Hisoka glared down at the round pair of blue eyes that blinked back at him. It was a young girl who suddenly grabbed on to his pants, making him stop in his tracks. Her face was as round as her eyes, her cheeks still chubby from her baby fat. His golden eyes continued to stare down at the young girl's wide, blinking ones, and wondered what this child wanted from him.
"You're not Shippo-tan."
Her first words after a long staring contest left Hisoka puzzled, but he replied to the young girl as he crouched down to her eye level.
"Oh? And who is this Shippo-tan? Your friend?"
"En. He's really tall and has red hair like you, so I thought you were him."
His eyes never left her now fidgeting form as she broke off the eye contact to hide her embarrassment. From her plump cheeks and short stature, Hisoka guessed she had to be five, six years old at most. Her fingers grabbed at the end of her yellow dress, which reminded Hisoka of baby chicks. He felt a sudden urge to poke the young child's chubby cheeks, but refrained himself from doing so. Her loose pigtails tempted Hisoka to twirl them with his fingers as her hair bounced as she lifted her head. But before he caved into such temptation, she spoke abruptly, interrupting him.
"Can you help me find him?"
"Find who, young one?"
"Shippo-tan."
Forcing a smile Hisoka ruffled the child's hair, earning a short protest from the girl. True, he didn't have much to do at the Heavens Arena until Gon and Killua arrived, but helping a child to find her friend (possibly her guardian) was not how he wanted to spend his time.
"I'm sorry, but maybe next time?"
"But uncle, you're the only one who can help me!"
Hisoka felt his eyebrows tick in annoyance when the girl grabbed on to his legs again as he stood up. Her tiny hands had surprisingly strong grip onto his loose clothing, and the magician sighed as he pried her fingers off from his pants before lifting her up from the ground by her dress.
"Listen, this uncle is not a nice stranger you can ask help for. There are a lot more people around here. Why not just ask them?"
At his question the child merely stared at him before breaking into a light laughter, as if he had just said something quite ridiculous. Seeing that the red haired man was now frowning at her, the girl ceased her laughing but still let a small smile hang on her lips.
"Because you are stronger than them, silly! They can't help me find Shippo-tan."
Her answer left him a little dumbfounded that Hisoka almost dropped the child to the ground. It was an odd choice of word—stronger—and Hisoka wondered if she actually meant it when she said he was stronger than the other buffoons walking around in the area. But none of her nodes seemed to have opened, and the miniscule amount of aura that flowed in her body only meant that she was just an average child. Becoming a little skeptical of her words, he stared into the girl's blue eyes. They were sparkling, reflecting the soft sunlight like the deep ocean. They were lively and moving, swirling with honest emotions that grabbed at him, just like Gon's eyes did.
"How would you know if I'm strong enough to help you."
His question came out more as a statement as he shifted his hands to hold her up more comfortably. She blinked as she felt his large hands tucked under her arms to hold her up like Shippo did whenever they played airplanes. Glancing up into his golden eyes, the girl wondered why he was asking her such question. Of course he was strong enough. Even he knew that.
"Because uncle's aura flows really nicely. Yours is really like Shippo-tan and Sesshomaru-sama's, so that's how I know you are strong!"
She hmph-ed after talking, and Hisoka didn't bother to hide his surprise as he blinked a couple of times before burst out laughing. So this child could read people's auras? He hated to admit, but he was quite amused with how things were progressing. If this 'Shippo-tan' really is as skilled as he is, perhaps finding and fighting him might provide the bored magician an entertainment. A menacing smile crept up to his lips, and for a moment the girl wondered if she had chosen the wrong person to ask. But as far as she could tell, this man who was smiling weirdly was the strongest man in the area, and Shippo had told her multiple times to ask for someone strong to help her if something ever happened to him. And this…weird uncle was her only choice right now.
"So will uncle help me?"
Her wide, innocent eyes sheepishly looked up at him, and Hisoka flashed a maniacal grin before he put her down on the ground and ruffled her hair again.
"Let's try to find this Shippo-tan, shall we?"
And for a moment, little Kagome had to wonder if she had a mistake asking this uncle find Shippo-tan with her.
Just a short one shot I wrote sometime ago.
Happy holidays! :)
Izno 12/26
