Here's another update! This and the next chapter go into Akumi's past a little, but I'll get back to the story lines soon! Please bear with me! Arigatō!
"Akumi! Where have you been?! Everyone is getting off the airship!" I heard Killua shout.
"Killua..." I said, my vision getting blurry with tears.
"Akumi! What's wrong?! If Hisoka touched you I swear I'll-"
"It's not that, well maybe a little...but I talked to your brother Illumi and h-he *hic* said *hic* that my family was assassinated *hic* a-and that *hic* I have to marry him *hic*" I said, balling my fists in Killua's shirt.
"W-WHAT!? When did you talk to Illumi?!"
"Just now... He gave me a ring..." I sniffed, trying to calm down.
"I'll kill him..." Killua whispered, hugging me tight.
"D-don't, he's your brother... I don't want your family getting mad at you." I said while looking up into his blue eyes.
"Well you can't just marry him! As much as I would love to be your brother in law, I don't want you to be forced into something like this. Just turn him down!" Killua said, squeezing me tighter.
"I have to... He said he would kill Hisoka if I didn't agree"
"So what!? It's Hisoka we're talking about! You can't seriously care more for him than your happiness!?"
"Y-yes..."
"What?"
"YES! Kilua, I love him... He is my happiness... AND IF YOU CANT UNDERSTAND THAT THEN YOU AREN'T MY FRIEND!"
"OKAY! OKAY! I GET IT. YOU HAVE FEELINGS FOR THE SADISTIC CLOWN!"
"Took you long enough to understand..." I grumbled.
"So... You're really going to marry Illumi?"
"I have to, I hope Hisoka doesn't care for me too much. It breaks my heart but it's better this way."
"But you love him...?"
"Yes. My first and last love... I feel bad for Illumi, I don't think I'll ever see him in that way..."
"It's ok, I'll be there for you, as your brother" Killua said, smirking at the last part.
"Hehe, thanks for being so nice to me Killua. You really have gone soft"
"B-BAKA! I have not, if you tell anyone about this-"
"Yeah-yeah, you'll do something horrible" I said, flicking him in the head.
"Itai! (translation~ow), I'm going to find Gon, find your own way off the airship" Killua said while darting off.
'Killua is really sweet, I'm happy he took it well... Now all I have to do is find Hisoka. Well maybe I'll tell him later.' I sighed, getting off the airship.
~Time skip~
"So all we have to do is get to the bottom of trick tower in 72 hours?" I asked Gon.
"Yup Aku-San!" Gon said, giving me his award winning smile.
"Well is it ok if I do this phase on my own? I kind of want time to think by myself" I said, looking at Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio.
"Ok! See you at the bottom Aku!" Gon said.
"Whatever" Killua said.
"Be safe..." Kurapika added.
"Don't die" Leorio smirked.
"Gee... Thanks Leorio..." I grumbled while strutting away.
"Ok Toshi... Any suggestions?" I asked while placing the striped cat on the ground"
"Meow" Toshi replied, blinking at me before sniffing the spot next to us suspiciously.
'Is that a trap door? Well only one way to find out...'
"Let's go Toshi!" I said, grabbing Toshi and jumping onto the tile. When my feet touched it, I felt the ground give way as I fell through.
"Umph!" I grunted.
"You okay Toshi?"
"Mrrrow!" Toshi hissed and glared at me.
"I can't understand you Toshi! One second... SHIRO-TORA!" I shouted. Ah I love the feeling of transforming... What a rush of power.
'YOU IDIOT! GET OFF MY TAIL. NOW.' Toshi hissed inside my head.
'Sorry! And no need to yell in my head!' I thought while getting off my tail.
'Well let's get this phase over with... Also we need to talk about this whole mess you got yourself into with Hisoka and Illumi, personally I like Hisoka more.'
'Yeah yeah, and later. I wonder what happened to Gon and the others...'
'Focus Akumi'
'Right' I thought.
"Maul Toshi!" I shouted, watching Toshi grow into my favorite tiger again.
'Ahhhh feels good to be at full size again.' Toshi's now deep voice boomed in my head.
'Lets go Toshi!' I thought while hopping on his back as we ran off down the dark tunnel. I got a little bored as we kept traveling for hours. Studying my ring, I saw how beautiful it actually was.
'Wow... Even though I don't like Illumi much, he does have style and knows you well' Toshi's voice interrupted my 'admiration' session.
'True...' I thought. The rings band was silver, with tiny sapphires spread across it, then a beautiful diamond sat in the middle, clasped by two tiger heads, their jaws open holding each side of it. Tiny amber gems for eyes. It was perfect and so well detailed, if only I could have received it from Hisoka...
'Akumi! Pay attention, I smell something fishy...' Toshi said. No sooner after saying that, a shard of ice shot right in front of us.
"Great reflexes... It would be a pity if the amazing Akumi Muramasa died from a simple blast." A voice said in mock pity. Then a very beautiful, and strikingly familiar looking woman stepped out of the shadows. She was about 5'7" with long, black wavy hair, pale skin, red lips, and disconcerting crazed looking green eyes.
"W-who are you?"
"What? You don't remember me? Hmm... Pity."
"STOP PLAYING GAMES!" I yelled, ears flattening, and claws extended.
"You must have been too young, my names Amaya, the eldest child of the Muramasa family." She said, staring me down cruelly.
