The bedroom door creaked open...
A pair of gentle eyes slowly came into Kurapika's view. What kind of eyes were those?!
Even though it was their first meeting, Kurapika tensed up, feeling as if he had been seen through from top to bottom, inside and out. His mind went blank as Kurajing pressed him down to bow to Roy.
"Young Master, this is Kurapika, my younger brother..."
*Hiss...* His arm hurt a little, as if he had been pecked by a goose... Kurapika, still in a daze, was secretly pinched by Kurajing. His mouth twitched as he snapped back to reality and offered a muffled greeting, "Hello."
In just an instant, that piercing gaze vanished as the young man sitting at the desk smiled gently... Kurapika straightened his back and looked over carefully, finally getting a clear view of the person before him.
It was hard to describe what kind of aura he possessed!
It was as if he could be spotted at a glance in a vast crowd, standing out so distinctly...
Kurapika was immediately drawn to that beautiful silver hair, its ends shimmering with a glazed golden light...
"Sit." At that moment, two chairs flew over from the dining table, as if they had grown legs of their own, and gently landed in front of Kurajing and Kurapika.
The young woman pulled the boy down to sit, shooting him a reproachful glare. "Aren't you going to thank the Young Master?"
Kurapika's eyelids drooped slightly. He stood stiff as a board in front of Roy, struggling and hesitating, before suddenly bowing. Gritting his teeth, he apologized to Roy, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Please forgive me."
Kurajing froze.
She hadn't even been happy for two seconds about picking up her brother before her soft, beautiful face visibly paled, and two strokes of panic immediately crept onto her cheeks...
What was going on?
"Pika, what did you do?!"
Kurajing abruptly stood up and, just like when they were kids, reached out to grab Kurapika's ear.
After all, he was her own younger brother. If it were anyone else, or if Gotoh were awake and standing here... offending and contradicting the Young Master would mean being dragged away... to vanish from the face of the earth...
Kurajing instantly panicked...
Seeing this, Roy was also a bit surprised. He twitched his finger, silently summoning a [Heart Bug] with a wisp of Nen. Following the thread of karma established upon his first meeting with Kurapika, it instantly burrowed into the boy's heart.
After taking a brief look,
he noticed Netero and Beanman, suddenly understanding the whole story. He waved his hand, signaling Kurajing not to panic...
He smiled warmly. "It's not wrong to be wary of strangers when you're away from home. Little Jing, you don't need to blame him."
Roy raised his hand in a lifting motion. A gentle breeze swept past, supporting Kurapika's back and gently helping him stand up... The boy's ear was still in Kurajing's grip, his face slightly pale, and his eyes darted away, not daring to look into Roy's eyes. Then he heard Roy continue, "Pretending to be my younger brother was just to protect yourself. It can't be called lying; it should be called 'quick-wittedness.'"
Kurapika lowered his head in embarrassment, his chest heaving slightly as he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
*He knows everything...*
*How does he know?*
*Is he a tapeworm in my stomach?*
*Fortunately... he doesn't seem to blame me...*
As his thoughts raced, Kurapika suddenly felt a smack on the back of his head. Kurajing had slapped him in anger, yelling, "Aren't you going to thank the Young Master?"
The boy nearly stumbled from the slap. He quickly bowed to Roy again and said, "Thank you."
He looked at Roy cautiously, like a frightened rabbit on high alert. Even with his sister by his side, it seemed he would still bolt at the slightest sign of trouble. This faintly... made Roy chuckle...
The future mafia boss, the [Chain User] with top-tier intelligence and tactical prowess, the one who would shine on the Black Whale, and one of the only two remaining Kurta clan members alongside Pairo. His mind, already filled with eight hundred different schemes, was beginning to show its true colors...
"Sit down." Roy nodded slightly. With a calm and breezy demeanor, he used [Wood Style] to create a few teacups. Then, with a point of his finger, he unleashed [Water Style]. His Nen transformed into water, forming a trickling stream that slowly flowed into the cups. He gestured for the two to take one.
Kurapika sat on the edge of his chair, his eyes wide open, staring blankly... This seemingly magic trick was playing out right in front of his eyes, as real as could be... For a moment, he was stunned for a long time before finally snapping back to reality...
"Young Master, Pika has never left the village since he was little. Please forgive him." A country bumpkin entering the city, having never seen the world... wasn't she just like this in the past?
Kurajing didn't scold Kurapika this time. She took the tea that flew over to her, took a sip, and sincerely apologized to Roy.
