Guest: Heavens arena was the timeframe that I wanted for the romance to heat up to almost full potential but hopefully this holds you over lol.
Chapter 34
A week passed and then another. I started to lose track of why I was here. I started to have trouble remembering my brother's faces, their voices, the inflections in the way they spoke. Did it make you love someone less when you couldn't remember everything about them? It felt like it.
"You're not focusing." Wood splintered against my back, cocooning me for a delightful moment before my whole body was crashing through the rest of the trunk, the second tree stopping me with a dizzying thunk.
My whole body shuddered, trying to recover from the blow, coughing spluttering as my lunges desperately tried to draw in any amount of air. The dirt below me went foggy, my ribs aching. Blood seeped into the churned dirt, creating a consistency of tar beneath me as I spat out the film coating my tongue and teeth. My elbow was giving a dangerous throb, another hit away from snapping, I thought.
Illumi had finally taken an interest in my training.
I was less than thrilled.
"What are you thinking of?" Who had eyes like a starless sky? Who was able to take away all of themselves like that? Ebony hair like charred cobwebs tickled my cheeks, his face close enough to mine that I could smell the scent of jasmine and paint. His eyes dragged me down, suffocating me. "Are you thinking about your dead brothers?"
My insides knotted, static filling my head as rage quickly took over and I swung, my whole body moving with the action. He did that. He played with you, rolling you around beneath his palm so that you reacted. And then he punched you hard enough and fast enough that you felt like you had been donkey kicked into another dimension. The worst part was that his words were his biggest weapon and I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to pull away from them.
Gravel bit into my face, the hard ground meeting my body in an unforgiving embrace that sent me rolling, bouncing along the hard gravel and rock until it dragged me to a stop. I gasped, vision blurring, not caring that I could feel the dirt coating my tongue. It hurt so bad. Everything hurt so bad.
I was lost to the world, trying desperately to force my body up and only blinking in the ground that would probably remain my sky until Illumi decided to stop kicking the shit out of me.
"He's been going too easy on you." Strong hands circled my throat, dragging me up like a used ragdoll. The sun, drowning in the approaching blanket of night had never been so bright, so unforgiving. Illumi's hair turned, twining gently into a soft dance as a breeze whispered through the clearing. He didn't even blink as he hauled me up, his hand tightening on my throat until my gasping turned to short, desperate inhales, trying hopelessly to control my breathing enough so that I wouldn't pass out.
His eyes cut into me, his other hand hanging listlessly by his side as he examined me - a mouse beneath the glare of an operating table.
"You're weak," he stated blandly, watching blankly as my nails dug into his wrist, creating small trenches in his flesh. "You would be better used as a toy." Blue flashed a startlingly cheery color in the current atmosphere and I felt a bubble of fear burst and fester inside of me as I watched him raise the delicate pin to the evening light. "I can make that happen."
Mori.
"I thought I told you not to play when I wasn't around, mousie~" The voice was dripping with sugar, honeyed. And so welcome that I felt the prick of tears start at the back of my eyes. Hisoka. Hisoka was back from town. Illumi's eyes stayed on me, taking in the rapid well of emotions before I could completely shut them off.
Fuck. You look like you just went through a tornado, Minoru whispered, lumbering a bit closer, a shadow to the grinning red-head.
I did, I replied grimly, staring imploringly to the side, trying to beg Hisoka in not so many words. He took the expression in gleefully, his eyes narrowing into happy crescents as he gazed at me, one hand resting calmly on his hip.
His lips tipped up into a secretive smile. "Would you like to tell me something?"
I blinked over at him, completely at a loss. I was still hung in Illumi's hand like a bedsheet put on the line to dry, his hand crushing down on my windpipe. Minoru's stared up at me in an equal amount of perplexion.
"I-" I coughed, nails digging further into Illumi's skin as I tried to get enough purchase to lift some of the weight on my throat. I glared at the blank expression, his face devoid of any real thought, blue pins raised experimentally. I grimaced, forcing out the next words on a croak. "I'll listen to you."
His smile was absolutely serpentine, shoulders rolling as if the sentence made him physically giddy to hear. Slowly, his eyes slid to Illumi. "I don't particularly want a mindless hunk of meat, Illumi. Drop her."
I would have hit the ground hard - hard enough to make me second-guess my own birth - but strong arms scooped me up, tucking me against Hisoka's chest as I hacked, clawing at my own throat as my lunges finally filled.
