(A/N: Omg sorry this chapter is so long pls just bear with me—love ya'll. also. Illumi is so pretty. ok enjoy)

Chapter 5
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Part 6

///

Hisoka leads you through the woods at a leisurely pace, his footsteps quiet and graceful. You walk a few steps behind him, following blindly.

"Are we going the right way?" you ask. Hisoka got you lost earlier—what's to say he won't get you lost again?

"Probably."

You press your lips in a flat line. See?

"That's not reassuring," you mumble.

He ignores you. A card flicks out of the center of his palm and finds its way between two of his thin fingers. He stares at it as he whisks it from finger to finger. His eyes say that he's both confident and amazed by his own talent.

"Do you know how to do ordinary card tricks?" you ask.

"Of course." He looks at you, holding the card still as he offers you a smirk. "Would you like to see one?"

"Sure."

With his free hand, Hisoka reaches into his pocket and pulls out a full deck of cards. Each card has a simple, reddish pink design on the back. He stops and turns towards you, putting the card that was in his other hand into the deck. He shuffles the deck, then crouches on the balls of his feet and spreads the cards out over the grass, their backs facing the sky.

"Take two cards. Don't look at them until you've picked both of them."

You crouch in front of him and take two cards. You look at their faces at the same time.

They're both jokers, but on the face of each card is a picture of you.

You chuckle, a bit nervously. "What the fuck?"

"Did you pick up two jokers?"

"Yeah, but... you're kidding, right?"

Hisoka simply smiles.

Before showing him your cards, you reach for another one and look at it. The two of hearts. You pick up another one. Queen of hearts. You grab a third extra card. Ace of hearts!

"This is ridiculous!"

Hisoka laughs. "No, it's a card trick, darling." He holds a palm out, silently asking for the five cards in your hands. "In order, you picked up the two jokers, the two of hearts, the queen of hearts, and the ace of hearts. As I planned."

You ignore the clear expertise of his trick to ask the most pressing question, "Why do you have a print of me on your jokers?"

Hisoka smiles again.

"Because you're my favorite, of course."

///

It seems as though Chrollo already knows where (Y/N) is.

He walks with confidence, but not with purpose. He moves like he knows the future, but doesn't want to change it. Behind him, Machi follows in silence. Her pink ponytail swings as she takes longer-than-usual strides to keep up with him.

They're walking through the woods on the outskirts of town. This route will probably take longer than just walking through town, but Chrollo can't put himself out in the open like that, which Machi knows.

Suddenly, her counter part stops.

"Ask what you wish. Make it quick."

Machi looks at him. "Why couldn't we have just stayed in the hideout for me to ask my questions?"

"I didn't want anyone to overhear us."

"We could still be overheard out here." Machi glances at the woods around them.

"It's less likely."

Machi sighs. She crosses her arms.

"So," she says. "Explain yourself."

Chrollo stares down at her, as if he's deciding whether to kill her or not.

An excrutiatingly long minute passes. He still has not spoken. His eyes take their time, moving over Machi's eyebrows, her cheeks, her lips, her chest, her eyes.

Then he speaks. "I need the matured heart of a Zoldyck."

Machi's eyes widen.

"What for?"

"A deal."

"Can you elaborate?"

"No. The details of that are private."

"Okay." Machi pauses. "Do you need the heart physically or metaphorically?"

"Physically, but it doesn't need to come out of his body."

"So... you need Illumi. His entire self."

"Yes."

Machi pauses again. How she wishes she could hear the details of this deal! Maybe she could convince Chrollo to tell her about them later.

"Why not go for Killua's heart?" Machi asks. Then, she gets an idea, and follows up with, "Is that what you were going for in the beginning?"

"No. I was always going for Illumi." The intensity of Chrollo's gaze practically burns through Machi's eyes. She has a hunch that his last sentence is a lie. "Like I said, I need a mature heart. Killua is still young."