Roy smiled, not minding at all. He just watched with interest as Kurapika stared blankly at the tea in front of him. He could vaguely see his past self in the boy—the self who had worked so desperately hard, only to be labeled "mediocre" by his father and grandfather, the self who was filled with infinite longing and desire for Nen and the world of Nen.
The only difference was... he knew about Nen, while Kurapika currently did not...
*Whoosh...* A breeze blew in from outside the window, carrying the summer heat and rustling the gauze curtains...
Roy didn't speak, and neither did Kurajing. They quietly waited for Kurapika to come to his senses... After an unknown amount of time, the grandfather clock in the corner chimed with a *dong*, like a drumstick striking Kurapika's skull, jolting the boy awake. When he looked at Roy again, his eyes were filled with... awe!
"Excuse me, may I ask you a question?" the boy's voice was a bit hoarse.
Even though his throat was dry and he was a bit thirsty, he couldn't bear to pick up the teacup and take a sip, afraid that... if he drank it, everything would disappear...
"Is it one, or two, or perhaps three?" Roy crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, smiling at Kurapika. "Your heart tells me you have more than just one question."
Kurapika's pupils shrank. '*He... he really can hear what I'm thinking! Is he really a tapeworm in my stomach?!*'
"A tapeworm, boy? That metaphor doesn't exactly put one in a good mood," a sudden voice echoed directly in Kurapika's mind!
The boy was startled once again. "Who?!"
Fidgeting uneasily, he looked left and right, up and down, scanning his surroundings before his gaze finally landed on... Roy, who was sizing him up with a smile...
Kurapika's small face visibly shifted through a rapid series of expressions, and he didn't dare let his imagination run wild anymore.
*Hiss...* Above the teacup, the curling steam rose and was swept away by the summer heat, vanishing into the air...
Seeing the boy lower his head in silence, Roy reached out and recalled the Heart Bug. He then spoke leisurely, "If you don't want others to know, the only way is to not do it. Otherwise, even if you don't say it, your heart will eventually betray you..."
"Little Jing, I'm granting you a week of vacation. Take your brother around for a good tour..."
Kurajing glanced at Kurapika, then secretly looked at Roy. She finished her tea, pushed back her chair, stood up, and respectfully replied, "Yes."
She casually pulled Kurapika along. "Pika, come with me."
*Clatter...* Pushing his chair back, Kurapika stood up in silence. He stiffly followed behind Kurajing, turning his back and walking toward the bedroom door... In just a short moment, it felt as brief as a dream, yet as long as if a whole year had passed.
He stiffly shuffled to the door, then suddenly tugged at the hem of Kurajing's clothes and stopped in his tracks.
Summoning his courage, Kurapika turned his head and looked up at Roy for the first time, asking, "Young Master, can my sister stay here permanently?"
As his words fell, Kurajing abruptly turned around.
Roy raised an eyebrow in surprise... He had thought the boy wouldn't ask anything out of caution, but... he actually asked a question, and it was... one that Roy hadn't seen in his heart at all.
"Pika!" Kurajing reached out to cover Kurapika's mouth, terrified that he would say something wrong again and offend Roy.
But the boy looked at Roy earnestly, his gaze clear and no longer fearful. This made Roy's eyes flicker, and he waved his hand to stop Kurajing's action.
"Give me a reason." Roy put away the casual look in his eyes and looked at the boy warmly. "What, you don't want her to go home?"
Kurapika fell silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and said frankly, "There's no point in returning to a decaying and closed-off home."
The boy spoke honestly, like a little adult, "I know you are a remarkable person, and this is a remarkable place. As long as my sister can live well here, that's all that matters."
Roy nodded in deep agreement. "That's true. There will always be people coveting the Scarlet Eyes who will do everything in their power to find you. Even if you want to hide from the world, you won't be able to escape, unless..."
"You completely disappear from this world."
Kurapika and Kurajing both shuddered, suddenly looking up at Roy.
The latter pushed the glasses resting on her nose and smiled bitterly. "Young Master, you know everything."
*Since when did he know?* Kurapika tilted his head to glance at his sister, then looked sideways at Roy.
He saw Roy, with his beautiful silver hair shimmering with glazed golden light at the ends, speak gently, "There's no need to be so surprised. Rare and precious things are everywhere in this world, and your clan isn't the only one whose eyes can turn red."
Light rippled in his eyes. With a thought from Roy, a trace of blood-red slowly crept into his eye sockets...
