Kurapika and Shuri walked Doli City in silence, neither wanting to confront each other. About what they ought to do now, about what had happened. They just walked, toward the lights. Under the veil of night, the street came alive. Colorful lanterns hung overhead, casting a warm glow on the bustling scene below. A symphony of scents wafted through the air as food stalls beckoned with tantalizing aromas, offering a fusion of flavors. What is this place? thought Kurapika, enchanted. A street fair? Revelers from around the world, adorned in an assortment of attire, embraced the festivities as they participated in games and shared laughter under the now cloudless, starlit sky. Shuri's eyes were set alight under the gleam of the lanterns.
"This reminds me of that Kurta festival. You know, that end-of-summer thing?", she said.
The comment set Kurapika into a bittersweet mood. I was thinking the same thing, actually. "Does it... make you sad?", he asked. She gave him a puzzled look. "You know, because of what happened right after".
"A little bit. But... I always look back at it with a certain fondness. It's... a cherished memory".
Kurapika said nothing. A group of children ran past them, laughing, pinwheels in their hands. "I wish I had approached you sooner, gotten to know you better. You know, back then. Pairo was always very curious about you. I think he might have had a bit of a crush, actually".
"Really?", exclaimed Shuri, laughing. Kurapika nodded. "And my mom... she was always nagging me, pushing me to become friends with you. I think she thought you looked kind of lonely".
She appeared pensive. "So why didn't you?"
He thought about it. "I guess I was kind of scared". He paused. "I've always had this clear idea of how the world outside the village was. This one time, my mom had yours over for tea, and I overheard her speak about the kind of life you had before. It didn't fit into my preconceptions of it, so I wanted to stay away".
"What about my mother... Reira? How was she... afterwards?" Kurapika could tell she had been holding this question for a very long time.
He hesitated. "Well, she had a good support system. My mom was a childhood friend of hers, and..."
"You're beating around the bush".
Kurapika sighed. "I think she never forgave herself. She seemed very unhappy for a while, and retreated, isolated herself. Eventually, she came back into the daily life of the village but... well, she never seemed quite right. She had a haunted look about her".
He watched her. She seemed quiet, aloof. Abruptly, she animated. "Hey, you got any money on you?"
Huh? Kurapika bristled. "Well, I've got my Hunter License..."
"I just want to get something to eat, is all. I'll pay you back, promise".
Unbelievable. What a shameless girl... "Don't worry about it. What do you want?", he asked her. She inspected the stalls, looking through their equipment and sniffing around. She narrowed her eyes at the menu and then looked at him with the most helpless of expressions.
"Can you help me out here? I can't read".
Kurapika was astounded. He helped her order some skewer dish, which she happily gobbled. "You really can't read? Have you never gone to school?", he asked her.
"Nope. Pretty much the only schooling I've ever gotten is Beheading 101, Introduction to Treachery and... Advanced Concussions. You get the gist."
It's shocking to hear that some individuals are illiterate in this day and age, to say the least... Just what kind of life have you led, Shuri?
YOU ARE READING
The Reason We Fight
Fanfiction[A Hunter x Hunter Story] Fleeing her life as the associate to a self-serving con artist, brazen, hot-tempered Kakume Reznikov becomes entangled with the Red Hands terrorist group in an attempt to give her life meaning. Her targets? The Kakin Empire...
