Disclaimer: All characters of Hunter x Hunter belong to Togashi Yoshihiro; I'm only borrowing them for entertainment.
A/N: Chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews, be they praise or flames. There's probably a lot of confusion on the part of Illumi... What's happening? =) It occurs to me that I want this to be more so action than anything romantic, which is why in terms of genres, I didn't put 'Romance'. Other characters may come in, slowly.
Cassavar: You're right; my grammar - especially the switching between tenses, needs work. Otherwise, any 'plagiarism' is not intended.
Rusco: Thanks - glad you enjoyed it!
Please enjoy!

Chapter 2: Planning the Unexpected

Silva Zaoldyeck signs the last of his paperwork for the day and looks up. His wife is in front of him, the beautiful Kikyou. Despite her beauty, her temper is fearsome - to say the least. And right now, she looks somewhat unhappy, a worried scowl on her face. "What is it, dear?"

She shifts her weight restlessly, wringing her hands. "Illumi hasn't come back yet. I believe you gave him a very simple assignment. It shouldn't be a challenge at all - yet it has been three days." Her husband stares at her expectantly, waiting for more. When none came, he stands up and walks toward her, his firm steps ringing loudly on the stone floor. He takes her hands in his.

"I wouldn't worry, if were you. We've trained Illumi ourselves - by now he's bendable to our wills, and ours alone. He'll be back soon enough. There's no reason for him to be hindered in any way."

"That's why I'm worried. He's never resisted us, so I'm wary when he didn't return yesterday or this morning. The assignment we've given him is different from the others. Alluka is not someone he doesn't know or care about; in fact, had the child not been defective, we would have assigned Illumi to be the one to train him. I have a bad feeling about this."

"He knows the consequences, should he disobey."

A wooden door shut quietly. The pale hand leaves the door knob, falling back to the side of the assassin. Hisoka eyes him with a smirk, suppressing actions that may be unwise. The mental urges are strong enough to be somewhat hard to control. They head toward the livingroom, where their steps are muffled by the carpet. The jester settles on the couch, letting his weight sag into it. Illumi stands with his back to him, almost idly staring out the glass panes toward the woods. Dawn is approaching; it will be there in a few hours. His thoughts are back with the boy in his bedroom, his brother, victim, saved. Such emotional conflict is infinitely foreign to him. Is he really so easily swayed? Is his will so weak? Once again, he inquires, "Why did you interfere?"

"I don't want you to regret anything - I'm the closest thing to a friend you have." Sadly, it is true, but inevitable. Such is an assassin's life, where one can only trust a few, if any at all. Illumi looks at the strange man before him speculatively. His words imply that he cares for the stoic raven haired one. But why? He doesn't understand.

"How should it be any of your business whether I have any regrets or no? How would you benefit from 'caring' for me?" Hisoka's grin grows wider. The other irritably glares at him, wanting to smack it off his face. He prepares himself to attack the other man.

Their actions swiftly cut through the air. Illumi's needles fly, but are caught by the magician on the couch, who in turn releases cards. The assassin dodges - they don't come near him. A split second before Illumi lunges at him, he flips forward onto the carpet. The long haired, slender man turns and they exchange blows. Within less than a minute, all is silent once again, save for their lightly panting breaths. "Answer my question."

With that, the jester hops up off the floor, ignoring his left broken arm from the momentary death grip just seconds ago. He walks over to where the pale effeminate man fell, coming closer step by step. The latter tries to back away, but can not - due to the acquired injured ribs and broken ankle. Smiling evilly at Illumi's futile attempts to get up, the magician leans in on fours, finally closing in to steal a tender kiss from the man under him.

Because of one broken arm, the contact was for no more than fifteen seconds. Yet within that short span, there is enough warmth and electricity tingling through Illumi to last him a lifetime. The magician's lips are surprisingly sweet. Hisoka lets himself fall and lands sideways on his good arm, next to a shocked Zaoldyeck. He relishes in the other's reaction. Wanting more, being the aphrodisiac that he is, he reached for the other's belt -

Only to be met with a harsh punch to the face. Illumi scurries away quickly, slamming the door.

A/N: Ah, there's that. Chapter 2,.. Did you enjoy it? Please review =) Updates are going to be random. I am, after all, preparing for college. (Eep!) I'm trying to put Nen in here somehow, but the concept's a bit sketchy. However, since there's going to be fighting, I don't really have an option? I'll figure it out.