"Alice."
The girl with shoulder length hair turned with a sharp, serious look. When her eyes landed on the muscular figure before her she let out a small laugh, "My, you've certainly gotten better, but so have I."
The man from the voice jumped from the shadows as ice formed on the floor and shot up, encasing everything in a block of ice.
"Not bad," the man said walking coolly through her room, he ran his hand through his long bright colored hair. The way he carried himself made him look like a man full of himself, which he was. "Why do you have to be so hostile?" He mockingly accused her. An icy gust of wind filled the room, "You're the one who broke into my home."
A pink aura began to form around the tall man; the twisted look he held in his eyes and the way the moonlight outlined his silhouette would send chills up anyone's back.
"I missed you, I didn't know I needed a special invitation to visit you." Alice felt her body get hot, she couldn't believe what he had just said, she was boiling but somehow managed to control her anger, "Look Mr. Morow, you stopped being welcome here the moment I found out you had someone." The usual tear drop and star were off his face, his hair was down and he was out of his clown get up. He looked like a different person, he looked like the man she used to wake up to in the mornings. Her eyes examined him up and down, bringing back memories of their times together.
"You're still mad about that?" He asked with a loud laugh that rang in her ears. "I already told you, that was nothing serious… And if memory serves me right, you said the same thing about us." She had allowed him to get close to her, her eyes avoided his strong gaze while her mind replayed their conversation from many months ago, a small frown appeared on her face, yes he was right. "Come on sweets, don't frown."
He grabbed her chin and made her face him, "Now, it's me who should be mad." He paused and looked her straight in the eye, "I heard you and Illumi have a thing going on." She tried to pull away but he held her firmly, "Are the rumours true?" His grip tightened making her wince. "Hmmmmm?" Her eyes shut close, "It was nothing serious, remember?" He smirked, "Oh so that's how you want to play?"
Her gaze never broke his. In fact, it was he who broke away with a smile. Nothing in her life made sense anymore, thus she hid the surprise that sprang. The last time they had seen each other was at the tower...
"Nice house," her eyes followed him as he walked around. This was one of the vacation homes she owned. The place was in the middle of nowhere right on the coast, this is where she liked to go when she needed peace. "I checked to see who owned this property, it was hard but with enough digging the name Georgina Bartoli popped up."
Her breath caught in her throat, her blue eyes followed the man with the red hair until he took a seat on a couch overlooking the white sand and endless sea. The night sky gave the scenery a special glow . "Alice, or do you prefer to go by Georgina?"
When there was no answer the man turned to look at her, "Alice, it's the first name I was given." Hisoka raised his eyebrow and motioned for her to sit down with him. Alice rolled her eyes as soon as he turned away from her, she knew this day would come, but this is not how she had imagined it. Before complying with the man's request she made her way to her bar, she took a tray and placed two glasses, a bottle of her finest whiskey and a special bowl of chocolates. She was trying to relax herself but figured that if she was going to die tonight she would die doing what she loved, drugs and alcohol.
Alice placed the tray on the coffee table in front of the man. She then ran her index finger across the rim, causing the glasses to frost before pouring the whiskey.
'Hisoka.' Alice engraved the memory of him in her head. He was lazily stacking a row of cards on her coffee table. The small smirk on his face made it seem like he was enjoying taking his time. He looked older with his hair down, more mature. Alice grabbed a small handful of chocolates and threw them in her mouth, 'I don't even know how old he is.' But she would not deny how heavenly he looked to her right then.
"Are these what I think they are?" Hisoka asked with amusement in his voice before eating a few pieces of chocolate. Alice chewed on the chocolate she still had in her mouth before washing it down with her glass of whiskey. "I don't know what you speak of." Hisoka let out a small chuckle, "You always have the best edibles; I suppose it's an advantage of being the heiress to the Bartoli fortune." The same uneasiness she was feeling earlier returned, 'Why am I nervous? Am I nervous because he's here or am I nervous because I'm scared?'
"I'm still waiting for an answer." Hisoka stopped working on his tower half way and leaned back on the couch. However, his cards kept stacking each other, continuing the tower his hands were no longer working on. The tension was thick in the air, she noticed it was becoming harder to breath. "It's nothing serious." "Is that your answer to everything?" Alice let out a small laugh, "No, he just happens to think the same way you do." The only sound came from the ocean waves right outside.
