Killua's POV
"What?" I exclaim, staring hard at my younger brother's passive face.
"I know this comes as a shock to you too. I've never thought that Miu would be this nasty."
"How did you know?" Kalluto doesn't have anything to do with them at all. It was surprising when he suddenly confess to me that Miu has been cheating on Illumi with the Genei Ryodan's leader. But there wouldn't be a good reason for him to lie to me either.
"Mother was ordering me to spy on her because she wanted proof that Miu was worthy of marrying Illumi nee."
"Did you tell anyone else about this?" He shook his head as a respond.
"Don't tell mother yet. I'll talk to aniki and Miu first, ok?"
Kalluto knotted his eyebrows. He seemed annoyed and disappointed at my reaction.
"Aren't you angry? She shouldn't be engaged with Illumi nee anymore. I'm not making this up." He raises his voice louder. There is a hint of hatred in it.
"I'm not saying I don't believe you. But we need to talk about this first before coming to conclusions. I'm sure there is an explanation."
"You're siding with her."
"No. I'm not on anyone's side."
"Yes. You are."
I sighed. This argument will never end.
"Ok. I do. I want to believe in her."
Despite what Kalluto had told me, I want to know what drives Miu to take this action. I know she is not a good person, I have heard all kinds of rumors about her, but she has helped me in a way that no one could. And because of that, I can't just distrust her.
"I know that Illumi loves you. And his love might come in different form from others. Please don't be mad at him."
I still believe in those words that she told me.
…
Miu's POV
Something is up. I know it from the look on Killua's face. He is serious. Killua gave me a slight smile, as if trying to assure me that everything is all right. But I know it isn't.
"I was told that you are having an affair behind aniki's back." He said. Kalluto must be here already then. I wonder if he told Killua about my attack. Oh well, it does not change anything anyway, why bother?
"Kalluto isn't it? Do you believe him?"
"No. I…I don't want to believe him. It's because I respect you, I want to have a proper conversation with you first."
"Good boy. But the truth hurts. It is true that I was seeing someone else" I have decided that the best approach to this would be telling the truth. I have no trouble lying, but…I don't want to lie to Killua, especially because he has already trusted me. As cliché as it may sound, I treasure Killua as my brother. I want to watch him grow up.
"Why?" Killua's expression turns into despair. He might not realize this, but the reason he becomes this disheartened is also because he likes Illumi. Killua has already accepted Illumi the way he is.
"I can't explain it."
"I thought I could trust you."
"I'm sorry things turn out this way. But I will fix it, ok?" I pat his shoulder and look him in the eye.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." I smile.
"If Aniki cheats on you, what would you do?"
"Kill that person." My answer came out without any hesitation. I'm even surprised at myself.
"Woah…Really?" He seems shocked at my response. I laugh a little.
"I know I'm a hypocrite, because I sleep with another man, yet, I don't want Illumi to do the same. I want to be able to say casually 'hey, Illumi, you can sleep with other women because I know you'd still love me the most,' but I'm not that kindhearted." I'm too selfish. Maybe I am not strong enough to believe in Illumi. Does that mean I don't love him enough to trust in him? Still, I trust him enough because I'm sure that I would be more likely to betray him.
"It's normal. Of course, you don't want someone you like to be with someone else. Miu, you're not as selfish as you think you are."
"I wonder if you can still say that when I kill Illumi after I find out he's with someone else?" I smile, half joking. Killua gives me a confused stare. Oh, how I like messing with people.
"I'm joking, relax." But I am not joking. I might actually try to kill Illumi. And I know Killua realizes this too. He knows that deep down I'm willing to go as far as that.
"Miu, are you going to breakup with Kuroro?"
"If I say no?"
"I want aniki to be happy. Although I don't know what you see in him, I still think you guys deserve each other."
"I'm happy to hear that. You finally accept Illumi."
…
Illumi's POV
I always work alone and do things alone. But it's not that I like it that way, I just prefer to be alone than having to deal with useless, pathetic people. Socializing means pretending. And I'm never good at it. I have a very small tolerance to be with others. Having Miu as a company is actually lightening up my day. We've never had any argument, either because we don't know each other enough or because there is nothing to argue about. And I'm leaning on the latter. This is because Miu is honest. From the start, she didn't try to hide her bad side of personality.
"So do you know what all of this is about?" Miu asks while we're waiting for other family members at the dining room.
"No idea. They just told me that this is very important." I say, taking a closer look at her face. I haven't seen her for a few days and I feel a lot better now that she's with me. When she's not with me, I find myself thinking if Miu is here she would have spat on that guy or if she's here she would definitely tease me about it.
"Do you think it's possible if they delay it? I have some business to take care of." She hesitates. I feel like Miu is hiding something. But I don't want to ask her about it. If it is something important to both of us, I believe she'll eventually say it.
