Title: Luminescence
Author: Cherrie (kurapikasama@yahoo.com)
Chapter: 3/5
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimers: Hunter X Hunter © Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump Weekly, Shueisha and Nippon Animation. This fanfic is written for entertainment purposes only.
Summary: A sequel for Yours Truly, Hisoka. A better explanation of their story, and what happened after the letter.
Notes: I'm so sorry for the long delay! . I don't exactly have a good excuse except for my other on-going fanfics, though I think you'd rather go and kill me than accept that as a proper excuse. Er, anyway, you may find one scene in this chapter as somewhat similar to another one of my fanfics, "It's Not Love". Yes, I'm running out of original ideas (come on, how many HisoIllu have I written!?), but at least the idea's initially mine. And it isn't exactly the same. Yes...defensive aren't I? ^^; This chapter so far is the longest. Call it a make up chappy for taking so damn long XP
Warnings: If you know me well, you should know by now that when my fanfic is in Illumi's point of view, it's shounen ai. When it's in Hisoka's point of view, it's yaoi. Major touchy scene ahead. (Finally if you ask me ^0^) Useless reviews regarding the thought of Hisoka and Illumi together will be immediately deleted, so don't even think about it =P

* * * * * * * * * *

He's content in just watching.

At least, that's what he tried to convince himself to think.

Hisoka realized that the capacity of his patience is somewhat relative. He hated waiting, but he isn't one to jump quickly unless he knows that it's completely necessary. Things needed to be observed first to get to know their nature, while some needed to be watched over until they're ripe enough to possess. There were many things he's interested in, many of which he can point out in the Hunter Exam.

One is that ebony-haired boy, Gon. He had proven his worth from the very start of the Exam. He is stubborn and slightly clueless when it comes to many things, but strength definitely resides in those lithe limbs, and there is a keen determination in his eyes that one can clearly see when the boy thinks about his purpose. He is the kind who will not give up even when faced with death itself, and will keep on fighting may it be sweat or blood blocking his sight. Young as he might be, he is worth the wait.

Another is the silent blonde, Kurapika. He isn't strong enough to face him just yet, but he is a good fighter who has a strong belief in his principles. Hisoka sits long enough in dark corners to hear many things, and it is no great secret that the boy possessed the clear eyes that reflect the color of fresh blood when certain times arise. He has heard enough stories to conclude that boy's purpose, and knowing that he will soon be connected with him again, he found the need to watch him while he still can do so unnoticed.

And then there was Killua. But the purpose of Hisoka thinking of these people is for him to at least stop thinking about whether or not the moonlit white skin of a certain somebody is just as soft and delectable as he think it is. Only the thought of fighting takes these thoughts away, and though Killua is most probably stronger than the last two people, he won't pose as much help when Hisoka was trying to not think about that boy's brother.

Of course, to even try that is near impossible right now when the said man is just inches away from him and holding his cards and doing nothing but playing an innocent game with him. He was so thankful this was Gitarakuru at the very least.

"I think you're cheating."

A small smirk spread its way to Hisoka's lips, which he quickly hid behind the confines of the two cards in his hand. Now, though he's one to keep his word (unfortunately), most especially when the one he gave his word to has a short temper and is capable of hanging him somewhere, one has to take note that he is not a very good sport.

"I don't know what you're talking about," was his defense as he ignored the pointed stare he's getting from the other. It was pretty hard to distinguish his facial expressions really. The mask becomes slightly out of control as hours pass.

The other was staring at the card he just pulled out, giving it a meaningful gaze before looking at the man across from him again. "You're changing the cards," he said simply, but did nothing more than place the card with the lone one that he held in his fingers. He then mixed the two up so it would be difficult to see which was which.

"What makes you say that?" asked Hisoka as he stretched out his free hand to pluck a card from the two. His grin widened when he saw that he picked the wrong card.

"I'll show you." Long, pale fingers reached out to take the card that looked like it wasn't the one Hisoka had just picked. Hisoka innocently tilted his head to one side as he watched the two cards quickly change faces before letting the selected one slide off his fingers. "You see? There is no way I'm ever going to win," continued that calm voice, but he still wasn't doing anything.

