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Hisoka Morrow wakes up at the crack of dawn. The sun has barely risen yet but he has a multitude of chores that need to be completed before he can do his favorite farm activity, tend to his orange trees.
He gets out of bed and makes himself a simple breakfast of toast and jam.Although it is his favorite orange jam, how he wishes for fresh oranges, but it is not time to harvest them yet. He is still Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
Hisoka thinks about his husband, away for work, as he feeds the chickens and milks the cows.
He is still astounded that he convinced Illumi Zoldyck to marry him, especially since he’d given up his old life to live as a simple orange farmer.
Illumi had surprisingly been fine with it, as long as he didn’t have to do any of the manual labor that comes with having a farm.
When they had first moved into the farmhouse Hisoka had expected Illumi to be entirely unhelpful in running the farm, but Illumi had never been one to sit idly when things needed to be done. So, while he didn’t do any of the planting and he wouldn’t be caught dead near the barn where the animals were kept, he busied himself keeping track of the finances of the farm, keeping the house tidy, and took up needlepoint, an act that both surprised Hisoka and made a lot of sense considering his nen-ability.
When Hisoka finished planting their first crop of oranges, Illumi was nearly as excited as he was, Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
When Illumi is gone, Hisoka is quite bored.
There are only so many chores to do on a farm and, with Hisoka’s nen-enhanced speed and strength, he easily completes them by lunchtime. Illumi, who is a heavy sleeper would usually be waking up around this time, and they would spend the afternoon together.
Hisoka would annoy Illumi for a few hours before retiring to his afternoon nap, he must be in top condition for their evening sparring. Illumi would use this time to actually get some work done and to work on his needlepoint. With his nen-ability he could make several pieces a day and on the weekends he and Hisoka would sell them in town at the local market.
They didn’t need the money, not with the amount Hisoka made at Heavens Arena and especially since Illumi is still an active member of the notorious Zoldyck family, but Hisoka enjoys going into town and harassing the locals.
They go every Saturday.
The locals of the town were initially appalled at this strange dressing, flirtatious, clown man and his mild mannered but very obviously wealthy husband who showed up one Saturday and have continued to do so since. But they have long since gotten used to their strange antics and Hisoka’s weird penchant to make things stick together with the notorious Bungee Gum that they had all gotten sick of hearing about.
Sundays were the days that Illumi would go back to the Zoldyck manor to receive missions. He tried his best to finish these missions by Monday afternoon, as Hisoka often went a little stir crazy alone at the farm without his husband, alone, Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
It is times like this, when Illumi is gone on a mission for more than his customary day and a half, that Hisoka gets up to the most mischief.
The first time Illumi was gone for more than 2 days Hisoka had stolen all of the local cows and had used Bungee Gum to glue them together in the shape of one large cow. The local townspeople were understandable shocked and angered when they realized their cows were gone and then doubly so when a few hours later at the farm of the new weird residents a giant cow appeared.
Worried for their new neighbors, who they had only seen a few times at the market, they all rushed over with their best weapons, some pitchforks and a few shovels, to confront the cow monster.
But instead of a hard-fought battle, they instead were subjugated to a strange magic show put on by the weird clown man.
He introduced himself and of course his nen ability to the crowd with great vigor and showmanship and then proceeded to dazzle them, performing various card tricks and acrobatics.
The crowd left so delighted that they forgot to ask for their cows back.
Illumi returned the next day to find a yard full of cows and a mountain of cow shit.
He was understandably livid and promptly proceeded to beat Hisoka to a pulp.
The next day, a battered Hisoka, returned the cows to their proper owner and even gave them a little embroidered handkerchief as an apology from Illumi.
The cow owners were quite grateful for the safe return of their cattle, forgetting who took them in the first place, and were delighted at the handkerchief and the charmingly handsome man that had delivered it.
Texture surprise is, conveniently for Hisoka, great at hiding bruises.
Illumi also tasked Hisoka with removing all the poop from their front yard.
And, it was all of this readily available fertilizer that made Hisoka decide to start an orange grove. He had always been fond of oranges and if he had his own grove, he could have them all the time, all he has to do is Wait for the Fruit to Ripen.
It is Wednesday afternoon and Hisoka is bored.
Illumi had sent a message to him Sunday evening saying that he would be gone a little longer than normal, but after 4 days Hisoka is getting antsy.
