...It's been a while. I'm gonna try and post when I can, I do want to finish this story! Thanks for all the support and reviews and faves! I really do appreciate it!

"Thank you for all the cute stuff," Jun beamed, lifting her pink bag from the lingerie shop.

Going along with Jun's little game with the boys was fun, and working out for him as well. He got to watch Jun try on a bunch of different costumes and underwear so early in the afternoon. He only hoped the rest of the day would follow this pattern.

She giggled to herself. "I think Gon and Killua gave up. We win!"

"We certainly do," Hisoka agreed, patting her on the head with his free hand. "Shall I order a service to carry our bags away while we have our lunch?"

"Uwahhhh, you can do that? That's awesome!" Jun exclaimed, and Hisoka took that as a yes, pulling out his phone and stepping away as Jun became enamored with a street vendor or something of the sort. He enjoyed that she was so easily amused.

"Well?" he asked, a thin smile on his lips.

"You don't seriously expect anything new from me not two hours after you called last," Illumi said with a sigh. Hisoka was quiet, and so Illumi sighed again. "Her brother."

Hisoka wasn't aware that she had any family still alive. He recalled the house he had found her at fifteen years ago - everyone there had been brutally slain, by her, of course. "What's his name?"

While Illumi normally kept no emotion in his voice, Hisoka had known him for so long that he could sense Illumi's slight hesitance. Illumi tended to be more loyal to those he knew longer, and by his hesitation, Hisoka could only assume that Illumi had known all of this stuff about Jun for much, much longer than he let on. He had said that he'd known Jun's family, after all.

"Sekihara Jin'ai," Illumi said at last. "Jun'suh doesn't have access to a lot of information on her own, and even with the Hunter Association, information is still limited. She has been working with Lancaster's company for the past five years to try to find a lead on her brother."

"They're both from Meteor City," Hisoka mused, more to himself than to Illumi.

"That's all the information about Jun'suh I will be giving you, Hisoka," Illumi said firmly. "I have known Jun'suh for a very long time. I may have been kind and provided you with this information, but I still think you should have been the one to ask her instead of going behind her back."

"It's much more fun this way, though," Hisoka said, as Jun purchased some sort of stuffed animal from the street vendor. He wasn't surprised that Illumi had vowed not to give any more information on Jun; Illumi had just confirmed Hisoka's inkling on the amount of time the two had known each other. "Oh, before you go, could you stop by and pick up our shopping bags?" Hisoka asked sweetly.

"Transfer five hundred million to my account."

"Taking that as a yes," Hisoka sang into the phone as the line went dead. He infused the bag handles with his nen, so Illumi could find them, and met back up with Jun. She squeezed the cheeks of her new little plush, a tiny giraffe with wings.

"Isn't it cute?" she squealed.

Hisoka smiled. "It is," he agreed simply. He led her away from the vendor and down the street to a restaurant that seemed much more suited to Jun's taste. It was a vintage looking establishment, made of red brick with fabricated dirt and rust for decoration. There were black metal tables in the front with umbrellas and the establishment itself seemed much more...simple, than the place Kastro had taken her. Jun loved it already.

The host greeted them as they entered, and asked for their reservation. "Oh, we didn't make reservations-" Jun started, but Hisoka interrupted her.

"Jun for two," he told the host, who checked his books. He allowed them to leave their bags at the front and led them to a little table outside towards the side of the restaurant, handing them menus.

"You made reservations?" Jun asked as they sat.

"Of course," he told her with a charming smile. "I told you that I have three things planned today, Jun-chan."

"But it was such short notice. This place looks really nice."

Hisoka shrugged cryptically and Jun just giggled, not pressing any further. She seemed to figure out that he had planned this for sometime, but wanted to keep the information to herself, like a little personal victory. He hated that she was so smart sometimes, because she had been right.

When he found out about her fight, he'd already began planning what he would do for her reward. He already knew without a doubt that she would find some way to impress him, whether she realized it or not. That was why he needed a way to continuously motivate her. While she probably didn't think that he'd thought about the date that far back, he was still unsure about how to feel about her figuring it out.

They sat down at their table and were given menus before the host headed off. Jun happily flipped through hers as though she were reading a particularly interesting book. "Jun-chan," he said, and she looked up, her electric blue eyes clashing with his. He folded his hands over the table. "I have come to the realization that while we have known each other for some time, there is very little we actually know about each other. I thought we could spend the day learning more things about one another. Does that sound like something you'd like to do?"

