Repulsive Beauty || Hisoka

1. On Defeat

I sat heavily in the cafe chair, toying with the condensation clinging to my glass. Is it too late to back out?

I've known of Hisoka for a few years now, I took the hunter exam with him the year he mutilated that examiner. We've never spoken, and I assume he only knows my name from when he agreed to fight me. He was already above the 200th floor by the time I had my debut here at Heaven's Arena.
Hisoka is a household name around here, though I'm sure his reputation also precedes him elsewhere. I vividly remember the first encounter I had with him. We were all standing in near silence waiting for phase one to start, and the air felt heavy with tension before he even arrived.
My badge number was 14, being a goody two shoes as I am, I was overly punctual to the exam grounds. Hisoka was one of the last to come in, I think his badge was something like 322. I didn't even notice him until I smelled strawberry, which stuck out like a sore thumb in the sweaty and dank waiting area. In hindsight he must have been suppressing his nen pretty significantly with zetzu for me to have not noticed him until he was close enough to smell. When I turned to find the source of the strange, sweet smell, my stomach tied in knots. I could tell just looking at him that he was dangerous beyond comprehension. He oozed terror.
As intrigued as I was at the time, I was certainly too scared to introduce myself.

A clock on a nearby church rang 5, snapping me out of my memory. So only an hour then, until my fight. Is it even worth the risk? Of all of the floor masters I could have chosen to challenge, why did I choose Hisoka?

One change of clothes and some warming up later, I stood by the gate to the arena, staring determinedly straight ahead, trying not to think too deeply about how painful this was going to be.
The bell rang and I walked onto the platform, blinded by the spotlights, deafened by the roaring crowd and silenced by the sheer presence of the man before me. I had been watching his fights to study his nen, but he's much more intimidating up close. Something about his lack of concern, how casual he always is. It's unsettling. I could feel myself already planning my defences, but I can't win on defence alone. I'll have to strike quickly if I want even a chance of survival nevermind winning.
I focused on bringing my nen tight to my body, highly concentrated and poised for use. The only upper hand I have is knowing Hisoka's nen abilities. On the flip side of that coin, I would be shocked if Hisoka had any knowledge of mine.
The last bell rang, I could only hear my own breathing. Not the crowd. Not Hisoka's knuckles cracking. Only my breath.
He must have sensed my eagerness to move to the offence because it wasn't more than one second before he lunged at me, fists clenched. His eyes looked so bored though. He was underestimating me.
I dodged easily and we continued this tirade of him chasing me and me making narrow escapes. I have to follow my own advice, you never win playing offence.
His next attack was a kick aimed straight for my head. I knew I had no chance in getting an attack as he was attacking me, I had to buy myself half a second to turn the tables.
His knee grazed my shoulder, and I took that one moment to reach my hand up and push his thigh as hard as I could, throwing him off balance. I knew he would still land on his feet, but it was enough.
He was forced into a flip, and landed facing away from me. It gave me enough time to put some space between us and to summon my nen whips, one in each hand, though I hid my left whip with In. I stood facing him for what seemed like eons before he turned around, with that sickeningly handsome smile over his shoulder. I could finally feel him summon his nen, which was my cue to use just enough gyo to keep an eye on his bungee gum.
"I'm not sure what you plan to do with your little whip. But you should know, sweetheart, that I've always been a fan of such things~" his voice was a seductive coo, his eyes barely open; like a relaxed cat laying in a sunny window.
With just the slightest twist of his wrist he conjured his cards. He took a few steps towards me, slowly, like he was afraid of scaring me off.
With no further hesitation, he flicked a single card at me, which would have struck between my eyes had I not cocked my head just a bit.
"Quite the reflex, I'm impressed... Why is your pouty, little face so faintly familiar to me? I can't imagine I'd met you in the past and not bothered to either kill you or sleep with you.~"
My 'pouty little determined face' quickly soured. He's trying to get in my head.
"There's no inbetween huh?" I spat.
"Oh, she speaks after all. To answer your question, no. There is no inbetween. Not for a woman like you~" His head tilted to the side and I saw him lower his gaze to my chest, most definitely trying to get a rise out of me.
But then he slipped, he peeked at my whip. He's curious.
"Well... So be it then. Make your choice." I taunted.
Another card, at the speed of light coming towards me. I hadn't even seen him move this time. But this time it's only aimed at my arm. Instead of sparing my arm, I enhanced my gyo again, and watched the card as it approached me, hit me, stuck into my upper left bicep. As I expected, this time he'd attached his bungee gum.
Perfect.
"Darling it's no fun if you're not going to even try.~" Hisoka pouted from across the arena, letting his shoulders slump.
"We both know I couldn't have dodged that without taking damage. Why bother if I can spend that time more wisely?" I lied.
"Spending your time on something more wise than dodging? The next ones going for your neck, my dear. I'd recommend putting in an ounce of effort if you care to live.~"
His voice was more serious now, probably frustrated that I'm sitting here like a waiting duck. What fun is that?
"Very well. And here I was, admiring your toy. What a pity you won't get to show me how you use it~."
Before he could even lift his arm to deal the final card, I flicked my hidden whip just a hair and wrapped it around the bungee gum he had attached to my arm. I don't even think he noticed, because he didn't hesitate to launch what would have been a fatal blow to my throat.
The card he'd thrown fluttered in the air, falling to the ground like a leaf just between us.
The crowd was silent for a moment, in shock, before it erupted with laughter and uproar.
Hisoka's face was the most expressive I had ever seen. His eyes widened, his mouth just barely agape, his brows lifted, with his arm still out in front of him.
Before he could even do anything other than stand there like the arrogant fool he was, I snapped my other whip around both of his ankles, hobbling him. In one swift motion I yanked as hard as I could on that whip and sent him dragging towards me.
He was still speechless, just staring at me like I was a ghost.
His hands were still free, and I couldn't release my other whip from his bungee gum or his nen would flow again and I'd surely be dead. In the split second I had remaining before he started fighting back again, I lunged to deliver a powerful punch right to his left cheek, but he dodged by just a hair, leaving our faces just a few feet apart.
"What did you do to my n~" he whispered, almost sad and with dull eyes, before I yanked him by his ankles again, though this time he sat up and used the momentum to try and launch himself at me.
I switched my whip from hobbling his ankles, to wrapping around his throat. That move cost me a good punch to the face.
Trying to recover from the hit to the cheekbone as quickly as I could, I used every ounce of strength I had to put some distance between us and stiffen my whip, locking him at 10ft away.
"Still curious about how I use my whips, Hisoka?" I asked, with mock genuinity.
Before he could do anything more than open his mouth to speak, I constricted the whip I had around his throat, far more than enough to cut off his windpipe.
Even as he turned blue, and his body relaxed at the lack of oxygen, I could watch his face lift from shock and horror to something far more sinister. His eyes softened again, and he grinned as nefariously as ever. I'm sure if he could have chuckled, he would have.
At the end of my whip I could feel his body relax further and further until his knees gave and I was sure he was KO'd.
After a long pause.
".... TESS WINS, BY KO...", the referee called.
I couldn't take my eyes off of Hisoka's limp body. I felt some sort of guilt.
Why is the crowd so silent?
But like it was on que the entire stadium erupted in cheers and clammer. The announcer rambled on about what might have happened, and how confused everyone was. Confused as to how I incapacitated Hisoka Morow's nen.