Title: Hunter X/1999

Author: nikki (nikkichan0829@yahoo.com)

Chapter: 0/?

Chapter title: An Omen

Rating: R, for violence

From what series: Hunter x Hunter crossover with X/1999

Genre: Yaoi

Pairing/s: Kuroro x Kurapika, Killua x Gon, Leorio x Machi (I'm not kidding!), Hisoka x Irumi, OC x Karuto, Shalnark x Shizuku, Zushi x Neon, other pairing will be added as we go along.

Description: Prelude which begins with the dreams of a comatose beautiful boy whose visions of future events & personalities set the backdrop for the fantastic tale about the end of the world.

Disclaimer: Don't own Hunter x Hunter. Yoshiro Togashi does. Neither do I own X/1999. CLAMP does. Don't attempt to sue coz I don't have any money.

Warning: YAOI, enough said. Character deaths.

Author's notes: I won't tolerate flames that tell me that they don't approve of Yaoi. Well, if you looked at the genre and warning, you'd know what you get. If you don't like yaoi, leave, otherwise feel welcome to continue and please review^^. Assassin for a Lover is almost at the end!

This is also AU. A lot of character deaths are to be expected in this fic. *takes out a sign that says, "THOU SHALL NOT KILL THE AUTHOR"*

Thanks to my beta reader, lyn for checking my story. Credits go to her and her sisters, Rachelle and Candice for the pairings and the names of the OC. Hmm… What else? Oh yeah! Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate it!

~*~

Don't come. Don't let another day pass. Time stand still. Don't let the fated day arrive too soon.

Helicopters hovered above a grove of trees. The wind blew harshly around. A hand reached up to hold on to the bamboo. A little boy with long silvery blonde hair wearing a plain white yukata struggled to stay on his feet as his blood flowed like a river down from his waist.

As soon as he reached the stairs to his destination, his feet gave way beneath him. He grimaced as he struggled to stay conscious. He crawled up the steps slowly, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in his middle.

Karuto… Don't come. You… You're going to die!

~*~

Kiryu watched, dazed as he floated in an endless sea of black. This is all he's known all his life. He knew nothing of the outside world. But tonight was different.

A girl emerged from the middle of that sea. She was wearing pajamas with card symbols all over it, a gift from her brother's friend. She looked like a delicate porcelain doll. She gazed at her surroundings indifferently. "Where am I? This isn't my dream." She looked like she was in deep thought before turning to him, saying, "So this must be your dream, am I correct?"

Kiryu nodded. The girl shrugged her shoulders and sat down. After a moment, she asked, "How is it that I am able to enter your dream?"

Kiryu looked away. "I… I wanted to see somebody. It doesn't matter whom. I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm always alone. It's so lonely here."

The girl sighed. "You mean by 'It doesn't matter whom" is just anybody?"

Kiryu nodded in affirmation. She sighed again and placed a hand on her hip, her lips in a frown. "You don't say things like 'it doesn't matter whom" when there's a pretty little girl standing right in front of you. Aren't you glad to see me?" She smiled at him as she placed her hand on his cheek.

Kiryu smiled and placed his hand on her cheek. "I'm very glad…"

~*~

One night, Kiryu waited patiently for the girl to emerge into his dreamscape. She was late. It worried him, especially since her family often dealt with dangerous situations and deals.

"Karuto? Where is she?" Kiryu let his gaze wander in the black void he was in. "Maybe she hasn't slept yet. Or maybe something happened to one of her siblings…" His thoughts were interrupted as a vision flashed before him. "KARUTO!"

Kiryu immediately awoke from his dream. His room was locked from the outside. He couldn't get out. He looked around frantically then he noticed that it was possible for him to fit through the bars on his windows.

As soon as he climbed down, the men in suits that often visited him went after him. Gunshots rang in the air. He felt pain down his back. One of the bullets must have struck him but he continued to run. Karuto-chan was in danger. He had to stop her.