"Then why would you need Illumi to explode, as you said, if his... heart... is already mature?"

"The makers of the deal will reward me with twice as much if Illumi is alive and heart is under emotional strain when I deliver him. Killing the first person he has ever loved will surely complete that aspect."

Machi feels cold. The air isn't cold at all, but every second longer that Chrollo stares at her, another shiver runs down her spine.

Chrollo is heartless.

///

Because you're my favorite, of course.

His words ring through your skull with every step. You're walking again now, but in silence. Hisoka's right hand fiddles with the two of hearts while his left hand swings at his side. The rest of the deck has returned to his pocket.

"It worked."

Hisoka turns to look at you, one eyebrow lowered, a smirk playing with the edges of his mouth.

Because you're my favorite, of course.

"Drawing my attention away from Illumi. Distracting me." You cross your arms. "It worked."

Hisoka's smirk widens. "I always knew it would," he says quietly.

You can see Hisoka's house between the trees. It looks smaller than it did earlier.

Because you're my favorite, of course.

Someone is sitting on his porch. Someone with long, black hair, dressed in puffy, teal joggers, along with a slightly darker teal tank top to go with it and matching, detached sleeves that start at their elbows. The person's head is bowed between their knees, which their elbows rest upon.

You and Hisoka approach. Your heart begins to beat faster. Hisoka doesn't stop fiddling with the two of hearts.

Because you're my favorite,

Illumi looks up.

of course.

///

Chrollo is a liar.

He stares at Machi, examining her features. What is it, he wonders, that makes you so curious about Illumi and (Y/N)? Why was it that when I got back from Faith, the first thing you tell me is that Illumi imploded?

Machi was wrong about a lot of things. Currently, she is confused, and Chrollo's lies are only confusing her more. He's trying to help her make sense of his lies, but she's having a hard time—he can see it in the way her eyebrows crease above her nose.

Here are the real facts.

Far before Chrollo kidnapped Killua, a deal came to him from an unknown source asking for the matured heart of a Zoldyck. At first, Chrollo declined. The source was sketchy, and their offered reward was too low for the high level of danger that came with stealing a Zoldyck's heart.

Then Kurapika came along, and Chrollo kidnapped Killua in order to lure Kurapika in. (Machi was right about assuming this.)

But then, after finding out that it was Illumi who killed Feitan, Chrollo changed his mind and accepted the deal. He also saw that doing this would rile Machi up. He wants to rile her up—because he doesn't know what goes on inside of her head. She is a mystery that he wishes to solve.

Thus, Chrollo went back and accepted the deal. And then, the offerer said that if the Zoldyck's heart was alive and still within its body, he would get twice the reward. Plus a bonus if the Zoldyck was under emotional strain, such as anger or heart break. This is the part that Chrollo did not lie about or keep hidden from Machi. He really does plan to kill (Y/N) and take the broken Illumi Zoldyck to his dealer, thus rewarding him with a higher payout.

Chrollo does not know if Illumi will die once he is handed over to the dealer. They told Chrollo some of the details of their motive, but not enough for the Troupe leader to piece it all together. Either way, Chrollo doesn't care at all for Illumi's life. He just wants his reward, and he wants to know if Machi will try and stop him before he gets it.

Machi still hasn't said anything in response to Chrollo's last words. When she finally speaks, it's just, "Okay."

Chrollo stares at her.

"Hisoka won't like that," she adds.

"Why's that?"

"He's attached to (Y/N)."

Chrollo tilts his head slightly to the left. "Why? Are they powerful?"

"Kind of, but not any more than you."

"Then why is Hisoka attached to them?"

"I'm not sure," Machi drawls.

That's it.

Machi doesn't love Illumi. She loves Hisoka.

Then why has she been focusing on her hunches about Illumi? Is it just that they have been to strong for her to ignore?

"(Y/N) is at Hisoka's house."

Chrollo raises an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

Machi shrugs one shoulder. "Just a hunch."