So sorry for the long wait. I've been absolutely bombarded with stuff. Between becoming a new foster mom and starting up classes plus doing a full-time job and also trying to work on my own original story... Yeah, it's been crazy.

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Chapter 28

For the first time in a very long time, Satotz was struck by the uncanny feeling of watching something dreadful happen and not entirely knowing how to feel about it. Emotions - like many other things in his life - were a nuisance. For brief moments, they were a necessity of life but more often than not, they got in the way and over the years he had become quite adept at pushing them aside.

But as he watched the bloody scarlet of the white-haired girl's coat snap in the wind, the strange dark blue of that odd creature she traveled with carrying her along, he felt...adrift. The ruby-haired man that followed - stalked would be a better term - right beside them looking more and more like an impenetrable wall as they went farther and farther away.

At that moment, Satotz could feel an unfamiliar emotion grip down on his esophagus and squeeze.

"You look uncharacteristically worried." The clack of his geta echoed down the hallway, punctuating his approach in a singularly obvious way. The chairman's gaze twinkled beneath the splay of his eyebrows, accentuating the merry tip to his lips. He always looked affable and that seemed to be because he was. Satotz had long since stopped wondering how a man of such skill could also carry such a mischievous side. In his limited experience, people with as much power as Netero were prone to taking themselves too seriously. In this way, Isaac Netero was an anomaly.

"I was just seeing some of the contestants off." He pushed down all emotion, a task that had become per the norm these last years and would soon be automatic. Today, however, it was not. Today Satotz was thinking about the mess that Hisoka had left behind in Trick Tower. And how not even the guards had been able to exit that chamber without throwing up.

Satotz couldn't say he was exactly alarmed at the discovery of the ex-examiner. Togari had always been loud - arrogant with an edge of sadism that sometimes got that better of his common sense. It was idiotic for him to weasel his way into the exam. Even more so to think that he could go toe-to-toe with someone like Hisoka.

"I don't particularly recall it being your job to see contestants off," Netero mused, his hands folding behind his back in a deceptively nonchalant manner.

The sun slipped through the wall of trees, casting Hisoka, Minoru, and Mori in harsh shadows. For a shuddering moment, Satotz saw the stricken depths of that girl's eyes, her face resembling the shell of an oyster, scraped and eaten. The purple-haired man had never seen someone look so close to death, so devoid of anything that made a person human. In that small room, clutching those three silver urns, Satotz had contemplated the meaning of someone's soul for a moment - and how a body didn't necessarily need to carry one to continue on with life.

And then Hisoka had leaned down, his body curling around her in a way that was jarring. A way that didn't seem to befit someone so monstrous. Whatever he had whispered into her ear had made her shudder, her body expanding with all the air that she had stopped breathing between that moment and the instance that her brother's urns had been placed in her arms.

"He'll eat her alive," Satotz whispered, watching the forest gobble up the three at last. Even as he said the words, he didn't entirely know if they were true. They felt like the reasonable thing to say but there had been something in Hisoka's eyes…

For a long moment, Netero didn't say anything, some of the mischievous lines in his face smoothing into calm seriousness. "At this moment… that girl is surviving on nothing more than rage." His head tipped to the side, watching as the darkness of the night slowly crept up on the dusk light, folding back the sun like a woman slowly curling her skirts away. "Hunting for Ichihiro will take more than just that. That boy… he has a way of slipping away."

Satotz couldn't help the disbelieving twitch that slipped one side of his mustache upwards. "And you think Hisoka is the best teacher for patience?"

"As a matter of fact," Netero murmured, his eyes sliding to meet the purple-haired man's. "I do."

The very notion made him speechless. Hisoka represented something untamable - chaotic in a way that made others flinch away in his mere presence. He did things impulsively - killing and maiming whenever he pleased. Patience was the last thing that came to mind with the scarlet-haired man's image. But...there was something in the chairman's eyes that made him swallow down his own cynicism and unfailingly that image of Hisoka's eyes when he had whispered to her… He shook it off, tearing his gaze away. "I still think that he'll be the death of her."

