WOW. Final chapter. I'm sure people want to painfully poke me with toothpicks since I didn't update when I said I would... and it's the final chapter too. In any case, it's here, and... it's A VERY LONG ONE. Like, whoa. Lots of dialogue, drama, and humor? Yes. I hope you guys enjoy it! Took me months to try and end it, but it was difficult. That sounded like a bad breakup. Haha. So today, in the spirit of procrastination, I managed to write for ten hours straight. And this is the product.

Disclaimer: I do now own Hunter x Hunter or its characters. However, I do own Natsumi and the other original characters in this fanfiction.

You Disrupt Me

Chapter 30: And There Were Three

"Are you mocking me?" Kurapika's hard voice resonated through the hospital walls. Leorio seemed preoccupied with reading scans of what looked like a human brain.

"You heard me," Leorio said passively. "To get Natsumi-chan back in shape, you gotta give her an excessive dose of Hisoka."

"That's extremely stupid…" Kurapika replied, sitting next to his longtime friend.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Leorio said, storing Natsumi's file in a metal drawer. "If you want to help, you could start by retracting that curse you put on him."

"Why should I?" he said defensively. "She's going to break it herself anyway."

"Very true," Leorio said, finally sitting down next to him to listen with his full attention. "Where is she, by the way? She disappeared right after the MRI this morning."

Kurapika frowned as he crossed his arms, and Leorio could tell he wasn't happy about her whereabouts.

"She's at school," he replied with a disagreeable tone. "Can you believe it? It's been two days since we found her and she's in school! She can barely walk without assistance."

"You're completely exaggerating," Leorio said, tapping the table with his fingers. "See, this is why she chose Hisoka over you. You always jump to conclusions, thinking she's a fragile little girl who can't do anything for herself. She's got some pride too, you know."

Kurapika fell silent for a moment, and Leorio knew he struck a chord.

"She didn't choose Hisoka over me," he said begrudgingly. "She chose him… because there was no one else in her mind. From the very beginning, it was only Hisoka."

There was another bout of long silence. Leorio arched a brow as he examined his friend's glum face and stiff posture. Then, with a strong pat on his back, he stood up.

"Yup," he said, straightening his white doctor's coat. "Hisoka always wins, doesn't he?"

Sitting in front of the library, Hisoka suddenly sneezed and wiped his nose on a piece of tissue from his pocket. He sighed.

"Someone is talking about me," he said to himself. "Perhaps my princess is telling her new classmates about how handsome I am?"

He heard a few giggles from afar and spotted a group of girls looking at him. As soon as their eyes met, they all shrieked in unison and ran away like little girls.

"I suppose the library is too public a place for my princess and I to meet," he whispered to himself. "But then again, she looks so cute whenever she's embarrassed. Hmm... this is an absolute dilemma."

From a distance, Hisoka could sense the strong presence of Miyuki, who was sprinting towards him with a worried look on her face. In a split second, several gruesome thoughts about an endangered Natsumi flashed across his mind. His heart immediately skipped two full beats as she finally reached him. She set her hands on her knees and panted exhaustedly. For once, Hisoka wished he had Pakunoda's ability to know everything with a single touch.

"Natsumi-chan didn't show up to our class today!" she belted out, setting her hands on her face in confused panic. "I thought she was just lost on campus somewhere since it's her first day, but she didn't show up at all! I know she's different now, but I don't think she'd skip a class because… well, she hates skipping, doesn't she? Something must have happened. She might've run away again!"

Hisoka stood up and was about to dash off, but a shiny pink glint caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Behind one of the library's big pillars, a group of familiar-looking girls predatorily formed a circle around another girl, who sat down on the ground with a pocketbook in her hands.

It was Natsumi who was the target of such wicked attention. Was she sitting there the entire time? How could he have not felt her presence? The pink glint came from the gem that was embedded in the spider hair clip that Nobunaga had given her for her birthday, and she was wearing it. She was reading a pocketbook, but what were those girls doing?

