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: Humility set aside (am I even humble? I just like criticizing myself, 'tis all), this is not one of my best chapters. I've read it for God knows how many times and I'm almost sick of it myself (^^;) but something's just wrong but I can't do anything about it. It's long overdue though, so I apologize for this. Oh hell...

The cookie goes to firedraygon97 for giving the right answer. Yes, the game from which Daventri existed is the King's Quest series. King's Quest VI was the first game I ever played, so it's a classic memory, so to say ^^ I'm running out of ideas so I'm just looking around me for random names and such, hehe... Oh yeah, Yukitsu gets a cookie too for giving me the stuffed toy I wanted ^________^

Yukinna, get used to the kissing scenes, my dear. Here, *hands Yukinna an Illumi plushy* it's yours, okay? Now repeat after me, "Illumi is Hisoka's. This Illumi plushy is mine, but Hisoka, the sick perverted jerk that he is, no matter how undeserving, owns Illumi. It's one of those cruel facts of nature that one can never comprehend. In conlusion, I am not a yaoist but Hisoka and Illumi can kiss." *nodnod* You'll get used to it, I swear you will. Yomi-san, no I just suck doing Alluka. Grr...

OF GAMES AND ASSASSINS
by: Cherrie ( kurapikasama@yahoo.com )

Chapter 10 - Break Away

"This line is too long. Can't we just buy Illumi-san's ramen now then look for another place to meet?"

Hisoka's gaze shifted from the huge crowd to the girl beside him, congratulating himself for not giving a scowl as sharp as his kitchen knife. Probably as sharp as the other end, which isn't very dull considering that it was his kitchen knife, but it's a difference, wasn't it? Constant time with this crazy woman had probably taken its toll on him. He looked briefly up to thank whatever gods reigned up there that he wouldn't have to be with her as often anymore.

"I'm afraid not," replied Hisoka, his voice mixed with the usual impatience for the other. One of these days, preferably once he's alone with Illumi, he'd ask him for a more understandable explanation. He's lost count how many times he'd asked before, but another one wouldn't hurt, would it? "We settled on this place, and Illumi's brothers are on their way after all. Besides, the line isn't so long." He waved indifferently towards the entrance of the restaurant as another group on the waiting line was admitted inside.

Hannah frowned, but sighed anyway. "I wish they'd arrive sooner though. I want to go back already! I think leaving Illumi-san alone wasn't much of a good idea. Oh dear, I think I left my cellphone back at the hotel too. Ugh, if anything happens to him, it'll be all your fault," she said with a hint of disgust as she shot Hisoka a disdainful glare.

Hisoka looked away, knowing better than to engage into yet another childish bout. Even if he won, nobody would be there to keep score anyway. So instead, his hand slipped inside his pocket, fingering the smooth surface of his own cellphone. If ever something did go wrong, Illumi would call him. Although, he highly doubted that he'd be receiving any calls. Illumi's may be sick, but definitely not helpless. The only thing that changed, if ever, was that his temper was worse than usual. But it's okay. Illumi's kind of cute when he growls anyway, just as long as he's at least a good two meters away from anything hard. He could cause major damage even with pillows, and that's not good.

Thinking about Illumi seemed to work rather nicely though. Hisoka found that he wasn't so pissed off anymore. He wasn't feeling any nicer that he'd offer Hannah a piece of candy, but at least he didn't feel like hanging her either. With a final glance at the other, Hisoka resisted the last urge to stick his tongue out and just looked away back towards the crowd.

* * * * *

"Wow...this place is pretty packed, isn't it?" Gon looked around at the various faces that he came up with. The place was flowing with activity, from crying children to the people in jumpers constantly cleaning up the floors. Kurapika was right. This city was really busy.

"It is," agreed Killua, who was walking beside him. The white-haired boy looked around, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he took in his surroundings. Of all places, why would Hisoka want to meet here? He usually wants to meet in strange secrets places, not in a mall so loud you'd hardly hear your own voice speaking, he thought. Instinctively, he thought about his brother as well. He wondered what part Illumi was playing. Or if ever he was behind all of this at all. But why would Illumi want Hisoka to call Gon?

