"Are we going somewhere, Kurapika?"
The blonde peered up at you with an unreadable expression when he heard no trace of accusation in your voice. "I mean... it makes sense and all. It just feels kind of sudden, I guess. I sort of got used to the place." With a click the handle on the suitcase latched into its extended position. "Welp, once more unto the breach, I suppose. Ey, Kurapika?"
"Indeed..." He spoke blandly, palms splaying over the sofa table by the door, hunched and not facing you. When you turned the handle and he made no motion to follow suit you pursed your lips and let it shut. "...So I guess we're not leaving yet?"
"One of us is..." He mumbled under his breath.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" You glanced over to Melody by the nightstand, who was already wearing an uncomfortable grimace. Kurapika regained your attention once more with an explanation.
"F/N... When... all of this began... I... thought you were strong enough to assist me. It's clear I made a miscalculation. You're... dismissed." You felt chilled at first by the cold and detached way he addressed you, then slightly chafed by the insinuation of the comment.
"...You do realize I don't actually work for you, right?" You sassed him and leaned so you could see the side of his face. He furrowed his brows tightly at the wood and you softened. "Look, I'm really sorry I worried you, Pika, but-" You reached out to touch his hand but he lurched it away as if your fingertips had burned him.
"Just so you don't misunderstand again, I'll rephrase... Our partnership is dissolved. Whatever words you choose to describe this arrangement, it... has come to an end."
"Wait... You're serious..." You stared him down as the room fell hushed and heavy. Your stomach churned with nausea, and the air seemed to slowly creep from your lungs, as if it were being pulled in braids from the back of your throat. The same creatures pulling were also clawing, etching the inflammation of panic there in its place, and a sick sort of pressure was building behind your eyes. This cloud of severity hung so thick and tangible in the air that even the cruelty in Kurapika's demeanor faltered for an instant.
"If... If you need help, I can give you enough for a deposit on a nice place outside the city. Anywhere you-"
"You really think I give a shit about your money, Kurapika?!" He didn't answer, nor would he turn in your direction. "Why do you do this?!" You yelled but the blond didn't flinch. His posture only stiffened slightly, a monumental soul of stone. "Why do you act like you're always alone when you're not?!"
"I pretty nearly was, wasn't I?!" At last he swung to face you head on, snarling. "You think this is some kind of game?! This has always been a matter of life and death! Not only were you careless enough to run off and get caught, you almost got yourself killed!"
"Do you not think using myself as bait was part of the plan, you idiot?!" It wasn't. "We found one of their members because of me! You should be thanking me!"
"I saved your life." His voice simmered with low lethality. "Consider us even. And that's if I'm being generous..." Drops of ruthless red paint seeped into a sea of two vantablack voids as he stared you down. It was exactly as Melody had said; Kurapika had lost himself.
"You heartless bastard, how can you be saying these things to me?! Have you forgotten all we've been through together?! All the times I saved your reckless ass?! ... All the suffering... I endured for you?" Your voice broke and once more the blond turned away, this time to hide his pained expression. "Look at me, dammit!" You grabbed him by the arm but he swatted you away.
"I have enough power to fight on my own now! You're nothing but a liability! A burden!" In contrast to Kurapika's thundering roar, a tiny squeak came from the corner of the room. Melody was covering her ears now, physically recoiling from the clashing storm. It was clear that more than just the volume of your voices was affecting her. Kurapika approached you, looming tall and condescending, before gesturing to the scar on your arm. His face twisted into a visage of scornful disgust. "I have no use on this mission for damaged goods." He hissed it like a snake, teeth bared and venomous, and you let out an involuntary gasp. Melody winced before you even reared back and gifted Kurapika a harsh smack across the face.
Suitcase in hand you wrenched the door wide open, nearly snapping the hinges in the process. Before you stepped over the threshold you halted, shooting your former partner a hateful gaze. In spite of the surging anger blazing like wildfire within you your voice came out low and quiet.
"One day you'll wake up and realize something, Kurapika... You think you stand for justice and retribution when all you really do is suck the life out of others...
just like a spider..."
