DISCLAIMER : Following the word itself "fanfiction", I do not own anything in this fiction and credits belong to the rightful creators of the manga: TOGASHI YOSHIHIRO, the publisher, the broadcasting companies of the anime both 1999 original version and 2011 remake - Nippon Animation and Madhouse, respectively and etc.
REPLIES TO COMMENTS
Guest : Thanks ^^
Milye6 and Hisokasnipples :
(I prefer to write my response here cuz I'm too shy to inbox xD This response will also go for the rest who were reading this that had the same concern)
Well, I'm sorry if it was not what you guys were expecting or anything. First off I have been warning everyone since the first fic that this sequel is a totally different genre and would be quite long due to the wide range of characters involved and the broad and intricate storyline compared to the first fic which only involved our favorite brothers hence this one appears to progress a lot slower and requires a lot of attention to even the smallest details of the story as it has a lot to do about everything that goes on within otherwise it would definitely appear to be confusing and boring. The characters you guys wanted to see hasn't appeared yet at the moment sooo, yep, basically what you have read by now are minor yet important details.
Yes, this has inner dialogues and rants from Killua pertaining to the things that have happened in the first fic since this is written under the pace and point of view of Killua after the Time Travel thingy.
Yes, this is indeed in connection with the first fic and contains a lot of references from it and further explanations about the events that have happened there. This particular sequel explains and narrates what Killua has left behind meanwhile being in the Time Travel thingy and what will he come back to. So this contains a lot of flashbacks.
No, Illumi is not gonna say anything about the Time Travel thing. Because what happened in the first fic were all meant to happen so nothing have changed in the present. Only Killua was the one affected about it. Illumi was already too bothered with a lot of problems to even remember that the mission Killua had left for that moment was the moment he (Killua) came back to the past to inadvertently ruin his (Illumi's) childhood.
In my part, since I was following an 8-9kb .txt file standard in every chapter I post, its seems to confuse you guys further so I merged 4 related chapters for this long flashback about what happened on the other side before the time travel thing. I hope this would help so you guys wont have a hard time keeping track of the details (just in case you would still continue reading this one). I'll be doing the same for the next related Chapters as well. The only reason I reached up to chapter 45 of this fic up to now anyway was because of the 8kb standard I'm following. XDDDD And I admit, I update pretty slow xDDD
If you have questions or a particular part where you were still confused, you are free to ask me directly.
And (spoiler alert), if you see anything you perceive to be a 'romance' thing within this fic, you got it all wrong xD Its not what you guys think.
So peace out, and I hope you'd still read despite the length. XD This story hasn't begun yet xDDDD Our main guys have'nt showed up.
Just reminding again,
EVERYTHING in this chapter except after the one that said "end of long flash back" has happened a month before the time travel thing in the first fic.
CHAPTER 6
-THE BACKSTORY 3-
(CONTINUATION OF THE LONG FLASHBACK)
"So, how's you? How's your dilemma with your brothers lately? Finally found a way out of your family bugging you about your civil status?"
The red headed guy, Hisoka asked tauntingly.
"It's not getting any better. I'd rather say it's getting a bit worse. After I got home from surrendering to Dad's challenge, they had been much more persistent about the civil status issue."
"Oh... do tell... (giggle)"
The mysterious, long haired man, Illumi Zoldyck finally sat besides the red headed guy, Hisoka.
"Five months ago just after I arrived back home, they sent me to meet another candidate. To make the story short, I had to use my connections to blackmail her and force her to cancel the deal and decline. However, some weeks after, they sent me another one and luckily we are in the same situation so we teamed up to sabotage the contract ending it up in its termination. Things went pretty neat with them ocassionally introduce at least one woman per month and me always getting a way out of it until they had this client just 2 months ago..."
"Hahahaha... I feel jealous about you getting introduced to a lot of women every now and then... If I was you, I could've used the opportunities before cutting the strings off... (chuckle)"
"That's YOU. Not ME."
"You take it too seriously... that was a joke... you know there's only one girl I wanted to wrestle around with..."
"She's obviously not into you."
"And that's why Im into her... (smirk)"
"Can I proceed to my story now?"
