A/N: Hello, lovely readers! Thank you, IllumiZoldyckFanGirl, for your review and continued support. I'm really glad you're enjoying this. Hopefully it continues to be a fun fic to read. Also, thanks for the review, Enigmatic Guest. I'm hopeful that everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! And Thanks to joker4life for the favorite and follow! You guys are awesome!
"Hello?" Killua's voice echoed in my mind as I held my phone up with shaking hands.
"Killua..." I whimpered. "Help..." And then I started crying.
"Whoa! Hold on! What did my idiot brother do?" He cried out.
"He... he...!" I squeaked before a fresh bout of tears broke forth.
"Hold on, Gon and I are on our way." Killua comforted. I sniffled and hung up.
It was only a few moments before Killua let himself into the room to find me still sitting in the same place as when Illumi had left.
"What happened?" Killua asked gently. I turned to him with wide, teary eyes and a red face.
"He... kissed... me!" I squeaked. My face went redder at my own admission and I began to flail my arms. "Oh KAMI! What am I supposed to do with that? And now I have to get ready for a date! But that was my first kiss! And I'm still supposed to be mad at him, and-and... Killua, help!" I began sobbing to my own confusion. I wasn't sad. Just confused and happy and conflicted and... really emotional. Gon giggled.
"She's crying cuz she's all confused emotionally." He explained to the panicking Killua.
"Oh, geez. You scared me." He covered his face with a hand. I looked down , tears still escaping my wide eyes. "And you said you don't know what to wear for a date? Where are you guys going?" He asked.
"He said something about curry." I mumbled. I began to draw patterns into the carpet.
"Okay, what do you have?" He prodded. I got up and began to rifle through the clothes in my special bag. I pulled out a purple silk, sleeveless cheongsam dress with plum colored blossoms embroidered into it that only went down to my knees, an emerald flowy dress that had a scoop neckline, cap sleeves and only went down to my knees, a violet rendition of the first dress they ever saw me in, and an emerald version of the dress I wore now. The boys stared at my dress choices for a moment before I pulled out another knee length, sleeveless cheongsam in a jade hue with autumn leaves embroidered in the color of autumn all over it.
"That one!" They pointed to it and spoke in tandem. I looked down at my jade dress and blushed.
"You sure?" I fussed with the fabric a bit.
"Yeah. He's gonna like it." Killua affirmed. I carefully stuffed the other dresses back into the bag. "How long do you have, anyway?" Killua asked.
"He said we would leave around seven, so four hours?" I tilted my head.
"Okay. You should start getting ready then." Killua dragged Gon to the door. "Have fun!" The door slammed behind him. I sighed. He was right.
I pulled out jade colored slippers and my new lacy underthings that still had the tags on them to wear, a hair pin to pull my bangs out of my face, and my makeup bag. I pulled them all into the bathroom with me and locked the door.
I drew a bath, and added scented oils, such as lavender, vanilla, mint, and jasmine, and set an alarm for thirty minutes to relax before I had to get moving.
I sunk into the perfumed water and sighed. The oils were supposed to help me de-stress before I worked myself up into tears, and they worked wonders. I forgot my surroundings and began to hum love songs I had thought were long forgotten.
Illumi POV
Illumi opened the door to find the room seemingly abandoned. Akiko's voice, however, alerted him to her presence somewhere in the suite. She was humming some song other other, and the accompanying sound of splashes gave him an idea as to what she was doing.
He chuckled quietly and grabbed his clothes, intent upon asking to borrow Hisoka's shower, to avoid getting in the darling redhead's way. Before he left, however, he listened a while to the soft melodies being hummed from the other side of the door.
I stared at my reflection with a frown. I don't want to put on too much makeup... But I hardly ever find an appropriate time to wear any... I don't need mascara. My eyelashes are long enough... My skin is clear so base and foundation aren't necessary... I don't like blush... So eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipstick?
I nodded to my reflection and dug out the necessary items. A little black eyeliner, light grey eyeshadow, and a maroon shade of lipstick later, and I looked ready to go. But my wide eyes told a different story altogether. I glanced at the clock in the room and blanched. 6:58 pm. I took a steadying breath, gave one last cursory glance at myself and nodded.
I open the door to our room, to see Illumi sitting on his side of the bed, facing away from me and using his arms to prop him up as he leaned back a bit.. He turned his upper body at the sound of the bathroom door opening, his face lighting up a bit, in his stoic way. "Oh, you're done! I suppose we can go now." He stood fluidly, giving my eyes purchase on his form. He wore an emerald, form fitting light sweater and black jeans with black shoes. He walk toward me, making me freeze in place. He leaned down, fingers tilting my chin up, and my lips with his own. I felt myself melt into his touch as one hand pressed upon the small of my back, pressing me into his form, and the other holding my chin in place as he kissed me. He had his eyes closed, but it didn't stop me from falling further into the sensation of being so close to him. I felt my eyes slide shut as my hands fisted in his sweater and my face flushed.
He slowly broke the kiss and stepped back, his eyes half lidded, giving him an air of seriousness. "You look beautiful as always." He complemented, his voice registering lower than normal. I felt a shiver skitter down my spine and had to avoid his eyes in embarrassment.
"Thank you. You look good, too." I spoke barely above a whispered. Since when have I been this shy and awkward? Pull yourself together, girl! I steeled myself and lifted my eyes to his face, andd promptly had to stop myself from laughing. I accidentally let a giggle slip out.
