A/N: I decided to post another chapter since I failed to update on time hah. XD

And... I just realized that it's been a month since I published this story. So yay Aki and Feitan! *u*

So, here's the 10th Chapter of A Different Kind of Torture!

CHAPTER TEN

Silver Lining

Feitan just had to accept the fact that he needed to care for the girl at the moment, no matter how unwilling he may be— or else his stay would be prolonged and finding his way home would be delayed.

And of course, the food.

Oh how he really hated his situation at the moment.

'Stupid. I want to kill girl so bad right now' Feitan mentally cursed himself as he dumped the girl on the bath tub; she was still unconscious at the moment.

In all honesty, Feitan was having difficulty as to how he could properly bathe the girl, when she was unconscious and when she was well… a girl.

He tried to remove her clothes by taking them off himself, but the moment he started to reach out for her bloody tattered shirt, the shirt he ripped off, his hand immediately froze.

The feeling seemed very wrong and foreign to him, but he actually wanted to somehow respect Aki's privacy.

Despite the fact that he almost raped her a while back.

His eye twitched at the memory; never would he attempt to violate her just to see her in pain again.

When he ran out of options as to how to resolve his current dilemma, he gave up and merely ran the bath with warm water, slowly filling up the tub. As the water rose and gradually enveloped Aki's body, he saw that she stopped shivering, her disturbed expression and frown slowly relaxing into her normal sleeping face; however, she still seemed to be flushed.

Feitan scrutinized her for a moment longer before finally deciding that she was sick.

'Girl seems to have fever' he thought amused as he bent down to turn off the tap.

He decided whether he should tend to her wound or not, but immediately let the idea run down the drain; he was not her personal maid nor was he her personal nurse.

Nurse.

It somehow seemed like a frightening thought to have Feitan as your nurse.

You might actually end up dead.

He frowned, thinking that it actually should be the other way around. Aki was supposed to be his personal maid.

No wait, scratch that. He hated people touching him.

He frowned as he turned to leave the girl for a moment, but as he was about to exit the bathroom, he heard a sneeze.

"ACHOO!" he immediately turned back and glared at the girl— was she awake?

Aki sneezed once more before having a coughing fit, one hand attempting to cover her mouth while the other grasped her abdomen tightly.

'What just happened?' she wondered as she slowly opened her eyes, cringing at the bright light enveloping the room.

Aki looked at her surroundings and was surprised to see that she was somehow automatically transported into her own bathroom. "Wha— YOU!" She shrieked as she shakily pointed a finger at a now-amused Feitan after briefly wincing at her wound.

He raised a brow at her before smirking, after seeing Aki's scowl form immediately after recovering from the shock.

"What? Want Round 2?" He taunted, earning a scary expression from Aki's face, as she felt a shiver run up her spine.

'So was he really perverted? The fucking bastard' she thought, as she continued to scrunch her eyes into small slits, which looked strange since she naturally had big eyes, and her mouth showing her bared teeth, looking as if she was a cat hissing.

Her scary expression was actually kind of funny.

Feitan snickered as he watched the girl throw another coughing fit before shaking from anger.

"Out." She silently said, tentatively touching her wound, which was still swelling and flushed; it might get an infection soon due to the moisture, she thought.

The man stared at her, in all his mocking glory; he completely recovered from the awkwardness he felt a while back when she was still unconscious.

"Stupid. You sick"

"Out"

Snicker snicker.

"…"

And that was the moment when Aki finally threw a tantrum.

"GET OUT THIS INSTANT!" she screamed, her arms heavily pummeling down the water with a loud splash.

Immediately, Feitan was instantly by her side with his hand grasping her neck, his eyes narrowing down at her.

"You no talk back, especially when you sick." He icily said, emphasizing the word, sick.

Aki coughed more once again, earning a disgusted look from the said man.

Then she spoke, her own eyes glaring at him back. "What? Want to see me strip naked?"

Feitan, upon realizing what the girl implied, scowled at her before roughly pushing her back down on the bathtub, somewhat 'drowning' her.