"Where are we going again, Killua?" asked Alluka, who was walking beside Milluki behind the other two in front.

Killua looked back at Alluka from the corner of his eyes, wondering what the younger boy was thinking. He wasn't sure if Alluka heard that it was Hisoka who called after all. He could only wish that whatever was about to happen, it wouldn't be too difficult to handle. "North Park, Allu," he answered, looking ahead again. "It's a ramen house around this floor, as I was told."

"North Park? Hey, did you guys know that Aniki likes that place? A single serving of their noodles there is so big it was claimed to be enough for three people!" shared Milluki, suddenly enlivened with the mention of food.

"A serving big enough for you, you mean," said Alluka, casting a sharp look at the older boy. In front of him, he caught the dark-haired boy's shoulder shaking slightly, obviously laughing. Beside him, he saw Killua look to join him in his mirth. Milluki, on the other hand, wasn't amused, and he gave Alluka a glare.

Alluka gave them all a strange look and eventually shook his head.

All of a sudden, Gon's voice rose up in their silence. "There, I see it!" he said, actively pointing at the blue and yellow lights that displayed the words 'North Park'. Their pace quickened, and Gon's eyes quickly roamed from side to side to see any familiar figures around the place.

There.

"Killua!" he called, his instincts at the sight of the magician bringing him to grab on to Killua's sleeves. He knew that Hisoka was there, as if the fact that he's the one they'd be meeting wasn't clue enough. And he had spoken to the other already, hadn't he? But he supposed that Hisoka just had a strange effect on him. He wondered if the proper word would be 'trauma'...

Killua looked briefly to note the small step the boy took to get himself behind him, and he wondered just how exactly Gon viewed Hisoka as. As if reading his thoughts, he heard Gon say, "He took me by surprise the last time so I wasn't so nervous then." That made Killua scowl. He couldn't exactly blame his friend. Being sexually harassed constantly wasn't exactly Gon's way of meeting people, and Hisoka's just the very epitome of everything eccentric and perverted.

And as if Killua's glare caught his attention, Hisoka caught sight of them. His facial features quickly turned from serious to unmistakable glee. "Gon~!" came the timely greeting, and he waved at them enthusiastically that Killua could've sworn hearts would pop out had they been any nearer.

But nevertheless, a sudden weight just zoomed past him. Killua dreadfully acknowledged that the lightness behind him meant that Hisoka had successfully tackled his best friend. Either he was too deep in thought or the magician was just too damn quick, he didn't know, but that didn't matter right now.

"We weren't able to talk for long last time, did'ja miss me?" Gon could only stare in horror as the older man all but glued himself on his waist. What the hell happened to the almost civil Hisoka he met just a few hours ago? Well, whatever. His mind was immediately blanked out, but his gut told him that if ever there was a dirty old pervert clutching your midsection like a vice, there was only one thing to do:

"KILLUUAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"

It never fails, and in a split nanosecond, the magician was pulled off from the dark-haired boy and was put face-to-face with a furious Zoldick.

"YOU BIG LUG OF A HENTAI!!!" cried the white-haired boy, shaking Hisoka like a rag doll as if that would take away the grin from the man's face. Coming from experience, not even a bulldozer could do that, but Killua's angry anyway. "I bet that even when Gon's already on a rocking chair you'd still be trying to get into his pants, wouldn't you!?!?"

Gon face-faulted on the spot he was sitting at on the floor, brow twitching at Killua's remark.

"Oh please, like you won't," mocked the magician, giving Killua a wink.

Which just made Killua turn a deeper shade of red. "You--You're sick!!!"

A number of smacks in the head after, "Oi, I just missed him! Is it so bad to show your affection to a person you haven't seen for a long time?" asked the still grinning magician.

"THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!!!" And the shaking continued.

On the other hand, Milluki was scowling so badly you'd think that a guy considered to be as disgusting as he was would even have the stomach to throw up. Alluka, though reflecting a part of his older brother's sentiments, could only stare wide-eyed in front of him as his face was completely drained out of blood. There was the man whom he had seen kiss Illumi and he just... He looked at Gon who was still shuddering in place.

Oh gods, who the hell are these people? he thought in horror. And Aniki! Why would Aniki even want to be with this weirdo??

