Chapter Text
Day 6. AU
Soulmates were regarded as being rare, at least finding your own soulmate was, what with there being so many people in the world how would you find the one that would be linked to your very own soul? It was too difficult to do, and many people just didn’t have the funds to go out into the world and simply look for their soulmate, most people needed to live after all.
But for those who did find their soulmates?
It was something to celebrate, because it meant that they had found someone who would balance them, make them a better person than they were already.
There was only one clue, one hint that someone was your soulmate. A thin red thread that only the two linked souls could see, a thread that would stay connected until one of them dies, and then? The other wouldn’t be that far behind.
A soulmates link is regarded as a powerful bond, once a soulmate had been found they would be linked in such a way that it would be difficult to describe to anyone else who hadn’t already made their own bond. A soulmate was so much more than a romantic partner, it was more than just an intense connection too. They could hear your thoughts as you could hear theirs, they knew who you were to your very core, they would know when you were lying, they would know you in such a way that no one else ever could.
A soulmate could be a lover, a friend, a confidant, or all three given how intimate the connection was, it was hard for soulmates to see each other as anything else, but there was exceptions of course.
Leorio Paladiknight was more than happy to think that his soulmate was somewhere else in the world, as far as he was concerned there was no way he was ever going to meet them during his lifetime, so he didn’t really pay too much attention when there was talk about soulmates. His goal was far more important than that after all, his goal required for him to have money and besides there were many people who would never find their soulmates, they were happy and content as they were with their partners, so why should he worry about it?
To get the money that he needed, he decided to take part in the Hunter Exam, he needed the funds to go to college, as well as have some money put aside so that when he finally got to leave college he could help those were couldn’t afford to visit a doctor.
He kept that in mind as he and his two new friends walked into a rather gloomy room, where they were given their badge numbers and then met a man who had clearly been part of the Exam a few times before, particularly when he pointed to a man who had caused another man to somehow lose his arms by turning them to flower petals.
Red hair, pale skin and a rather eccentric manner of dress, Tonpa called the man Hisoka the Magician.
Leorio narrowed his eyes at the man who had begun to walk away from the injured man, thinking for a moment that he could see a thin red thread on his little finger before he turned to look at his two friends. He wanted to become a doctor, but how could he help the man? He had nothing in his bag to deal with this kind of blood loss, everything was more basic that he carried with him.
It’s probably just a minor cut on his finger… or it’s just my imagination. Yea, probably just imagined it.
Those were the words he tried to tell himself, because what else could it be? He couldn’t imagine having him as a soulmate.
Until they finally faced each other in the second part of the exam, having been running through the swamp lands, only for himself and Kurapika to witness first hand at how powerful the magician truly was as he used playing cards to kill the other examinee’s who had been willing to give up for this year, and wanted to have Hisoka fail too.
“On my signal.” Kurapika began as the magician began to walk over to them, a playing card appeared between his fingers. “We’ll run in opposite directions.” they waited for a few moments, until the wind began to blow. “Run!”
The two ran, though Leorio stopped, he couldn’t just run away like a coward, that wasn’t who he was. Wasn’t he trying to become a Hunter? He was likely going to face people like Hisoka, so he needed to face him now.
So he returned to face the man with a stick in his hands, although he was fully aware that it wouldn’t do him any good. He could brawl, but then again who couldn’t? Yet Hisoka showed that he had skill in fighting, and likely other things up his sleeves too.
“Hmm?” a grin appeared on those lips, golden eyes practically glowing in delight at seeing the man approach him through the thick fog. “Ah, so my little soulmate is coming to me.”
Hearing him say those words, Leorio looked down at his little finger before looking over at Hisoka, who held his hand up for him to see, along with the playing card the he still held in-between his fingers. There was a red thread that connection them, though the middle part that completely connected them wasn’t complete, all Leorio had to do was continue to walk closer to him and that would be the connection complete.
He stopped walking to just look at him.