Have I trusted Miu too much? Have I grown to believe in her? These are the questions I struggle to find answer within myself. Just a week ago, she was accusing me of not trusting her, yet, now I feel at ease with whatever she's hiding. Evil is a part of her personality, and mysteriousness adds to her charm. So I am accepting her as she is, knowing the hollowness inside her, is this what it means to love someone?
"Well, from the look of them, I don't think they'd be happy if you want to cancel it."
"Oh, that's fine then. I'll just make a quick call."
…
A few hours ago.
Hisoka's POV
I narrow my eyes at the young woman in front of me. Miu Sinclair. There is a crook smile on her beautiful face. As usual, there is that arrogant air around her.
"Agree." I declare, breaking the silence.
"Good." Miu says. She must have already figured out that I would go along with her.
"I hope you can let my first plan go. Pretend it never happened." I say with a smile.
"Oh? Pretend that you never plan on having Machi kidnap Killua to use him as bait and lure me out? So you can trap me? I can let it slide." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"By the way, I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I really don't give a shit about it now." She continues. Without a smile on her face, Miu looks just like a porcelain doll, her beauty is such a rare thing that I find her fascinating. And with that personality of hers, she is definitely my favorite toy now.
"I really didn't expect that response."
"Anyway, just to make sure…Machi won't notice this…she is not like us. She's not sly enough. There is no way she will betray others."
"Putting it like that, you're a very mean person."
"Says someone who will kill my friend tonight."
"Machi is like an interesting toy to me…not a friend. That's why compare to you, I'm not as heartless, you see."
"It's her fault she is messing with me in the first place."
"How will Kuroro take it though?" I say it aloud, half expecting an answer, half expecting her to ignore me.
"He's never going to find out that I am involved with this. Unless you want to rat me out." She speaks so casually that I see myself in her.
"We'd make a great team."
"What? With you?" I love seeing Miu's half surprised half annoyed face.
"Why not?"
"I think we'll just kill each other off."
"Oh…we can add Illumi in. Make it a trio. He balances us out."
"That makes sense. But hell, no. He's already close enough with you, I don't want him to like his friend more than his fiancé."
"Interesting. Is that how you express your jealousy?"
"So what?" She snaps back at me.
"It's cute."
She chuckles. That sneaky smile on Miu's face makes me want to crush her.
My hands trace the outline of her face, not in a sexual way, but as if I am trying to appreciate the beauty of it. When you look closely at someone's face, you see small moles, or pores, or wrinkles, something that tips off the illusion of beauty. Yet, even as close as our noses touch, there is no single flaw I can find on her.
Miu's huge green eyes look like a bottomless black hole. Mysterious to look at, but you'll fall and never get back out. This doesn't apply to me though, because I am the same as her. If human race is separated into categories, I am sure Miu and me would be in the same group. It is hard to explain, but we possess this same quality about us that I doubt anyone else will understand.
Does she even bleed, I wonder? The desire to make her beautiful body thorn apart, smear with red blood rises up. No, I must remain calm. It is not yet time to destroy my new toy. Despite this thought, my nails dig deep in her neck, causing a long scratch.
This is bad, I lost control for a few seconds and this happens.
Miu doesn't flinch or move, she stay perfectly still. For a second there, her eyes glimmer as if she had realized something, something that should have been shut off from her memory a long time ago.
"Hisoka. You shouldn't do this to other women. It can leave scars, you know." Miu chuckles.
"Is it ok with you then?"
"If I feel like it."
"Aren't you going to ask why?" Miu doesn't judge me, or give me a weird look. She was just there, observing my move. Letting me delve in.
"I know why."
"You do?"
"Yes. I know that feeling very well. My father was exactly like you, always craving, he would go on to destroy my mother. But never with me, I was his little angel."
"He must have tried very hard to keep your beauty holy and pure. It must be a pity if someone taint it."
"I was corrupted a long time ago."
…
Miu's POV
I find Kuroro name and press the dial button.
"Miu? Can you let me explain it first?" Kuroro's voice sounds alarming.
"Go ahead." I say, despite not having an idea what he's talking about. Oh well, I can tell him about my situation after this.
"Since you already heard this from Machi, I want to make things clear here. I don't want us to misunderstand each other again."
"Are you saying that you…?" My mind starts twirling. Is Kuroro confessing to me about his relationship with Machi? Is this what it's all about?
"Yes, I slept with her. But it is not because I love her."
"And I thought she was lying. Turns out I am the fool after all." I chuckle. Of course, I should have seen it coming. And what right do I have to get mad at him? I was the one who left him in the first place; yet, I don't like the idea of Machi sneaking behind my back. I knew Machi is in love with Kuroro, but I never thought she has any courage to make a move on him. I was too confident in myself and in Kuroro, I was too convinced that our relationship is great the way they are.
