Hey y'all! I'm sorry for the slow update. I'm TRYING to talk my husband into sketching a scene from each chapter so that I can post them on twitter or tumblr or something like that to add more depth to the fic! Anywho, this chapter is going to continue to show a softer side of our Magician and is a little short. I hope that's okay.

Thank you for reading!

Warnings: Fluff ^.^

A Diamond Among Killers

"Good, you're back," Kurapika sighed in relief the second Fuyushi approached the entrance to her apartment complex. It was unfortunate that Hisoka was with her.

"That doesn't sound like I'll be going to sleep anytime soon..." The snowy-haired Zoldyck replied, her face crestfallen. The Troupe member she was leaning on wore her already tired body out and sleep was the only thing that was going to resuscitate her mind at this point.

"Yeah, well you're the one that agreed to help me. So, Neon likes you and I'm going to need you around to talk her into relocating for safety reasons. You've witnessed how dramatic she can be."

"Oh God, please anything but that. I'm not in the mood for her... spunk... right now."

"Spunk? The man you're with is much worse."

"Okay, but Neon can't exactly do the things Hisoka does to me, now can she?" Fuyushi teased, stretching up and away from Hisoka in an attempt to summon some sort of energy to survive the conversation she would be having soon.

Kurapika's mouth formed a tight line as his cheeks darkened to a rosy blush.

"Well don't look so surprised. You knew leaving me with him was going to lead to such carnal activities, now let's go huh?" She added and pulled the still blushing eighteen-year-old away.

The Magician the woman referred to laughed as his toy walked away. He twirled the extra apartment key he had stolen from her between his fingers as if it was one of his playing cards.

Time to see how bad the mess is, I suppose, he thought as he stepped into the small living space with a very energetic Hambone prancing around him.

"OoOoOoO you brought the assassin!" Neon screamed in delight the second her wild eyes landed on a frowning Fuyushi.

"We gotta move, little miss ball of sunshine, okay?" Fuyushi grinned, hoping that her smiled appeared genuine and not forced.

"Oh really?! I'll go along with this move if you let me read you again?!"

"Eh...fine," Fuyu reluctantly agreed once she felt the stares from the others begging her to let the Nostrade have her way. The sooner the team changed rooms, the better.

Winter skipped Spring and blossomed a Summer child.

An overdue engagement along with a surprise.

Insects of the darkest places of the wild,

Will be the snow's demise

Oh sheesh, that one is even creepier than the first one, Fuyushi grimaced as she read over the parchment containing the fortune.

Minutes later, the Nostrade entourage were safely in another room while Kurapika and Fuyushi remained behind to deal with the escaped Uvogin.

Fuyu's phone buzzed, startling the two adults waiting for the obnoxious man to return. She opened the snap from Hisoka and snorted. A picture of the man and Hambone sitting within a pentagram made from the empty booze bottles and gum wrappers she left on the floor popped up on her screen.

"The Grim Reaper and his son have been summoned successfully."

She laughed again before saving the image and using it as her home screen background. She wanted to be concerned that he was invading her personal space, but at least he made sure Hambone was okay for the night.

"He's getting closer," she whispered to Kurapika as she returned her attention to the darkening moment at hand.

The blonde's phone rang, removing the eerie silence from the room.

"He's not answering," Gon frowned as Killua tried calling his sister.

"Neither is Fuyu," Kill spat. He recalled the "date" his sister mentioned the other day. Was she at the auction earlier?! Was she okay?!

"For someone to have survived death, you sure look damn good, Fuyushi Zoldyck," Uvogin grinned after he assessed the petite woman staring up at him with a hand on her hip.

"You're an impressive species of man yourself, so I take your words as a compliment. Sorry I don't remember who you are though," Fuyushi replied with a snicker.

"Ah, Chrollo mentioned that you had a few screws loose."

"I have more than that going for me, but yeah," Fuyushi giggled, "As you can see, I'll be following the fight. If Kurapika falls, you'll have me to deal with. Think you can manage?"

Uvogin's rambunctious laughter filled the vicinity. "I won't be the one falling, little girl."

But he did.

And Kurapika had enough belief in his own abilities to bring along a shovel. Fuyushi didn't even have to lift a finger of aide.