"I find no pleasure from no-boobs like you. Stupid." He sneered before immediately exiting the bathroom.

Aki smirked in triumph; it was her victory for now.

However, as soon as Feitan left, she was once again haunted by the events that occurred earlier; she face palmed at how she was able to stay sane and normal in front of the guy when he practically semi-violated her a while back.

"One way or another, I indeed am stupid. He could have raped me then and there then kill me off after without anyone knowing." She grumbled as she proceeded to take off her clothing to bathe properly, after a few more coughing fits.

No one would be concerned about where you were anyway.

No one.

You are all alone.

She shivered as the thoughts added up to her fear, making her feel nauseous.

As soon as she was stark naked, she closed the sliding door and turned on the shower, putting it on the warm setting. After draining the water from the tub, she finally stood up and proceeded to shampoo her hair guarding her wound from getting any soap on it, feeling herself feel drowsy and her eyes heavy.

'But still, he brought me up to the bathroom, didn't he?' she briefly wondered as her thoughts lingered on Feitan.

The man who contributed to her bad day.

However, somehow, her gut feeling wouldn't allow her to completely hate the person. At the back of her mind, it was screaming that Feitan actually didn't do it just because he wanted to.

She couldn't afford to get mad at him and she didn't know why.

"Stupid jerk. I only met him for three months and now he's like a prick and a black knight in disguise at the same time." She dejectedly stated as she continued to lather her body with body wash— vanilla-scented.

After mentally cursing the man for a few minutes, her thoughts finally lingered on the two people she honestly didn't want to remember and think about at the moment— Taka and Momo.

'Momo… why?' she sadly thought as she turned off the shower and immediately covered herself with a towel.

Somehow, now that her mind was clear, she realized that Momo only did that to protect her, to save her from the pain.

But then again, sometimes, it's better to face the pain head-on rather than leave it aside and run away from it.

She shook her head at her best friend's good intentions that unfortunately, back fired.

She still broke my trust. It'll be a while before I get back off my feet and have the heart to forgive her. The issue is still fresh in my mind.

She turned on the hair dryer and dried her brunette hair immediately, frowning at how she should start to get a haircut.

'The last time I got a hair cut would be when Taka called me to cancel out our date.' She suddenly thought, the memories briefly resurfacing her mind.

Taka.

Taka.

She sighed deeply upon remembering her cheating boyfriend; sooner or later she would have to face him and deal with the problem in hand.

"Figures why he must have not answered my calls and texts most— no, all the time" she grimly said.

In actuality, between Taka and Momo, Taka was the person by whom Aki felt more betrayed.

There wasn't any good intention or doing in cheating.

She even somehow wondered if Taka was doing it on purpose, cheating on her with her best friend's sister.

'Naah, must be a coincidence though.' She thought, shaking her head as she put on some clothes.

After coughing a bit more, she finally decided to go down to the kitchen and take some cold medicine, despite the fact that she was somehow feeling wary of seeing Feitan downstairs.

She sighed some more before finally exiting her bedroom, slowly descending down the stairs.

She would have made a quiet escape towards the kitchen if only she didn't sneeze and feel wobbly, holding on to the side rails for support.

'Stupid fever. I honestly hate getting sick' she grimly thought as she glanced at the clock: it was now midnight.

As soon as she passed the living room, she was somewhat surprised to see that the lights were now turned off, but a pair of eyes was still glaring at her from under the cover.

Aki shivered as she felt a malevolent presence injecting negativity towards her direction, somewhat making her flinch and hurry her footsteps towards the kitchen.

'Brat's still awake.' Feitan thought as he saw her shakily but briskly pass by.

For once, Feitan decided to somewhat let his guard down and continue to sleep; the girl was ill anyway, and she was barely a threat.

Aki hurried towards the kitchen and immediately took her medicine after stubbornly munching on a big bar of chocolate, her weakness.

'I don't care if I'm sick, I'm still eating sweets.' She defiantly thought as she took another big bite.

She was also somewhat surprised that Feitan didn't demand food from her a while ago; he must still be full from dinner, she thought.