"That's it!" one of the girls suddenly yelled in frustration. "How long are you going to sit there, pretending we don't exist? You think you're better than us, don't you?"

Natsumi remained silent, staring at her book.

"I can't believe you're the one Hisoka-kun has been waiting for all this time," another spat. "I've never felt such disappointment in my life."

Miyuki clenched her fists and took a step forward to march over, but Hisoka raised his hand as a signal to stop. He didn't look any happier than she did, but why wasn't he doing anything?

"Are you going to let them talk to her that way?" Miyuki asked angrily.

"Yes," Hisoka replied, greatly appalling her. "Being talked down is one of the things my princess hates, aside from my occasional perverted advances. Even if everything else about my princess is different, the little tolerance she has for being belittled will always remain the same."

Miyukie internalized what he had said, but Natsumi didn't seem too keen on doing anything about the girls.

"So… you're saying she'll snap at them?" she asked Hisoka. "But she didn't even snap at you when she woke up this morning and found you sleeping next to her. Nothing bothers her anymore because Kuroro killed her emotions!"

Hisoka didn't reply, and so Miyuki painfully watched on as the verbal attacks ensued.

One of the girls set her foot on Natsumi's lap, looking at her condescendingly. Natsumi didn't even seem to notice.

"Are you even curvy enough to be considered a girl?" she asked her, causing the other girls to laugh. "I felt so much better when I thought that the pretty freshman was his girlfriend. "

"Yeah! What was her name? Miyuki, right?"

"She's perfect for him," another added. "She's taller and really pretty, unlike you."

Natsumi flipped the page to read the next chapter of her book, ignoring them, but that only seemed to spark some intense anger.

One of the girls pried the book out of Natsumi's hands and lifted it high in the air, as if to urge her to stand and reach for it like a dog. Natsumi looked at her empty hands and then looked up at the book being held in the air.

"Come on, hobo," a girl pushed her roughly, causing her to graze her head on the ground. "Take it from her if you really want your boring book back."

Natsumi touched her head to check if there was any blood, but she was fine.

"It's not my book; it's the library's," she spoke for the first time, her voice loud but toneless. "If you damage it, I'd like you to be responsible and pay for the damage fees."

The girls seemed taken aback by her sudden speech, but it seemed to have fueled their game even more.

"So we finally got your attention," the girl who was holding the book said. "I should probably just tear the useless pages out of this useless book and make a paper mache model of your ugly face."

"You can do that after I've read the book," Natsumi replied with a blank face. "But they only have one copy of the book in this city, so you might get in trouble for it."

The girl had it. She threw the book to the ground and grabbed Natsumi's shirt, pulling her upwards so that she was forced to stand.

"Why does Hisoka-kun like somebody as abnormal as you?" she yelled. "You buy your clothes from thrift stores, your dad's a criminal, and your mom used to-"

Natsumi suddenly grabbed the girl's wrist, her eyes wide in warning. The girl immediately shut her mouth, fear crawling up her bloodstream as she felt a dark wave of intense anger suffocate her senses. Natsumi pulled the girl's arm away from her shirt and brushed her aside, causing her to fall to the ground. The rest of the girls stood still, feeling uneasy and afraid, though they didn't know why.

Only Hisoka could see it: Natsumi's black aura was slowly turning red - its original color.

"Your voice is as annoying as a prank phone call in the middle of the night," Natsumi said, grabbing the book from the girl's hand.

She turned to the girl on her right. "Your face is so imperfect that my eyes can't even recognize you as human."

She turned to the girl on her left. "Your breath smells like compost."

She finally turned to the girl behind her. "Look at yourself in the mirror, and if you don't cry at the sight, you must be blind."

She grabbed her backpack from the floor and slung it over her shoulder.

"You can hurt me all you want, but if you decide to attack the people I love, I just might break everything you ever believed in," she said, giving each of them a piercing gaze as she walked away.

