HxH : Saiki Kusuo’s Ordinary Days in the Zoldyck Family

Wait, why are they already fighting?

Saiki Kusuo's face darkened. He was just running from a cockroach, and now he's surrounded by the whole Troupe?

The bullets tore around him in a full circle. Even though he dodged most of them, a few still clipped the edges of his clothes.

Yare yare. Saiki Kusuo rubbed his forehead.

Chrollo saw how relaxed he looked. There was no killing intent at all. He raised his hand to signal Franklin to stop.

"I think we can talk." Chrollo closed his book and walked toward him. "My power is in this book. Once it's shut, there's no threat. You don't need to be so on guard..."

No, I'm not worried about your power—

I'm worried about the pant leg that just touched a cockroach.

"What do you want, or what do you need?" Chrollo asked.

They were standing very close now. Chrollo noticed Saiki Kusuo hadn't made any move to defend himself.

So this guy thinks he can protect himself no matter what happens?

The outside world is unpredictable. He needs to be better prepared.

For some reason, Saiki Kusuo's arrival caused the Phantom Troupe to delay their departure from Meteor City.

Making a deal with Chrollo—who ruled the area—meant he'd be safe.

And he could go through Illumi's trial in a somewhat normal setting.

He might even earn a high score from Illumi.

Saiki Kusuo agreed. His request was simple:

[Food and water aren't necessary. I just want a room away from the garbage.]

Chrollo was a little surprised at first, then laughed.

"I see. Outsiders care more about the living conditions. We do have a house in our territory, but there's only one—it's where we live. If you want that, I can give it to you, but the condition is you'll have to live with us. Do you understand?"

That's fine. As long as I'm not living with cockroaches, I don't care.

Suddenly, a headache hit him.

Saiki Kusuo lowered his head and pressed his hand to his forehead.

A vision?

He saw a house with four walls.

Was that the Troupe's base?

A beat-up sofa, old chairs and tables, a dusty old game console, a worn-out mattress... Everything was junk! It just looked like a house on the outside. All that stuff was clearly picked out of the trash!

It felt hot.

Was it worry about the future?

Saiki Kusuo started to think seriously.

Did he really need to go through this trial?

With all the psychic powers he had, could he really not get around his family's rules?

Was Illumi really impossible to deal with in another way?

Why is it so hot...

[Those who can't be forgiven shall burn under the blazing sun! Die, brat!]

Feitan's ultimate move!

Everyone else had already gotten far away!

Even Illumi started to feel uneasy. But as a killer, he had a hundred ways to kill someone and only a few to save someone.

He started wondering if putting Saiki Kusuo through this trial was too cruel.

If Kusuo could survive this, he would finally understand that you must run and hide when in danger...

Feitan's move was brutal.

He would protect himself while the blazing sun burned everything around him.

The more pain he felt, the stronger the attack. The closer you were to the center of the sun, the more intense the damage.

It was normal for a regular person to be burned into nothing.

Feitan laughed coldly.

A nine-year-old kid living with them? What a joke.

Weaklings and outsiders were only fit to become dust in the trash heap...?!

When the blinding flames finally faded,

everyone was shocked to see what was left—and their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.

The nine-year-old boy hadn't taken any damage at all.

Not even a single hair was out of place.

Even the bullet holes in his clothes from earlier were gone!

[Yare yare... I wasn't even being hostile, so why attack me over and over...]

Saiki Kusuo sighed.

If he hadn't used ice at the last second to block it, his clean clothes would've been ruined.

And if that happened, what would he wear?

Clothes from Meteor City that had been crawled on by Gs?

He might as well quit this trial and go home.

"...So, can we still talk things out?"

"I'm Chrollo. What's your name?"

As expected of a leader.

His own members just tried to blow me up, and yet he's still shamelessly trying to negotiate.

But fine.

I really don't want to fight.

Saiki Kusuo agreed without hesitation,

leaving even Illumi, who had been watching closely, stunned.

So what exactly are Kusuo's powers?

Is it just brute strength?

Clearly not.

No wonder he's so confident.

Illumi couldn't believe there wasn't a single person in all of Meteor City who could knock Kusuo's ego down a notch.

Feeling more at ease about his brother's safety,

Illumi moved to a new hidden spot to keep watching.

Chrollo always handled threats in one of two ways:

1. Turn them into allies.

2. Get rid of them.

For a threat this big,

the only reason Chrollo agreed to negotiate twice was because Kusuo was still a kid—only nine years old.

That made him easier to win over.

The Troupe's base was a four-story building in the middle of their territory.

In Meteor City, high-rise buildings were rare and usually showed someone's status.

Chrollo wanted him to be the first to go inside.

But Saiki Kusuo just stood outside and motioned for Chrollo to go first.

Chrollo: [I see... he wants me to turn my back to him to show trust.]

Saiki Kusuo: G seems to like you a lot. Could you go in and keep her busy? Thanks.

While the two of them stood there stuck, Nobunaga suddenly rushed over, shoved the pair at the door aside with his elbow—Saiki Kusuo especially—and ended up with a sore shoulder for his trouble.

He didn't let it show. Still stone-faced, he said what he'd meant to say: "I'm sick of you two cultured types fighting over who gets to walk through a door first. Boss, this is Meteor Street. You really don't need to practice your manners right here, right now."

"Fair point. Paku, find him a room. Third floor… should be safe." Chrollo stepped aside so Pakunoda could enter first.

---------------------------------------

You can read 15 chapters ahead on patre on

patr eon.com/JYouyi