Silva rang a small bell, and the staff reentered the dining hall. Lunch continued on silently, and Prytania finished her food as quickly as her upbringing in polite society would allow her. When she was done, she excused herself from the table. Butlers came and bussed her plates away as she walked out the door. The hallway right outside of the dining room had grandiose stone pillars to match the stone walls in the castle. She stepped behind a pillar, hiding her presence until Illumi stepped out not more than a minute later. She could feel it was him, feel his aura, and right as he was in range she made quick work to grasp Illumi's hand and drag him through the hallways towards his room. Illumi hardly gasped, he probably expected it, and she silently applauded his composure to herself. Hisoka caught sight of them scurrying through the halls outside the dining room and followed.
Prytania knew he was following, even with his aura hidden she knew Hisoka was close. His footsteps were silent, much like Illumi's, but she anticipated his presence. Locating Hisoka was always like locating the source of your own sense of dread, and it made things easy for Prytania to grab hold of Hisoka's arm right as soon as he got close enough. Both Hisoka and Illumi were surprised at the death grip with which she held their arms. Even if they wanted to get away, they weren't sure they could. They got to Illumi's room and she threw them both through the door and shut it behind them. Illumi and Hisoka sat on the edge of Illumi's bed.
"Well?!" Prytania crossed her arms and darted her eyes between both of them like a mother disciplining two children would.
"Look, I can explain." Illumi started.
"I don't think I need an explanation I know exactly what happened! Kalluto found you and Hisoka fucking around except he didn't see you and you had to blame someone, right?"
"Well, yeah basically." Hisoka exhaled.
Both Hisoka and Illumi observed Prytania's eyes get wider and her nostrils flare. "I can't believe this! Illumi I'm supposed to be getting your parents to like me! Now they're gonna think I'm some pervert with a public sex kink or something! What the fuck?!"
"You're not as polite when you talk to us as when you talk to Illumi's family." Hisoka chimed in, for no reason.
"Shut your whore mouth, Hisoka!"
Hisoka raised his hands in defense and said no more.
Prytania turned back to Illumi. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"
"You don't actually want to know what I was thinking."
"Agh!" Prytania threw her hands in the air, seemingly cursing at whatever heavenly deity was up there to ignore to her.
Illumi scratched the side of his face with one hand. "Well, at least my mother seems to be happy now that she thinks we, uh- like each other."
"She's probably already thinking of all the different ways she can filet me!" Prytania held her head in her hands.
Illumi thought for a second. "No really, she's probably more than happy that she thinks we're like, active, or whatever."
Prytania pinched her nose and held one hand on her hip in frustration. Hisoka crossed his legs and leaned back on the bed. Prytania exhaled.
"I don't ever want to look your father in the eyes again."
"Believe me, neither do I." Illumi laughed.
"Oh you think this is funny?!" Illumi nodded 'no' as Prytania paced the room, recounting everything that occurred. "You know, I thought it was really weird the way your brother was looking at me and now I fucking know why! Dammit! And-and YOUR FATHER. He said, 'Please be mindful!' To me that's what he fucking said, 'Please be mindful!'!" Prytania repeated herself and Illumi just looked down at his floor. Prytania exhaled. "I can't believe this. I'm dreaming right now this is all a weird, sick, twisted fucking nightmare."
"No it's real." Hisoka muttered. Prytania inhaled sharply. She slowed her pacing and came to a stop in front of Illumi.
"Illumi, if I'm going to be married into this family I'm gonna need all the secrets."
"What?"
Hisoka and Illumi looked at Prytania, unsure of her meaning.
"There are all these loose ends that don't make sense. One of your butlers said sometimes you guys- your family, or your mother I'm not sure- kills them sometimes. What does that mean? There's hallways in this mansion that don't lead anywhere and there's big metal doors with impossible locks. What are you hiding?"
Hisoka and Prytania were now both looking at Illumi. His face was like a stone- no expression.
