The first scene in italics is a flashback scene in which Illumi and Kalluto are 20 and 6, respectively.

This chapter focuses mainly on some, but not all, of the Zoldyck kiddos. And the questionable things they do haha :D I apologize in advance T_T

Chapter 11: Far Far Away

The art of assassination is the art of forgetting. To forget your limits. Your doubts, your pain, your past. That is when the killer locked deep inside is unleashed and the hunt truly begins.

Silva's words rang cold yet true in Illumi's head. Before every kill, and every moment before this one, his father's words were the ones that spoke to him instead of his own. As they should be. His father was experienced and crafted these words specifically tailored for Illumi, just as they were tailored for Silva when he first began to kill. As they were for all Zoldyck sons. These words held onto Illumi like iron coated in petrifying frost, guiding his bloodstained hands to beating hearts he was destined to still.

Illumi's heart thundered, beating like a drum. One by one, men fell down from his sharpened claws. He never once lost count of those beating hearts turned still. Never once let one slip through the cracks. Illumi was a Zoldyck and his targets were ordinary men—there was no place to hide. There was a sickening pleasure that overcame him when he held his victims' hearts pumping nothingness in his hands—even outside the body they'd still beat on their own. Independent of the brain. A curious oddity. He never thought he was twisted to wait until the heart stopped beating. Anticipating the moment when it was nothing more than a warm, unmoving mass of flesh. Listening earnestly for the very last ba-dum. He could have convinced himself that he wanted to make sure, with absolute certainty, that his targets were dead. It wouldn't have made a convincing argument. Mad even. And he knew what he wanted. He knew what he liked. Illumi relished these final moments. Isn't this moment of man's final curtain call—genesis of a thousand requiems—the muse for all writers and poets? Illumi stopped caring of great thinkers and poets, gave into the growing silence, and listened. Lest he miss the best part.

Ba-dum.

Ba—-dum.

Ba—-dum.

Ba—-

Dum.

The heart stopped beating. Illumi smiled.

When the high of the brutal aftermath wore off, Illumi heard someone screaming. Illumi sighed, he knew better than to leave Kalluto alone. Before he went to check on his brother, Illumi flipped over the body of the man he assassinated. The man's eyes were wide open, his face was captured in shock, and there was a gaping hole in his chest where blood began to pool. It was a long day and even when he was tired he could still make a clean cut. Just as he was trained to do. He patted down the man's pockets and found his wallet. In truth, he didn't like doing this. It made him feel like a common riff raff, rifling through a dead man's belongings. This was a well off gang, and the man he just murdered looked like the kind who'd carelessly carry around wads of cash considering his hands were adorned with flashy rings, showing he had a flair for extravengace. And his suit was designer cut and snobbishly posh—

Illumi tilted his head. There were only twenty jenny inside.

What a cheap schmuck.

Illumi whipped his head up when the screaming pierced through the corridors. Growing louder and more deranged. He stood up, towering over the corpse, and stuffed the twenty jenny behind his belt. Along with one opulent ring.

He took his time following the cries, and occasional pleads, of agony. Careful stepping over the mangled and bloody trail Kalluto left behind him. Illumi took notice of his little brother's work. Work…he was being too nice addressing it as that. This wasn't 'work.' This was child's play. The bodies were butchered and Illumi could tell from their injuries that Kalluto left some to bleed out and die on their own—perhaps he was bored or someone new caught his attention and he couldn't resist. Messy, careless, undisciplined. Perhaps Illumi was to blame for the last.

Illumi pushed open the door and saw Kalluto smiling and scribbling on the wall with a permanent marker. Then he saw a man skewered to the opposite wall. He didn't know which one was worse.

"Kalluto," Illumi folded his arms towards his chest. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Big brother! You came just in time. We needed another player." Kalluto scribbled out an entire game of tic tac toe on the wall, creating a giant black cloud.

"Care to explain?"

"It's washable." Kalluto chimed and began a new game. Drawing an array of long lines. Perhaps it was a pyre he intended to throw everyone's thoughts in but his own?

"Of course it is." Illumi doubted it. Illumi's eyes traveled to the man who desperately tried, but to no avail, pry himself from the katana that skewered him into the faded tapestry. The man looked at Illumi and begged him to help save him from this demonic child. Illumi ignored him. "I'll ask only once more. What are you doing?"

Kalluto sang sweetly. "Playing a game."

"I can see that. You've been playing quite a few already. Enlighten me."

Kalluto looked back at the man pinned to the wall, infuriated. "He said I was acting like a child."

"Oh no." Illumi feigned surprise.

Kalluto caught his older brother's sarcasm. "He saw a child, so I decided to behave like one. We're playing hangman, but he only keeps guessing words. And he's not very good at it."

"YOU FUCKING BRAT!" The man cried out.

"Ah-ah-ah. That's not very nice. Why can't we just play…" Kalluto twirled a marker in his hand and paused. Before encapsulating it with nen and hurtling it towards the man. "Nice."

The man screamed in agony when the marker pierced his left arm.

"Big brother, where did it hit him?" Kalluto was brimming with twisted curiosity. Acting as if he was playing nothing more than a simple game of pin the tail on the donkey.

"Left arm. Below the shoulder blade. You're off."

Kalluto frowned. Disappointed. "I was aiming for his eyes."

"By eyes, you meant to say heart?"

"No. But I'll try again—"

The man changed his demeanor and began to plead for his life. "What do you want? I'll give you anything you want?! Money? Property? Booze? Women—" The man felt a cold gust of wind coming from the tall man who was the spitting image of Lurch, standing there with his hands in his pockets ready to kill him if he spoke another word.

