By Yomi
Chapter 2
Summary: After the major defeat of the Nihilists at the Forbidden Palace in Greater Arcadia, the scattered remnants of the organization regroup and make a final bid to unlock the secret behind the natural nen user. Three years on, they have found the perfect test subjects and are about to discover a major breakthrough but they also realize that they have attracted the unwanted attention of certain people.
Features: Hisoka x Illumi and a handful of original characters in minor roles.
Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter is copyrighted by Yoshihiro Togashi,
Shounen Jump Weekly, Shueisha and Nippon Animation
Chapter 2 - A Suicidal Man
Today had been no different to any other day. The brick paved roads, slippery from the grey morning's drizzle, would dry off and chaff the road with dust in the afternoon. Dignified gentlemen with monocles walked the streets like they owned it (and they probably did), their walking sticks falling with staccato clarity on tapping the ground. Ladies in balloon gowns with twirling parasols elegantly sat down on intricately wrought cast iron seats lacquered with white paint in the pavilion in the public park. Their high pitched laughs and low, hushed gossips chased away the birds. In the late morning with the sun almost at its peak, the ladies sipped tea and crumbled cake between their dainty, pointed fingers.
"Hey, yo-hoo young man! The handsome one with the marvelous white hair! Care to join us for brunch?"
Killua shuddered and hastened to avert his gaze, keeping his eyes steadily on the ground in front of him and even quickened his pace.
"Have women in these parts of the world no shame?" he hissed to Gon, who was half walking half jogging beside him.
Gon allowed himself a brief glimpse of the women in the pavilion. There was a woman with particularly heavy makeup who was still looking at them and caught his gaze, wiggling her gloved fingers in response and making more cooing noises. He broke into cold sweat.
"Killua, you don't suppose they've got nets with them right?"
"If they do, I'm running for the hills and not looking back until I'm in the next country. This is such a freaky city. I wonder how big brother can stand living here."
"Have you told your parents?"
"Hell no, and you watch your mouth and think about each word before you speak. You so much as even hint that Illumi lives around here to my parents and I will sock you until you see the stars of the Milky Way!"
Gon laughed out loud in genuine amusement. "I've been with you for four years Killua! Don't think I haven't picked up any of your habits."
Killua rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever you like to think Gon, whatever."
"Any idea why your parents aren't here yet? They should have met us at the hotel yesterday morning."
"I heard dad say something about how they got caught up by weather," Killua said, kicking up some gravel, taking slight relish in disturbing the road well paved by gardeners. "So they might be two or three days late getting here. This is all such a bother. Why can't we just meet in Arcadia and have to rendezvous here beforehand?"
Gon laid a hand on his shoulder but it was shrugged off. "Your parents just want to be able to spend a bit more time with you. It's only natural. Your mum is going to buy a painting here for your cousin. What about you Killua? You haven't bought anything for them yet."
"My presence is present enough," he said gruffly.
His friend didn't look convinced. "I swear your ego is growing day by day. What makes you think your company is so desirable?"
Killua grit his teeth and had no answer. He settled for walking at an even faster pace, heading for anywhere. He had pulled Gon out of the hotel immediately after breakfast this morning just to get away from the hateful and snobbish looks everyone on the streets had been giving them, apart from those brazen, giggling women in the pavilion of course. Were you really considered a circus freak if you didn't wear a three piece suit and tie around here?
Gon's interested was suddenly perked up by a faint, but distinct sound of sobbing. He took off into the denser parts of the park before Killua could even open his mouth to say "wha", concerned to locate the source of the distress.
Small branches left shallow cuts in Gon's cheeks as he made his mad dash and vines of weeds and brambles were ripped from the ground by the stampeding feet. Deeper and deeper into the park, into the darker, desolate and less frequented areas Gon went. He finally came to a stop when he caught a glimpse of a tall, gangly figure throw a white sash over a taller branch and made a secure knot. The shadowy figure proceeded to lift itself off the ground and hook the knotted sash beneath his chin.
Killua raced past his stationary buddy shouting "Oh shit!" and scooped up the nearest rock, hurling it with deadly accuracy to sever the cloth.
The figure, taken by surprise, gracelessly crashed to the ground and was pinned to the ground by Gon whilst Killua took what remained of the fabric and tied the man's hands behind his back to prevent further acts of stupidity.
The man had short blonde hair hastily gelled back. It was the body of a man in his late twenties or early thirties and he made no move to struggle as the teenagers secured his hands and vehemently scolded him for the attempted suicide.
But he heard nothing and didn't want to hear anything. He only wanted to wallow in his misery, caused from an inevitable and inescapable doom. Death was sweet and tempting. He sobbed into the earth and wished he could die. It really was his fault, but he had no way to rectify the problem and the only way to absolve his guilt was by death.
The teenagers rolled him over onto his back and nearly wet their pants.
"Oh….my…..gawd!"
