Dust rose from the cracked pavement as Yuzuki ducked beneath Shizuku's strike. Her movements were deceptively calm — no wasted motion, no anger, no expression. But her speed… it was terrifying.
He barely managed to block the swing of her hand before her foot came sweeping in low, nearly knocking him off balance.
"Too slow," she said flatly.
"Yeah, yeah, I noticed," Yuzuki replied, panting. His arms trembled slightly, bruised from parrying her blows.
They'd been sparring for nearly an hour now, ever since Shizuku had decided he "needed real combat experience."
And truthfully, she wasn't wrong.
He'd spent two months building his body, learning balance and awareness. But fighting Shizuku wasn't like trading punches — it was like trying to keep up with a ghost. Her strikes came from impossible angles, sharp yet effortless.
Still, he refused to back down.
"Come on, Yuzuki," she said, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. "You're thinking too much."
He exhaled slowly. She's right.
He closed his eyes under the cloth, letting his body relax. When he opened them again — the world shifted.
With the Six Eyes active, he could see every trace of her Aura, each movement of muscle before it even happened. She blurred forward, but this time, he was ready.
Her punch cut through air as he sidestepped, pivoting behind her and sweeping her leg out from under her. She landed lightly, sliding back across the ground. Her glasses tilted slightly as she blinked up at him.
A faint smirk tugged at her lips. "You're improving."
"Yeah," he said with a grin, "but my ribs might disagree."
She stood and dusted herself off. "You lasted longer than last week."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She nodded, then gestured for him to sit. "You said you wanted to try opening your aura today, right?"
He nodded, settling down cross-legged on the cracked stone.
---
For a long moment, there was only the sound of the wind.
Yuzuki inhaled deeply, feeling the faint hum of energy within him — something alive, something constant. He remembered what he'd read about aura back in his old world: life energy that surrounds and protects the body, the source of all Nen.
Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu…
He didn't have a teacher, but he had something else. His eyes.
As he focused inward, the Six Eyes activated, and his vision flooded with detail. He could see it — his aura, every pore glowing faintly, sealed shut.
"Alright," he whispered. "Let's open them."
He willed the energy outward, slowly, carefully — and then felt it.
A rush of warmth spread through his body as the pores opened, his aura flowing freely. It wrapped around him like invisible steam. He could see the shimmer with his eyes, feel the gentle current brushing his skin.
It was beautiful.
But also unstable. The aura flickered wildly, threatening to spill out too far.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to focus.
"Calm down… control it…"
Little by little, the flow evened out, circling close to his body.
He exhaled in awe. "Ten… I actually did it."
He then concentrated on closing it — Zetsu. It was harder than he expected. The Six Eyes helped, showing him each pore, each microstream of aura trying to resist his will. But he could see it — and that meant he could control it.
After several minutes of struggle, his aura vanished completely. His presence felt hollow, gone. Even Shizuku blinked in surprise.
"You disappeared for a second," she said.
"Yeah," he said softly, opening his eyes again. "That's Zetsu."
Her lips quirked. "You're learning faster than most kids your age."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe my eyes aren't just decoration after all."
---
Later that day, Yuzuki sat cross-legged on a crate beside Old Fin's gambling table. The air smelled faintly of cheap tobacco and dust, but the old man's grin was as bright as ever.
"You've got a good poker face, kid," Fin said, shuffling the deck with surprising dexterity for someone his age. "But you're too honest with how you breathe. Every time you're confident, your shoulders relax. Every time you're bluffing, you hold your breath."
Yuzuki chuckled. "You're the one who said I had kind eyes."
"I did," Fin said with a grin. "Didn't need to see them to know. Kindness has a sound, a rhythm. You can hear it in how someone talks, in how they laugh."
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "But kind people? They don't last long in this world unless they learn when to stop showing it."
He dealt the cards. "Now, watch carefully. When a man touches his ear, he's nervous. When he breathes through his mouth, he's calculating odds. But the best clue?" Fin grinned, tapping his wrinkled hand on the table. "The hands. They always give you away."
They played for nearly an hour, laughter echoing faintly between rounds. Fin kept teaching — how to count cards without looking obvious, how to bluff with a half-smile, how to slip a coin unnoticed.
For a while, it was peaceful — a rare kind of warmth in Meteor City.
Until Yuzuki froze.
Even blindfolded, his eyes snapped open under the cloth.
What is that…?
Four auras — dense, heavy, suffocating — appeared in his perception all at once. He could see them through walls, like blazing fires in the distance. Each one pulsed with killing intent. Stronger than anything he'd ever felt.
His heartbeat quickened.
"Something wrong, kid?" Fin asked, frowning.
Yuzuki didn't answer. He could see their path — those four sources of power — moving toward a familiar aura signature.
Shizuku.
Panic surged through him.
He stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over the table.
"Yuzuki?" Fin blinked.
"Sorry, old man," Yuzuki said quickly, tightening his blindfold. "There's something I need to do."
And before Fin could respond, he was already gone — sprinting down the street, the faint flicker of his aura flaring behind him like firelight in the dark.
