Clenching her hands tightly, Soleil tensed every bone in her body. Chrollo's eyes rested on her, scrutinising her from top to bottom as if he was trying to find out how serious she was. Her heart was hammering so loudly it could probably be heard all the way down the hall and her eyes pinned on the tattoo of his forehead. The black lines brought some distraction, though not enough.

When she heard Chrollo's sigh, her attention slid back to him and the gentle smile that made his features more trustworthy than anything she knew.

"If that's what you want," he ultimately stated, and even though Soleil wanted to believe he was surprised by her request, he didn't let on. Instead, he stood up and finally put aside the book he still held in his hands.

It was an unspoken request Soleil knew from the club when she had wanted to run away from someone. Chrollo wanted her to go, and she took it with respect as she picked herself up and wiped her sweaty hands barely noticeably on her tight jeans. In silent steps, she tiptoed behind him to the door, which he opened for her to leave. Her legs shifted unsteadily past him as the soft words of a farewell lingered on her lips, yet didn't pass her tongue.

"Good night, Soleil." In her place, Chrollo took over the parting, and the swallowing reached her ears.

"Good night," she whispered back, a final twitch of the corners of her mouth before she turned away.

Soleil heard the door click into the lock behind her and dared a glance over her shoulder. There was no one else in the corridor but her. The air she breathed became clearer, the oxygen lighter, and the throbbing in her chest transformed into thousands and thousands of butterflies that turned her stomach into a fluttering concert. She had asked him out! For a real date! Just him and her!

Lips pressed together as the inane grin overtook her features, Soleil hurried to the stairs that would lead her back to the reception. This time, she didn't need a lift.

She had asked him, and he had said yes. It sounded like an excerpt from a romance novel that you sucked in with glee, only to realise that you wanted exactly the same thing. Although she had only wanted to see Chrollo again, his figure, his behaviour, his voice, simply everything, had been reason enough to take the leap.

She stumbled on one step and her hand grabbed the banister. Her heart sank a floor lower and yet it continued to leap in circles. It was perfect. The world was perfect. For a tiny moment, she possessed wings that made her float to the reception to book a room that was one floor above Chrollos. Her lightness only faded when she reached her room and the nervousness subsided. What remained was the certainty that Chrollo would soon give her the details she needed to succeed. Behind it lurked the feeling of being far from home.

It was strange.

Standing in the middle of the neatly furnished hotel room was reminiscent of her old flat. Sure, there was more space here, but the cramped layout and the fact that it was nothing like her mother's mansion took her back to the place she had happily left behind.

How was Hell doing? Was she settling in well to her new job? Was the relationship with the management working?

The sudden tightness in her chest made Soleil lean her back against the door and take a breath. Talking to Hell, in the middle of this night, would have been the nicest end to a day she could have imagined. But contact had broken off. Something that had to be accepted, while she picked up her mobile phone in between all that, and opened the chats. All she knew was that at the top of the list was Illumi. The only person she had a semi-active chat with. One who had received a new message. She only noticed when she had already been staring at the screen for a moment. Half in thought, she tapped the read-aloud function before her legs shuffled to the bed.

"My little brother told me you were looking for Chrollo Lucilfer."

The sentence ended just as she fell into bed. Simultaneously, her breath caught in her lungs. As she rolled onto her back, it was the boring ceiling of the room that greeted her.

Illumi was in league with this Hisoka. Telling him she was "looking for" Chrollo would tempt him to watch her. It was out of the question to tell him she was with his target and anything else seemed like a conversation between friends who had known each other for ages. Not for her and an assassin doing his job.

So she spoke in a reply. "No. I think your brother was mistaken. Why would I be looking for Chrollo?"

It sounded honest enough to work. Illumi didn't understand much about human idiosyncrasies and even if she shouldn't lie to him, it was better than putting Chrollo in danger and having to miss out on the date.

She put the mobile phone aside to follow her thoughts. The images in her head that looked even more real when she closed her eyes. Deep behind the darkness, Chrollo was waiting for her, dressed as he had been the night he had given her the first job. Between lurked servants, a little adventure and his full lips inviting a kiss. In this place, she could enjoy togetherness with him. There was no Hisoka here, nor the questioning looks of Illumi, which sometimes seemed a little too lifeless. No one had to worry about her. The blood on Chrollo's hands was already forgotten and sleep held her tightly in its arms.