Illumi looked Prytania in the eye. "The dog, Mike. Sometimes we-"
"No, don't- don't do that. Don't lie to me. I know your family is hiding something and I want to know what it is." Prytania pointed a finger at Illumi.
Hisoka watched the exchange closely. He wanted to know what was going on too.
Illumi cocked his head to the side and answered curtly, "No."
"I just looked at your father's face and apologized for something YOU did. You OWE me!"
"Yeah, sorry, but that's not a good enough reason for me to spill the family secrets."
"Not a good enough reason? Are you serious? How about we're getting married in a matter of hours? I'm literally going to be a part of your family soon. I think that's a good enough reason so tell me!"
"No."
"Tell me!"
"I said No!"
"Why not!"
"Leave it alone!" Illumi yelled as he stood up from the bed, now standing taller than Prytania. Hisoka stared in awe. He'd seen Illumi this level of annoyed before, but only a couple of times. Whatever this was, Prytania was persistent but he knew Illumi wasn't going to budge. Prytania looked up at him with such determination and she was not the least bit intimidated. To say Hisoka was interested in how things were playing out would be a vast understatement. His curiosity had been piqued and it needed to be sated.
"I won't leave it alone because you're gonna tell me!"
"Leave it alone or the wedding's off!"
"Call off the wedding and I'll spill everything!" The words left Prytania's mouth like swords. They were the only leverage she had, and she'd promised herself and Illumi that she wouldn't use it, but she couldn't afford to mess up this contract and she needed to fucking know.
"Take that back." Illumi huffed.
"No."
"I'm not telling you for your own protection!"
"Protection from WHAT?"
"I can't tell you!"
"Yes you can!"
"I haven't even told Hisoka!"
"I don't care! Tonight I'm going to be your legal-motherfucking-wife!" Illumi approached Prytania, trying to push her back. She didn't budge and now he towered over her at an alarmingly close proximity. Bloodlust pooled around Illumi, seeping from him like untethered coils. Hisoka watched silently as Prytania remained headstrong.
"Who trained you?" Illumi tilted his head at Prytania and squinted.
"What?" Prytania shifted her eyes to Hisoka and back to Illumi, trying to avoid looking at him. Illumi caught it immediately.
"You think Hisoka and I can't recognize that you've been trained in some kind of martial arts? There's no way just anyone could sense either of us coming in order for you to grab us the way you did out in the hall. Besides, I figure the company wouldn't have sent you into a den of assassins without some way to protect yourself, right? So, who trained you?"
Prytania felt the sting of Hisoka's stare on her body, watching and smiling like the Cheshire cat for her answer. "My father."
"And who exactly is your father?"
"That's not important."
"Okay, I guess you don't want to know what's going on here."
"He's nobody! He's just some freak who knows how to fight."
Hisoka spoke up from behind Illumi. "We can tell you're stronger than someone who was trained by just 'some freak', Prytania. You have very dedicated self-control, but there's not a lot of people who can throw us around without breaking a sweat. We know you're stronger than you look."
Illumi chuckled. "I bet you opened the gates of testing yourself. You didn't have anyone to help you get in, did you? So who trained you?"
Prytania glanced first at Hisoka then at Illumi. "Pariston."
"The Zodiac?!" Illumi exclaimed. Hisoka couldn't help but grin evilly, his aura seeping out and bloodlust tainting the air.
"Who would have known the daughter of a Zodiac would become a wife for hire." Hisoka teased.
"You don't fucking know shit!" Prytania hissed.
"Enlighten us, then. How did the daughter of a Zodiac get stuck with such a lowly position."
"First of all, this is not a lowly position!"
"Bull fucking shit." Hisoka rolled his eyes. "We all know that only the company only chooses women with no chances left. I'll admit, I've never seen any agent that's quite as skilled as you. Nadiya was weaker than you by several leagues. But for some reason, it's the end of the road for you if you don't seal this contract and marry Illumi."