If only she knew how Feitan wanted her to get better sooner so that he could freely pester her once again.

And the food.

Even after three whole months, they were still on the stage of being cat and mouse, with Aki avoiding Feitan whenever she can, while the latter preferred to 'bully' her repeatedly.

Aki finally stood up and brought a jug of water with her; she still had school in the morning to attend to.

"And I can't afford to be late… It'll be a bit hard dealing with Momo later on though; I still am not comfortable in forgiving her right away." She sadly said, before going back to her room, throwing another coughing fit.

'And I would have to wear a face mask to school' she added.

Despite the circumstances, Aki thought that she shouldn't give up and wallow in depression— for some reason, despite how desperate she was to die earlier, she was able to recover and bounce back as soon as she remembered that nothing good came out of dying; suicide or the want to die was considered as a sign of weakness.

"Death is for the weak, kid. No matter how much you want to end your problems then and there, it wouldn't solve anything. In the end, you'd just be running away from it. No one in my family is a coward, you hear? You must be strong at all times, Akira. Never let anyone bring you down to the point of making yourself wanting to die."

Her father's words resonated in her mind; death or her dying wouldn't be what her parents wanted. True, she would have been more than happy to die a while back and join them, but after thinking things through, ending her life would also be like giving in to what her parents' murderers wanted from the very start: to eliminate her whole family.

"Look at this, it's the jinx."

"Yeah! Yeah! And she seems to be all alone. Her friend must have finally gotten sick of her."

"True! She's already unlucky and pathetic as she is. She should just die."

"Oh wait, I guess she's on her way to hell. Look at her, she's wearing a face mask— a black one at that. How much grosser can she be?"

"Hah! A walking virus"

"Definitely! And look at those awful piercings. Is she from the Yakuza or something?"

A group of girls snickered at Aki as she passed by the hallway— which was more commonly known as "The Gossipers' Lair".

Aki frowned as she entered the classroom forcing herself not to cough; her wound was also still hurting like mad every time she moved her left shoulder.

'Curse the sadistic bastard and his weird way of assault... and this sickness I'm feeling right now.' She mentally cursed the man in concern as she sat down on her seat, trying hard to tune out the voices that continued to spout insults at her.

"If only she was not brainy and of use to the class, we would have thrown her out."

"Or if only she wasn't friends with the principal's daughter, her rotten self would have long been eliminated from this school."

SLAM!

The door violently shut so loud that it made the gossipers stunned in silence. Momo walked in calmly to her seat, looking at Aki pleadingly for a moment, by which the latter gave her a surprised look before abruptly turning her head to the window, making Momo sigh and take out a book from her bag to read.

Aki was still mad at her, she thought.

And it would probably take a long while before she recovers and forgives her completely.

'How stupid have I become? Of course Aki would be very sensitive when it comes to trust; I guess I should have just told her from the start… she must have gotten really hurt then too though. Ah, why is my situation such a tight spot?' Momo sadly wondered as she turned the pages of her book; she actually wasn't reading, just seemingly skimming through the pages in order to make her look as if she was indeed reading.

Aki, on the other hand, felt a pang in her heart the moment she saw Momo.

'Argh somehow I feel a bit guilty for giving her the cold shoulder. I really want to forgive her now! But still… this betrayed feeling still wouldn't go away.' Aki mentally sighed.

This was their first big row.

Well, not that they're married or anything, but this was actually the first time they fought about something big.

She sighed as she rested her head on the desk, frantically wishing for their teacher to come in so she could get on with this day.

It would practically be a long day for her, she thought, as she threw a coughing fit that earned another snicker from her female classmates.

"Asada-san, so what are you planning to do once you graduate? And are you sick? You should not have gone to school if you are feeling ill."

Aki sighed and nodded in response as she was being questioned by their class's home room adviser in the faculty room; it was that time of the year when they had to turn in their career forms to the school— their so-called way of 'preparation for college'.

College… she hadn't thought about it for a while, after she passed Tokyo Uni.