"Oh, and…" she blurted out, stopping mid-step. "Hisoka is my knight. If we were all trapped in a burning building together, he'd save only me, even if he still had the time to save all of you."

All their jaws dropped.

Hisoka appeared from behind the pillar, laughing uncontrollably at what he had just witnessed, as if agreeing with what she said. He wrapped his arm around her neck.

"But you'd still try to save them yourself, wouldn't you, princess?" He said, grinning like a mad scientist.

Natsumi's cheeks burned red as soon as she saw him, looking away and almost forgetting everything that had just happened.

"Of course," she replied. "Wouldn't you? Oh..."

"See? She's such a kind person, so leave her alone," Hisoka chuckled. "Besides, she can kill all of you with a flick of a wrist, make it rain and flood inside your home, and pull a few strings here and there so that you'll all end up jobless when you graduate."

Natsumi slapped Hisoka's arm in annoyance.

"You're making it seem like I'm a monster. I'd never do any of that."

Hisoka chuckled again.

"Welcome back, my princess," he said, taking her backpack and slinging it over his shoulder as they walked away together. "However, I must say that I am now quite afraid of getting on your bad side. I might end up crying as much as those girls are about to tonight."

Natsumi looked at the ground and toyed with her fingers, quite embarrassed by her public show of immaturity and vulgarity.

"I… I only said those things because that girl was going to say stuff about my mom and…and…" she choked on her own words and Hisoka stepped in front of her, taking her chin and lifting it up so that she would look at him.

"And?" he asked, smiling knowingly.

She pouted slightly, her cheeks getting even redder.

"And… well… they seem interested in you… and I don't like that at all."

Hisoka bent down and lifted her up, carrying her once again in his arms.

"H-Hisoka! What are you doing?"

"The library is the best, after all," he said, as if standing firm about a controversial opinion. "Let's go on a date."

"Hisoka! Put me down!" she struggled against his muscular arms. "I already skipped a class today! I can't skip another one!"

He no longer replied, simply grinning as he disappeared into the corner along with her.

Miyuki sighed as she watched them leave, a bittersweet smile on her face. The group of girls suddenly buckled down to the floor, like they had been pushed down by reality itself. They all looked at each other, unable to comprehend the sudden surge of embarrassment that had invaded their perfect world.

"That girl... She...she's crazy!"

Like a broken car,

I refuse to move

And I never will

Until you return

And fix me yourself

Hisoka stood next to Natsumi, holding her hand like his life depended on it. Natsumi didn't seem to protest, although her neck was beginning to feel as warm as her cheeks, which usually meant that she was too embarrassed for the average blushing. After all, there they were, hand in hand on top of the tallest building in York Shin, watching the sunset. How cheesy and cliché could a pair of people get?

"I couldn't sense your presence outside the library," he suddenly said. There was a sharp pain in his chest, but he forced himself to ignore it, so that she wouldn't notice. She nodded her head.

"I was reading a book before those girls bothered me," she said.

"You were reading a book outside the library? Very bizarre."

She giggled.

"Kuroro thought so too," she said. "Because of him, I am no longer afraid of the sea."

"You are also no longer afraid of heights," Hisoka said, a hint of bitterness when the devil himself was mentioned.

He felt her grip on his hand tighten exponentially, as if his words had opened pandora's box in her memories of the past few months.

"Kuroro made me jump down from this very building two hundred times in three days," she said, her hand twitching ever so slightly. "Well, sort of. It was in a dream, induced by a nen specialist. But in the dream, everything was real, from the wind blowing against my face to the fear I felt at the pit of my stomach."

Hisoka tightened his grip even more, gritting his teeth in anger until a portion of his gums bled. She looked at him and then leaned on his shoulder. He stiffened automatically.

"But… I always imagined that you were there whenever I jumped, so I was always able to do it each time," she said, giggling a bit. "Sometimes, you pushed me. Sometimes, you jumped with me. But most of the time, I imagined that you were at the bottom, ready to catch me with your trustworthy chiseled arms."