“Are you surrendering? A wise choice.” he said with a nod, while Leorio gritted his teeth and glared at him.
“No. I don’t want to be your soulmate, and I bet you don’t want to be mine either.” he began, yet the connection that was still rather weak told him that he was wrong with him assumption, the man before him was just fine with this link they were creating.
“Oh? I wouldn’t say no to a handsome man like yourself.” he said those words with complete confidence and ease, all the while Leorio just shook his head in disbelief even as he felt those golden eyes looking him over.
“Well sorry to say, I am saying no to you.” he snapped and began to move back the way he came, he couldn’t charge at him, the connection would link them together completely and that wasn’t what he wanted.
Yet his wishes were ignored, as the magician came at him, though as he moved to prepare to strike him with his stick; even though every fibre of his being was telling him that the man was a lot more dangerous than he realised; a pale hand reached out to him, and he saw a rather odd look in those golden eyes, as though the man was disappointed in him, and he wondered if this would be the last thing he would ever see, his soulmate connecting with him as he was killing him.
There was a loud whack as something struck Hisoka’s temple, causing him to grunt and take a step back from the other man.
It was a minor reprieve as Leorio looked to the side to see where it had come from, because it had looked like a fishing line, and then his heart sunk as he realised who would have attempted such an attack, only to feel his blood run cold as he saw Gon panting, gripping his fishing pole like his life depended on it.
Which Leorio knew that it likely would, unfortunately.
“Did… I make it?” the young boy asked as he looked over at the two men, completely unaware that he had interrupted a soul connection and not someone trying to murder his friend.
The magician turned to look over at him, Leorio could now feel the connection they had so clearly, he could tell that the other man was impressed with the boy, for being so brave to not only attack him in such an ingenious way, but also being able to sneak up on him like that, yet Leorio’s heart was racing in fear as to what he might do to his young friend.
“Gon, get outta here!” he yelled as Hisoka began to walk away from him and towards the boy, though it didn’t appear to be in a threatening manner, but he could feel the intentions behind it, he knew that the man’s relaxed strides meant little. “Hey, your fight is with me!” he tried to strike him with the stick he still held, he foolishly thought he had a chance since he was attacking from behind.
Hisoka punched him without needing to look at him, and as Leorio began to pass out he wondered if he was actually about to die, before he heard a quiet voice in his mind.
“Not yet my little soulmate.”
Leorio had no idea if Gon was going to be okay or not, or if Hisoka would murder him as he had with all the other examinee’s.
Leorio winced at the light that was coming through the tee leaves, before realising that he wasn’t dead, he wasn’t in the swamp where he had been knocked out, and he looked around himself to see the other examinee’s standing on a path, before he felt the ache on the side of his face and he winced in pain. He realised that no one was looking over at him, or even coming to check on him and his injuries, and then he felt a rather unique presence near him, causing him to turn and see the red haired magician leaning against the tree that he was leaning against, with his arms cross and looking rather pleased with himself, while everyone kept a large space between them.
Leorio attempted to do the same, soulmate or not, he didn’t want to be anywhere near him. “Ah…” his face hurt too much to be able to move too far away from him, and as he looked down at their fingers, he saw that the thread was completely linked together, which meant that Hisoka must have brought him here as he couldn’t see Gon or Kurapika.
“I think you must have some painkiller in your bag… oh wait, Gon has it though doesn’t he?” the magician turned to look at him, teasing him as he did so.
Had Leorio not been in such pain, he would have attempted to physically hurt him again, even if last time that had been the cause of this injury. “Shut up.” his pride had been wounded, not only because Hisoka had been the one to bring his unconscious body to the meeting spot, but also because he had been so reliant on Gon to get him out of a tricky situation.
“Don’t be like that. I will admit that I never thought that someone like yourself would be my soulmate, yet it seems we both have to live with it.”
“Huh?” he looked up at the man, wincing as he did so. “So… what did you think your soulmate would be like?” he was curious, and he couldn’t feel any malicious intent from their connection either.
