Chapter 37: Gold X Goodbye
Sinbad and Machi exited the elevator on Sinbad's floor.
"I could escort you to wherever you are staying?" Sinbad asked, sneaking a glance at Machi. Side by side, they strolled toward Sinbad's private suite.
"Not happening," answered Machi, lightly shaking her head.
"What? Are you embarrassed?" Sinbad asked with a teasing tone. Gently, he bumped his shoulder into hers. "It goes against my chivalrous nature to not walk the woman home after a nice night out."
Machi glanced at him. "Maybe you will have to earn that for another time."
"Let me guess, you live in the trees," Sinbad said, laughing. They turned the last subsequent hall, only a few feet away from his front door. "I've read some novels about kuniochi and the mysterious life of a ninja. They like to sleep on tree branches."
"I sleep on a bed," Machi answered, rolling her eyes as her feet stopped in front of his suite.
Sinbad kept his light and playful expression, deciding if they should end the night here and see if she was quick to turn back around but Machi paused by the door.
"My–" Sinbad's words were caught off from a loud commotion stirring from inside of his suite. He turned toward the door and opened the suite, immediately his eyes landed on the culprits: Killua, Pokkle, and Rain. "What are you guys doing in my suite?"
Sinbad stepped inside the living room but Machi hid behind the door frame, keeping herself out of their vision. She listened, keeping her back against the wall.
"That's for cheating," Killua hurriedly said, sneaking a last minute smack on Pokkle's cheek. In their hands were game controllers and their bodies faced the television screen with two fighters standing on each side. "Pokkle and I wanted to congratulate you for becoming a Floor Master and try to bring your spirits up by buying you this game so we could play it together."
"Yeah, but then you weren't here," added Pokkle, messaging his cheek.
"Okay… so you guys decided to break in and then play amongst yourselves without me?" Sinbad asked, showing them the key fob required to enter his own suite. Without it, they shouldn't have been able to get inside.
Killua and Pokkle shared glances. Killua strained his eyes at him, basically forcing him to be the one to tell Sinbad.
Pokkle sighed. "Well, you were taking forever and the door happened to already be open."
"I didn't leave the door open," mumbled Sinbad, taking a quick second to remember his previous actions before leaving with Machi.
"Right, we figured that you wouldn't be so careless to do such a thing," said Killua, pressing a button on his controller. The paused screen flashed back into the current game, a devilish grin on his face as he began hitting Pokkle's fighter character without him noticing.
"Hey!" Pokkle shouted, finally taking notice as his character's health bar was near finished. He rammed his shoulder into Killua and then snapped into alertness. "Rain, take fighting position number 3."
The gray and white colored cat meowed and jumped onto Killua's face. The cat climbed on his head and distracted Killua.
"Stop cheating!" Killua shouted.
"I'm telling you, Sinbad. It's probably that one blonde chick from your Fan Alliance," Pokkle said, keeping his attention on the screen and spamming buttons on the controller. His eyes sharpened from the recollection of his interaction with the women and his voice rumbled with ominous thunder. "She, somehow, broke into here."
"Whatever, spare me with the conspiracy," Sinbad waved his hands and turned back around, heading back toward the front door of the suite. He poked his head out into the hall and noticed the lingering and hiding Machi. He smiled at her and then grabbed her by the arms, pulling her into the suite. "Come meet my friends."
Sinbad realized after all this time, he hadn't formally introduced them to her. Whenever they happened to run into each other or talk, they were never around. If it wasn't for Killua seeing their first interaction, they would have believed that Sinbad was making her up in his mind.
"No, I don't wanna," said Machi, pulling her body back, trying to fight back against Sinbad's strength. Her feet slid against the red carpet and was eventually yanked out in front of the door, no longer able to hide.
Hearing the commotion, the boys paused their game to watch.
"Hey, Machiette!" Pokkle shouted, a bit excited to finally meet her. A stupid grin shaped on his face from that previous night, coming up with ridiculous names.
Killua exploded into laughter.
Faster than any of them could realize, Machi's Nen Stitches wrapped around Pokkle's neck. Then she yanked, stopping the air from flowing into his lungs and choking him. Her eyes flashed with sinister intent.
"Machi." Her threatening eyes stared at them. "Got it?"
The suffocating Pokkle and the slightly nervous Killua nodded their heads, aggressively.
Next to her, Sinbad simply shook his head at the two boys.
