Cherrie's Universal Rule When Reading Her Yaoi Pieces applies here. Read chapter 2 for the whole statement.
Disclaimers: Hunter X Hunter © Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump Weekly, Shueisha and Nippon Animation. This fanfic is written for entertainment purposes only.
Author's Notes: For those who are curious, I've decided on stress and emotional instability to explain Illumi's sickness. This won't be mentioned in the fic, and it was actually supposed to be a part you guys would decide over for yourselves. But anyway, I'll provide mine as well, I guess. Here's a term for you all:
Psychosomatic adj. pertaining to the effects of the emotions on body processes, esp. with respect to initiating or aggravating disease; mental, not physical, in origin
I'm not sure if the Zoldick's trained themselves for such things (wow, they've trained for a lot, didn't they? ^^), but I took Illumi as a human being like all of us. Even if you're a perfectly healthy human being, the emotional realm can also affect the physical realm. If you keep on ignoring your feelings and pushing yourself to feel what you're supposed to feel and not what your body wants to feel, or maybe all in all refusing to feel at all, you're bound to crack. Take it from someone who's been there twice. --is stupid and stubborn, doesn't know a lesson unless it's smacked on her face (although, maybe this just comes out from being a proud, obnoxious egomaniac...)
*sighs* I want a stuffed toy. I want to go to a toy store and buy myself a cute black cat thiiiiiiiis big! *stretches her arms apart, sizing from her head to her whole torso* It's kind of hard to look for a black cat though, so maybe a bear would do. Of course, an Illumi plushy would be better ^_______^
OF GAMES AND ASSASSINS
by: Cherrie ( kurapikasama@yahoo.com
)
Chapter 9 - Beyond Favors
"Gon!"
Gon looked up. The sudden brightening of his face was inevitable as he saw that familiar streak of white hair coming for him. Killua was still around five meters away from him, but it looked as if the young Zoldick was just about ready to jump that distance to reach the table faster.
Gon stood up to meet his best friend who thankfully opted for running instead of jumping. In a blink of an eye, and to the great astonishment of Killua's other companions, the two were caught in a tight embrace, the sounds of light-hearted laughter and greetings sounding across the whole room.
"It's been so long I didn't recognize you!"
"Wow, your hair's pretty long. Planning to keep it growing like that?"
"Yuck! And be a look-a-like of my father? No way!"
Milluki and Alluka could only stare at the two. "So this is how it's like to have friends. Not much different from having an enemy, does it?" said Alluka, who was now watching his brother wrestle with the strange raven-haired boy on the other side of the room. He looked up at Milluki. "Are they always doing that?"
Milluki scowled. "The hell should I know, kid. Didn't you see that I was as horrified with the scene as you?"
But the two brothers' conversation didn't last for long when Killua's voice rang through the room again and called for their names. "Hey you two! Come on here! Alluka, I want you to meet someone!"
Alluka winced at the sound of that. And his horror was amplified ten-folds when he saw that it was Killua who was being pinned down on the ground with a grinning lunatic on his back. "I think the difference though is that you smile when you fight with a friend."
"That's stupid," said Milluki, but pushed the younger boy towards the table anyway.
"Yo, Allu, come here!" said Killua, who was now standing up, patting his shirt in a futile attempt to ease the creases. He grabbed Alluka's wrist and, to the young boy's chagrin, pulled him towards Gon. "Allu, this is Gon. Gon, this is Alluka, the one I told you about. He's my younger brother."
"Hi Alluka, nice to meet you!" said Gon with a blinding grin as he extended his hand for a handshake.
Alluka could only stare speechlessly at the hand in front of him. He looked up to study the bright face of the boy in front of him, deciding that he couldn't be any older than Killua, perhaps just about his brother's age. The boy's skin was a tad bit darker than theirs, an indication of someone who had spent most of his life treading on the grounds of the outside world. Looking at the slightly older boy now, Alluka saw little intelligence from him, merely a bright smile and a notable enthusiasm. Remembering Killua before, Alluka couldn't see any similarity with this boy from the selfish rebel that his brother was back home.
But then again, Killua never really smiled back home. A grin, a smirk, a sneer. But never a smile.
