XP: Sup sup sup how are all of your days going? I did pretty well in this major exam (A levels) all As and a B, and now im kinda lazy over the thought of going to university. That said, thanks for waiting so long again guys. I'm glad you guys seem pretty open with the IlluKura which I'm experimenting with. Yay! That said, here's some update on Gon finally!

***Gon***

It was always in the state of dusk. The island was always covered in murky fog, with a high canopy of trees. It didn't matter to Gon who had night vision however. Gon sought refuge in what he was familiar in and stayed on top of the tall branches where he was safer. However, he had been going around in circles, as the trees he marked with a pocket knife reappeared again and again. He was getting very frustrated. There has to be a puzzle. Or an entrance of sorts. If Killua was here, he'd solve it because he was so smart.

Thinking about Killua made Gon a little sad. Their relationship had changed of late, but Gon didn't really know why. Killua didn't listen to him anymore. He didn't seem happy to be around Gon, didn't smile at the jokes he made, didn't agree with his decisions. It was like Killua was a whole different person. Where was his friend who was always behind him with a grin and a witty remark? He missed the cheerful Killua.

When he started thinking about when their relationship started changing, maybe it was after that severe head injury and coma he lapsed into after going into a battle with someone Killua begged him not to. Since he woke up, every time Killua smiled at him, his smile held a little bit of pain. Killua told him he might've died.

But what's wrong? He survived and everything was alright wasn't it? Why did Killua have to be such a wet blanket about it. He was such a pessimist. And hasn't he always been alright from all those things Killua warned him not to do? In the end, at any rate.

Gon would never understand the feelings of his tender hearted worrywart friend.

Sighing in frustration, Gon plucked a piece of ripe fruit.

"Oi oi, don't eat that!"someone called out in urgency.

Gon looked down past the tree branches to see a few spider members looking up at him curiously. Nobunaga was the one who shouted at him.

"Why? You want some?" Gon offered innocently.

"Shal says that it's just an illusion. The actual fruit is actually poisonous. It would've stopped your heart in 5 minutes flat!" Nobunaga hollered up.

Gon gasped in shock, flinging the fruit away. "Thanks for the warning!" He grinned cheerily down at them, waving. He jumped down to join them. "So why are you guys here?"

"Aren't you afraid of us?" Nobunaga laughed as he slung his arm around Gon's shoulders like they were best buddies. "We're the phantom troupe you know. Your red eyed friend's enemy."

Machi scoffed. "He has no perception of danger at all. He must've lasted so long only because of his assassin friend."

"Oh yeah, Killua is immune to poison," Gon said dumbly, missing the point.

"You sound like you're interested in him," Franklin teased Machi.

"No more than Nobunaga likes that kid. I just find him a talent."

"Dibs," Feitan said suddenly.

"No! I'm the one without a partner now. Which is for the better. Ugh," Machi shuddered as she remembered Hisoka's incessant flirting. "And don't you hate newbies anyway?"

"He fights like me. He could adopt my fighting style. Plus I can tell he's loyal. So if I become his master, he could become my ultimate partner."

"Hey what about me!" Franklin snarled. Feitan shrugged like he couldn't care less and closed his eyes. "You stupid little shortstuff...!"

"Hey hey, you guys are forgetting our little friend here. He could be the next Uvogin!" Nobunaga grinned.

"Killua and I will never join you," Gon said stubbornly. "And you haven't told me why you're here."

"We're here to treasure hunt of course. We heard that this island was created by a nen master with more nen than netero. And in this island, there exists a magical fruit that can enhance your nen. But those are just rumors," Nobunaga explained.

"Tsk, why are you telling him all about our mission," Feitan snarled.

"It's okay, I'm only here to find my Dad, I didn't even know or care about the treasure," Gon assured.

"Okay! I got it now. It's right up ahead. The place where the squirrel suddenly disappeared," Shalnark exclaimed excitedly.

"Great job Shal!" Nobunaga praised with a hearty slap on the back, sending the poor brunette into a coughing fit. "Whoops! Hahaha!"

"Geez," Machi rolled her eyes. Men.

Feitan rolled his eyes as well. Women.

They walked to the trunk of a large tree. Nobunaga squinted, unable to see anything. They hesitated, until Feitan walked forward confidently.

"Wait, it might be dangerous," Shalnark warned.

Feitan didn't heed the warning and simply fazed through the tree.

"Wait he disappeared!" Gon gasped in shock.

"It must be the entrance!" Franklin decided excitedly and immediately ran off after the other man.

"Guys it might be a trap!" Shalnark groaned, facepalming. "Ugh! They never listen to me. Danchou putting me in charge was a wrong choice."

Machi punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be stupid. You're the best for the job because you're the smartest."

