__________ POV Narration__________
Ashton jumped down from the wall and slowly walked towards his approaching Chimaera Ant student.
The second Pitou noticed him, it was as if a light lit up in her eyes. A smile spread on her lips as her steps became faster and her strides became larger.
Ashton also slowly walked towards her, a smile of his own appearing on his face as Pitou got closer. He could feel something swell in him, it was a familiar feeling to someone like him. Pride.
But, at this time, he wasn't feeling it due to his own accomplishments. He felt pride when seeing what Pitou had accomplished. It was a strange feeling for him, even if it was so familiar.
Pitou jumped at him and hugged him "Ashton!" She shouted as she wrapped her hands around the old scientist's neck. She buried her head in his chest and continued rubbing her cheeks on him.
Ashton just smiled with a bit of a ticked off feeling 'This shirt won't be easy to clean...'. He could clearly see that Pitou was covered in quite a bit of dirt.
There were signs of her struggle, scars and scratches. Ashton just sighed a bit after a few seconds of her hugging him. Eventually, he also wrapped his hands around her back.
To Pitou, Ashton had been by her side the entirety of her life. She considered him family and she had missed him dearly.
For Ashton, his affection towards Pitou was a bit more difficult to explain. At first, he only saw her as a test subject with extra steps.
Then, he started training her because he wanted someone to watch his back in the Dark Continent.
But during that time, he grew to feel attached to Piou too.
Even if his attachment to her was small in comparison to her admiration for him. Still, it was a feeling he grew to accept and Pitou became a person to him.
No longer was she a test subject, replaceable and unimportant. She became so important, that Ashton couldn't even bring himself to let her accompany him in the majority of the Dark Continent.
He didn't even bother forcing her to learn how to use Nen anymore. To him, unknowingly, she became much more than just a tool.
And, to her, Ashton was a warm and powerful figure. The only thing she had even closely resembling a family.
But, there were also some other thoughts running through Ashton's mind. Things like 'She's only like this because I used my Mind Breaking Hatsu on her.' or 'She would've never gotten attached to me without me manipulating her in the beginning.'.
Those thoughts were what made him hesitate in hugging Pitou at first. It took him a few seconds to realise how useless these thoughts were.
It didn't matter who Pitou was before, now, she was there, with him. And no one was forcing her to stay. She was not completely dependant on Ashton either, since she actually spent a lot of time in the forest, surviving on her own.
Now, a bit over 2 months may not sound like much. But that was basically a quarter of her current lifespan. Ashton had sent her on this training for a few reasons. To get stronger, to learn how to survive.
But the most important reason was to see if she was truly willingly going to return to him.
"I'm glad to see you're back," Ashton said as the two of them both pulled back. Still, he patted her head for a bit while speaking to her.
Pitou's smile only got wider and wider as Ashton continued to pat her head. "I missed this feeling..." She said with a contented sigh.
This was something that she had gotten used to. The warmth of his palm on her head, ever since she was starting to re-develop her personality.
Ashton had always been patting her head, at first, it was to build rapport and to make her see it as some sort of reward. Then, he actually started to like doing so.
Now, he did it at every opportunity, for no other reason than because he liked to hear her purr. To see her smile.
"Quite a few things have happened in these parts... I'm sure you'll find quite a few of them interesting." Ashton stopped and turned around, Pitou followed closely behind him as he walked back towards the city.
"I think we should get you a new set of clothes first, you can also take a bath." He spoke as he walked at a steady pace.
He didn't even bother asking about the Land Lizard, he didn't care for it. He knew for a fact if Pitou came here, then that lizard was already dead.
The two of them continued walking until they reached a house that had been assigned to Ashton in advance. He had prepared it for Pitou's return, he even prepared a few sets of clothing for her.
Pitou proceeded to take a bath and change while Ashton contacted Cheadle about his earlier experience in the city. They talked a bit and agreed to solve the issue at a later date.
Thankfully, since the exploration effort was toned down, now they had some manpower to spend in order to build an information system. Spreading rumours and 'helping the civilians reach a more positive mentality' was how Ashton had phrased it.
But Cheadle didn't need an explanation on why such a system was important. She had stood near enough politicians to know how to manage a group of people. The only reason such a system wasn't in place was because of their lacking manpower.
There weren't even enough people patrolling the streets, they couldn't possibly build an organization in that environment.
But none of that was important for Ashton right away. For now, the old hunter wanted to concentrate on Pitou for a day or two.
It was his way of taking some time off from his responsibilities. He also wanted to check on Momoze, it had been quite a while since he had a proper conversation with the princess.
Kurapika was also a person that he wanted to see. He was quite sure that Kurapika had already accepted him as at least a friend.
The old hunter wasn't sure if Kurapika had forgiven him yet. But he knew that forgiveness would come in due time. He had already shown the young clan survivor that he was repentant.
Now, before the situation had a chance to worsen, he needed to spend as much time with the people he grew to care about.
There was no knowing when the 'gods' would strike, he needed to be vigilant.
So, this was likely going to be the last time he would be able to take time off.
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