Natsumi realized what she had said and she let go of her hold on him, setting her hands on her face as she buckled down to hide her embarrassed features.

"That was so cheesy! Wow!" she yelled. "I mean, think about it! Even if you did catch me, my feet would crush your face! Well, that depends if I'm falling feet or head first… and… and taking into consideration gravity, my weight, and the height of this building, I'd probably crush your body too! Besides, there's no guarantee I'd even fall on the exact spot you're standing on because of the wind and the irregular distribution of-"

Hisoka set his hand on her head, and she immediately stopped talking, further embarrassing herself.

"I haven't talked to you in ten months," she sighed. "And now that I finally am, I'm talking about my feet crushing your face. I'm hopeless."

"Hopeless? Well, you just recovered from ten months worth of repeated physical and mental abuse," he said lightly, although she sensed some deep animosity in his voice. "And here you are, taking five college classes in the middle of the semester while chewing out four of the brattiest girls on campus. You are quite scary."

Natsumi smiled at his little speech.

"It's getting dark," she said, standing up. "They might kick us out."

Hisoka suddenly pulled her forward and kissed her deeply, wrapping his arms around her small frame and embracing her tightly. Everything about that moment felt right, and she knew she was going to mentally slap herself later on for thinking of such a cheesy line. This was Hisoka! But he felt so good so close to her. He took a step back and set his hands on each of her cheeks, gazing intently at her watery eyes. He kissed her a second and a third time, making her almost giggle in bliss. She bit her lips to prevent herself from making any weird and awkward sounds.

"Princess, my princess," he spoke, his voice almost poetic and his gaze passionate.

Natsumi couldn't look away, as much as she wanted to. She wasn't equipped for cheesiness! It was so unlike her to be staring into somebody's eyes with such vigor for so long that she couldn't keep track of time.

Hisoka let out a heavy sigh.

"I love you, princess," he said, stunning her into a frozen state. "I love you more than I love the thrill of fighting the most powerful nen users. I love you more than I love building card pyramids. I… I love you more than I love watching Gon grow into a ripe fruit!"

Ten seconds passed, and Natsumi's eye began to twitch erratically. She took her shoe and hit his head with it, forcing him to let go of her. Her entire face was as red as an advertised tomato, and tears were about to fall. She turned her back to him, embarrassment reaching optimum levels. She looked around frantically, though she really wasn't sure what she was looking for. She couldn't breathe. Was she going to pass out?

"Princess?" he called, patting the spot on his head where she had hit him with her shoe. "While you were away, I watched dozens of romantic comedies because I knew you didn't like dramatic confessions. Did I get my point across in a lighthearted and feel-good way?"

"You did it perfectly!" Natsumi said in an angry tone, refusing to face him.

"Are… are you upset?" Hisoka asked, feeling helpless.

"No, I'm not!" she replied even louder.

Hisoka cowered behind her, unable to do anything. After a few moments, she murmured something softly, but he didn't hear. He scooted closer and set his hand to his ear.

"What was that, princess?"

She murmured something again, barely above a whisper, but he still couldn't hear. It was interesting how he could hear enemies from miles away, but he couldn't understand a few words spoken two inches from his ear.

"One more time, please, princess?"

She took her other shoe and hit his arm.

"I already know!" she yelled, hitting him repeatedly with both of her shoes. "You've been showing me that fact since the day we met, so I know! And my head has been filled with thoughts of you since the millisecond I saw your face and that god-awful smile of yours! Got it? You better remember this moment since I'll never say it again! I love you more than I love school!"

Hisoka gasped as he set a hand to his mouth.

"Really?" he said, happier than a rainbow after a stormy day. "More… more than school? Think about what you're saying, princess! You're saying you love me more than you love school!"

Natsumi hit him a final time.

"I see what you're doing," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I am NOT going to say it again!"

