My Lord this one took awhile for me to pump out. I had trouble starting, and then the chapter just ran away with the reins. So lets chase after it, shall we?


Killua and Alluka return when I'm sprawled on the cushioned bench near the entrance. The girl, Jess, is with them, saying some miscellaneous thing to Killua with a smile. The other two look notably satisfied. There's something pleasantly fresh about Killua when he smiles, and the look on Alluka rounds out the cutesiness of her face, but any nice feelings are negated by the bitterness in me that swells towards Jess.

I flip my feet to the floor and sit up. Alluka rushes over to me beaming, and plops herself down on the bench facing me, eyes wide little ponds.

"You wouldn't believe it! Everyone here cares so much about me and Nanika! They're even willing to be nice to the ants because I say so!"

"Don't forget the people who spoke up against it," Killua chides. He and the girl walk over to stand by Alluka. The girl's brown eyes fall on me, and I don't miss the scrutiny in them. "But it seems most of them are for it. Even the ones who aren't superstitious figure they can get approval from the ones who are if they agree. I'd say it's going as well as it could go, bar the scenario of the whole town being religious zealots who worshipped the Maruv as their god."

"There's nothing to worry about. With the Maruv, and your convincing, you will achieve your goal," Jess agrees. "Even without the Maruv, you're skilled at debate. It takes a good mind to deal with many of those folks."

I barely spare her a glare. On the other hand, Killua seems to notice my mood, and his seems to drop a bit. Everything inside of me tangles.

"You must've had fun." My words come out acrid. I direct them at him. "Naii makes for poor entertainment, you know. Oppressive, doesn't talk much...really, I've just had a blast."

Alluka's smile falls, and Killua shoots back, "You're the one who threw a fit, Sera. And I've got work to do. I can play with you when all this ant mess is over, but until then that takes priority."

"Oh really? I'm not stupid. This Hunter thing isn't just a thing you finish, right? Don't give me pretty words that mean nothing!"

Jess then decides to interrupt. "Hey, Killua is working hard for the sake of others, and he's just finished hours of stuffy, formal arguing. You shouldn't attack him as soon as he returns!"

"You can shut the fuck up you little weasel, this is between—"

The blow isn't his full strength, not even close. At most it might leave my cheek a little red. But it's hard enough that I'm forced to catch myself to keep from slamming into the bench. Killua says something coldly, Alluka begins to stammer, and maybe that bitch says something, too, but I can't hear any of it clearly over the noise in my head.

Or maybe it'd be better described as silence, but whatever it is, it drowns out whatever they're saying.

"...good person. She's been a lot more help than you've been. I don't expect you to help, but you're being a brat! Chill!"

No matter how hard I try to think, the ringing silence tears away at the beginning of every thought, so I react according to instinct.

I've been hit. Reaction:

Fight.

My movement is faster than a regular human's, but I don't register I've missed until I skid to a stop a foot behind where Killua was supposed to be. I twist towards his scent and go again. Every time I think I have him, my hands or feet hit nothing. He doesn't hit back. If he hit back I could use that. He'd have to get close. Or he'd use electricity. But he hasn't yet, so I don't care!

With senses in Nen stretched thin to keep track of him, I immediately notice when Naii arrives in the room, and I feel Alluka and Jess move over to her, and I don't give them another thought when all three of them leave.

My hand connects and I close it around cloth and yank. He flips to land on his feet and I swing a leg around to force him to the ground, but when the kick doesn't budge him I hook the leg and attach myself.

He finally reacts and tosses me off, but I keep ahold of his shirt even as it tears under my fingers. I throw myself back.

And sink my fangs into the exposed shoulder.

My venom sacs squeeze. His body shudders.

The shaking I feel vividly, through my hands, through my mouth, and the noise in my head evaporates. I tear out my fangs and stagger back.

All of the sudden, it's my body that's shaking. The two punctures above his collarbone seep light red.

I just...killed Killua.

What the fuck? How? I shouldn't have been able to do that. If it was that easy I wouldn't have been stuck with him all this time. I...still haven't...but it's one person, one person I won't get to mate with. It's not like there aren't others. But why does it feel like there aren't?

I just killed him.

I've killed tons of creatures, humans and ants and plenty of species. None of them mattered, but Killua?

I can't get warmth off of a corpse! And—And I don't want to get warmth from someone else!