Illumi tilted his head slowly to the side, eyes grimacing with disgust.

The boy was too young for booze, but young enough for torture and homicide. Honest mistake. "Of course, I'm so sorry…yes he's a little too young for those things…um toys? Sweets? Anything!"

"I want," Kalluto looked up at the ceiling, then back down. His eyes were dark—devoid of any hope to reason and persuade with. He grabbed another marker and drew a podium and a noose. "I want to hang you."

The man lost his voice. And if it weren't for the katana he would have dropped to his knees.

Kalluto snickered. "This wouldn't have happened if you just picked a letter like I told you to. Adults are so stupid, they never listen. Not you, big brother. You're not stupid."

"Thank you for thinking of me." Illumi deadpanned. Kalluto's fluency in aura was astounding, and despite his young age he had control over his nen, but lacked control over just about everything else. "Might I remind you, Kalluto, of the very basics. The art of assassination is the art of—."

"Forgetting. I know. You always keep saying that." Kalluto mumbled under his breath and the marker screeched against the wall. "It's annoying."

"I can tell. You forgot half of your targets in the corridor before finishing them off. Assassins who momentarily cast aside desire and pleasure succeed where others put them first."

"So what?" Kalluto stuck his chin up. "I like who I am. I don't want to forget it."

That was precisely the problem. Illumi thought to himself. In truth, Illumi blamed himself for Kalluto's ill behavior, which if not tamed could turn irreversibly troublesome. There was darkness in Kalluto, which Illumi couldn't help but swell with pride at, but it was wild and if left unkempt could easily grow into the night sky and shroud the moon and swallow his baby brother. Illumi was aware that Kalluto knew he could get away with playing with his targets when their father wasn't chaperoning his assignments. With Illumi, Kalluto didn't need to grind back his teeth and hide his fangs, no, he could bite back hard and tear the world apart. Illumi didn't help—he never chastised Kalluto too severely or tried to correct these dirty habits either. He was spoiling his baby brother and let him do as he pleased. His baby brother was happy, and that couldn't make Illumi anything other than a good big brother.

Growing irritably bored, Kalluto turned to the man behind him. "Letter? Pick one before I decide for you."

The man did what Kalluto expected the least. He began to cry.

"Baby." Kalluto scoffed.

Illumi leaned back against the wall, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Z."

Kalluto drew a circle for the head. "That's way off."

"I can think of quite a few words that have Z in them."

"There aren't any in here."

Illumi guessed a few more letters, each earning the hangman another limb.

"You're not even trying." Kalluto moaned.

"Oh yeah? I'm trying very hard. I think I know the word you're thinking of. Can I guess?"

Kalluto readied the marker over the hangman, prepared to draw the last limb. His little brother's faith in him was so reassuring. "Last chance. Make it count."

"Pizzazz."

"NO. And that's too many Z's!" Kalluto bent over with laughter. The hangman was completed. And it was time for the man to die.

Illumi pushed himself against the wall with his leg. He turned Kalluto back around to his final kill and patted him on the back. "Hurry up. Clean up. Stop dawdling and finish your work."

Kalluto scowled, shooting daggers with his eyes at Illumi. That was the thing with babies of the family, they were always grumpy, dumpy and frumpy when they couldn't get their way.

The man turned instantly pale and with all his might pulled on the Katana with the last of his strength. Still, he remained fixed to the wall.

Illumi's voice was cold. "You will strike only once. Can you restrain yourself?"

Kalluto's fingers twisted and turned and morphed into sharp claws. His eyes darkened, growing ravenous and deranged.

"Kalluto."

"Yes."

"I want it to be swift and clean. Not a spot of blood out of place. Forget everything. All except one thing. Clear your mind and listen closely. Can you hear it?" Illumi's steps eerily creaked over the wooden floor as he silently mouthed the words badum, badum, badum. Man's final curtain call. "Focus only on that." Illumi's voice was lethal. "Now, show me."

The boy and monster were one and the same, and it was over before either him or his target knew it. When it was done and Kalluto's breathing was erratic and deep, Illumi wiped away the blood that dripped down his little brother's hands. "Well done. Let's go home."

On the way home, Illumi instructed Kalluto to wait by himself, only for a little while, while Illumi ran an errand. One of little importance, he told Kalluto, but one that needed to be done. When Illumi returned, he saw Kalluto standing in front of a gashapon machine. Drawing circles over the clear glass that separated him from the colorful capsules that each held a mystery toy. He didn't have money, not even a coin in his pockets to spare.

Illumi silently swatted the air away with his hand, gesturing for Kalluto to stand aside and insert a coin into the machine. He was about to crank the lever until Kalluto excitedly jumped up and proclaimed that he wanted to be the one to do it. Kalluto was fizzing with energy when he cranked the lever. "Catch it, catch it." Illumi laughed when the capsule slipped out of the tray, making Kalluto feel victorious when he caught it with ease.

Inside the purple capsule was a finger trap toy. It was woven with bamboo, with a crisscross pattern of red and white diamonds. Illumi explained that one finger goes in on each side. Kalluto nodded, placing his index finger on one end—and grabbing Illumi's index finger for the other end.

"Trapped!" Kalluto laughed. And so, they walked through town on their way home. Index fingers connected by a little capsule toy. Kalluto hummed, happily swinging his arm forward and back–and Illumi's as well.

"Big brother." Kalluto called.

"Hm?"

Kalluto looked down at the ground as they walked. "Will mother and father lock me away too? Just like Alluka."

Illumi felt his heart stop. "No. Why would you think that?"

