Shades of Hatred

Prequel - part one;

Eight Years before Today


ZOLDYCK MANSION

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He heard the familiar footsteps coming from afar, they belong to her kitten heels. A slight breath of relief escaped him. She is coming closer to where he is, and he is going to be saved.

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He looked around him, trapped between four walls with only a door, his hands tied with the high-volt electricity by Milluki, his older brother that enjoys hurting him. He is enduring the electricity, and keeps his mouth shut, not wanting his sadistic big brother to feel great by hurting him. His body turned black and blue. This is something he has to be used to. This is the young boyanother endurance training his grandfather made. He was born to be the successor.

[Creak]

The door opened. Revealing a small figured woman wearing long kimono is there.

"Milluki, you pig. It's enough. Let go of Kil." She steps forward, closing their distance.

"What did you call me, outsider?!" Milluki was obviously not happy with what she had said and insulted her back. He despises her. A lot. Her existence disturbs him, and also her mother's too. Which happened to be his step-mother.

"I got a permission as a parting gift from grandfather to let go of Kil."

Milluki, in a flash, his annoyed expression turned into a wide, wide grin.

"Wait, what?" He said in disbelief. "Really?! You're kicked out?!" His expression brightened, "Finally! I hate having an outsider in my house!"

"You pig! There's no way in hell a lady like me would get kicked out! I am LEAVING. You hear me? L-E-A-V-I-N-G."

Even though he has to free Killua. He feels happy that his step-sister, -same father, different mother- is going to leave. What makes him hate her more, is the fact that she is an ally of Killua. Whenever she is with him, she protects him.

"Aneki*, what do you mean by parting gift?" Killua, the one who was silent the whole time, asked her in surprise.

Ignoring Killua, she turned to Milluki. He is still watching Killua in pain.

"Milluki, you better let go of Kill now or I will destroy all of these stupid figurines!" She said as she took a step closer to the figurines.

Milluki, afraid of her power to destroy all of his precious figurines that he collected for the past years and wasted a lot of money for them, he turned for the computer.

"Tch. I will kill you one day."

"As if you can." She muttered in small voice.

Un-happy, Milluki reprogrammed the computer and in an instant, the electricity that was binding Killua disappears.

The four years old boy fell. This training is too harsh for a four years old boy after all. If he was a normal person, he'd be dead by now. Luckily, he is someone with natural talent.

Relieved and seeing Killua now freed, she exited the room. She has somewhere she needs to go, anyway. Killua, somehow managed to stand up and followed her.

"Don't come back, outsider! And Kil! You can follow her!" Milluki shouted at the top of his lungs.


"Aneki, don't go."

"Killua, let go of me."

Not paying any attention to the servants, the four years old boy gripped his step-sister's expensive, silk kimono. He clung on, not wanting her to leave. He doesn't know what his sister is going to do, but he is certain that she's not going back, judging from the big backpack she carries on her back.

He really likes her older sister despite their 12 years age difference. She treats him like human, not a tool or killing machine. Unlike his parents and brothers, his sister actually treats him like a human, not just a tool or a killing machine. Even though he fears his older brother, he doesn't fear her at all. She played with him a lot, making his life in the big, dark, full-of-hallways mansion less boring. And, on his fourth birthday, she gave him a present. A skateboard which he treasures a lot.

"Aneki, please."

She closed her eyes. She clenched her fist. If she be was being honest with herself, she doesn't want to leave him. She wants to take him with her, but the path that she will take after leaving isn't the best path for him. The path that she will take after taking one step out from the mansion is the path of hell. He might not be able to make it.

"Killua, I have to go." She let go of his grip. Still trying her best not to lose her composure, she took a few steps forward. But, also not giving up... he followed her. She is his most-favorite person in the world after all.

"Aneki..." He begged again. But she can't comply to it since she has a mission. A mission she made herself, to annihilate, to avenge her dead mother.

She turned back, facing him. Knelt down to match their height. Killua eyes widen, watching her sister's eyes turn into bloody red for the first time.

"You're still an idiot now. Study hard and become a great man, then you can come and find me." She let out a sigh. "Then, when you're good enough, we can travel together. How about that?" She said jokingly. She didn't mean what she said though. She said that just to make him let her go, because there's a thing she has to do. Little did she knew, he took her words seriously.