And after she was cheated on.

She honestly was confused as to what she wanted out of life; it seemed as if she had no direction. All she knew was that she wanted to eat sweets, sweets, and more sweets.

The teacher brought her out of her reverie as he snapped a finger at her face.

"Please refrain from spacing out, this is your future we are talking about. And in all honesty, you are the only one who hasn't turned in her career form yet, and it's almost graduation." He said reprovingly, earning a confused look from Aki.

'College… what is it that I really want?'

"Asada-san!"

Aki jumped in surprise as she remembered that her teacher was asking her a question, by which he was getting really impatient by the second.

"Uhm Sensei… I still don't know what course to take." She timidly said, her face turning bright red from embarrassment.

The teacher sighed deeply as he rubbed his temples. "But still, you have to choose. Or else I'll be holding your grades for graduation."

Aki gulped. If there was one thing she desperately wanted, it was to get out of this school.

And possibly, get Feitan to leave her in peace.

"Well?"

Aki sighed once again in defeat. "Fine, please give me two weeks to decide. I promise to submit my career form by the end of my two weeks."

The teacher stood up, taking the stack of career forms in one hand before placing them on the table beside his.

"Very well then, I will be expecting your career form two Mondays from now. You are dismissed."

Aki forced herself to not roll her eyes as she stood up. She bowed at her teacher and was about to leave when he spoke.

"I know that you are having a hard time; you seem to be in a rift with Satomi-san. However, you do realize that you'll be graduating in a month, and that those career forms have to be reviewed by our principal? Please take this seriously, Asada-san."

Aki nodded her head in response. Sooner or later, she would have to make her final decision, she thought.

"Hai, Sensei. I'll definitely turn in my career form."

As soon as she left the faculty room, she frowned.

'Ah, only a month 'til graduation and I still don't know what to do with my life.' She grimly thought as she walked back towards the classroom to get her things.

A month… and it was exactly a week before Valentine's Day, which made Aki's mood go sour all the more.

But still, the chocolates, she thought.

Screw love and hearts, she'll be scouring for the chocolates on sale on Valentine's.

'Feh. Valentine's Day. More like, Aki's Chocolate Rabu Rabu Day!' she mentally reminded herself in order for her to cheer up and push the thoughts about Taka deep into her mind.

Aki diverted her attention to the sweets she will be devouring in a week.

Sweets by which she will most likely buy herself.

After retrieving her things from the classroom, she headed towards the dojo wherein they held their Kendo practices; she briefly wondered if Momo would be present.

But she will definitely be present, she thought. Momo almost never skips club practice.

She let out another coughing fit as she entered the dojo.

"Ah, it's Asada-senpai!" Aki's kouhai, Ryu, greeted her as she entered.

Aki waved cheerily in response, although her smile could not be seen due to the face mask she was wearing.

Ryu frowned upon seeing this. "Eh, are you feeling unwell? You can just head home you know."

The girl in concern shook her head.

"Naah, it's fine. I also need to let out some steam you know. I honestly think that I need it right now."

Ryu looked at her skeptically before nodding in response. "Ah, alright. If you really say so… Well anyways! I want to tell you about this latest video game I played."

Ryu continued to converse with Aki when Momo entered the dojo as well, immediately scanning if there was an Aki present.

As soon as she saw Aki on the corner, she sighed in relief.

'Well, at least she still decided to enter the dojo despite the circumstances.' She thought, worrying about her as soon as she took notice of the face mask that her best friend was wearing.

Aki, on the other hand, froze as soon as she saw Momo enter the room. Her once semi-relaxed nature tensed up.

"Eh? Asada-senpai? Are you listening to me?" Ryu asked, confusion etched on his face.

Aki immediately turned her attention to Ryu. "Of course I am you squirt!" she cheerfully replied, seizing him in a headlock while ruffling his hair, earning a boisterous laugh from the freshman male.

Despite how older she is than Ryu, he was still almost as tall as Momo.

This sometimes proved to be intimidating to Aki whenever they spur.