Hisoka saw the answer sparkling in her eyes before she even said. "Of course!" she agreed, nodding and clapping her hands happily. "Is there anything off limits?"

Hisoka smiled thinly. She seemed to understand their relationship quite well enough to know that there would be boundaries regarding his new game. "For me, the past," he said simply, shrugging. "And for you?"

"Same," she said with a grin. "All that stuff about me is really boring anyway. I'm sure you wouldn't care to know."

"I couldn't agree more," Hisoka told her as the waiter returned, asking for their drink orders. Hisoka opened his mouth to order some wine for them both, but Jun cut him off.

"Let's play a game," she said, smiling. "I'll order everything for you. You order everything for me. Whoever gets more stuff right wins!"

"What's the prize?" Hisoka asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Jun hummed in response, tapping her nose. "The winner buys the loser lunch," she answered and Hisoka chuckled to himself. Jun really was simple after all.

"Sounds fun," he agreed. He glanced back down at his menu and then back up at the waiter with a smile. "How about a glass of Strawberry Shadows for my princess."

Jun studied her menu, chewing on her bottom lip. She tapped a picture on the menu. "One glass of Broken Road Chardonnay," she ordered, and the waiter headed off. She grinned at Hisoka. "Was I right?"

"How did you know I prefer white wine?" he asked. They didn't often drink together, only a few times they've shared a bottle of champagne, but Hisoka had never catered to his own tastes. He always bought something he thought she might like. He remembered mentioning that he often bought Cristal champagne and was actually a little surprised that she didn't order that for him, considering he'd blatantly expressed his tendencies.

"Do you?" she asked, shrugging. "You like sweet stuff, and after reading the description, I thought you'd like it, is all. You know I like strawberries?"

"You and I tend to have similar tastes sometimes," he said with a shrug. Though he really knew that she actually liked strawberries because he did. Strawberry shampoo, strawberry cake; they tended to have similar interests because she was heavily influenced by him. He had made sure of it.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked, placing her chin in her hands with a smile.

Hisoka smiled thinly. "Red."

Jun giggled. "I could have guessed that."

"How so?"

Hisoka expected her to say something about his hair color, but instead, she said, "It's the color of blood."

Hisoka actually chuckled a bit. She seemed to know a bit more about him than he thought. "And what's your favorite color, princess?"

Jun hummed, thinking for a bit. "Blue," she answered with a bright smile. Hisoka was half expecting something like pink or black or some other extreme color. Blue seemed pretty normal for her. "Like the sky," she said, pointing up for emphasis. "Or the sea. Adventure, sorta. Places in the far beyond."

Hisoka definitely wasn't expecting an answer like that. He found it quite cute; she was in her twenties and still craved adventure like a twelve year old. Sure, she enjoyed fighting strong people - it was something they had in common - but she was childish at heart. She still had dreams of adventure and whimsy.

"Favorite type of music?" Hisoka asked, placing his hand in his palm.

Jun hummed to herself for a while before answering, "Jazz," with a smile. "And yours is classical," she guessed, playfully pointing a finger at him knowingly.

"Rachminoff," he answered with a smile.

The waiter brought them both their drinks and Jun quickly opened the menu to scan the appetizers while the waiter asked Hisoka what he would like to order. "My princess and I will be playing a game, so I shall order her entire meal for her and vice versa," he explained, buying Jun precious seconds. He flicked his eyes over the menu and turned back to the waiter. "For my princess, bacon wrapped mushrooms as an appetizer, and her entree will be a filet mignon and shrimp scampi."

"Temperature of the filet?"

"Medium rare."

"Soup or salad?"

"Soup," Hisoka answered easily.

"Potato souffle, or steamed rice?" the waiter asked.

Hisoka smiled at Jun. "Potatoes."

He heard Jun groan quietly, alerting him of his victory for the meal portion. Her tendency to prefer heavy, fatty foods was so obvious. She hated salads and fish-based meals.

The waiter turned to Jun, who was chewing on her lip. "Okay, for the appetizer, the crab cake shrimp cocktail sampler, and for his lunch, a ribeye steak and double lobster tail."

"How would you like the ribeye?"

"Rare," she answered, tapping her nose.

"Soup or salad?"

"Soup! And steamed rice!" Jun said, closing her menu and handing it to the waiter. He headed off, leaving them both alone again. She grinned at Hisoka. "Did I get it right?"

