A Genius Thrown to the Wolves

Reaching Town Ch. 2

As soon as he bit down on the rope his taste buds practically exploded. He almost felt overwhelmed by the amount of information he was receiving. Through the taste of the nen he was able to process and learn what it was that Hisoka was doing and how to do it himself. The problem now was, how was he going to get out of this mess?

He was now right in front of Hisoka.  He had no way of stopping the nen that had already attached itself to him, but maybe he could coat his finger in the stuff like Hisoka did finally be able to pry the material apart. When he had successfully coated his fingers he began to pry at the rope like substance. "That won't work anymore then it did the first time." Hisoka said, slightly annoyed, but highly amused. When the boy payed no attention to him, he became curious, then realized something very important that the boy's behavior had been distracting him from. The boy could see nen! He clearly could since he wouldn't be picking at it like that if he could. Then a second thought hit him. If he could see nen, then he could use it right? Hisoka activated gyo and saw a thin layer of nen surrounding Kiyotaka's pointer finger and thumb. He let out a quiet chuckle, catching the attention of the boy in front of him. "I didn't expect someone so young to know nen, especially not someone whom I caught falling through the trees like that!" He continued to chuckle. "Young? You don't look old enough to be calling me young." Kiyotaka said, his monotone voice cutting through Hisoka's chuckling. "Kid, I'm 21." "And I'm 19." Kiyotaka said almost sounding offended. "19?!" "Uh, yeah. Why?" "Well, pardon me, but you're just so short!" Hisoka said, shaking his hand over Kiyotaka's head, resuming his laughing, but immediately stopped when he felt his nen go slack. He opened his eyes to see Kiyotaka sitting in a tree limb several feet above him. He'd expected the boy to run away, but he stayed and observed. "Since you stayed, I'm guessing there's something you want, hmm~?" He watched Kiyotaka, it was clear the boy was trying to figure out if he should ask for help. Kiyotaka immediately thought about his next move, 'This man is clearly shady, strong, and certainly not dumb but I have know idea where the next town is. If he goes with me I can subtly get more information on this place, but if he just points me in the right direction, I can finally be rid of him. As curious as he is, he's exhausting. Not to mention he already had intentions of keeping me with him so I doubt he'll leave me alone without a fight. I guess I too am a little curious as to how this will all play out.'

Finally Kiyotaka's mouth opened, "I have no idea where I am or where the nearest city is. If you would point me in the right direction th-" "No no no, what kind of person would I be if I did that? I'll walk with you to town." "I wouldn't want to burden you." Kiyotaka said beginning to glare slightly. "Nonsense, I'm going there anyway. It's no trouble at all." He wore a grin that clearly said he wasn't going to back down, and Kiyotaka really just wanted to get to town and be able to do his own thing. He sighed, "Fine, lead the way." Hisoka's grin turned into a content smile, and without another work he turned and walked down the path.

'Liar' Kiyotaka thought. This  was the way he knew Hisoka was coming from, what reason did this man have for going out of his way like this? 'I know he has an ulterior motive. I just don't know what it is yet. Guess I'll find out.' With that Kiyotaka began to follow him. He made sure to keep his difference.

"So~" Hisoka began, "does the kitten have a name?" He'd turned slightly in order to see Kiyotaka's expression. He'd seen the boy's eyebrows furrow very minutely, but quickly disappear. Even though it was small, the reaction satisfied the clown to a degree, but he was still waiting on the boy's answer. It had taken a him a minute to get one, but finally the boy spoke, "It's rude to ask for someone's name without giving your own first." Hisoka grinned at his response, "You're right! How very rude of me, my name is Hisoka! Now you kitten." Kiyotaka's face did't change much, but again his eyebrows furrowed slightly upon hearing Hisoka call him kitten. "Kiyotaka." he said after waiting a moment or two. "Kiyotaka hm~? Well, I think it's much to long for my liking ... I'll call you Kyo instead." "Wh-" Kiyotaka, who was about to ask a question, was cut off when he realized Hisoka wasn't listening to him, but instead look curiously at the top of his head. More specifically, he was looking at his ears. Kiyotaka didn't like the look in Hisoka's eyes. He had his eyes trained on Hisoka's face as to not miss any indication the man showed of attempting anything.

Hisoka felt Kyo's eyes on him, and move his own to meet them. After a second of observing the Kyo's eyes, he turned back around and continued to lead the way, periodically glancing back to look at him. The boy truly was intriguing  to say the least. Kyo had little to no expression at all, and as mesmerizing as his eyes were, it was due to their unique color, well more like colors. They were a combination of a purple with what looked to be a little bit of dark pink mixed in, and gold. He'd never seen eyes that were even just one of those color, much less both of them in one eye. It was also confusing because while the color itself was bright, his eyes held nothing of the sort. He didn't seem bright or happy. He didn't seem anything.  Another thing that caught his interest was Kyo's size. He was 19 but only 5'5. That in itself wasn't too much of a problem, but while the boy was lean and had muscle on him, he was far to thin and light, not that he particularly cared, but he was curious. Once he'd led them to town though, he'd have to make getting the boy some new clothes a top priority. He didn't know what the boy had planned on doing if he himself had just pointed him in the right direction. Kyo's clothes didn't leave all that much to the imagination and he held nothing in his hands, which meant he had no money. Hisoka sighed 'what am I to do with him? I want to keep him though. I want to pet his ears! They look soft and fluffy, and I wonder if they're truly real? I would be able to find out if I could touch them. I hope they're real, he acted real catlike when he was sniffing my hand. He looked surprised by it himself though which is odd... whatever! I'll see what I can do once I get him settle in!'

They walked for about another hour before the trees finally started to clear, and a town made it's way into view. "Here you are!" Hisoka said, "The closest city!" He turned around to look at Kiyotaka, who bowed slightly. "Thank you for the escort, I'll get going now." As he went to step around Hisoka, he found he did without any trouble. He was a bit hopeful this was the last time he'd have to see the clown that had caught him earlier. Of course though, luck wasn't on his side, he could both smell and hear Hisoka following close behind him. In response he stopped and turned around, "Do you need something from me now?" he asked, feeling like he already knew this wasn't going to end well. "I think it's you who will still need something from me." "I don't ne-" Hisoka cut him off "You have no money, you don't know your way around the city, and I'm not to sure how long those clothes are going to stay on you." "I can handle all those thing by myself." "But what kind of person would I be if I didn't stay to help a cute little stray such as yourself?"