Chrollo looked around the small, simple cabin.
There was another reason he chose to stay with Saiki Kusuo—Saiki was the only one in the whole exam who knew what he really looked like. As long as he stayed in this room, he wouldn't need to use his ability.
Chrollo quietly closed the book he'd left open and returned it to its place. Saiki Kusuo sat down on the bed, then glanced at the now normal-looking Chrollo—it was a much better look.
That head-switching thing really was creepy.
It felt like a hero's head had been chopped off and Chrollo had just put it on. With his x-ray vision, Saiki Kusuo could see two overlapping shadows.
[You can sleep using that table and chair. Before that though, my coat's been soaking in water. You... do your best.]
Even if Chrollo said he'd wash his clothes, Saiki didn't think he'd get them completely clean. But if it turned out like before—just some faint bloodstains left—then it was good enough.
Chrollo put his bag on the table and peeked into the bathroom. "Mind if I take a shower first?"
[Whatever.]
Saiki Kusuo grabbed a book and leaned back on the bed. While Chrollo showered, he planned to finish the book he hadn't completed yet.
Water was running loudly in the bathroom, and Saiki Kusuo got completely absorbed in the book—a new case from his classmate Nanke. The story was kind of off, but the trick behind it was surprisingly clever.
So good. He shut the book with satisfaction, then noticed the water had stopped. Looking toward the bathroom, he used his x-ray vision and saw Chrollo wearing a robe with the sleeves rolled up, washing the clothes—including his own.
Yare yare... neat freak, huh? Until now, Saiki thought of Chrollo's hygiene level as "a guy who could let a cockroach crawl over his pants and still wear them like nothing happened, like it was just a little dust."
...Wait, he's really hand-washing the clothes? Saiki was surprised. He thought Chrollo might use some kind of ability.
But now it made sense. The Phantom Troupe members were still human. Even Chrollo probably had a few favorite outfits he took to the dry cleaners or washed himself.
They might be criminals, but they could all take care of themselves. Each one was pretty capable. Like cockroaches—no matter where you threw them, they wouldn't die...
Saiki Kusuo: Nope. Not okay. No more cockroach comparisons. Ever. Don't make people think of those gross bugs with long feelers.
Chrollo washed quickly and neatly. In less than thirty minutes, he came out carrying the cleaned clothes.
"Can I hang these to dry inside the room?" [Weird. The sunlight here is pretty strong—it should be warmer.]
[Go ahead. How's my lab coat?] Saiki Kusuo changed the subject. As long as it dried, the rest didn't matter. What he really cared about was his coat.
"It's clean." Chrollo put his still-wet clothes on the table, then spread out the coat.
This—this is amazing... Saiki Kusuo was stunned. The holes were still there, but nothing else was damaged. And all the bloodstains were completely gone. Even with his psychic vision, he couldn't spot a trace of blood!
[It's... this clean? How did you do that?]
"Do what? Just washed it normally. Let it soak a while, then scrubbed it." [Does this guy seriously not know the basics? Definitely raised like a spoiled rich kid.]
So it really came down to scrubbing... My weakest skill.
They used some rope to hang the clothes indoors. Night fell, and Saiki Kusuo turned off the lights and pulled up the blanket. He waved to Chrollo, who was sitting in a robe on a chair, and even kindly raised the room temperature a little.
Nothing could stop him from sleeping—not even having a criminal leader sitting right next to him.
Not long after, Chrollo heard Saiki Kusuo's calm breathing. He quietly walked over to check if he was asleep.
This guy's really fearless. Then again, Chrollo had noticed that back in Meteor City—Saiki could fall asleep even in extremely dangerous places. Who knows if it was blind confidence or some secret survival trick.
But this room... something about it felt off. Chrollo tiptoed around, inspecting every detail. In the end, he had no choice but to suspect Saiki Kusuo again.
Why did the room only warm up after dark? Or maybe Saiki had done something while awake to make the room colder?
Chrollo didn't want to admit it, but now, whenever something strange happened, his first thought was always, "Is this one of Saiki's new powers?" Even though abilities didn't work like that—you couldn't just have a bunch of random ones unless you were a special case like him.
How did Saiki Kusuo have so many powers? What were the rules, the trade-offs? If he could figure that out, maybe it'd help him improve his own power conditions too.
Late that night, a loud explosion shook the place, waking everyone up—except Saiki Kusuo.
Chrollo started to wake him, but just as he approached the bed, Saiki turned over, pulled the blanket over his head, opened a book, and used his ability to make everything quiet again.
What happened out there? Whatever. Most of the examinees were still here. No big deal.
The next morning, they figured it out quickly.
The airship had left during the night—they were stranded on this island. They had three days to reach the next exam location. Most likely by boat. The clues would be on that boat.
The trio of kids who'd started exploring the ship yesterday already gathered a lot of info. Soon, almost all the exam takers joined the search.
(This doesn't include people with Nen or superpowers.)
The hotel had electricity. Chrollo was holding a laptop, and so was Saiki Kusuo. The "guys glued to their computers" combo had arrived.
Saiki Kusuo handled some work from one of his companies. Even though he was on a trip, various projects were still going, and updates were constantly being sent to him. His inbox had been overflowing for a while. Fortunately, the people he hired were all capable — what landed on his desk wasn't problems, just results that mostly needed his approval. Saiki Kusuo went through everything one page at a time and spent half the day finishing all the work. Then he set the laptop aside and took a nap.
Chrollo: …Is this really okay?
He didn't seem worried at all about being away from everything.
[Killua will call me when it's time to go.] Saiki Kusuo had strong faith in the main characters.
To avoid Chrollo noticing anything strange today, Saiki Kusuo didn't drop the room temperature too much. Superpowered people have strong endurance anyway. It was already 29°C, and he didn't sweat at all.
On the other hand, Chrollo seemed to feel a bit hot. At some point, he let the top of his yukata fall off, only wearing the bottom half now — looking like a refined thief.
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