The walls of Killua's stomach burned against the disturbed acids. While the boy was fairly positive that his brother's words were likely a calculated bluff to throw him off, there was truth to it that he could not deny. The fact remained that Misaki was under influence and this alone told a story of probable fatality should Illumi feel that his methods were not working. Likewise, Gon's resistance to fight with the vigour he typically might could prove his demise while the girl's actions were being dictated.

'This is bad,' Killua mentally acknowledged. He watched as his spiky haired friend continued to determinedly dodge one strike after the next, helping to reignite his own resolve. 'I need to find a loophole.'

Running his tongue along the top of his too-dry mouth, the paler boy ignored the feeling of his heart knocking clumsily against his ribs and forced his stiff limbs into a more casual pose. He seriously wondered whether he was trembling slightly or if another quake was gently rumbling the ground beneath his feet. The chilling sensation of Illumi's eyes on him, studying his every move, was unshakable. He supposed that the man's silence could only imply that he was simply waiting for a response.

'The sooner I get through this, the sooner we can get the plan back on track,' he whispered inside himself.

"You really think I would just do nothing?" He hoped that his voice sounded stable considering the terrible tightness in his chest and weakness in his knees.

"Who will it be, then?"

"I'm not gonna let either of my friends die."

"What will you do?"

Killua swallowed, trying to focus his attention momentarily on keeping the sound of his parched throat contracting as inaudible as possible.

"This whole thing... You controlling Misaki tells me that you know she's already on our side and it's the only way she'll help you. You just need her because you have no power to do all this on your own." The boy paused a moment, and when no reply was offered he continued. "I know she doesn't even want to do this. This is... pathetic."

The lack of verbal reaction made Killua feel a bit proud, as if he had overcome something. However, his victory was short lived.

"You think that Tanoh, Misaki has no will to kill your friend? I see... You believe her actions are completely decided by me. You think that because you have attached some kind of emotional stigma to your sexual desire for her, that she is innocent."

The younger boy felt his teeth clamp together involuntarily.

"You're wrong, Kil'. The arrangement between Tanoh, Misaki and I is nothing as you say. I offered her my assistance, and she accepted it... graciously, in fact." The man patiently waited a beat or two to allow the effect of his statement to seep in. "This is who your 'friend' really is."

Killua let out a sound that only vaguely resembled language. His aura revealed the truth of his unhinged feelings.

"You're a liar!" he repeated more clearly this time, fists balled and shaking.

"Misaki-san, please!"

A precise strike aimed to his jugular nearly saw the green clad boy to an early grave. In the nick of time, Gon instructed his knees to abandon the bulk of his weight. His body collapsed to the ground, unscathed. As his palms touched the earth, he was forced to kick off and roll to the left in order to avoid yet another attack; this time to his core. Although he was well prepared for it, Hoshii managed to change up her movement just slightly enough that he was unable to avoid a shallow hit to the right cheek. A small trickle of blood rolled down and off the side of side of his jaw.

'That was close,' he noted.

Without warning, Hoshii thrust her index finger out and collected a sample of the red liquid. She dipped her tongue into it, curling the tip upwards. A dreamy sigh escaped her.

"You bleed so well!" she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. The girl borrowed a moment to draw a heart on her own opposing cheek with the remainder of the fluid before continuing. "I can't wait to see what a severed artery would be like!"

"Misaki-san! Please stop!"

Focusing his aura into his hardened hand, Gon reeled his fist upwards to deflect the blow aimed to his upper chest.

"What about the eruptions? We need your help to stop them!"

Unfazed, Hoshii resumed her onslaught without the slightest hint of remorse. Understanding that the girl's advancements were becoming less predictable in spite of her carefree laughter all the while, the tanned boy concentrated solely on defence. She was becoming less modest with her assault now, adding more and more difficult combinations that were impressively singular and involved some definite skill to execute.

Despite being wrung into silence for the time being, the boy was far from spent. Even as his physical body was slowly wearing, his mental state was capable of compensating for the loss. His brown eyes caught a glance of his companion above, tense and locked into his own type of dispute. Gon's determination only flourished at this.

'Killua is trying his best right now,' he thought as he ducked down to escape being mercilessly pierced through the skull. 'I have to show him that I am, too!'

Killua tensed further as Hoshii's movements increased in their complexity. Although he was aware that the contact the umbrella had made with Gon's flesh had merely left in its wake a surface wound, there had been a foreseeable opening in which the girl could have easily used to kill the boy. Swallowing his hatred for Illumi at the progression of events which transpired, the former assassin understood that his place now was to fill in where Gon currently could not.