There was a harsh poking on his back, and when he looked up, he saw Killua ushering him to take the offered hand. But he didn't move. He couldn't. He just stared.
"Haha, sorry, Gon. Allu's not used to people much," said Killua, a lop-sided grin on his face. He turned back to his younger brother and hissed, "Say something to him!"
"But what the hell am I supposed to say?" asked Alluka almost desperately, though relieved now that he wasn't facing the strange boy anymore.
Gon patiently waited for the two to turn to him again, tapping one foot on the floor to keep him preoccupied. He then looked around, trying to think of what he was supposed to say to Killua. He knew there was something important that he had to say, but he supposed that playing with straws for a whole half hour wasn't such a good idea. The straws were fun, and got his mind off a lot of things.
"Anyway Gon, where's Leorio and Kurapika?" asked Killua, breaking his thoughts. Gon turned to him again and saw him holding Alluka in a head-lock, and Gon grinned at the young boy's useless struggles and protests. Killua had told him that Alluka was a nice kid, he only needed a little work.
"Oh, right. They had to go get a few stuff, but they said that we could try to catch up if we want. Just a sec, I'll call them now." Upon saying this, Gon whipped out his cellphone and started dialing. Somewhere at the back of his head, he still knew he was supposed to tell Killua something else. But again, his line of thought was cut off as the other line started to ring.
* * * * *
Illumi?
It was burning. He was burning. His clothes felt three inches thick, and the blanket that seemed to weigh a ton didn't at all help his situation. There was a painful throbbing on one side of his head, but when he tried to move to another side, a nauseating feeling overcame him, as if there was a thin liquid being thrown about inside his head. He was forced to lie straight, but then his back hurt, promptly compelling him to push his head back on his pillow, a low groan emanating from his dry throat.
In short, he felt horrible. His hair was only making things worse, because no matter how soft it was - he didn't even want to know what it would feel like had his hair been less healthy - it was scratching on the skin on his back, and he could feel the heat radiating from there as well. He wished he could move it away, but the most he could do was try to lift his head and the nausea would start all over again.
That really sucked.
His thoughts still clouded, he barely noticed the light kiss planted on his temple. The next thing he knew was that his head was being supported and lifted up, his hair being swept away from his nape and him being settled down on the bed again. Something cold was rested on his forehead, another one being spread on his neck. With his current temperature, the coolness was immensely gratifying, and a low sigh escaped him.
Illumi.
The growing comfort was helping him back from his daze, and he could now hear the voice calling out to him more clearly.
"Illumi-kun? You need to wake up, Illu. I have to tell you something."
So this was how it felt like to be sick. A minus point for him for belittling the people he saw moaning about the pain during his past missions. He still couldn't help but wonder why his body actually decided this time to be the right time to foul up. Even his eyes seemed hot, but still he slowly opened them. He couldn't judge what he felt when he saw that familiar face there. He felt like shit, so shouldn't he snap at him or something? But no, he felt no ill-feeling against the man. Strange. Probably the whole sick thing acting up on him.
"What time is it?" he heard himself ask.
"It's eight o'clock in the morning, but before you decide to strain yourself further by counting the time passed, the answer is eleven hours, and no, it's too early to use up your nen because you can't even move what more spare any of your remaining strength and again, no, I can't help you for a reason I doubt you'd even want to know," was his reply.
He closed his eyes. Damn. Whatever it was that Hisoka said, all he understood from it was that he couldn't heal himself yet and that he's been sleeping for quite a while. Eleven hours? That was five hours more than the usual time he spent sleeping. He still felt tired, though. He wanted to sleep. The towels on his skin were replaced, and the cool feeling came to him again. Yes, he wished he could just stay like that and not wake up again.
But such things just didn't last. The world cared crap even if you're about to hurl the contents of your stomach on them anyway.
"We're in trouble. That leech of yours just called her mother about what happened. Judging from their conversation, they still don't know about your little escapade. You have less than a day until she finds out that you ran away from home. You have less than a day until someone from your place calls up your brothers to tell them about Hannah. In other words, we have less than a day until all hell breaks lose."
