Warnings: This fic is rated for language and occasional adult content. Familiarity with Hunter x Hunter and its nen concepts are necessary.

Author's Notes: I use the Hunter's Guide spellings for the characters' names (see my bio page for details), and my characters are based on the comic, not the animated series, so Kurapika does not have blue/green eyes in my fics. This fic takes place a few months after Yorkshin and ignores most of the Greed Island storyline and beyond.

Also, you might want to read my side fic "Flowers For…?" which takes place right before this chapter.

Standard disclaimers apply...

Hunt for the Intangible – Chapter 14

A tall man dressed in a tailored suit stepped away from the sidewalk and stood before Quwrof's table. His normally wildly-styled hair was brushed down smoothly, and his handsome face was unmarked. He looked a different man without the symbols on his cheeks, but there was no mistaking the aura.

"I understand that you've been searching for me."

Quwrof set aside the newspaper and smiled pleasantly at the taller man. "Yes, I have. How kind of you to save me the trouble of having to continue looking for you." He gestured towards the empty seat across from him, and the other man sat gracefully, making eye contact with one of the waitresses.

"You were advertising yourself quite blatantly," Hyskoa laughed delightedly. "Does this mean that you're ready for a round or two with me?"

"I have always been ready," Quwof returned. "It was more a matter of being willing."

In all honesty, he was still not willing, but dealing with the crazy man was preferable to losing complete control of the situation with Curarpikt by letting Hyskoa tell the boy everything.

They were interrupted as a young woman approached. "What would you like, sir?"

"I'll have an espresso. With a twist of lemon and sugar on the side. Rock sugar, if you have it."

A surprisingly simple order from a normally ridiculously flamboyant man – although, if Quwrof thought about it, the very specific nature of it ("twist of lemon" and "rock sugar") was very… Hyskoa.

The woman nodded, apparently used to finicky customers, and left.

Hyskoa turned his attention back to Quwrof, his smile very pleased. "So you are now willing."

Quwrof grinned wryly. "I wouldn't go that far. Let's just say that I need an exchange of… favors."

"You fight me, and I do something for you." Hyskoa waved both hands dramatically. "And I suppose I'm correct in assuming that this has something to do with our lovely blond friend."

The dark-haired man nodded. "I will give you your fight, but you must stay away from Curarpikt."

"Mmmm," Hyskoa licked his lips slowly. "You're asking for a lot, Quwrof. He is high on my list of tempting fruits that I'm allowing to ripen."

"I'm not forbidding you from fighting him some day. Just not now, or any time soon."

Hyskoa laughed loudly. "You can't forbid me from doing anything, Dancho," he said mockingly. "But I might consider it a friendly suggestion and be willing to go by it."

"In exchange for?" Quwrof asked, barely restraining the sigh that wanted to escape.

"You telling me what is going on in that pretty blond head of his. Or not going on," he added meaningfully.

The Ryodan leader had been expecting this. "He is temporarily without his memory."

"I've figured that out on my own," Hyskoa snorted uncharacteristically. "Nen?"

"He still has the use of it, but only just recently."

"No, I meant his memory loss. Nen-related?"

"Yes."

Hyskoa smiled again. Quwrof idly thought that the man should not be allowed to smile – it was always unnerving, even when toned down for the general public. "So what interest does the Ryodan have in Curarpikt's memory? Why so intent on keeping me away?"

Quwrof shook his head. "That will not be part of our agreement. I will fight you as long as you stay away from Curarpikt until I give you permission to approach him."

The other man regarded him in a calculating manner.

"But you see, Quwrof, I think I want to know what you're up to more than I want a fight with you right now. And besides," his expression turned predatory, "I don't think it would be that hard to convince you to fight me, even without an agreement between us."

The dark-haired man pursed his lips. "Hyskoa, I have most of the Ryodan here. Even you could not hope to survive a battle against so many of us at once."

"Are you sure of that?" Hyskoa asked, a gleam in his eye.

Quwrof gave the former – no, fake – Ryodan member an assessing look. Hyskoa certainly would be crazy enough to battle all of them at once, laughing maniacally the whole time and thorougly enjoying himself. But, no, Quwrof knew the strength of those beneath him. They might not manage alone (although if he hinted at that, he'd have several very angry Ryodan members to deal with), but any two of them together would easily defeat Hyskoa, no matter how powerful the man was.

"Oh, fine. Keep your secrets. But the permission can't be put off indefinitely. I want a deadline," Hyskoa said firmly.

The dark-haired man sighed. It was, while not what he would want, a reasonable request. "Very well. One year."

"One year?" The man considered the offer. "No. Six months."

Quwrof nodded. He hadn't expected Hyskoa to accept one year, especially since he was clearly curious about what was going on between the boy and the Ryodan. "Very well. Six months."