The air shivered between you, then stilled, and there would be no retort. The last thing you would hear from that room was the heavy cherry wood door slamming loudly against the frame.
...
Kurapika stood there for what felt like an eternity, eyes closed and focused. By the time he found the wherewithal to open them once more he found Melody sitting on the bed. Slowly- his feet felt like they were weighted by concrete blocks- he made his way over to her and sat down. She appeared to be reeling from that encounter.
"Sorry... I know that must've been hard to listen to."
"It still is..." She uttered softly, clearly referring to the overwhelming loss, hot and fresh and still coursing its way through Kurapika's veins. He nodded thoughtfully, hand drifting up to his red stinging cheek of its own volition.
He was glad you hit him. Somehow it made him feel better, if only just a little. Would his will have buckled if you pleaded and cried and professed your love, he wondered? He would never know for sure now. Though he realized you didn't use Nen behind your strike when you could have, he was still relieved you were angry with him. Raw hatred motivated him to carry on through all of his past trials; surely it would do the same for you.
"You can heal that." Melody reminded gently, noticing him absentmindedly rubbing the inflamed patch of skin.
"I know..." Kurapika made no motion to do so. Painful or not, how could he erase the last semblance of contact he'd have from you for a long while?
"She defended you, you know... in spite of what you asked me to tell her." She considered holding her tongue, as there was a chance that sentiment would make things harder for him, but in the end settled on honesty. Kurapika was quiet for a moment, staring down at the ornate comforter, gold filigree on burgundy threads.
"Tell me..." The young man's expression contorted. "Did I... do the right thing?" Melody looked up at him.
"The right thing for who?"
"For her, obviously."
"Perhaps..." She replied with a wistful empathy. "But what about you, Kurapika?"
"I'm fine on my own." He spat a little too quickly, a robotic response that came automatically after years of being targeted and alone. "It's been this way since I was very young... The path I chose is too narrow for companionship. Too treacherous..." The words, though logical and pragmatic, tasted foreign and wretched on his tongue. "I was just fooling myself by believing otherwise for this long..."
It was quiet again for a long time before a shift on the covers made Melody turn her eyes from the dark hazy amber skyline back towards Kurapika. He was opening his little silver laptop and typing something in.
"What are you doing?"
"I still have the tracker open on here. I can use it to make sure she gets out of town safely." It would have been just as easy to use his dowsing chain for the task, but somehow it felt too invasive at the present time. Presumptuous. A sickening feeling arose in his stomach when he noticed the last fractals of your body heat dissipating from the sheets beneath him, but he continued his objective anyway, watching the little red dot sit unmoving atop his location. He furrowed his brows, wondering if perhaps you were grabbing food on your way out of the hotel or something. It seemed like a strange thing to do after an encounter like this; he figured you'd want to get as far away from him as fast as you possibly could, which was exactly his intention. He zoomed in as far as the device would allow him to and his breath hitched when he noticed something alarming. "Ah!" 'She's right outside the door! Was she concealing her presence?! Did she hear all of that?!' Kurapika shot up from the bed and bolted to the entryway. 'Why didn't Melody say anything?!' During his swift movement he tried to shoot her an accusatory glare, but he was sure it came across as more frazzled than anything else. With a loud click the door was flung open, only to reveal the precious jewel he had bought you crumpled ungracefully on the floor of the hallway.
A nail in the coffin.
Something more resolute than he was prepared for.
All at once Kurapika felt broken, face-to-face with the void of an all-consuming emptiness, imminent and ready to swallow him up. And it was then that Melody's voice rang out, shrouded in humanity and pity.
"Oh, Kurapika..."
In the heat of the moment he wanted her to leave. The silent outward composure he carefully devised was nothing more than a thin veil to her. He didn't have to show his vulnerability for her to be able to hear it, and that fact left him feeling like a cornered animal, wounded and ready to lash out. In any case there would be no time to dwell on it, for a musical alert filled the hollow silence of the room.
