"All tears have a name, the most bitter one is called regret."

-Big fish and Begonia-

CHAPTER 7: BROKEN SOUL

3 A.M.

In an eerily silent hotel suite, a blond young man quietly sat by the tempered glassed window. The only brightness in the room came from the light of the buildings outside piercing through the thin curtain.

He had taken off his black contact lenses. They had been already ruined by the pool's water and started to sting his orbs for a while now.

His fingers were skimming the pages of a book that he picked up to keep himself awake but his attention was directed on the girl lying on the bed's erratic breathing rhythm.

Something is not right, He thought as he finally put the book down and turned on the bedside lamp.

Just as he thought, she looked like she was battling something in her sleep. Her face twisted and her bangs were soaked with cold sweats. Her lips moved on their own as if she was mouthing something but the words couldn't come out.

He perched on the side of the bed, shaken by her disturbing state.

"Miss Clandestia." He called, thinking it would be wise to wake her up.

"Miss!" He reached out to shake her shoulders but she showed no response.

He touched her forehead to check her temperature but no sign of fever.

"Miss, wake up!" This time he leaned over and applied more force to shake her, hoping she'd regain her consciousness.

Her eyes snapped open at last but unfortunately, she grabbed onto him out of reflex.

The next moment, he was pulled down onto the bed, completely trapping her underneath him. His body was hovering over her with only his arms and knees to support his weight, preventing him from landing on top of her.

They were both breathing hard; him, out of bewilderment; her, out of being shaken up from a long nightmarish slumber.

There was no time for any of them to react. Her panic-stricken amethyst orbs already gazed into his astounded grey ones.

Almost instantly, he felt a powerful force pull him into the hypnotic depth of her abyss-like violet eyes.

Somewhere in his subconscious mind, he's got a wicked hunch that it was already too late to get out of this situation. In due time, his body and mind were thoroughly paralyzed.

"Grey…" She uttered incoherently. "Your eyes… silvery grey."

Her palms reached out to cup his face which was only mere inches from her.

"They turn red when you're emotional." Words continued to roll off her mouth and she couldn't stop them. "You're a Kurta."

His eyes widened in a stupor and instantly turned bright scarlet. He tried to resist the unidentifiable force riveting his mind and immobilizing his body to no avail.

What on earth was happening to him? Why couldn't he resist this, whatever it is? What kind of wicked game was she pulling?

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. And there were too many of them.

She was weeping uncontrollably as pain clouded her purple orbs.

What's wrong with this girl? He flinched at the sight of her tears. If this wasn't her plan then what was going on?

"You've… suffered… so much…" Incoherent words came out between her sobs. "They took… everything!"

Such a bizarre twist of the situation. He grimaced. It occurred to him that the slender girl underneath him was clearly not in control of this whole occurrence either. And it confused the hell out of him!

"Your endless anger… it's so lonely…" Her words kept ringing in his ears as he struggled to keep himself from fainting.

"So painful…" The next moment she pulled him down into an embrace.

As the eye contact broke, he slowly regained his senses and surprisingly, she stopped her weeping, too. Perhaps because the unknown spell still felt fresh, they both stayed rigid for a few seconds, feeling one another's frantic heartbeats gradually calming down.

Until the faint flowery scent and the warmth from her body registered his awareness, he finally broke out of his trance.

He abruptly sat up and instantly shot out his chained hand, grabbing her by the neck.

"What was that-" He interrogated. His voice was alarmingly gruff. "-you did to me?"

Clandestia' eyes shot up to meet his bright scarlet orbs.

She gulped, feeling the cold metal chains around her neck. They dug into her skin and twisted threateningly against her carotid artery. It was damn painful but she fought back the tears and carefully picked her next words. "Release me. You'll gain nothing from doing this!"

The moment he let go of her, she went into a violent cough.

Kurapika felt a pang of guilt. It could be the after-effect shock of what happened that made him unable to keep his emotions in check. She was still just a feeble girl at most. That fragile neck could have broken had he applied a little more force.

Clandestia inhaled deeply and propped herself up after her discomfort finally ceased.

"My apologies." She whispered. "That's all I have to say."

"You must have already realized what happened." She said. "I read your memories."

There was no response from the blonde but she knew he was scrutinizing her and she should choose her words wisely.

"I'm not sure how you're gonna take this but..."She added wearily. "It was all an accident!"

Her confession did not surprise him for he already anticipated it.

"You may find it hard to believe." She calmly returned his intense gaze. "But as long as the conditions are met, the mind-reading will happen automatically out of my will."

"Eye contact was not the only condition, is it not?" He asked. "You'd need to touch me or something for it to activate."

"You've got it all figured out." She admitted ruefully.

