𝖌𝖚𝖒𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎

f o r t y . s e v e n

unable to contact dalzollene - the head bodyguard of the nostrade family - the remaining bodyguards stand around the bed of neon nostrade to report on their current situation.

"boss... boss," kurapika called out softly, waking the girl from her slumber.

"what time is it..?"

"it is 2am."

"huh?! what about the auction?"

"it's been called off."

"huh? called off? why?"

"the auction was attacked by thieves. baise, ivlenkov and tocino died during the attack," kurapika informed shocking the girl, who leaned forward and slumped.

"we can't reach the leader, so he's probably done for," squala continued, making neon pout.

"what about the mummy?" she asked, shocking the bodyguards at her lack of empathy for the deceased bodyguards. "was it really stolen? i wanted it so much..."

[name] sighed at the girl's spoilt behaviour. she lifted her head up to reminisce about her family and childhood. her father - as of current - treated her more as if he were her senior in their line of work rather than someone who nurtured and supported. he informed, instructed, assassinated, protected and overall was a very professional and solemn person. he had a sharp tongue to those he thought distasteful and was not much to boast about his achievements.

[name] was trained by her father independently day after day, years after years until her father saw fit. even her brothers knew that she was treated with bias. whether it was good or bad differed through different eyes. personally, [name] viewed it in both ways. it benefitted her growth and her journey in becoming a powerful shinobi but she preferred to work independently, so her father's constant need to train and criticise her was not to her taste.

as a child, [name] sought no affection from her family as she knew she would receive none. though, her mother was an exception. her mother was a sickly, frail woman with an unusual, dreamy way of speech. she had been struck with an unknown illness which ran through her blood after [name] had been birthed. 

it pained her to even speak, but whenever [name] visited her bedroom in need of comfort, she would speak as if it were her last words. though she had a strange way of words that [name] still to this day cannot completely decipher, it would always bring a smile or tears to her face. it was the closest to emotions she felt in those years of what she thought was only death and chaos.

her two brothers - osamu and isamu - both had sharp tongues like their father, though that was the only feature that was similar to their father. they spent their free time either discovering new games to play with their victims or talking bad about their sister. though they treated [name] like stepping stones, [name] held little grudges. she was quick to forgive, but never forgot. she cared little about the two brothers, as she knew - and deep down, so did they - that she was far superior than them.

"huh? why me?!" squala yelled, snapping [name] out of her reminiscing session.

"you're the most experiences member left. you should be the leader," kurapika claimed with a phone in his hands.

"no way! out of the question! i'm not the leader type..!"

"perhaps we should take a vote, to be fair," melody interrupted, eyes moving in her direction. "we need to make this call quickly. i vote for kurapika. he was the one who apprehended the bandit, and he has shown excellent judgment. i believe he would be the best leader."

"no objections here. i vote for kurapika," basho spoke, linssen nodding beside him.

the blonde stared in shock. all heads turned to [name], who was yet to answer. kurapika and [name]'s eyes met. the girl smiled and nodded.

"i believe kurapika is fit to become leader," [name] claimed, eyes soft yet firm as they stared into kurapika's. "go ahead, kurapika. make the call."

"i understand. as the interim leader, i will call mr. nostrade. this is only until we confirm what has become of dalzollene. any final decisions will be mr. nostrade's to make," kurapika explained, turning around to approach neon. "it would be inappropriate for me to call him directly, so would you provide an introduction, boss?"

"sure."

~

after kurapika had ended the phone call, informed neon about her father's arrival and instructed squala to remain inside the room as supervision, he headed downstairs to investigate. now he was seated in front of a computer, showing squala, melody and [name] something he had discovered.

"what's that? a list of buildings owned by the nostrade family?"

"there's a list of family members.. i didn't know this information was available."

"this website can only be accessed by pro hunters. with this information, they can locate this room," kurapika informed, eyebrows furrowing.

"then if one of the enemies is a pro hunter..."

"we're in big trouble. we need to take the boss and find a different room."

"eh? in the same hotel?"

"it's faster and avoids needless movement. but we cannot use fake names. we'll have melody and basho register the room. make sure everyone, especially the boss, stays inside," kurapika instructed, walking through the three. "don't check out of this one."

"kurapika? what about you?"

kurapika paused his walking. he didn't turn around or make any movements for a moment before he began to speak.

"i'll stay here."

"you can't mean to..."

kurapika simply turned around and nodded. his eyes were clear and shining with determination. he was speaking the truth. he was going to fight the phantom troupe by himself. melody and squala left hesitantly while [name] remained.

she stared at kurapika's melancholic back. she trusted him, whether the results were what she desired or not. she slowly approached the boy. hearing the footsteps, kurapika turned on his heel to face the girl.

"i need to give you something, kurapika. all i ask of you is to keep it on you at all times," [name] whispered softly, handing him a gold ring with a ruby in the centre. "i'm not going to trick you, so i'll tell you the truth about this ring. this ring is imbedded with my aura and i can track where you are and how you're doing with it. i won't intervene with anything you're doing, so please.. just keep this ring. it's all i ask.."

she extended her arm to ever-so-gently touch his hair, sliding it down his head to cup his ear and then touch his earring. kurapika seemed to care little of her sudden touch. he stared down at the ring and as he fiddled with it, the light reflected by the stone and sparkled like the sun reflecting off of the ocean. he sighed with a small smile as he slipped it onto his right hand, where his chains connected to rings. [name] furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"alright, i'll keep it on," he whispered, closing the distance between the two. "i promise i won't take it off, no matter what happens."

[name] just nodded, smiling as she stepped back and walked away. she entered the elevator across the room and glimpsed behind her one last time. he was smiling, but she could see the emotions behind it. all she did was frown as the elevator doors began to close and kurapika's figure disappeared from her sight.

~

why is this turning into a kurapika x reader