BRRRRNG BRRRNNNNG
"This is Melody." She answered the phone professionally after a small nod of affirmation from Kurapika, and even from across the room he could hear Squala's blanched and agitated voice. "Ah! He what?! Escaped?!" Before she could blink Kurapika had crossed the distance and snatched the phone from her grasp.
"What do you mean escaped?! Put Dalzollene on the phone!"
---
The churning turmoil in your chest didn't ebb no matter how many aggressively long strides you took from the hotel. You didn't want to cry; in fact you refused to, but the bitter stubborn tears flowed forth of their own accord. Your neck felt bare without the weighty trinket you'd worn religiously up until now, waking and sleeping in it for the past few... had it really only been days? It felt as though years had passed by his side, a lifetime flashing before your eyes in shades of red, not unlike the traffic lights illuminating your tear-stained face in flickers and bursts.
It was a betrayal, plain and simple. You willingly left your heart wide open and Kurapika had drawn the knife; stripped you bare and sunk it in slow, flaying you with his cunning guile and talk of purpose. A hauntingly short amount of time passed before the sadness bled itself dry, leaving a gaping hole in its wake: plenty of space for all the unbridled anger to come rushing in. A windy volcano of splattering magma flared up in your soul, and you whipped your phone from your pocket.
The emotional pressure rising from your throat took root. If your eyes had the propensity to glow then you were certain they would be doing so at this very moment. The tip of your index finger scrolled through contacts. Gon's, Leorio's, Killua's, and you halted before the little screen would show Kurapika's name. You didn't even want to look at it right now. Instead you scrolled back up, finger landing on a name between them all, and the quiet ring grew louder when you drew the device to your ear. There was a click to indicate an answer but your recipient didn't speak first.
"Hisoka?" You lowered your voice to keep it from shaking.
"...Who's asking?" The reply rang back, undeniably him.
"It's F/N, from the Hunter exam."
"Ah.~ To what do I owe the pleasure?" As usual he spoke with no urgency, at a slow idle pace.
"You talked to Kurapika about the Phantom Troupe already, right?" You were met with silence on the phone.
"Mmm, which one was he again?" The thoughtful little 'mm' sounded like an erotic moan for some reason, and you could almost see the way he was tilting his chin upwards at a sharp angle as he said it, gazing at the sky in mental absence. Before you could answer he smacked his lips in realization. "Ah, yes. The obstinate blonde you seem so fond of." You figured that was as good a description as any, and chose not to make any objections.
"That's the one." Despite how certain you'd been just moments ago you couldn't help but hesitate. Did you really want to do this? You could just hang up now, move on with your life. A harsh sort of gravity seemed to weigh down your stomach and you halted your brisk walking pace to think more clearly. You must've been mentally weighing your options longer than you thought, for the voice on the other side replied,
"Pray continue, dear. Don't be shy.~" You had no idea how he did it, but just that simple utterance was enough to elicit a picture in your mind's eye: a lion coaxing a mouse into his den.
Kurapika deserved this, didn't he? He was the one who set you down this path in the first place, pruned you for swift and effective vengeance. An eye for an eye. Or perhaps... an eye for a scarlet eye...
Well... he was going to get what he bargained for, wasn't he...?
As a lover scorned you steeled yourself with one final thought.
'Before this is over... Kurapika will see exactly what I'm made of...'
"Hisoka... I have a proposition for you..."
My beloved readers... I'm sorry I hurt you. I really do love you.
I saw some of your comments in the last chapter about how happy you were to be back with Kurapika and I was like welp...
Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But then again, perhaps there isn't. You'll just have to stick around and find out!
At last I get to write the ending I've been anticipating for the last 2 years. I truly hope I can live up to the hype and that you enjoy reading it as much as I did creating it.
If there is a long hiatus before the finale please forgive me. I promise I am writing it, but I also don't want to publish it until I feel inspired enough to do it justice. (Not to mention every chapter up until now I had at least a LITTLE bit of dialogue or plot written out, but for the finale it's all just swimming 'round in my head and has yet to come out.)
I sincerely want to thank you all for being here and joining me on the last loop of this roller coaster. See you again as soon as I can, my lovelies. <3