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kalluto had called to warn him about chrollo and hisoka's fight in heaven's arena. "come, watch." he had said before hanging up, and illumi was left dumbfounded for a few moments. why? hisoka would definitely win. oh, how wrong he was...
it was absolutely cruel, how hard his words bit him back. illumi stood and stared, at the sight he never knew he'd live long enough to see. hisoka was lying on the table, blood splattered everywhere. one hand only hand his thumb in tact, the missing digits oozing in crimson. he was also missing a foot, and he bled from there too but what made illumi's heart drop straight down his stomach was hisoka's face.
it was beyond recognition, skin churned from the explosion. he had no nose nor lips, teeth and muscle and skull exposed.
from illumi's place, it seemed like hisoka was staring back at him. unblinking and fully opened eyes looking in his direction. in his last moments, hisoka clutched his heart. illumi could only guess for the reason why, but the question only made it hard for him to breathe.
"oi, what're you doing here?" someone said, a woman. illumi turned to see one of the spiders. the pink-haired one. what was her name again? "i- my brother called me over." illumi let out a shaky sigh, unused to this feeling.
he's never had to see someone important die. and hisoka was somewhat important to him- he was one of the few people outside the family that illumi thought was strong. hisoka was strong, why did he die? "hey, hey. why're you crying for this clown?" machi asked, eyeing him suspiciously. crying? him?
illumi reached for his cheeks, feeling the tears smear his fingers. he... he never cried. "i have to go." he turned, blinking the waterworks and the image of hisoka away. "wait! are you illumi?"
"yes." he sighed again, glancing at her. "why?" she scratched the back of her head, as if uncomfortable. "hisoka talked to me beforehand."
"what did he say?" illumi asked, coming up close to her- his bloodlust pouring out of him. "see how he's holdin' his heart?"
"yes."
"get it?"
that stumped him a few steps backwards. "excuse me?"
"take his heart."
"what did he tell you, exactly?"
"that he had somethin' he wanted to give his 'darling, illumi' after the match, and if he died it'd be the last thing he held." machi held out her threads defensively, as illumi froze in place. his stomach churned at the idea. that sounded like hisoka, sounded so achingly like him.
he walked towards the table, nails elongating. he's always told himself that they would eventually kill each other, but why did this feel so wrong?
taking from a dead man has never been this hard...
for the first time in years, he closed his eyes as he pierced through skin. slick, sticky- hisoka's blood stuck onto his fingers like some ghostly caress. he aimed below hisoka's braced hand, squeezed through his rib cage and around the dead organ. hisoka was holding it, indeed. illumi could feel his sharp nails nearly squeezing his own heart.
his gag reflexes activated at the touch, at the coarse texture around his fingers, but he pulled it out regardless. hisoka's hand plopped to the side as illumi stared. blood dripped from it, some slithering down his forearm.
what was there to see? it was but a normal heart.
he gasped as he felt the familiar warmth of hisoka's nen wrap around his hand. illumi was shaking, his grasp gentle on the heart as he turned his palm over. bungee gum concentrated on his finger. unsure, he tried releasing his nen in that area too. a ring materialized, looping around the bloodied digit.
hisoka's final trick, even in death he lived up to his magician name. "that's some tricky nen after death, right there. he must've really loved you." he heard machi say, but illumi didn't mind.
placing hisoka's heart down, as gently as he could, on the table, illumi took the ring off and wiped the inside of it with his shirt. "not even death will part us, darling." it said on the inside, and illumi broke down. "you promised-" he whimpered. "to die by my hand. why-"
that day, illumi came back to the zoldyck estate with hisoka's heart in his hand, and a commission in mind. he approached his father with his bloodlust uncontrolled. "may i kill chrollo lucilfer?" he asked, and for a split second, his father looked shocked. but he regained composure soon enough. "i do not think that's necessary-"
"dear father." he said over the flurry of his hair. "i'm not asking for permission, i am simply letting you know."