Kalluto stayed silent. Choking on the words he was too scared to say out loud. "Because I'm…: Kalluto recalled the mission, and a wave of guilt washed over him as it always does after he goes on a rampage. Finally standing ten feet back and watching in horror of the mess he made. He can't stop it. He can't control it. He tries to fight it, but always bends to it. A different him always comes out during his kills. One that likes to torture his victims and play twisted games. One that isn't ashamed to say it thrives off mayhem. "...different."

Illumi stopped. "It really isn't an imprisonment like you're making it out to be. Alluka is comfortable and monitored at all times for his own protection so he doesnt hurt himself, and those around him. There is something dangerous within Alluka…something dark and violent that wants to hurt as many people as possible. We were lucky that it only claimed a few of the butlers. Until we learn what exactly that thing is and destroy it, then Alluka will be moved back into the mansion with the rest of the family only when everyone's safety is assured. Including yours."

Kalluto's shoulders slouched. It sounded just like himself. Maybe he should be locked up too. He mumbled. "We're the same. The only difference is that I'm still here."

"I assure you that you're not the same."

"Or will you send me away like Killua?"

Illumi sighed. "It's special training."

"Why does he need special training at Heaven's Arena? He can get that here from you and dad." Kalluto's shoulders began to shake as tears streamed down his cheeks. "W-what's going to happen to me when I can't be fixed? Will I be locked away, sent away, or worse?"

Illumi knelt down and wiped away Kalluto's tears with his sleeve. "Nothing will happen to you. I can promise you that. While I'm here I will never let that happen." He titled Kalluto's chin up. "You're perfect, just as you are."

All tears were gone when Kalluto sneered, back to his usual self. "Are they going to make you marry her?"

"You can say her name."

"Don't wanna. Might barf."

"Why don't you like Psyche?"

"Why don't you?"

Illumi snorted.

"This isn't funny. If you marry her then you'll move away together and then I'll never see you again." First it was Alluka, then it was Killua, and soon it will be Illumi. It was an unforgivable sentence disguised as a fairytale and Kalluto knew how fairytales went. The prince and princess live out their happily ever after while leaving everyone else behind. There was no room for little brothers in this happily ever after—they're forgotten. Plain and simple. He was losing all of his siblings, one by one. Soon, all he'll have left is Milluki and by that point Kalluto will legally consider himself an only child.

"When I marry Psyche—"

Kalluto's scowl deepened.

"If I marry Psyche. Better?"

Kalluto nodded smugly. That was much better.

"Then she will live with us. We're Zoldycks, we're wired to stick together."

That sounded even worse than Illumi moving away with her. "She isn't a Zoldyck." Kalluto spat out.

"For now."

Kalluto tensed.

"You don't want her to be?"

Kalluto shook his head, vehemently.

"She would make a perfect wife for me, unless…" Illumi paused, placing his hand on his chin. Thinking. Kalluto leaned in wondering what his brother was going to say. Illumi snapped his fingers, as if he just solved a puzzle. "Unless you want to marry her. Why didn't you say so! I'll tell father and mother right away–"

Kalluto looked as if he was having a heart attack. "NO. I'D RATHER DIE."

"Love makes us do crazy things. It's a tell-tale sign."

Kalluto laid down on the ground, forcing Illumi to kneel down with him. The little boy closed his eyes and decided then it was time for him to die in front of a vegetable stand that held crates of pears and plums; and while Kalluto was laying down he could hear the hum of bumble bees buzzing through the warm evening wind. A lullaby for all the tired, little bumble bees of the world. Death made Kalluto sleepy. "Goodbye."

Illumi blinked. Barely shying away when a bee landed on his jacket, it flew away a second later. "What was your name again?"

Kalluto's eyes shot open, scowling.

"Don't tell me." Ah, yes! Illumi opened his mouth. Then, he closed it. Thinking. "No, that can't be right either."

Kalluto's chin quivered. He said, weakly. "Don't forget me."

"I'm only joking." Illumi lightly tugged his finger back which prompted Kalluto's to follow, still connected by the woven bamboo finger trap toy. "Where I go," he moved his hand again, "you go." He gently swung again, "Where you go—"

"I go." Kalluto smiled. "I like this. It's like our fates are connected."

"Always have been."

Kalluto beamed.

Illumi pulled Kalluto off the ground and shook clouds of dust off Kalluto's back. Making the boy irritable and fussy when Illumi tried to wipe dirt off Kalluto's face.

"Oh, stop it. I don't bite."

"I do." Kalluto chirped.

A farmer turned the mechanical fans on high, shooing away the flies that swarmed the strawberries, cherries, and apricots. She laughed, saying her own child was just like Kalluto, headstrong and, at too many times to count, monstrously naughty. "How old is he?" She asked.

"He just turned six." Illumi looked down at Kalluto, who was eyeing a small carton of freshly picked strawberries that were perfectly in season. The fan propelled a gust of wind towards them and it carried the sweet aroma of strawberries. A dream caught in the wind.

An after mission treat was in order, wasn't it? Just as the woman weighed the carton of strawberries on the scale and calculated the price on the cash register, she looked over at her little daughter who was sitting quietly in the corner shucking peas from their pods, and then to Illumi. "Before you arrived, my baby was screaming in the dirt, summoning the coming of the apocalypse more like, and it took three popsicles and a call from her daddy to calm her down. Divorce…when they're this young they don't understand, but feel all the pain. Still, I'm not letting that man have custody of my baby. A child needs their mother. She needs me more than him." The strain in her eyes and the hurt that chipped the edges of her words were raw and terribly sad. Illumi found it hard to understand why strangers were so honest in telling their tragedies while passing rusty coins and clipped receipts over sanded down counters. Hurt has a way of spilling out when the day grows dark and business slows; when mouths tire of clamping themselves shut through strained and forced smiles all day.