"Sure... You're so tense, I thought of brightening up the mood, but it doesn't seem to work, Aight, proceed..."
"We had this client whom I was the one assigned to execute his order. After executing the job succesfully, he issued us a check in which it bounced right the date it was supposed to be transferred to my account. Sudden bankruptcy was the client's excuse and had Dad and Gramps negotiate with him in my place. It happened that instead of giving us collaterals while allowing him to save money so he can pay the full amount at a given time, he opened a bargain to Dad and Gramps in which they accorded."
"And that bargain was...?"
"His daughter." Illumi paused for a little while. "He has this family secret and it was his daughter. His daughter was hidden from public and was never revealed. Not even in their legal papers and such. She has this Special Ability that Dad and Gramps believe to be very useful to our assassination business which was why they accorded. Just like Alluka, this woman was locked up due to her uncontrollable ability. Dad and Gramps think, if I would breed with her, not only I would make use of her power, freely making her my own puppet and breeding center, but also would make a more powerful next generation..."
"Hahah! Did you just use the word 'breed'? (stifles)"
Illumi just sat there, staring at Hisoka as he was about to die choking his laughter back in. "Are you done?"
"(cough) Seriously, you need to get some experience... I have never tried my own specie yet, but if you'd be the first I'd gladly share the experience with you (giggle)..."
Illumi stared back at Hisoka right into the eyes, seemingly growing impatient despite the impassive reaction.
"Don't look at me like that... I was just kidding." Hisoka carried on stifling his laughter. "Wasn't that the best condition? Having a new puppet to toy around with?"
"I won't let this one succeed. The woman wasn't worth toying around with. There's no game when there's no resistance. On the other side of it, they are putting the family to a risk just to get me tied up."
"Makes a lot of sense. Specially when they're trying to put an outsider into the family tree. There really ARE a lot of risks."
"They are still discussing it with me and were waiting for my final decision. They gave me 2 months to decide on it before finally closing the deal. If I agree, they'll finally take the woman as our possession and have me breed with her within a month. I repeat, BREED. Not Marry. No legal proofs of having her within a family, just a breeding slave. Then the guy's debt will be forgotten."
"Haha, breeding slave huh? Maybe, sex slave? (giggle) I'm still amused about your stoical response to those matters... Moving on, and if you don't agree?"
"They'll cancel the deal and have the guy killed and sent for organ and cadaver donation and his daughter as an experimental subject to underground research institutions to pay for his debts. Sounds safe right? Unfortunately, it's not. I must have already someone to introduce to the family by the time I decline the deal."
"Tough choice..." Hisoka rested his chin on his clasped hands.
"Isn't it? They're playing another game on me. Their real goal is that they wanted me to find my own."
"Hmmm... You should know by now where did you inherit that bad habit of playing mind games with people (giggle)..."
"You see, they keep on introducing me to a lot of candidates from ridiculous bakgrounds. Most of them are from the Mafia Community. Our family never have plans on getting associated to any family line. We must keep our bloodline pure by only tying up with women who had no family backgrounds and affiliations. That is to ensure our family's security. By introducing me to women with ridiculous backgrounds, Dad and Gramps knew that I would certainly protest against it and do something about it, in the end trapping me into the corner where I would finally be pursuading myself to go find one on my own to stop this. The 2 month grace period given to me was not to 'decide' but actually TO FIND my own partner..."
"You know you can't defeat them... let me remind you the hell you've been through a couple of months ago..."
Illumi narrowed his eyes at Hisoka who refused to be reminded of how he suffered before admitting defeat to a game his Dad has played with him just a couple of months ago pertaining to this issue wherein he was forced back to go home, broke and thwarted.
"This is why I'm perplexed and infuriated about it. The real deal here is I can't let myself get tied up to anyone, let alone have children."
"Yeah... you've been telling me that ever since your family has started to pursuade you on making your own."
"I needed a break. For all of my life, all I did was handle children and stick with my family to the point I don't even fancy having my own. I've been loyal to the family's code for 27 long years. If there's one rule I had to break, it would be this one."
"To think you haven't even succeeded on your two brothers. Speaking of Alluka and Killua, how're they doing?"
