XP: Hey guys, sorry if you find the stories too short, but what you read in 15 minutes I type in 4-5 hours. It's not that my typing speed is super duper slow, but it can be hard to think about how to keep the story flowing and interesting at the same time. But it's fun to write so I don't mind dedicating the hours! :D

This chapter is focused on Kurapika, sorry to the HisoKil shippers!

***Start***

"Huh? You're in the region?" Kurapika's heart flip flopped a little at the sudden news. It was still a little awkward after Leorio confessed to him after their last meeting when both of their younger friends had left. Kurapika declined him politely and assured the flustered man that it wouldn't affect their friendship, and he was working hard to keep true to his promise. He glanced at Senritsu, who smiled knowingly at him. Ugh! He hated her extreme hearing abilities sometimes, although it had saved his life before. He never had a moment of privacy around her anymore, but he was lucky she was secretive and didn't spill about him. He could just imagine the amounts of money Neon would pay for some dirt on him.

"Oh, dinner...?" Kurapika made a desperate glance at Senritsu.

Senritsu shook her head disapprovingly. He wasn't going to get out of this one with her helping him make up an excuse that he had plans for dinner with her. Kurapika hated to lie, so without her help, he had nothing to do the whole night. Kurapika frowned at her and made a face.

"So attractive," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I know what they all see in you."

"Yeah, I'm free," Kurapika replied reluctantly, reaching over to ruffle and mess up Senritsu's hair as childish revenge.

"Great! I'll text you the place!" Leorio sounded ecstatic over the phone and Kurapika knew he still had lingering feelings. Senritsu huffed and fixed up her hair.

"Oh god," Kurapika muttered when the phone hung up. He lifted his arm to look at his watch. One hour...

"Then what about the assassin boy from the other night? You said he's Killua's brother right?"

"Illumi," Kurapika replied, feeling weird as the name rolled off his tongue. "He's not picking up my calls. I'm worried he's going to do something stupid. But I don't really know him well enough."

"Well, you sure have a lot of things on your plate," Senritsu patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Do you need me to help you dress up for your date?"

"It's not a date!" Kurapika retorted angrily, because Senritsu made that joke way too often. He covered up Senritsu's giggling mouth. She was the only one who dared to make him, the head of all the bodyguards angry over here. "Now shut up before Neon hears and gets the wrong idea, because I am very single."

"Single and ready to mingle," She sing-songed once he released her, dodging his attempt to grab her. "Alright I get it. Just go and have fun. See you!"

Kurapika sighed in exasperation, giving a small helpless smile as he watched his best friend leave. As he pushed his hand through his hair, he found he had let it grow a little too long. He'd better go and borrow one of Neon's hair ties. He swept the bangs of his fringe to the side and made quick decisive steps to the elevator to the higher levels of the hotel where her top class suit was. He knocked on the door and entered, and found her staring out the balcony in boredom.

"I said I don't want to meet that stupid heir of whatever company whatever his name was!" She screamed shrilly.

Kurapika coughed pointedly, and she spun around, about to shout again when she realized it was her favorite bodyguard.

"Kurapika! Oh, you're the most good looking after all, compared to those ugly guys," she cooed, going instantly to his side. "What's up?"

Kurapika smiled lightly at the praise she always heaped upon him after meeting one of 'those guys'. He pointed at his hair, tilting his head helplessly. "I forgot to cut it again, and it's a little too long."

"Yeah, with your androgynous features you can pass for a girl," Neon hummed as she touched his soft blond locks. A glimmer appeared in her eyes, with Kurapika didn't like the look of. "You can play dress up with me next time!"

"What? No!" Kurapika rejected vehemently. Her maids liked it because Neon was very generous with branded gifts everytime they played her dress up games, but there was no way Kurapika was going to be subject to the same process... as a girl, no less. He had his pride. "I just came here to borrow a hair tie."

"Oh why didn't you say so earlier? I have so many cute ones!" She gushed, rushing over to her dresser to open a box full of colorful hair ties. She lifted a pink one with strawberries, and a black one with a tiny green red skull. Kurapika snorted with amusement. Only a girl like Neon could have such diverse tastes and call both of it cute. Taking a quick glance at the rest of the content of the box of hair ties decorated with animals and flowers, Kurapika opted for the gothic one she held in her hand.

"Geez, so plain! You always go for black," she admonished, stepping back as Kurapika stood in front of her dresser. He held the hair tie in his mouth as his fingers nimbly swept up his blond locks into a short, low ponytail. Neon watched mesmerized at Kurapika's beauty. It was unfair how good he looked, even better than her. Kurapika chose to leave bangs on the side to frame his face, since they were a little short to tie up.