Now, at least that made him frown. He disliked Hannah more than he did Hisoka, so perhaps even if the magician didn't make him feel too bad, the other did. His life was hell. "If that's all you're going to say, then shut up and let me sleep," he murmured, his eyes closing tightly, his ears determined to not let Hisoka's voice in again.
"But what if I say that I can help you run away again?"
Well, if that was the case, then things would be different. Opening his eyes again, he stared up at Hisoka, but one look at the other reminded him just who he was talking to. "If it has something to do with a rope, a gag and a suspension bridge, forget it. I think you've pissed her off long enough."
"Of course not! I mean, I can take a hint. You're in denial so you're playing hard-to-get, but you don't really want to hurt your childhood sweetheart, do you?" asked the magician, playfully batting his eyelashes.
But only one of them had the state of mind to have a sense of humor. In fact, only one of them had a sense of humor, period. "I dare you to repeat that," threatened the younger of the two. Despite his condition, Illumi really looked like he'd cut anyone's throat off if he heard even a single more joke about him and the girl.
And of course, Hisoka had known the assassin well enough to understand that by saying 'cutting throats off', Illumi really was after decapitation. So instead of pushing it, he settled on good-naturedly patting his companion's lovely mane, a crime still, but a lesser one that he'd get away with. "We got cut off last night," he said, continuing his previous words. "I was just about to tell you that Gon and his brigade are here."
"What does that have to do with anything?" snapped the very pissed off assassin. He was annoyed, sure, but he wasn't bitter just because Hisoka's suddenly happy again now that his old playmate was back. Of course not. Not bitter at all. Take that smirk off your face, Hisoka, my temper only rose because I have a fever and you're not making any sense.
To his relief, the magician didn't say anything and merely went on with his account. "Gon was going to meet with Killua yesterday. I believe that your brother decided that your current search party was too small, so he called his friend to come in and help. Of course, Gon was happy to be of help. But yeah, I met him, and guess what he asked me."
"Hisoka, my brain cells are currently on strike. Stop making me guess and get to the point."
"Heh, touchy, aren't we?" It was hard, and painful, but a glare can do wonders, and in five seconds, Illumi got Hisoka to continue talking properly again. "Gon remembered that I knew you, so he asked if I could help. Join them, if you may. Of course, even if it was nice to see Gon again, it's still more fun being on your side."
Hisoka gave him a wink. Was that his way of reassuring him? If only he could, Illumi would've rolled his eyes.
"Now, I want you to look at these." Hisoka rose from the bed and walked towards the coffee table. He then picked up two glossy booklets and presented them to Illumi. "These are booked flights going for Daventri. Yes, there are only two of them. I'm taking you with me and I'm leaving that evil spawn for a fiancée of yours here to rot however she pleases. I've packed everything and we're ready to leave any time we wish to. Check out time will be at noon, which will give me enough time to get rid of that big yak."
A slender eyebrow rose ever so slightly, a movement invisible even to the eyes of the one speaking. Not even the assassin knew why he was compelled to spare a few seconds of his time to actually reflect about the strange tone of the magician's voice when he said those words. He knew that the other didn't like his crazy fiancée much, but he didn't expect it to be at such an extent.
He frowned.
Ever since he came, Hisoka's been acting so strangely around him. Everything then came back to the things that he had done. Illumi realized that it was Hisoka who did everything, that all he had to do was to stay still and wait for Hisoka to do the rest. From the very start, the other had asked him to let him do things his way. And he agreed, thinking that it was just the other's way of saying that he didn't like being told what to do.
The assassin didn't expect the magician to carry the whole burden.
"For a favor, you're certainly doing a lot," was all he could say amidst all the thoughts that ran through his head. He turned away from the magician's eyes and rolled to his side, placing the now warm towels on the space behind him. It didn't look like he wanted to say any more. He didn't want to think at all. But just like his eyes that have drifted closed on their own, he couldn't help the words that left him before sleep took over him again. "Thanks anyway."
Hisoka was silent, at first just staring blankly at the assassin's back. But as he turned back to drop the booklets back where they initially were, a small hint of a smirk curved up his lips.
I actually forgot that what I'm doing was but a favor.