Oh! But speaking of Aniki...

Regardless of what he was previously thinking, he ran towards the spot where Killua was strangling the strange man. Killua stopped his torture to look at Alluka, but the boy wasn't speaking to him. "Where's Aniki!?" he cried, grabbing onto the pale wrist that grasped the front of Hisoka's shirt, shaking it instead. He wasn't sure if it was safe to touch the man himself.

For a moment, Hisoka just looked at him with unreadable eyes, but eventually, a grin spread on his lips. "Illumi-kun's sick right now, he's back at the hotel," he said, grinning up at the younger one in front of him.

Alluka's eyes widened yet again. "He's WHAT!? But Aniki never gets sick, he--"

But whatever it was that the young Zoldick was about to say, it was all drowned out by yet another voice. "Alluka-chan~!!!" it called, and before any other warning could get Alluka to look up to see who it was, he was caught into a tight hug, his little head pushed into soft bosoms as thin hands forced him to stay still. For one cold moment, Alluka thought that their mother had come down to look for them herself. He was proven wrong though as said voice called out his other brothers' names as well.

"Killua-chan, Milluki-kun, it's so nice to see you all again!" greeted Hannah as she helped herself and the young boy in her arms to stand up. "Wow, you've all grown up! How many years have passed anyway? I hope you guys still recognize me."

"'Neechan!" gasped Alluka, who now had the chance to look up at the one who took a hold of him.

Killua stood up, but could only blink up in surprise even when he had a better view of the person in front of him. "Hime-san?" he asked, still confused. It took his all to not sound so incredulous. "What are you doing here?"

Hannah smiled at them all. "Oh. Mother and I are here for the arrangements, of course!" she said, unconsciously playing with Alluka's raven black locks which she still had her hand on.

"No, I mean...here. Why are you here exactly? Shouldn't you be back at the mansion?"

"Oh, that. I was just supposed to pass by actually. I was with Ralph, but I lost him when the crowd became too thick. He's back with mother, I hope. I stayed here, I mean, with Illumi-san finding me and all, we decided to just go back together," she said, smile still in place. But the look she received from the younger boys erased a significant part of her cheer, and she blinked down at them. "Why, is something wrong?"

"Anou, you mean you're with Aniki?" asked Killua uncertainly.

"Of course!"

"But...where is he?" asked Alluka as he looked up at her.

"Hm? I thought you guys knew?" The blank looks presented to her proved that they didn't, so with a sigh, Hannah continued. "Oh, the poor dear is sick right now so we had to leave him. He wanted to rest, so we just went here instead to buy him some food."

"I'm sorry," contributed Milluki this time. "But...'we'?"

This time, Hannah's smile completely slipped off and she frowned. "Oh, you know. Illumi-san had this guy with him and he was the one who told me that we should come here. I guess he was being honest when he said that we'll be seeing you guys. I'm so relieved." She looked around. "Where is he though? Wasn't he with you?"

The boys immediately looked around. Hannah was right. Hisoka had disappeared.

Hannah made a light sniff in disgust and held her chin up. "You know, I don't really trust that guy. You see? Now he's gone too," she said, again playing with Alluka's hair once again. "He can never be kept still for a second, can he?"

For a moment, with the exception of the bustle around the group, silence reigned among them. It took a moment for the boys to exchanged horrified looks though. They all knew what it all meant. Killua watched as Alluka's eyes began to water yet again, and for a moment he felt like banging his head somewhere on the floor. In fact, he wanted to bang his head on Hisoka's own, but that seemed impossible now that he was nowhere to be found.

Hannah, still oblivious to the rising tension around her ever since the young Zoldick's arrived, could only blink at the faces presented to her. "What's wrong? Is it something that I said?"

* * * * *

"Thank you for staying, sirs," bade the female receptionist with a smile as she handed the remaining papers to sign to the man in front of her. "We already called for a cab for you both, as you asked."

Illumi sighed, holding the jacket around him even tighter. He didn't know if it was just him or that he truly was getting worse. He let out a small sound to clear his badly dried throat, which, incidentally grew sore somewhere in his sleep. He blinked thrice, letting his eyes get used to the heat before fully closing them.