Momo smiled upon seeing that her best friend has somewhat recovered from the events that occurred last night. She accepted the fact that she wouldn't be forgiven anytime soon, but was still content that she seemed to be alright.

'As long as she's fine, then I am too. I must do something about those bitches in class though.' She reminded herself, briefly cringing at the fact that she was yet again bullied a while ago.

Her thoughts lingered on how she could get back at Taka too, for hurting her; it was actually his fault that she was in a rift now with her own best friend.

As she was about to plot how to punish Taka in the most gruesome way, their Sensei entered the room.

"Alright ya kids. Training starts now. Find your partners!" he loudly announced.

The students bowed before responding. "Hai!"

Aki, seeing the opportunity, grabbed Ryu by the sleeve. "Alright brat, we're sparring for today. You'll be my spar partner."

Ryu looked in confusion from Aki to Momo before responding. "Eh, but how about Satomi-senpai?"

Aki paused for a moment before trying to pull off a smile. "I kind of need a change of pace for now."

Momo winced at her best friend's avoidance; but then again, she completely understood her reason for doing so.

'I really am sorry Aki-chan. I hope you do realize that.'

Feitan was having a bad day.

First, there was no food ready in the kitchen for him; he had to make do with the 'cereal' Aki pointed out to him for those times that she wouldn't be able to make breakfast.

He honestly found cereal as an unsatisfying meal.

Second, he was bored to death. He tried playing all the video games that were available in the living room, and was bored after having consecutive wins over the AI. Hardly even a game, he thought.

Third, he still had no idea how he was supposed to get back to his world, that is, if ever he really was in a different dimension now.

He finally gave up and decided to go out of the house to kill some time, and perhaps, find something leisurely to do.

He actually hated going outdoors if he could help it— he hated being around people.

"Tch" he gloomily said as he vanished into a blur out of the house and into the city square.

After wandering around the city, he was finally able to find a library; it was made of old stone walls with angel statues decorating the top of the windows, and it looked really old— the rusty but golden gates looked as if they were about to fall apart with one little pushed. He immediately entered inside, in hopes of discovering something useful.

As soon as he entered the old library, he honestly wasn't surprised to find that there was almost no one there, save for a few elderly people who were silently reading, as well as the librarian.

One old woman looked at him curiously, her bespectacled eyes forming several wrinkles from peering too hardly at him; Feitan glared at her in response, earning him a disapproving look before she turned back to the book she was reading.

Nope, and Feitan wasn't in his usual garb anymore.

The moment he bought new clothes, he has never used his old clothes again— at least not at the moment.

His hair was still in its usual fashion, and was clad in a black hoodie that had a picture of a skull in front, paired off with some black skinny jeans and Vans-style shoes.

And because he was so used to wearing his bandanna, he opted for a fashion face mask that covered the lower half of his face instead, which was of course, in black.

All in all, he looked like some punk and badass bishounen.

It probably figures out why he got that weird stare from the old lady a while back.

Heading directly to the New Age section, he scanned books that may possibly cater to Nen, or anything relatively related to it.

Tarot card reading.

Ghosts and Paranormal Activities.

Vampires.

Angels and Demons.

Nothing seemed to be of interest to Feitan, or remotely relevant to Nen, which made him frustrated.

He was about to give up when he stumbled upon a book that read, "Understanding Your Chakra" at the front.

Feeling a twinge of hope, he immediately took it and read it in a secluded corner in the library, away from curious and prying eyes.

'I hope something useful in here' he thought, as he scanned through the table of contents of the book.

However, after half an hour of reading, he dejectedly tossed the book on the floor, before frowning and proceeding to return it to its original place.

Although 'Chakra' was somewhat similar to 'Nen', they were by no means the same. Nen had power and could be utilized for combat by people, whereas Chakra was simply like… one's spiritual state, or enlightenment. He though that somehow it could aid it strengthening a person's mind and spirituality, but it wasn't as intangible and vast as Nen.

He frowned at his nagging feeling that there possibly weren't any books existing in this world that contained information about Nen, let alone some hints that would help guide him to return home.

