Curiosity Killed The Cat [HxH Fanfic]

Chapter 16: Fans? Yes!

[Ace's POV]

Currently, I'm facing a 2 meter tall man who was probably in his forties. As expected, majority of the crowd already voted for my opponent as the winner, due to my weak, childish appearance and the minority...I think they either pitied me, or they want the "underdogs" to win. Well, I think it's the other way around in my case, since, after all, looks are deceiving.

All I could hear right now are the cheers thrown my way as I walked onto the ring. Most, though, came from the female population.

"KYAAA!!! GO ACE-KUN!"

"DON'T BE DISCOURAGED! YOU'RE AWESOME!"

It felt really nice and warm inside but it did strike me as odd...and the sad thing is I didn't exactly know why.

I defeated my opponent quickly with a kick in the shin, and made him fall out of the ring. I eyed him with bored look on my face--a knockout.

"AS EXPECTED, HE WON!"

"KYAAAAA HE'S SO COOL!!!"

I looked over to the crowd with a arrogant grin and waved at my new "fans", enjoying the glory.

My eyes landed on a girl in the middle, watching me with big sparkling eyes. It doen't seem like it, but there was definitely something different with her. She noticed me looking back and stared back at me. I felt a shiver run down my spine so I immediately broke eye contact.

My win was announced, and I quickly turned to the exit, wanting to get out as soon as possible, until...

"ZUSHI!"

It was faint, but it came from the floor Killua and Zushi was having a match on. It sounded like his dojo master. Speaking of which, we met him right before this match, he was an strange bispectacled man, who had a habit of forgetting to tuck in his polo. His name was Wing.

My hearing capabilities suddenly turned sharper than before, so I wasn't all that used to it. It was quite painful hearing the noise around the area. But it could also prove useful in the future, just like in a situation such as this. I could tell Killua is having a hard time winning from Zushi. The audience and the commentator were still spouting out nonsense.

I exited, and I was attacked by a swarm of people praising me. Even if I enjoyed it, I thanked them and left, since I don't want to see the girl from before. I didn't claim the prize money, instead I told them I'll let it accumulate before I get it.

I met up with Gon along the way, who seemed like he was bored out of his mind. I can't blame him though, since I'm in the same boat as him. Gosh, why can't Killua beat Zushi already!!! No offence Zushi, but I want to move on to the next level.

"So Gon," I began,"What do you want to do?"

"Hmm..." he thought,"Let's play 20 questions!" That was random, but it'll keep me for a while.

"Sure. You go first."

"Can you tell me why you have a guy's name when you're a girl?"

"I mean, it would be less confusing if you had a more girly name." He quickly added.

I whistled,"You're as curious as you are cute."

He sweatdropped.

"I got this name when I was about two? I can't really remember that much details..." I said while in thought, "Anyways, Queen-nee gave it to me while she was playing solitaire. I think she was holding an ace of hearts that time. She named herself Queen too." If I remember correctly, it was the queen of spades.

"That's cool!" Gon beamed, his eyes sparkling in awe. "I would have never thought of that!"

"I don't really see how though." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Oh! Is that why you asked for the card Hisoka threw at you during the first phase of the exam?" He pointed out. Woah he saw that? This kid's more perceptive that I thought.

"Ah-a-a-a~ It's my turn," I said in a teasing manner while raising my index finger and he pouted.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope! But I do have a loving grandmother and aunt!" And there's Ging.

"Lucky! I want to meet them some time!" I beamed.

He nodded his head, "Of course, maybe after I beat Hisoka!"

"Eh???? That's too long a time..."

"That's mean!" He sulked.

---------------

"You know what, I can't take it anymore."

"Eh? Ace, what's wrong?"

"Killua's taking so long!"

"But it hasn't been 10 minutes yet!"

"No! I have to go!"

I stood up quickly and swiftly yet carefully went to the nearest person I could. As I approached the guy, I felt that he was somewhat familiar, so I instinctively put on an innocent child facade to avoid being recognized. I tugged on the man's shirt and asked as I tilted my hand in a cute way, "Can you please direct me to the nearest restroom??"

The said man looked down and his eyes sparkled in interest as they laid on me."Why is a kid like you here?"

He kinda looks familiar... where could I have seen him before?

"Uhm....Kindly answer my question."

He chuckled softly and pointed to his right,"Go straight along this hallway."

"Thank you, mister!" I said, waving, but not looking back as I ran to the comfort room.

I wasn't sure if I heard it correctly but I felt the same shiver when I saw the girl.

"It's no problem, 343-kun."

-----------------------

When I came back, Killua was already there.

I caught them talking about this thing called Ren, but er, I didn't really understand. Just as he notices me, Killua closed his mouth and stopped talking about it, then told me that we'll aim for the top of the tower.

As we won more and more fights, we eventually reached the 100th floor. I didn't see the girl and the guy from before anymore, which is a good thing since they creep me out. We even got rooms of our own, releasing us from our troubles of paying rents. (though I didn't really have any trouble with it, I'm filthy rich, mind you)

"I've never seen so much zeroes before!" Gon exclaimed, as he looked at his checkbook. I peeked from behind him and commented, "Hey, that's about the amount I had when I started!"

Both males looked at me, bewildered. "WHAT!?"

I blinked at them, confused, "Huh? Is there something wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell us???" Killua grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me back and forth.

"Y-you didn't ask! I didn't think you needed to know!"

Removing his grip on me, he sighed and rubbed his temples, "Well, it's a good thing you didn't tell us, otherwise we wouldn't be here..."

"Right..."

"Ne, Killua..."Gon called, "Shouldn't we tell Ace about Ren?"

"Let's use this as revenge and tell her at the last minute. Plus we don't even know anything about Ren yet." he replied, grinning. "But if we go higher, we'll surely meet some other guys like him and--"

"Or we can just ask Zushi." Gon suggested.

Killua stopped and made a 'why-didn't-I-realize-this-sooner' face. "Ah..."

....But you know, I'm starting to feel really left out.