Illumi watched closely as the color in Prytania's skin slowly left her cheeks.
"I- You had gone missing!" Prytania spoke franticly at Hisoka. "I-I wasn't using my resources to find you and the other contracts in my charge and you were suspected in Nadiya's death so-"
"Don't lie." Hisoka's grin was vicious. Prytania felt the urge to run or fight or something other than stand there and have this conversation, but there she stood, still as a deer in headlights. Hisoka stood from the bed and walked over to her. "If it were that simple, you'd have turned me in by now. Wouldn't that redeem you? Get you a ticket out? Then why haven't you done that? Why have you let us do whatever we want as long as you get Illumi's hand in marriage?"
"You don't know anything!" Prytania hated that as angry as she was, her tears welled up in her eyes again, and her voice was breaking.
Hisoka placed his hand under her chin. "I know you're not just some poor girl who somehow got wrapped up in all of this..." Prytania sniffled as she looked up at the two wolves in front of her. One with dead black eyes and matching black hair, the other with teeth bared from ear to ear. Hisoka's hand shifted to grip her neck and lift uncomfortably, choking her. "If you were, you'd be long dead."
Prytania's tears fell from her eyes, but she still had just enough spite in her to spit at Hisoka. He let her go from his grip on her throat to wipe his face. Prytania took a step back. "You don't fucking know anything! My father and the company that he's with want some the strongest kids under their control! They don't care at what cost! So I was born into it- a product of Pariston's master plan but he killed my mother to do it. They kill others, too. I thought- I thought I could save them - the women they had in the labs acting as surrogate mothers, carrying these babies. I tried setting them free but everything we tried failed. I tried to help them escape some other way but they were too fucking stupid to not get caught!" Prytania's tears fell freely. "They- fuck. I couldn't save them. I couldn't save them so I started killing them. I killed a whole laboratory full of them. They were going to die painful deaths anyway so I did them a favor."
"Were they pregnant?" Illumi asked softly.
Prytania sobbed. "Yes. They all were. Each of them had a contract baby in their bellies. Each of them had a net worth of about thirty thousand in their stomachs but their lives weren't worth shit to the company!"
"You killed them and cost the company thousands?" Illumi crossed his arms.
"We had to find all new girls to re-inseminate. The cost of replacing and re-inseminating them was way more than we anticipated. My father saved me from going straight to the laboratory to try to replace all what we'd lost. He had me change my name and position in the company. But they found out. I was gonna be a human vessel for their precious new race of strong babies anyway, so my father took the first chance he got to assign me to someone who wanted a natural marriage contract. If I don't marry Illumi, I go to the lab to be pregnant all the time and push out babies for their plan. I'm nothing but a baby-making machine to them."
Illumi shifted his weight. "Well I already knew you were at the end of the line, but your big secret is that you killed those girls?"
"Those deaths are on my hands."
"How many?"
"What?"
"How many?"
"A little under two hundred." Prytania muttered.
"Two Hundred?"
Hisoka looked at Illumi. "Oh, come on Illumi you've killed loads more than that."
"Yeah, I know. I just thought when she said they had a laboratory I pictured it smaller in my head."
Prytania used her sleeve to wipe her face. Mascara smeared her cheeks.
Hisoka sat back down and leaned back on the bed. "So that's her big secret. She's actually strong, maybe even a Nen-user and killed a bunch of innocent girls to spare them from excruciating death. So!"
"So?" Illumi glanced back at Hisoka.
"So, now it's your turn. She spilled hers, time to tell us yours."
Illumi turned to face Hisoka completely and clicked his tongue. "I don't remember you telling us any of your secrets?"
"What's there to tell? You know I had a wife and kid from this company. Besides, my secrets weren't part of the deal."
"He's right." Prytania said, wiping the last tears from her eyes. "Now it's your turn."