"Then why do you keep on playing?" came the response as the game reached a pause.

"Let's just say that I'm just trying to entertain us both." Piercing black eyes let out a small glint underneath the dim lights of the room, a known invitation for the magician to hurry up and just pick a card. "Plus you keep on choosing the wrong card. You're doing it on purpose."

"I am not," came yet another defensive reply. "I honestly do not know which card I'm supposed to pick. I look away when you're changing your cards so I won't know where the right one is."

A suspicious nod. "Right, so you say." He gave his cards a meaningful look before speaking again. "You and honesty do not go together."

Hisoka smirked, ignoring the insult. Instead, he reached out for his turn, paused a minute to give his opponent another innocent grin, and picked the card to his left.

King of Hearts with his King of Spades.

"I win."

* * * * *

Right after Trick Tower, the applicants who passed the test were brought to a semi-deserted island for a bit of, as the chairman had called it, rest and relaxation. The applicants seemed to like this idea, and they settled themselves quite happily. Unfortunately, the island seemed to have owners, and to rent the place, they needed to pay a certain price. The island was said to be surrounded with sunken treasure ships, and these ships were presented to the applicants for them to search for riches worth the rooms they're supposed to take.

Hisoka watched as the other applicants spread out before going off himself. He didn't think it necessary to dive in the water immediately. He decided to look around for a while to see his choices. There were a great number of ships, one of them is bound to have something out of the water.

He scanned the vicinity for a while, going from ship to ship to check them for hidden treasures. A few moments later, he held enough to assure him a place in one of the rooms in the old couple's place, but he decided to keep on looking around anyway. The sun has painted a bright red color across the sky, signaling the coming of dusk. The insides of the ship he was currently in seemed to be on fire as the red glow spread across the rotting wood of its walls. Seeing that the interior of the ship was mostly filled with water, he was just about to turn back when he heard a light splash somewhere deeper inside.

That wasn't supposed to cause much interest, contrary to what he's showing as he started to walk towards the sound. He's a mildly curious man, and though he had a strange feeling about all of it, he figured that it won't be as harmful as he's making himself think.

Apparently, that was his mistake. Upon reaching the entrance to another room, he was met with a short quiet, the kind where one could even swear that there wasn't anything else there but water and the wood of the ship. Hisoka was cursing whatever it was that was making him stay because this was obviously the part where he's supposed to turn around and dismiss the noise, but for some odd reason, He. Was. Not. Moving.

You've got to be kidding me, came his random thought, and he suddenly he had the idea that this was a part of the many ironies they say life tends to present a person. There wouldn't be much surprise to see whoever it was he was waiting for.

He didn't have to wait long, for about a minute later, the middle part of the little lake he was watching began to stir. The human body is, in many ways, a traitor of some sort. The first sign was definitely the fact that he should be staying as far away from this certain person as possible, but then he finds that difficult to do so because he couldn't stand ten minutes without knowing where this person was. That's the purpose of obsessions really as far as he was concerned - to drive one mad and out of his mind.

And then there was the second reason. He was half-attentively contemplating on how to put this one into words when he caught a glimpse of black from the water, followed by a perfect contrast of white, tinged with the small colors of crimson from the setting sun through the cracks of the ship. His eyes glinted gold as a familiar face emerged from the water. Pale lips were open to gulp in the much needed air, exposing a generous amount of that porcelain neck, just as well reflecting the same hue of sunlight to create quite an interesting scene. There were slender curves of midnight dark hair that innocently stuck themselves on the man's neck and face, and finally Hisoka realized that he was taking note of things far too detailed for comfort.

A few moments passed before his eyes met the other's, which looked mildly surprised at his being there. Slender eyebrows creased into what looked like a step below a mild glare before the owner turned away to swim towards the other side of the ship.

"What are you doing here?" Illumi finally asked, taking the length of his hair in both hands to wring out excess water. His eyes were fixed on the jewels Hisoka held in his hands. Obviously, he won't take anything treasure hunt-related for an answer.

