A/N: Thank you, Kiroro Gakiru for your continued support, and to the enigmatic Guest reviewer for your awesome review! Also, thanks is in order for ReimiSugimoto, Nameless Angel 00, and IllumiZoldyckFanGirl aka Kiroro Gakiru, for the follows and Nameless Angel 00, and IllumiZoldyckFanGirl aka Kiroro Gakiru for the favorite! Thank you guys for being awesome!

I opened my eyes the next day to come face to face with a bouquet of red roses. My eyes widened and I blushed as my brain processed what happened. I immediately jolted myself out of the strange haze with a look of annoyance and sat up. Illumi was nowhere to be seen. I shrugged as I tried to work out the kinks in my shoulders. I got up from bed and started getting dressed in a new sleeveless, high neck, black dress that fit the form of my torso, but flowed from my hips to my knees. I turned back to the roses with a guilty but conflicted face, my conscious gnawing at me.

"Best to not waste them..." I muttered to no-one as I set them in a vase and made sure they had plenty of water. Once sure they wouldn't go dry, I set them on a table nearby.

Once that was done, I dug in my bag to retrieve my 'dancing shoes', which were simple black heeled sandals, and music player. I made sure the speakers were loud as I turned it on to Glad You Came. I quickly strapped on my shoes and tested my balance, then started with a few slow twirls to start. I continued with a dance style that was a mix of ballet, pop, and Latin dance moves, and completely ignored the rest of the world.

Illumi POV

Illumi unlocked the door to the room he shared with Akiko to hear music pouring from the speakers. He hesitated to open the door in his confusion.

"Are we going to stay out here?" Hisoka asked. He leaned on the wall beside Illumi.

"No. I just wasn't expecting music." He admitted. Hisoka perked up.

"You think you have the wrong room?" He kept a serious expression on his face.

"No. It just means she's awake." Illumi shrugged as he pushed open the door, to reveal the tiny redhead dressed in black and dancing to her music. He froze at the sight of her. Her eyes were closed, but she moved with grace; which was surprising, given how clumsy she could be sometimes. Her body moved with the fluidity of water, making her look the deadly vixen she truly was.

"My, my..." Hisoka murmured quietly. "I had no idea the little mouse could be so light-footed~."

Illumi didn't bother answering, as the woman captivated his attention. Hisoka noticed Illumi's distraction and smirked as the nimble redhead continued her fluid movements.

As the last note of the song sounded, her feet stilled, keeping her weight on her left leg. She gave a deep sigh, then opened her eyes, meeting the eyes of both Illumi and Hisoka. She pinked a little.

"How long have you two been there?"

"How long have you two been there?" I asked in mortification. I turned off my music player before the next song could play.

"Long enough to see your beautiful dancing~." Hisoka teased to my abject horror.

"You dance very well, Akiko." Illumi complemented. I sighed in defeat.

"Whatever." I walked to my bag and pulled out an over the shoulder purse. I checked for my wallet, and nodded to myself. "That ought to do it." I situated the purse and made to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Illumi asked. I halted in my steps and turned to him.

"I'm getting something to eat. The boys won't be up here for a while yet, and I am not secluding myself in this building.

"Does it count as seclusion if I'm here?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

"You're right. It's worse than seclusion." I answered in an exasperated tone. I made it to thee door before he called out to me.

"That's not very nice." I slammed the door in reply.

I was walking around, looking for a place to find a good meal when my eyes spied a giant teddy. I could feel my face turning pink with delight. I was sure my eyes were shining like a child's as I made a beeline toward the plush toy bigger than me. I knew I wasn't going to buy it, but I never passed up the chance to at least hug a plush toy that big.

I set it down, then exited the shop to continue my quest to find a shop that sold good food. I followed my nose to a food stand that sold takoyaki. I ordered a plate full with octopus, and green onions, then continued to survey my surroundings as I ate. It wasn't long until I got bored and decided to see what the boys were up to.

"Hello?" Killua's voice sounded through the speaker of my phone.

"Hello! What are you two up to right now?" I asked in a cheerful tone. I was on my way back when I saw more hard candies for sale. I was running low, so I decided to grab a few bags of the floral flavored ones.

"Gon just passed level one hundred, and I'm about to be up any moment. How are you doing?" Killua answered.

"Already in the two hundreds, and waiting on a good time to fight. I have three months to fight, so I'm taking it easy right now. I popped a honeysuckle flavored candy in my mouth and smiled.

"Oh?" Killua sounded surprised. "How are you and Illumi doing?" He sounded amused.