Illumi sighed as Prytania walked around him to sit on the bed next to Hisoka. Her posture was straight, unlike Hisoka, who leaned to one side a bit. Illumi flared his nose before grabbing a frilly ottoman to sit on in front of the other two.
He leaned forward and clasped his hands together, intertwining his fingers. He sighed. "My mother had five children." Illumi paused. Prytania looked over to Hisoka, who also seemed confused. Illumi continued. "I was born first, then Milluki, followed by the heir to the family business, Killua... and Kalluto is the youngest."
"That's only four." Prytania muttered.
"My mother had another child before Kalluto. This... child, if you could call it that, was different. It was always different."
"It?" Prytania asked. Illumi continued.
"Alluka had these abilities. I won't tell you how it works, but basically there's something... not human about that.. Thing. It causes death if you don't give it what it wants."
"What do you mean causes death?" Hisoka sat up.
"When certain requirements are not met, depending on the circumstance, people die. Instantaneously. They just- they get crushed. Just like that. Their bodies mince into thin air. It's never just one."
"I don't understand."
"For your own safety and the safety of everyone here, I can't tell you how it works with Alluka. Any interaction could cause the death of at the very least two people. We've lost.. We lost servants because of him."
"They kill us sometimes." Prytania muttered.
"Huh?"
"You said you lost servants."
"Yes, over sixty butlers at one time."
"One of your butlers today said that your family kills them sometimes."
"They might have been referring to that event. I tried to test what would happen. I thought only two would die. I was wrong."
"You were okay with killing two of your servants?"
"We needed to know how it worked."
"How what worked?" Prytania asked
"Alluka's powers."
"That doesn't make sense! If you knew their powers killed people why test it at all?"
Hisoka chuckled. "Because the power must be one hell of a trade-off."
Illumi swallowed as Hisoka continued. "You wanted to know how the power worked because whatever it is, it's something sweet. Something even you would want to learn to control because it would give you power beyond what you already have."
"Yes. That's why I can't tell you what it is."
"You're afraid I'll go looking for it."
"Knowing you like I do, I know damn sure you would."
"Now I'm curious as to what it is. If it killed sixty people as a negative result then the intended outcome must have been incredible."
"But Hisoka, Illumi just said it kills people!" Prytania looked at Hisoka with concern.
"I kill people all the time." Hisoka grinned.
"Not like this." Illumi looked at Hisoka. "The consequence of using Alluka's power is if certain requirements are not met, the user dies too."
"Then how did you test it if the user dies too?" Hisoka asked. When Illumi didn't respond, Hisoka smiled. "You forced a butler to do it."
"Better her than me."
Prytania gasped. "I can't believe you! Those are your butlers! Your trusted servants!"
"Family comes first. I needed to test Alluka and I wasn't going to die finding out. So yes, I planned to sacrifice a couple butlers."
Hisoka chuckled. "But more than just a couple ended up dying because of it."
Illumi nodded.
Prytania looked at her hands for a moment before looking back up at Illumi.
"So then what did your family do after that?" Prytania asked. Illumi looked at her with the straight face he wore so well.
"We killed Alluka." Illumi looked directly at Prytania, expression unbreaking and dull. She noted Illumi's poker-face was another kind of unsettling akin to her father's eerie smile.
Hisoka chuckled to himself again.
Prytania exhaled in relief. "Well I'd say that's better for everyone. Now Alluka won't be able to hurt anyone.."
"Right."
"No wonder the butlers are all so afraid of you. They know you don't value their lives as much as your own."
"It won't happen again, but you're right that's probably why they don't like us all that much."
"See? Was that so hard? Now we know everything about each other and there's no secrets between us."
Illumi sighed. "Prytania?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you mind leaving for a bit? It's.. Not a fond memory."
"Of course. Sorry. I probably need to clean my face and I should probably be getting ready anyway."
"Ready for what?"