"I do prefer seafood," Hisoka answered. Again, she had surprised him. She seemed to know that he knew a lot about her, and he was very unaware that she had taken notice of the things he liked as well. He had always thought that she went about her daily life not caring about others. Apparently, even he could be wrong, too.

The meal passed by without a hitch in conversation. If there was silence between them, it was because they were eating, or drinking. Jun was oddly chatty today, but Hisoka could only guess that was because she was so enthused about their day together. In the past five years, Hisoka had never seen her during the day. This was on purpose. Spending too much time with her could open up the possibility of her emotional attachment to him. While he enjoyed the fact that most of what she did was to please him, he enjoyed it knowing that there was no long-term need for him in her life. If he suddenly became bored with her, he could simply leave, or kill her, and be done with her.

But lately, he seemed to have a difficult time imagining her dead. What with her cute smiles and unparalleled strength; Hisoka only found his interest in her growing by the day. He wanted to see what buttons he could push, what combination of words would be the most effective to make her bend to his will. It was all a game, afterall. And for the last fifteen years, he had been playing to win.

Her sword was wet with thick blood, and she flicked it off with a simple wrist movement, tarnishing the pristine arena tiles with gore. A man lay dead before her, and the referee raised his hand towards a petite, short haired girl as she tucked her sword back into its sheath.

"Wow, ladies and gentleman, with ten KO's, ten deaths, and the death of floormaster Rung, let me introduce you to the youngest floormaster of the Heavens Arena at only sixteen years old! I give you the Red Queen, Sekihara Jun!" roared the announcer, and the audience thundered with applause and cheers, chanting her name. The girl called Sekihara Jun had already left the arena, hands shoved in her pockets as she stalked towards the exit.

Anyone with a view of her face could tell that the match wasn't even the least bit stimulating. Her eyes were cold and lifeless, almost as if she had been unconscious during the entire match. Her cheek had been slit open slightly, blood flowing in a little rivulet down the side of her face. It hadn't even had the time to dry. She wiped it off with the back of her hand as she reached the tunnel.

She paused upon seeing a tall man, his bloodred hair slicked back. He pushed himself up off the wall he had been leaning against, arms crossed over his chest. He smiled at her thinly, the paint on his face crinkling ever so slightly with the motion.

"Found you, princess" he said simply.

The girl looked puzzled for all of one second. Then, for the first time today, she showed a glimpse of emotion, a bright smile curling her lips. "I've been waiting."

"Hisoka?" Jun's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He had been vaguely listening to her prattling on about something regarding some species of ant she had read about one afternoon. He wondered why today, of all days, he found himself thinking of the past.

A fifteen year project. That was how long he had waited for her to ripen. Since that day in Meteor City, Sekihara Jun had never disappeared from the back of Hisoka's mind, and he was sure that the opposite was true for her. The urge to end her life was both overwhelming and unsettling. She had grown so much since the day he had met her and there were many opportunities he could have taken to kill her, but the more he waited, the stronger she became. Why throw away a good thing now?

"You just seemed spacey, is all," Jun said with a light shrug. "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Hisoka answered with a thin smile, though he did feel a little strange. That was twice now he had been slightly bothered and she had noticed it. The first time, when she had bought hime cupcakes, he had played it off, but perhaps she knew more about him than she let on.

Jun just smiled as brightly as she always did and continued finishing off the rest of her food. The waiter came along later and asked if they would like some dessert.

"Tiramisini," Jun ordered, pointing at the photo of a dessert liqueur.

"Creme brulee with strawberries," Hisoka ordered, not needing to look at the menu. He glanced at Jun. "Why the tiramisu?"

Jun tapped her nose for a bit before shrugging. "Dunno."

"You did not think I would want something with strawberries?"

She shrugged again. "I think you eat a lot of strawberries and strawberry flavored stuff and I think you want to try something new," she said brightly.

Hisoka could not come up with a reply to that answer and instead, handed the waiter his black credit card. "You know me quite well," he admitted as the waiter scurried off. Jun clapped her hands happily.

"But I wanted the creme brulee though," she said, cutting her victory short. "Doesn't that mean we're tied?"

"I suppose," Hisoka answered, lifting his shoulders to shrug slightly. "But today is your day, princess. I don't mind giving you a dealer's push."

Jun giggled, proud of her little victory. "Whatever that means."