fine line.

6.3 - Yellow Pins & A Yellow Fan

(A/N: WOOO long chapter alert, here we go! prepare for fight scenes, blood, powerful auras and cliffhangers, hehehe)

Chapter 6
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Part 3

///

Your breathing is sharp and clean from the years of stamina training Illumi had you undergo. Your lungs are as healthy and strong as ever. You're thankful now that you have so much energy to pull from, for your life depends on the speed of your legs.

Chrollo has not darted to your side yet, nor has he appeared in front of you to stop you in your tracks. That is a good thing, but you know not to let your guard down or get your hopes up. At any moment, Chrollo could spring out of nowhere and bombard you with unblockable assaults. He's far past your level, and you need to keep that in mind or you might just lose your life.

Illumi is somewhere behind you, possibly dealing with Chrollo head-on, or, more likely, running away like you are.

What worries you is that, since Chrollo is nowhere around you, he must be around Illumi. That means that Illumi's life is in danger, a thought that nearly strikes you more severely than the thought of your own self being chased down.

It is possible that Chrollo is currently using In to hide his aura, but even with that chance, you have your senses hightened to abnormal levels, struggling to sense even the slightest amount of foreign Nen. To not have your senses hightened would be a death wish.

Well. Everything you could possibly do right now is a death wish.

Except for running, which seems to be producing a positive outcome. Your breathing is turning slightly heavier, but not enough to signal low stamina. Your legs continue to chug forward, weaving your body between trees and over fallen debris at the speed of wind.

Hopefully, you can escape with your life.

///

"Are you going to chase after her?" Illumi asks.

Chrollo looks blank. "No. I can kill her later."

Illumi plucks a pin from his jacket and nonchillantly throws it up in the air, letting it land on the tip of his finger, where he balances it perfectly. Inside, he is panicking; every fiber of the assassin's being is choking in fear because he has no easy way out. (If Hisoka were in his shoes, he would probably have a hard-on.)

"What's your plan, then?" Illumi asks. "If I run, will you chase me?"

"Yes."

Alright, time to act.

With speed faster than sound, Illumi sends the pin on his finger straight for Chrollo's forehead. The moment it leaves his touch, he turns and darts into the woods, the opposite way that you went.

Chrollo's eyes widen as he watches the pin sail towards him. At the last second, he dodges, but the pin slides across the pale skin of his cheek, leaving a small cut behind. A drop of blood drips from the cut.

Chrollo takes his thumb and drags it across the fresh wound, then looks at the speckle of blood that his thumb gathered.

How dare someone as disgusting as Illumi leave a mark on his face?

Chrollo would just have to repay this gesture by leaving a mark of his own on Illumi's ugly face.

///

"You might as well put me down now."

Machi does not respond. She continues running, her hair bouncing in the wind that her legs create.