"Some people," Netero said slowly. "Are born with every opportunity given to them. Others have the luxury of landing right in the middle - not quite lucky but not quite unlucky either. And then there are those that don't have a single opportunity - life gives them things just to rip it away from them at the first sign of happiness. They don't have a single chance - not to be good. Perhaps not even to be entirely bad." The red blaze of the dying sun lit the stony depths of his eyes. "I'm afraid, Mr. Satotz, that leaving her with someone that understands that reality perfectly might be best for her... And for us. I would hate to see the monster that she would become if given to someone else."

A grayish sheen had started to creep into his usually alabaster skin, his mind recoiling at the very notion. "I've never seen a contestant more inclined to the macabre than Hisoka. He's a beast parading as a man."

A strange light entered the chairman's eyes, something tinged with sadness as he glanced up at the lavender-haired man. "Oh, Mister Satotz - while I have great sympathy for what the world has forced Miss Mori to become, I'm under no illusion as to the creatures that swim beneath her youthful exterior. I'm of the impression that it is that singular trait that drew Hisoka to her so quickly." He smiled up at the quickly paling man, his eyes crinkling shut. "Dinner?"

"Eat." I stared down at the steaming bun in his hand, debating whether he had gotten one filled with red bean paste or meat. He wasn't looking at me, his eyes scanning the town square like he was searching for a shipwreck to desecrate. Or an elderly woman to rob.

"I'm not hungry," I said, turning away from the offering. We had broken past the outskirts of the examiner's estate, moving rather quickly into the nearby town. Everything here was meant for colder climates, the houses all fashioned with chimneys that had begun to smoke with activity the closer night came. A chill fell swiftly from the mountaintops beyond.

"You're not fed enough to know if your hungry or not," he replied just as dismissively, his long arms forcing the bun back into my viewpoint. I glowered, already tired of the constant offers of food and blankets, and water. Always water. How much water could one person drink in a day? Hisoka had already gone through two gallons and was working on a third.

He was caring for me. But in a way that made me want to slap him so hard that that red-dye flew right out of his hair.

Minoru munched loudly on the packet of dried meat that Hisoka had gotten him, every gnash of his jaw another betrayal. I wasn't with Hisoka for him to be...like this. I was with him for him to beat the shit out of me. I was with him to get to Heaven's Arena.

"I don't want it," I growled, baring my teeth down at him.

All at once, I knew that that was the wrong thing to do. Beneath me, Minoru went ramrod still, every muscle in his back tensing beneath my legs. Hisoka's eyes swirled into a thick caramel, his lips curling up with obvious and malicious amusement. We stopped, the swirl of people in the crowded town seeming distant.

"I think you've mistaken our arrangement," he said and his voice reminded me of freshly spun silk. I didn't move as he drifted a bit closer, his chest pressing against my calves as he leaned into Minoru's side. "I'm not telling you to eat because I want to see you shove another wad of dough down your throat. I'm telling you to eat because you've lived off of scrap your whole life and you're body reflects that. You're not strong - not as strong as I know you could be. Not as strong as your life has made you. So when I tell you to eat, it's because you're ten seconds away from passing out and your body doesn't even realize it."

I gulped, internally recoiling at the image… and knowing that he was right. There had always been a limit to my strength - a limit to my ability to push myself. I was weak in a way that came from living off of small meals, going hungry because we needed to.

Hesitantly, I took the food, trying not to boil alive from the wash of hatred I found at seeing Hisoka smirk up at me, his head tipping to the side. I wasn't hungry. My throat actively rebelled against the chunk of meat and dough. This fact made all the worse when Hisoka leaned his head against my thigh, his hair soft, his eyes attentive as they followed every one of my movements. I choked down another bite, blushing.

"You know you look ravishing when you're uncomfortable," he murmured and I stilled the squirm as I felt the strong line of his jaw and cheekbone press into the vulnerable skin of my thigh. He grinned, his canines flashing viciously along with the cool glint of gold in his eyes.

I sent him a glare, shoving the last giant chunk of bun into my mouth with enough force to make me choke. One of his big hands circled my ankle, squeezing light before he leaned away, shoving his hands into his pocket so that he could slouch across the crowded street.

More than a few people were staring at him and I was well aware that it wasn't just for his startling mass of hair and odd face markings. Even next to Minoru - a mammoth of a creature, all loping gate and impressive girth - Hisoka took up space. Not just in the alarming height and the massive cords of muscle running all along his body but in the way he carried himself. Like a creature made human, a predator stuck in a pen with children and forced to play nice.

