𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐𝟕 | 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐀

Everyday Pleasures

"NOW, (L/N), is this where you had run off to?" Hisoka's voice soon reached (Y/N)'s and Illumi's ears, the two turning to find him stalking down the hall towards her, Garo who had been left with him nowhere to be seen. "With Illumi of all people? I have to say I'm disappointed. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"You did," Illumi responded, hostility seeming to crackle between the two men.

(Y/N) glanced between Hisoka and Illumi. Not only did both men look strange due to the prominent scowls that seemed to be working its way onto their lips, but both seemed further agitated for a different reason altogether.

"It's a good thing I did, then," Hisoka tutted, his chin tilting upward in displeasure.

Hisoka and Illumi...

I wonder what's going through their minds right now to make them act like this?

Well, it doesn't matter to me.

"I'm off to my room," (Y/N) announced as she abruptly turned around to begin walking away from the other two. "Don't follow me."

"Aw, so soon?" Hisoka uttered in what seemed to be faux disappointment as he sidled in front of her retreating figure to force her, however the look in his eyes telling a very different story. "Don't you want to try and spar with me again as well? That bore of a man you fought before is so much weaker than me that it's laughable."

"You never tire of this, do you?" She sighed. "Where is Garo? You didn't do something to him, did you?"

"Of course not," he simpered. "He's safe and sound... unconscious in his room."

"How ideal," Illumi hummed.

Though she wasn't one to take Hisoka at his words, one simple glance at him was enough to tell that he hadn't exerted the energy needed to kill a man. With that confirmation, she brushed last him without another word, missing the way his smirk vanished and his golden eyes sharpened. As much as he found it humorous initially when she had ignored him, time and time again he found his irritation bubbling at the very idea of her writing him off.

If (L/N) keeps this up, ignoring me so blatantly... who knows what I'll do to him by then?

Feeling Hisoka's and Illumi's stare burning through her skull, (Y/N) was thankful to have finally turned a corner to rid herself of their inquisitive gazes. Retreating to her room for a much needed shower, she gently discarded her clothes and bandages before stepping into the small, enclosed space, the warm water streaming down her skin in small torrents. Staring down at her feet, her arms folded over her breasts, her expression dimmed ever so slightly.

"I'm so tired of living..." she muttered as she ran her hands down her wet hair.

After a thousand years...

Why can I not die?

Shaking her head, trying to remove such thoughts, she began the process of cleaning. Massaging shampoo and conditioner into her hair before rinsing it out, she then began cleaning her body. Closing her eyes against the suds that ran down her skin, she allowed the soothing liquid to wash over her face as her hands smoothed back her hair. Shutting the water off, she stepped out of the shower and shuddered from the cold air that suddenly hit her. After restoring her bandages with her Nen, she began the process of twining them around her body before cementing them in place with another layer of Nen. Slipping on a pair of comfortable pants and a loose shirt, it didn't take her long to fall asleep.

The bed she laid upon was soft and comfortable, the silk sheets warm against her body as her eyes closed, her mind going blank.

Not entirely, however.

She knew she was dreaming the moment she saw him, for she had left him long ago.

"What do you want?" She asked, still donning her cloak in her dream world despite the fact that she never wore the garment to bed.

"Is that how you greet me after we haven't seen each other in so long, (N/N)?" He murmured softly, using the nickname she had allowed him to call her before she had left. "Are you really going to keep acting so hostile to me even after I have done everything I can to find you again?"

"I told you," she lifted her chin, gazing at him coldly. "You were hurt, so I healed you, and stayed with you until you were fine. I told you beforehand I would be moving on."

"I needed you," he proclaimed.

"No... you didn't."

"You still treat me like a child," he murmured, pressing several of his fingers against his forehead. "It's been seven years. I'm 26 now, so why? There is something about the way you act... like you've lived for hundreds of years. Why is that?"

"You do not need to know."

"That saddens me, my heart."

"Don't call me that."

"It's true, though," he mused as he brushed his fingers against her cheek, something she stopped by grabbing his wrist and forcing him away. "I've given you my heart, soul, and body, so why can I not have the same in return? I've even gone to the pains of stealing a Nen ability concerning dreams to find you. All I want is to be beside you. I don't care what it takes. I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth until you submit to me as mine."

(Y/N) didn't speak for a moment before uttering, "I pity you."

"You don't need to," the man smiled, his handsome features only seeming to heighten with the look, his eyes softening with a rather possessive edge. "I'll have you soon, and then, I'll have all the time I need to change your mind."

The air around the two grew tense.

Bitterness, like an infection, seemed to spread throughout (Y/N)'s mind the longer she stood in this man's presence. She didn't hate him, no, but she wasn't necessarily fond of him, either. She had taken him in when he was hurt from something she knew nought since he didn't tell her, and then she had stayed with him until he was healed. However, what she hadn't expected was the way he had grown increasingly attached to her in the few months that he was there.

It was odd.

Strange.

Then again, he didn't look to be the type to have ever had someone care for him.

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To be continued...