With that, she pressed the button of the elevator, and awkwardly waited for it to climb three hundred floors as he stood a few feet behind her. She turned her head sideways to glance at Hisoka, and sure enough, he was still there, grinning madly like he had won a cruise trip for two. The elevator finally chimed and she dashed inside, only to run straight into Kurapika. The two fell on top of each other and, before the doors completely shut themselves, Natsumi swiped a glance at Hisoka's displeased face.

She jumped off of Kurapika and helped him up, dusting her clothes although she didn't actually touch the floor. She pressed the button for the lobby and then leaned on the mirrored wall, setting her hands behind her back. It was going to be a long ride down.

The taste of blood

The stench of rust

The betrayed soul

Lurks among them

It stops to rest

For a sip of hope

But the well is dry

Natsumi glanced at the elevator's screen. There were 250 more floors to go, and it already seemed like forever. She could feel Kurapika's gaze on her, and she didn't know what to do. A small lump formed at the base of her throat, and she wanted to swallow it or cough it out, but she didn't want to make any sudden movements. Instead, she bit her tongue.

"You aren't saying anything," he said as he crossed his arms. "I was skeptical when Miyuki told me you've returned to your normal self. Maybe she really is wrong."

"I-I'm fine!" Natsumi replied hastily, looking at her pink socks. There were a few holes in them where a select few of her toes were peeking. She had forgotten to put her shoes back on after hitting Hisoka with them. Kurapika noticed and promptly took off his formal-looking black shoes, bending down and setting them next to her feet.

There were 220 more floors to go.

"You don't have to," she said, stepping away from them like they were diseased. "I'm going home after this, so I don't mind walking in my socks. It's not like I've never done that before."

She recalled the time the Genei Ryodan had kidnapped her and when Nobunaga had forcibly babysat her, dragging her around in her PJs and socks. That was one of the lowest points in her life, but it almost seemed funny now.

"Wear them," Kurapika said, looking up at the display screen. "It's cold outside."

There were 180 more floors to go.

"If I do, Hisoka will only take them off and throw them away somewhere," she said.

"Then tell him not to," he replied. "You know he'll listen to you."

She fell silent, agreeing with him with a single nod. After a few moments of deliberation, she slipped her feet in them. They were warm and around three sizes too big.

There were 150 more floors to go.

Kurapika crossed his arms and leaned on the wall as well. He closed his eyes, and Natsumi turned to steal a glance. The elevator suddenly stopped and the doors opened. A tall man in a business suit was about to step in when he saw Kurapika without any shoes and Natsumi wearing them. A strong ominous feeling came over him, and he stepped back, allowing the elevator to close its doors and continue downward.

There were 100 more floors to go.

"I'm sorry for disappearing," Natsumi finally said, looking straight at him for the first time. "I'm sorry for siding with your enemy. I'm sorry for undoing the curse, even when I knew you risked your life when you placed it on him. I am the worst friend a person can possibly have! And that's why… that's why I won't betray you again…I won't break the curse you put on Hisoka."

Kurapika seemed taken aback by her words. He didn't know what to say. All twenty seven square footage of the elevator seemed to shrink down, leaving them with no room to breathe without stealing the other's air supply.

"But being around him is my choice, so he shouldn't lose his life for it," she continued, clenching her fists. "So… I'm going to take his heart and I'm going to exchange it for mine."

Kurapika's eyes went bloodshot, unable to even imagine what she was trying to tell him. A heart exchange? A... transplant? Even if their bodies didn't reject the foreign organ, he didn't know if his nen would do the same. It would sense foreign nen and... what then?

"That way, I am neither betraying you nor killing him because of my selfishness."

There were 50 more floors to go.

Kurapika banged his fist on the mirrored wall, breaking a small area of it. Natsumi jumped at the violence. She almost forgot how thin Kurapika's temper was, especially when it came to things that involved her.

"I lost," he said, setting his hands on his face as he slid down to the ground like a shamed man. He buried his face in his lap as his hair covered his eyes. Natsumi felt pangs of pain in her chest. She had never seen him this way before, and it hurt her even more knowing that it was her fault. Why was it so difficult to make everyone happy?