There was a pause as Hisoka thought over the question. “I hadn’t given it much thought before, though never had I thought my soulmate would be your age, or indeed someone so money hungry who would want to go to college to be a doctor, to help the poor.” he was clearly teasing him again, but the information he told him had him wondering if Hisoka had been able to overhear the conversation he had with Kurapika earlier, but he had been further ahead of them hadn’t he?
“Shut up.” he said, bristling at his teasing tone.
“I suppose the truth would be that I never thought that I would meet my soulmate, I figured they would be in a job that would mean our paths would never cross.” he shrugged and looked down at him. “After all, someone like myself likely shouldn’t have a soulmate, and am sure there will be debates about my even having a soul as well.” he said all of that with a smile on his face, as though amused by the whole situation.
Leorio began to gingerly rub his cheek, trying to sooth the pain. “No seriously, I need you to shut up.” he could also feel a headache coming on, but it wasn’t due to the man talking, if anything it might have been due to their newly made connection, but why did it seem that Hisoka wasn’t affect by it?
The magician crouched down next to him, carefully taking his face into his hands, as Leorio felt those sharp nails press lightly against his cheek, he was barely able to stop himself from trembling before him, even if he was somewhat assured that Hisoka wouldn’t kill him, he could certainly harm him.
“I didn’t hit you that hard… perhaps the fall caused other injuries.” the pad of both his thumbs began to lightly stroke his cheeks, soon Leorio found himself closing his eyes, he felt the ache being soothed, and it was due to something so simple. “Hmm? Ah, so it seems that the touch of a soulmate does help to ease the pain.” the way he said it was like he was examining him, which resulted in Leorio to open one eye to look at him with a raised eyebrow that the other man noticed. “There are certain things that don’t occur with every soulmate, like the touch of a soulmate is meant to ease the pain they are feeling, which appears to be true with you.”
“Really?” this was the first he was hearing about it, though he hadn’t ever though of reading up about it before, he hadn’t thought that he would ever find his soulmate after all.
“Hmm, so we are now bonded together until death.” the way he said the last word, with his golden eyes sparkling in joy caused Leorio’s heart to sink.
“Not yet, just… just let me live out some of my life first before you kill yourself!” he cried out in protest, wincing in pain as Hisoka moved his hand off his swollen cheek, though with a scoff the magician placed his hand back into the injured cheek again as Leorio pressed his face against the cool hand, feeling better with his touch.
“I am not planning on dying any time soon, but should I, I will be sure to warn you about it first, so you can make any arrangements.”
The teasing tone was back again. “Like am gonna give you any of my information.” he snapped, wincing as the hand moved off his cheek again, it was as though Hisoka was testing the soothing touch of a soulmate as he returned his hand to his cheek and stroked him again.
“Am sure our paths will cross again during this exam.” he told him with a smile, giving the young man’s cheek one final stroke before standing up and walking away from him, leaving Leoiro with an aching cheek that he couldn’t figure out what to do to sooth it without calling Hisoka back to him.
Yet he didn’t have to as Gon and Kurapika turned up, handing him his bag and he got out the painkillers, the pair asked him what he could remember and he decided to play dumb, there was no way that he wanted to worry the two about him not only finding his soulmate, but the fact that his soulmate was also a killer.
For the rest of the exam Leorio had managed to avoid Hisoka, at least for a few stages, until it came to the fourth stage where things became a little bit more complicated. He had paired up with Kurapika, the younger man sticking with him because he wasn’t exactly the best at fending for himself, as was proven when he tried to help Tonpa, only to fall for the trap that had been carefully laid out. Had Kurapika not helped out, Leorio would have to take the test next year and he wanted to try and avoid that if possible.
So the pair kept walking around until finally it was decided that they should bathe, quickly of course, but Kurapika felt that it would be smarter to have a few moments of reprieve before they began the hunt for Leorio’s badge to get him the points he needed to pass this stage of the exam.