The walk home was supposed to be short. A quiet night breeze whispered through the alleys, brushing against Yuzuki's hair and tugging lightly at his blindfold. He'd just finished another round of gambling with Old Fin, still hearing the man's raspy laughter echoing in his ears.
But now…
The moment Yuzuki stepped through the door, the air shifted.
Four distinct presences. Dense, heavy — like predators resting but always ready to strike.
He froze at the threshold. His Six Eyes, though blindfolded, painted the scene in shades of light and aura. Shizuku's familiar, gentle aura flickered calmly near the table. But opposite her—four luminous, compressed, and impossibly sharp signatures radiated danger.
Even without seeing their faces, Yuzuki knew: these were not ordinary people.
He swallowed hard. His instincts screamed run, but he couldn't.
He studied the flows of their aura — the balance, the control, the intent. Despite their immense power, none of them held hostility toward Shizuku. Still, the sheer density of their Nen pressed down on him like invisible weight.
Shizuku noticed his stiff posture immediately.
"Yuzuki?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "What's wrong?"
Before he could answer, one of the auras shifted — one of the men turned to face him. The pressure around the room changed again, and a calm, composed voice filled the silence.
"Do you know this boy, Shizuku?"
"Yes," Shizuku replied without hesitation. "He stays with me. His name's Yuzuki."
Yuzuki's heart stopped at the next voice that spoke.
"I see…" The man turned fully toward him, aura as refined as it was dangerous. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuzuki-kun. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer."
For a second, the world spun.
Chrollo Lucilfer.
Leader of the Phantom Troupe.
The man who killed without hesitation.
The man whose presence alone could drown a room in unease.
Yuzuki's blood turned cold.
They're here already…
Chrollo smiled politely, as if sensing the boy's nerves. He gestured toward the three others behind him.
"These are some of my companions. That's Machi, Phinks, and Franklin."
Machi sat lazily on the couch, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded but sharp. Phinks leaned against the wall, wearing a smug grin, while Franklin simply gave a curt nod, his hulking form filling the corner.
Yuzuki, despite the panic bubbling inside him, forced himself to bow respectfully like a well-mannered child. "It's nice to meet you all."
Phinks raised an eyebrow. "Polite kid. Didn't expect that."
Then, curiosity struck. Machi's cold eyes narrowed slightly. "Wait… is he blind or something? He hasn't looked at any of us once."
Before Yuzuki could respond, Shizuku — as unbothered as always — casually answered, "He's not blind. He just wears that because he has really beautiful eyes."
Yuzuki felt his stomach drop.
Oh, for crying out loud, Shizuku!
He could almost hear the sound of his luck collapsing.
Chrollo's expression shifted, interest gleaming faintly behind that calm demeanor. "Beautiful eyes, you say?" He smiled lightly. "Would you mind showing us, Yuzuki-kun?"
Panic flashed in Yuzuki's chest. Refuse? To Chrollo Lucilfer?
Would that even be an option?
He sighed softly to himself. Guess I don't have a choice.
Slowly, he lifted his hands and untied the blindfold. The fabric fell, and the light in the room seemed to still.
The moment his eyes opened, even through the dim lamps, the difference was unmistakable.
Two orbs of shimmering clarity — infinite layers of blues and silvers — rippled like calm oceans reflecting starlight. They weren't just eyes; they were worlds within themselves.
For a second, no one spoke.
Phinks whistled. "Damn… Shizuku wasn't kidding."
Machi blinked, leaning forward slightly. "They don't even look real."
Franklin's brows furrowed. "Those eyes… they're unsettlingly calm."
Chrollo's lips curved into a faint, appreciative smile.
"She wasn't lying. They're beautiful — tranquil, even. Eyes like that could charm anyone. They might just be one of the seven beauties of the world."
Yuzuki forced a polite smile, though his hands trembled slightly.
"Thank you."
Chrollo stood, dusting off his coat. "Well, it's time for us to go." He turned to Shizuku, his voice calm as ever. "We depart tomorrow morning. If you wish, Yuzuki can come along. There's no open spot in the Troupe, of course, but he can stay as an honorary member — for now."
He turned to Yuzuki once more. "Only if you'd like to, of course."
Yuzuki nodded faintly, more out of instinct than decision.
"Thank you, sir."
"Then it's settled," Chrollo said with that same quiet poise. "We'll see you both tomorrow."
With that, he motioned to the others. Machi stood first, silent as ever. Phinks cracked his neck before following. Franklin trailed last, his massive frame moving with surprising grace.
The door closed softly behind them, leaving only Yuzuki and Shizuku in the quiet room.
For a long moment, Yuzuki didn't move. He exhaled slowly, heart still racing.
Shizuku blinked, tilting her head. "You okay?"
"…You just introduced me to the Spider, Shizuku," Yuzuki muttered, pressing a hand over his face.
"Oh," she said, as if realizing that a second too late. "Oops."
Yuzuki groaned softly. "I'm going to die young because of you…"
Shizuku just hummed, completely unbothered, and went back to cleaning her glasses.