Author's Notes:

PAIRINGS: Leorio/Kurapika (Leopika); Hisoka/Kurapika (Hisopika); Hisoka/Illumi (HisoIllu); Hisoka/Illumi/Pariston/Kurapika

RATING: Mature

NOTE: To read this story's missing scenes with sexual content, check the uncensored version on Archive of Our Own (AO3 username: lemonpika).

CONTENT WARNINGS (in the uncensored AO3 version): Explicit sexual content, non-consent/dubious consent, sexual coercion. Please skip this chapter if these topics are triggering or objectionable to you.

Chapter 3: A necessary evil

With every step, the three of them get closer to their newest target. Pariston is whistling a rollicking tune in anticipation.

"Aren't you being too flippant about this?" Illumi chides.

Pariston's answering smile is serene. "And why shouldn't I be? It's been too long since we've scored such a prime cut of freshmeat."

Illumi turns toward Hisoka. "You're certain that we won't get in trouble for this one?"

"Oh, Illumi." Hisoka's tone is plaintive. "Your lack of faith in my judgment never ceases to wound me."

Illumi is unaffected by Hisoka's sullen expression. "If I've learned anything from the past two years we've been together, it's that you can never truly be trusted."

"Trust me or not, you can't begrudge the dexterity of my fingers." Hisoka withdraws his right hand from his pants pocket. A silver key is dangling from his pinkie. "I was prepared to pick the lock, but fortune smiled upon us just now."

While Pariston claps his hands in delight, Illumi only glances darkly toward the corridor behind them. "When did we bump into his roommate? I hadn't noticed."

Hisoka snickers. "I'm not surprised in the slightest that you missed him. He's even more unremarkable in the flesh than he looked in the photographs that your dear brother printed out for us."

The three of them have done their homework before coming here. They're surprisingly good students in this way. They've pored over student housing forms, prospective class schedules, hospital records, and psychologist's notes. Luckily, the therapist whom their target had briefly seen used a computer, not a notebook, for their sessions. Anything inputted into a device with an online connection, Milluki Zoldyck could crack in record speed even as his fingers dipped periodically into an extra-large bag of spicy chips. Of course, Illumi's younger brother rarely did anything for free. Hisoka had to break into the room of the biggest otaku on campus and steal a coveted anime figurine of Milluki's favorite among his harem of waifus.

"Sometimes, Hisoka," Illumi drawls now, "I wonder whether you suffer under the delusion that you're invincible."

"Who needs invincibility when I have all the enviable advantages of shacking up with the son of the university's chairman?" Hisoka points out. "Besides, you don't know this target like I do. There's no chance that he'll ever rat us out. He has too much at stake. Too much to lose."

They finally arrive at the door that they want. Four-oh-four.

Without any preamble, Hisoka inserts the key into the knob and twists it. The three of them stride into the room once they've ensured that the corridor is deserted.

The face of the room's current occupant is hidden behind a history book. His voice is subdued. "Have you left something behind?"

"I have, as it happens," Hisoka answers. "In this room, there's something that I left behind two years ago. I've come now to reclaim it."

A tremor passes through the fingers holding up the textbook. The boy sitting on the bed doesn't lower the tome or make any other moves. He's waiting, with bated breath, for Hisoka to initiate this special reunion. How precious.

Hisoka sits on the edge of the bed. Gently, he pries the boy's hands from the pages, which are newly damp with sweat. Hisoka sets the book on the nightstand and smiles at its owner, but receives no joyous reaction in return. No matter. With sharp-nailed fingers, Hisoka clutches the delicate face and forces both corners of lips to quirk upward. If the boy so much as jerks his head, the triangular tips of Hisoka's fingernails will break his skin and make him bleed.

"There you are, golden boy," Hisoka murmurs. "How blissful you look to be beside me again."

"Hisoka, what are you doing here?" Kurapika asks.

Hisoka lets go of his face. "I could ask you the same question. I go to this school." He flashes his student ID as proof. His hair is silver in the square photo, but it's his amber eyes. His name. His student number, signifying that he's a junior. "Did you follow me here right after you graduated? Stalking is a ground for suspension in the student handbook, you know. I should report you."

