"One way or Another." [ Chrollo x Reader x Hisoka ]

"Dancing with Death"

Opening my eyes to see a tall person, I felt a sense of comfort, as if I had already seen this blurry vision in front of me. I'd been on the verge of death's doorstep several times, but my first brush with her, was the hardest one ever. Many people think that the only way to die is to stop breathing, but when you feel your heart stop yet you keep going, it feels worse.

The first time I danced with that lady, I was young and, very impressionable. I had just walked away from the bloody crime scene I'd made, completely on accident, mind you. It was my first time experiencing impulsive thoughts, and I had gotten sick of getting picked on, so my body just moved on it's own once I thought about hurting another kid.

Looking back at those memories, I felt so desperate, and alone, that maybe it was just natural that I opened my pores to let myself control my aura better, my body was no longer being controlled by me, rather by my cruel intentions, and by the end, I felt horrible. I kept staring at my bloodied hands, and at that poor kids face, he was alive, barely.

Stepping back to look at my mess, I found myself against another body, immediately recognizing who it was, I turned around to find pitiful eyes bouncing between the mess and I. My own eyes, were welling up with tears as I felt all the embarrassment, and shame, yet, the young boy seemed worried about me, and hugged me with all his might.

As this was happening, the atmosphere started changing. No longer feeling the boys' arms around me, I started panicking, up until with blurry vision, I saw a beautiful lady, dressed in black, with a black veil. She came up to me and I awoke, according to Chrollo, I had almost been declared dead.

Even though, I didn't stop breathing, nor did my heart stop beating, I felt as that piece of innocence had drifted away. Over the years, our encounters had been more severe, more frequent, still always so similar, I never truly got to see her well. She seemed like a great mother, not that I could tell from so far way.

I blinked quite a few times, before I finally made out Chrollo in front of me, with the same worried eyes he'd had when we were younger, and saw me in such distress. As I came to, I realized what was going on. I was tied to a chair, with my hands behind my back and my feet tied, each to a leg. My face was burning up, clearly I'd been knocked out.

Chrollo could tell by the look on my face that I was confused on how I had gotten myself in this situation. I could that, by the look in his eyes. Kind of like an out-of-body reaction, saw his hands grab me by the shoulders, which, much to each others shock, I let him do. That was enough for him to start panic talking through what had happened.

-"God, Ari... I'm sorry about everything, Do you remember what you said last?"- His panic seems like every other persons normal reaction, but he doesn't react this emotionally, unless he feels like the blame is on him. I nodded and, so, he continued.

-"After you told us to shut," - He looked down at the floor. -"Hisoka started talking shit back to me, saying things like;"- He looked back up and let a hand off of my shoulder to make air quotes. -"You're the only one here who'd take that from her, even though she's your junior.' - He put his hand on my shoulder again, and, all of a sudden, he started radiating guilt.

-"I got so pissed, Ari. Usually, I could just let it slide, but I missed you so much and he just had to ruin our fun,"- He sighed, rather quickly, and looked me dead in the eyes. -" So I punched him."- Maybe it's cruel to say, but when I heard him say that I was kicked out of my trance, and I simple, had to, laugh. Not at him, rather his ingenuity.

He looked at me, as his death-stare became a small pout, followed by a series of low grunts, or, barely hearable, complaints. While I calmed down from my laughing fit, I saw his big, grey eyes staring at me with such pretty lights in them, I felt warm at the sight of his stupid puppy eyes. I had no choice but to give him the "Okay" to keep telling his story.

-"It wasn't stopping there, at least I thought, my head was starting to clear mid-punch, and I just kept thinking of how everyone would react to this."- The anxiety in his eyes grew as if he was experiencing everything again. Even though it doesn't really seem it, he get scared quite easily of emotional conflict, which is way he was the one to recommend me taking my leave, and was the first to regret it.

-"If I could give you my flesh and let you run me, I would. I'd do anything to be able to read people as you do. I, foolishly, thought of Hisoka as such an idiot, I was baffled when he just laughed at me striking him."- He wasn't looking at me while saying that, rather he backed away and let himself be pulled down by gravity to the floor. I hadn't seen a sadder sight, Chrollo isn't one to feel, at all. But these last couple of months seem to be wearing him down. Knowing that I wouldn't get the chance to seem him like this again, I decided to break free from my bondage.

As he sat with knees elbow length away from his chest, and legs spread apart, he raised only his eyes to watch me sit down next to him, and lay my head on his shoulder. He wasn't crying, but his breathing wasn't stable at all. This was more of a common theme when we were younger. It's quite funny to remember how his anxiety began.

His first dance with Lady Death, was much more different than mine. While mine was aggressive, and filled with passion, his was slow. Slow, and calm. He was starving, while I was full. I hadn't realized it yet, but he always gave me whatever I needed, or wanted, at any cost. Usually said cost was his stability, in any way.

We were walking down the street to go to work, on a particularly hot day. Both of us were tired, famished, and parched, and while I don't know what occurred between them both, all I saw was him fainting out of nowhere. I was screaming for help while I ran to the nearest water sediment I could find, eventually I was able to wake him up, but by then, he'd been gone for almost a minute.

Coincidentally, I think those experiences made us who we are today, while I think things through and read people to a T, he either trusts you or he doesn't, not based on anything, just on instinct, it doesn't mean you'll be excluded from his life if he doesn't trust you, rather he'll be morbidly curious as to what gave him that impression.

He turned his head to face me, after feeling his eyes on me for a bit, I saw his hand twisting and reaching to cup my face. Forcing me to look at him, noticing every emotion that slowly started disappearing from his face, noticing how he kept looking at my lips, how we were getting closer and then, how immediately, we separated after hearing the door creak open.

-"Hey, uh, boss?"- Franklin came in, as calm as always, but seeming a little startled, although assuming, his voice was a dead giveaway.

-"Yes, Frank? I asked you to keep everyone out. What's the matter?"- Chrollo stayed beside me while saying that, feeling victorious.

-"Machi's look-a-like just dipped, claiming that he had better places to be rather than sitting around waiting for an anxious couple."- Being extremely tall, Franklin is always very confident, even when talking to his Boss, who he respects very much. Yet, saying this to him, had him feeling like he was handing his own ass to himself.

Refusing to turn my head around to observe my friend's reaction, I took my place against his shoulder again. All of the sudden, the door closed as slowly as it opened, this time with a much heavier atmosphere. Chrollo's jaw kept tensing, he was holding something back, something he was embarrassed about.

-"Ari, Let's go somewhere else."- Shocked, what was it that he is asking of me? Am I taking it the wrong way? I've never been good at handling my facial expressions when I'm comfortable, so, my eyes were wide, and my cheeks flushed, even though he couldn't see it, and I couldn't see him, I felt that we knew what each other was like, based off of one another.

-"It's not anything like that, just accompany me to dinner, yes?"-