What Leorio didn’t expect was for the magician to be leaning against a tree with a grin on his face, he was barley able to repress a shiver as he saw how the man looked at him.
“My little soulmate, it’s good to see you again.” he walked over to him with all the confidence and elegance of a cat.
In that moment, Leorio hated him, catching the look in those golden eyes he realised the the other man was well aware of his feelings towards him, even though deep down he did actually want to magician as the man wanted him. The soulmate connection appeared to be getting stronger and more intense, yet from what Leorio had learned from Kurapika; he had wondered if the other man knew more about soulmates and they had plenty of time to kill in Trick Tower. It was lucky that Killua hadn’t taken much notice of their conversation, or perhaps he simply didn’t care, given how rare soulmates were after all, had he taken an interest in it, everything would be out in the open. Yet how could he admit to them who his soulmate was? A man who unnerved every single one of them?
Kurapika had explained that every time the newly connected soulmates meet, their connection, their link would become stronger and deeper than it had before. Of course he hadn’t believed that, but now he realised that it really was true, and he hated it.
“What do you want?” he was blunt, really he didn’t want to deal with him right now, he wanted to focus on getting his badges, on passing this stage of the exam.
“Oh, your badge of course.”
Now he took a step back, but he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t fight him after all, but he was unwilling to give up his badge to him. “No way, and am not even your target, Tonpa was, so what are...” he trailed off as the dots finally connected. “You… don’t know who your target is do you? So you’re just going around to find three random numbers… all because you enjoy killing people that much!” he was scared as he raised his voice, and a look on the magician’s face told him that the other man was well aware of it.
He wished Kurapika would hurry up and get out of the water to help him, even though the other man had just gotten in.
“I thought so.” he said with a sigh, appearing to be completely relaxed before looking over towards the river that Kurapika was currently bathing in. “And what of...”
“Another guy, with the monkey.” he was quick to get out, to stop him from targeting his friend, he wasn’t going to repeat what happened with Gon again.
“I see.” it was clear that his mood had soured from that knowledge, yet it wasn’t visible on his face, Leorio could just tell that he was annoyed, which was odd since the man seemed to have been able to keep his other emotions hidden from him before, unless he wanted him to continue being afraid of him? “Well I suppose...” a playing card appeared between his fingers.
“No way am I letting you hurt him.” he moved forward, bringing out his pocket knife and Hisoka paused.
“And if I hurt you?”
“Not without a fight.”
They both knew that this wouldn’t end well for him, he wasn’t skilled in fighting, yet the way Hisoka was looking at him caused him to pause, as the man brought a hand to his face before he began to laugh.
“What...” he wasn’t sure why Hisoka was laughing, until he finally heard a quiet moan, and his blood ran cold before he tensed up and was ready to attack him if needed.
“So, my little soulmate wishes to fight someone stronger than him. That won’t do.” he then started to walk towards him, forcing Leorio to back up against another tree, before a playing card was held to his neck as Hisoka leaned in close with his breath caressing his skin. “You need to live to see out your goals don’t you? What use is a dead man who desired to be a doctor and help those less fortunate than himself?”
He didn’t know what to do, he was trembling before the man, scared and he was fully aware that he was aware of it too.
“Be careful, I would hate to see you get hurt.” he whispered into his ear, taking a deep breath before moaning quietly and then he walked away from him, leaving Leorio on his own once again, not know what had just happened, but he did know was that he needed Kurapika to hurry up.
He wanted to get the hell out of this place.
For the rest of the exam Leorio avoided Hisoka as much as he was able to, but with the final exam it was utterly impossible to keep away from him, yet it seemed like this time it was the magician who was keep his distance from him this time round. Of course that might also be due to the fact that it would reveal that the two men were each other’s soulmates, and Leorio got the feeling that although Hisoka had a flare for the dramatics, he liked his privacy too.