"I love you," he said, gritting his teeth like it was toxic in his mouth. "I told you a long time ago! I told you first, so why does he get to have you?"

He punched the wall one more time, and this time the entire mirror shattered and fell to pieces on the floor. He stood up and punched all the surrounding mirrors, creating an ear-shattering noise that seemed to emulate the screaming in his head.

"Stop it, Kurapika! There are cameras!" she yelled, grabbing his bleeding hand before he further hurt himself. "Stop it or you'll get demoted for endangering a civilian!"

It took a full minute for him to stop struggling against her. He fell to the floor, exhausted. His eyes were still bloodshot, and his one Kuruta eye flickered bright red. As if in response, her eye flickered bright red as well. She recalled the day that Leorio told her about the unimaginable pain Kurapika had inflicted upon himself to give her his eye, so that she would survive. Unimaginable bodily pain overshadowed by more grief. She gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Kurapika... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." she whispered repeatedly, her voice shaky and pained. "I love you so much and I wish I could make you understand how much you mean to me. I would give you anything... I just can't return your feelings."

His silence only created a bigger throbbing feeling in her chest. They finally reached the lobby, and the elevator doors opened. She looked outside, expecting to see security guards coming to arrest the violent government agent, but there was no one to be seen. It was completely empty from their view. Were they going to wait for them to step out and then take him down? When they actually did step out, they figured out why.

To the side of the lobby, Hisoka was faking an erratic seizure - complete with some frothing in the mouth that looked like whipped cream - and all the building's employees and passersby were preoccupied with trying to help him. He looked absolutely stupid that Kurapika couldn't help but chuckle a little. A small videotape slid across the floor from where Hisoka was, and Natsumi picked it up. It was the surveillance recording from the elevator's camera. She smiled.

"You won't get into any trouble," she said, glancing at Hisoka one more time. "And I think he's giving us more time to talk… although I can't understand why he can't just wait outside. Then again, he's distracting them since you did irreparable damage to privately owned property."

Kurapika didn't say anything. He took the tape from her hands and crushed it in his own, letting it crumble to the floor.

"You didn't lose, you know," she then said, tearing the sleeve of her shirt and using it to bandage the cuts in his fists. "I have no grace and I can never say cheesy things. Who wants a girlfriend like that? I actually predict that for your personality type, an aggressive girl will fall for you. She'll go after you, and though she'll come on a bit strong, she'll be sweet and very caring. But, she'll be really vocal about things, like how much she loves you or how your socks don't match today."

He chuckled darkly. He was about to say something when Miyuki suddenly stormed in the lobby, a determined look on her face.

"I heard someone screaming for a doctor! I know CPR!" she shouted, marching towards the crowd of people. Hisoka stopped faking his seizure and stood up, wiping the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead from shaking so vigorously. He swallowed the whipped cream and grinned as people looked on in disgust.

"I'm fine now, so thank you for your concern," he said, walking towards Kurapika and Natsumi, who were still in deep conversation. Miyuki followed in utter confusion.

"Are you guys done?" Hisoka asked, pulling Natsumi gently by her waist, away from Kurapika. There was a silent recognition in the air between the two men, but it was as deadly as it used to be. Natsumi longed for the day it would all be over.

"No," Kurapika replied, refusing to look at him. "We aren't done."

In a split second, his chains appeared as he raised his right hand. The single chain binding him to Hisoka reacted violently from being summoned after some dormancy. He felt the full force of Kurapika's chain constrict his heart. He felt like acid had been poured down his throat, entering his lungs and burning through to his heart. His own nen seemed to pry his arm away from where it was wrapped around Natsumi's waist, but he didn't want to let go of her. How many hours of his life did he lose today?

"Break it, Natsumi," Kurapika said, clenching his fists tightly as he spoke against his own wishes. "It will all be over if you do that."

Natsumi's eyes widened and shook her head, taking steps back away from Hisoka. The pain he felt from the constrictions reduced substantially. She took a few more steps back.