Gon was shocked to the point that words escaped him. His legs felt weak and blood rushed to his face like ticklish pinpricks. His eyes were deceiving him – that was the only possible explanation that his brain could accept. Anything else and he would have to find a dark place, ball up into fetal position, suck on his thumb and cry for mama.
In fact, he was trying very hard not to cry for mama just as things were.
"My gawd!" Killua prodded the unresponsive adult with the toe of his foot, "Hisoka! What…has happened to you?!"
The clown did not register those words. His piteous sobbing continued for several more moments before he swallowed and formed some coherent words.
"Please, just let me die."
"What the hell has happened!"
"I….I…." he deteriorated into more crying and Gon turned his head from side to side, looking for that dark place.
Killua however, would have none of this anymore. He kicked Hisoka into a sitting position and savagely slapped the man until he get a proper sentence from him which didn't involve the word "die". As far as he was concerned, no one was going to die for no good reason.
"I lost my kids! I can't go back and face Illumi!"
"Lost your kids? You have kids? What? And when was this?"
Hisoka blankly clapped his hands to his ears and shook his head, muttering, "Too many questions, too many questions. Let me – "
Killua thwacked him solid across the face before he could utter the 'd' word. "Answer it, or I start making presumptions. I'm going to presume you have kids then – when did you lose them?"
"Ten…ten days ago."
"How did you lose them?"
And this was where Hisoka buried his face in his hands and continued his womanly, broken-hearted sobbing. Killua pulled those hands away and slapped some more sense into him.
"I. Said. How. Did. You. Lose. Them?" Each word was accompanied by a ringing slap to either side of the cheek.
Hisoka finally managed to stifle enough of his sobbings to speak again, but it wasn't exactly what either of the boys had wanted to hear. "It's not fair!" he complained. "Everyone's bullying me. You are just like your brother. You slap me at your convenience and push me around like I'm some insubordinate! I'm human! I have feelings too! AND I HAVE FAILINGS, YES! I AM NOT A PERFECT DAD!"
Gon decided that the shade of a tree was dark enough and settled down, bringing his knees up to his chest and began to lay down on his side.
"Quit what you're doing, Gon!" Killua snapped at him, baring his fangs, then swung his glare back at Hisoka and snarled, "HOW did you lose your children?"
"I don't know, I don't know! They were with me and then they were not there any more!"
"Does big brother know about this?"
Hisoka sadly shook his head and disinterestedly studied the moss carpeted floor. "No. I told him I took the kids camping. But then last night, it hit me that I couldn't take the kids camping forever."
Killua stared at him for a long time and Gon closed his eyes and sucked on his thumb, thinking of his most pleasant memories to wash away the criminal stain of the scene before him. Finally, Killua broke out of his stupor and gave Hisoka a brusque nod.
"All right. Up on the tree, back you go now, you deserve to die."
Hisoka blinked. "Wha?"
"You heard me. You're a damn irresponsible father and you're not fit to have kids. You've lost your children and you've lied to your partner about it. Death for you is the way to go."
The magician was totally appalled by the pale haired assassin's utter lack of compassion and sympathy and refused to budge even though Killua was trying to lynch him.
"You're…..you're not going to help me?"
"No. If you won't help yourself, I'm not even going to bother."
Hisoka shrugged off Killua's restraining hands. "You don't think I want to find them? They just disappeared from under my nose!"
"Have you checked their usual hiding places?"
"They don't have their usual hiding places. They are good and obedient children, unlike you," Hisoka deliberately added the last part and put a sneer on the relish. Killua's knuckles audibly cracked by he remained rooted to his position and bottled the anger.
"Where were you when you kids were gone?"
"I was just taking them out to the market. Big crowd but my kids never stray." The magician clenched two fistfuls of blonde hair and tugged sharply, hoping to jog his memory from the stinging pains. "They never stray. Good kids. And then they were gone."
"Big bro needs to be informed about this Hisoka. You need help – on many levels, half of which I don't even want to know about."
"Illumi's not going to listen to me explain. He's going to interrogate me like what you just did and then he'll kill me. I'd rather end it myself."
Killua sighed and hauled Gon from his fetal position to his feet. "Don't worry. We'll help you talk some sense into big brother if that's what it's going to take to get him to calm down. The priority is to find your children. Find your children. Not end your life."
"Easy for you to talk. Just wait till you get to my place….then I'll show you what the devil really looks like."
"You mean….you're not the devil enough?"
He older man merely gave him a patronizing sigh. "That's what I used
to think as well.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kikyou was not going to give up the children; he could see that in her eyes already. She fussed over the girl's hair and told him to let the young boy latch onto him, giving him her patented glare of "you-dare-defy-my-will-and-I-whip-your-arse" at his slightest protest. He hefted the young boy in his arms and gave her his most disparaging expression.
"Why do I have to carry him?"
She smiled sweetly. "Why not Silva?"
