You are Darkness

Chapter 4 - Overthinking

Note: As promissed, here is chapter 4. I hope you like it!

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The morning air felt a bit chilli against his face but Hisoka didn't mind. He had been waiting for an opportunity to cool down after his last encounter with Illumi, and this was as close to being calm as he could get.
He had splutter Chrollo's name in an almost desperate attempt to tease Illumi's jealousy and, to his infinite surprise, he'd accomplished that. But that didn't mean that he knew where the spider was, or if his former superior would have any information about Killua.
Still, he decided to focus his attention on the facts he knew. Chrollo had lost his ability to use nen and he had to severed all his contact with the rest of the spider. Kurapika told him to travel east but since that wasn't one of his "conditions" Hisoka thought that his friend wouldn't oblige.
That's why he found himself following a dubious lead to a small portuary city near Yorkshin.
"My my, how the tables had turned" said Hisoka to himself when he finally spotted the former leader of the spider sitting on a street bench, staring at the ocean. He looked the same as always, only a little disheveled. His hair almost reached his eyes which showed an intriguing mix of melancholy and rage.
"Are you going to keep staring from the distance, or are you planning to come and say hello?" Chrollo's voice was like a thunder from a far away storm, deep and earth shaking, but distant.
Either way Hisoka smiled. "I guess you don't need nen to feel my presence"
"I never did actually, your presence goes far beyond that"
"Oh, you know better than to flatter me senseless" Hisoka sat down next to Chrollo and looked at the ocean as well. He thought for a second he had seen his rival smile on the corner of his eyes, but then he spoke, calmed and composed as always.
"Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your stalking?"

In the meanwhile, the same scene was playing in a hundred different ways inside illumi's head. Back in the Yorkshin hotel, the room felt quiet and cold, just as he liked it, but still, he was unable to concentrate.
He ordered room service and sat on the edge of the window holding a hot mug of coffee. He had spent the last few days focusing on his task, searching through many dark online sites, asking whichever few contacts he had, but no information had been useful in the slightest. Above everything else that was truly annoying him, the fact that he was being utterly useless in finding his brother was the worst of it. Having to depend on someone else to do a task, any task but specifically one which involved his little brother, had proven to be infuriating for the Zoldyck.
It had been two days after Hisoka had left to find Chrollo and Illumi hadn't heard anything from the clown ever since their rooftop squabble. Something was particularly bothering him. What if Hisoka couldn't get anything from the spider? or what if he had been lying from the beginning and just took the opportunity and ran away? Well, that wouldn't be much of a problem, all he'd need to do then would be track him down and kill him. But what if...?
Something unknown twisted his stomach as he kept rummaging around his thoughts.
"He will, for a price"
Hisoka's words bursted into his mind as he was trying to evade the subject. What price was he referring to? Information perhaps? Illumi didn't think the clown could have any intell the spider would want, so that was unlikely. A fight? definitely not, that would be Hisoka's price. Money was out of the question, Hisoka had some from winning fights on the heaven arena but wasn't particularly keen on giving it away. Maybe Hisoka would offer to kill the chain bastard for him, but it was unlikely for the clown to work as a hitman if the target's death wasn't in his own interest.
Then what?
"Oh."
A powerful realization came to the Zoldyck's mind."Disgusting". He said wrinkling his nose.
No only he considered thieves merely as rats who took pride in scavenging society's leftovers, he found their leader the king of the fools. He always knew about Hisoka's untruthful affiliation with the spider and his idiotic obsession with fighting him to death but, was there some other interest lying behind that blood lust? He wondered. Hisoka had attempted to discuss his sexual prowesses with him, but Illumi was never interested in listening, so he kept doing it just to annoy him. He never mentioned Chrollo as one of his lovers... or did he? Illumi wasn't sure. After all, when it came to the clown's love life he couldn't have been less interested.
He stood up and started to pace around the room. He wasn't used to have moments of idleness and this rather boring waiting was nerve wracking; yet he stopped completely when he reached the small table where he intended to leave his mug. The gorgeous orchid was still there, wearing those red spots, staining the pristiness of its white petals. Illumi cocked his head as he remembered the first time he had seen the clown. They were both young yet he could see that life had already taken a toll on Him. Those golden eyes, always sparkling with mischief had another shade, something dark and deep that the young Zoldyck couldn't understand at the time. Yet he knew that he will always try to find out what was hiding behind the flawless mask of that expert lier.
Illumi decided to stop wandering around memory lane, he wouldn't find the answers he needed there anyway but boredom was taking the best of him. He finally decided that a little recognition mission was the best option at hand to find at least some information.
Like a child prying into his parents' room, he ventured into Hisoka's bedroom. No sooner had he opened the door, that the clown's scent penetrated his system. Illumi had always find it overly sweet for his taste, only this time it made him feel something different. Like an invisible hand gripping his throat, his stomach turning upside down. He feared sickness for a brief second but then decided to ignore the feeling completely, like he always did. Instead, he focused on the task ahead, but there wasn't really much research material left there.
The room, was pretty much empty except for a few clothes hanging in the closet. No personal belongings, or evidence of any kind. Illumi felt stupid and defeated sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. He let himself drop on the soft mattress, surrounded by the messy sheets of the unmade bed.
"What am I doing?" He whispered softly. It's not like he was going to find a written plan for Hisoka's encounter and most importantly. "Why the fuck do I care about this?" He said letting a bit of his frustration slip into his words.