All his life he was taught to keep everything in until the day you die. And even then, the earth over which you lay should be patted down and laid over with asphalt and at least 2 meters of cement because sorrow and pain have a way of rising up like unwanted ghosts with unfinished business.

The woman's eyes began to glisten. Forcing herself not to cry in front of another customer. Illumi didn't know how to deal with two things: women and tears. And now there was a woman crying right in front of him. And despite being around a woman, his mother, who cries all the time, he still has no idea what to do about it. The unpredictability of not knowing which were the wrong words even said with the right intentions could easily earn him an avalanche of furniture thrown at his head. He doubted that this woman was anything like his mother, but there were many crates of pears and plums and he deduced that it wasn't worth the risk. He just wanted his strawberries. Hesitantly, he slowly reached across the counter for them.

The woman grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

Illumi wasn't prepared for this.

She let him go, dabbing her eyes with the back of her hands. Yes, he can finally breathe again.

She sighed, then looked at Kalluto. "I hope you don't give your daddy a hard time." Accusatory, yet playful.

Illumi blinked. "He's my b—"

"GIMME!" Kalluto grabbed the green carton of strawberries out of Illumi's hands and shoved them into his mouth.

"Slow down or you'll choke." Illumi bent down and wiped Kalluto's mouth with a napkin.

They walked home to Kukuroo Mountain, and finally arrived at the testing gates. Illumi placed one hand on the right gate and Kalluto placed one hand on the left. Never once breaking the finger trap toy that connected them. Kalluto was young and still had much to learn, but he knew two absolutes very well: Kalluto was lucky to have Illumi as his big brother.

When Kalluto's steps began to drag behind him and his eyelids felt heavy, Illumi picked him up and let him sleep on his shoulder. Softening his steps as his little brother slept.

And that Illumi loved him so, so much.

Someone wise once said, by none other than Psyche herself, that girl does not live off soup alone.

Far, far away in Zaban City, Psyche sat in a cafe, adjacent from the window overlooking the lively city, and anxiously stirred a steaming bowl of carrot and ginger soup. It was thick and creamy and it left a fizzling aftertaste in her mouth. One spoonful filled her up, but perhaps that was the butterflies that were fluttering nonstop in her stomach. She was so close, yet so far from her husband. She ripped apart a piece of pretzel bread, and dipped it into her soup.

Following Illumi was relatively simple, given Zeno's tracking device. There was a building where his location stalled. That either means two things. One, he made it into the exam site in one piece. Two, he was mugged, mangled and dismembered into multiple pieces, and left for dead. Psyche chose to believe the first. Illumi was more than capable of taking care of himself nor would simple thugs in a little city like Zaban actually pose a serious threat to him. But..what if? Those were two dangerous words that would send her spiraling into hysteria: What if. What if there are criminals with insider information that anticipate the large crowds because of the exam? Thieves, traffickers, drug dealers… Illumi is tall and gorgeous and rich—he sticks out like a sore thumb! And the gold bulbs he was wearing…those thieves could think he's wearing real gold! For fuck's sake Illumi, don't cover yourself from head to toe with gold in a city of thieves! You're rich, look poor!

Psyche placed a hand over her heart and breathed. In and out. Calming herself down. He's fine. He's fine. She's getting herself worked up all for nothing. The noise from the television caught her attention. It was a calming nature documentary about dolphins.

She loves dolphins.

The narrator's voice was calm and eloquent. "Upon seeing its mate hunted and devoured by killer blood hoppers, the aquatic cousins of the voracious land blood hoppers, before its eyes. The lone female dolphin is left with a broken heart. She swims further out into the ocean and out of despair drowns herself."

Psyche looked away from the screen. Television rots the brain anyway.

Enough worrying and imagining her husband dead! Psyche firmly took out her phone and dialed Illumi's number. She wanted her visit to be a fun surprise, but so would be a heart attack if she didn't hear his voice speaking to her now.

It just occurred to her that she never spoke to Illumi over the phone before. Her finger hovered over the dial button. Why was she hesitating? It's so simple, one little press, she will hear his voice, and all will be right in the world. She didn't know how nervous it would make her feel until she pressed the dial button.

Wait, she didn't think this through, what exactly is she going to say to him? Hi, honey—does Illumi like being called honey? Is he the type of man that likes to be addressed as babe, baby, glorious bastard, or none of the above? Hey you—that's too informal. She's not a stranger nor his bro. She's his wife. It's me, Psyche, your wife. I'm worried sick about you and becoming a widow so I took your grandparents advice and despite everyone having faith in you, I crossed continents and followed you all the way to the hunter exam site. Have you eaten yet?—nothing felt more demeaning than reminding him of who she was and that she tailed him from the signal his phone was giving off. Come home, I miss you—those words felt the most right.

"Hello?" Illumi spoke.

HE ANSWERED.

Psyche hung up and slammed the phone on the table, rattling the plates and utensils. If she pushed the phone further away from her then perhaps it wouldn't bite her. Her face burned red. Oh, how foolish could she be! Illumi answered! He sounded alive and in a non critical condition, and that's all a wife could ask for. He's alive and he answered and she didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything at all and hung up on him! Well done, Psyche. 10/10. You verified your husband is alive and ghosted him. Nice!

She banged her head against the table and groaned.

The waiter coughed.

Psyche turned her head—she was too depressed to use upper body strength. "You want to give me the check?"

The waiter slid it on the table. The next words barely came out. "Your hair."

