Hunters X and X Heroes

Any X Cost

   Nonsense.

   Flask would never think of himself while he was on a mission for the Zakuya; he would not think of himself-for himself- while he stood in their ranks. He would- could not. Because, he was a part of them, and the only thing he could do was what they told him to. An arm or leg of the body cannot want something for itself. The flask does not decide what is put in it.

   Complete sense.

   Flask had fallen short of the ideal. They all had forgotten- denied, that Flask was, in the end, inevitably, as much as they did not want to admit it, human. Flask was capable of greed. Gon was the only one who saw Flask as a human, and that was why he could come to the correct conclusion.

   Shichi remained silent.

   "That makes sense!" Crimson exclaimed, "Great job, Gon!"

   "I'm not quite sure who you are, but you've helped us an awful lot," Cheril thanked him, "Now we've ruled out a number of possibilities."

   Kurapika finally spoke after taking all the notes into account, "Then there are two major likelihoods. The first being the Breath of Archangel is needed to heal a member from the effects of the Poor Man's Rose. The second being the Double Postcard to the Dead is needed to speak to a member that has died or will die."

   "'Has died'?" Killua echoed skeptically, "Isn't this supposed to be related to the Poor Man's Rose?"

   Rukei caught on to what Kurapika hinted at first, "Using the Poor Man's Rose is extreme even for the Zakuya. It's likely that the Poor Man's Rose is a last resort; maybe they wanted Double Postcard to the Dead to discuss it with a deceased member?"

   "I'm guessing it must have been recent then," Crimson muttered, "We've been trying to get inside eyes looking at the Zakuya, but it's proven to be near impossible. We don't know if any influential agents have died recently."

   "Do they really need to talk about it with someone else?" Glass put in skeptically, with a short glance towards the dark-haired teen before continuing, "They would just take it up with him if they needed an opinion. I can't imagine anyone more intelligent than Solriss."

   "Good point," Noriko relented; her voice betrayed strong hesitance. Gon and Killua both remembered what Rukei told them about Solriss. Rukei seemed afraid of him, but it seemed to be a bit different for everyone else. Crimson gave Glass furrowed brows and a subtle nudge. But Glass hardly looked repentant for breaking the taboo; his eyes leveled with a professional apathy. Work is work.

   Shichi crossed her legs and leaned back. "Okay," she started dryly; Shichi was not an exception to Glass' rule, "Sure. Double Postcard to the Dead doesn't make sense. So it's more likely for them to want Breath of Archangel."

   "We should not eliminate Double Postcard to the Dead," Kurapika advised, and no one was going to correct him.

   "Yeah, there's still the first possibility where they have to talk to someone caught up in the explosion." The bespectacled man reminded. Leorio was pretty confident that he was allowed to speak; both of the boys had blatantly broken the rule twice, and if they were going to let two thirteen-year olds give them advice about the most destructive bomb to exist and how criminal organizations operate, then a guy studying to be a doctor probably would not be chewed out for saying his opinion.

   When Shichi turned her head to look back at Leorio when he talked, one of the only polite habits that Shichi owned, her gaze caught on Rukei who was currently trying to wipe off her blood onto her leggings when everyone was focused on the intern doctor.