"Thanks," Kurapika said curtly, petting her on the head as he left. She hated that- Kurapika only saw her as a bratty little girl instead of a woman. But she knew she deserved it, he had walked into one of her tantrum episodes where she threw things at her maids. Kurapika was just so refined and graceful... She sighed. She could never match up to him.

Kurapika opened his cupboard and frowned. He pretty much only owned suits upon suits, with his ethnic clothing on the side, the only dash of colour in his cabinet. Well, he would just have to go with the suit then. Taking out his phone out of his pocket, he contemplated calling Illumi again. He didn't know why he was so worried, Illumi was strong enough to go against the spiders, wasn't he? But what if something happened to him, to render him in such a bad state that he couldn't pick up calls?

But there was nothing he could do except to wait.

Sighing, Kurapika took one last long in the mirror before he set off. His clear blue eyes looked back at him as he blinked, doing the final adjustment to his tie as he tucked his fringe back behind his ears. They fell back out stubbornly. Shrugging, Kurapika decided it would have to do.

He hailed a cab, and looked out at the passing scenery as he tried to organize his thoughts. Yeah, he should just act normally and pretend nothing ever happened between them. Right? And he should keep whatever is up with Illumi out of conversation as well. He wasn't even sure what was going on in that area anyways. He thanked the driver as he exited, and looked up at the Italian restaurant. Alright, time to meet his friend. He cleared his throat, along with his nerves as he opened the door.

"Hello, I'm with Leorio Paladiknight," Kurapika told the service staff politely, and he was shown further into the restaurant where Leorio waited for him in one of the quiet corners of the restaurant with lesser people.

"Hey, Kurapika!" Leorio greeted cheerily, waving him over.

Kurapika smiled demurely, slipping into the opposite seat. " I hope you didn't wait long."

"Oh no, it's alright," Leorio replied, looking at Kurapika a little too closely for his liking. "You're a lot slimmer. Have you been eating right?"

"You're not the first to say that," Kurapika grimaced. "Does it show that badly?"

"No no no, you look great," Leorio assured. "Really great. The hairstyle suits you."

Well, there it was. Those hints of attraction Kurapika always realised but chose to ignore. But it was painfully hard to do so after Leorio confessed to him. Kurapika chose to smile instead as an avoidance, and an acceptance to the compliment.

"So who else said so?" Leorio asked awkwardly to kept the conversation going as Kurapika glanced through the menu.

"Oh, Hisoka did," Kurapika replied thoughtlessly. Hmm, what should he get?

"Hisoka!?" Leorio gasped. "Why would he even-"

Kurapika looked up then, pursing his lips. This is why he didn't like sharing his life with Leorio. He freaked out too often. If he knew Kurapika even went on a high speed car chase to get back Neon's purse on the opposite road on the highway, well... he had a feeling Leorio might have a heart attack.

"He asks me to meet him for dinner sometimes," Kurapika phrased his words carefully. "It's nothing much, we're business associates."

"For what?" Leorio pursued. Kurapika looked up at him disapprovingly at the tactless way of trying to get more information. It was like he was grilling a prisoner in a jail cell for gods sake. "Oh. For the spiders?! Kurapika, it's dangerous! He might even back stab you..."

"We've had this conversation before, Leorio. You know what I have to do," Kurapika sighed wearily as he waved the waitress over, fixing his face into a pleasant smile for her as they ordered, and letting the facade drop once she moved away. "Hisoka wouldn't do that to me, he wouldn't want to risk upsetting Killua."

"Sorry, Kurapika," the older man apologised once he felt that the blond was upset. "It's just, I'm always out of the loop and you know I'm just concerned for you, right?"

"I know," Kurapika smiled back warmly, forgiving his friend instantly. "Well, Gon recently went to the Island of Illusions to find his dad, and before that he and Killua had a huge fight. Killua was really upset, and... Hisoka was there to comfort him. And they've been together ever since. They went together to find Gon yesterday, but I don't know how that turned out yet."

Leorio's face twisted, unable to comprehend that Hisoka was capable of being nice and even comfort someone. "O-kay... And what about you?"

Kurapika froze, and he was glad the waitress came to interrupt as she served their pasta dishes. It gave him time to formulate a response.

"Lots of work," Kurapika replied vaguely, then continued, "The person I'm serving, his daughter is almost hyper active. I can barely get enough sleep everyday."

"Wow, sounds harsh. Then again, neither do I with all the mugging," Leorio laughed.

Kurapika smiled at the peaceful atmosphere between the two of them, and they continued their meal with general conversation about Leorio's school and his internship at the local hospital. Leorio ordered dessert for the both of them despite Kurapika declining.

