that issue would be resolved soon, and he would be back with them shortly. A month or two Phinks had said. You assumed that meant that they had found the nen exorcist, and were waiting for him to work his magic.

A small movement caught your attention and you looked down to see a rather large spider struggling to make its way across the table, pausing to hide under the edge of one of the plates. You smiled and pushed the plate a bit to the side, and when the small creature started moving again it became obvious why it walked so strangely. The two front legs on one side were missing, making it oddly loop-sided. It must have happened some time ago since you could see small taps of new legs having formed at its last molting.

Now it had the attention of Kalluto and Machi as well, and they watched in silence as you coaxed the spider up on your hand. 'X-ray enlarge,' you whispered as you curiously studied it. You had never attempted to heal anything so small, or so different from a human body before, but it was surprisingly easy and soon the small creature was running effortlessly up your arm. It was large enough to tickle as its legs moved on your skin, and you giggled.

'That was kind of you,' Machi said as she followed it with her eyes, 'most people would just have squashed it. Or at best, just ignored it.'

'Well, I have never intentionally killed anything except mosquitoes in my life, so for sure I wasn't going to start with this little guy. Might as well help him out. Besides I need some practice.'