"I'm sorry."
"You know what, you can have sex with anybody and I would not care because it won't matter. But with Machi, I feel like you guys are just laughing behind my back." I hate being treated like a fool.
"I feel guilty about it. And Machi too...she values your friendship."
"How long has this been going on, really?" I didn't really want to know. I just don't know what else to say, I guess.
"It doesn't matter. Miu, I think you're getting too conceited with yourself. I told you I couldn't handle not being able to see you for weeks. And you didn't care because you are fine with it." Kuroro's voice is getting serious. He is angry and hurt.
"Well, what did you expect me to do? My life doesn't consist of you alone." The reply that I give him must anger him even more. But I say it anyway, because I feel like we have to say what we want to say right now, or things are going to get much worse for us.
"That's it. You prefer being with Illumi aren't you? And I never complain once about you having sex with him."
"I'm sorry, but I am his fiancé so technically it is completely right that I sleep with him. Are you acting jealous just now?"
"Yes. I want you to belong to me only."
"Not happening." I can feel my voice turning cold. I don't belong to anyone and even though I like that Kuroro is jealous because it means he loves me, I don't think I want that anymore. Unconsciously, I have moved beyond that. I'm just…happy with a person I can say anything with and knowing he will never push me off my boundaries.
Suddenly it hits me, that person is Illumi. He was just there and I feel comfortable talking to him, teasing Illumi is like the most amusing thing ever.
"Why are you laughing?" What Kuroro says makes me realize that just thinking about Illumi's face while I tease him can lift my mood that much. I might really like Illumi. And knowing these feelings are stronger than I thought, I felt scare.
"Miu?" Kuroro's voice brings me back to reality. It doesn't matter what argument we have with each other now, I still have to save Machi.
I won't be so cruel that I'd leave Machi to die. Since I was planning on helping her from Hisoka in the first place, but I can't go now because of the business with Zoldycks, I have to tell Kuroro about this. That was what I wanted to tell him before all of this anyway. That was why I called him.
"Kuroro, this is a really bad time for me to be telling you this, but, I need your help."
"Really, Miu? Really?" I know what an asshole I am right now.
"Machi's life is in danger."
…
Illumi's POV
With all the members of Zoldyck family present (except Alluka, of course), my mother and father look at me.
"I think it's time." Mother finally speaks after moments of silence.
"We want you and Miu to officially marry."
I don't know how to react. I just nod my head, without any hesitation or determination. I guess it doesn't matter for me whether we marry or not. But Miu…I wonder what Miu would feel about this. Her face remains passive, however.
Kalluto seems upset, I know he never likes Miu, but Killua on the other hand, looks really worried.
"What do you think, Illumi, Miu?" My father asks us. It is rare for him to ask my opinions on matters like this. I only tell him about my job and how I execute my plan. It was never about these personal feelings.
"Whatever is the best for our family." I answer dutifully.
"Wonderful!" Mother cries.
"It's my pleasure to join the Zoldycks." She smiles. Miu expresses her word gracefully. I don't know if she's faking it or if she is feeling the same as me.
"Now…we have more important arrangements to discuss." My father announces.
*pip pip*
"Sorry about that." Miu says, taking a quick look at her screen and put it aside.
*pip pip*
The sound comes up again. I can see my father is getting irritated with this. He was going to say something, but Miu speaks before him.
"Sorry…I just have to make this call."
"Make it quick." My father's deep, powerful voice echoes throughout the room. Miu quickly nods and leaves.
I wonder what is so important that she has to leave in the middle of this? If Miu wants to gain favor from my parents, this is definitely a bad move.
…
Miu's POV
"I can't leave right now." I say to Kuroro.
"Miu…listen to me."
"Machi is dead."
"What…" I stand there, frozen, numb. How? Why? It shouldn't have occurred this quick. What did Hisoka do?
"I was too late. Machi is already dead." Despite this horrible news, kuroro's voice managed to sound calm with a hint of hatred in it.
"No. It's my miscalculation. I shouldn't have trusted Hisoka." I should have known better. Knowing Hisoka, he is bound to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
"I need to see you right now."
"I…can't…."
"What do you mean you can't? You are with the Zoldycks isn't it?"
"I…"
"If you can't come out, I'm going in there."
"Wait! Don't!"
"…."
"Hello? Kuroro?"
"…"
"Damn it."
..
A/N
I know there's some readers who want Machi and Kuroro together but I have had this plot in mind since the beginning. Sorry for making this into a tragic plot for those who are looking for romance and something lighter. Please review and let me know what you guys think about this chapter. I know I left you guys in a cliffhanger last chapter and it was horrible so I'm leaving an even bigger cliffhanger this chapter:)