He glared at the librarian who finally took notice of him and was currently gawking at his appearance as he exited the doors of the library.

'Tch useless' he thought. It was already dusk, and almost time for dinner. He knew that at this moment, Aki was most likely home by now and cooking their evening meal.

He felt somewhat enthusiastic to go home now that there would most likely be a decent meal waiting for him to consume.

As soon as he went towards the direction of home, he passed by the same arcade he played at months ago.

He paused and looked at the establishment for a while before turning his head towards the road. Nope, he would not be playing today. He's actually been playing video games all day at home, so there was no reason for him to play once again at the said game corner.

However, temptation was too hard to resist, especially when it was in front of your eyes, readily laid out on a silver platter.

Giving in to his Id, he promised himself that he would only be playing for half an hour.

'Just half hour' he swore as he headed for his favorite fighting game, wishing that there were strong opponents present so his playing time wouldn't be put to waste.

As he sat on one of the seats, he was somewhat surprised to see that same name that was his current opponent.

Taka.

The boyfriend who cheated on Aki, his roommate, or rather, housemate.

In all honesty, he didn't feel any remorse or anger at the said man; he actually didn't care whether he hurt Aki's feelings or not— in fact, he was somehow amused at the way the man was treating her.

But then again, he wanted to crush his self-esteem as well; it would be nice torturing someone who had a big ego, considering how he was able to cheat on Aki, as well as the fact that he was a host in a host club.

He would love to see Taka frustrated and embarrassed at being a loser.

He enthusiastically played and challenged him for a few rounds— by which he won every single game.

Feitan tortured Taka in a way that he seemed to let him hope on winning the round, but then he will deliver the final blow once he hears Taka's cheers of victory that he was about to win.

He crushed his self-esteem in a way that he would think that no matter how good he was, he just couldn't have it all.

Soon after, Taka was fuming with anger that he couldn't win one single game; it was bad enough that his opponent was the same opponent months ago, under the name Feitan.

Feitan.

He was annoyed at the fact that he let him think that he would be able to win the round, only to crush his hopes up at the last moment.

'Bastard. I'll show him who is boss.' Taka angrily thought as he stood up to finally face his 'opponent'. He smoothed his perfectly-styled blonde hair before standing up to greet him.

"Yo!"

Feitan glared at the blonde man who was a good 10 inches taller than him, even taller than Momo.

Taka, on the other hand, smirked in response. 'So this shorty is my opponent, eh? His looks could pass up as a member of a host club, but his height is well… never mind.'

But then again, he still didn't feel intimidated at Feitan at all; he still thought that he had more 'looks' than him thanks to his big, fat ego.

'I want to kill him now' Feitan thought as he continued to glare at the said man; but then again, if he did so, his fun of torturing Aki would end, since Taka was mainly the cause why she was feeling so down lately, aside from her best friend, Momo.

Instead of letting anger get the better of him, he decided to play along and smirk back at the guy underneath the mask he was wearing.

"Hn."

Taka flashed his dazzling smile as he held out his hand to Feitan.

"Congratulations on your consecutive wins, too bad I couldn't land a single win between our matches."

Feitan looked at his hand before ignoring it, keeping his hands secured in the pockets of his hoodie. He snickered at him before mockingly responding.

"You still need more practice, boy."

Taka internally was fuming with anger as soon as Feitan called him a boy.

Was he questioning his age?

He didn't look that much young, did he? On the contrary, Feitan was actually the younger looking one.

"Eh? Getting cocky now are we? Aren't you a boy yourself, Feitan-san?" Taka warningly glared at him, despite the fake smile he was putting on.

Feitan raised a brow at him; he honestly didn't know what Aki found in him aside from his looks.

'Stupid girl, stupid choices.' He concluded, as he narrowed his eyes at Taka.

He was labeled as a 'boy'.

Heck, if only Taka knew how old he actually was.

Feitan merely glared at him before finally leaving the premises, restraining himself with all his might just so he wouldn't 'accidentally' murder him in the process.