"Kil was out on a mission with his friends. As for Alluka, I finally gone tired of his parasitic twin that I finally had to hire a butler who can train and take care of him at the same time. His requests are getting out of hand..."
"Aniki!" Alluka jumped in front of Illumi who just came back from his mission first hour in the morning.
He watched Alluka wrap her arms around him tight. "I haven't seen you for weeks! I have learned a lot of new things and did all of my homework!"
"Great!" Illumi faked a smile as he ran his fingers through her hair. "You do listen to what Aniki say. Good girl."
"(giggle)..." She stayed that way for a few moments until she finally started to ask something. "Aniki... pat my head..."
"Sure..." Illumi, still exhausted from his mission unapparent by his unchanging facial expression tried to keep his cool and did as what he was asked.
"Aniki... carry me..."
"Sure..." Illumi bent down and lifted her.
"(giggle) Aniki is so tall..."
He knew that if Alluka asks too much, this is not her but Nanika. He carried her as he walked along the hallway towards his room. He finally stopped the moment he reached the door and put her down carefully. "There ya go. Aniki is tired so he needs to get some sleep..."
She did not respond but instead, kept on smiling at him and tugging on his hair. "Aniki... let me play with your hair..."
Illumi paused for a while staring at Alluka while vicariously slaughtering her in his mind. He was extra sensitive and irritated as he was tired and he just wanted to get some sleep and now THIS.
"(sigh) Alright..."
"YAY!"
He pushed the door open followed by Alluka who instantly ran to his dresser, grabbed a hairbrush, some hair cream and a handful of hairclips before she jumped to his bed, swinging her legs up and down.
It all started a couple of months ago when Killua and Alluka finally came back after almost a year of being away from home as Killua claimed he will save Alluka out of the dungeon they locked her up from and take her on a journey. Strangely, Alluka probably ran tired of the outside world and realized how it was too cruel, complicated and dangerous for her to live in that she finally sought for the comfortability and safety of her own home and missed her old friends which was her plush toys.
Killua yielded to Alluka's request and vowed to still protect her while she's back in their home as he still oftenly goes in and out of the mansion to see his friends.
In accordance to that, his family finally set Alluka free however, also imposed to have Alluka take classes and get trained solely for self-defense only. They believe even if Alluka was not obliged to participate in the assassination business, she still needed to learn to defend and keep herself safe from potential harm especially that she was the most vulnerable family member in reference to the peril that she and Killua have encountered while on their journey. They assigned Illumi for the task as Killua is still not eligible for it considering Killua's lack of consistency on his skills.
Killua considered this as a huge threat as he knew that Illumi have always looked forward to the day he can finally control Nanika freely on his own alongside with Killua himself. So to prevent this from happening, Killua thought of a plan.
Killua issued Nanika a command. And it was a long-term one. It was NEVER to grant wishes from anyone. SPECIALLY FROM ANIKI, STRICTLY. She can request as much as she can but can never grant a wish. In that case, she is stuck with level 1 requests however, if anyone denies, the same procedure will still follow resulting to the death of the denier. With an "Aii~!" from her, Killua was dead sure that even if he leaves her someday for some emergency, Illumi won't stand a chance on trying to control her. Nanika is an entity far beyond Nen and not even Illumi's puny needles can do something about her requests. She can control Alluka's body and soul, but not Nanika. And if he does try to put pins on Alluka, a little command from Nanika can always settle it.
Illumi aniticipated this and did his own research. His main goal was to be able to obtain the power of authority on issuing commands to Nanika just like Killua without using Manipulative Nen tricks. And apparently, he came up with one theory. He thought it was emotional attachment that makes Killua the exception to Nanika's rules.
Illumi thought if he carried on doing her requests and be nice to her, he would eventually gain her emotional attachment in which he was actually succesful.
"Aniki's hair is sooo smooth!" Alluka nuzzled on Illumi's hair while tying more random clumps of it making him a perfect personification of the word 'disaster'. "And smells soo sweet too!"
His eyes started to feel heavy while having someone fiddle with his hair considering he was already exhausted and used up, however he tried his best never to give in and fall asleep.