"Your words are contradictory, Machi," Shalnark chuckled as he rubbed his sore shoulder.

"Sometimes you think too much. Let's just go with the flow!" Nobunaga exclaimed loudly, running in as well. Shrugging, Machi followed suit.

"Oh well," Shalnark mumbled helplessly to himself. "Are you coming?"

Gon realized he was being spoken to. "Huh? Yeah of course! My dad might be there."

"Dad huh. What a luxury," Shalnark remarked bitterly and rushed in. Their whole troupe comprised of pretty much orphans.

Confused but determined, Gon followed Shalnark's lead.

"Gah fuck!" Franklin screamed as bodies landed on top of him.

Feitan snickered victoriously a distance away, having escaped from the predicament with his speed. He mockingly raised an eyebrow, and Franklin continued to cuss.

Machi got up quickly and composed herself, leaving four boys groaning in a heap.

"It's common sense to step away from the door," Feitan commented snidely.

"Oh shut up!" Franklin thundered. "Get off me already!"

Sheepishly, Gon jumped off of Shalnark, who then clambered over Nobunaga and offered a hand to the samurai. Seeing how pitiful the last spider was, Machi went over to offer a hand to help him up.

"Thanks. Woah," Franklin gaped as he took in his surroundings. The sky was a bright red with black clouds. Everything was colour inversed. Even they themselves. He burst out laughing at the very white Feitan. Feitan growled and stepped up to get at it, but Shalnark stood between them.

"Come on, it's not the time to start fighting amongst ourselves."

"Tch!" Feitan huffed and turned away angrily, fingers twitching with the need to strangle something.

"So, this just proves it. The name illusion island. Everything we see is the opposite. Perhaps even the direction we walk," Shalnark theorized.

"Ah, like Alice in Wonderland?" Gon piped up curiously.

"That's exactly it!" Shalnark beamed. "It's kinda creepy though. It's so quiet here like we're the only living beings here."

"Lets split up," Nobunaga decided, grabbing Gon by the collar.

"You two? I think you'd get killed in seconds," Feitan scoffed.

"You! You're like a little porcupine with all those sharp comments every time!" Nobunaga accused.

"Now now, Feitan has a point. You guys are both too rash to form a team," Shalnark said tactfully, holding up his hands to play peacemaker again.

Feitan gave an infuriating smirk which made Nobunaga want to smack that smug face. Franklin looked at him with an all too knowing expression, having been the one at the brunt of Feitan's cynical criticisms.

"Feitan, are you alright with Franklin?"

Feitan shrugged. They were always paired together anyways.

"Machi, you're with Nobu. I'll go with the kid."

"Alright," Machi shrugged. "Be careful."

They split ways, and Gon was a little perturbed by how silent it all really was. After an hour or so of walking around the endless forestry, Gon attempted to talk to Shalnark.

"Hey, how did you guys meet Hisoka?"

There was no reply. Gon turned to see Shalnark with an unnaturally wide, creepy smile. Jumping back a few metres, Gon eyed who he was very sure was not Shalnark at all.

"Who are you!" Gon demanded.

The creature's arms extended like whips suddenly , crashing into where Gon previously stood.

"First comes rock...!"

Gon charged up his nen as he jumped above the strange creature. Putting all the power he had in his fist, he slammed down hard, splitting the creature into two. However, it merely divided into two, joining together again to look like Shalnark in front of Gon.

Any further attempts to hit the creature proved useless, as the punches merely created holes that joined back.

"Where's Shalnark!"

The creature didn't reply, only reaching out with his whip like arms again in a furry of movements.

Gon, realising he had no ways of defeating the monster, knew he could only run away and try to trap it somewhere, or run to find the spiders again where they might know how to defeat this thing.

"Gon, over here!"

Gon turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Killua! You came in the end. I knew you would!" Gon beamed elatedly, relieved to see his street smart friend. He dashed off to join him, keeping a careful eye at the chasing monster that seemed to glide. He chased after Killua's back.

"There, the exit is just ahead!" the color inversed black haired Killua pointed to the exit sign pointing up ahead.

"Thanks Killua!"

Gon didn't feel anything amiss, being too trusting at the sight of his friend. Suddenly, his heart lurched as one of his feet stepped on thin air. He tripped forward into emptiness, but he quickly used his fishing pole to latch onto the side of the cliff he fell from.

Confused, he looked up to see Killua looked down at him, with Shalnark next to him, both having the same creepy, ear to ear grin.

"You're not Killua!" Gon accused with his late realization. Then he remembered that children's book. The signs were inversed as well. Alice almost fell into the same situation he found himself in!

The figures morphed into faceless black blobs that glided away, leaving him to hang there. Looking down, Gon saw no end to the cliff. But was that just an illusion as well? He had no idea what to trust anymore.