"Good. It will give him time to ripen some more. But I want our fight sooner than that. Within the week."

Quwrof sighed again, more sincerely this time. He would prefer to put off this condition indefinitely. "Two weeks." He would like to know what he was going to do about Curarpikt first. "And it will have to be when Curarpikt is at work."

"That's fine. I have no other commitments for now," Hyskoa grinned. "I'll find you in two weeks."

"No, I'll meet you in two weeks. There's a perfect location a short drive from the city," the dark-haired man said, quickly writing on Hyskoa's unused napkin. It was the same place he had sparred with Curarpikt. "Meet me here. Mid-morning."

Hyskoa accepted the map and tucked it into a pocket. "In two weeks, then," he said with a wide smile, then stood, bowed with a flourish, and walked away laughing.

Quwrof watched the man leave, the eerie laugh lingering in his head even after Hyskoa was out of sight. He sighed heavily, set his payment on the bill, and left the small café in the opposite direction of Hyskoa.

No more stalling. It was time for him, and for the Ryodan, to make a decision.

"Here."

The boy stared at the crumpled piece of paper thrust at him. He took it, looking up at the man curiously before smoothing the sheet and reading its contents.

"Oh." He looked up at Nobunaga again and smiled. "Thank you. I hope you didn't go to any trouble."

The man fought the urge to growl about annoying salespeople and colleagues - damned Syarnorke and Quwrof – and gave the boy a weak smile instead. "Ah, no problem."

He watched as the boy carefully folded the sheet and tucked it into his coat pocket. "Are all of these available right now?"

Nobunaga felt an odd spark of pride as he said, "Yeah, I made sure to list things you can go out and buy now." He'd gone through hell, after all, to get a crash course in plants. At the same time, he fought panic at the thought of the boy asking him questions he couldn't answer.

"Thank you," Curarpikt said instead, and Nobunaga nearly sighed in relief.

They continued walking.

"I stopped by a gardening shop yesterday, actually," Curarpikt admitted.

I know, damnit! It was just his ridiculous luck that the brat would walk into the shop just when he was doing reconnoissance.

"I enjoy my job, but I think I would've liked working in a gardening shop as well," the boy commented with a smile.

Nobunaga grunted in response.

They walked in silence for a minute, then the blond broke it with, "Have you seen or heard anything about that man?"

"…What man?"

Curarpikt said almost exasperatedly, "The man you're 'guarding' me from." He paused and tilted his head slightly. "What's his name?"

"…His name?"

"You know it, right?"

Nobunaga grimaced. "Um, yeah," he admitted. Damn Syarnorke for being right about him not being able to tell a lie to save his life. He let several yards go by before giving in to the expectant silence with, "Yeah, I know it. Why?"

"Just curious," the boy responded. "It's easier to refer to him by name than to keep calling him 'that man' or 'that man who harassed me" or 'that clown.' …That one just sounds like I'm being insulting, and I'd rather not people think that I couldn't come up with something more sophisticated than that.," he chuckled.

"Hm." Despite lingering doubts that it might not be a good idea, Nobunaga said, "His name's Hyskoa." It would have been unnatural to not answer at this point.

"No last name?"

"What do you need a last name for? I thought you just wanted his name to make it easier to… talk about him."

"True," Curarpikt nodded. "Just curious," he repeated.

"Don't tell me you're planning on looking for him, kid," Nobunaga growled. He was quickly regretting having told the brat Hyskoa's name.

"Okay, I won't tell you that." Smug brat!

"Kid, you're not hunting for him! You're just a book store manager!" Never mind that the kid could kick the asses of an awful lot of people, since Nobunaga wasn't supposed to know that. "He'd chew you up and spit you out!" Or, more likely, force him to fight, then do… unspeakable things to him.

The boy stopped, forcing Nobunaga to halt his steps as well. Nobunaga tried to adjust his features so that he looked less panicked and more concerned. The blond regarded him for a long moment, looking like he wanted to say something, then he sighed.

"Okay, I won't."

"You swear," Nobunaga insisted.

"I swear," Curarpikt said with another sigh. "But you can't keep him from hunting for me, if, in fact, he really is still interested in me." He could understand the kid's doubt since it had been several days since Hyskoa had stalked Curarpikt. Of course, Curarpikt didn't know what the Ryodan knew – that he and Hyskoa were previous acquaintances, and so Hyskoa wasn't going to give up on him that quickly.

"I know," Nobunaga growled, "but I can damned well try!"

The boy stared at him, perhaps shocked by the vehemence. Then, he abruptly smiled. "You're a good person, Nobunaga."

With that astonishing statement, the boy resumed walking, leaving Nobunaga too stunned to follow immediately.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Weirna, the perpetual busybody matchmaker asked.

"Not really. I'm not into the party scene," Matiy responded. She cringed mentally as a wide smile appeared on the older woman's face.