3:00 AM

Exhaustion? No, not physically at least, Fuyushi thought on the cab ride back to her apartment. It was the emotional roller coaster she had been on the past twenty-four hours that was weighing her down now.

Her feet drug up the two flights of stairs and paused at the rusted door separating her from the bed she knew she was too tired to reach. Keys jingling in the lock alerted Hambone and Hisoka that their favorite lady had returned.

The magician had on nothing but red boxer shorts with a black spade pattern on them as he leaned on the kitchen countertop with a coffee mug filled with some boxed white wine he found squirreled away in the back of Fuyushi's near-empty fridge. He was absolutely ready for round two with his pet.

There's my couch. My precious, my beloved, my absolutely perfect couch. Oh, how I've missed your sweet embrace! Fuyushi thought as she collapsed onto the loveseat completely oblivious to the man narrowing his eyes at her.

She hadn't even noticed the bottle and wrapper-free floor or the still-hot dandelion root tea waiting for her on the coffee table or the ever-growing piglet trying to get her attention.

"Ughhhh, I still can't sleep. I'm so fucking tired and I can't sleep," she mumbled tiredly, forcing herself to sit up and light the cotton candy scented candle on the table beside her.

She glanced at the steaming cup of tea but didn't think twice about it. She was too out of it from seeing dozens of people die for the warm beverage to ring any alarms. Surely, she had made some before climbing into the blankets on the couch, right?

"Mmm, now it's perfect," she moaned softly ten minutes later as she snuggled deeper into the blankets while the sugary smell of Hisoka engulfed her.

There, she could pretend that she was back at Heavens arena. There, she could pretend that she wasn't alone and happily awaiting a morning where he would greet her with her favorite breakfast.

Hisoka watched the strange sleep preparation routine with mild amusement. He quietly picked up the teacup, disposed of its contents, and returned to the snoring woman.

"If the fortune Neon gave you earlier this week is indeed flawless, then I better get you on a healthier sleep schedule and diet. You absolutely cannot have any more alcohol and I do so dread the conversation we're going to have about that~" Hisoka whispered to the unconscious woman resting in his arms.

He carried her effortlessly into the room she seldom used. Her bed was even made. There, he replaced her blankets and candle with himself before sleep came for him too.

It wasn't Hambone's usual sniffling around that woke Fuyushi. Today, it was the fresh scent of blueberry pancakes.

Blueberry pancakes?! WHO the fuck is in my house?! Wait...when did I get in my bed? She fumed, furiously trying to recall the night's events.

She checked over herself and noted that she still had on the clothes from before. She slowly and soundlessly changed into an oversized lavender sweater and black jeggings for flexibility to fight whoever had the balls to break into her place.

Three black roses with thorns dripping in poison surrounded Hisoka as he hummed to himself by the stove.

"How delightful it is to have you awake now~" he smiled teasingly to the woman peeking at him from around the bedroom corner.

"...Soka? You're still here?" Fuyushi asked, clearly dumbfounded by his presence. Her weapons meticulously weaved themselves out of site.

"I'm not needed back at the Troupe until six tonight."

Fuyushi gave him a look of confusion as to why he would choose to waste his free time with her before she opted to drop her concern over it. Instead, she focused on the cleanliness around her.

"You didn't have to tidy up. I was going to get around to it eventually."

"...Hmm? I doubt that, birdie. You may only have a few recollections of the years we spent together, but at no point in time were you ever a tidy individual. Here, you need to eat before our date this afternoon," Hisoka advised and dumped a stack of five pancakes onto a plate in front of her.

"Date?"

"That's right. I'm certain you'll enjoy it."

She squinted at the honey stare twinkling mischievously at her. She had many questions for whatever it was he was doing, but she kept quiet. She didn't want to ruin this moment. The days he would share with her were going to be few and far between now that she admitted that she couldn't give him what he wanted.

She wanted to convince him to leave her alone, to force him away, but she didn't want to drown in the fear of his absence that she knew would overtake her the second he left either. To let him stay, or not to let him stay?

How much longer did she have? Well, at least until the evening approached according to the man still staring at her.

"Eat," he demanded, shoving a fork of fruity delight into her mouth.

Twenty minutes later, her solemn eyes were back to glowing in the way he missed. It had to have been months since she ate a decent meal and the breakfast had her bouncing off the walls with energy.

