Sᵾđđɇn̷ Ɇm̷øŧɨøn̷s̷ a̷n̷đ Ⱥƀn̷øɍm̷a̷łłɏ Ꝁɨn̷đ Sᵽɨđɇɍs̷

Ŧħɇ Ꝗᵾɇs̷ŧɨøn̷

It was getting late fast, so Illumi clambered into his hammock and allowed Hisoka to sleep on his bed as he usually did. He noticed that the magician fell asleep rather quickly and assumed that he was very tired. As for himself? He stayed awake for a considerable amount of time which was mainly spent thinking about his conversation with Hisoka and thinking about if what he had been telling Illumi all this time was true. For a while now, Hisoka had been trying to convince Illumi that he had been raised horribly and that his parents were simply using him, but he had never agreed with him. Now, small parts of his mind started questioning everything that his parents had told him. Illumi peeked his head out of his hammock and looked at Hisoka as he slept, tilting his head. Even asleep, the magician had a faint smile on his lips and with his eyes slanted up in a joyous manner, one would've believed that he was still awake. Illumi sighed quietly and wondered if he should wake Hisoka up despite seeming to be sleeping so peacefully.

"Hisoka" He whispered so softly that it was barely audible, yet that one word cut through the silence easily.

Opening his mouth up again, he then stopped himself from saying more and slowly slunk out of his hammock. Pausing for a moment, Illumi backtracked and watched Hisoka to make sure he was actually asleep before deciding he was.

"I loved your painting abilities." He whispered softly, forcing the words out of his throat as if they hurt. They didn't actually hurt; it was just very strange to him. He walked over to the kitchen and peered in, noticing his mother and father sitting together and whispering in hushed voices. Upon seeing his parents, he turned around and was about to head back to his room when an opportunity popped into his mind, and he listened to what they were saying.

"-still hasn't retrieved the both of them." His mother, Kikyo, said in a hushed yet frantic tone.

"He'll find them soon but know I'm only allowing this since that demon came into the equation." His father, Silva, replied.

"I know, dear, and I sincerely apologize, but Kil needs to come back home! That demon will never be allowed to see him again."

Illumi had a pretty good idea on who this 'demon' they were talking about was, and ever since he had a talk with Hisoka, he started seeing Alluka in a better light. For some reason when he heard his parents refer to Alluka as a demon and not their own child, he felt a bad feeling in his chest. That was when his mother yelped and turned her head to Illumi who had just realized he had unleashed his aura and quickly put it away. His father, however, appeared unfazed.

"Illumi, come here." His father commanded, so he did.

After moving to stand next to his father, he waited.

"Why are you up this late?" His father asked, crossing his arms.

"No particular reason, but I wish to ask you a question." Illumi said, fighting the urge to move away from the both of them as they moved closer.

"Oh? What question do you want to ask?" His mother inquired.

He paused for a split second, doubting his plans and quietly cursing Hisoka out of a moment of nervousness, and then asked those four words.

"Are you manipulating me?"