He had already Bungee Gummed every piece of furniture they owned to the ceiling, gone into town and bought every kitchen table he could find and then Bungee Gummed them into a colosseum like structure.
And, he then kidnapped a bear from its den and fought it, without nen, in said colosseum.
And now he is bored.
He wishes Illumi was here.
Illumi is more fun to fight than a bear.
He would not have found the upside-down furniture funny but he still would have channeled nen into his feet and walked around on the ceiling with his childish husband.
Hisoka is in the process of being miffed that Illumi still isn’t home, hanging upside-down in front of the open front door to his house when he sees a lone figure enter the path to the front door.
He instinctively throws a card at the person still too far away to see clearly.
If it was Illumi he would just dodge or catch it, and if it was a townsperson then there were too many of them anyway.
He did actually like the people in the little town, and would regret it if he accidentally killed one, but none of them believed him when he talked about Bungee Gum. They all thought it was all part of his magic act, and it was starting to get on his nerves.
Paired with the annoyance that he felt with Illumi’s absence, he made no attempt to save the possible townsperson from his deadly card.
Conveniently, the person ran up and plucked the card out of the air, but now that the person was closer, Hisoka noticed that he was far too short to be Illumi, and his hair was much too white.
Although he was surprised that someone else in the backwards farm town could use nen, it isn’t interesting enough to curb his annoyance, and he shuts his front door on them.
He continues to hang upside down in front of his closed front door, feeling sorry for himself, and is about to take a nap when the person who had been approaching his house starts banging on his front door and yelling to be let in.
This just makes Hisoka even more annoyed, so he puts a little Bungee Gum in his ears to block the noise and promptly goes to sleep, dreaming of his orange grove and Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
Hisoka angrily sits in the armchair on his ceiling.
He was just rudely awakened by his front door being destroyed and was about to rip the intruder to pieces when he realized that it was Illumi’s favorite younger brother, Killua.
If he killed Killua he would never hear the end of it.
He increases his killing intent hoping that it would get him to go away. But Killua who has long since gotten used to this tactic just ignores him and walks around him, into the house. And then proceeds to annoyingly question Hisoka on the odd state of the house: the furniture on the ceiling, the table Colosseum, the unconscious bear in the front yard.
Hisoka thinks it is very rude to question the state of someone else’s house, especially if you, quite literally, barged your way in. So, he ignored Killua in favor of sulking in his upside-down armchair.
Killua, determining that Hisoka was just going to ignore him until he got to the point, got to the point.
The Zoldyck family was going through a big change, Killua told him.
He was no longer the heir.
Hisoka was puzzled as to what this had to do with him.
Other than his attachment to Illumi he had nothing to do with the Zoldyck family, but if Killua was no longer the heir then that must mean that the new heir was…
Hisoka jumped up, or down actually since he was on the ceiling, and in a moment of clumsiness, out of character for the eternally suave clown, fell ungracefully into a heap on the ground.
He grabbed Killua and ran out the door. He stopped at the neighbor’s house leaving a note asking them to watch the animals while he was away and then ran to the train station, the only way to get in and out of this tiny town.
He did not want to leave his home but there were some things that he had to do before he could get back to Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
Hisoka was able to compose himself on the train ride.
He was just startled, that's all.
He had just gotten so used to his little routine.
He didn’t need it or anything he told himself.
He was Hisoka Morrow.
He was the bringer of chaos and he thrived on it.
He took some time to actually think about what was going on. Killua was no longer the heir. Illumi was the new heir, something that he had never stated but Hisoka had known he always wanted.
Family was the most important thing to Illumi and although he and Illumi were married, Hisoka knew that he would never be as important as his family.
He had known it when they had gotten married, although this had just been Hisoka declaring that they were husbands now and Illumi not disagreeing, and he had made his peace with it then.
He just wanted to see Illumi, that's all, before Illumi took over the Zoldyck estate, before he was busy with the family business, before he wasn’t Hisoka’s anymore.
Although Killua witnessed Hisoka’s break in character he did not comment, if he was surprised at the urgency that Hisoka left for the manor he did not show it. It had been about 10 months since Hisoka and Illumi’s declared marriage and 8 since they had moved onto the farm and planted their orange grove.
This was barely any time really and much more important and stimulating things had happened to them in their lives as killers and hunters. He always knew that he couldn’t stay at the farm forever, Waiting for the Fruit to Ripen.