She released her Nen Ability as Pokkle gasped for air.
"The one you almost killed is Pokkle," Sinbad stepped forward, pointing at each of them. "The white haired kid is Killua."
Machi nodded, walked over to the dinner table and sat down.
'What's her problem?' Sinbad thought, he read her body language as she made her way to her seat. Soon he would learn that this whole time, Machi was the one acting out of character. She didn't know how to handle someone as attractive and charismatic as him to show such forthcoming attention.
She was naturally a closed off and quiet person, especially in front of multiple people. Even amongst the Phantom Troupe members, she tends to enjoy the silence or watch quietly at the shenanigans.
"Anyways, Sinbad, we've decided what we are going to do next," Killua said while playing the fighting game. As the game demanded more of his focus, his tongue slipped out from the corner of his mouth. "Since there is still some time till September 1st and we have to meet up with the others at York New…"
He trailed as his character's health bar got too close to dying but so was Pokkle's character. They went quiet, focusing on surviving the round.
"You guys are participating in the York New auction?" Machi asked from the dining table. Her tone was cold and assertive.
"No," answered Sinbad, growing more interest in the game. After a while he understood the mechanics and objectives of the game.
"Yes, we are," mumbled Pokkle, loud enough for Machi to hear.
"We are going to capture the sun," announced Killua, activating his Nen, transmutting the aura around his fingers to lightning. His lightning enhanced fingers blurred, pressing and inputting the buttons at increased speeds.
Sinbad took a quick glance at Machi, throwing up his eyebrows to see if she understood what he was talking about. She shrugged her shoulders and then leaned over the table, relaxing her head into the folding of her arms.
As Killua's inputs increased, Pokkle's defeat was inevitable. He lost the final round and then lost.
"Using Nen is unfair!" Pokkle shouted, pushing the celebrating Killua. Sitting on top of Pokkle's head, Rain hissed at the boy, noticing his master's frustrations.
Killua fell back on the carpet, folding his arms behind his head. "You should have said something earlier."
"I didn't think of it then," answered Pokkle, pressing the buttons to exit the loser's screen and return to the character select screen.
"Not my problem," replied Killua, smiling.
"Also why isn't my vote included in what we do next?" Sinbad asked, stepping up next to Pokkle. His hands brushed Rain's fur, listening to her purr and then snatched the controller out of Pokkle's hands. With the controller now in his hands, he moved the joystick to find a character he liked.
Killua lurched forward, sitting upright. "Since you weren't giving up the idea of going to sea and you becoming Floor Master, you shouldn't dedicate what we do next."
Sinbad shook his head at Killua's comment and the numerous fighters he hovered over. "That makes no sense."
"Yes it does," Pokkle added, pulling Rain off his head and trying to rest him on his lap but he didn't want to stay so he ran off. "Sure, we came to Heavens Arena to get stronger but that was your decision. So coming here and accomplishing your goal means that Killua and I get to decide what to do next on our adventure."
"Because of that, I have no say in what we do?" Sinbad asked, still unable to pick a character.
Killua selected the same character he just played with. "Can you hurry up and pick someone?"
"All of these ninjas look the same, I want someone with some flair to them," answered Sinbad.
Pokkle stole the remote out of Sinbad's hands. "Here, then pick the Yellow Flash. He has flair and cool abilities."
Pokkle picked the character for him and then handed the remote back to Sinbad. "Watch out. Killua just spams the clay bombs."
"Do not help him because you are mad you can't beat me," taunted Killua.
"Stay out of this Pokkle, I'll avenge you," said Sinbad.
The two boys locked in their main characters and supporting characters and then the countdown of the match lit up at the center of the screen. As soon as the count hit zero, Machi lost her patience.
"What do you mean by 'capturing the sun'?" Machi asked, irritably. Since Killua mentioned the group's next mission, she expected for them to explain but no, she sat there listening to them get off topic and focus on the game. Machi was trying to play it cool as if it didn't interest her but has been hanging at the edge of her seat with anticipation.
Killua paused the game as they all slowly turned toward her. None of them dared to admit that they forgot she was sitting back there because of her quietness.
"When Pokkle and I were out, we overheard a group of people preparing for their trip to a nearby location to hunt an ancient and mythical creature. They said the creature's beak is made out of the purest and hardest gold," Killua revealed, theatrically waving his hands around to hype up the moment. "This golden beak shines so bright and magnificent, even in the darkest of nights, its powerful rays of light can obliterate the darkness. The locals believe it to be the descendants of the sun."