"These aren't even the right pins," Illumi sighed, his fingers flicking out in a nonchalant wave as they slid away, completely disappearing. His hips swayed as he wandered away, heading into the depths of the forest.
"Tell Daddy Zoldyck I said hi," Hisoka purred, earning him a vague stare before Illumi had receded into the woods. We stayed like that for another moment, me panting in his grip, warily keeping an eye on where the dark-haired man had just been, him grinning, his eyes trained there as well. Finally, his smile dropped, his eyes lasering in on me. "I told you to keep to yourself."
"You also told me that you would be here at all times," I pointed out weakly, my voice roughened from the altercation. The muscles against my side rolled, bulging as he turned, heading to the cluster of trees where our packs rested.
"We needed food." His eyes flicked to where Illumi had been, narrowing. "And he wasn't supposed to be here."
"Exactly."
I shouldn't have left, Minoru murmured and I shook my head, whole body beginning to flounder under the recent strain. My elbow would need to be iced and I needed Hisoka to look at my side to make sure I hadn't broken a rib being kicked across the clearing like a ping pong ball.
Slowly, he lowered me to the ground, setting me against the hard bark of a trunk, his eyes running over me in rapid glances. "Broken bones?"
I shook my head, wincing as I adjusted. Across our camp, I saw Minoru start to pull supplies from his pouch. The fresh smell of sweet mochi and tea assaulted me, reminding me of how much my stomach was growling right before Illumi had sailed in.
"Boba?" I inquired, eyes glued to the variety of sweets. A slim box slid from Minoru, the material looking sturdy and soft like velvet-wrapped steel.
"You're a glutton," he sang softly, taking my hand and pressing it out until I hissed. He gave me a hard glance, doing it again.
"I am what you made me," I shot back, peeking around him. It was true - in this sense. He had fostered my appetite, keeping track of me like a dog watching sheep.
"Mm," his voice curled around me softly, eyes lighting to a luminous amber. "Not yet. But soon."
I frowned. He meant all of me. I could see it in the way that his tongue darted out, wetting his lips. The way that his hand tightened on my arm like he wanted to drag me down.
"In this way you are, Hisoka," I said softly, watching as his eyes darkened, flashing as I caught them, forcing us to keep eye contact. "But in the most important ways, I'm not."
I could taste his breath along my tongue every time I breathed in. I could feel the heat of him, he was so close. Months later and I could remember the feel of his teeth along my tongue, digging into my lip. He didn't own me but when he looked at me like that, I knew he wanted to. When he had kissed me, I knew he wanted to too.
Slowly, his fingers dragged up my arm, feather-light. "We'll see." Those cat-like eyes drifted from mine, lingering on my lips before they reached my throat and darkened to burning gold. Tingles raced up my spine, shivering inside of me as his fingertips drifted from my arm to my shoulder, tracing my collarbone before spreading across the base of my throat, the tips of his nails grazing the tender skin there enough for me to draw in a quick breath. "This is why I don't like people touching my things." His eyes burned. "They aren't careful enough with them."
"Not yours." His eyes cut up to me, glaring for a moment like a child near throwing a tantrum.
"Congratulations, mouse," he murmured, fingers falling away with a lingering caress. "You've drawn his attention. It looks like you'll have two teachers now."
Teacher was a rather subjective term, I realized over the next few weeks. It meant that they were able to kick me around and push me to my limits without feeling guilty. Startlingly, Hisoka paid attention. He knew when to pull back, when to make Illumi stop ramming my head into tree trunks. It was… dizzying.
But it worked.
It happened quickly, unexpectedly. Like stumbling into a darkened room and finding yourself in the exact place that you wanted to go when you were sure you were lost. One day I was trying desperately to keep up with Illumi and the next -
I grunted, the feeling of being slammed in the side by a baseball bat reverberating up my ribs and tickling my throat. But - I blinked, staring down at where my fingers were clutching at the dainty curve of Illumi's ankle. I blinked again, trying to clear whatever illusion my brain had created. Still there. My eyes caught his, his usual expression of disinterest slipping with slight surprise.
Oh. Oh. My elbow rammed so hard into his knee that I felt the crack in my fingertips.
"Huh." It was a small word, spoken in the wake of my breaking through his kneecap with enough bitter rage to make my grimace out a grin. Those dark voids stared back at me, taking me in with a slight tip of his head.
Right before he shifted, using his full body weight to slam me into the ground with the same knee I had just taken out. I choked out a groan. Turnabout was fair play.
