Book 1: Simplicitatem
Chapter 9: The First Movement
"Be friends with someone who doesn't make you think friendship is hard."
-Unknown
"I'm confused." She deadpanned, squeezing her eyes shut tightly in exasperation. "Why are we going shopping of all things?"
"Like I said," Kuroro returned, every bit as exasperated as she was. "This is a covert mission, at least up to a certain point. We're going to The Zoldyck mansion as guests and so we might as well dress up for it."
"So the mission is to go to a dinner party?"
"And in the meantime kill a few assassins."
"I can't walk in heels Kuroro, much less incapacitate people."
"I'm sure you'll manage."
In the end, the two wound up helping each other out.
"No no, not that one. Try the blue halter-neck over there."
"What the hell would a guy like you know about dress colors?"
"A lot more than a Ryuuseigai orphan who's been stealing bread and playing chess for the past god knows how many years of her life."
"I like maroon."
"Blue suits you better Aika."
And a good twenty minutes later, vice versa:
"Well the mission is a dispatch for two right?" She questioned.
"I don't see what that has to do with the color of the tie."
"It should match the color of the dress, you moron, we're going as a duo."
"Are you sure you want to be mistaken for a duo Aika?"
"Just take my advice."
"Yeah, like how you wanted to get the that atrocious maroon colored excuse for a dress not half an hour back."
"I went along with your advice, the least you can do is take mine."
They argue for what seems like hours, but for Aika, the hours never seem to be quite enough.
"You know, the smallest things can take up the most space in your heart."
- Winnie the Pooh
The mansion was enormous, and how anyone, even a family of eight, could occupy its entire space was beyond her understanding.
Aika wasn't exactly sure what was going on, only that the family of assassins seemed to be holding a social gathering, which was strange enough, given their tendency for seclusion.
She did her orange hair up into bun, contrasting shockingly with the deep royal blue dress Kuroro had chosen for her, Grudgingly, she inwardly admitted that the leader had surprisingly good color-coordinating abilities.
It was an asymmetrical dress, sleeveless on her left side with a sheen, slitted long sleeve on her right, reaching tightly just below the lower thigh.
"Kuroro," someone greeted them, shaking the twenty-one year old's hand enthusiastically, "how have you been lately?"
"I've been enjoying myself thoroughly Peter." Kuroro returned, afterward quickly putting his hands back into his pockets.
"I see you've gotten yourself a woman." He seemed genuinely surprised, eyes sparkling with lively vacuity. "Good evening doamnă (madam)," the male bowed slightly, raising her hand to his lips. "Peter Dimitrova."
"I would watch myself," Kuroro smirked. "She enjoys spiting people."
"Only you." Aika scoffed.
"I never would have imagined you with someone." Dimitrova commented.
"We're not," Aika kindly interjected.
Kuroro elbowed her slightly. "This Lord Dimitrova," Kuroro motioned to the man before her. "I owe him a few favors here and there."
"You owe me quite the number too." Aika smiled too widely.
The lighting was bright, too bright for her taste, but the music was of high quality, clear and crisp in the form of a symphony. Aika had always preferred the smoothness of classical.
The entire mansion had a peculiar ambiance, filled with the very rich, high-class snobs Aika had been conditioned to loathe.
The two eventually disentangled themselves from the crowd, and she heaved a sigh of relief at finally being able to breathe comfortably again.
"You're doing much better than I expected," the older male commented suddenly, taking a sip from whatever drink whoever had offered him. "I'm impressed."
"I wasn't seeking your approval but thanks nonetheless." She cast him a sideways glance.
The pair suddenly became aware of their surroundings. It was indeed a formal party of some sort, but Aika understood that the only figures who had been invited were older men of higher status; any women there seemed to be their partners. And any duos there seemed to be dancing.
"May I ask for a dance?" Came the unexpected, timely proposition.
Aika almost laughed out loud at the ludicrous offer; waltzing with Kuroro Lucifer of all people, what a joke. She turned around to face him, fully expecting his facial expression to break in jest, but much to her surprise, it was deadpan serious.
"You're not funny, Kuroro."
"I wasn't trying to be Ms. Brezhnev." He tried again. "May I have this dance?"
The girl was so taken aback she was a heartbeat late in scrambling for a witty comeback, opting simply to concede. "Only because you asked so nicely."
Having spent so much time around someone so intellectually stimulating had both taken a toll on her and also vastly increased her mental capabilities. Sometimes, the orangette looked back on her life and mentality not three years ago and inwardly cringed. To be quite frank, Aika was much happier now that she had met someone like Kuroro; more than she could have been trying to fend for herself alone.
He took her hand with his and placed his other around her waist, making sure to keep considerable distance; given her nature, it would be hard to quiet her down if he did something stupid.
"As much as I'd enjoy wasting the night away dancing here with you, don't we have a mission to carry out?" She smirked, falling into step with him. "I'm sure that genius brain of yours has an idea."
"No matter how I thought about it, this couldn't have been a dispatch mission." Kuroro sighed. "A family of eight to be taken out by the Spider's head and an amateur?" She cast a severe glance his way. "I'm being frank here."
"And so?"
"And so Uvogin and the rest of them are hidden outside the mansion." Kuroro shrugged. "I told them to come along, since there was no way we would be doing this alone."
"I'm sure they've been noticed." Aika frowned.
Throughout the entire conversation their steps never faltered once. Kuroro found himself slightly impressed by the overall air she emitted. It was flawless, if not slightly pompous, and though normally, she would have been considered out of place, Aika seemed to be very at ease.