"We're doing great." I answered sarcastically, a bit of irritation leaked into my voice. "I'm still mad at him, though."

"Illumi is Illumi. That's just how he is sometimes." Killua blew it off. "It's how e grew up."

"That still doesn't make it okay!" I nearly shouted into my phone, flustered a bit. I stepped into the elevator that would take me to my room. I waited a bit before continuing. "...But he is definitely making an effort." I huffed as I admitted. "I'll give him credit for that, at least." The doors opened and I walked down the hall, and started to unlock the door.

"I can't wait to be an uncle!" Killua's excited voice caused me to turn cherry red.

"NOBODY SAID ANYTHING ABOUT CHILDREN!" I shouted while holding the phone in front of my face, not minding the two still in the room. I put the phone back to my ear. "Please don't ever say that again." I covered my face with my free hand and sat down on my side of the bed with a huff. I looked up to see both men watching me very closely. "I'll call you back, okay?"

"Okay, big sis. Bye!" The line went dead. I stared at the phone for a moment.

"Honestly." I sighed and fell back, my hair sprawling to the other side of the bed.

"Who was talking about children~?" Hisoka asked, a teasing lilt in his voice.

I groaned. "Killua was. Not that it's any of your business." I lifted myself back up into a sitting position and glared at Illumi. "Did you get that in his head?"

"I haven't spoken to Kil since we left home." Illumi informed me. I tisked to myself, peeved about the whole situation.

"I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite-"

"How did you change your ringtone from default?" I snapped at my close friend, Yoite.

"Technology. You know I'm a wiz at this sorta stuff. So whatcha up to?" She asked, no doubt, twirling in her spinning chair.

"If you keep doing that, you'll get dizzy." I evaded the question, then held my phone away from my ear as a crash sounded from the other end.

"How the hell do you do that?" She shouted.

"I know you. What did you need?" I asked.

"I was wondering when you were going to bring your lover home." I could see that both men could hear her loud mouth. I had the universal expression for 'dammit' displayed across my face. "Is he still too busy with work?"

"Yoite... I probably won't ever bring him home, even if he isn't working." I could feel a hostile aura starting to fill the room. I looked up to see Illumi glaring at the wall. "Besides, lover is a bit of a stretch on what he is to me. But, no, he isn't on a job right now."

"Ehhhhh? Why not? We're all dying to meet him?" She exclaimed.

"He's... not the type I would want my friends and family to meet, to be honest." I eyed him warily as his bloodlust started to seep out of his control. Hisoka was smirking and eyeing the two of us. What was wrong with him? Was he mad I didn't want him to meet my family?

"Awww... Well, you have your reasons, I suppose." Yoite reasoned to herself.

"Yeah... Hey, I'll talk to you later, okay? I have something important to do at the moment." I pulled a face at Illumi's disturbing behavior. He was just sitting there, motionless in his chair, and it was beginning to bug me. I hung up, not listening to her reply. I Cautiously stepped toward him, eyeing Hisoka, giving him the nonverbal sign to leave. He nodded with a smirk and proceeded to exit our room.

"Hey. What's the matter?" I kept my voice soft as I knelt at his feet to meet his eyes. "Is it because I said I won't bring you home to meet my family?" I asked gently. He perked up as I spoke, his hostile aura disappeared entirely.

"Oh." His face cleared in surprise.

"Oh?" I tilted my head.

"I thought there was someone else." He admitted. I rose from the floor with a scoff and stared down at him.

"I wouldn't have agreed to this arrangement if there was someone else. Don't insult me." I rolled my eyes at him. He looked into my eyes with a barely there smile.

"I'm glad." He lifted himself a little with one arm to reach his other hand into my tresses at the back of my scalp. "I want you all to myself." He pulled me down into a kiss, his lips slanting across mine, causing me to lose myself in a fog as he invaded my senses.

He smells like fir, and spices... cologne, probably... and steel... My eyes drifted shut and my hands found purchase on his biceps as I was lost in the kiss for a moment. Suddenly, I was snapped out of my kiss induced haze and broke the kiss by tumbling back onto my bottom, face red, eyes wide and mouth covered by my hands.

His strange, soft smile left me speechless. "How does curry sound for dinner tonight? I'll take you out." He proposed. I nodded, hands still over my mouth and face still red. My eyes stayed glued to him as he stood from his seat and walked casually toward the door. "Good. Seven sound good to head out?" Again I nodded. "Alright. I'll be back. I still have to tell Hisoka some things." And with that, he exited the room.

Dear Kami, what have I gotten myself into... and what do I wear?!