"My hair?" Psyche mouthed. She ghosted her husband and now her hair looks terrible too.

"It's in the soup."

"Oh." She lifted her head up. A strand was coated in carrot and ginger soup. She wiped it away with her napkin. "I was saving that for later."

The waiter laughed, "have a good one." Then left her alone with a bowl of soup going cold and thoughts of Illumi filling her head.

She dialed his number again. Now forced to think of a sound reason why she rudely hung up on him. She could play it off as an accident, a slip of her butter fingers or something. She pressed the green dial. Determined to speak to him, for real. There was no ringing and it skipped straight to a robotic recorded message.

'The number you are trying to reach is unavailable and is not taking messages at this time.'

Did he…no…it couldn't be…

Did he just block her?

Illumi blocked the unknown number from his phone, as he does with every number he doesn't recognize. He didn't think much of it other than a nuisance, not wanting to be bothered anymore than how he was already feeling. His only thoughts were of one person.

Illumi carefully watched through the corners of his eyes as a fluffy head of white hair, that was smothered with entitlement and pampered till spoiled selfish, raced by. Killua wore a smug little smile on his face as he skateboarded past other hunter exam applicants without a care in the world, all the while their mother back home was worried sick. Illumi was correct in expecting that he would suffer the aftermath of Killua's escapade, his mother's cries in one ear and his father's rage in the other. Over the years he successfully learned how to mute both. Perhaps Illumi was wrong to underestimate a puppet's cleverness. Bravo Kil. Even so he, who wasn't even at home when all this shit went down, was blamed for all the shit that went down. Of course, Illumi's the oldest and therefore, by birthright, is the cause of blame for every single one of his siblings' crimes. The night he returned home, after finishing a very long and rigorous job and then tailing his little rogue of a brother, all he wanted to do was drop dead into his bed and not be disturbed for at least a hundred years. He was used to less, and forced to accommodate to less having only slept a solid four hours before his wedding. Tired and famished, he went to the kitchen, otherwise he thought he would collapse from hunger. He prepared himself a bowl of cereal because it required the least amount of time and energy to prepare and if he didn't sense Psyche's aura behind the kitchen door, he would have reduced himself to a caveman and ate right out of the cereal box and drank milk out of the carton. And so, a bowl and a spoon were in order, and because he was a gentleman, a napkin as well. Anything for her. His wife to be.

He noticed what she was doing. Neat, yet delicately wavy hair meant for him to comb his hands through. Cheeks flushed and lips glossed all longing to be tenderly kissed. Innocently playing with her strap that fell loose around her shoulder. Exposing a little something to wet his appetite. And unless there was any truth in all the Wake up With Me morning routine videos flooding the internet, she did not just get out of bed. It was all for him. He was flattered, really. It was all a deliberate calculation that brought back a slew of memories. Which he couldn't help but admit worked. She wasn't even wearing a bra and she wanted him to notice. Maybe he should have been a little more receptive to her efforts. She woke up the part of him that he thought laid dormant—the part that was ravenous and bold and took risks. The urge to throw her up on the counter, rip away at her nightgown she was so willing to discard, and claim her right there—

Killua, why are you taking a drink from a man who looks like he lives, breathes, and snorts cheetos dust in a dumpster he cohabitates with rats? No, put the soda can down. Even better, throw it back at the man's face. Ah, yes, forget all the guidance anyone has ever told you, take a sip and thank the bum too. Did I teach you nothing? Illumi didn't expect men like Tonpa to behave, but he expected his little brother to know better. Illumi cracked his neck which caused the applicants who stood near him to instantly scatter away fearing their turn was next.

A smile cracked his cold exterior, and he began to cackle—a rattly and strange sound that scared the applicants even more. He honestly didn't expect to see Killua in the hunter exam of all places. First, he thought his little brother would run back to Heaven's Arena. Father forced Kil to quit before reaching the 200th floor, otherwise he'd encounter nen users and oh my, Kil wasn't ready to learn nen just yet. But Kil didn't want to be spotted, he didn't want his location to be televised across the world, televised for the whole family to watch. So, Illumi assumed Kil signed up for the hunter exam to test himself and his potential? Treat the exam like it's a game. He couldn't, for the life of him, assume Killua wanted to be a hunter despite not even knowing what a hunter was a month ago. Everything his baby brother did was rooted in avoiding boredom. Perhaps that was why the darkness that fueled Kil's desire to kill was dimming. Illumi made certain to burn the urge to kill deep in Kil's heart, even snipping away all things that tampered with his progress.

However, Illumi was curious. Did Killua learn about the existence of the needle planted inside his head? Would he recognize his dear, big brother and all his needles Kil has seen a million times before?

Killua skated by Illumi–clad in his elaborate disguise of Gittarackur–and sneered in repulsion before skating away.

Yup. Kil has no idea. The needle was still there snug in his head. It would be a serious problem if Kil was aware of the needle, or worse, removed it. Illumi supported progression and bettering oneself, however, Killua taking the hunter exam wasn't going to get him anywhere other than successfully kill time. Illumi decided he wasn't going to intervene; let Killua learn a valuable lesson of wasting his own time and potential.

Now what to do about that man named Tonpa? Illumi heard whispers from the other applicants that Tonpa goes by a truly original and fearsome title called The Rookie Crusher. Looking at the man now really makes Illumi wish he hadn't got up from bed this morning—his laughs came out as pure mechanical rattling, as if he was a stuck gear jamming up a rusty machine. Illumi wasn't one to judge how sad and pathetic men choose to spend their time, but he did feel a little hurt that Tonpa paid all the other rookies a visit, but him. Was Gittarackur not inviting enough?