After the incident by the river, when Kurapika returned to Leorio he had known right away that something had happened, yet Leorio wouldn’t tell him much, and he was lucky that the blonde never spoke of his behaviour to Gon and Killua when they all met up again. Yet Leorio could feel how those grey eyes looked at him from time to time, with concern for him, even though he was acting as he usually did, feel more at ease now he was around the other’s.
With the exam finally over, the newly made group of friends all agreed to meet up at Yorknew City on the 1st of September, and he made his way to the airship that would take him to the city, saying goodbye to Kurapika as he went and boarded as the other man was going to another city.
He never noticed those golden eyes watching him until he heard that voice.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
Brown eyes looked up to meet the red head, who gave him a sly grin, as though he had planned this to happen, while Leorio just glared at him while his annoyance went through their link.
“Oh don’t be like that my little soulmate, it’s simply by chance that we are heading to the same place.”
“Hmph, I guess, I doubt you’d get far in medical school.” he huffed as he walked by him, checking his ticket for the room number and grateful that he had some cash to spare so that he could actually sleep in a bed instead of a seat. Though he could feel his soulmate following him down the hall, like a murderous shadow.
“A challenge? Am sure I could get in, but I doubt I would make a good doctor, I don’t have the kind of bedside manner that’s required.”
He shivered at the mere thought of Hisoka becoming a doctor and actually helping people. “So why are...” he began to ask, just to get that vision out of his head.
“Oh, that’s a secret, but am sure you’ll figure it out.” he tease him as Leorio stopped in front of his door, but the magician just continued walking down the hall, waving at him as he did so.
While the man creeped him out, there was still that link between them, and really he wanted to know about about him, he wanted to know what had driven him to kill, he wanted to learn all the layers that the man obviously had, and yet he also just wanted to hide in his room and never leave it for the whole trip.
‘I can hear you my little soulmate.’
Leorio flinched, even though Kurapika had told him about this, but surely this was also something that rarely happened, so why was this also a thing that they could do? The soothing touch was one thing, but this too?
‘Oh this psychic connection between soulmates can only be formed if one of them has the capabilities for it.’
He heard Hisoka chuckle down the link, but he still didn’t know how to reply to him. “This… isn’t real.” he murmured to himself, hoping that this was his exhausted brain was simply playing tricks on him.
‘Why not come and see me in my room then, I will prove it to you.’
The challenge was set and then he could feel the connection disappear, but Leorio had a vague idea where his room was, an image of the room number came to his mind. Though he debated about going, he felt he should stay where he was, he was safe in his room after all, but since Hisoka was his soulmate and he knew so much more about it than he did, even though he could ask Kurapika or look up books about it, he also needed to have some spare time to study and relax rather than worry about his soulmate suddenly appearing out of nowhere in his mind.
His mind was made up, and he took a deep breath as he left his room, going down the hall way as Hisoka had done earlier on.
He had to go up the stairs and down another hallway, before he came to the door that had the numbers that had been pressed into his mind, knocking on it and expecting either no one to answer the door, or for someone to open it, someone that would clearly not be Hisoka.
Yet as the door opened, it revealed the red haired magician, who wore a towel around his waist, his wavy hair damp and he looked nothing like the terrifying killer than had haunted him throughout the Hunter Exam. He just stared at him, unable to believe this was Hisoka, this was his soulmate, looking at him made him feel inadequate even though he was physically fine, he just needed to learn how to fight properly, and Hisoka clearly was a man who trained a lot before getting into fights, considering the faded scars he saw across his body.
“Are you going to continue standing there, or are you coming in?” he asked with a grin, clearly pleased at the reaction he was getting from the younger man.
A scowl was sent his way and Leorio came into the room, which was similar to his own. It was plain and comfortable, but the main difference was the size, there was more space to walk around and there was also an actual sofa, when his own room simply had the basics, plus this room had a view that gave a clear view as to where they were going. Clearly Hisoka had money to burn, and Leorio couldn’t help but feel the envy flow through him.