He said no more and let the other sleep. He headed straight to the door, wanting to be done with things once and for all. Upon stepping out of the room, he walked across the hall to knock at the door right in front of their own. "Hey Princess!" he called, and made another set of knocks.
There came the sounds of the locks being lifted from the other side, and the next thing he saw was Hannah's face showing through the gap. A frown was on her face. Obviously, he wasn't included in the list of people she wanted to see at the moment. "What do you want?" she snapped, glaring at him through the small space.
"Come on, we have to go somewhere," said Hisoka, keeping his cool even if inside, he wondered if closing the door with the other's head still poked out would be a good idea. But there was always the fact that Illumi refused all his offers of hurting Hannah, again, for whatever reason, he couldn't grasp. Fortunately, it wasn't because she was a childhood sweetheart.
"And where is that?" asked the girl behind the door.
Hisoka fought the urge to grit his teeth. "We have to buy something for Illumi."
"We? Why am I supposed to come? Why don't you just go and I'll stay here to take care of Illumi-san?"
"No, Illumi-san locked the door and left me the key and no, I'm not giving it to you. He said he wanted to rest, so to get rid of us, he wanted us to go buy him a bowl of ramen from a restaurant quite far from here," came Hisoka's reply. "Besides, we have people to meet. Illumi's brothers want to see you. They want to see how Illumi's doing, so we're accompanying them back here."
"You know Illumi-san's brothers? Ugh, please tell me you don't. I will not hear of you soiling their minds like you did Illumi-san's."
"Of course not. (They're soiled enough without my help anyway, thought Hisoka) They called Illumi and wanted to accompany him back home, but since Illumi's sick, they'll have to wait for him to feel better. They were also told that you're here, and they said that they would like to see you as well. I'm just here because Illumi asked me to escort you to make sure that nothing happens to you."
That was the single most painful lie he had to make in his life, but Hisoka decided that it was for the best. Seeing that proud smile spread on the young woman's face was hard, but it was also a good sign that she took the bait.
"That's so sweet of Illumi-san, giving me his own bodyguard to watch over me. He shouldn't have," gushed the spoiled princess-cum-slut, as Hisoka wished to call her. He decided that she must be thinking about how much Illumi loved her. It took his all to not gag. "Wait for me, I have to dress up for the young sweethearts. Don't you dare leave me, you hear?"
The door slammed on his face. Yes, he hated her so damn much.
* * * * *
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn it all!"
Kurapika sighed. He looked up at the man beside him and glared. "I already bought you two ice cream cones. The least you could do is to shut up and be patient."
Leorio all but knocked his head on the wall behind him. Random faces passed the two of them by, paying them no heed. Quenya had always been known for its wonderful shopping malls, but the young doctor didn't expect it to be that famous. The place was packed! It only made his temper rise, listening to conversations so molded up together that he hardly understood a single word. "What number is your earring again?"
"Thirty-seven," answered the Kuruta beside him.
"Gaah, I knew I shouldn't have asked!"
Kurapika rolled his eyes and sighed again. "Just who the hell broke it anyway? For your information, Leorio, that thing was a..."
"...priceless family heirloom. For cryin' out loud, Kurapika, you've repeated that for the fifth time today. Look, I'm sorry for breaking it and I'd make it up to you, okay? Okay, you forgive me. Can I go now?"
Kurapika turned away. "Not good enough. You broke it, you'll wait for it to get fixed, and you'll pay for the repair."
"I'll what!?!?"
But Leorio's complaints were ceased ("Ice cream is worth nothing if you'll make me pay anyhow!!!") by a sudden ringing inside the Kuruta's pockets. Digging down for his cellphone, Kurapika clicked to answer the call. "Kurapika here."
"Kurapika! Killua and his brothers are here now, want us to go there?" came Gon's voice.
"Sure, that would be nice. I think Leorio could use a bit of your company, seeing that his brain works like that of a 10-year old anyway. You guys would get along quite well," said Kurapika sarcastically, casting the man beside him a sharp look. He ignored the prompt, "What the hell does that suppose to mean!?" and went back to the boy on the other line. "Tell Killua that it'd be nice to see him again, okay?"
"Of course! Oh, wait a second, someone else is calling."
