Hisoka sprang to his feet, looking around the inn room for any signs of intruders. Seeing none, he allowed himself a brief smile at what the day brought; a new chance to follow the Lead Guild, to get closer to the Laughing Coffin, before placing his white mask upon his face and sealing away his emotions.
Making his way from the inn to the town centre, he took note of the time (three in the afternoon); he made his way down the summer lit pathway, spotting someone sitting on a stone wall. The figure smiled at Hisoka, who waved back.
"Hello there, Hisoka." The figure said, standing to greet the blonde teen.
"Hello, Kirito." He kept his voice as robotic as possible, before taking off his mask and breaking out into a grin, "Beater." He smiled. It had been almost six months since he had called Kirito that with any sort of malice, now it was more a nickname.
"How have you been, Cleaver?" Kirito responded in kind, calling Hisoka the exclusive nickname. Hisoka felt something flutter in his chest, something that had been growing stronger in the past few months especially.
In the past months, Kirito and Hisoka had run into each other more often than ever, actually become friends. Hisoka still wasn't comfortable with human contact - because of when his sister cut off his shirt and tried to kill him - but he was working on it.
Hisoka still hadn't told Kirito his secret, to be fair, he was taking that secret to the grave, killing anyone who knew. He hadn't told Kirito anything about his sister after that night, but listened when Kirito talked, sometimes going out questing with him.
"I've been revisiting levels, hunting bosses, the usual." Hisoka said, before spotting a sleeping body beside Kirito, "Who is that?" He hissed, watching as the woman's orange hair was splayed around her.
"That's Asuna." Kirito smiled down at Asuna, chuckling slightly, Hisoka replaced his mask, falling once more into his routine. Kirito looked up, "Cleaver, no." He cried as Hisoka went at a run to the forest.
Some would say Hisoka over reacted, but they didn't know him, they didn't know he was suffering from acute insomnia ever since his sister's death, or that he was struggling to determine if he may be gay, or that he was hunting down the largest PK group in Aincrad. He trudged through the forest before coming to a large tree; a young couple were kissing at it. He had the undeniable urge to throw rocks at them.
Grinding his teeth, he walked back to where Kirito was once again sitting on the fence. Kirito looked up at Hisoka, who forced a smile before it slipped off his face and he sighed, "Hey, Beater." He sat underneath the tree that Kirito was guarding; making sure that Asuna was not in his line of site.
"Hisoka?" Kirito asked, sitting back to back with Hisoka. Hisoka leaned back, closing his eyes and tugging at the sleeves of his grey robe.
"It… It's nothing." Hisoka yawned, watching as the sunlight filtered through the greenery. He thought for a minute. "What was your life outside of this craziness?" He sighed, making Kirito's breath hitch. Kirito eased into his words slowly, pondering Hisoka's reasoning for the question.
"Well… There's my little sister, I suppose. She's the national quarterfinalist in Kendo." Hisoka smiled slightly from beneath his mask. "And my aunt and uncle," Kirito continued, "My parents died when I was one." Kirito played with a blade of grass. "So they adopted me, took care of me." He sighed, making Hisoka furrow his brow.
"I wish I was adopted." He yawned, making Kirito gasp slightly, "I never knew my parents. Never. Grandfather keeps all that information from me apart from once showing me a picture of his daughter at the age of fifteen, promising we are related. I've always questioned it. Mutsa never does." Hisoka sighed, feeling Kirito tense against his back. The two sat back to back in silence. "Kirito?"
"Yeah, Hisoka?" Kirito twisted a blade of grass between his fingers, biting his lip. Hisoka stayed silent for a few minutes before he spoke once more.
"She's still dead." Hisoka said, clasping his hands in his lap, his knuckles turning white. Hisoka slumped slightly, rubbing his thumbs over his knuckles. Without a word, Hisoka stood, making Kirito fall on his back. Using his jump skill, he leapt into the trees. Kirito moved to sit on the fence.
"So, which guild is Asuna in?" Hisoka asked, calling out to Kirito. He looked up in the tree, where Hisoka had now climbed to the highest branch and leaned against it.
"Knights of the Blood Oath, can't you tell by their uniform?" Kirito replied, making Hisoka grin into the sun.
"I don't notice uniforms. I notice signatures." Hisoka said, watching the sun sink closer to the horizon, a golden glow coating his skin.
"Signatures?" Kirito half-gasped, making Hisoka's eyes widen. He moved to close himself into the trees more so, rustling them as he went. Hearing Asuna start, he looked down.
"Morning. Sleep well?" Kirito smiled at her, making Hisoka jump down to the lowest branch, swinging his legs over the top branch and readjust his mask. Asuna looked so cute and flustered; it made Hisoka's jaw tick.
"You think this is funny?" Asuna seethed, brushing the leaf out of her hair, doing a double take seeing Hisoka. "A red player?" Looking from Kirito to Hisoka, she sighed, resting her hand on the grip of her sword. "One meal." Hisoka, to hear Asuna better, jumped from his perch. "One meal." Asuna repeated. "I'll buy you both one meal of any kind. Then we'll be even, okay?"
Hisoka and Kirito looked at each other, bewildered (not that Hisoka's expression was visible) before Hisoka replied, off-handily.
"I don't eat." Asuna turned to Hisoka, eye twitching. She looked up and down his exceedingly thin stature and hissed,
"Never would have guessed." Venom filled her words and she stalked off. Hisoka wrapped his hands around his waist, rubbing his fingers along his bones beneath his skin, much more prominent than they should be.