His gut was right. She already learned all those things about him. Those lethal pieces of information!

Sensing his disturbance, she quickly added. "Rest assured. I'll tell no one of what I know about you!"

She slowly but firmly held his gaze. "Can you bring yourself to trust me? Or are you going to kill me now?"

His eyes widened in utter disbelief. She had this unwavering look on her face. Neither a hint of hesitation nor fear. Just a peculiar, impossible calmness.

How could she? Does she not fear death? He thought, furrowing his brows. Either that or she believed that he wouldn't kill her. He couldn't decide what to think of it.

After a prolonged silence, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine, I'll let it be… for now!"

But it doesn't mean I trust you. –was what he meant.

The breath she didn't know she was holding finally loosened. She smiled faintly. "I know, me being a Nostrade makes you unable to trust me."

"But I'll keep your secrets safe." She said firmly.

"Why?" He inquired coldly. "Why would you do that, knowing my objectives and all?"

"It makes me at odd with the Nostrades, including you." He added with certainty.

She sighed. What could she do to ease his apprehension?

"I was born a psychic… Whenever I read someone's memories-" Her answer seemed irrelevant to his inquiry but she calmly kept going. "-I don't simply see the person's memories. I would experience what they felt as well. Not all but a part of it!"

So that was the reason why she cried, He thought as he silently confirmed his earlier speculation.

"I hate this power-"She added with melancholy. "So... just because I can do it doesn't mean I enjoy doing it."

"I may be a Nostrade in name but I'm not in for its business." She said with determination. "I love Neon but it doesn't mean I agree with whatever she does."

"You may change your mind later." He said coldly.

Instead of answering him, she smiled calmly. "You'll probably kill me off before I even have a chance to do anything funny."

"Stop talking about it so casually." He sighed, now she made it sounds like he's a ruthless villain. "-Anyone's life is precious. I'm not interested in killing someone who does nothing against me."

"Precious?" Strangely, she had a spent look on her face. "I don't know if it applies to all."

The blond Kuruta was bemused by her peculiar answer but he decided to let it go.
"With all that I've seen, I understand that you've suffered a great deal." She softly confessed.

The beautiful, slender brunette turned to look at him and said: "The ones you love are no longer here. And I know that there's nothing could possibly compare to your tremendous loss."

"But I believe that they, your brethren, would want you to be happy for the rest of your life." She added tenderness filled her amethyst eyes.

Kurapika clenched his fists. "I have no time for such useless crap." His voice turned ice-cold again.

"I don't fear death." He continued, his marble grey eyes turning red again. "I'm just afraid that one day, my anger would fade and I would forget the purpose of my very existence."

They both fell into suffocating silence.

Melancholy filled her heart. He was a delicate soul without a doubt. The memories she read of him were still fresh and vivid in her mind. What she felt from it was only a part of what he felt but it was already terrifying beyond words.

He must have endured so much and for far too long that there's nothing left in his heart but the broken pieces. She can't push her ideal onto him for now. "I can understand that." She spoke softly, tears forming in her eyes.

Kurapika was taken aback by her reaction again. A hint of confusion flashed through his eyes. Did he injure her somehow?

"Oh, please, don't give me that look. I'm not losing it!" She smiled grimly. "As I said… this ability has a very inconvenient side effect. I experience the target's feelings through mind-reading. Not everything but a good deal of it! So just recalling the memories I read from you might trigger me emotionally." She explained.

"Though I don't think your way of living is right, I fully understand your choice." She added. "-And if I could be of any help to you, I'll be glad to support you."

Then she gave him a soft smile: "Hope I made myself clear that I want to make friends, not enemies."

Finally, she reached up to gently pat his head. Like a parent to their child.

His eyes widened at the sudden gesture. For some reason, his heart involuntarily raced a little.

"Now, we both should rest up." She smiled gently as her fingers caressed his soft blond strands.

The mood between them was significantly lightened.

Kurapika turned away to avoid her touch, dismissing the unfamiliar noises his heart was making.

He looked out the windows. The dawn was slowly breaking.

They could hear the distant sounds of some hotel staff chatting and doing morning chores.

"You should rest now, Miss Clandestia." He spoke. "It's almost morning so I gotta go now."

"But I-" She hesitated. I'm afraid to be alone. She wanted to say but the words wouldn't come out.

She's afraid that the grim reapers would reemerge if she's left alone now.

"I'll call for the maids to watch over you." He rephrased.

"Alright-" She sighed before turning into her blanket, totally exhausted. "-Goodnight, Kurapika!"

Kurapika quietly watched the girl sleeping soundly on the white bed.

Her beautiful petit face looked surreal.

Did he trust her? He couldn't say for sure.

Though there's one thing he knew: he couldn't bring himself to harm her.