It seems that every time you land an attack on Sanguis, whether it be through your Nen or your dagger, you somehow sustained the same amount of damage. Kicking him with a Nen-infused attack to his side meant a sharp cut forming on yours. Cutting his shoulder with your dagger meant another sharp sting on yours. It was as if you were attacking yourself instead.

"What's wrong?" Sanguis' amused smile never disappeared. He stood there the entire time and never made a move to fight back.

Meanwhile, you were on your knees, panting heavily from exhaustion and your injuries. Your grip on the dagger slowly loosened, until it dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

"I don't get it... how?" Your brows were furrowed in confusion. "You never had this ability in the Heavens Arena match..."

"Never had it?" He chuckles. Despite him sustaining the same amount of injuries as you, he was holding his ground pretty well. "Who said that?"

Your eyes widened. "What...?

Sanguis crouched down to meet your eye level. You thought about attacking him again but decided it probably wasn't a good idea.

"This Nen ability is a counteractive type. Heard of it?"

You frowned in confusion. 'More stuff about Nen I've never heard of before? Are you kidding?!'

"I'm guessing you don't, huh?" He stood back up and dusted his coat. "Though I'm pretty sure you have an idea of what it does," he says, smirking. "It activates whenever I take damage and returns it to you. The greater the damage I get, the greater the damage you get back. Simple as that."

You wiped the sweat off your forehead, picking up your dagger and standing back up. "You're a Transmuter, aren't you?" you asked, getting into a fighting stance once more. "Why are your abilities always a different type? The one you showed in Heavens Arena was an Enhancer ability, and now... this." You projected your Ren, ignoring the pain of your injuries. 'Is Transmutation that bad? Killua's abilities are pretty strong, though.'

Sanguis tilted his head in mock confusion. "You seriously couldn't tell?"

"Tell what?!" You were beginning to get frustrated now. "Whatever it is, I'll just find a way around it!"

Bending your knees, you jumped high enough to be able to reach the tree branches. Sanguis merely looked up, watching your every move with keen interest.

Using your fist, you concentrated all of your aura there, before plunging to punch Sanguis' face with a Ko attack.

Sanguis scoffed. "Again? Come on, (Y/N). You've grown so strong in such a short period of time! I'm sure you can do better than that."

You saw his aura radiate off of him, enveloping the space around you. Suddenly, you felt this looming pressure, as if eyes were watching you from every corner.

'Is this... En?!' You thought, eyes widening. Just as your fist was about to touch his face, you instantly transferred all your aura to your foot, dealing a powerful blow to his stomach instead.

You stepped back, smirking to yourself. 'Even if he could predict my moves with En, there's no way he could counter something that fast.'

Just as you thought you were able to bypass his counteractive ability, you felt a sharp sting across your stomach. You looked down, seeing blood start to seep into your clothes.

'What?!'

"That was pretty good! I didn't expect you to manipulate your Nen that quickly." Another huge smile was on Sanguis' face. "You thought that if you caught me off guard, you'd be able to get around my ability, didn't you? Too bad that's not how it works!" He looks down on you with a smug smirk.

You clutched your stomach, attempting to stop yourself from bleeding even further. "Well, then I'll just keep trying different things until I figure it out." You smiled back, getting into a fighting stance once more.

"That's right. Entertain me some more, (Y/N)." Sanguis chuckles.

_ _ _

Ever since you took a step inside the walls of Heavens Arena, every fight was a source of enjoyment for you. Was it because you liked seeing the blood spilled by your opponents? Quite possibly. Its crimson color was something that reminded you of your childhood, after all. Was it because you loved figuring out your opponents' patterns and using your abilities to exploit or circumvent them? Maybe. You couldn't find yourself backing down from a challenge, after all.

So when you thought that you were finally able to land a hit on him without getting any damage back, a smile made its way to your face.

That is until you realized you ripped open his right sleeve instead. Strange. Why did he choose to dodge when he realized you were aiming for his arm?

Looking at his exposed forearm, your eyes widened.'That scar...!' you thought, feeling your resolve weakening. Sure enough, that same jagged, sickle-shaped scar from your childhood was right in front of you.

Sanguis noticed your expression, a small smirk forming on his lips. "It's a pretty nasty scar, isn't it?" He leaned closer to you. "But you're not one to be bothered by something like this, so why the shocked face?" His smirk grew wider.

Your Nen wavered, dropping your defense significantly. "T-That scar..." your hands were shaking as you pointed to it, looking up at him with disbelief.

Sanguis' smile grew more sinister. "Looks familiar?"

__________________

Your parents were rarely ever around. When they were, it was always to check if you and your brother were still alive, before leaving again for who knows how long.