It cradled her so gently in its arms that the silence became a part of her world and only faded when a dull throbbing came through to her. It sounded like music, like a long-forgotten beat, which Soleil followed until she stopped in front of a door. The wood was old, worn, so brittle that she merely put her hand against the barrier.

The wood gave way.

The door swung open and something pushed Soleil inside. A moment later, the door crashed back into the lock. Her heart pounded, her body gave in to the frantic twitch of wanting to turn around, only to look into the eyes of the man who had dragged her away. The smile on his features asked her to dance and the heat in the room rose. Sweat beaded down her neckline, robbing her of her clothes. Her voice was absent. Not a single sound found its way past her lips and though Soleil clung to being found, there was no rescue in sight. Instead, her captor came closer and her shaky legs tried to gain distance. Two or three steps before he caught up with her.

Far too firmly, his hands settled on her shoulders, pinching the skin and making it hard to breathe. Then his fingertips slid to her neck. They wrapped around her throat so slowly that Soleil thought he didn't really want to kill her. But the pressure that came barely later stole her breath. Her gaze clung to his expression, to the smile that pitied her. No one would come to rescue her. She had to free herself. But no matter how hard her nails scraped across his hands and how wildly she kicked, she could meet no one. Almost as if none of this was real.

The pressure disappeared in the same blink of an eye, making Soleil fall to her knees and perceive a renewed pounding that still sounded like music and yet remained unreachable. Still, she looked around, searching for an exit that was entirely missing. The door that had let her in was gone.

The saliva in her throat was dry as dust. The heat on her skin entirely alien. Her body reacted even before she could form a thought. Her legs forced her upwards, running long before she could find balance. Her hands hit a wall where the door must once have been. Wild blows thundered against plaster. Her screams remained silent. Far too quiet.

Exhaustion ate at her mind, made Soleil lower her head, close her eyes and take a breath. She couldn't shed any tears. Crying would get her nowhere.

So she took a deep breath, snapped her eyes open, jumped to her feet-

And found herself sitting upright in bed.

She couldn't hear her breath and was barely aware of her surroundings through the roaring in her ears. Her eyes were glued to her hands. Sweaty skin greeted her, graced with slight tremors and a throbbing that didn't belong to her. Her gaze lifted, listening to everything that seemed far too quiet, only to perceive a knocking.

This time Soleil collected herself, pulled the covers aside and pushed out of bed. Her balance was lacking, but her legs still somehow carried her to the door.

When she opened it, she was met by the gaze of a man who looked at her as if he had expected something else. His expression changed only slowly to a slight smile, which Soleil had to sort before she could at least find his name in her memories.

"Chrollo... Good ... morning." She drew his name out far too long and the pause in her greeting lasted an eternity.

"Good morning," he returned curtly, keeping her trapped in his gaze until he lowered his eyelids. "Are you coming over for breakfast?"

Every second he gave her helped Soleil take a breath. It was enough time to understand that his question was hardly meant as one. Rather, it had the ring of an order that he wanted to wrap up kindly so as not to seem too firm. Yet his face betrayed seriousness, despite his feigned friendliness.

In those seconds, he was easy to see through.

"Just a moment, then I'll come." She pushed her body behind the door. She probably looked terrible – tangled hair and pale cheeks, because a nightmare never passes unseen.

Chrollo, however, nodded before turning away and heading back. Soleil didn't even take the time to look after him. The door slammed shut faster than she could perceive and the hurry in her bones pushed her into the bathroom.

The sweat was quickly washed off, the hair fixed, and the pallor hidden with light make-up. It was enough to fool, but not to deceive quite attentive eyes. With some fresh clothes on and a clearer mind that had already put the nightmare to the back of her mind, it became easier to leave the room and make her way to Chrollo and Shalnark.

Still, she had wasted a full hour.

The tapping of her knuckles made a hollow sound as she made her presence known outside the men's door and continued to echo in her skull even as Shalnark opened the barrier. His joyful expression and the smile on his lips were reminiscent of sunshine, which was the opposite of Chrollo.

"Good morning!" He thrust his hands on his hips as if it were a perfect day to commit misdeeds. Then he stepped aside. "Come on in. We've already sent for breakfast."

With a slight nod, Soleil slipped past him, straight into the room where the windows were open and yet the smell of freshly baked goods dominated. Chrollo sat on the edge of his bed, a bun in one hand, a book in the other. Her presence made him look up briefly before he flipped the cover closed and glanced at Shalnark. His aide nodded and though the restlessness in Soleil's fingers quivered and the tingling in her stomach became a rollercoaster ride of knots, she took a seat beside him. The air crackled near him, but it made each breath safer.