"But —! But you said —!"

"Hush, now. Don't be impertinent. I'm going to introduce you to my friends." Hisoka gestures toward his black-haired companion, whose fists are parked on his hips. "This is Illumi, my boyfriend. Ever since we met as freshmen, he's monopolized my body for the most part. But don't let that extraneous detail discourage you. He knows full well that half of my heart will always belong to you, dear Kurapika."

Hisoka then points to the fourth person in the room. The guy with dark blond hair is whistling a sunny tune as he runs his fingers over the spines of books that Kurapika has stacked neatly on a collapsible shelf. "That one's Pariston, our senior. We learned most of the tricks of the trade from him."

Kurapika's eyes dart for a fraction of a second toward each stranger as he's introduced, then flash back toward Hisoka's face again. "I don't understand," Kurapika now says. "What are you — all of you — doing here? How'd you even get in?"

Despite sensing Illumi's growing impatience behind him, Hisoka sees an opportunity with this line of questioning and decides to seize it. "We passed by your roommate in the corridor. Leorio Paladiknight, wasn't it? When we told him that we were looking for you, he swiftly surrendered his key and pointed us in the right direction. He then went scuttling off toward the festivities in Dolle Hall. Seemed glad to get rid of you for the rest of the night, he did."

Hurt flashes in Kurapika's eyes. "I — I don't believe you."

"No?" Hisoka lets dejection color his tone. "What drivel has that boy been saying to you? Did he tell you that he enjoys your company? That he'd rather stay locked in with your frigid silence than have fun partying with his friends? He's been lying to you, Kurapika. Just like everyone else does. You should know that by now. Everyone wants to take and take and take from you until you have nothing left. You can't let them."

Kurapika's response is soft. "Hisoka, aren't you the same as the rest of them? You're only here because you want something from me."

Hisoka snorts. "What nonsense! Who's been filling your head with such ridiculousness? Don't you get it yet? Don't you understand why I'm here? I'm the only one who can save you from your current predicament. How many new people are you meeting on campus on a daily basis? Any of these strangers are capable of doing what you've been dreading all this time! And I do mean any one of them — even that two-faced roommate of yours! A snake like him will be the first in line, mark my words. He'll lull you into a false sense of security then betray you eventually. He'll stab you over and over with a knife. He'll scoop out your eyes with a spoon, share them with his friends, and —"

"Please stop," Kurapika begs. "As long as you promise to stop bringing up the past, I'll do anything you ask of me."

"Really? Anything?"

"Absolutely anything."

Hisoka chokes back the mirth rising in his throat. This boy's so damn easy. "Okay, I promise. Now, why don't you kick off this private party by showing me how much you've changed? Strip for me."

Kurapika throws sidelong glances at the two others, so Hisoka assures him, "Don't worry about showing everything to Illumi and Pariston. These are my friends. They're your new protectors. They're tested and safe, just like I am."

(There is a deleted scene here.)

After recording this phenomenon, Pariston pans the camera upward so that he can capture footage of Kurapika's face. The boy's eyes are fluttering shut as if he's fighting to stay awake.

Pariston giggles as he replays the video he saved.

Abruptly jerking awake, Kurapika sits up on the bed. "Delete that. Now."

Illumi's tone is poisonous. "And why should we listen to anything you say? We can't be certain that you won't snitch. Consider this our insurance."

Kurapika looks imploringly at Hisoka, but the junior only shrugs. "I've told them over and over that you're someone they can trust. But the fact remains that you disrespected them tonight. I'm not surprised that they require more evidence of your trustworthiness." Hisoka now flashes an encouraging smile. "The next time we visit, you should do your best to put on a more persuasive performance for my friends. You don't want them circulating this footage around the school and back in our hometown, do you?"

Kurapika stares as if he can't believe what he's hearing.

"We'll be back soon," Hisoka says. "You know how seriously I take my responsibility of keeping you safe from the world. Until next time then, golden boy."

Both Illumi and Pariston depart from the room without a backward glance. With a jaunty wave, Hisoka follows them out, leaving Kurapika behind to clean up the mess they've made.