"Hey, Nii-chan? Why are Mom and Dad always gone?" you asked him, staring at the autumn leaves as they fell.

Your brother was silent at first. "They're Hunters, (Y/N). It's a pretty demanding job, so they're always away," he replied after a while, looking down on the ground.

"Really?" Your attention was on him now. "What do Hunters do?"

"Not sure. They're probably going after something big if they have to be away all the time."

You hummed in curiosity. "Nii-chan, why do you always look sad when I ask about Mom and Dad?"

"H-Huh?" Your brother was taken aback. "It's– It's because I miss them, of course!" He averted his gaze as he said that.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!" he insists. "Don't worry about them too much, (Y/N). I'm sure they're fine."

You narrowed your eyes in suspicion but decided to shrug it off. Who wouldn't miss their parents after all?

_ _ _

It was one of those rare days when your parents were home.

It was early morning, and your brother went ahead to meet them since you were still asleep. The instant you woke up, however, you quickly jumped off the bed at the sound of their voices. With a huge grin on your face, you slammed your door open, not even bothering to make the bed before you left.

As you ran towards where your parents were, the more you realized that something seemed amiss. Their voices almost sounded like shouting. It was as if they were arguing over something, and it wasn't a peaceful one.

You slowed down your footsteps out of caution until you stood in the corner of the room your parents were in. There, you saw your brother. However, his expression wasn't the same gentle, kind expression you were used to. He looked pissed, maybe even angry as he glared at your parents.

"(B/N), why don't you understand already?" your mom argued. "You know we can't stay because of work!"

Your brother, (B/N), grits his teeth. "At least take a day off! Even (Y/N) keeps looking for you every time you leave!"

"There's nothing we can do! Don't you get it?!" Your mom was practically shouting by this point. Her shrill voice made you tense up, yet you still listened on, unable to take your eyes off of them.

(B/N) glares at your dad, demanding an answer. Yet he stood there, showing no signs of stepping in, just silence.

"Just take care of (Y/N) while we're away–"

"How about me, then?!" (B/N) was shouting as well. "Who's gonna take care of me then if you aren't home the whole goddamn time?!"

Your parents stare at your brother in disbelief. Then, your mother snapped. "We're already working hard enough to provide for the both of you!" She points a finger at him. "Because of us, you and (Y/N) have food, clean water, and a roof above your heads!! Why aren't you grateful about that, huh?!"

You stared at them as tears started welling up in your eyes. Was it from all the shouting? Was it because of what your brother said? Was it because of what your mom said? You didn't know why. All you know is that your sniffles and whimpers started getting louder as more tears rolled down your cheeks.

Immediately, all eyes turned to you. You tried to wipe away your tears with your hands, but they kept flowing out anyways.

Your brother immediately rushed to your side. You buried your face into his shirt and cried onto it. He kept patting your back in an attempt to comfort you, but you showed no signs of stopping.

"You're a teenager already, (B/N). You'll be fine without us," your mom continued, though (B/N) could tell she was trying to hold herself back from going ballistic again.

Even so, he decided to speak up one last time. "Mom, Dad, at least consider–"

"Oh, just shut up already!!" Your mom screamed, throwing something at your brother. However, her aim was off, so it went straight for you instead.

You froze like a deer caught in headlights, watching as the object headed straight for you. However, your brother put his arm over you just in time, protecting you from the impact.

You closed your eyes, expecting to hear a loud thud. Instead, you heard your brother yell in pain, then a loud clang on the ground.

As soon as (B/N) took his arm off of you, you immediately checked on him. The moment you did, however, your eyes only widened as you stepped back. You couldn't even cry anymore from the shock.

(B/N) was holding onto his right arm, pain evident on his face. Large amounts of blood trickled down his forearm and onto the floor, where an elaborate-looking knife laid, its dull blade covered in blood as well.

Your mother finally managed to snap out of it as she witnessed your brother's arm turn into a bleeding mess. However, she made no move to even help him. Instead, she turned her back and walked out, loudly slamming the door behind her.

Your father cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but we have to leave by later tonight," was all he said before he followed your mom out the door.

A few moments of silence pass as you stared at your brother's arm, not knowing what to do.

"...useless, good-for-nothing parents..." he mumbles, trying to stop the bleeding. The cut was long and deep, however, so he wasn't sure if he could.

"Nii-chan..." You tried to stop yourself from crying and panicking.

Your brother managed a small smile. "(Y/N), I'm in a bit of trouble here..." he said softly, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Can you get some bandages and disinfectant for me?"

'Will that even be enough?!' you thought. Nevertheless, you found yourself nodding profusely, before rushing out to get what he needed.

Ever since that day, you never dared to step out of your room whenever your parents were home. Especially if you heard shouting.