~*~

A little girl, wearing a dark blue kimono with a yellow sash, slowly made her way to a large sakura tree in the middle of the stone yard. Sakura petals flew around her, blown away by the strong winds.

A red-haired young man leaned against the sakura tree, waiting for her. He was wearing a black top with card symbols on it, white pants and black shoes. The ever-present markings on his face were there, a blue tear below his left eye and a red star below his right. He pulled a card from the deck of cards in his hand. It was the joker card, depicted by a picture of Death.

"Hisoka."

"Karuto-tan, how are you?"

"Let's skip the pleasantries, magician. Leave my brother alone. You're not good for him. You are nothing but a distraction, a hindrance to him."

"You wound me Karuto-tan." Hisoka feigned a hurt look as Karuto shot him a venomous look.

"You did not keep your promise."

"Promise? What promise?"

"I had told you not to take my brother away."

"Take him away? Why, he's sitting in his room right at this minute!" The magician this time feigned innocence.

"Do not mock me, Hisoka. True, he may be there but his heart no longer is. You have already taken it. And he will never recover. So now… I will bind you." Hisoka snorted at her words but she only glared at him and continued, "You are a cold, merciless killer as your family has always been. Therefore, any target that you set your sights on must die."

Karuto looked up at the branches of the sakura tree and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the sakura. Deep down she was scared but for her brother's sake and her family's sake, she must do this even if her brother will hate her when he finds out the truth.

"I won't allow you to kill him. I forbid it." She clenched her fists until her nails drew blood. The red liquid trickled from her palms.

Hisoka shook his head and smiled at her. "But Karuto-tan, you must know that… with your meager powers, you cannot kill me." He spoke as if reprimanding a child from stealing cookies from the cookie jar. But Karuto was no ordinary child. She was mature and sophisticated whereas normal little girls were still thinking of fairy tale endings.

"I know. But…" she paused, bit her lip then continued, "there is something only I can do. Since I know who you are and know what your true intentions are, now… why don't you kill me?"

Hisoka only smiled, raised the death card in his hand and…

KARUTO!

~*~

It was the last time he ever saw Karuto-chan alive. He had lost consciousness not long afterward and the government agents found him.

Images flashed by, so morbid and cruel fate is. Their destinies were intertwined and easily predictable yet there was no way to alter what lay ahead.

A comatose boy lay down on a bed with monitors and the dextrose stand by his bedside. His eyes were closed but his mind roamed free. Yet he went nowhere, for he knew not where to go. He had been a prisoner his entire life. He had never even seen the ocean. He had an inkling of what it looked like from a friend… A friend that would never grace him with her presence again…

"If we were to go out where would you like to go?"

"Just as long as it's with you, anywhere is just fine with me."

"That's not very good. It's not easy to finally be able to plan our first date you know."

"Then, let's go sea the ocean."

"Hmm… Ocean? Not bad." An image covered the normally void dreamscape. "This is my favorite ocean scene. It's calming and beautiful isn't it?" Kiryu just nodded. "Then it's decided. We'll go see the ocean."

Karuto stretched out her hand to him, smiling sincerely. "Let's go 'outside,' shall we?"

Now he lies there waiting with tears rolling down his ashen cheeks. Waiting for the appointed day. The day of reckoning is coming… soon. And finally he would be at peace…

Karuto… "Let's go 'outside,' shall we?"

~TBC~

Author's notes: Wow! That's a serious one, isn't it? Well, this is just the prologue. I hope you guys would like it. It took me a while to get this right. This is actually the second version of the prologue. The first one didn't seem to carry the air that I was looking for. This one is just fine. It's as dark and fluffy as I want it to be. Hehehehe…

Originally, I wasn't going to kill that many characters but it wouldn't be an X 1999 crossover without killing certain characters. Sorry. The deaths are unavoidable. For those who know the X 1999 story, you probably already have an idea on who's going to die. Oh, by the way, this is based on both the manga and the anime. There will be some scenes altered, added or deleted to fit the characters and the story.

Anyway, please review! Need feedback to "feed" (aka motivate) my muse. Hehehe…