The magician's eyes automatically followed the other's gaze, and a small, resigned smirk spread on his face. "Nothing," he said, clutching the gold in his hands possessively and hiding it from the other's view. After a significant pause, he added, "Watching you, actually."

Hisoka had the sudden thought that he was filling the description of a stalker quite nicely, and this amused him in a way. His amusement was further enhanced by the fact that Illumi was glaring at him now, rather suspiciously. He couldn't quite blame him now, can he?

"Why?" There was a demanding tone in that voice, although one has to be used to Illumi's monotone to actually catch it.

Hisoka was grinning now, knowing fully well about the other's discomfort. They weren't spending much time together - on purpose anyway - ever since Illumi's little scolding session back at the airship, mainly for safety purposes.

He caught the other's watchful eye, his amusement rising slightly at the mild distrust in those dark eyes. "You wouldn't want to know," he said finally, pulling himself up to level himself up to the other's gaze.

Illumi's lips were pursed into a thin line, as if his darkest suspicions were just proven right. Hisoka took note of the thickening air around them, and instinctively looked down at a certain jewel he held. With his free hand, he fished out a simple bangle made up of marbled black and white, its luster still intact despite the years it spent lying idly beneath other jewels. He considered it for a while, because after all, the bangle's initial purpose wasn't really to be given to an old couple to ogle over. There was also the significance of the color and the simplicity that served as the reason why it stood out among the rest.

"Here."

The black bangle was then thrown in the air, to be caught by the skilled hand of the assassin. "What's this?" Yet again, the suspicion in the other's voice was gravely evident, but the magician didn't pay it much mind.

"I think it's Imperial Jade." Silence, filled mostly by a doubtful exchange between them. "Call it a gift."

Perhaps he was tired of glaring. Illumi sighed, grasping the bangle before looking back at the magician again. "What are you playing at, Hisoka?"

The room was shortly filled with laughter, seemingly feigning innocence. "Just take this as an advice," he said, ignoring the other's question. "Be careful when you put your mask away if you want me to keep my end of the agreement."

That was his last strike. The assassin didn't say anything and just threw him one last glare before stepping away to disappear behind a large crack on the far side of the ship.

* * * * *

The rooms required the applicants to have roommates, and though the thought of taking Illumi as his own by swapping with the other applicants seemed very inviting, he figured that infuriating the assassin further wouldn't be too healthy. And so, Hisoka idly watched as various people came in and out of his room. Obviously, the other applicants were interested in selecting their own roommates despite the initial choices.

Somehow, he ended up with one of the least interesting applicants. If he remembered correctly, the man's name was Tompa, and unless his eyes had been deceiving him, he was the very same man who's been going around annoying Gon and his friends for quite a while. At first, he thought about playing with him for a bit. It can be justified as a sort of revenge for Gon's sake, but the man's been cowering by the door ever since he stepped foot inside the room that Hisoka finally decided that he's being punished enough.

Night fell and nothing particularly interesting happened. Deciding that there wasn't any need to think about the current Hunter Exam, Hisoka finally acknowledge the tiredness of his body. Every room in the ship was provided with a small bathroom, and trying to ignore the noise his roommate was making, the magician got himself ready for bed.

It wasn't a few minutes before midnight before Hisoka realized two things. One was that his roommate was still awake and was making chattering noises with his teeth enough to rival a bomb. Two, he himself was wide awake and has been tossing and turning in his bed, obviously growing irritated by the other man's pathetic behavior. He considered throwing him out of the room, but by the way it looked, it would be easier to kill the man than to actually make him move.

He had two choices. He could kill the man, like he's been considering for a while now, or he could just get up himself out of the stuffy room and go sleep elsewhere. The room was quite small and needed better ventilation. He had the idea that fresh air is lacking since his roommate's been taking huge gasps of it to keep himself calm.