He kept his claws to himself but most of the time I wondered why. Most of the time, I think he wondered the same.

"How old are you?" I inquired, eyes darting to a flush of girls sitting at a window seat, their eyes firmly fixed on the way that the muscles in Hisoka's shoulders bunched and rolled when he moved. Minoru gave a snap in their direction, his eyes narrowing. Tourists, he grumbled in my head.

Amber eyes darted up to meet mine, something unknown to me being calculated in his head before he answered. "26."

Old. But not as old as I had thought. My money would have been on mid-thirties. He held himself like someone older - someone who had had something to prove but had grown out of that phase, settling into self-assurance and nonchalance.

"And you?" he murmured, eyes running over me in a quick way that made me think that he had already sussed it out. His teeth flashed. "If you know."

I glowered. How did he know that? Across the way, a woman and her boyfriend scampered out of the way. The distant warble of townspeople burst from corners and alleyways alike, creating a pleasant hum. The sheer amount of people made every admission to Hisoka seem somehow more annoying. "I think 20. Maybe older. Probably older."

Birthdays weren't something to be celebrated in the Amori household. Not only were they unreliable to begin with since none of them had parents to tell them exactly when they were born, but they were also a waste of money and resources. They never had the sugar and flour to make cakes or treats and stealing was incredibly unreliable. They had never been able to plan for anything.

"Mm," he murmured, his eyes turning searching for a moment too long before he was looking away, his pace picking up as he jogged over to get a bag of fresh, warm almonds from a vendor.

My stomach gurgled at the notion of more food, turning over as he came over, one hand filled with a new bottle of water and the other clasping a steaming bag. I stared forlornly at it, unwillingly taking the bottle.

You can't eat anymore, Minoru grumbled, his eyes on a window display of cakes. My stomach gurgled again.

"I can't eat anymore," I said and instantly hated myself at the quiver in my voice.

Hisoka's eyes glinted, a handful of almonds going to his mouth as he looked at me sidelong. "I know. Sip the water. We need to get your water intake up as we rebuild your food tolerance."

Something inside of me inflated at the comment, warmth tickling my fingertip at his odd attentiveness. I knew why he was doing this. I knew that his interest lay in my ability to grow. Still...it was disarming when someone paid this much attention to your needs.

Mori. My eyes slid to the pebble-like gaze of my bears, taking in the warning there.

I might be playing a dangerous game. A card slid between Hisoka's fingers, his shoulder rolling slightly as we brushed past a man who had a woman pinned to the side of a building, their discussion tight-lipped. Sheer amusement curled his lips upwards as he slit open the man's back pocket, the sound of dropping coins and cards hitting the alley ground along with a sharp oath. My skin prickled at the glint of silver and gold, catching on the fallen money hungrily.

"Careful, my tiny thief," Hisoka murmured, his tone tantalizing in the sudden darkness as we slipped to the town's edge, the forest looming before us. My eyes darted to his. "You look like a little goblin ready to pounce."

"That was a wasted opportunity," I snapped, glancing back in the direction of the man and woman.

Hisoka's smile was hard, his eyes turning cruel. "I disagree." His fingers tightened on the bag, nearly crushing it. "I detest when the strong dine down for their dinner."

My eyes narrowed, fixing on him as the strange comment. It was...strangely revealing.

Trees quickly ate away our surroundings, leaving nothing but the rustle of leaves and the distant call of animals. The murmur of town life was distant, barely there.

Hisoka never told me more than a few cryptic things about the Surgeon and where we were going. I assumed because it would matter little to me in the long run. What I did know was that my training wouldn't start until my wounds were fully healed.

"How long will we take to reach the Surgeon?" An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. The sun was setting quickly, the light casting long shadows in its dying glow.

"A day," he mused, stopping as we reached a clearing. "A week. Maybe even a month, if he's feeling particularly cruel. I sent word when we entered town so it all depends on how gracious his mood is."

I blinked, glancing sharply back in the direction of the town once more. He hadn't left me except for brief trips to get food and supplies. It was possible that he had sent word, I supposed but… I shook that off, watching as he took off the heavy pack from Minoru's back and began to unroll everything.

"So…" My question faded off, unsure.

"We wait," he supplied, his face pulled into a mask of indifference.

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