"Of course they have, they're bumbling idiots without me and the Zoldyck family is composed of nothing less than absolute monsters." He lamented. "But they can get the job done when it involves dirty work, so I wouldn't worry too much."
"Is there an actual plan?" She pressed for more, absolutely convinced that someone like Kuroro would not have jumped headfirst into such dangerous territory without deliberating over it painstakingly first.
"Of course there is."
She waited.
"The two older brothers, Milluki and Illumi, going by the info the Mafia has provided, are currently out of the household performing jobs. There is Zeno, the grandfather, Silva, the head of the household, and two children along with the mother."
"Doesn't that add up to seven?"
"The eighth member of the family is a heavily guarded secret of the family."
"Sounds like we'll be screwed over then."
"Not necessarily. Going off of context clues I've picked up from here and there, it seems to be something they're committed to keeping covered."
"Who's taking which target?"
"Pakunoda will refrain from fighting unless necessary. It's not as if nen bullets will be able to do much against this family anyways." He pondered. "I will go after Silva, Feitan called Zeno."
"I'm surprised Uvo let him."
"I stopped Uvo. He's powerful but he's a little bit challenged at times; Zeno could easily outsmart him."
"And Franklin and the rest of them then?"
"Nobunaga said he'd stick with Uvo. The rest of you are to go after the mother and the children."
"Hnn."
"Don't underestimate them because they're children." He looked at her solemnly. "And don't let your sentiment get to you when it really counts."
"You underestimate me Kuroro." Aika said pointedly.
"I worr-" Kuroro cut himself off, appalled.
Their rhythm was slightly thrown off but quickly recovered. Aika looked at him strangely, confused. She'd never seen him be hesitant about anything before and it unnerved her.
"What?" She questioned.
I worry about you is what it is, he thought. But he kept the words within his throat. "I would never." Kuroro saved the dangling fragment with an impromptu smirk.
She looked fantastic in blue, he discovered, silently approving of his own taste. The royal blue provided a striking comparison against her bright orange hair, which had been done up in a bun. He himself on the other hand didn't look much different than he usually did since he almost always opted for semi-formal attire on a daily basis.
Kuroro, don't get soft on yourself now.
"How will I know when it's okay to go for it?" She questioned.
"You'll figure it out." He replied.
"Of course."
"For example," he smirked. All of a sudden, Kuroro's aura skyrocketed and Aika jumped all of five feet away from him, shocked and terrified, quite frankly. About a fourth of the crowd was thrown into a panic, feeling the increase in pressure.
And then the chaos erupted.
The windows from the left side all shattered simultaneously. Sensing danger, the girl's heart leapt to her throat and coated herself in nen, a defensive mechanism that had been drilled into her subconscious via Kuroro's brutal training.
"If we see Frankling's nen-coated bullets flying every which way, it's probably okay to let loose." He finished.
The projectiles pinged off of her, but not without considerable pressure from the impact, and she winced slightly. "I hate you so much." She hissed, throwing off her godforsaken heels and then scanning the crowd for her own targets.
She had been shown the pictures of the entire family beforehand so she knew roughly the people she was looking for, but still, it took her a good thirty seconds to pinpoint them within the tumult of the crowd.
Blood began to pool at her feet, and Aika hissed in disgust. She has forgotten; just because she was able to deflect bullets didn't mean the people around her could. In fact, that was point. She just never fathomed seeing so much as once.
Why it had taken her so long to find one of the children was beyond her. There was silver haired child in the corner of the ballroom, eyes wide with hands in his pockets, seemingly confused but not at all perturbed by the mass murder that had just taken place before him. He was one of the only ones not scrambling for his life.
The rest of the Phantom Troupe came crashing in through the windows, and Aika clearly heard Uvogin's obnoxious shouting reverberate throughout the spacious room. She turned around to tell the man to shut the fuck up, but as soon as she did, she felt the aura of her target abruptly disappear.
"Shit!" She cursed under her breath. There was a silhouette moving at an alarming pace through the double doors of the ballroom and rounding the corner just beyond them.
Aika decided to pursue, brow furrowed in concentration.
The child couldn't have been more than seven or eight years of age, so she found herself becoming increasingly flustered when she was having trouble pinpointing his location.
"Are you really a member of the Phantom Troupe?"
Aika whirled around, scanning the hallways for him, cursing the dress and her own ineptitude; she came face to face with... a seven year old kid half her height? For the love of god-
"Father said you would come and try to get rid of us," the child shrugged, a skateboard tucked away under his left arm, "but you're not all that great." He sighed, as if lamenting the fact. "I was looking forward to it too…"
Aika gritted her teeth, feeling her blood pressure physically spike. "Don't get to so cocky will you? You haven't even seen anything!"
He pointed at her all of a sudden, abruptly halting her string of colorful language. "You run loudly. If I really wanted to I could have killed you a few minutes ago."
The girl felt a tic form on her forehead. Told off by someone less than half her age too.
"Killua." The child offered.
"What?" She snapped, confused and frustrated.
"Killua." A sudden change in the ambiance made itself known. "The name of Zoldyk family member that killed you."
TO BE CONTINUED
"I'm creating trouble, can't you see?"
- Sohma Hatsuharu (Fruits Basket)
A/N: oh goodness i feel like my writing gets progressively worse. thank you for all of your lovely feedback! this chapter was a lot of dialogue. for some reason, ive been getting really bad writer's block lately. how is my updating speed? school is terrible so thank you for your patience! ill do my best -_-
do leave a review! come back soon!