*Hum...* Noticing this scene,
Due to their intense emotional fluctuations, Kurapika and Kurajing's amber pupils trembled and quietly began to shift toward a fiery red... In this hot summer, a touch of gloomy coldness and three pairs of bright red eyes made a rare appearance in the same room...
"Hehe... One of the Seven Most Beautiful Colors in the World?"
"Brat, our family doesn't have the bloodline of the Kurta clan..."
A faint, sleepy murmur drifted out from that dim little room on the first floor of the Zoldyck family's ancient castle...
Maha's mind had settled. After pacifying Brook Searle, Cyblus, and the others and coming out, he listened to the cartoon playing, rocking his chair to himself, and muttered absentmindedly...
At that moment, the panel prompted—
After the trace of blood-red slowly crept into Roy's eye sockets, three pitch-black tomoe slowly rotated, elongating and thinning out to form three pitch-black blades that intertwined... drawing a terrifying nebula pattern.
With a sun at the very center and stars surrounding it... it slowly rotated, gradually reflecting in Kurapika and Kurajing's eyes.
The two figures, one large and one small, stared blankly at this scene. The amber in their pupils faded, replaced by a fiery red, like two burning flames, staring straight at Roy. Neither of them spoke a word.
*Are those Scarlet Eyes? No... The Young Master's eyes are different from ours, but... they really did turn red!*
Kurapika and Kurajing could be certain that Roy was not a member of the Kurta clan. Because, as the "rare animals" of this world, every Kurta was registered within the clan.
They had never heard of such a person in the clan. Not to mention... Roy's beautiful silver hair was almost identical to Silva's and the old master they had occasionally seen at the mountain gate... Zeno Zoldyck...
His appearance combined the best features of Kikyo and Silva, bearing a thirty percent resemblance to them...
Kurajing quietly exchanged a glance with Kurapika. Speechless for a moment, they looked at each other in dismay...
*Hum...* An invisible wave of ocular power spread out, making the room feel as if it had plunged into an ice cellar, filled with a gloomy coldness.
The Mangekyo Sharingan leisurely revealed its formidable power...
Being so close, Kurajing and Kurapika suddenly shivered. They looked out the window in horror. The sun in the garden was clearly scorching, the summer heat at its peak, a scene of midsummer,
yet inside the room, it was as cold as winter. The freezing temperature made their hands and feet numb, as if they were frozen stiff, gradually losing sensation.
"Young Master," Kurajing trembled as she hugged Kurapika.
The siblings huddled together, their lips quivering as they called out to Roy.
Negative emotions within his body poured into his eyes like floodwaters from an opened gate... Roy silently felt the changes within. His ears twitched, and with a wave of his hand, he unleashed [Wind Breathing], forming a gentle breeze that directly sent the siblings out of the ancient castle...
*Tap, tap...* A string of footsteps followed. Outside the window, a head of beautiful silver hair swayed.
A tall man, dressed in black martial arts attire and wearing cloth shoes, had appeared at some point, leaning against the doorframe...
Silva, with his hands in his pockets, leaned against the door and looked calmly at Roy. "Is it time?"
*Crack, crack, crack...* Suddenly, a series of cracking sounds echoed, like a clock being wound up, or like ribs growing madly. A phantom blue giant could faintly be seen slowly revealing its ferocious form, centered around Roy...
The young man suddenly snorted two long streams of gas from his nose and abruptly looked up at Silva. Within his scarlet eyes, the pair of nebulas slowly rotated, like two dark, profound black holes, sucking in all the light along with Silva. Soon...
It was forcefully suppressed by Roy and faded away...
*Crack, crack, crack...* The blue phantom giant let out an unwilling roar. Its skeleton expanded before beginning to shrink... Its head reached the sky, its feet stood on the ground, and the Sun God's fire ignited in its hollow eyes with a *poof*, glaring angrily at Silva...
In an instant, it collapsed, sinking into Roy's body and disappearing.
A moment later, only a trace of gloomy coldness remained as Roy's casual words drifted leisurely into Silva's ears, "Father, you didn't go keep Netero company?"
"Your grandfather is keeping him company."
"Hmm... Then tomorrow." Roy smiled brightly, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Let me get a good night's sleep first."
Silva stared fixedly at Roy,
turned around, and left.
It was as if he had said everything, yet said nothing at all, faintly dropping a single sentence: "Take the chance to go hug Killua today,"
"Don't wait until tomorrow when there might not be a chance."