"The... wedding?"
"Right."
Prytania scoffed and left. Hisoka laid back on the bed.
"'Not a fond memory?' That was a nice touch." Hisoka grinned at the ceiling.
"Excuse me?"
"So where are you all hiding them? Alluka, I mean."
"Alluka is dead."
Hisoka sat up. "You might be able to pull one on Prytania, but I'm no fool. Since when did you give a damn about the safety of your butlers?"
"Since more than sixty of them died instantly. What are you getting at, anyway?"
"Your family wouldn't kill a member of your own."
"Alluka is hardly family. It's something else entirely."
"You're speaking about him in present tense. This entire time you've referred to him like he's still here. Besides, even if you all were okay with killing other family members, I highly doubt anyone of you would give up a weapon so powerful."
Illumi stood up quietly and walked over to a small table where a teapot had been prepared for him earlier. It was cold, but he still poured a cup.
"So where is this extra child of the Zoldycks?"
Illumi sighed. "Dead. Six feet under. Pushing up daisies."
"Uh-huh." Hisoka bit his lip. Illumi sipped his cold tea, not answering.
"So he's here. Somewhere in the castle."
"What makes you think Alluka is alive?"
"Because you're lying to me."
"Sucks to be lied to, doesn't it?"
"Actually it just makes me more curious about what their powers can actually do."
"Don't try to find out. There will be no point."
"No point?"
"Hisoka, drop this."
Hisoka pouted. "I'll find out eventually, so why don't you just tell me?"
Illumi set his cup down with a clang. "I mean it, Hisoka. Drop it or I will kill you."
Hisoka smirked. "So you'd really kill me over something like this? No matter how much you like me?"
Illumi tilted his head. "What gave you the idea that I liked you?"
Hisoka laughed. Illumi's lips stretched just enough to count as a smile.
"I think it's time I start getting ready for this... ceremony... thing."
"I believe it's called a wedding."
"Whatever."
Hisoka rolled over on the bed, wrinkling the bedspread as he stretched and yawned. "Send me on an errand, will you?"
"Why, exactly?"
"I'm bored and I want to walk around."
"You mean you want to snoop around my family estate."
"Sure."
"You're terrible."
"It's not like you can stop me."
"Don't be so sure of yourself."
"Is that a threat?"
Illumi sighed. "Bring me some warm towels on your way back. Make yourself a useful butler for once."
At that, Hisoka sprung off the bed. "Certainly, your grace!"
"I'm not royalty."
"Absolutely not, your highness." Hisoka kissed Illumi on the cheek before bouncing out the room like a kid on an adventure.
…...
Kalluto moved quickly through the hallway. Milluki lagged behind him.
"Kalluto! You're too fast!"
"Hurry, dammit! It was this way!"
"What are we chasing again?"
"I felt an aura. Something familiar but not one of ours."
"What does that even mean?"
"I think there's an intruder here! Someone I've encountered before. Whoever it is, they keep trying to hide it."
"Kalluto, if it's someone you've met before wouldn't you know who it was?"
"That's the problem. They're hiding their prescence, and the last time I felt it, it was coming from this way."
"Last time you felt it? You can't sense it anymore?"
"No, I can't."
"Then what are we looking for?"
"I don't know. A clue?"
"A clue? What are you, a detective?"
"An assassin you dimwit."
"At least I don't go chasing things that probably don't exist."
"I felt SOMETHING okay?"
"Right. We'll have fun trying to find it. I'm tired."
Kalluto nodded and didn't wait for Milluki to turn around to head further down the hallway.
…...
Prytania held her cell phone up to her ear and tapped her foot. She sat in her room amongst boxes of all her things.
"Hello-"
"Dad! Hi, I-"
"-you've reached Pariston. Leave a message" Prytania waited for the voicemail beep.
"Dad. It's me. I have some new information. Call me back."