He shifted uncomfortably, making sure the child didn't awake. Haldier had a way of clinging to adults. His favourite position was to lock his arms around your neck and rest his cheek on your shoulder or in the crook between your neck and your collarbone. And then he'd remain quiet for hours on end, the only sound being his light, shallow breathing. How many hours did this child need to sleep?
"Kikyou," he whispered, "he's unnatural. He doesn't move. He just…clings to me."
"Aww Silva, he's just being a child." She reached up to pinch the boy's cheek. "He's so adorable. Here, give him to me. You hold Kim's hand."
Kim, the other girl, sunk into a grouch whenever Kikyou was not looking and Silva wanted to say, "I don't want to hold her hand either," but muted it. Holding the hand was more preferable.
"I don't want to hold his hand," Kim complained for him. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least she disliked him as much as he did.
He wondered why she didn't like him. Her large coal black eyes would narrow and her lips pucker into a snarl if he so much as glanced at her. Not that he was going to suffer her insolence. His intimidating glare of murder made her go teary eyed and she bit her lip until it almost bled, so determined was she not to cry aloud. It wasn't what you'd call a happy victory – imagine the infamous Silva Zoldick using his killer stare on a three year old child.
"A word with you outside!" He coldly eyed her and jerked his thumb towards the corridor. He followed her tiny form and slammed the door shut behind him.
Kim crossed her arms and refused to look at him, tapping her new shoes impatiently on the floor.
"Now you listen to me young lady! You will look at me when I speak to you!" he demanded
She reluctantly turned her gaze onto his face and sulked even more.
"I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I don't like you and you're pissing me off. There's something wrong with your brother and there's something wrong with you as well. Your brother is weird and you aren't half as scared as you make yourself out to be."
"Don't talk about Hal like that!" she screamed, launching a swift kick to his shin.
He easily stepped to one side and she looked very surprised. She studied him up and down with impossibly huge eyes and the lines of grouch on her forehead melted away and she instantly humbled. Silva smirked.
"That kick was slower than a sloth. I could still dodge it in my sleep."
Kim held great respect for him after that and there was not a drop of sulk in her any more. In fact, she thereafter grabbed a fistful of his trouser leg and attached herself to him, following him wherever he went.
"I'm so glad you got your little problem sorted out," Kikyou said and pecked him on the cheek as she came out of the bedroom, her carry bags slung on her arm whilst the other supported Hal. Silva sighed.
"Here, I'll carry him."
He resisted cold sweat and shivering and allowed the sleepy child to latch onto him whilst he kept an eye on the girl by his side.
"Off to the airport! Finally, we get to leave this stinking dump behind!" Kikyou announced, bending over to pinch Kim's cheek as well, a familiar act which she smiled at. She even giggled.
"Mama does that all the time," she said, almost shyly, almost and even had the decency to blush a little and hide behind Silva's leg.
"So Kimmy, did you have a good sleep last night?"
She puffed her chest with pride. "I can sleep anywhere!" she boasted.
"Haldier must have slept poorly then," Kikyou observed
"Don't mind Hal. He does it all the time," she said, half panting, trying to keep up with the adults on her short legs.
"All the time?" Silva echoed.
"He's a softie and wants hugs and kisses all the time. Say Uncle Silva, are you a fighter?"
"Yeah, you know, people come to you and say:," she lowered her voice considerably, "'you and me, outside, now!' That sort of thing?"
Kikyou laughed. Silva smirked.
"My dada is a fighter too. We get all these strangers coming over all the time."
Silva's smirk grew wider. "Is your dada a good fighter?"
"You bet!" she half leapt up in the air with enthusiasm. "He always kicks ass. But he's afraid of mama though! Mama only has to look at him and dada never argues back."
I know exactly how he feels, Silva mused, hiding his grin. The kid wasn't so bad after all.
"And dada taught me several moves already. Watch this!"
She threw several punches then finished off with a feeble kick.
"Not bad," Silva commented. "Your technique is not bad at all, but you could work on your strength."
Kim positively beamed and broke off into a series of childish acrobatic antics around the adults, the big smile never leaving her face.
"Come on, settle down now and hop into the taxi. Finally, enough civilization to produce a cab!" Kikyou ushered the hyperactive young girl into the back seat and made sure Silva didn't bang his head as he hopped in with the child still clinging to his neck. Kikyou herself took the front seat and curtly ordered the driver to take them to the airport.
And all this time, Haldier remained silent, listening to the conversations around him. The white haired man had a comforting scent and lulled him back into a deeper sleep and more wonderful dreams of the past, present and future.
He felt the warm body shiver beneath him and sighed, letting his eyes droop and eventually settle into slumber.
His dream was not as pleasant as his other ones. He saw fire, heard screams and cries of loss.
Haldier awoke screaming like there was no tomorrow in the blimp and cried for hours afterwards despite Kikyou and Silva's best efforts to cheer him up.