"Misaki!" he shouted down matter-of-factly at the girl. "Knock it off, Misaki! Wake up already!"

"Oh?" Illumi said from behind him, falling into step at his younger brother's side. "You think you can just appeal to her humanity, then?"

Ignoring the comment, the boy continued, "Misaki! Cut it out!"

"That won't work, you know."

"Are you stupid! Quit it, Misaki!"

"She doesn't want to stop. This is who she really is."

"Shut up!" Killua snapped before turning back his attention to his friends. Attempting a new angle, he called, "If you stop now, I'll consider sharing that candy with you!"

"Don't you see? No matter how much you humanize her, Tanoh, Misaki is a cold blooded killer."

"Don't be a stubborn old lady!"

"I suppose it's because she lost focus before that you assume she will come back so easily... but you don't understand, Kil'. I did not do this to Misaki on my own accord; she consented and wanted for me to improve her abilities."

"Stop being reckless, Misaki!"

"You don't believe me? Think about it... why would she have been able to respond before if I had complete control over her? I can tell you the answer, though I think you may already know it; I am not really controlling Misaki. I am helping to focus her skill-set to her abilities, which is what she desired. She wanted to have her mental limitations removed, and that is what I have done. So really, this is who Tanoh, Misaki truly is inside."

A painful breath caught in the pale boy's lungs. He wanted to dismiss the statement as unarguably false, but something would not allow it. Illumi's words, as much as he despised them, offered an explanation for Misaki's brief "return" previously... in fact, a better explanation than his own hypothesis...

'This can't be!' he argued to himself, blue eyes frozen open, forcibly absorbing the battle occurring below. 'She was-... Misaki was-... Did really she always hold back all this? Is she really just a killer? What about me...? If I took away everything holding me back, would I be-...?'

Spiralling into the cloud of winded sands in the depths of his mind, Killua was unable to move or speak. A fear awoke within him... one he had always tried to suppress but had never failed to lie dormant inside until the opportunity struck; the fear of himself. As the shadow of this terror began to whirl its way through his limbs, the boy found it easy now to question his abilities, his motivations, and his worthiness to coexist.

'Maybe... I really am just a-...'

"That's not right!"

Gon's defiant voice amidst his troubled inward journey startled the boy back to reality.

"Misaki-san is not Misaki-san because of the things that she holds back!" He paused to evade several blows to his throat before he was able to resume. "Misaki-san is who she is because she holds those feelings back and doesn't just act on them!"

Crossing his arms at the elbow, the determined boy struggled against the weight of the parasol. Despite the very edge of the glistening point touching to his forehead and creating a small opening for the blood to flow out, he remained surefooted as ever.

"Anyone can act on their bad feelings; it's how you decide to express yourself that makes a person who they really are!"

Letting out a long, slow breath, Killua felt a small smile form on his lips.

"Gon..."

'...You're right,' his mind finished, feeling a sense of great relief.

"Misaki-san!" Gon cried out, still amidst his struggle. "We will... definitely save you!"

Withdrawing, Hoshii dabbed at her eyes with her free fingers. Gon brightened.

"Misaki-san...?"

"That's so beautiful!" she said in a wavering voice. "I... I could just... just..." Turning suddenly alert once more, she finished in a voice dripping with poison, "...kill you."

"Gon!"

By the time Killua had called out, it was already too late. A fast, formidable strike was already midway through prosecution toward her opponent's unobstructed heart. A jolt of horror hit the boy with enough potential that it could have nearly turned his hair whiter, and the world seemed to slow around him. It was, oddly enough, thanks to this rush of pure adrenaline that he actually managed to catch sight of his friend's saving grace; a single playing card which appeared on the scene and knocked the umbrella off course just enough that it missed its target and instead only partially impaled the wrong side of the chest.

'No way! It couldn't be-...'

"Oh?" Hoshii's voice chimed in girlishly, an intense hunger dancing in her innocently blinking eyes. "Who might you be?"

The cruel desire was reflected back tenfold as two familiar, yellow eyes followed by a man whose attire matched that of his playing card arrived amidst the squabble. The game had changed yet again, and Killua dreaded that he had not even considered the possibility of an extra player.

'Misaki!' his mind screamed for his voice's absence, knowing all too well by the jester's expression that these moments could easily be her last.

A/N: Once again, thank you to all those reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. :) *muah*