That familiar warmth wraps around one of my upper arms and helps me stand, but every bit of it seems to dissipate when I realize just how close that warmth is to vanishing.

"Have you calmed down?"

I snap up my head to stare at him, and he watches me back with collected eyes. Calm down? Am I excited? Why am I excited? Why does it feel like my chest is injured again and every breath hurts? That look...he doesn't know he's dying.

I lunge at him again, and this time hold him for every last bit of heat he gives.

And then he wraps his arms around me, and I wonder if he does know he's dying. He rubs a hand up and down my back as I tremble. My head sits right next to the bite mark. I can't tear my eyes off it.

"You shouldn't curse people out for no reason." His voice comes quiet, but clear close to my head. How does he always sound like he always has control? "But I mean, if you've got a reason, have at it all you want. If the reason's good enough I'd probably even join you. But you always make assumptions." He sighs, and I close my eyes when his breath brushes my scalp. "I told you before, if there's something you don't know, ask. Don't just go around feeling bad about yourself. That'll just make you feel worse. And you have a habit of taking it out on other people, so actually, that just makes everyone feel worse."

I finally find my voice when he pauses. "Stop acting so calm." It's barely audible, but I know he can hear it. "My venom's in your veins. You're going to die."

"I'm not going to die. I'm resistant to venom. I'm fine, Sera."

Resistant...he's resistant to venom. For some reason, I laugh. "Of course you are. Of course you fucking are."

"Yep, so don't worry."

I still can't let go of him. Why is his warmth so different from other humans'? When did I get so addicted to it? But even my venom can't make it cold, so, so isn't it fine? He's not gonna go anywhere. But what if—

"You're not allowed to replace me with a human girl," I say through gritted teeth. My fingers rip new holes in the back of his shirt, my nails scraping skin. "None of them. You're mine."

"Since when?" is his snarky reply, but it's in good humor.

"Chase after one and I'll bite you again."

"I won't, alright?"

He keeps rubbing my back. The longer he does, the more I'm sure of it. This one is not just to sleep with. This isn't going to end with my victory. I still want, need to have sex with him, but even after he gives in I'm not gonna let him go. I want him.

"...You owe me."

"For hitting you? I let you bite me. If I wasn't a Zoldyck, that would've killed me."

Grasping his shoulders, I finally pull back and stare at him, and he lets me go. "You said you're resistant. You might've known that, but I thought you were dying. I thought I was gonna lose you as a source of heat." I can't read his eyes again. They're calm, but maybe it's in his aura. He's not as unyielding as he looks. I narrow my eyes and snap, "Let me hit you back."

He sighs dramatically, and stuffs his hands into his pockets. He looks down at me for a second before closing his eyes and griping, "Fine, take your best shot."

I grab his head, pull it down, and kiss him.

He's already gone rigid by the time I press our lips together. Even if he thought I was gonna hit him, he was waiting for me to act. He definitely sensed what I was doing before I succeeded. If I can sense the difference between bloodlust and this, I'd laugh in the face of someone who said he couldn't. He's letting me do this.

I suck at his bottom lip, then hook it lightly with a fang before releasing him. He may have allowed this, but if I push him too far he'll still reject me. I am done with being rejected.

Ah, I'll never get tired of how pink takes to his white skin. With his pale hair and skin and eyes, the shading is kinda like when the sunrise dyes the clouds. He looks so soft I want to bite his cheeks.

"Adequate payment." I lick my lips as I let him go.

He doesn't say anything, just covers his lips and averts his eyes.

I can't say my mood's much improved; there's been too much unpleasantness since the sun last set. But I think I've finally got my feet under me again, and it's been much longer than a day since they've been slipping.

Killua was even good and let me kiss him. I don't think I dread our next adventure so much anymore.


Just took the reins and ran. I hope the chapter was worth the wait. Anyway, here's the update on my scheduling situation: I'm about to undertake the editing of a book rough draft I have written, and I'm gonna be on a timeline for it. That mean's I'm probably gonna be putting a lot of attention into that, and I may not have a lot of time for this. I'll try to pay this attention when I can, god knows I want to keep writing these lovely characters, but I can't make any solid promises on how often I'll be updating. Maybe by the time I post the next chapter I'll have a better idea of how much time I'll have to allocate to this. I promise to try my hardest! I may be lazy, but I will work for what I love *-*