Your vision blurrs in and out of reality. You hear several people around you but their voices appear to be jumbling together. Still struggling to open your eyes, you lay completely still, in fear of what may happen. Suddenly, your body feels lighter than you remember. As if a pile of weights fell off of you. Your eyes snap open in surprise. You try to sit up as well, but to no avail.
"(Y/N!!!)" Kurapika's voice calls out of surprise.
"You're awake!!" Leorio shouts as well.
Before you know it, they're both right next you. Kurapika kneeling next to you, holding your hand, and Leorio leaning over you with a worried face. Now, you're beginning to take in your surroundings. You lay on a couch in a hallway..
Where was I last? What's going on?
"Who are you all..?" is the first thing you can think to say with your dry throat and raspy voice.
Everyone standing around you gapes at you with wide eyes and partly open mouths.
The nen shaman who stands besides you lets out a sigh, and turns to Kurapika, and Cheadle who has now joined his side.
"I'm sorry," she speaks, "I removed the nen the best that I could. But it was still so strong that she lost most of her memories, control of her body, and control of her nen..." She takes a glance at your confused face and turns back to them, "This is some very strong and hateful nen. You're lucky she survived."
Kurapika stays kneeling next you and holding your hand, "Can we bring back what was lost? Surely, there's a way to. We can't just leave her like this."
"Yeah!" Leorio chimes in, "She saved Kurapika, she doesn't deserve this."
The nen exorcist shakes her head, "I can't do anything more to help with my abilities, but there is a chance that she can get better with medical treatment. I recommend you check her into a hospital for a long stay. That's where she'll be the most safe." She explains as nicely as possible.
"Right, I understand," Kurapika says, looking back towards you with an unreadable face. "Leorio and I can take her. Is that alright, Cheadle?"
Cheadle nods at this, "Yes, please hurry, Kurapika, we don't want anything else to happen to her. Call us if there's any change. We'll look for the nen user who did this."
"There's no need." Kurapika says with his back turned to her, but you can see his face, his red eyes, and clenched teeth and not remembering who this is, you only feel more terrified, "I will take care of them myself."
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You stare terrified at him, struggling to move any parts of your body to escape. Seeing this, however, his eyes turn back to their normal color, and he releases his death grip on your hand, now squeezing it gently, "I-I'm sorry, (Y/N). But please.. Please don't be afraid of me.."
You swallow a knot that was in your throat, and dryly say, "I don't know who you are. Pl-please stop. G-go away."
Kurapika's expression visibly drops. Leorio can practically feel his heart break in half. He puts a hand on his shoulder, knowingly, and shoves his other hand in his pocket, "Don't force this. Give it time, she's just scared right now."
Kurapika nods, letting go of your hand and standing up, "Right. I apologize, (Y/N). Don't be worried, we're taking you to the hospital. They can help you and keep you safe from me."
Leorio tightens his grip on Kurapika's shoulder, "Don't say that when you know it's not true."
He looks down, avoiding his gaze, "...Sorry."
"Come on, let's head out."
That being said, you're carried out to their car, and before you know it, you lay on a stretcher in a hospital. You're pricked with dozens of needles and hooked up to a few machines. It's a good thing that you cant feel anything. But you notice that this strange blonde man still hasn't left the room. He sits in a chair near your bed, almost like an assassin. He scares me.
As soon as the nurses leave your room, he speaks up, "I'll help you with what I can, (Y/N). With your memories, with your nen, your movement, and catching who did this to you. They will pay. I swear to you." He stands from his spot, clenching his fists, as he turns to leave from the room.
Before he leaves, you speak up, "Please.. Please don't hurt anybody. I don't know you.. And you scare me. But that will hurt you, too, won't it?"
He keeps his back to you, "I.. I.. You're scared of me..?" His voice sounds visibly sad. You don't know why but this makes your heart sink.
"I'm sorry," You start, "Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot. But.. I can tell you mean well. If you want to help me, please don't hurt anybody. I just want to remember. I want to know why.. Why I feel like this about you."
Kurapika immediately turns to face you with widened red eyes, "What..? What do you mean? How.. How do you feel, (Y/N)?"
Trying to stay calm at the sight of this, you speak, "Well, I should be scared of you," You explain, "But instead, I just want to help you and I dont want you to feel sad.. I don't want you to get hurt, either. So please don't go."
He takes a deep breath, letting his eyes go back to normal, "Do you mean that?" He takes a few steps to stand directly next to you, watching the floor intently, "I want you to remember me. I cant lose you. I've lost too much already."
You can feel the hurt in his voice, "I want to remember you, Kurapika."
His head snaps up, and his eyes land on you, "Did you know that before?!"
"No, it just came to me," You try to form a smile, "You're already helping me."
"I see," He smiles back at you, "Then I wont leave your side, (Y/N)."
"Do you have any nice stories you can tell me that have happened between us?" You wonder.
He pulls the chair up to your bed and holds onto your hand, "I have plenty I can tell you." He starts on a long tale of how you met at the hunter exam.
"Hey.. Did you drop this..?" A quiet voice wonders from behind Kurapika.
He jumps, expecting it to be someone after his tag. He wasn't expecting anyone to be around him. This damn island was too big. He cautiously turns to face the unknown person. The blonde man comes face-to-face with a (H/C) stranger with a hood up, covering their face in shadows. They carry his wooden weapon, he now realizes isnt on his person.
"..Did you take that from me?" He blatantly and calmly asks.
"No," comes their reply, "I was tailing you, but you're not my target."
He looks into his bag, noticing his tag gone, too. You toss it back to him, "That's what I took," A smirk meets your face. "You actually dropped these."
"..Thank you. You returned it because you only want the one worth three points, I imagine."
"Yes. Sorry for bothering you. I hope we can help each other out in the next stages." You extend your hand towards him, "I'm (Y/N). Nice to meet you."
He doesn't bother to shake it, but he replies, "..Kurapika."
"Let me know if I can do anything to help you in this or the next stages. I hope we can become friends." You smile.
Kurapika can't help but smile, too, "I suppose it's possible." He turns to walk away, "Be careful, (Y/N). Someone could take your tag if you get distracted so easily."
You look in your satchel to find it missing. When you look up next, he's throwing it up and catching it in his hand. You race after him, "Hey.. Wait up!"
When he looks up next at you, he finds you drifting off, "Go ahead and sleep, (Y/N). I'll watch over you." He kisses you lightly on the forehead. "I will protect you. This isn't like before."