Prytania hung up and sighed. She felt a weight behind her on the bed and pulled her gun out just in time to point it at Hisoka's smiling face.
"You really need to stop sneaking into my room."
"And You really need to start telling the truth."
Prytania cocked her gun. Hisoka laughed slow before glancing at his finger, which he held upright above his others.
"What are you laughing about?"
"This." Hisoka pulled his finger up, and suddenly Prytania's hair was yanked upwards, pulling her hair and startling her just enough for Hisoka to use his other hand to disarm her.
"How the hell?!" Prytania spit out her words as she tried to claim control of her hair back.
"Bungee Gum."
"But I didn't even feel you touch me!"
"You don't have feeling in your hair, silly." Hisoka watched her struggle for a moment, holding her slightly higher than her usual height, letting her feet barely dangle above the surface of her bed as she squirmed. It was always so much more fun when they squirmed.
"Put me down!"
"Ah-ah-ah." Hisoka wiggled his finger at her, gun still in hand. Prytania's face was red with fury.
"Oh, don't look at me like that." Hisoka cooed. Prytania swung her foot to hit Hisoka in the groin. He let go of her as he hunched over in pain, and she landed on the bed clumsily.
"Couldn't you have just pulled my hair with your hand?"
"Bungee- gum has the properties of both rubber and gum." Hisoka groaned, still hunched over.
Just when she got her footing, she grabbed Hisoka's hair, pulling his head back just enough to punch him in the face. It felt good to punch him, but only for a second, because the damn clown moaned like he liked it.
"Ugh."
Before Prytania could do anything else, Hisoka stood and embraced her, hugging her tightly. She was confused, so confused... until she felt the barrel of her gun against the back of her head.
"You know, a little more training and you could really do some damage." Hisoka whispered.
"What the fuck is your deal?" Prytania huffed.
"Tell me what new information you planned to share with daddy dearest."
"I don't have to tell you shit."
"You're right, you most certainly don't have to, if you want to die."
"You can't kill me."
"Wrong! Illumi can't kill you. I, however, can murder whomever I please. So, the information..." Hisoka tapped the gun against the back of her head, keeping his finger off the trigger, careful not to kill her accidentally.
"You think I believe that load of crap Illumi spun together?"
"Hm? About Alluka?"
"If this Alluka person is real there's no way in hell he's dead."
"Yes, I had figured that much as well. So what, your plan is to tell Pariston about the secrets of the Zoldyck family?"
"Why the fuck else would I be here!"
"Ah, there are your true colors."
"Oh, please. As if you believed I was just here to get pregnant."
"Of course I never imagined you'd be here to just make babies. Although you put on quite a show. Making up that story about killing all those girls.. I gotta say very nice touch with the tears. You're a good actress, but a liar knows a liar."
"I'd love to dish out the details of all of this, liar to liar, if you don't mind getting your boner off my stomach."
"What? Oh that's not a boner that's actually the rolled up towel I brought with me for Illumi... I put it in my pants in case you try to kick me again."
"Smart. Still feels weird with you hugging me, though. Could you maybe threaten me from a distance?"
"Nope. This makes you more uncomfortable."
"I hate you."
"The feeling's mutual."
Prytania sighed. "The story about the laboratory is true. I killed all those girls. The company really does want me dead, but they'd sooner die than cross my father. I owe him my life more than just because he's my father. He saved me."
"That's his job, though. Isn't it? To protect you?"
"Yeah and you would know because you're such an exemplary father figure."
"Albert was a failure. His death, although unplanned, was the most merciful thing that could have happened to him."
"How do you think he felt knowing you never loved him because of his shortcomings?"
Hisoka was silent.
"Right. Anyway, I owe him my life. My father's disappointment in me runs deep, but he still does what he can. So if I can get him a little intel here and there, especially on the Zoldyck family, who seems to be so set on killing anyone for power, then I give it to him."
"You really are just a goody-two-shoes."