Pokkle jumped to his feet, his eyes jumping from Sinbad to Machi. If they looked closely enough, his eyes turned into "J" symbolizing currency. "So we are going to hunt it and sell the Golden Sun at the auction for tens of billions of jenny."
"What is this creature exactly?" Sinbad asked. "I doubt it would be easy or the price of their beaks wouldn't go for billions of jenny."
Pokkle blew air out of his mouth and waved him off. "Are you getting soft on us, Sinbad? Is that fear in your voice? Us three hunters taking down one creature should be manageable without too much difficulty."
"You're wrong," Machi interjected, scooping Rain off the ground and resting him on her lap. The cat tried to protest but due to her intense glare, the cat quieted down and relaxed. "I failed to connect the phrase 'capture the sun' to the actual Golden Sun because it is still only April. To successfully extract the Golden Sun, you must kill the Keythong on June 21st from two to three hours after midday, if not, it will be an ordinary gold beak."
Of course, as a notorious thief, Machi had the basic knowledge of the Golden Sun. Anything beyond that didn't matter because if it did come across her path, she would steal it.
"Keythong?" Pokkle asked.
Machi sighed, scratching behind Rain's ear. "You don't even know the name of the creature you are supposed to hunt? They are savage beasts when provoked, they have a body of a big carnivorous cat and a face of an eagle. Instead of wings sprouting behind their back, they have razor sharp spikes."
Pokkle gasped after learning the truth of the ancient and mythical creature. Sinbad and Killua looked at each other, slowly they shared the same devilish grin.
"Sounds like fun," Sinbad said, turning away from him looking back at Machi. "You want to join us?"
Machi retained her cold demeanor, staring at him as if she was insulted. She rose to her feet, respectfully put Rain down and left the private suit. After putting sufficient distance between her and the room, having sprinted to the escalator doors, she rested her back against the wall. Her legs crumbled underneath her and slid down onto the floor.
'He wants me to join them?' Machi thought, blushing and heart pounding against her chest. In front of Sinbad's friends, she couldn't express her true feelings, no, even in front of Sinbad, she couldn't express how elated she was to be invited.
Back in Sinbad's private suite, Killua and Pokkle contained their laughter. They found it hilarious that he confidently invited her to join them and was so embarrassingly rejected. If this was anyone else amongst the people they knew, the two wouldn't enjoy such a humiliating and tragic event but since it was the cocky and charming Sinbad, they relished in his defeat.
Unbeknownst to his friends, Sinbad watched Machi's retreat with a smile. 'Awe, she is shy.'
Because after her figure vanished into the hallway, Sinbad reactivated his En and could currently "see" her melt onto the wall in joy.
"Expect her to come with us," said Sinbad, turning to the rest of them. His tone and demeanor lively and happy.
This stark contrast to what Killua and Pokkle expected confused them.
"You were completely rejected," said Killua, resuming the fighting game. Pokkle bent down to retrieve the abandoned Rain, holding him into his chest.
Sinbad laughed as he pressed random buttons on the controller. "You two cubs are still way too young to understand the complications that is the heart of a woman."
…
On April 18th, Sinbad, Killua, Pokkle, Machi, and Rain left Heavens Arena to hunt and capture the Golden Sun.
A/N—
Thus this chapter concludes the Heavens Arena Arc. I know it went long because Gilgamesh and Sinbad both had to become Floor Masters at different times and I didn't want to neglect Killua and Pokkle. I even cooked up a rematch on the 200th Floor between Pokkle and Zushi.
Trust, I was growing a bit tired of writing in the same location but I also didn't want to cheat the reader and skip too much.
Sinbad, too, grew bored of Heavens Arena and is looking forward to the next adventure of capturing the Golden Sun. I had planned on writing it because in canon there is a huge jump from April to September so I wanted to fill in that gap with a little fun adventure.
But I am going against that decision and will instead go straight into the next arc. I will throw in hints of details of what happened during their Hunt.
The next arc will be the Phantom Troupe Arc, I hope you look forward to that as it will be told in Gilgamesh and Sinbad's POV. York New and the Spider have no idea whats coming.
Let me know your thoughts on the arc and maybe future events for this story. As always, thank you for reading and a review would be nice.