Hisoka knew far more than her..
"I need you to go visit Alice after you're done with your game." Hisoka shrugged, "What for?" Illumi let out a small sigh, "This job we're both working on has her shaken up. She heard from Killua and his friend that all members of the Phantom Troupe had been assassinated by the Zoldyck's and she called me bawling on the phone asking about you." Hisoka raised an eyebrow and ask mockingly, "Jealous that your girlfriend is still in love with me?" "I'm not selfish enough to make her my girlfriend."
Illumi was overlooking the city in the far distance. They were both in an abandoned building discussing how and when Illumi would impersonate Hisoka and take his place in the Phantom Troupe. "It's my price for your favor." Hisoka never took his eyes off his cards, he was shuffling them around like the pro that he was. "However she feels is not my problem." "I know you care about her."
Hisoka raised his eyebrow and turned to look at Illumi who seemed to be mesmerized by the city in the distance. He reminded Hisoka of Her. "How so?" "Because you're jealous." Hisoka let out a dark chuckle but said nothing else. Illumi was right, denying it was futile. Everything they needed to discussed was taken care of, the silence lasted for several more minutes until the time to depart approached. It was Illumi who broke the silence, "We both walk a dangerous road." Hisoka went to stand besides Illumi and also looked to the city in the distance, Alice was somewhere in there.
"We can die at any moment." Hisoka said agreeing with Illumi. "I have a job to finish, and her friend is dying, can you stay with her?" "I'll stay with her." "Hisoka, if the Kastro episode repeats itself, I will kill you." Illumi tone of voice was controlled but a spike of dark nen rouse from both of them, that accident was Hisoka's fault. It was his lie about his reltionship with Machi that pushed Alice into Kastro's arms... where she was later drugged and taken advantage of. Hisoka pulled out his deck of cards and started shuffling them; he hadn't been able to spend time with Alice after the attack due to his scheduled fight with Kastro, where he planned on taking revenge, and the other Phantom Troupe member in town. It was Hisoka who had called Illumi to take care of Alice, he was sure that's when their relationship flourished.
"I'll kill any other man that get's close to her." "That's what I expect."
Hisoka smirked, "Does he?" Alice nodded and Hisoka patted the set next him. It was one of the small mannerisms that he picked up from her. Alice made her way to Hisoka, there was a sweetness in the air like there usually was when he used his nen around her. Hisoka looked at Alice from the corner of his eye, she looked calm but he knew she often did even when she was panicking. "I don't bite," Alice finished her whiskey and answered him, "No, you do." Her voice wasn't as cheery as usual. "Only because you like it." She let out a small giggle, Hisoka's favorite giggle.
"So you and Illumi, huh?" He asked her as he wrapped an arm around her, bringing her close to his body. "I've known for a while." Hisoka began petting her hair, which caused her to wince. "I don't know why you look so frightened, I'd never hurt you." Hisoka kissed the top of her head, he had spent enough time away from her to realize that he liked having her in his life, he genuinely missed her. "I really did miss you."
Alice stayed in his embrace enjoying the warmth of his body, the sweetness of his nen, and the music his heartbeat made. Unlike Hisoka, she had known since the first day they spent together that he would be different but it wasn't until she saw him walking with Machi that she realized how much he really meant to her. That's all she needed to think about to get jealous too.
"What about your girlfriend?" Hisoka let out a small chuckle, "I never got to tell you, but she's not my girlfriend." Alice began rubbing his chest, "I know, Illumi told me." "What about you and your boyfriend?" "I already told you, he thinks like you so he's not my boyfriend. I'm a free woman." Hisoka let out another chuckle and whispered in her ear, "You sure you're a free woman?" Chills ran down her back.
She had played around with that thought for a while. No, she was not dating Illumi and she never dated Hisoka, but did the same rules of a regular relationship apply? These men are killers, they clearly don't follow tradition. She knew Hisoka noticed her breathing change because he started moving his hand up and down her back. 'How free am I really?'