Hiding her true emotions behind a fake smile. It's predictable that both are going to be sad since they were often seen together. At night, she came to his room to read him bed-time stories, stole his ChocoRobo-kun, and drew silly doodles on his face. He feels the most comfortable when he is with her. Probably because she isn't as uptight as the other Zoldycks. Deep down, he knows that she is also a cold-blooded killer like the rest of his family. She used to accompany him to finish his assassinations, she finished the mission without even slight mercy in her eyes. Yet she radiates the aura of warmth and that makes him feel like he's home.

"Kil, I'll go now. Okay? My friends are waiting. I promised them." She patted him on the shoulder, "If you ever feel lonely, make friends."

Friends, huh?

He wondered to himself as he watched his sister small figure turned smaller and smaller. And promised himself that he won't ever forget her appearance; long straight black hair, pale skin, sharp eyes and red lips. He will find her, and reunite with her one day.

He won't ever forget his sadako-like sister.


METEOR CITY

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"Oi! Ayame, can you change your shoes?! It's annoying!" I heard Ubogin aka the big guy, shouted from afar. I guess, I am closer to my destination now. Yes, the place I was headed for is the Spider hideout in Meteor City. It's not easy since there is no record on 'Meteor City' in any map. People don't think them as human being but trash. But they're my comrades. When I go outside, I always make time to see them.

"First of all, it's "heels"! And your voice is much louder than it!" I shouted back at him, I am so not losing this. Even if it's dark, I can tell that the spider hideout is no farther than 100 meters ahead. By hideout, I mean the abandoned building. If it rains, then the people in there are going to get drenched. I mean, what do you expect in an abandoned city?

From now on, I am going to live here. Even though the air is polluted, it's better than the air in the mansion. It's so hard to breathe there. I hate living there. The only reason why I lived there is because of my mother, who died when I was seven. And Killua, that was born when I was 12. I never had the guts to leave, and now while I have it, I am not going to spoil the chance. I left the house, and I regret nothing but Killua. I wish I can take him here. But, Killua is the successor, the next head of the Zoldycks. Bringing him here will lead to my blood as my father doesn't love me. The only one he loved was my dead mother.

I lost myself in my own thoughts that I didn't realize I am only a few steps away from the building. I entered my new -house-. Everyone's busy doing their own thing, not paying any attention to me. This is normal. The first that caught my eyes is a man that's reading a book. I know him. Very well. He is very charismatic. He brings my inner fangirl to life.

"Hi, Kuroro." I approached the young man. I took a seat beside him, which happened to be the floor.

He keeps reading his book and doesn't pay any attention to me. What is so special about books?

"Kuroro, can you please stand up?" I asked him, well maybe once in a while I'll do nice things for my comrade. He obeyed my request and stood up.

I took my backpack and unzipped it. Going trough my things, my handphone, my mother's diary, my blanket. And you might not expect this, brought a pillow! I am being kinda thoughtful. Well, to be honest, I brought this pillow for myself to sleep. I can see Kuroro's eyes widened a bit, just for a second. But then, his eyes went back to normal.

"Here!" I put the pillow to the spot he sat. "Isn't it more comfortable this way?" But, he doesn't seem to be taken aback. Does being kind suit me more?

He still gave me no response at all. He is that kind of person, I understand him. If it was 'normal' people, they'd be annoyed by now.

"Okay, I won't disturb you." I said with a smile plastered on my face, then I stood up, and approached Feitan, who happened to be reading too.

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"Feitan, can you stand up?"

"I don't need any pillows."

"It's not that." I snickered. "Look! I think I am a few centimeters taller than you. Don't you think so?"

He closed his book with a glare, "Do you want to me to slice your skin or crack your bones?"

Woah, that glare is going to make every little girl cry.


"Machi, don't you think that she belongs in the different world than us? She seems happy, it's annoying."

"Yeah dude! She looks like a spoiled rich brat."

"Ubo, Nobunaga, do you know there's a thing called facade?"

"Facade? Don't use non-english to me!"

"It's a mask. She is hiding her true color. She might appear cheerful, but inside, she is just as cold as the rest of us."

"How'd you know about that?"

"She is a Zaoldyeck assassin. Also, do you even know the reason why she joined us?"


A/N: *Aneki means older sister. Since Killua calls Illumi "aniki", I thought he'll do the same if he had an older sister?:D

And also, big thanks to my beta reader, Daanny for helping me finish this chapter!

To be continued.