Taka smirked in triumph as his opponent walked out.

"Feh, coward. Bet he doesn't even have a girlfriend." He snickered as soon as the said man was out of sight.

"Girlfriend? Who needs that?" Feitan muttered under his breath as soon as he heard Taka's parting lines, although the latter probably wasn't aware that he could hear him even from his current distance.

A girlfriend, according to Feitan's understanding, was most likely a partner or significant other of a male person.

In other words, a pest.

In all honesty, Feitan doesn't take interest in pests. Therefore, he isn't interested in having a girlfriend.

He actually thinks that girlfriends were also pains in the ass.

Take Aki for example; her way of clinging on to Taka was just downright annoying. Texting or calling you everyday just to know how you've been was definitely not on Feitan's bucket list.

Feitan made a disgusted face at the thought; he'd rather spend his life killing and following orders from the Genei Ryodan rather than living peacefully with what one would call, a "girlfriend".

Aki was briskly walking out of the supermarket, two big plastic bags in hand. She had just done her grocery shopping for the week since they were out of meat, fruit, cereal, and vegetables. She also bought some ingredients for cake and chocolate, most likely for Valentine's Day.

'Such a pain if there's a glutton living in your house' she sighed as she continued to cough, trying to balance her school bag, kendo stick, and two plastic bags in place.

She really hated being sick.

But then again, it was her duty to keep herself, no, both of them alive.

And that includes the weekly duty of grocery-shopping.

'Cheer up, Aki. At least you got to buy ingredients for chocolate and cake.' She mentally chided herself as she forced to look on the bright side of things.

At least she got to restock her treasure of sweets.

She sighed in delight, thinking of what brand she should eat first, despite the fact that eating sweets actually worsened her cough.

Screw being sick, she thought. Sweets are everything.

As she regained her spirits, briefly reminding herself to forgot about yesterday's incidents even for just once.

'Ah, I guess I should try out the new Macha-flavored KitKa— eh?' she froze, as she saw someone she wasn't expecting to be out at this time.

"What are you doing here?"

Feitan was also on his way home as soon as he suddenly stopped on his tracks, seeing someone he wasn't expecting to be out at this time.

"What are you doing here?"

'Tch. So there's still no food' he grimly thought as he glared at Aki, who was having some difficulty keeping balance of the stuff she was currently carrying.

"What you doing here?" he retorted, eyeing the bags.

Aki rolled her eyes at his response. Typical, she thought.

"Well in case you were wondering, I was oh so dutifully shopping for our food and survival." 'You jerk' she silently added before throwing another coughing fit.

Feitan changed his glare into an amused look as he watched Aki cough once again, her kendo stick falling to the ground.

Heh.

Hehe.

Aki scowled at him as soon as she realized that the said man was laughing at her demise.

'So that's how he wants to play it?'

"Hmph. Since you're so busy laughing, I might as well not cook, since I am sick and all." She icily said, putting down the bags to cross her arms. "It would also take a while for me to arrive home, considering how heavy these bags are."

Feitan scowled back at the girl's response— this was actually one of the sides of Aki that he hated, whenever she tried to get back at him by using the food threat.

"So what you imply, girl?" he responded in the same icy tone.

'Bingo' Aki thought, as she smirked at him.

"I would appreciate it if you would be oh so kind to help me with these bags, considering that I cannot carry them all in one go." She coolly said, gesturing to the bags that were placed on the ground beside her feet.

He restrained himself from strangling the girl then and there, but had no choice but to comply.

It was the food that was in stake.

And she was still sick, which somewhat posed as a danger to his food porn heaven.

Then and there, he was, unfortunately, left with no choice but to carry the two shopping bags.

For the sake of food, he thought.

He roughly shoved Aki aside as he carried the two bags with ease, before briskly walking away, leaving a purely satisfied Aki behind.

Aki smirked in triumph as she happily skipped behind Feitan, which was actually supposed to make her look cute if not for the coughing fits she had here and there.

As long as it food and its reproduction was concerned, well… between her and Feitan, Aki always won.