"Ai~!" Alluka put the hairclips and the hairbrush down. "Aniki!" She shook his shoulders... "Look!" She shoved a mirror in front of him to show him her 'masterpiece'. Perfect. It was rather a visual representation of the word 'catastrophe' than 'disaster', denoting a much higher degree of atrocity...
"Coool!" Illumi tried his best not to snap, giving her a wry, bitter smile, patting her head. "Good... job!"
"(giggle)..."
"Can I take this off now?"
She did not respond. Like the former, she just stared at him as she was smiling, leaning forward to him. "I love Aniki...!"
He took a deep breath trying to contain his impatience. He placed his hand on her head, thinking of gripping it like he was about to twist her head off of her neck.
But no. He can't. "Aniki loves you too... even though he's not getting anything from keeping up with your caprice..."
"I'm sooo happy!" She giggled gleefully. "Aniki... you now play with my hair too!" She handed him over the remaining hairclips and the hairbrush.
That's it! This is the last straw. Alluka already asked for three requests and this is the fourth one.
"Alluka..." He stressfully spoke, however concealing it with a calm, softer tone. "Aniki is tired. He needs to get some sleep, We will play later okay?"
She pouted. "Oh... You don't wanna play?"
He knew to himself he can't deny her requests. No matter how he just wanted to throw her out of the window right now and finally get some sleep, he just took the hairbrush and the hairclips anyway. "Just kidding..." He faked another smile as he eventually sat behind her and began brushing her hair.
"Eversince Kil told him to stop granting wishes from people, he just kept on asking me level 1 requests without turning himself into wish granting mode. It's infuriating..."
Unfortunately, his theory was a fatal mistake. Regardless the emotional attachment Nanika developed for Illumi upon hanging out with him for some time, Killua was STILL the highest authority for Nanika so Killua's preceding command was irrevocable and now Illumi was stuck with her undeniable requests that has gotten in his way quite a number of times already without even getting any wish granted in return.
"But, it's just level 1 requests... they're too easy. Why not just do all of them anyway. After all, it was one of the risks your theory has got yourself into. You can't do anything about it anymore."
"That's what I was doing, thinking persistence might do the trick and sooner or later gaining authority too to issue commands on him. Until that day a week before Kil left for his mission."
"Anikiii!"
Alluka was running behind Illumi as Illumi was about to open the gates. "Aniki! I'm glad I was able to catch you!"
Morning. He was about to leave for a day-long mission. It was pretty strange to see Alluka around the vicinity of the Testing Gates. She still doesn't have enough strength to run from the mansion down to the gate.
"What's up?" Illumi turned to face her and asked, foreseeing another pain in the neck is about to come.
"Aniki, give me a piggy-back ride...!"
He raised a brow, staring at her for a little while before sitting down to her level. "I can't... Aniki is going out on a mission... Let's just do that later when Aniki comes back okay?"
"Oh... you don't want to?" She pouted.
This passive-aggressive question again of pursuasion. How can he say no to that cute, helpless face when he knows he's gonna get squeezed to death LITERALLY if he did so?
Illumi stood up. "Show's over Kil. I have no time for your jokes. I really need to go otherwise I'd be late..."
He knew all along that Alluka can't go down to the gates by herself so it's only Killua who can bring her to it at an overwhelming speed, even arriving first before Illumi did.
"She wanted to see you..." Killua reverted back to his normal state from Zetsu mode as he finally marched forward to them from hiding behind a tree. "I can't say no to her. The deaths upon denial of her requests are out of my control."
Illumi raised a brow. Of all the times, why NOW?
"It's not much of a big deal anyways. She just wanted a piggy back ride. You started this after all..." Killua added.
"Sure, I have finally gained her affection, but why is it again that I am often in a hurry? I had to double my workload because one of our family members quit and decided to follow his own 'whims'..." Illumi locked his eyes through Killua's as tension started to form in between them.
"Okay then..." Alluka spoke out, interrupting the argument that was brewing in between her brothers. "Can I just go with you to your mission?"
"This was the first time you have been so careless about your mission." Silva crossed his arms. He sat across Illumi who just came from the mission Alluka demanded to accompany him.