"You're just jealous my moral compass is better than yours."
"You know well enough I don't even have a moral compass."
"Be that as it may, I do need you to let me go so I can get ready."
"What, so you can call Pariston again?"
"He's not going to be answering my calls until after the wedding."
"You could still leave a voicemail."
"I wouldn't dare leave such sensitive information over a voicemail."
"I can't let you go if you're going to be sharing information to your father."
"Well you can't hold me forever."
"Maybe not, but I'm going to take your phone."
"What?! No, you can't."
Hisoka shoved away from Prytania and grabbed her cellphone off the bed.
"Give that back!"
"I have a suggestion for you."
Prytania jumped, trying to reach her cellphone which Hisoka held above his head with his arm extended.
"Listen to me. If you want to get your father's attention, you're going to have to call him with something bigger than just a little bit of information."
Prytania stopped jumping and looked at Hisoka inquisitively.
"Call him when you have proof that Alluka exists. Better yet, call him when you have them and you can control their power. Then you'll have brought him more than information. You'll have brought him a weapon."
Hisoka smirked at Prytania's wide eyes as he handed her back her cellphone, gently laying it in her hand.
"If we find Alluka, I don't care who you call. Shit, you can call Netero and the whole Hunter Association, but we need to find proof first."
"We?"
"You have appearances to keep up and I have a boyfriend to steal. We're on a time limit, remember?" Hisoka pointed at Prytania's stomach. "Once you're knocked up and you get huge it's going to be kind of difficult to help me so we need to work fast."
"Which means working together."
"Now you get it!"
"And what you're just going to somehow keep this all from Illumi?"
"Well he didn't want to tell us anything about Alluka. You opened this can of worms, hun. I don't have to say anything. You're the one with the burning desire to impress daddy."
"First of all, please stop referring to my father as 'daddy.' Secondly, I'll tell Illumi."
"And I'll tell him you were going to tell Pariston the family secrets."
"I don't want you in on this."
"Too late. You need me."
"You're my least favorite person."
"Oh please I make that peg on everyone's list, you're no one special." Hisoka handed Prytania her pistol back.
"I can't believe I slept with you."
"Honestly, with your daddy issues and general insecurity, I'm not surprised at all."
"Bitch, don't you have something to clean?"
"And here I thought you cared about the sorrowful plight of the Zoldyck Butlers."
"Get your weird ass out of my room so I can get ready for this stupid wedding."
"I came in here to ask you something."
"Oh, so you weren't just snooping?"
"You're marrying MY boyfriend, remember?"
"How could I forget."
"Tonight, when... When you guys are together. Please-"
"Don't ask me for a favor two minutes after you pointed a gun to my head."
"I'm not asking you for a favor. I'm asking that you not to get yourself killed."
"What?"
"Illumi is finnicky and makes rash decisions sometimes. Don't die tonight."
"Oh...kay?"
"I'm serious. It'll be a lot harder to get out of here if you die."
"Sounds like you need me."
"Don't get cocky."
"I'll remember that the next time you threaten my life."
"That'll be sooner rather than later if you keep up with that attitude."
"Leave already!"
Hisoka left the room and slammed the door behind him.
…...
Illumi checked himself out in the mirror. Was he getting fat? His butt looked really round in those pants...
"Hey Illumi. Here's your towel."
Hisoka tossed the towel roll to Illumi, who caught it.
"Thanks. How was your walk? Find anything? The secret family dungeon?"
"Nope. Nothing yet. I'll find it eventually."
"I'm sure you will."
Illumi walked over to his restroom and wet the towel, bringing it to his face.
"Uh, Hisoka?"
"Yeah?"
"Why does this towel smell like your crotch?"
…...
Chapter 15, Fin
Next time on: Emotions are not for Assassins
~THE WEDDING~
Also: more scandal probably (gasp! ESCANDALO!)
ALSO: the return of a certain former roommate...