***literal cliffhanger LOL shot***

**A nightmare**

"Pairo... Pairo!"

Kurapika sat up gasping, covered in cold sweat. His scarlet eyes pulsated. His head ached so much that he squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing the bed sheets tightly. He whimpered lowly in his throat. A nightmare. It had been awhile since he had one. It must be his brethren, telling him that he must hurry to collect more of their eyes. He had slowed in his progress lately, having to guard Neon as she toured the city.

He had found Pairo in his dream finally. It had always haunted him that he couldn't find his best friend's body. Pairo looked the same as he always remembered. He was beaming at Kurapika, and Kurapika had grinned back at him. He ran towards his dearly missed friend, words bubbling in the back of his throat. He had so much to say. He had held so much hope that Pairo might be alive and he wasn't so alone afterall.

But then Pairo's eyes started to bleed, and he started a bloodcurdling scream. Kurapika felt genuine terror for his friend as he watched helplessly as those scarlet eyes slowly popped up, until they fell off and empty black sockets were looking at him. Like all those bodies back in his village.

Kurapika curled up into himself, and sobbed into his knees.

"Who is this Pairo and why is he making you cry?"

Kurapika flinched and looked up into blank, dark eyes. Those dark depths reminded him of the horrifying images in his dream.

Illumi watched as the bar of light from the slightly opened curtains fell on the blond's face illuminating his gorgeous features. Teary red eyes looked up at him, with tearstains on those smooth, pale cheeks. Kurapika looked vulnerable, and seemed his age for once unlike the dignified and mature air he always held about him.

Kurapika hiccuped, then started dry heaving. Feeling absolutely terrible, the blond rushed to the bathroom to empty out his already empty stomach into the toilet bowl. The bitter and sharp taste of stomach acid made him gag and heave again. Wiping the back of his mouth with his sleeve, Kurapika flinched when he realised Illumi had been beside him, holding out a glass of water for him.

Kurapika chugged it, beginning to calm his frazzled nerves. "Not so attractive now, am I?" He joked weakly, coughing.

"No, even more so," Illumi replied quietly.

"Haha. You're weird," Kurapika chuckled with distant eyes.

Illumi cupped his face to bring him back into focus. "Who is Pairo?"

"My childhood best friend," Kurapika started to babble, his guard down after his horrifying dream. "I never found him in the mountain of bodies. It was all my fault. I never should have left. I never should have left him. What if he suffered a fate worse than death?" Kurapika started to sob helplessly again as he imagined his poor friend trapped somewhere as a rich man's exotic toy. He hugged himself to still his shivers, but he still felt very cold all the way to his bones. "He was always very sickly. He wouldn't have survived such a treatment. It should have been me... It should have been me!"

"No. It should've never been you. It shouldn't be you shaking here right now," Illumi emphasized forcefully, grabbing the shoulders of the hysterical blond. "It's not your fault."

But Kurapika continued to cry helplessly, hiccupping as he drew small gasps of air to breathe.

Illumi looked on at the spectacle, grimacing as he had no idea what to do. "Tell me what I should do Kurapika. How do I stop your tears!"

Kurapika had never seen such a burst of strong emotion from Illumi. He quietened.

"Kill. Kill all of the spiders. They all need to die for their sins," Kurapika replied as though in a trance, red eyes staring at nowhere in particular. "I hate spiders. I seek vengeance. Eye for an eye. Blood for blood spilt!"

"And that will make you stop crying?" Illumi asked hurriedly.

"Yes," Kurapika whispered lowly, weary from everything that happened. "I need closure. I can't be happy until they stop haunting me to address their grievances. I need to find the eyes and bring them back to our homeland."

Illumi stared fixatedly at the blond.

Kurapika felt a strong burst of murderous nen. It was as threatening as the time he first felt it in the hunter exam directed towards Killua. No, maybe even stronger. But he knew it was not directed towards him.

"Oh, Illumi. No, I can't have you do what I should," Kurapika shook his head rather unconvincingly. He was tired of bearing such a heavy responsibility alone.

"What's yours is mine," Illumi hissed possesively. "And what's mine is all yours."

And he was gone in a flash, leaving Kurapika to collapse on the cool bathroom tiles, head spinning as he attempted to understand all that transpired here in his room.

***A little OOC***

**Back to our favorite pair**

"Do you think Gon might be in trouble?" Killua chewed on his lower lip worriedly. "He tends to not use his head sometimes."

Hisoka continued to row their little wooden boat alone, watching Killua's every expression.

"Oh... I'm so worried! But that Nobunaga guy likes him right? So they'll protect Gon right?" Killua tried to comfort himself as he paced about their little boat, not worried at all by the boat's swaying.