"WHAT!?" I said, my breath catching.
"That's right, I'm the true heir to lead the family, not you or any of the other brats in our family. I'm here to kill you, and once mother sees your mangled corpse I'll be welcomed back with open arms!" She shrieked with madness.
"Y-your crazy! I don't know what you are talking about!" I yelled.
"22 years..."
"What?"
"That's how long I've rotted in this prison, how could they lock a 6 year old up?" Amaya exclaimed.
"I don't know... YOU'RE EVIL?!"
"How dare you! You know nothing! KORI-OOKAMI!" Amaya shrieked. Suddenly she grew white wolf ears and tail. Giant fangs elongated and eyes flashing crimson.
"You see Akumi, the first born of every generation has the most power, you're as good as dead"
"Why are you trying to kill me?! If we are family!?"
"It was worse enough when your sister Asami and brother Ào were born, sharing mothers already limited love. But when you and your sister were born, I was hardly spared a glance! So I tried to kill you. But mother locked me up in this god-forsaken place!"
"You must be talking about my sister Aiko... Mother hated me, but she and everyone else are dead."
"Huh? Dead?"
"The Zoldyck's assassinated them, up until now I was the only Muramasa left..."
"Oh... That changes things... SAPHIRA!" Amaya shouted. Then a beautiful white wolf with deep blue eyes trotted out.
"Hey girl!" Amaya said.
"So does that mean your not going to kill me Amaya?"
"Call me Maya, and no. Quite frankly it seems you've gone through the same thing as I have, I'm happy to here the family was murdered."
"Thanks, I don't think Saphira liked Toshi much"
"Haha yeah. Oh could you somehow bail me outta here?"
"The second I pass the exam I'll work on getting you out! Though why are you even in jail?"
"Mother made up a lie that I'm a mass murderer."
"Charming lady..."
"Tell me about it... Oh well since I guess we are pals now I should help you find your way out."
"Really!? You're the best!" I squealed while glomping her.
"Ouch! Careful with those claws kitten" Maya growled playfully at me.
"Oh! Right, sorry. Hehe... SHIRO-TORA!" I yelled while turning myself and Toshi back.
"KORI-OOKAMI!"
"Well let's go then!"
~2 hours and a bunch of catching up later~
"Thank you so much Maya! I promise to break you out if here as soon as I can" I said hugging her tightly.
"Thanks! It's great to have someone actually care for me, and don't let those two men you told me about push you around!" Maya said.
"I know, I've never had a family member actually not wish I was dead. Sayōnara Maya!" I said while walking through the doors, tears streaming down my face as Maya was re-handcuffed.
"3rd applicant to pass the 3rd phase, Akumi Muramasa"
"WHAT BULLSHIT! THIRD!?" I shouted furiously.
"Language darling" Hisoka said. I sweat-dropped when I realized I wasn't alone. Before me were Hisoka and the weird pin dude.
"Don't call me that" I snapped.
"What? I thought we were closer my little Devil-chan, I'm wounded." Hisoka said, still smiling of course. Then Hisoka saw the quite obvious ring on my finger. And all hell broke loose.
"Care to tell me what that is on your finger?" Hisoka said, releasing waves of bloodlust.
"I-it's nothing!" I squeaked.
"I don't like liars Akumi." Hisoka said, walking over to me, sliding out a card.
'Oh shit! This is serious if he used my real name' I mentally cursed myself. Suddenly I felt a card up against my neck, Hisoka's warm breath at the back of it.
"Hisoka..." I started to say, before suddenly Mr. Pin-cushion got between us.
"I warned you Hisoka about touching my family..." He said. WAIT. That voice... Could it be...
"Illumi?" I asked. I was right, as he started to pull out pins revealing Illumi's regular appearance.
"Care to explain, Illumi?" Hisoka said.
"Sure, I'm marrying Akumi." Illumi replied bluntly.
'Wow, great way to put it...' I thought.
"Oh?" Hisoka said, frowning.
"Go away Illumi, I want to talk to Hisoka..." I said, grabbing Hisoka's hand an pulling him away.
"Ok... Where to start..." I said.
"I'm waiting." Hisoka said.
"Well first off, I was engaged to marry Killua. We met when we were little."
"Hmmm?"
"Then on the airship, Illumi told me that my whole family was assassinated and that I was to marry him." I said, not wanting to tell anyone that Maya was still alive, in case Illumi might kill her.
"Hmmm... So my friend wants to steal my little toy away." Hisoka said, eyeing Illumi.
"What? I-I thought I was more than one of your toys to you..." I said, my heart hurting.
"Hehe, does little Devil-chan like me?"
"No... I-I love you Hisoka..." I said, holding my breath.
"Huh? Love... Well I think our little time together has finished." Hisoka said walking away.
'I guess all I'll ever be is a toy to you Hisoka... Maybe it's for the best that he didn't have feelings for me... I'll always love him. But I guess the games over, I'll leave you alone Hisoka.' I thought.
"Akumi..." Illumi said, staring at me.
"Leave me alone Illumi..." I said, starting to cry.
~Hisoka POV~
I felt utterly horrible right now. Slowly I slumped down on the wall, in the shadows watching my devil-chan cry. I love you. Three words I wanted to say so badly, yet they will never come out. I'm Hisoka, my perfectly created image would be lost if I admitted I had those types of emotions.
YAY! 10 chapters completed!