"So, to make the most of the moment, it's time to explain the plan to you in a little more detail," Shalnark began as he gestured towards the breakfast. Soleil helped herself. "The mission begins tonight at an upscale court party for invited nobility. You and Machi will attend."

"What about the invitations?"

"That will be taken care of." Raising a finger, Shalnark tried to stifle any concern. "Should anything happen, Machi will intervene. Away from that, there will be masks at the party. Since several people might wear the same mask, and also because this boy will surely have lined up people who look like him, you must keep your eyes open. It's the slight differences that matter."

"How will we tell if we don't know him?" She crushed the bun, but Shalnark waved it off.

"His character is... It betrays him. He'd need some really excellent acting to not stand out."

A man with no charm. A boy who could probably be easily wrapped around his finger. It freed Soleil's mind. Ideally, she would just smile at him and he would fall at her feet. It would be doable. Very different from being on stage or in Archihilles' hands.

"If you found him," Shalnark continued, "then you know what the goal is."

"He has to fall for me and agree to any further plans," Soleil elaborated, before giving Shalnark a smile. "Quite easy to remember."

"Exactly!" He pointed at her before declaring the subject closed with a throwing-away hand gesture and grabbing himself a bun with a cup of coffee.

Soleil, meanwhile, averted her eyes. Her eyes automatically settled on Chrollo, who was holding his own coffee in his hands and had already finished eating. His thoughts rested somewhere in the distance. She was watching him. Far too obvious and yet looking away was impossible – not least because a crumb at the corner of his mouth made the serious impression he conveyed look out of place. It stood out against the pale skin and no one else seemed to notice in the slightest.

If she leaned forward and reached for him, the picture would become more perfect. All she had to do was lift her hand and approach him; use the tips of her nails and still feel the warmth of his skin. It settled velvety on Soleil's fingers and it was only in those seconds that she realised her own thoughts had been too engulfing.

Chrollo's interest had turned in her direction and the strange, stifled silence in the room seemed out of place. Instantly, Soleil withdrew her hand, the crumb still between her fingers. Cold exchanged with heat on her body. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. No matter what she might have said, it would all have had the whiff of nonsense about it. To smile might have angered him. Shock was all she had left as time stood still and her heart sank barely audibly inside her.

"Oh, I... almost forgot!" Hurried words landed savingly in the room, drawing all attention to and bringing Shalnark back to the fore. His gaze lingered on her, conveying simultaneously that he would offer her the opportunity to escape if she simply listened. "The party starts tonight. I take it you didn't bring a pretty dress or anything." He tilted his head. "Maybe you should get an outfit that matches."

"Good plan!" Hastily, she jumped up to shove the remains of the bun into her mouth and pat her hands on her pants. As she swallowed, there was a scratchy sound in her throat. "I'll see what I can find to fit into the picture tonight, then."

"The meeting place is outside the hotel at eight," Shalnark went on. A terse bit of info, which Soleil acknowledged with a wary nod of her head before heading for the exit.

Only when the door slammed shut behind her did she dare to take a breath. The throbbing behind her ribs moved forward presently and her breaths became more frantic. Hands pressed to her chest, Soleil tried to steady herself with pressure, but the fluttery feeling in her stomach was reminiscent of thousands of bugs crawling across skin. Chrollo had sucked in every inch of her body. His presence was pleasant, and the minutes had made him seem so human, so simple, that the trance had led her astray.

Still, removing the crumb wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Soleil's legs dragged down the corridor, intent on getting back to her own hotel room. Her misstep had at least got her some attention from Chrollo; his pretty, big eyes like the moon, somehow pale, clearly grey, shimmering and yet full of depths she couldn't fathom.

It was only a stone's throw to her own room. The walk seemed shorter than before and as Soleil dropped onto the bed, the palpitations improved. Instead of getting hung up on Chrollo, she grabbed her phone to search the internet for suitable dresses for the evening. It was a quick search that didn't take her long because expensive dresses were worn in the top circles and for the first time, she owned enough to treat herself to one of the graceful silk dresses becoming more and more fashionable.

This also brought the mission to the fore. She already knew Machi, which simplified the circumstances, but who was going to hang around the party was still a mystery. With two of them, none of this was a hurdle, but they had to fit into the picture; as if they were nobility themselves.

Just as Soleil had learned.