"I apologize." Illumi voiced out motionlessly, still with his usual soulless gaze. "Alluka insisted. We all know we cannot deny his requests otherwise he would ask for something worse than the preceding."
"I know that!" Silva grunted. "If you had been a little more heedful to his requests, he couldn't have asked for something as risky as that! He almost got hostaged and you actually caused casualties!"
"I took care of the hostage incident at once even right before the assailant could do anything. I was too preoccupied I did not realize I can put his requests on hold by leaving at once then getting back at him later." He bowed his head down as a sign of apology.
"Make sure that preoccupation of yours has a valid purpose. You don't want me to remind you again... It was almost a week since I opened that deal to you..."
"I was completely peeved about it... It was Kil's idea to just pursue on Alluka's request as he offered to guard him for me when in reality he was just guarding Alluka from me and wanted to pester me further..." Illumi continued. "Other than failing my personal expectations and standards on that mission all because of Killua's favorite brother and his parasitic twin who has been constantly pestering me with his nonsensical requests, and Killua too who consent Nanika's whims making things even worse, Dad and Gramps have also been putting me under the pressure about the deal, both vicariously and directly."
"Alluka..." He stressfully spoke, however concealing it with a calm, softer tone. "Aniki is tired. He needs to get some sleep, We will play later okay?"
She pouted. "Oh... You don't wanna play?"
He knew to himself he can't deny her requests. No matter how he just wanted to throw her out of the window right now and finally get some sleep, he just took the hairbrush and the hairclips anyway. "Just kidding..." He faked another smile as he eventually sat behind her and began brushing her hair.
"I love Aniki... (giggle)"
Illumi, holding his bursting temper down inside, did not respond and carried on brushing Alluka's hair despite the desperate need of a deep, rewarding rest.
After a couple of brush strokes, Illumi grabbed a hairclip to tie a random clump of her hair he held with his other hand when she suddenly fell down the bed, with her eyes closed. She actually fell asleep while he was busy brushing her hair.
Illumi stared at her as she was sleeping sound in his bed. He was furious yet can't do anything about it. "The nerve to fall asleep in MY BED even before I COULD. I was the one who needed a goddamn rest..." He muttered as he stood up from the bed and vexedly pulled the hairclips off his hair one by one, throwing them down the floor.
He then bent down to scoop her up from the bed and carried her in his arms, making his way out of his room. "And now I even had to bring him back to his room, dammit..."
"I want to have soft hair like Aniki too..." She slurred in her sleep as she was being carried by Illumi back to her room.
He endured the signals his body gave him to drop down the bed and take some rest. His body felt limp and his head felt light. The mission was pretty tough and he wasn't getting enough sleep lately, to be exact, it was almost two weeks since the last time he took his last nap.
"So you finally came back..." He heard someone spoke behind him. It was Zeno.
Illumi turned his back to watch Zeno walk towards him. "Looking a little out of sorts, aye? Not getting enough rest or food?"
"Yeah... Last week was pretty rough..." Illumi limitedly responded.
"You should definitely get some rest. We needed to discuss some matters to you later regarding on your following missions for this week. And where are you bringing him?"
"Back to his room. He fell asleep in my room after he asked me to brush his hair."
Zeno eyed him tauntingly form head to foot before finally speaking out.
"You would make a great dad... I can see it by how you take care of your siblings while trying to hold down your temper, sacrficing your own sake..." Zeno chuckled as he turned his back to finally move along. "You can take that as a reminder..."
Illumi lifted a brow as he stood montionless on his tracks, growing more and more roiled about his situation, fuming in anger. His hands that carried Alluka trembled while trying his best to keep himself from exploding. He was getting crankier every time as his body has started to wear out. He simply can't wait to just get back to his room, lay down and take a damn rest.
His stoical nature however did not manifest any of those agitated demeanor as he kept moving.
After passing through a few blocks as he was to turn to the corner, he came across Killua.
"Aniki..." Killua gave him a suspicious glare.
"Out of my way Kil." Illumi impatiently ordered as he carried on walking without even looking back at Killua.
Killua, threatened of the ominous, furious vibe his brother gave off tried not to back out, still concerned of Alluka's safety.