"Gon's lucky to have a friend like you," Hisoka commented lightly.

"Yeah?" Killua turned to face him, wringing his hands behind his back shyly as his cheeks turned a little pink at what he felt was a praise.

"Then you're lucky too, because we're friends as well."

Embarrassed, Killua turned away. And Hisoka could see the tips of those pale ears turn red. Killua's light complexion gave him away too easily. Hisoka chuckled. Although he was a little unhappy to just be a friend. That was the same standing as Kurapika, Leorio and many others, right? Including their little martial arts friend Zushi.

"S-say something already! It's like I'm the only one talking here!" Killua complained cutely with a huff, turning around with crossed arms.

"Sorry, sorry," Hisoka laughed. "I like hearing you talk."

"Pfft. I like hearing me talk too," Killua said smugly.

They were getting closer and closer to the island, and it was steadily getting foggier.

"Are you hungry? There's some sandwiches in the bag," Hisoka offered as he continued to row.

"Yeah, a little bit," Killua smiled, going over to the bag Hisoka packed for the two of them. As he munched enthusiastically on the sandwich, he didn't realise Hisoka was watching him fondly.

"Hey, you want some?" Killua quizzed.

"My hands are a little occupied here," Hisoka replied in a teasing tone.

"Oh yeah," thoughtlessly, or thoughtfully, if you look at it another way, Killua walked towards the shotacon and held the half eaten sandwich in front of the stunned pedophile's mouth.

"Oi, I'm feeding you so you don't have to stop rowing so don't stop," Killua scolded gently.

Hisoka chuckled. The gall of the boy to walk towards him to feed him, with a half eaten sandwich no less! How cute. Sensing the impatience of his feeder, Hisoka leaned forward a little to take a bite. Killua smiled then, and promptly took a bite from the same sandwich nonchalantly without realising Hisoka staring at him.

It continued for awhile, them taking turns to take a bite, the dense Killua not stopping to think about sharing indirect kisses. Hisoka was pleased, of course, by this huge fan service.

Killua backed away from him when the sandwich finished, going back to his spot. He glanced over the edge of the boat curiously, trying to spot aquatic life.

"JELLYFISH!" Killua squealed excitedly, lifting his head to show his immeasurable joy to Hisoka. "Hisoka, look! Look!"

There was indeed a little pink blob that was slowly moving away from their boat. Hisoka smiled in amusement as Killua stared after it with a look full of awe, leaning dangerously over the edge of the boat to try and see better.

Hisoka had to quietly shift his own weight to the other side to balance the boat to prevent them from capsizing.

"Wow. I've never seen one before! Have you?" Killua was practically glowing with happiness, and Hisoka's cheeks were starting to ache from how hard he was smiling all the time. It should be a crime how cute Killua could be.

"A few times. I've even seen dolphins and sharks."

"Woahhh," and the boy was giving him a respectful and amazed look. Hisoka remembered at these moments that Killua was just a young boy and he should be a little more careful in his actions. "Do the dolphins jump out of the water? And the sharks, are they scary? Did they try and eat you?"

"Yes, they leap in pretty arcs. We scared the sharks away with nen. Animals are pretty sensitive to it," Hisoka answered patiently.

"Coollll," Killua hummed as he stared out the the vast water body with glittering eyes.

"If you'd like, I can bring you on a journey to see them next time," Hisoka invited hopefully.

"Really?!" Killua beamed. "I'd love to! But we have to go save Gon first. He always gets himself into dangerous situations somehow. I think he'd like the dolphins too."

Hisoka was pretty irked. Gon always interrupted their affairs. He could be a third wheel without even being around. But Hisoka didn't have the heart to tell the happily gushing boy that the invitation was only supposed to be for him so they could be alone.

"Yeah?" Hisoka replied lightly, suppressing his jealousy.

"Yeah," Killua replied happily. "Oh we're really close now!"

Hisoka didn't really want to find Gon. He kinda hoped Gon wouldn't be there at all so he could continue monopolizing Killua. But he knew their snowy haired protagonist wouldn't be able to forget his best friend. If he killed Gon, he was pretty sure that he'd be killing a part of Killua as well.

Hisoka sighed. No other way to go about it other than tolerate Gon's existence being bigger than his for now.

Killua was pretty confused about how down Hisoka was being. He himself was pretty excited to see Gon, though he was afraid that Gon would still be impatient and unhappy with everything, only focused on finding his Dad. But this time he knew that even if Gon left him with his stubbornness, he wouldn't be alone this time. No, he had his perverted magician with him.

"You know, Hisoka?"

"Hmm?" Hisoka hummed.

"Thanks for being here with me."

"Always."

***End of Chapter 7***

XP: Sho sweet. RXR please! :D