Thinking about these choices, he looked at Tompa and almost rolled his eyes when the man jumped and pushed himself further back against the wall - if that was even possible. Sighing, he stood up, much to the other's alarm. But he paid him no heed and just walked towards the door, ignoring the man's pleas for his life as he passed him by.

The air outside was significantly cooler than that inside the room, so Hisoka decided that it really would be better to stay out. He wasn't exactly sure if that was allowed, because after all the old couple gave them no choice and just told them to rent rooms. But he wouldn't worry about it. It wasn't like it was a said rule enough to get him kicked out of the Exam after all.

Quietly, he made his way down the halls, taking note of the closed doors along the way. The place was obviously occupied by the other applicants. There was no use looking around in there.

There was a light in the end of the hallway, and Hisoka thought that maybe it would lead out into the open. Seeing that he really had no other place to go, he walked towards the light, taking note of the cold wind that seemed to be coming outside, the smell of the sea lingering.

There were certain points of life that one has to take note of somehow. There were the concepts of fate and coincidence, of luck, of instinct, and many other things that people claim to be impossible to explain. It's almost possible to cross out the idea of chance as far as current circumstances were concerned, for again he had that feeling that he wasn't - wouldn't be - alone by the time he'd stepped out of the dark hall.

The backside of the ship seemed to be deserted at first, dark, illuminated only by the light of the moon above, with only the liquid crash of the waves to fill in the silence. But similar to the many instances when his instinct seemed to have developed a sixth sense for the objects of his fascination, it didn't even take him a second to catch the shadow that hid itself quite well behind the darkness. The assassin had that strange effect on him. Despite any situation, Hisoka would know if the other was near.

"Don't you think it funny," he said, letting his presence known. The shadow quickly sat up and turned towards his direction, but Hisoka dismissed the urge to smirk and just continued, "that whenever you find yourself a quiet place to expose your secret, I always end up disturbing you?"

A few steps more and he found himself face to face with the assassin, their gazes locking against the other's in a quiet duel. Illumi was sitting on the bottom frame of one of the wide open windows, one leg propped up across him while the other remained safely inside the ship. One arm laid casually on his flat stomach while the other hung from his shoulder outside the window, hidden from view.

"Yes," said the assassin, letting out a tired sigh. "And I also find it funny that I'll be asking again: What are you doing here?" he asked, staring up at the other with the same piercing black eyes.

The magician grinned, tilting his head playfully as if he was regarding a child. "The problem with you is that you can't seem to trust me," he accused, though still grinning.

"With what you've been doing, you can't really blame me," retorted the other, giving Hisoka yet another sharp stare before looking out into the sea again.

Hisoka took note of the playfulness between their exchanges. Despite the discomfort Illumi seemed to be feeling around him, he still held himself well enough, unlike the other applicants who seemed like they couldn't stand ten feet from him. It set him apart from all the rest, and for a while Hisoka thought that having Illumi around brings about a worthy consolation for the weird and mostly fearful stares he gets from the other applicants.

It took him a while to notice the long silence between them, but strangely he found no need to break it. Something about the way Illumi stayed still told him to keep quiet, but a moment later his attention was pulled by the way Illumi's shoulder unconsciously shifted. His eyes snaked down the assassin's pale arm, stopping abruptly when he saw no further behind what the rest of Illumi's body hid.

He was too busy staring that he didn't even notice it when his body moved to reach out for the assassin's wrist. He gripped the cold skin before pulling it up to level it with his eyes. He missed the look of mild surprise from the other, for he was too busy staring at the dead white fingers and the dark ring the size of the assassin's palm held in them. It was the jade bangle he gave him earlier that day.

He spent quite a while staring at it, almost in disbelief. The fact that the other actually kept it caught him by surprise that he didn't even have enough space in his head to be smug about it. His mind completely blank, he turned to look at Illumi, who somehow ended up staring thoughtfully at the bangle as well. Nothing in his eyes allowed the magician to read anything, like always, and he remained completely silent about the whole thing. Instead, he caught Hisoka's eyes, and for a full minute the bangle was completely forgotten.

