Rebirth -- Book 4

Chapter 9 - A New Friend

Hisoka was flipping through his phone after breakfast arrived. Keiko watched him as she chomped on a waffle. His expression was passive but he appeared serious about whatever it was he was reading. After a while he typed something and then put away his phone.

"Change of plans, doll. I may have a new fall boy so you won't have to be involved in the Phantom Troupe plot at all," he grinned.

"Fall boy?"

"Never you mind. I'm going to go down to the gym. I'll be back when I'm back," he waived.

The door clicked behind him and Keiko stared after him, perplexed.

Hisoka smirked as he left the room. He had anticipated Kurapika would take the bait when he told him about the auction. He would hopefully serve as adequate distraction until Hisoka could position himself close enough to Chrollo to take him out. Chrollo was no fool. This would take time. His eyes flicked to a screen in the hall with upcoming matches. In the meantime, Hisoka was looking forward to playing with his new toys.

Keiko wandered down to the main floor. New arrivals had been pouring in by the day as Hisoka had anticipated. She sat at the café and people watched for a while before she heard a chair scoot next to her.

She turned and was met with a gaze eye level to hers from the child next to her. "What is someone like you doing with Hisoka?" Killua asked.

"Nice to meet you too," Keiko mused, turning back to her drink.

"Usually killers don't have friends, especially crazy ones, so I'm very curious," Killua replied.

"You have friends," Keiko replied. Killua's eyed her cautiously. She continued, "Hisoka has been quite interested in all of you in fact, so I have done some digging."

"You couldn't just ask him?" Killua asked.

"Hmm, it's complicated. As an assassin, you should know that it's not always in your best interest to let other assassins or hunters know what you're doing," Keiko replied.

"I let my friends know what I'm doing," Killua said as he put his hands behind his head, "unless you're implying Hisoka is not your friend."

"It's complicated," Keiko said. "It doesn't much matter. He has eyes and ears everywhere. I can almost guarantee that there is not much I do that he doesn't know about. "

"That's a horrible way to live. I would know," Killua said as he stared out over the passing crowd. "My family is pretty overbearing."

"Well, I don't really have any friends here and he took me in and helped hide me from some pretty bad people. I'm grateful to him regardless. But I suspect that he respects me more for trying to not give away everything. I don't always tell him everything I'm doing."

"And how do you know I won't tell those people about you?" Killua smirked, eyes darkening.

"Like I said, I did my homework. I know your friends are after them too. The Spider tends to not make many friends," Keiko replied.

Killua stared at her. "What do you know?" he asked seriously.

"In time. Does this mean we're friends?" Keiko asked.

"What made you decide to trust me?" Killua asked.

"You remind me of one of my sons; Obito. You even look a bit like him."

"Where are they now?" Killua asked, the look in his eyes shifting to curiosity.

"I'm stuck in this world with no way humanly possible to get back at the moment. I'm cut off from my husband and children and I may never see them again. I have to make the best I can of it here. But I think you would like them. They're all Shinobi. Sora is about your age, but there's two older and one younger," Keiko smiled genuinely for the first time during their conversation.

"You don't look a day over 30 at most," Killua said surprised.

"It's...."

"...complicated," Killua finished. "Well I'm happy to make new friends. I don't have many either. Here's my number. Let me know when you wanna talk," Killua said. "See ya."

Keiko bought tickets for Killua and Gon's next matches. She was very curious about them now as they obviously had been watching her as well. She made her way back to the room and found Hisoka there reading something again.

"You know if you're going to spy on me, at least you should do it outside where you have a chance of standing upwind. You can hide your presence all day long but I can smell you a mile off," she groaned.

"I was just passing through," Hisoka pouted innocently. "Still, you were pretty harsh. You don't even trust me."

Keiko rolled her eyes.

"I will do my best to protect you and care for you, but you're also right to be cautious. I'm not really a people person. It's just my nature. I certainly don't hold it against you. I know you want more but your cautiousness is realistic," he shrugged.

"It's no way to live," Keiko said quietly, mimicking Killua's words.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. I got you tickets too," Keiko said, tossing the tickets to Gon and Killua's fights to Hisoka.

"It's a date ♥"

As Hisoka watched her go flip on the computer, he couldn't help but look her over and ponder so many scenarios. He wanted to fight her one day, but he also wanted to protect her. He had even told her he loved her, twice. But he couldn't help but notice she never said it back. He had seen it in her mind when they shared thoughts. He knew how she felt. But seeing his foreign sense of character, she was guarded with him. Selfishly he wanted to keep her, but part of him hoped they could find a way to get her home to a place that was better for her. He felt like he was watching a prisoner. She didn't feel total freedom here in any sense, not even with him. His angsty demon was a product of this environment she had been plunged into and he knew he probably hadn't helped in that regard. If she had to stay here, he hoped she would overcome it. He understood and wanted to make her happy, but at the same time he found her pain both amusing and revolting. His standards didn't make sense to other people. That's why he didn't get along with others.

Without even realizing what he was doing, he found himself behind her before she had sat down. She turned to look at him, tilting her head. The hard look she wore before was gone. Only a softness remained in her eyes. Without a word he pulled her to him and kissed her gently. When he pulled away, she bit her lip and put her face to his chest. They still said nothing. He just held her and stroked her hair. Hisoka supposed they would figure it out as long as they were both still willing to try. If they didn't, well he supposed they would have a pretty interesting fight.