"I want to do my water divination." Cool honey eyes flicked over to me, my eyes tracking the stray droplets of water sliding from the wet mess of his hair and down the planes and valleys of his back. I was trying not to think about how his shoulders were broad, an expanse of muscles that tapered down into a trim waist. He was a work of art, a bloody weapon that had been sharpened enough to make the wielding weep.
Over the months… I had stopped viewing him with envy. My body had started to fill out, the scrawny flesh giving way to packed muscle. I nearly reached his shoulders now, the height difference becoming more and more apparent each time we sparred. His eyes narrowed, a secretive smile curling his lips as he turned, uncaring that he only wore his usual trousers, a fresh towel clutched in his hand from his bath.
I hadn't thought very much about what position he would be in when I stormed off to see him, still sweaty and frustrated from another night of feeling at the edge of something with my nen studies to only end in a snarling heap. I was confused - confused by my inability to break past this final barrier. The only answer that I could think of was my lack of a nen category, the divination test still sitting ominously before me.
"I want to do my water divination," I repeated, adding a bit more steel into my words. A few stray scarlet strands slid into his face, partially obscuring his eyes from me as his head tipped to the side, running over me in leisurely dips. His tongue ran slowly over his canines, the tips of his teeth sharp against the blunt press of his tongue. "Hisoka."
His lips pulled back in a grin. "Out of the question."
Surprise made me take a step closer, blinking up at him. No? He had never told me no. Even that little bit of truth was a revelation.
I stared up at him. "Why?"
His neck craned, his whole body curling around me as he drew a bit closer, the sharp muscles of his face seeming even more cutting up close. "Do I need a reason?"
"I-" I spluttered, trying and failing to see his argument and coming up with my own. "Yes!"
"Ah," he breathed and the warm air of his lips pressed against mine. "Then it's because you're not ready."
"Wha-" I floundered, fists clenching at my side, fuming. "What - I'm not - Water divination isn't a complex part of nen use. It's the first step for every-"
His eyes glowed a luminous gold in the dim light, hypnotizing. "You're not like everyone else."
His words hung, heavy and all-consuming around us. I could feel the press of them. He was right. I wasn't like other people. But - but what did that even mean? Was I supposed to stall here? Wait and wait until we were absolutely sure - sure of what? This felt like another way for Hisoka to be in control. This felt -
"You sound scared," I purred, feeling the truth of it in my gut. His eyes flared, those golden orbs shining bright as his teeth flashed. I grinned up at him, feeling a sudden tip of power. "Ah, more Hisoka. Too scared to let the little orphan girl do her divination~"
His canines glinted in the lowlight, his whole body rolling with tension as he leaned in closer. "A little orphan girl with a penchant for killing those that spend more than a week with her," he corrected, his voice low, deadly. I felt a roar of rage thrash inside me, screaming to get out. His eyes glinted down at me mockingly. "I don't plan on being on that list-"
"You certainly speak like you do," I hissed out, fuming. Because how dare he -
"Watch your tongue, pet," he whispered, eyes drifting to my mouth. "You've become stronger but not strong enough to make you are real threat. Yet." His eyes sparkled. "Not without nen."
Another power play. I sneered, jerking forward. I wanted to punch him. I wanted to make him regret his words. I growled, forcing myself back on my heels. I wasn't strong enough - enough to give him a bit of a challenge but nothing more. I wasn't dumb. I wouldn't engage in something that I knew I couldn't win. If there wasn anything that Illumi had taught me, it was that.
His eyes tracked me, dark and dangerous.
He was playing a game that would keep me below him. Worse, he was playing one that would keep my weak. He was being cautious but that wasn't what I needed.
"I'm not your pet," I breathed, staring at him a moment longer before turning away. I didn't have time for those sorts of plays. I needed to get stronger. Not just to Hisoka's level. Not just to Illumi's.
I could feel his eyes on me as I left, feel them burning into me as I walked away. I felt them then and then I felt them later when he slid into the comfort of his own bedroll. My stomach knotted, determination making me all-too awake. I rolled over, meeting Minoru's dark eyes. Books lay in heaps all around him, his body curled in the middle like a butterfly barely breaking from it's chrysalis.
What do you have planned? His eyes were two pin-pricks of interest in the dying firelight.
I think it's time we go see someone that specializes in using nen to cripple others.
His smile was a wicked little thing. Oh goody.
I'm trying to do better at getting chapters on in a semi-weekly basis so... we'll see how that goes lol. Hope you liked it and please review.