"Hmmm?" He tilted his head, his maroon stained lips giving him a more feminine appearance. "What's so funny?"
"Just a moment." I giggled. I grabbed a makeup wipe from my makeup bag and returned to him. I stood on my tiptoes to get my face close enough to start cleaning my lipstick from his lips and gave a fond smile. It faltered a bit when I realized how close we were. He was staring down at me with an indecipherable expression and his freshly cleaned lips looked so inviting. His scent invaded my senses again, threatening to put me under a haze again. "Only one of us needs to wear this." I joked lightly. I took a step back, but he continued to stare at me with half lidded eyes, making an unfamiliar heat bloom inside of me. I flushed bright red. "So... dinner?" I prompted, snapping him out of whatever reverie he had.
"Of course." His arm reached out and snagged me by the waist, to my secret pleasure. He was so warm. We made our way down to the first level, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw green and white.
"Don't look now, but I think we have stalkers." I didn't speak very loud or look their way as I spoke, smiling slightly.
"Yup." He confirmed, not bothering to look either. "They'll probably follow us to the restaurant."
I chuckled. "They're a bit of a handful." I commented.
"I suppose." He allowed. We continued to walk through the streets, my eyes alighting to the massive teddy again. I repressed the urge to run and hug it again, the suspicion Illumi would buy it if he realized that I liked fluffy things. My eyes slid away from the giant mountain of plush and stared on the ground ahead of me. I was unaware of his eyes watching my every move.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Illumi asked, an elbow leaned on the table as he combed his fingers over his scalp a bit. We had just finished our dinners, enjoying talking abut our families before he suddenly asked. God his hair. One day, I'm going to comb my fingers through those black locks and find out if his hair is as silky as it looks. I refocused my attention to answer his question.
"As first dates go, this is fantastic." I smiled as my fingers played with the straw in my drink.
"Eh? First date?" He tilted his head. "Have you never been taken out before?"
"No. You're the first. For a few things, actually." I admitted. My eyes dropped to the drink in front of me. "Like my first kiss..." I trailed off. My eyes immediately shot back up, however, as he knelt beside me, garnering the attention of everyone else in the restaurant.
"I may be the first, and that makes me happy. But I'll be satisfied once I've cemented my place as your last. Your only." My face flushed as he took my hand, and touched it to his lips. He stood fluidly. "I'll be right back." He turned toward the restroom. And I tried my hardest to calm down before he got back.
What in the hell is going on with him? On the airship he was just being awkward. Where the hell did this smooth fucker come from? Who has he been talking to, to learn this kind of behavior? Certainly wasn't Hisoka. He's too lewd for this kind of stuff. If it had been him, I have a sneaking suspicion that Illumi would have tried to seduce me into bed... and succeeded... I blushed faintly at that admittance. Wait. How did he know I even liked this kind of food? The only person we both know that knows any of my likes and dislikes is... My eyes widened at my epiphany. Killua!
"Are you ready to go?" Illumi startled me from my thoughts.
"Hm? Yes." I rose to my feet and his arm wrapped around my waist again. I looked back briefly to see that he had paid while I was distracted.
As we stepped into the brisk night air, his arm tightened, pulling my close to his side. I looked up at him to see that he was staring straight ahead with a small smile. I looked ahead and allowed myself a smile as well.
Will it feel like this all the time? I wondered.
We had made it back to our room, and I was searching through my bag for my favorite night shirt, but coming up empty. "Did I just not pack it?" I muttered.
"Can't find something?" He asked curiously. "I thought that bag had everything."
"Apparently not..." I grumbled. Then my mind flashed back to the last time I wore it. Lying on a rock to sundry after I had washed it in a river a week ago. I groaned. "I guess I'll never get that back."
"Why don't you just use this?" I turned to him to see him holding out one of his undershirts.
"Hm? You sure?" I looked down at it curiously as he handed it to me.
"Sure. You can use my clothes whenever you like." He pulled out another shirt and sleeping pants for himself. I eyed him in confusion.
"Thanks." This feels more like him. Less 'suave lady killer' and more 'awkward, dorky, hot assassin'. Kinda cute. I grinned to myself as I hugged his shirt to my chest and quickly made my way to the bathroom. I changed quickly, trading my dress, bra, and shoes for his under shirt. I paused for a moment as I caught his scent on the clean garment and smiled. I quickly exited the bathroom, aware of his eyes on me and slid into my side of the bed, but stayed sitting up at the head of the bed, just as he was.
"I'm telling you now: don't get any funny ideas. I enjoyed tonight, but that doesn't make me easy." I informed him. He answered with a small smile. I grinned at him. "I'm not tired yet, so how about some TV?" The proposition was met with him turning on the television and handing me the remote to choose what we would watch.
I skimmed through the channels until I found some romantic comedy, and shrugged. "Guess that's the best they got." His arm snaked around my shoulders and pulled me closer. I stared at the television, face softening into a complacent smile and leaned my head on is shoulder. His head soon rested on mine in a mimic of what happened on the airship just days ago. I relaxed at how natural this felt, and before I realized it, I was asleep. I didn't wake when he re-situated me to laying down, or when the television was turned off. I woke slightly as I felt his arms encircled me, but decided against protesting. Why fight a good thing?