Should Illumi show him just how inviting Gittarackur could be?

Illumi's limbs moved like clockwork. Rigged and stiff and uncomfortable. Illumi learned that he could change his appearance, for an extended amount of time, with his needles. However, the longer he wished to look different, the weirder his designs would be. Nen fueled needles holding back his bones and tissues in place. If he was going to be weird, which he didn't mind, why not have fun with it? That's why he added the purple mohawk. It was unnecessary, but it made plenty of heads turn.

Including his own.

Now his back was facing Tonpa. And slowly, his bones cracked and ached as he solely rotated his head backwards 20, 45, 90, and then sharply to 180 degrees. Red eyes stared down at the little man while his head clanked and clattered in place. This is a little trick he learned whilst playing with his needles and he still has the knack for it. Clearly, Tonpa noticed Illumi's hidden talent and he ran away, disappearing into the crowd and using the horde of applicants as a shield.

Someone screamed.

Did Illumi cause that? He wondered, a little too eagerly. It wouldn't be the first time.

He turned around and saw a clown—Hisoka— surrounded by a flurry of flower petals emanating from a man's arms that were rapidly disappearing.

"Now you see them and now you don't." Hisoka waved his arms in front of the man who now had none. "You should be more careful and apologize if you bump into someone."

There were moments in life that changed the course of the rest to follow. This was one of those moments when Hisoka walked towards Illumi—he was that confident, walking headfirst into the assassin's life without so much as a lifeline to save him.

"Hisoka. The Magician." The man with the red hair looked at Illumi almost as if he saw past his disguise and saw the real him. The man hidden behind the barrage of needles.

"I know who you are."

This seemed to please the magician. "My reputation precedes me." His eyes narrowed, venom laced with sadistic pleasure. "You were watching me."

"It was hard not to, and yet you don't strike me as the kind taken back by having an audience."

"I like an audience. My best tricks are made for public entertainment. Magic brings people the greatest joy, after all."

Illumi looked at the man with no arms, who was screaming in pain. "He doesn't look very joyful."

Hisoka barely looked behind him. "He's fine. Just being dramatic."

Illumi stifled a laugh when a paramedic team came to take the man away on a stretcher.

Hisoka continued. "What did you think? It really gnaws at me when the audience stays quiet."

Illumi gave the magician what he liked the least.

"Hm?" Hisoka smiled.

Illumi knew right away that Hisoka was one of the only few nen users here. Hisoka could sense the same power from Illumi that singled him out from the rest of the applicants. "If you want my honest opinion, it was a barbaric display of ill-restraint."

"My oh my, a critic as well. I tend to stay away from those."

"Yet you have no desire to leave."

"Eager to get rid of me so soon?"

"There's something you want, isn't there."

"You found me out. Clever. I want to be your friend."

"Of course you do." Illumi turned to leave the clown.

"Hm, you're confident being on your own. I like that. However, it's the very same confidence that may fail you as well. The hunter exam was structured to dismantle that principle in mind. The hunter hunts better in a pack than when alone. Can you see it? All those around us—are beneath us. And instead of wasting time searching for a friend when situations are dire and options become less desirable and limited, I offer myself to you." Hisoka mocked an extravagant bow. "It would be advantageous for us both. Friends looking out for one another. For the exam that is."

Illumi considered this. So many of the other applicants were beneath him, and weren't worth wasting his time forming an allyship with. "The law of reciprocity. I'll have your back if you have mine."

"Not only your back." Hisoka smiled, devilishly. "Perks of being my friend."

"Noted."

"Well, do we have a deal?"

"Given the unpredictability and arduous nature of the exam, it would be best to have allies." Illumi didn't have the option of taking the hunter exam next year. He needed a license now. The clown—Hisoka—could prove very useful.

"Just allies? Tch, how cold."

"Oh, you didn't actually think I agreed already." A smile tugged at the corner of Illumi's lips.

"Just when you were starting to get my hopes up."

"I won't dash them too quickly. I'll see how well you perform in the first phase, and then I'll consider it."

"Bossy."

"So I've been told." Just as Illumi began to walk away, he whispered to Hisoka. Leaning in as their shoulders brushed against each other. Only they could hear each other. "You were watching me too. From the very beginning."

"Yes." Hisoka didn't pretend to hide his intentions. He whispered back, "I don't lose sight of those who catch my attention. And I don't intend to stop either."

A loud ringing sound blared through the air as a stone wall began to lift off the ground—when the cloud of dust faded, it revealed a man wearing a crisp suit, sporting an even crisper mustache, and holding what looked to be a screaming green head that was the source of the ringing.

The hunter exam was about to begin.

Far, far away. There was a princess locked in her tower.

There wasn't much to do, so that is why Alluka greatly enjoyed being visited by her brothers. Even if she could only hear their voices through the speakerphone. As brothers were concerned…well, only one visited her. Less than what she would have liked.

Kalluto was in another room, watching Alluka from a safe distance through a monitor.

"I got you again!" Alluka said, as she plucked one of Kalluto's chess pieces off the black and white board and added it to her growing pile of Kalluto's defeated army.

"So you have." Kalluto rested his chin on his hand and barely looked at the chessboard. Bored. Unamused. Something else clearly weighing on his mind.

Even though Alluka could not see him, she could hear the languid droll of his voice and knew his mind was somewhere else instead of in the game. Instead of with her. Worried that he might have left, Alluka called out to Kalluto. "It's your turn."

Kalluto barely glanced at the board. "Rook to b7."

Alluka moved the piece—and gasped. "Your king is exposed!"

"That's nice." Kalluto deadpanned.

