Chapter 25

I really didn't expect the two of them to actually fight.

After all, I've gotten used to people saying they love me, but actually not valuing me at all.

Whenever they encounter a particular fork in the road, they abandon me and run away.

But this time Hisoka didn't abandon me. Although I don't know what his purpose was, he did get into a fight with the blond Nen user after I instigated him.

I stood in the corner, quietly watching them.

Before today, I had never seen Hisoka fight. I just guessed from my intuition and perception that his strength was extraordinary, and that it was beyond my reach.

After seeing it with my own eyes, I realized that I might have underestimated him.

Strength, speed, reaction time, and even the occasional tactics he uses in battle... he excels in every aspect, to the point that I think if he were to fight Illumi, putting aside all other factors, he might achieve an overwhelming victory in terms of strength.

But that only applies to strength.

Hisoka's fighting style is different from the cautious and unpredictable Zoldyck. Hisoka's extreme violence and freedom lead him to take risky moves and expose his weaknesses.

The blond Nen user had obviously noticed this as well. His Nen power was actually not as great as Hisoka's, and his fighting style, which used chains as weapons, could not be fully utilized in a confined room. He even had a wound on his left hand... But with his meticulous thinking and planning, he was always able to avoid his opponent's attacks, and even deliberately led Hisoka towards the dangerous situations he had set up on several occasions.

Hisoka obviously noticed this quickly as well, and he paused his actions as if he had something to say.

But the blond opponent seized that split second, delivering his most desperate yet powerful strike with the chains before he could react—

At the same time, the instant Hisoka retreated to avoid the attack, he rushed over, grabbed me, and jumped off the window.

...

This is the second time.

Being kidnapped and forced to flee twice by a complete stranger in just half a day was truly a bizarre experience.

This time, he didn't restrain me with chains anymore, but instead hugged me directly. I leaned against his side and looked up at his long, fair neck, the purple diamond-shaped earrings swaying under his earlobes, and his blond hair that was still smooth and beautiful after the fierce struggle.

His heart was pounding, as if he hadn't fully recovered from the battle. We hid in a dark alley.

“My phone,” I reminded him, “you didn’t bring it with you.”

"I'm sorry," he said, "I lost mine too."

"Are you alright?" I asked. "It seems like you're being targeted for revenge."

“There was nothing on that phone card except for Hisoka’s information,” he said.

I said "Oh," and then asked, "Why do you know Hisoka?"

“It was just a coincidence,” he replied.

"Aren't you going to ask me anything?" I asked again. "And it seems like I was the one who instigated him to fight you, so why did you take me with you... Ah, you don't think you can use me to threaten him, do you?"

He stopped talking.

Since I didn't get an answer, I simply relaxed my tense body and rested my head on his shoulder.

A faint metallic clanging sound rang out, and he moved his arm, as if trying to push me away.

"Don't move," I said, "what if we get caught?"

Remembering his repeated assurances that he would take responsibility for me and let me leave safely, I shamelessly took advantage of this and started spouting nonsense:

"Hisoka doesn't actually like me. I might die if he captures me, so please be careful and protect me."

He made no further move.

I leaned against him for a while, and suddenly felt that the slender, thin boy's figure overlapped with a story from my memory...

"Ah." I realized, "I remember now, it's you... the one on the rooftop at the auction."

This story dates back to the time when I had just fallen out with Illumi, before my imposter older brother appeared.

One day, my mother took me to an auction to support her. The auction was held in the form of an underground banquet and was not very formal because the items they put up for auction were not things that could be openly sold on the market.

There are even some human body parts in it, although the official explanation is that this is one of the so-called seven beauties... something like that, anyway, I can't appreciate it.

What I hate most is human eyes.

But it was precisely these kinds of collectibles that attracted the mother the most at the auction.

While she was bidding against someone, I lied and said I wasn't feeling well, and ran to the rooftop.

There's a big tree on the rooftop, and a bench thoughtfully installed next to it. I sat on the bench and gazed at the twinkling stars in the distance.

The lights of buildings, the streetlights on the highway, and the endless stream of car lights.

The sound of a door opening and closing, along with insults, suddenly came from behind me. I turned around and saw a man dressed as a manager shoving and berating a waiter.

"What's wrong with you? Do you think you can get away with this just because you're good-looking and portray yourself as pitiful? If it weren't for the seniors at the agency saying you're an orphan without any relatives to take care of you, but you're very hardworking, I wouldn't have hired you even if you said you only wanted a third of the salary!"

He kept cursing and swearing for a long time. At first, I thought I would just wait and see, but he showed no sign of stopping... In the end, I could only adjust the shawl of my dress, stand up and walk over.

“In this kind of situation, there shouldn’t be any unrelated people whose backgrounds haven’t been verified,” I asked. “Sir, since you’ve made your choice, you should bear the consequences of whatever happens afterward. What’s the use of blaming others? You gave him this opportunity; you’re the one who’s most derelict in your duty.”

The man, who had been so arrogant, softened his tone the moment he saw my face: "Miss Adrian..."

The waiter, who had been silent and motionless, suddenly raised his head and turned to look at me.

“Go back,” I said. “Before you cause any more trouble, go downstairs and keep an eye on your territory. I can pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

He stammered "okay," then pulled the young waiter beside him and prepared to leave.

"At this point, are we still going to bring underage employees along?" I tilted my head. "Sixteen years old isn't old enough for that, is it?"

He let go of it like a hot potato and slunk away alone.

As I watched the rooftop door close again, I said to the waiter who had been left behind:

"Never mind that over there, stay here with me. I'll make up for the part they don't pay you, based on the three times the hourly wage you get for working for them."

That night, the waiter who was kept behind happened to have a head of smooth, flowing blond hair.

Even though he knew my last name was Adrian, he wasn't friendly towards me; in fact, he was rather cold and arrogant.

When I sat back down on the bench, the first thing he said to me, quite inexplicably, was, "Your mother is auctioning off items from the Kuruta tribe."

"Those eyes... I think that's the name." My gaze still followed the twinkling lights downstairs, my tone casual. "I heard they're very valuable, because they're almost priceless now."

That clan is said to be completely wiped out.

"Is collecting this kind of thing really that interesting to you?" he asked again.

“No,” I said, resting my chin on my hand, “that’s just her hobby.”

“If it were me,” I added, “I would throw them all into the sea, or into the belly of some animal… or bury them underground would be fine too.”

"...Why?" he asked.

“Because,” I blinked, turned back to him and smiled, “when a person dies, they should re-enter the cycle of this world… become the wind, become the rain, become part of the body of other creatures to continue living.”

Before he could react, I gripped my own wrist again, signaling him to listen to his pulse as well.

"That's how your heartbeat comes about. Those things that seem dead are actually alive inside your body."

After saying this, I couldn't help but smile to myself and think:

...So, I guess I should find a chance to get rid of those auction items.

I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do, Mom.

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Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!