Chapter Text
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Chapter 1: Kurapika
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"Help!"
Pairo and I's heads snap in the direction of the voice.
"What's that...?" he asks.
"Sounds like a man," I answer, walking towards it.
"Wait!" Pairo says, following close behind me.
We hear it again, but he isn't quite yelling this time, "Somebody help me..!"
Finally, someone comes into view. It's a man, he's sitting on the forest floor, his hand on his torso. It’s obviously bleeding, a big dark red spot on his shirt.
“What is it?” Pairo asks.
“It’s a man, he’s hurt pretty bad,” I explain.
I start to walk towards him, but Pairo grabs my hand. "Kurapika, what are you doing?"
"He needs help," I answer.
Both of Pairo's hands are tugging on my arm. "We can't help him... let's get out of here."
I look at Pairo, my eyebrows furrowed. I look back at the man, wincing in pain.
"No, Pairo," I say, getting out of his grip. "I'm helping him."
"But how do you know it isn't a trap!?" he says, frantic.
"I just... have a feeling." I advance towards the man and kneel next to him. He’s a bit surprised when he sees me. “Can you stand?” I ask him.
“Agh… yeah,” he says. “I’ve just… lost a lot of… blood,” he’s breathing heavily.
We stand up together, me helping him up. He leans against me and it’s difficult to help him walk because he’s nearly a foot taller than me, it seems.
"Thank you..." he breathes.
“Pairo, could you help?” I ask, as we stagger towards him.
He hesitates but eventually goes to the other side and supports the man. We make our way back home slowly but surely, the whole time I’m telling him “hang in there, we’re almost there.” He's kind of out of it but he'll occasionally mumble, "thank you".
Finally the house comes into view.
“Help!” I yell. Soon enough, Mom has run up to us.
“Oh dear, what’s this—“
“He’s hurt,” I say, although it's obvious by the blood all over his torso.
We lay him down outside the house because it would be too much of a hassle to bring him in. I watch as Mom takes his shirt off. The wound is pretty bad... but I'm confident that Mom can help him. I run and get water for him, then stay at the man’s side, helping Mom with anything I can. He winces as she starts to clean the wound, and his hand grabs mine. I'm a bit surprised for a moment, but I squeeze his hand as he cringes at each touch, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Is it bad?" I ask.
"Looks like he got cut pretty bad, but he'll be okay."
The man smiles, although he grunts in pain. "You should see the other guy," he says, and I smile, laughing a little. He's got a great smile... and he's pretty strong, how he's handling this.
"What happened?" I ask, leaning in a little.
He stops closing his eyes from the pain and looks at me, smiling. "I'll tell ya later."
Wow, his eyes. They're so dark and beautiful.
Finally, Mom has cleaned his wound and she bandaged him up. She whispers a prayer unto him and then we sit him up a little so he can drink some water. He drinks the whole cup.
"Thank you," he says again, and he squeezes my hand. "You guys are lifesavers."
I smile at him.
"Kurapika," I hear my Mom's voice. It's stern.
I gulp a little, and stand, letting go of the man's hand. My Mom leads me a few feet away to talk to me.
"What were you thinking? Bringing in an outsider? He could be dangerous!"
"He was hurt, Mom," I say. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that he's dangerous. I just have a feeling."
She sighs. "Just... it could've been a trap."
"Yes, it could've been," I say. "But it wasn't."
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks away.
"Can we focus on what it is instead of what it could've been?" I say, getting her attention. "We just saved his life, Mom. That's something to celebrate."
She sighs, but smiles a little this time. She pats my cheek. "My brave boy." I smile. "Okay, you get off this time, but if you bring in any other injured men, you're... grounded."
We both laugh a little. We look towards the man, who's chugging another glass of water that Pairo gave him. He says something we can't hear, and both him and Pairo start laughing.
"What will we do with him?" she asks. "He's quite handsome, isn't he..."
My face flushes a little. "Mom!"
She laughs. "I'm just saying."
Soon enough, the whole clan knows about the strange man who we saved. I'm about to get a stern talking to from the Elder but my Mom saves me, telling him that what I did was brave, and that she doesn't see this man as a threat at all. He still wasn't too pleased, but I'm just glad I didn't get scolded. I'm sure he'll warm up later.
I walk up to the man again. "Are you feeling okay?"
He smiles up at me. "Never been better."
"Do you want to rest in our guest room?" I ask.
"Beats the ground," he says. I help him stand.
"Go easy on it, still," I say, helping him walk. I walk him up the stairs to our guest room, which is across from my room. He lays on the bed. "You must be tired," I say.
He nods.
"I'll leave you alone," I say. "Get some rest."
"Thank you again," he says. "I don't know how I can repay you."
I smile. "You don't have to repay us. Now sleep." I close the blinds of his window so he can rest, and I'm about to walk out.
"Wait!"
I turn, a bit surprised.
"Can you tell me... your name?"
I smile softly. "Kurapika." I pause. "And you?"
He smiles. "Leorio."
I shut the door. Leorio…