Kalluto wasn't paying attention to the game nor to her. Alluka rarely gets to play with her brothers and when she does, they're not the least bit interested. She bit the inside of her cheek—and flung the chessboard against the wall. Sending all the pieces flying and clattering to the ground.

"Oh," The noise brought Kalluto back to his sister. "Are we not playing anymore?"

Alluka wanted to cry. Kalluto sounded relieved about ending the game. Like she put him out of his misery by flinging it against the wall, instead of asking her to pick up the pieces and finish what they started.

"If the game's finished then goodnight." Kalluto's chair screeched harshly against the floor, enough for Alluka to feel it pierce her heart. She wanted to scream 'wait' but instead twirled her new dress. Keep the night going. Keep her brother here with her.

"Isn't it wonderful! Mother said she would think about letting me be the flower girl for Illumi and Psyche's wedding." Alluka was excited at the chance of finally being able to spend time with the whole family! And for a wedding! She's never been to a wedding before and no doubt it will be straight out of a fairytale! Even if it was for a short while...she's been practicing! She arranged rows of stuffed animals and practiced tossing flower petals down the aisle. She was very good at it too! She wanted to see Psyche's wedding gown knowing she would look like a fairytale princess breathed to life. And Psyche's sisters too, Anomie and Chaotica, they'd always wear the most beautiful clothes whenever they visited. They were all so beautiful. Alluka wanted to be beautiful like them too. "If Killua's going to be the ring bearer then we should practice with each other–"

Kalluto blinked, annoyed. "The wedding already happened."

Alluka stopped twirling her dress and stood frozen in place. Wanting to sink to the floor and let it swallow her whole. The wedding already happened. They won't be needing a flower girl. They won't be needing her, at all.

"The wedding was rushed." Kalluto tched, ignoring her. "Mother and father wanted to get it done as soon as possible, so Illumi wouldn't—" Kalluto stopped himself from talking. He didn't want to divulge issues of the family to her. It gave him a sense of power, that he knew more and was held in higher regard than one of his older siblings. "Nevermind. It's not important."

It sounds like it is, Alluka thought. "I can keep a secret."

"It's not a secret. Everyone in the family already knows."

Alluka wasn't sure whether she wanted to know this secret, or if she just wanted to be included in knowing it like the rest of them and not be left in the dark. She huffed and waved her arms out in front of her and around the room. "Who am I going to tell?"

"Fair point. But no way. Besides, it's not like anything can be done about it now. Mother and father even had a witness from the bureau on the day of the wedding. So it's official."

After being confined to her room all these years by herself, Alluka craved conversations—any conversations. Even if they were boring, dull and didn't interest her. As long as the person on the other end of the microphone talked to her, that was all that mattered. She also liked revisiting old memories because that was all she had to share. She didn't have any opportunities to make new ones. "I guess they were always meant to be. Remember the time when the Moiraio's visited and Illumi surprised Psyche with a beautiful bouquet of flowers he handpicked right out of our gardens? I think he even typed a card that said 'I'm a gift.' I didn't think big brother could be so cute." Alluka giggled sweetly.

"He can't. Milluki made that bouquet for Psyche. Not Illumi."

Alluka's smile fell when Kalluto dashed one of her memories. "Um, but I thought, I remember Psyche thanking Illumi and he even put a flower in her hair."

"That happened, but I don't know why Illumi said it was him. Actually he didn't say anything. He just silently played along and everyone assumed it was him. Personally, I think it was because he wanted to get back at Milluki for destroying the skeleton he spent weeks restoring." The story goes that Illumi ventured into the woods in search of every piece of the Vulpes vulpes skeleton after finding its perfectly intact skull and spinal cord on one blustery, rainy day. In short, it spiraled into an obsession trying to find every missing piece. It became a hunt, sectioning off plots of land, tracking scavengers to their burrows, and digging through the mud. He found every piece, he was determined like that. Milluki, trained under Illumi's guidance, was not a fan of his older brother's teaching methods. And when Milluki went to tell Illumi off, he found the completed skeleton unattended—and fragile. There were more pieces of the skeleton when Milluki was finished with it. He crushed the skull in the palm of his hand, he snapped the long bones like they were toothpicks, he dismembered every part of the vertebral column and skipped them like wishing stones across the lake. When Milluki skipped the last bone fragment, he instantly regretted opening a gateway to hell.

"Why would he do that?"

Kalluto shrugged, a gesture that Alluka couldn't see. "They're just like that with each other." Alluka wouldn't know because she's never around them anymore. "Milluki would always act out and he probably realized that five seconds of momentary gratification wasn't worth a lifetime of Illumi's wrath. Can't say he didn't have any of it coming. He knows better now."

"No," Alluka tightened her fists into the tulle folds of her pink dress. "Why did Illumi lie to her? I don't care what happened between Illumi and Milluki. Psyche had nothing to do with it. The thing that made her happy, a memory meant to cherish, was a lie. Illumi lied to her, right in front of her face, while she thanked him for it." Alluka felt like she was talking about herself instead of Psyche. "That's not romantic, at all. That's mean!"

"Does it matter?"

"It does!"

"Eh, really." Kalluto straightened his back and sat up in his chair. Eyes darkening. "Why should it matter to you? Because it doesn't concern you either. Psyche would be happier to believe the lie than be told the truth. Anyone would. And I don't think anyone cares about it anymore, except you. Besides," Kalluto stared at the basket of flower petals that were sitting in Alluka's room and narrowed his eyes, "they're just flowers. They're not important."

