Chapter 11

When the three had first arrived back that evening Gon had immediately complained about how silent it was, leading Eva to put her iPod on speaker. And so, within the four walls of the apartment rooms, a soft melody pervaded the space. The cool evening air from below brought with it passerby's conversations from the open window. Spots of green could be seen on the distant shoreline while the blocks of grey slowly turned to the visible concrete paths below.

Killua, after Gon was satisfied with the music, had insisted that Eva take the first shower. Having complained loudly that her hair stunk of garbage.

Grudgingly Eva stepped into the bathroom. As she stood beneath the shower spray, she began the slow process of separating her matted curls from one another, running the shampoo through the black strands. The suds slowly melted away the dirt and her fatigue.

She thought of the wrestling match and Gon and Killua's smiles as they lay beside one another in the soft grass. *I use to wrestle my brothers like that. Except,* she thought with a laugh, *Hugo and Ingvar would win by any means necessary, brutally so.* She turned off the shower. *If only we had never started the Raven's. Perhaps we still would be.* But she couldn't dwell on the past, she had things to do. First and foremost on that list was regaining her nen. Stepping out, she wrapped herself in a fuzzy white towel and started drying her hair. *I'll need to pay a visit to the Red Eye's once I'm in Mimbo.*

Outside the bathroom, Gon and Killua were using their laptop to buy air tickets for tomorrow. They had worked out their plan for Mimbo - an infiltration strategy - and booked a room a few blocks from the central square. Killua had analyzed several different rooms in the vicinity before he was satisfied with the one he picked.

Gon looked at the apartment from over Killua's shoulder, "It has three bedrooms." he stated matter of factly.

Killua didn't get it. He was still debating between grabbing up a secondary apartment a little to the east just in case and hadn't caught Gon's drift. His reply was equally dry, "This apartment has the best views of the ground below and we can observe people from it unnoticed. It's the most strategic one." he said, shutting the computer screen.

*That's not what I meant,* Gon thought as he heard the music change to violin piece, *I guess I'll just have to see what happens. Killua's too distracted.*

The tick of a printer sounded as three neon orange boarding tickets and a hotel info sheet slid off onto the table. They were warm from the printer and, against the cool air, shriveled slightly as the ink took a second to long to dry. Killua looked at the tickets. Tomorrow would start the final countdown till Eva left for good. He just had to get through the flight. Gon, picking up his ticket, went to leave to start packing, when he said something that made Killua pause,

"It's to bad she'll be gone after tomorrow. You and her... are a lot alike." He left Killua there, still sitting, as the bedroom door shut behind him.

The sun had started to go down and from the single pane window Killua could make out the shadows cast from the buildings outside. *A lot alike…?* The shadows continued to lengthen outside between the buildings, squeezing out the last drops of sunlight. *That is what I am* he thought. *A maze, like these buildings, where the looming shadows harbor like a plague.* All that mattered was that he could stay with Gon. His light.

His mind brightened for a second, as he recalled Gon's terrible acting skills earlier that day. *Leaving me to deal with the after mess as usual.* He simultaneously recalled the smile on Eva's face as they'd wrestled. She'd been confident and carefree, unlike the skulking and cautious minded figure he'd assumed her to be. But he realized now that it had been largely his fault for underestimating her. For watching her like an untamed beast. He did feel a little guilty for that.

Killua looked up at as Eva walked out. She was dressed in one of the many pieces he had picked out earlier in the day. Black sweats hung on her hips and a long sleeved shirt hugged her curves. Killua forced himself to smile.

Eva froze, *What is that smile for?* Had she missed something? She ran her hand under her braid letting it rest on her shoulder as she started fidgeting under the attention, unsure what to do.

"The showers open"

"Souka? Gon can go first."

Eva nodded. The room was starting to grow dim and she hurriedly went to switch on the lights.

Under the harsh glare, Killua walked over and handed Eva her ticket. She flinched at the sudden gesture, *He could have just left it on the table.* Recovering, she took it quickly reading out the words, "Mya Evans."

Killua didn't bother to let her ask before explaining, "You've already been attacked once at the airport and it's likely that your gang will post lookouts there. It's better if you have a fake name."

Her eyes flickered imperceptibly with guilt. She thought back to his words, *'Your gang...' Not that's he's wrong.* She thought, *It was my gang* She met his ice blue eyes, "That's great and all but it won't match my passport." she said, trying to hand it back to him.

Killua shrugged it off, "It doesn't matter," he said, "You won't need one." He headed to his and Gon's room, his hands in his pockets. "I've got to help Gon pack. Yell if you need anything."

"One thing," Eva blurted just as Killua was turning away. Killua stopped and looked back expectantly.

Eva could hear the chatter below as she searched for the right words to say. "I'm sorry about earlier. About the bracelet and-"

Killua held up his hand to stop her, "It doesn't matter. What both of us said is true. There's no need to apologize."

Eva watched as Killua shut the door behind him. *Don't apologize?* Then he really was going to ditch her entirely after tomorrow. *This shouldn't be surprising.* But she realized some small bit of her had wanted to stay with them. She walked over to where her iPod lay, bending down to pick it up, cutting the speakers. Today had been loud and fun and entirely different from her deathly quiet life with the Ravens. *I read to much into today. It didn't mean anything. This, for them, is their normal. Not mine.*

On the other side of the door, Killua helped Gon pack. Gon was unusually silent, giving Killua a chance to think. *Eva and I, we're not the same and we're not friends.* So they had a bit of fun earlier. It couldn't of meant anything to her. He frowned at the thought. Did that mean it meant something to him? No, that wasn't it. He was just tired. Then why did he feel that he didn't want tomorrow to come?

He recalled how she'd flinched when he handed her the ticket. He threw down the shirt he'd been packing. Gon looked at him.

"You and your dumb mouth," Killua said accusingly.

Gon stared at him dumbly, "What? What'd I say?"

"Nothing, I'm showering first."