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xxii : hate you

You were in a strange position between the three Troupe Members in the crowd and the magician in front of you.
See, you didn't want them to witness all of your abilities and tricks because if you ever had to fight against them in the future, they would have that advantage. On the other hand, you were afraid you might have to go 100% if you wanted a chance at beating Hisoka. It had been a while since you fought him so you weren't entirely sure how you matched up against him.

Your options were limited, hand to hand combat was going to be your last option because you needed to keep distance in order to avoid his Bungee Gum. Nen dragon was out of the question, you couldn't have the three audience members seeing that up close. That left you with your blades, knife, and nen flames.

"Better not go easy on me, bastard." You mumbled to yourself, knowing Hisoka couldn't hear you from over there.

He was the first to attack, throwing his cards at you as if he was playing darts. You had no time to aim flames at him with any accuracy because you were too busy dodging. One card went past your ear with a slight breeze that made your skin crawl.

"You'll need to try harder if you want to avoid getting hurt." He said. His sultry tone caused your icy facade to crack.

You threw your fire balls at him, which he dodged, not bothering to put up a shield with his pink aura. He knew how badly it would hurt to get hit with one of your flames but he also knew how much it would irk you to see him fight with such minimal effort.

His eyes were dark with anticipation he could hardly contain anymore. His sharp, lustful gaze made your face burn. Had he always been this frustratingly distracting?

You kept throwing flames at him which he dodged a little too easily for your liking. Fuck it. You ran towards him as quick as the blink of an eye, pulling your knife out and aiming for his neck.

Shalnark and Phinks were on the edge of their seats.

You lunged at Hisoka, getting him at arm's length to strike. This was the moment.. You made the perfect stabbing motion but were met with thin air instead of flesh.

"Too slow~" He murmured to you, moving out of the way and punching your rib cage. You fell on the ground, sliding a bit from the force of his hit. You coughed out, swearing you could taste blood on your tongue. You got up as quickly as you could, being filled with fear when he wasn't in front of you anymore.

Your lost composure was so entertaining to Hisoka but led you to a grave disadvantage.

You scrambled to get on your feet, turning around to find him standing there with a smug expression. There was a rope of pink aura attached to you.

Bungee Gum.

Now you were trapped to his elastic ability, with two options left.

1. Use the nen dragon anyway
2. Try to beat him with hand to hand combat

The second still seemed like the better option when the three in the crowd were watching so intently. You ran at him again, with your knife in hand, aiming for his face. You would've done anything to land at least one cut. He dodged and backed up everytime. This cycle continued for some time, you lunging to stab him, and him backing up to narrowly avoid each attempt. You cut through the air desperately, getting irritated as Hisoka looked at you with that hungry but condescending look. Even his simple gaze sent an electric sensation through your body.

You were getting closer as Hisoka got tired but still not close enough. His top was torn, and his neck was nicked with small beads of blood but you were missing all of your strikes by centimeters.