Ace Of Hearts - Hisoka x Illumi

Mailbox

Illumi froze right there, in front of his mailbox, not understanding what was happening to him right this instant.

A few strokes of hair escaped from the bun he had made earlier but he didn't even feel them slowly brushing his cheek.

No, right now, detective Illumi Zoldyck couldn't feel anything. He was stuck in some sort of transe, and he could only revisit some memories.

It had all started three months ago, with the first victim.

She was a young woman, killed in her prime by someone who knew exactly what they were doing. The press had taken over the case quite rapidly and in less than a day, everyone had heard of the "Ace of Hearts Killer".

Illumi had seen the body himself of course. She had had her throat cut once, powerfully and deeply enough that she was drained of her blood quickly.
What had shocked everyone, on top of the horror of the murder, was the playing card planted in the wound.

Illumi had crouched over the body and carefully examined it, but there was nothing much to see about the playing card, it was just an ordinary ace of hearts.
Following examinations had confirmed that the ace of hearts was indeed the weapon that had killed the victim.

Illumi had laughed at first. He knew some people liked to throw playing cards, just like darts or axes, however he would have never thought they could do actual real damage. At least not more than a paper scratch or something.

After a long conversation, the medical team had finally convinced him that it had been thrown with incredible strength and had been able to do such horrifying damage.

Ever since, victims had appeared at an alarming speed, and Illumi hadn't slept much. He had the honor of being in charge of the case and was determined to catch the serial killer fast. Unfortunately, in spite of all his efforts, hours of labor and all of his willpower, Illumi was stuck.

He had nothing on this person.

Nothing.

Playing cards. Aces of Hearts. Victims. Blood.

That was all.

Nothing seemed to connect the victims among each other either. Illumi had made a list of their professions, hobbys, contacts, but nothing matched. The killer had taken the lives of athletes, ceos, judges, doctors, and more.

Nothing.

And just like that, three months had passed. Three months of dead ends, false leads and even more bodies.
Illumi knew very well the clock was ticking. He had so much on the line. It was almost as if he could feel it. The pressure.

To be honest, he knew he could handle a lot. Illumi had grown in a renowned cop family. The precinct had always been his home and being a detective was all he had dreamed of as long as he could remember.

And now, all of them were watching him.

Illumi couldn't help but feel anxious about that. They were certainly judging him, wondering if they had made the right call giving him this case.

Would they take it away from him if he couldn't catch the killer?

Illumi sighed.

That wasn't the worst about it at all. The worst was that at any second, someone could be dying because of this killer. Someone could be dying right now because Illumi hadn't caught them yet.

Rage filled him up and suddenly, Illumi could feel it all.
The cold November wind on his exposed neck, the brushes of hair that had escaped his bun, his hand holding his mailbox open.

He let out a breath, put on gloves and took what was inside the mailbox with determination in his eyes.

You made your first mistake killer.

He went home, fingers tightly gripping the ace of hearts the killer had left there for him.