"Where are you going to bring her!" Killua asked.
"To HIS goddamn room." He continued walking, ignoring Killua, leaving him behind.
"I'll do it." Killua ran up to him.
Illumi stared at Killua for a little while before conceding. "Great. Because I really need to get some rest." He stressfully spoke with a passive-aggressive monotone as he handed Alluka over to Killua before turning his back wordlessly then headed back to the hallway leading to his room.
The moment he was finally able to get back to his room, he finally rested his back on the warm comfort and caress of his bed, shook his foot to throw his shoes off to the wall and closed his oversized, soulless eyes.
"Finally..."
Until he realized one thing.
He tossed around the bed restlessly despite the deep desire for a rewarding sleep. He realized, after wasting his time on Alluka's requests, he just lost the somnolence in spite of the physiological hints his body has been showing him that he already needed to rest. "GODDAMIT." He slammed his fist on the side table by his bed, shattering it and reached for his phone in his pocket, dialling.
"URGENT. Send me a strong sleeping pill you had in store. The one that could put me to sleep for at least 3 days. RIGHT NOW in my room."
"I'm glad I did not have a family..." Hisoka remarked. "I'm surprised you haven't snapped out of your sanity yet..."
"THIS is exactly why I don't fancy getting married and having children."
"Makes a lot of sense... Commitments are a drag... Don't you think Karma's getting back at you for everything you did the past few years?"
"Prolly... (shrugs) Don't you get chased down by Karma as well?"
"Karma's my best friend... (chuckle)"
"The worst part there is, I can't kill him. Our family finally rescinded the restriction on him and considered him a part of the family once again after a decade of locking him up deep down in our mansion... It's in our family's code never to kill a family member."
"Soo... you're giving up on it?"
"Hell no." Illumi faced Hisoka, lifting a brow. "One more reason I don't want to proceed on making my own family yet was because of this unfinished business with Killua's favorite brother and his parasitic twin. All I needed to do is finally get a grip on their necks and label them as my possession then freely manipulating them according to my will. It will take some time, but for sure it would be worth it. I still have some problems to take care of and that issue can wait for longer."
"Indeed... Your brothers are forever attached with you. But that sex slave issue has a time bomb in it..."
"It's 'breeding slave'."
"Whatever..."
"In order to get away from Dad and Gramps' persistent reminders of the issue and Killua and Alluka's mischief, I decided to leave the house every now and then and return when only needed. Which explains why I'm here..."
"You mean, searching for your personal choice to introduce to your family for the following months? How about Alluka? Weren't you the one assigned to train him?"
"As I earlier mentioned I already posted an ad looking for a butler who would train him in my place. The qualifications are minimal. Anyone can be hired actually."
"Hold on..." Hisoka interrupted him. "Your main goal isn't finding someone who would train him in your place, but rather someone Alluka can divert his attention and attachment to, receiving all of his ridiculous requests in your place. Right?"
"You can tell..." Illumi nodded in agreement.
"You'll be sacrificing lives for your caprice huh..."
"They won't die if they just do whatever he says. After all they're just level 1 requests. There's no point in saying no. They're bound to follow whatever he says as he is the Master and they're just servants anyway... And if any of them dies, I could care less about it. It's easy to always hire a new one."
"Mm-hm..." Hisoka nodded. "So basically, your problem about your brothers are put on-hold. The last thing to worry about is the deal with your dad and grandfather... You should start looking right now (giggle)..."
"The point there is I don't want to. I am still contemplating on ways to get out of this neatly, making things go MY WAY without violating the rules of our family and still complying to our deal. There must be a way."
"The easiest way was already given to you. You just refuse to grab it."
"Just like you, I am not into commitments." Illumi drove away the stray locks of his hair and tucked them behind his ears. "Anyways, the real issue I wanted to discuss with you weren't the ones we discussed about earlier..."
"Oh... I think I get it... (smirk) Was that the unidentified entity who was watching you everywhere you go?"
"Yup..."
END OF THE VERY LONG FLASHBACK SINCE HALF OF CHAPTER 3
(Back to reality / the current time)
"Finally made it...!"
It was already dark. I haven't kept track of the time, but I'm pretty sure it's just around 8 in the evening or something.