"You need some fattening up," Leorio teased.

"What for?" Kurapika gave Leorio an odd look, teasing him back.

The chocolate icecream brownie arrived, and Kurapika's eyes brightened. He couldn't remember the last time he had chocolate, other any treats at all, other than Neon's macaroons that she forced him to try last time. He wasn't aware of Leorio smiling and sweetly watching him as he enjoyed his delicious treat.

"You enjoy chocolate almost as much as Killua does," Leorio said with a smile, reaching over to wipe the chocolate stain at the side of Kurapika's mouth.

Kurapika glanced up at him, and immediately glanced down when he saw Leorio making a gaze full of passion again. He sighed. "I have to go."

"Already?" Leorio's tone dripped with disappointment.

"Yeah," Kurapika gave the most apologetic smile he could muster, calling for the bill.

"It was good seeing you again, Kurapika. I missed you."

"Me too. But we'll get to see each other soon. All of us," Kurapika subtly hinted, feeling a bit pained at having to do this to a friend. But some boundaries had to be drawn.

Leorio smiled back at him, but it was also a pained smiled, because he finally realized what had been going on for the whole dinner. "I'm sorry, Kurapika. I couldn't help it. I just need time. But are you sure you'll never...?"

"I told you Leorio, don't wait for me," Kurapika tried to say it as gently as he could. "I don't have time for romance. I'm a man with a mission. My whole life is dedicated to avenging my brethren, and it's too dangerous."

"Alright," Leorio accepted, collapsing back on his chair, dejected again like that night he confessed. "You know how I feel about that as well."

Leorio wanted Kurapika to stop and live peacefully, and he said that's what anyone, any of his clan members would have wanted for him, but Kurapika told him darkly that he wasn't the one who had to dealt with nightmares and horrors again and again, reliving a hell as mutilated, eyeless corpses screamed at him to get revenge. Leorio has argued that it was just his psyche, of his feelings of guilt being the sole survivor that caused those images to appear in his dream, but Kurapika told him he didn't understand any of it and should just stay out of it. Leorio didn't want to see Kurapika being exposed to danger, but it was inevitable when the Kuruta was chasing down notorious criminals.

"I'm sorry," Kurapika whispered as he passed by his friend on the way to the door.

Leorio slumped lower down the chair. "What can I do to help you, Kurapika...?"

Those shoulders were so thin and fragile, they shouldn't be used to carry such a heavy burden such as this, not to an extent where the Kuruta woke up shaking in tears. Leorio wasn't strong enough to eradicate all of the spiders for Kurapika, but he was trying his best in his own way. He didn't want to see any of his friends die from not being able to get to a doctor in time again.

Kurapika made his way back to the hotel, emotionally weary after the whole meeting. Right on cue, as she knew his footsteps, she met him at the elevator, and upon seeing his face, she knew how the whole thing went.

"It could've been a lot worse," She commented in an effort to make him feel better as they walked towards his room.

"Like how?" Kurapika asked bitterly.

"Like he could've confessed his undying love for you again and pushed you down on the restaurant table to kiss you."

"Dear Lord!" Kurapika exclaimed at that shocking statement, so ridiculous it made him start to laugh. She smiled at him encouragingly. He looked at her with a smirk and replied wittily, "And what if that did happen?"

She gaped at him, and listened to his heartbeat, and saw the corners of his lips twitch up ever so slightly and realized he was just playing with her. "You," she shook her head in disbelief as Kurapika chuckled.

"Well, Neon wants a shopping trip again tomorrow," Senritsu relayed the news. "So you better get a good night's sleep."

"Not again," Kurapika groaned. "I have yet to recover from the previous one. She made such a fuss just because they didn't have the right size for me last time and threatened to sue the whole place down..."

"I'm pretty sure you tried on a hundred sets of clothes," she laughed.

"I just hope she won't make me try dresses," Kurapika moaned. "She said she wanted to play dress up with me this evening."

"The sin of being beautiful," Senritsu mocked.

"Come on, it's the inside that counts," he winked at her. She smiled back at him.

"Oh... you have a visitor. And it doesn't sound good. Good night, Kurapika," she bid him, and she left for her own room, making him stare at her back stupidly.

"Huh," he wondered briefly if it was Illumi again. But that couldn't be right? He just left yesterday to look for the spiders.

He opened the door to see a grotesque head right on his carpet. He squeezed his eyes shut, but that reinforced the image on his mind. "Dear Lord, and I dreaming right now?" Taking a closer look, he recognized it to be that samurai spider. Illumi? Kurapika glanced around his dark room quickly, and found a dark silhouette beneath the window, leaning against the wall. He switched on the light only to see Illumi's serious cut wounds and stab wounds.

