The many lights of the city cast a warm glow onto the sidewalk as expensive cars, sleek and curvy, stopped one by one in front of the Grand Ball atrium and left just as quickly. The people that exited the cars were dressed in tasteful, rich suits and dresses and weren't discrete about their gathering at all. Many of them were either politicians, philanthropists, or the extremely wealthy. Laughter and idle chat floated in the air and anyone who passed the spectacle would look with wide eyes and wish they were one of the invited.
A rather tall woman with shimmering ebony hair that spilled below her waist dressed in a long royal purple dress that flared at the hem briskly walked inside after showing her identity card to the guards at the entrance. One of the men whistled as she passed by while another stared longingly after her.
What they didn't know, however, was that this woman was not a woman, but actually a man. And this man's name was Illumi Zoldyck, a very professional and very dangerous assassin.
Illumi hated the way that the dark purple lipstick felt on his lips but he'd wanted to blend in as much as possible, and women usually wore lipstick all the time when going out to social events, right? He fished his tiny mirror from within the knee-high lace-up boots he wore and checked his make-up. The eyeliner was still fresh and perfect and the creamy peach blush was a nice contrast from his unusually pale complexion.
A sly, deep voice broke him out of his examination, "Why, Illumi, you look as beautiful as the last time we met 3."
The assassin whipped around to see his friend and adversary, Hisoka, casually leaning against the wall chomping on a plum tart. He looked…quite different than he had all the other times he and Illumi had seen each other. His bright red hair, which was always gelled and spiked up, was left magnificently untreated and gave him a more handsome profile. He wasn't wearing his favorite bizarre attire of high-heels and awful colors, but instead had on a well-pressed black silk suit and pants with matching penny-loafers and a scarlet tie with heart pattern. He had no make-up on his face which brought out his sharp and attractive features, especially those deep golden pools of his eyes that scanned the room like a hawk.
"Hisoka." Illumi uttered as he grabbed the other man's arm and led him away from the swarming crowd of people. "What are you doing here?"
Hisoka let out a low laugh. "Illumi-chan 3, what do you think I'm doing here?"
"You have something up your sleeve." Illumi hissed in the most unemotional voice.
Hisoka twirled a hand around the Zoldyck's silky hair and sniffed his neck. "Mmm, you have perfume on, how sweet. You play the part of a woman well, Illumi-chan 3."
He slapped Hisoka's hand away and proceeded to sit in a seat at a small round table where a late turkey dinner was being served with red wine. He took a sip of the drink and noticed that his lip-stick had smudged the rim of the glass. Embarrassed, Illumi composed himself and wiped glass with a napkin and then applied more lip-stick to himself.
"My, my, aren't we a bit tedious tonight?" Hisoka beamed as he took a seat opposite Illumi.
"Are you going to answer my question sincerely?" The assassin asked.
Hisoka chugged the wine down in a couple gulps and circled a finger around the glass delicately. "If you really wanna know, I suppose I'l l tell you. I saw you going into here and thought, 'Oh, what fun' and decided to come in after you. Maybe catch up." He winked.
Illumi retained his quiet demeanor and said, "You got in here with your deceitful texture, I presume?"
Hiskoa nodded with a Cheshire-cat grin. "How else would I have gotten in, Illu-chan?"
Illumi popped a bite of turkey into his mouth and was silent for a minute before replying, "Listen, Hisoka. I'm on a job, so please don't get in the way."
"Understood," Hiskoa answered briefly.
Illumi sighed and set his fork and knife onto the table. There was an announcement for everyone to stand up and dance and everyone immediately scrambled to the white polished floor in the center of the atrium. Hisoka pushed his seat under the table and reached for Illumi's hand. He pulled the Zoldyck up and brought him to his chest. Illumi's cheeks flushed a faint scarlet and he inhaled Hisoka's musky cologne.
"You took the time to put on cologne?"
Hisoka shrugged, "I had to at least try, didn't I?"
Illumi broke apart from being so close to the other man but kept his hand woven in his. He placed on hand on Hisoka's shoulder and the other on his muscular back while Hisoka's hands wrapped around his slender waist and they moved slowly to the beat of the Bach Concerto.
"You dance very well, Illu-chan 3."
Illumi didn't answer, just focused on his steps while trying to pinpoint the target. His eyes finally locked onto the man, Ben Bartholomew, a corrupt senator from York Shin. He had been hired from a rival politician to kill the man in plain view of his client. So he had been given a forged ID card to get him into the party and counted on to assassinate this prominent political figure. He was more than certain that he could handle it.
He wasn't so sure about Hisoka.
As the music grew louder and the beat sped up, Hisoka and lllumi's steps became perfectly synchronized and flowed with the waves of the song. Illumi clutched firmly at Hisoka's suit, enjoyed the relaxing waltz they somehow managed to pull off, and let himself drown, bathe himself thoroughly in the moment. When the music finally ceased, he stopped moving and Hisoka leaned close to him, so close, his hot breath tickled Illumi's face and their lips met as one, crushed together in a needy, heated ballet of sensual passion and desire. When Illumi broke from the kiss he gave the slightest smile to Hisoka before resuming his regular stoic expression.
"Illu-chan, that was a-ma-zing 3."Hisoka panted.
Illumi's abyssal black eyes slid to the target in less than a second he had thrown his needles into the back of the necks of ten men to create his zombie-like "needle-men". He gave them the order to quietly surround Ben with the client. As they did so, Illumi rushed inside the circle and with sharpened nails, sliced Ben's head clean off his shoulders. Blood spurted into the air and arced like a carmine ribbon before it splattered onto the floor. Like an agile cat, Illumi bounded to the window and had escaped before anyone had even noticed his presence.
As he stood on the balcony, the cold night breeze blowing his hair wildly about, Hisoka walked up behind him and whispered slyly into his ear, "That was fun. Until next time, Illumi-chan 3." When Illumi turned around the clown was gone and he felt a strange aching in his chest.
He had successfully completed the mission. He had gotten his pay and wouldn't have to take on a hit for at least two months.
Why, then, did his chest feel so empty? So void of happiness or elation.
Why did it hurt so much…whenever Hisoka had to leave?