Like the many things that he's been thinking about lately, there was another thought that bugged him. There were things that can completely be ignored and avoided with the proper strength and patience, but they say that there were also things that, no matter how much one tries to get away from it, will happen eventually in just a matter of time. Life had been sadistic enough to keep on placing him wherever the assassin was in what seems like a plot to torture him. What more can pose as further surprises?

Of course, further rational thoughts would be hard to mentally manipulate when that beautiful face is barely inches from his own, especially when said inches were beginning to disappear with every closing second. The distance between them was too close for comfort. He could feel the other's breathing, shallow and rushed, and though the assassin was still as calm as he usually is, there was a noticeable rise in his temperature. Or was it his temperature? Hisoka had no more time to contemplate on this, for much as his mind commanded him to pull away lest he wanted to face Illumi's wrath at a very wrong time, rationality was slipping fairly quickly.

He was so close.

"Don't."

Whether or not he was able to visibly shake his head did not register in his mind, for not even a second later that word was whispered, one - or even both - of them leaned in and closed the gap.

Soft. That was the first thought that came to his mind. Completely still and eyes half-closed, he looked up at the other and caught his just as dazed stare. There was nothing in those eyes that was possible to read, but he held them for as long as he could. But not long after did the assassin break the eye contact as those pale lids slowly drifted closed, soft eyelashes tickling his skin. Hisoka followed suit, and made a tentative movement with his bottom lip to brush against the assassin's own. Pleasure burst through him like electricity, and immediately his hand crept up to the back of the other's neck, feeling the silky strands of hair slide through his fingers as he pulled the other close. His other hand rested on the leg resting on the window and twisted the other's body to what he thought would be a more comfortable position, the assassin completely facing him, straddling his body, further heating up the rising warmth between them.

He hadn't taken note of how long they stayed that way. He even went as far as completely forgetting where he was. All that he could think of was the soft feel of Illumi's bottom lip between his teeth, and how much it elated him to pull away to keep breathing, only to be reacquainted with the other's lips again once they meet again. There was an ill sort of comfort at the feel of Illumi's fingers buried in his hair, pushing and pulling in a random pattern. Nothing seemed to make sense, and eventually he found himself breaking the kiss to slip towards the skin beneath the assassin's ear, going up to give the soft lobe a nibble before sliding down to finally taste the smooth neck he's been obsessing over for months.

Despite the dangerous thought of dismissing everything else around him, he couldn't help but get acquainted with another thing about life he's been cursing lately. There was also the sense of timing in certain situations that need to thought of.

From a distant part of his mind he could hear a disturbing noise, like that supposedly silent engine of an airship as it makes its way towards the sky. Much as he tried to push the unpleasant noise away, it insisted quite irritatingly, forcing him to stop whatever it was that he was doing to look at the direction from which the noise was coming from. In his arms he could feel Illumi's weight leave him. Inwardly, Hisoka cursed whoever it was that disturbed them and wished that they die a slow, painful death.

For a moment all that they saw was a faceless noise coming from the front end of the ship. But almost immediately after, a mark of white showed itself from above them, red blinking lights giving them a glimpse of the familiar airship. It was the same ship that brought them to the island, and from a distance, they could see the faces of the old couple from a window on the side of the ship.

"I knew it," came the low voice of the assassin, breaking the moment completely as he fluidly slid his way from Hisoka's hold and made his way down the hall without even a backward glance. Hisoka watched wordlessly, strangely unmoving despite all that has happened. Just before Illumi completely disappeared in the darkness, his footsteps came to a halt and his voice resonated through the thick silence.

"I'll forget whatever it was that happened here," he said, his voice regaining its familiar coldness. "I suggest you do so as well." For the second time that day, Illumi left him and slipped past into the darkness.

For a moment all he did was stare at the place where he last saw the assassin, feeling a strange anger for the first time since they've met. He turned around, thinking of a way to vent up his anger somewhere, when a small sparkle from the window caught his eyes. He reached down to take it and felt the cold smoothness in his hand.

It was a polished black bangle made of Imperial Jade.