"Illumi!" Kurapika screamed in shock, rushing over to the extremely pale assassin's side. Illumi grunted, both of his hands trying to stop the flow of blood of the stab wound at his abdomen.

"Hang on for a minute," Kurapika whispered frantically, closing his eyes for a moment to think of the spiders. When he opened his eyes, they glowed bright red. " Healing chain!" The chains rattled, the tip hovering above Illumi to work its healing abilities.

"You idiot! It doesn't make me happy when you go and do stupid shit like this!" Kurapika admonished harshly as Illumi looked up at him with half lidded eyes. "I don't like people doing things for me at all. Killing the spiders is my job, not yours!"

"Then..." Illumi asked raspily, "why did you look like you were begging for someone to save you?"

Kurapika didn't know why he felt like crying all of a sudden. "I did not," Kurapika replied stubbornly. "And if you actually picked up your phone, I would've told you the same thing earlier."

"Are you worried for me?" Illumi asked with a very minute smile.

"What?" Kurapika gasped. "...Well, I was... But not specially or anything of the sort! Just a very normal sort of worry you'd have for a normal person who entered your room and said they'd kill all your enemies for you- wait, that's not normal at all."

Illumi surprised Kurapika with a chuckle. "It's not funny you idiot! You almost died!" Kurapika chided, tucking his hair back behind his ear, but they fell out again, much to his agitation. "Ugh."

Illumi surprised Kurapika with a very strong grip on his wrist. The blond blinked curiously as the long haired assassin held him in place.

"Who confessed to you and kissed you?" Illumi demanded. Kurapika wrecked his brains for a clue of what the assassin was talking about.

"No one," he replied candidly.

A strong hand reached behind his head and pushed him forward, and suddenly Kurapika was face to face with Illumi... and kissing him.

"Mmf!" Kurapika protested mutely, pushing away, but Illumi held fast. He had no choice but to let the assassin do what he wanted.

"Don't lie to me," Illumi growled lowly once they separated, the vibrations in his throat thrumming in Kurapika's ears.

"But I'm not!" Kurapika replied incredulously, his lips feeling like they were on fire with how hyper aware they were. He could feel the heat of his cheeks, and he knew he was blushing hard like a tomato. He wished he had never switched on the lights so he could hide his face in the darkness. His head spun for answers, then he remembered the conversation he had with Senritsu. "You're so silly!" He gasped once he realized Illumi had eavesdropped on them and misunderstood completely. "I was just joking with her. No one ever kissed me before-"

Wait, doesn't that mean Illumi had effectively stolen his first kiss?

And apparently Illumi realized that too, because he was smirking boyishly at the Kuruta.

Kurapika pulled away from him, trying to get angry but failing. He turned away, hoping it would give him the facade of being angry instead because his face couldn't handle it when it was overloading with blushing. He jumped when strong arms hugged him tightly around the waist from behind, and Illumi's deep voice was back, right beside his left ear.

"I'm glad I'm the first."

Kurapika felt more heat travel to his face. "Now listen to me, you can't do just whatever you want, alright?"

"Who's stopping me?" Illumi questioned haughtily.

"Me!" Kurapika couldn't escape the warm embrace because Illumi was so much stronger in terms of sheer power. "Don't ever, ever search for the spiders and fight them again."

"Why?" Illumi couldn't get it.

"Because I don't like seeing other people hurt because of me," Kurapika replied bluntly. "It... It makes me sad. And stop touching me!"

Illumi released him, a look of deep thought crossing his face. "I won't, unless you search for them," he made a compromise, and said nothing about the second rule. He smirked, letting Kurapika know he was just going to do whatever he wanted and Kurapika was helpless to stop it. That smirk had Kurapika's heart jumping at a hundred miles per hour.

"Just get out right now, and take that head with you," Kurapika scowled with distaste at the beheaded head, trying to mask his attraction with disdain.

"You'll call me?" Illumi pressed.

"Yes," Kurapika stressed. "Now please leave."

A gentle kiss was pressed on his forehead before he could react, then the assassin jumped out of the window with the head in hand. Kurapika touched his forehead lightly and laughed with disbelief. He jumped into his bed, and wrapped the covers tightly around his body, thinking back about what just happened. He wanted to die with embarrassment, and he ducked under the covers and groaned, yet smiled at the same time. He couldn't make up his mind on what to think and his heart on what to feel.

***End of Chapter***

XP: The fluffs. It's killing me. As fluffy as bringing you a chopped of head as a trophy could possibly be, at any rate.

Mind taking some time to write a review? :)