"So what should I wear? Is this okay? Do I need sunglasses? Should I bring a jacket? I didn't even check the weather, what do you think?" She fired at him as she jumped from one end of the kitchen to clean, back to the other.

"What you have on is fine. You will not need eye protection but bring a blanket. We'll need one later."

She wiggled her eyebrows at him goofily, implying that she understood what he meant by the blanket.

"The blanket isn't what you think it's for, but if you're willing to take my intentions to that level, I won't refuse," he snickered.

Fuyushi ducked her head in shame for being the perv for once and decided that then was the perfect time to do something with her hair and face. She opted to brush her tangled locks into a low ponytail that hung over her left shoulder.

"White eyeliner or black?"

"The white."

"Should I go with a red lip or this light purple one?"

"The purple matches your sweater better."

"Thanks," she smiled, soaking in each minute she was getting to share with him. "What about you? You haven't even reached for the colorful liner pencils."

"I don't intend to wear any makeup today," he shrugged as he combed his wavy hair into a bun.

"You're not wanting to bring any attention to yourself because of the Spiders."

"Mmm listen to you put two and two together, pet," he smiled before biting into the nape of her neck.

10:00 AM

"A...hot air balloon?" Fuyushi giggled as Hisoka led her to a large meadow full of purple deadnettles.

"Autumn is much more enjoyable here in Yorknew than at the mountain you were raised. Here, the leaves in the trees actually change color unlike the ones on Kukuroo where they simply brown and end up ugly on the dirt."

"I noticed the colors last night. You're right, I am going to enjoy this," she winked as they climbed into the carrier.

Hisoka watched as her eyes glistened in glee the higher into the clouds they flew. She had often expressed how much she wished she was a bird so that she could fly. She always wanted to fly.

"I didn't realize how many different shades of auburns and golds there could be! I can't believe this is what people see every fall. I fucking hate Kukuroo. There's no way I could ever go back there after seeing the season so brightly here!"

"Look over there," Hisoka smiled as he pointed towards the three-bedroom, stone cottage he purchased recently along with the fifteen acres of land it sat upon.

"It's so cute. Like a good witch's lair or something. I wonder who owns it?" She smiled sweetly in return.

"I wonder?" He winked. He slowly dropped their floating ride down towards the house.

"What do you think you're doing?! We can't just show up and ask!" Fuyushi laughed at his bold behavior.

"Who is going to stop us, little diamond? I don't see anyone around and the city is miles away."

"Okay, but please don't do anything weird, like hip thrust the air because they aren't going to let us in to tour the place if you do that shit."

Hisoka covered his mouth before laughing at her concern. "And to think that I thought you enjoyed my bad behavior."

"I do, just not when I'm wanting to be taken seriously."

"No one will ever take you seriously. You're only 5'1"."

"Wow, thanks," she mumbled in defeat and knocked on the door. "I guess nobody's home...should we...I don't know...how much trouble can we get in if—"

Hisoka was already walking into the home before she could finish her rambling sentence. She shrugged and trailed after him, but he wasn't there.

"...Hisoka?" She called out hesitantly. She didn't get a response, so she went deeper into the home, taking in the emptiness that let her know that the home was vacant.

She slowly opened a door only to have Hisoka jump out at her with a playful "Boo!"

"JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She screamed, hurling a vine to slap him across the face.

He easily dodged her half-hearted attack and handed her a bouquet of mums and an envelope. She frowned at his wicked smile and snatched the papers free.

Her mouth popped open in surprise once she comprehended what she was reading.

"This is my house."

"Indeed."

"But...how did you? I don't... understand."

"It's where I would raise a family if I had one. Do you agree?"

He's still going on about kids? We could adopt...

"Oh, umm, yes absolutely!"

"Check in the cabinets of the kitchen. I'll fetch the blanket and we are going to have a picnic before we spend the rest of the day searching for furniture, okay birdie?"

"Y-yeah, okay!"

She had to be dreaming. This wasn't the Hisoka she remembered. Well, he did always cook and clean for her. He did always coddle her.

But, he always left her alone for weeks at a time too. When would it be this time? Would today be the last day she would see him before he would reappear months later with his quick wit and a smile that refused to let her heart harden against him?

Stop overanalyzing the moment. Just enjoy it! She begged her brain as she placed the cut mums into a vase she found under the kitchen's sink.