"Did you hear that, Curarpikt? You should take her to one of those Year's End parties along the shore or in one of those skyscraper restaurants."

Curarpikt blinked, clearly taken aback. He had been reaching for the plate Matiy was handing him and nearly dropped it in his surprise. "What? Me?"

"Sure!" Weirna beamed. "I doubt you have any plans. I bet you were just planning on staying home and reading and totally ignoring the coming of the New Year."

The blond frowned slightly. "Actually, my roommate is dragging me out someplace to watch the fireworks."

"Oh, really? Did he say where?"

"He reserved a room at someplace called… The Foaming Wave."

The woman's smile widened. "Wow, fancy. Your roomie must be loaded to be able to get a room there."

"That fancy?" Matiy asked. She raised a brow at the young man teasingly. "Sounds romantic."

Curarpikt responded with a mock glare. "He's invited some business associates into town for Year's End." His glare turned into a slight pout. "He didn't tell me until this morning."

"Not that you would have had other plans, I bet," Weirna said knowingly.

"Um… well, no, I suppose not," the blond admitted sheepishly.

"But, well, I guess that means you couldn't take Matiy," Weirna said disappointedly.

No, but she would know how the evening proceeded.

Quwrof had stopped by the Ryodan's lair yesterday and informed them of his contact with Hyskoa. In two weeks, he would be giving the bastard his desired battle.

Meanwhile, while the decision would be his to make in the end, he wanted the input of the members. Kill Curarpikt, let him be, or bring him into the Ryodan. Despite her own change in feelings, she had been somewhat surprised by the way the vote had gone.

"We had originally planned on killing Curarpikt. However, circumstances have changed."

"Hell, yeah," Nobunaga grumbled. "Still not exactly sure how."

Quwrof gave each member present a long look. "I no longer wish to see Curarpikt dead."

"You'd rather see him in your bed," Syarnorke quipped, just as Matiy had expected him to. Phynkss snorted loudly.

Their leader raised a brow at Syarnorke, and the younger man settled back against the wall, fighting a grin. "Yes," Quwrof admitted, "but that is irrelevant. I simply believe it would be a waste to kill him."

"He is the only remaining Kuruta in the world," Chzzck said thoughtfully, as if she were realizing it for the first time. Matiy rolled her eyes – with Chzzck, it was entirely possible.

"I'm fairly certain I know where all of you stand, but I would like to confirm," Quwrof continued. "Is there anyone who wants to see Curarpikt dead?"

The dark-haired man scanned the faces in the room. After a long moment, he made a soft sound in his throat. "Hm. We seem to have a consensus."

Syarnorke was grinning widely. Nobunaga looked embarrassed. That wasn't entirely a surprise, but she hadn't expected the swordsman to change his mind quite so quickly.

The one that surprised Matiy was Heytun. He was the probably the most ruthless of them all.

"Really?" she asked, directing her question towards the short man.

Heytun shrugged. "Not worth it."

"Well, then," Quwrof said, sounding immensely pleased, "we only need to decide what to do with him."

"Hold on, Dancho," Nobunaga protested. "Just because I don't want to kill him anymore, doesn't mean I'm willing to welcome him into the Ryodan!"

"I agree… with Nobunaga," Heytun said, the words leaving his mouth as if they were distasteful to say. Matiy hid a smile behind her hand.

Their leader held up a hand. "I understand that. And again, while it is ultimately my decision, I would like your input. All of your inputs."

So Quwrof had informed them that, anticipating the vote, he had called Fulunkln several days earlier and told him to get himself and the other two to Sonisco immediately. Judging by the clock above the espresso machine, they should have arrived in the city by now. Fulunkln, Vonnornoth, and Colhtophy would get to meet Curarpikt under the guise of a Year's End gathering.

Things were really starting to get interesting.

A word from Mist: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I realized earlier this week that it'd been nearly a year since I last updated Hunt for the Intangible. I'd written the first part (scene between Quwrof and Hyskoa) shortly after posting chapter 13, but things fizzled after that. I've mentioned this before, but it's just so damned hard to write with my interest in Hunter x Hunter at an all-time low. Damned never-ending Chimera arc! But, feeling shame after seeing the date of my last Hunt post, I told myself, just commit to a direction and get it written, damnit! Yes, it might not be to where I'd initially planned, but if I commit, then the characters will eventually lead me to where they want to go.

I hope. Oh, hell, how I hope…

So, yeah, shortest chapter thus far, but at least it's progress.

Oh, and for those who haven't read "Flowers For…?" and also missed the mention of it in the Author's Note at the beginning of this chapter and were as a result confused about Nobunaga's references in this chapter, you might want to read it. It's the side fic I wrote about Nobunaga's adventures in a gardening shop, and it takes place right before this chapter.