I gasped for some air after running for quite a some time by the speed of light, rushing back home to save my friend from getting her life wasted out of a stupid decision... I stood motionless giving my body a rest. Although the only moment I got to have some rest was when I rode an airship to cross the sea, it's still not an easy task to run with your legs only from one continent to another traveling by the speed of light.
I stood in front of the Testing Gates.
"Welcome back, Bocchama!" Zeburo greeted me as I marched forward and pushed the gate open up to the 7th. I waved a hand to greet him back without looking back at him.
Palm... That damn wierd-ass bitch... Why of all the places, HERE? She should be aware by now, after a month of working in here that it was STRICTLY PROHIBITED to engage in a relationship with ANYONE while working as an employee in the household otherwise they'll both perish and get sentenced to death! Once they figured out she was here to follow her 'dreams' on meeting that mystery man who was allegedly staying close around the vicinity, it's a tragic ending for both of them... and I CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!
I need to find out who that man is...
I need to find him before Aniki gets to figure things out and find the guy! That devil... he's the one who's in charge of looking out for employees who break the said rule... and he was the one who executes them as well...! He perceives everything even before anyone could realize it and the lawbreaker dies horribly before everyone knows.
But judging the amount of time that has passed eversince she have started working in here, I am pretty sure she have found the man and was currently keeping in touch with him every now and then. And that only means, she is now under surveillance by Aniki.
"Kil..."
I was too busy contemplating deeply into the situation that I did not notice I passed by someone.
It was a familiar voice.
"It's a surprise to see you here. You said your mission will take you two months..."
"Aniki..." I looked back at him.
"Let's make a deal." I thrusted my bleeding thumb towards him as a sign of my pledge.
"What for?"
"JUST DO IT!" I nagged him that eventually convinced him to bite his tiny stubby thumb as well until it bled.
I pressed my bleeding thumb against his. Our blood started to mingle as it trickled down to the floor.
"Only death will impede me from fulfilling my obligations as you pledge to do whatever it takes to be the next heir under my supervision as my lifelong mission and obligation."
He watched the droplets of blood hit the floor as I finally took my thumb off his.
"THERE! Pledge completed." I grabbed a hanky from my pocket to wipe my hand then wiping his as well. "That's a promise! You promise me to be a competent and worthy heir as I promise to never leave you and train you up to all of your potentials. Are we good?"
"Mm-hm!" He smiled back at me. "I promise."
"Tomorrow, okay?" He finally spoke before turning his lamp off as I walked out of the door.
"Sure, I promised!"
I gave him a smile of assurance and watched him roll over to the side, turning his back on me as my last glimpse of him before closing the door.
There he is now. Strong and tall, like how the little devil I used to hang around with just last week have always wished to become. It felt different. The same yet different. Too close yet too far.
While I was taken up about Palm's impulsive act and how to help her out of getting into trouble, I actually forgot that I was still bleeding inside and that I can never undo the pain of irony and realization...
That I was one of the causes of mine and his misery...
That I was one of those who made him into the monster he is now who is standing right in front of me...
And his wish of him living in my heart forever have finally come to reality without him even realizing it. My conscience can never let go of the guilt. I just simply can't forgive myself. The scars would always remain. The one I inflicted on him and the one he inflicted on me.
"The tables turned around. What goes up must come down. You can't leave me again anymore..."
"Something went wrong so it was cancelled halfway..." I answered him back indifferently after a few seconds of recalling everything.
"I see..." He uttered dismissively, finally turning his back and proceeded to his business. "I have to go..." He seemed to be still preoccupied about a lot of things that has been bothering him lately, specially the civil status issue.
He has been like this even before I left for the Time Travel Experiment last month...
And he was not behaving like the usual, in a way it appeared to be actually alarming for someone who knew him very well despite the indifferent behavior he often possesses.
END OF CHAPTER 6
NOTE : Illumi refers to Alluka as a he but when he talks to her directly, he treats and addresses her as a girl (just in this story).
Basing from Episode 139 of the 2011 remake, I got the idea that Illumi was the one who executes butlers who engage in a relationship while being employed to the household.