“All right, so you know more things than I do about this whole soulmate thing.” he turned to look at the man, keeping his eyes trained on his face, because he did not want to stare at his chest and abs again.
“Am sure that Kurapika has explained a few things to you.”
“Well yea, but I never thought that it would happen between us, I had been told it was rare.”
“Pity.” Hisoka shook his head at him before moving to sit down on the sofa, gesturing for Leorio to join him, but the other man simply moved to sit at the small dining room table instead. “You realise that I am not actually going to hurt you.” he commented with amusement.
“Maybe, but you are still someone that I should be weary about regardless. I know you are wanting to fight Gon.”
“Hmm, that is true.” he smiled over at him, before stretching, allowing Leorio to eye him up once again.
Though Leorio found himself doing more than that, he was now well aware that Hisoka could look into his mind, but he ignored that though, looking him over and wondering how he looked like this when those eccentric outfits didn’t even give away that this was what he was hiding beneath those pieces of clothing.
“The link that we have, as well as the soothing touch, would be regarded as being rare, but people finding their soulmate is also rare, so would that actually be true? Or is it simply because neither soulmate has actually tried either of the methods that we have?”
“Wh… what? You mean that all soulmates could have this?”
“It’s likely.”
“I never thought of it like that before, even though there are all those books…”
“The books only really skim the true nature of a soulmate.”
“It sounds like you know what you’re talking about. Do you know someone who has a soulmate?” he asked curiously, because how else would Hisoka know about these things if he didn’t get them from a book?
“Yes.” was the simple answer, one he wasn’t going to expand upon either. “Most people assume that your soulmate is meant to complete you, to make your own soul whole. Which isn’t correct, since many people who don’t find their soulmates aren’t lost and lacking something more, really a soulmate gives you a different perspective on things, makes you look at life in a different way, the strong your bond, the better the connection to see a new perspective.”
“So that means with you I’m just going to see death and...” Leorio began, because what else could he see by looking at Hisoka really?
“No, you are just taking the part of me that you know about.” he chided him, before continuing. “If you take away my love of fighting and killing, what else is there?”
Now Leorio just stared at him with confusion and despair, he didn’t understand what he was getting at, though Hisoka could sense it too.
‘Think, my little soulmate, you should take a step back when you look at me.’
“Could you… not do that? It’s creepy.” he admitted, after all they were now in the same room together, they were also alone too, the magician didn’t need to do that when they were together like this.
“Very well. Think calmly, everything you learned during the Hunter Exam, what did you get from that?”
The young man frowned, looking out of the window as he thought it all over, all that he had seen the man do from before the Exam had even begun when he took one man’s arms off all because he bumped into him without apologising, latter learning that he attempted to kill an examiner the year before because he wasn’t up to his standards, then when he had killed the false examiner in such a dramatic fashion simply to prove who the real one was without the whole group arguing with each other. Then when he killed the applicants who attempted to fight him, who wanted to kill him, and of course when he decided to play examiner with them before turning to himself and Kurapika.
“I...” he trailed off, because the main point was that he liked to fight, it was obvious, but then he remembered the final exam, he never actually fought Kurapika when he gave up, and when he had been fighting the old man, he was clearly holding back too, not just that he wasn’t allowed to kill the other man, but like he wasn’t going to waste his energy on something so trivial. “You...” his brown eyes widened. “You like a challenge.”
“And?” he nodded at him as he looked over at him.
“And what?”
“Challenges are usually meant to be face head on, or if given prior warning you can plan ad work towards them accordingly.” Hisoka informed him and noticed that Leorio’s jaw dropped at hearing him say that.
“Is that what you think I should get from you?”
“Perhaps, though I doubt that you would thrive from a good fight like I do.”
While that was true, the challenge part did make sense, Leorio could take that in many other ways too, not simply for fighting as Hisoka clearly used it for.
