❝ 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. ❞
~
Fate is odd; I know from experience.
I find myself retracing back to the journey I underwent. So finally, I decided to put it into word...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✿
Law enforcement refused to believe the death of the Vegas guard was anything but murder. Three days later, a gangly local teen was arrested as a prime suspect.
The guard's name was Mateo Curán and he had been flown out to Shanghai for a principal shareholder for Gateway Technologies. He'd brought his neice Eri with him.
The young girl's horrified expression haunted me.
They're not letting the kid speak, Yuno said on the phone. I don't believe the suspect really is guilty. I'm sure of it. This is foul play of some other kind.
On my way to and from the GameKit Internet café was a small local flower shop. The storefront was decorated with bouquets of roses. The scent of the deep red blossoms was sickening.
Two weeks crept by and I found myself at the gilded wooden double doors leading into the Vegas sky-high lounge. At first I thought the doors were closed, but I tugged on the handles and they inched open with a heavy creak.
The lounge was dark and quiet. The only light was from the glittering nighttime skyline beyond the curved ceiling-to-floor windows. As I entered, the clock struck seven and the fountains of Bellagio began their show. The spouts that shot up were a deep, deep purple.
A silhouette sat at a round table by the windows.
I closed the doors behind me and walked up to it. The faint city sounds drew closer, along with the echoes of Ecstasy of Gold. Set on the table were two glasses of champagne.
I took my seat.
Hisoka gazed out at the fountains. He was wearing the same outfit he had worn the night after the Gateway party. As the pink lights rose and fell, rusty stains seemed to flicker on his sleeve.
"You promised," I said.
Hisoka hushed me. He had his finger on his lips with a mischievous smile. I crossed my arms and he smiled wider.
"Just watch."
We watched the fountains in silence, again. Only when the lights went dark and the mist settled did Hisoka turn to me.
"I owe you a lot," he said.
"You keep saying that. What have I done for you?"
"Everything."
He spread his arms.
"All of this. None of it could have happened without you, five years ago on that beautiful night when you inspired me to become something greater."