They arrive at the manor, and Hisoka vaults over the walls, not bothering to see how many he can open, one of the main reasons he visits the manor usually. He was with Killua and had been here enough times for the butlers to recognize him, and if they attacked he would just kill them.
Killua leads Hisoka into the dining room of the manor.
Hisoka had wanted to speak to Illumi alone, but this was better than nothing.
It is as Hisoka is walking into the grandiose room he suddenly remembers what he is wearing.
His new customary outfit is a strange mishmash of the clown outfit that he had always worn and traditional country boy attire, overalls and the like, along with the occasional straw hat.
He was very glad that he had forgone the hat today as he is distinctly underdressed in comparison to the Zoldyck’s that sit at the table.
All of them except Alluka and until now Killua are present and in their best attire.
If he were a lesser man, he would have been ashamed or at least mildly embarrassed at his lack of formality but as everyone knows Hisoka has no shame, so this barely phased him.
He winked at Silva who was seated at the head of the table and then stared at Illumi.
He was sitting at Silva’s right side, a spot usually reserved for Killua.
No, for the Zoldyck heir.
Although the room was decorated as if there was a celebration and there were a multitude of delicious looking dishes, it was very quiet.
A butler pulled out two chairs for Killua and Hisoka to sit and stepped away.
So, they sat.
And Hisoka wondered, would he and Illumi ever return to their farm to Wait for the Fruit to Ripen.
Hisoka sat in uncustomary silence as he waited for the family to finish their meal. Usually when Hisoka has someone to talk to he almost never stops, but this is not the case as he sits in the tense room.
It is Illumi who eventually speaks first.
“Hisoka, why are you here?”
Why is he there?
He had determined on the train that he was there to see Illumi, but why?
Surely even with his new responsibility as the eminent head of the Zoldyck’s Illumi would still take time out of his busy schedule to spar with Hisoka. He could accompany him occasionally on missions.
It’s not like they would never see eachother again. Hisoka waits a moment before responding truthfully.
He flashes a predatory smile.
“I’m just here to see you my dear. Being alone at the farm is sooo boring.”
Yes, that is the truth but, like one of Hisoka’s card tricks, there is always more beneath the surface.
“Since you came with Killua, I assume you know that I am to be the new head of the family.”
Both Killua and Silva wince at this statement.
Killua because although he did not want this title, he is still reluctant to thrust it upon anyone else, even Illumi. Silva presumably because of his failure to mold Killua into the perfect heir as he had wanted.
“I heard that’s what you’ve been up to the last few days. It seems I have interrupted your celebratory dinner,” Hisoka croons.
“You’ll be quite shocked to see the mess I made at home while you were gone.”
Silva stands abruptly, “As my heir Illumi is moving back into the manor. He no longer needs to associate himself with such unsavory characters as you.”
Illumi looks perturbed at this comment, as perturbed as he with the ultimate poker face could look at least. And, a flash of killing intent spreads over Hisoka’s face as he fleetingly glances at Silva.
“Did it look like I was talking to you?” He stares back at Illumi.
“As much as I would love to fight you right now, I’m trying to talk to my husband.”
There are gasps from around the room.
“Illumi, I knew you were hanging around with this disgusting clown man, but husband! How could you go and marry him!”
Kikyo’s words are shrill and the sound of the slap that she plants on Illumi’s face from across the table is even worse.
Hisoka is immediately infuriated, his killing intent raging.
Illumi, on the other hand, is still, but he murmurs, too quiet, for anyone to hear, “He is not disgusting.”
“He is not family. The family is the most important thing.”
Kikyo continues screeching, and as her tirade escalates, Silva crosses over to stand by her. His gaze is firmly on Illumi who hasn’t moved since this whole thing began.
“Illumi…” Hisoka starts only to pause in his words,
“The oranges will be ripe soon.”
Illumi stands up suddenly and walks out of the room. Both Hisoka and Silva follow.
They catch up to him as he reaches the front gate. Silva calls out to him.
“You are really going to give up on everything you have ever wanted.”
He sounds resigned, as if he knows he is a failure as a father. None of his progeny will be what he wants them to be, what the family demands that they be, and what until now, Illumi had desperately wanted to be.
Illumi looks back at his father, the family that he had known his whole life, and speaks,
“Mother is right, family is most important.”
He grabs Hisoka’s arm,
“Just not this one. ”
And they flee from the manor.
They are going back together to their little farm, where the two of them, their little family, will Wait for the Fruit to Ripen, together.