- - prologue ;

"You're correct.~"

Everything, from the first time their eyes met to the decisions that followed since, culminated in this very moment. Right here. Airship bar, overlooking the city bustling with life below.

The curve of Hisoka's lips is cold and starkly less human than Illumi's own needles. Illumi has three needles in each hand resting between the spreads of his fingers, but the coolness of the metal is insignificant to the chill rising in his chest at the flare of Hisoka's aura. There's no mistake that the magician is angry, and the darkness clouds over any lesser emotions Illumi could have perhaps picked out otherwise.

"Let us fight," Hisoka invites as nonchalantly as if he was merely commenting on the view outside. He doesn't look at Illumi again, instead returning his own gaze reflected in the glass panes of the window. "Since you no longer interest me."

(Catch it. Tell me I'm lying to you right now. Tell me you know.)

Illumi's voice comes faint to both of their ears. "Very well," the assassin murmurs, and something audibly snaps.

When he feels Illumi's nen surge into a delicious pre-battle state of preparation, Hisoka almost laughs out loud. Oh, my, he does end up laughing out loud, and it's tears of mirth that dot his eyes as Illumi's nen spikes further in wariness to his odd reaction. He has to clasp a hand over his eyes before he can tear them away from the window and control his giggles, but the image on the glass will stay with him.

And when he moves from the window, he can feel it, too—the looseness in the front of his pants.

There's no heat, no excitement.

Hisoka has never been so unfulfilled. He's never been this not turned-on by the prospect of fighting a prey that could stand with him on nearly equal ground, whose nen was as black as his and whose abilities he could admittedly respect. But that was exactly why this had to end. Hisoka could be extremely patient, but he's tired of being patient for this. Whatever 'this' was, it ends today. Right here.

Feeling like a lifetime ago, on an airship headed to the very same destination, had they also not met 'right here'?

.

/ / / / / /

A/N: A Hisoillu fic as the HxH anime comes to an end! The Chairman Election arc just screams Hisoillu and I was inspired to do this thing. The next chapter is done and I'll post it over the next few days, and after that expect very very very slow updates. I'm not even sure what this fic will entail, I just want lots of Hisoillu. ;-; Cute fluffy Hisoillu as well as very angsty Hisoillu, and possibly character death(s). Haven't quite decided yet...

I'd actually written this with Hisoka's card suit symbols but FFN strips them all out, so please imagine lots of spades/hearts/clubs/diamonds with his speech as you read.