Alluka relaxed her fists. Kalluto was right. The rest of her family didn't care about the things that happened in the past. Alluka was living proof of that. Maybe she wouldn't care if she experienced things for herself. Like mother promising to make her the flower girl for the wedding. That one experience alone would satisfy her for a longtime. Was it selfish of her to demand their time and affection? She mumbled softly, "sorry."

"It's fine. You only know because I told you."

Alluka looked down at the ground. "If big brother loves her, he shouldn't lie to her. She'll be sad when she finds out. She's one of us now—" Alluka shuddered, feeling an icy wind blow through her. What was this feeling? Where did it come from so suddenly? The temperature in her room shouldn't go down this low. Alluka was shivering. Holding onto her arms to keep warm—or to protect herself. "K-kalluto, something's wrong. I-It's really cold."

Kalluto's aura flared out of him like a blistering storm. Alluka couldn't even comprehend it was his aura she was feeling. She's nothing like the rest of the family—she's so weak. "Us? What do you mean like us?" Kalluto spat out the words.

Alluka was still shivering. "S-she's a Zoldyck now. That makes her one of us. Or were you not allowed at the wedding too?" She retorted back.

You confuse yourself. You're not a part of us. Kalluto wanted to say. Then his aura calmed down and Alluka stopped shivering.

Alluka didn't know what happened, but feared it was Kalluto's doing. Instead, she laughed. It came out strained and forced. "I guess the system malfunctioned. Overwise, I'd turn into a popsicle."

Kalluto's demeanor changed. His voice was upbeat, almost as if he was about to laugh. "Do you know what mother told the Moiraio's about you?"

Alluka smiled. They do talk about her! "Will Psyche and her sisters visit me soon?"

"Mother tells them you're dead."

It felt as if the floor was ripped out from underneath her feet. This room was a crypt and Alluka was the corpse laid to rest within it. Words came out of her mouth, before she realized she was saying them. "I'm not dead."

"Yes, you are."

"I'M NOT!" Alluka screamed. Shaken by her own outburst. "I-I want to speak to Mama. Kalluto, get Mama."

Kalluto snickered. "Did you know that Mother erected a grave marker for you in the family cemetery. She leaves flowers by it every Sunday."

Alluka stumbled towards the wall and banged her fists against it. Crying into the speaker in which Kalluto's voice came out. As if trying to get closer to him as much as she possibly could. "Get me Mama, now!"

"She's busy." Kalluto pressed his fingernails into his skin. Preventing himself from bursting out with laughter.

"You're lying!" Alluka cried.

"So what if I am."

Alluka's legs gave out as she fell to the floor.

"So what if I'm lying. What are you going to do about it?"

Alluka wiped her eyes with her sleeves. Staining her pretty dress with tear drops of despair. He's right. She couldn't do anything. Far, far away, there was a princess locked in a tower. A princess who couldn't tell the difference between the knights meant to save and the dragons meant to hurt her. She started to believe they were the same.

Kalluto tapped the microphone. "Hello? Can you hear me? I asked what were you going to do about it." Kalluto covered his mouth when a laugh slipped out.

"You think everyone's forgotten me," Alluka dried the last of her tears. "But you're wrong."

Kalluto tched. "Everyone wants to forget you. Killua already has." Killua ran away from home. He's forgotten all of us. He purposely neglected to tell her that fact.

Even though it's been years since Alluka has seen Killua, she knows he will never forget her. He was forced to because there was no way Killua would willingly stay away from her. He was, and still is, her best friend. "You're wrong, Kalluto. Killua hasn't forgotten me." Then she looked up at the camera overhead. Defiant. And smiled. "He hasn't forgotten you either."

Kalluto opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he turned off his microphone.

"Kalluto," Alluka called out to him. Growing more panicked by the growing silence. Her voice broke as she weakly pawed at the wall. "Kalluto. I'm so lonely. Just stay for a little while longer. You don't have to get Mama. I'm not mad anymore."

Kalluto turned off the monitor and watched as his sister disappeared into darkness. As he left, distancing himself even further from Alluka, his heartbeat hadn't ceased thrashing around inside his chest. Why did everything she said bothered him so much?

He hasn't forgotten you either.

Kalluto tched.

Why can't some people understand that they're just not wanted.

That they're meant to be forgotten.

Thank you for reading chapter 11 AND I'M SO SORRY! I love Alluka so much, she's my precious princess, but it's her whole fcking family that is being cruel to her, I'm sorry T_T We learned more about Kalluto in this chapter, from the flashback to present day time, and he's got his own (crazy and homicidal) issues to deal with lol He doesn't want to lose his family...while also pushing Alluka away O_o hmm...Like, i love all the zoldyck kids, i love Kalluto, but KALLUTO! REFRAIN YOURSELF PLS XD I do think that him spending so much time with Illumi has shaped the way he views Alluka, unfortunately =_= I really want to write the different relationships between all the siblings. Unlike Killua, Kalluto loves and admires Illumi. And Illumi treats Kalluto WAY differently from all the other siblings. More softer and even lets Kalluto's bad habits slide when they're on missions together, despite not agreeing with it. Illumi is spoiling Kalluto and Kalluto KNOWS Illumi will let him do what he wants LOL

In the flashback you might be wondering why Illumi, a billionaire, is pick-pocketing a dead guy. Well, there is a reason for that. WHICH I WILL ANSWER IN THE NEXT CHAPTER :D Back to present day time! Illumi is at the hunter exam and he meets Hisoka :D I tried to write hisoillu and i hope their chemistry came across well :"D We didn't get much of Psyche in this chapter, but she's here in Zaban City! Hurry up girl or you'll miss your man!

I hope you liked the chapter! Let me know what you thought ;D