[Chrollo takes a deep breath. Because he's willing to talk to them, and wouldn't have offered if he weren't... but it's still... tough territory. Just because of the history. And because of the landmines.
So all right, a deep breath. He steeples his fingers together, not that they can see it, and closes his eyes.]
Two points of contention.
First, it's best to stop attributing the seals on my Nen to Hisoka. He wouldn't have agreed to or been complicit in something like that.
Second, in the end, we were the instrument of our own undoing. We are, all of us, aware of our status as Class A Bounties. We're aware that of all we've done and how it hurts others, how much our heads are worth. With that in mind, it has always been our responsibility to steel ourselves so that no knife, no matter how covertly or openly brandished, could make its away through our armor. But we were arrogant, and so we exposed our own throats.
In this, we failed. I failed, as your leader, to foresee it. And I would have paid that appropriate price for that, if Paku hadn't acted against my instructions. In making that choice she failed.
In the end, I don't blame the chain-user for his actions - he sought revenge for what we did to his people. That's natural. Just as it's natural to respond in kind. That cycle never ends. Nor should it. Of course, even if I can't blame him, that doesn't mean I forgive him.
[He opens his eyes now, stares at the ceiling.]
None of which is meant to defend or excuse Hisoka. Only to contextualize my choices. Hisoka is who he is, and he acts as he does. My bargain with him - his assistance in exchange for that deathmatch he sought me out for - that reaches back farther than this place. At home, he was the only piece of my life I could contact without death, after all. And here, he was the only piece of my life that existed in this world.
shh i didnt completely rewrite this at 7am.
So all right, a deep breath. He steeples his fingers together, not that they can see it, and closes his eyes.]
Two points of contention.
First, it's best to stop attributing the seals on my Nen to Hisoka. He wouldn't have agreed to or been complicit in something like that.
Second, in the end, we were the instrument of our own undoing. We are, all of us, aware of our status as Class A Bounties. We're aware that of all we've done and how it hurts others, how much our heads are worth. With that in mind, it has always been our responsibility to steel ourselves so that no knife, no matter how covertly or openly brandished, could make its away through our armor. But we were arrogant, and so we exposed our own throats.
In this, we failed. I failed, as your leader, to foresee it. And I would have paid that appropriate price for that, if Paku hadn't acted against my instructions. In making that choice she failed.
In the end, I don't blame the chain-user for his actions - he sought revenge for what we did to his people. That's natural. Just as it's natural to respond in kind. That cycle never ends. Nor should it. Of course, even if I can't blame him, that doesn't mean I forgive him.
[He opens his eyes now, stares at the ceiling.]
None of which is meant to defend or excuse Hisoka. Only to contextualize my choices. Hisoka is who he is, and he acts as he does. My bargain with him - his assistance in exchange for that deathmatch he sought me out for - that reaches back farther than this place. At home, he was the only piece of my life I could contact without death, after all. And here, he was the only piece of my life that existed in this world.