"Okay."
Gon's hold music sounded through the young Kuruta's ears as the boy answered the other call. Kurapika waited for about a minute, looking around instead to get his attention away from the grieving doctor behind him. A few moments later, Gon's voice came back again.
"Kurapika! Guess who just called!"
"Who?"
"Hisoka!"
Kurapika then heard a few rumbles from the other line, plus unmistakable voice of Killua yelling out a distraught "What!?!?" soon after.
"I forgot to tell you that. Aside from Leorio and Kurapika going away for a while, I forgot to mention that Hisoka approached me early this morning. He's staying in the same hotel as we are!"
Kurapika had an inkling that Gon wasn't talking to him, but still, he couldn't help but react to that. "He's what!?"
"What's wrong?" asked Leorio, who somehow sobered down beside him. All he met though was a slender-fingered hand smacked on his face to push him off his seat as Kurapika tried to listen to the conversation on the other line. A prompt twitching of the vein on the doctor's temple set him off to launch himself at the younger man, but again, he was punched to oblivion as the other one was trying hard to catch any sense from the commotion on the other line.
"Kurapika!" It was Killua this time. "Sorry for this, but Gon and I might not be able to meet with you right now. You guys can come after us later when you're done. Something just came up. Nice to know I'll be seeing you guys soon, take care, bye!"
Beep.
Kurapika blinked as a series of beeps started ringing in his ears. He closed his cellphone and sighed. Hisoka? What was he doing here? Kurapika remembered back then that Hisoka knew Killua's brother. Could it be that he's also connected with all of these?
The young Kuruta frowned. Why did it seem that whenever something comes up, Hisoka's somehow connected to it all? For a clown, that man was just plain creepy.
"You...pompous...cruel little sadist!" came a voice from the floor. Kurapika looked down somewhere around his left feet to see Leorio's beaten face looking up at him with what looked like a glare. "Help me up!"
"What the hell are you still doing down there anyway?" asked the scowling Kuruta, but offered his hand to the other anyway.
"You put me there, genius! Had I known you're capable of smothering someone to death with your bare hand, then maybe I would've held my concern further back, probably after you're done using your phone."
Kurapika was just about to retort to that when the the girl from the repair shop called out, "Thirty-seven!" The Kuruta turned to his companion and held out a hand, curling up his fingers repeatedly to show that something had to be put in there. "That's your call. Give me the money."
"After what you did!? I'm not paying for that thing!!!"
"I need that earring fixed! I'll...I'll kill you if I have to!" A long-sleeved arm rushed out to grab the doctor's coat before the other threatened to run away. "For cryin' out loud, Leorio, it's just a measly repair fee! You give other people more than half of your wealth and you wouldn't even pay for the damage you did to my earring!?"
"Well, the people I give my money to are nice, grateful and precious darlings, not obnoxious babies with creepy claws!"
A balled fist was really shaking threateningly now. "We'll see who's the fucking baby, you despicable cheapskate!!!"
End of Chapter 9
Last note: Free cookies to anyone who can identify the game whose hero comes from Daventri. That game happened to be my favorite game of all time, only it's undecided whether or not I like it more than Final Fantasy 7. It's a classic, so I suppose that it's like a priceless antique. Incomparable to the modern times if you may. ^^
Leorio and Kurapika. Things got a bit hell-bent on those two ^^; That was supposed to be in response to those who asked for LeoPika's from me =P Not used to a not-too-gentle Kurapika? Kurapika has changed a lot since the Ryodan arc, so it's almost difficult to imagine him as the gentle teenager during the Hunter Exam after what he did to the Geneiryodan ^^; In truth, Kurapika has an awful temper. As for the disappearance of the sappy/fluffy relationship commonly seen in LeoPika's, it's obvious that this fic happened way after the manga's timeline. The characters are older and, well, you know who's best friends with who. Leorio and Kurapika have this sort of awkward, high school crush thing going on between them (or so I see it) so whenever they're alone together, you'll think of coffee shops, sweet pastries and flowers and butterflies. That isn't so bad actually, but that only works for fluffy one-shots. They've got to have their own story this time, and I used the years passed to justify their more casual relationship.