"Eh, they still haven't made a move yet?" Shalnark thought in a bored manner as he repeatedly hit the F5 button on his laptop; ever since Gon and Killua accepted the offer, there was no sign of them getting into action and looking for Feitan.

He briefly thought that they already might have asked helped from the chain user, and were denied of help.

But why?

'Heh of course. Knowing him, he would most likely be cautious of his actions, considering that we could hunt him anytime now, if only it weren't for Feitan suddenly disappearing.' He thought, giving up pestering the laptop as he turned his attention to the game on his phone instead.

Kalluto was sitting in a corner in headquarters, pondering on what options he could use to be of help.

The interrogations and occasional assassination spree wasn't useful, and did not bring out any specific information that would hint to Feitan's whereabouts.

He also didn't have the guts to ask help from his brother, Illumi.

Nope, never happening.

He bit his lip in frustration; if he wanted to be Number 2 in no time, he should be able to be of help in their search for their comrade. It was no use if all he could do was to wait in vain, failing from one tactic to another.

'I must find a way to be of help if I still want to keep up with them in this group. I can't afford to be last' he mentally reminded himself as he stood up to go out once again.

"Eh, Kalluto. Where are you going?" Shizuku absent-mindedly asked as she looked up from the book she was currently reading.

Kalluto briefly turned to her before responding. "I'm going to look for other ways to find Feitan."

"Eh? Feitan's lost?"

The rest of the members of Genei Ryodan could only face palm in response.

"So you are asking me to help you out~?"

Kurapika's eyes twitched at the tone of his voice; if only it weren't for his two stubborn friends—no, stubborn friend, he wouldn't have had to ask help from this dangerous person.

"Indeed. Think of it as more of a favor, or rather, you'd be having some benefit out of it as well."

"Hmm~ Really~? What good do I get in return then?"

'You can prevent Gon from dying' he mentally thought, contemplating on whether he should use that kind of reasoning, or something else.

He rubbed his temples, stressed out at the mess Gon and Killua were about to enter; it actually left him no choice but to ask for help from other people.

Yes, and that includes his potential trump card.

Business partner, rather.

"You can get the chance to finally have a decent match with Kuroro, considering that you weren't able to do so in the past."

There was a brief pause before the person on the other line responded.

"Hm hm~ That just won't do, scarlet eyes. I don't take pleasure in playing with broken toys."

'Figures' he grumbled in his thoughts as he decided to use the Gon-reasoning.

"I see. Well, it was merely of my best and good intention to have you help me to keep an eye on Gon as well, since he is practically the main cause of this dilemma. And he wouldn't take no for an answer no matter how many times I tell him that he can't chase a Genei Ryodan member, a very dangerous one at that."

'If this won't work, then I don't know what will' he thought, hoping that he will take the bait, since it was his precious 'fruit' that was in concern.

There was another pause, longer than the first one, which made Kurapika a bit impatient.

"Well?"

"Hmm~ Let me think about it first. I will be contacting you once I've made my final decision~"

Beep.

Kurapika scowled as he was just hung up on the phone.

Where were his manners? Simple phone etiquette wouldn't be so hard to do, right?

He set his annoyance aside as he clung to the hope that help would be given.

As much as he hated to admit it, Kurapika honestly needed all the help he can get if they were to pursue a Genei Ryodan member, and that includes the desperate task of asking help from someone who was not only dangerous, but was sly as well.

Someone like Hisoka.

A/N: Kurapika actually had no choice but to ask for help, eh?

Happy Kitty: Haha! Yeah, it's actually a good thing that Feitan isn't actually that much of a bastard... although he's a jerk. XD Me too! It'll take an awful while for him to fall for Aki though. Aww and thank you so much! That really means a lot to me you know. :`)

Ven'aranar Angel: Well, he most likely hasn't realized it... yet. And practical reasons at the moment most likely refers to 'food'. XD

SilverSapphire34523: Yay! Thank you so much. :D

Comments, reviews, suggestions, criticisms and whatnot are very much accepted and highly appreciated, thank you!