“So what do you get from me?” he had begun to wonder that in the back of his mind, when the magician made the comment about soulmates giving the other a different perspective, but what could someone like him get from him of all people?
A frown appeared on his face and now Leorio noticed the freckles that were sprinkled over his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, before realising that Hisoka actually had freckles all over his body, he just never took any notice of it before.
“I suppose it would be compassion.” the word was practically spat out.
“Compassion?” he repeated, blinking in confusion, because was that really something that the magician could learn from him?
“You are willing to aid anyone who needs it, regardless if they are an enemy or not.” He looked over at him in disapproval. “I heard about you being bitten by those snakes, you were foolish to even try to help them, but you did so anyway, without a thought to your own well being.”
“Wait you would have...” he wasn’t sure why he was even surprised by this revelation, it was Hisoka after all.
“Left them there, yes.”
He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat, though he knew that Hisoka was cold, he hadn’t realised that this was how bad he was. Was he truly his soulmate? Why couldn’t he have had someone who was just a little bit easier going that him? Why did he have someone so cruel?
“Oh am not that bad, I simply don’t see the need to care for anyone who have no benefit to me.” he commented, hearing his mental anguish clearly.
“Because it’s a nice thing to do. Not everyone needs to benefit you, really you seem to be going about making enemies with that kind of attitude.”
A grin came over his lips as he looked at him. “I welcome it.”
Leorio just stared at him, the wheels were turning in his brain. “But… as your soul mate, when people eventually learn about us, won’t they also become my enemy too? They would know that if they kill me, they would kill you too.”
That caused the grin to slip off his face and he thought it over, it had been something he never thought to consider before now.
“And they will be able to kill me a lot easier than you.” Leorio trailed off as he noticed the sharp glare sent his way.
“Should anyone even attempt to kill you, they will be dead long before I am.” he vowed, though Leorio wasn’t sure if such a thing could actually happen, then again he wasn’t sure how long a soulmate could live after their link was cut off in such a way. “If nothing else, I can train you to become stronger than you are right now.”
“Wa… train me?”
“Yes, in fact.” with a simple flick of his wrist a playing card appeared in his hand and he handed it to him.
Leorio reached over to take it from him, noticing that while the back had the normal playing card pattern, the front was actually the address for a place called Heavens Arena, and as he looked from the card to Hisoka and back again he frowned in confusion. “What’s this for?”
“To help you. If I am right, your course isn’t due to start just yet, so you have time to train with me.”
“I don’t have the money for this, I need my cash for college.” he started to argue, he wasn’t going to waste more of his money just because Hisoka wasn’t able to stop making enemies.
“I will pay for it my little soulmate, you don’t have to concern yourself about that.”
“Huh?” he tilted his head at him, unsure if he had heard him correctly. “Wait... what do you mean by...”
“As your soulmate, I need to take care of you.” he began. “Therefore I can easily pay for your education.”
“But...” he didn’t know what to think, Hisoka was going to pay for his education? Really? “I can’t let you do that.”
“Oh?” he looked rather curious as to the reason why.
“This is my goal, it’s the whole reason I took the Hunter Exam, I could earn more money being a Hunter…” he began, before he trailed off, sensing that Hisoka wanted to talk.
“Keep the money you earn being a Hunter, you were wanting to make a practice for those less fortunate than yourself when you graduate, correct? That’s where your money can go towards instead.”
Leorio didn’t know what to think, what to say, he felt like crying, a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, the stress of knowing he had to pay for his education, along with rent and food was taken off him. All because this man, his soulmate was will to take the burden for him.
“I...” he bowed his head to him, much to Hisoka’s amusement. “Thank you.”
“We’re soulmates, I need to protect you in any way I am able to, physically or financially, but this agreement means that you will come to Heaven’s Arena, and I will train you, understand?”
It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but if it meant life would be made easier because he didn’t have to worry about funding, he would do it. Even though he didn’t want Hisoka as his soulmate, they were stuck together, and really how bad could it be?