Damn the supposedly unconquerable Zoldick immune system.

He heard a faint, "Thank you for staying. Take care now, Hisoka-san!" somewhere in the background. His headache prevented him from shaking his head at yet another blatant example of the contradictions his companion made wherever he went. Another young female down, the poor child. It almost made him laugh. If he was the kind who'd laugh anyway.

However, he then felt a cool hand rest on his forehead, a sign that his temperature was being checked once again.

"All's done, we're leaving now," said the familiar voice, prompting the assassin to open his eyes to look up at the man in front of him. It took him a while to make up the blur, but Hisoka's face immediately beamed down at him from his place. He nodded once, allowing himself to be steered towards the front doors and into the black car.

"I can't believe I'm really doing this," he mumbled, pale fingers coming up to hold the spot above the bridge of his nose, pressing on it to somehow ease away the headache. Not that it helped. Right, the world hated him, he kept on forgetting that.

"Mm... too late to say that, don't you think?" came Hisoka's remark as the latter crawled in to sit beside him. The magician fixed the jacket that rested on the other's shoulder so that they wouldn't fall off, then reached out somewhere to pull out a brown paper bag to present to Illumi. "And surprise!" he grinned, shaking the bag. "While they were talking, I was still able to pick up a treat for you. Since we're traveling anyway, wouldn't it be nice to have your favorite noodles on the trip? I even bought you some tofu..."

Illumi could only watch as Hisoka rummaged around the bag, obviously looking for the said tofu. He could only give out a small resigned grin - one so small it might not even pass for a grin at all, as did all of Illumi's other expressions - and shook his head once. He then moved aside, making more space so the other could move in more comfortably.

The cab door closed.

Behind the counter, the receptionist smiled to herself as she watched the cab speed away. "So cute!" she giggled.

* * * * *

It was quiet. For years they've been trained to keep their footsteps light, and not even the weight of wooden slippers created the slightest sound against the cold stone floor. Dim lights flickered down the hallway, dancing through the still walls and creeping across the child's pale skin and her black kimono. She regarded the play of lights for a while, but not a minute more than that.

Karuto Zoldick felt the familiar prick of coldness as she neared her mother's room. Despite the bright lights and the posh decorations that adorned the walls, making the room so much like a queen's royal chamber than an assassin's room, one would think that the scented candles beside the bed would've warmed the place enough. But Kikyou's room had always been one of coldest in the mansion.

"Mother, you called?" said Karuto upon stepping on the door frame. Keep your hands still on your sides. Feet together on the floor, point them slightly inwards, keep all spaces closed. Lift your chin up, but not too high unless you appear too proud for a person higher than you.

The iridescent form of her mother emerged from the dark curtains. A smile that bordered on both warm and cold spread on the woman's lips. "Ah, Karuto, there you are!" she exclaimed. She lifted slim, almost bony fingers to usher the young girl in. "Come here, momma has something to ask of you."

Karuto never really understood whether or not her mother's kindness was meant. She was always kind to her despite the times she would raise her voice. It stopped bothering her some time ago. She accepted it as her mother's impatience, a trait she had for everyone around her anyway. But the young girl knew that with the exception of Alluka, her brothers never really trusted their mother much.

"It's almost been a week since your brothers left, and four days since your Auntie Reyna arrived without Hime-chan. We haven't heard from your brothers since, so I thought that perhaps we should check on them," Kikyou said by the time Karuto was close enough. "Go to Milluki's room and see where they are. Call them if you think it's necessary."

And with that, Kikyou waved Karuto to leave. The young girl bowed and with a low, "Yes mother," she turned back from the older woman to do as she was told.

End of Chapter 10

Author's Extra More Babbles: Yes, North Park is a real restaurant and yes, they serve really good ramen and yes, they really have big bowls ^^ I don't know how much I love North Park though because I love Chinese foods and practically any Chinese restaurant to me is good, but since North Park is the place I used to tug my parents' sleeves for, the value was enough to be mentioned here ^^; Oh, and I'm sorry, I know Illumi wanted ramen, but I wanted tofu, so I made Hisoka buy that too! ^_____^ The tofu was bought from another restaurant, by the way. Although...does that matter to you guys at all? Oh well~! =P