"I can't do that! I won't betray you again, Kurapika! I told you, I'm taking his heart! You exchanged our eyes, how different could it be?"

There were strong gusts of wind that had brewed and surrounded the three of them. The wind howled loudly, like a sacred rite had been violated. Kurapika's nen seemed to have a mind of its own, and it knew Natsumi's intentions. It wasn't going to let it happen.

The building's employees noticed their odd group, but before they could question the activity, Miyuki took action and dropped to the floor, shaking vigorously just as Hisoka had.

"Oh noooo!" she shouted exaggeratedly, her voice shaking. "I think I got that man's seizure! And here I believed that seizures weren't contagious!"

Everyone ran to her aid, especially since her model-esque frame and tiny voice attracted attention like an A-list celebrity in the midst of paparazzi.

"Break it, Natsumi!" Kurapika repeated as Natsumi turned her attention away from Miyuki. "I love you, and this is the only thing that ties you down to me. I don't want to be the villain in your story anymore."

Natsumi looked at him intently. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the immense sadness in his eyes. How could she have caused such pain when all she wanted was for everyone to be happy? She looked at the shaking metallic weapon. She set both of her hands on its cold surface and a thousand minute droplets of water materialized and penetrated it. She looked at Kurapika for reassurance, and then she saw Hisoka drop to the floor, on the verge of losing consciousness. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to betray Kurapika a second time. She waved her fingers and the water expanded inside, shattering the chain into pieces.

Hisoka coughed out blood as he felt the chain fragmenting into little nen pieces in his heart. A few moments later, the pain had subsided and the anemic feeling he had forced himself to ignore was finally gone. Natsumi kissed Kurapika's cheek and hugged him tightly, a single tear escaping her eye.

"Thank you, Kurapika."

As soon as it was over, Miyuki stood up just as Hisoka did and bowed down.

"Phew! Thanks!" she said, working her way through the confused mob.

"Is everything good now?" she asked, setting her hands on her head like a carefree child. "I embarrassed myself out there, so this better be good."

Natsumi opened her mouth to speak, but Miyuki stuffed a piece of candy in her mouth before she could speak.

"Not you, because I know you're just gonna want to talk about that," she said, looking at the ceiling as she felt a little pinch in the form of painful memories. "You're really happy right now, so I won't ruin it by talking about it. We can talk about it some other time. I forgive you, and that's what matters."

Natsumi was about to protest. After all, she… she killed her father. In what world would open arms still be an option? She was about to say something, but Miyuki glanced at Hisoka, and he nodded in understanding. He pulled Natsumi's face towards him and kissed her.

Miyuki's cellphone suddenly beeped. She pulled it out of her pocket and read the message on the screen. She pouted in annoyance.

"Hmph!" she blurted out. "My boyfriend says he can't make our date today because he has a paper due tomorrow. Really! Why didn't he write it yesterday?"

She crossed her arms and sulked for a minute as she looked around. After tapping her foot endlessly, she noticed that Kurapika was missing his shoes, and that Natsumi was wearing them.

"Wow, those are really ugly shoes!" she said to Kurapika, pointing at Natsumi's feet. "We're going shopping for some new shoes because you are never wearing those again!"

She grabbed Kurapika's arm and pulled him along.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow at school!" she waved. "Gosh, Kurapika. Not only ugly shoes, but mismatched socks too?"

Natsumi arched a brow as she watched the two leave the building. Kurapika shot her a helpless glance before disappearing in the corner.

"When Miyuki says she'll buy a pair of shoes, she buys ten. Kurapika won't need these anymore."

Natsumi sighed, taking the oversized shoes off and tucking them under her arm. A bunch of people stared at her every now and then, but for some reason, she didn't care. Was she that used to embarrassment by now? Police sirens went abound as a bunch of employees panicked at the sight of the broken elevator.

"We have to go, Hisoka," she said, heading for the door. "I look suspicious no matter how you look at it."

"I threw your shoes in the trash, princess," Hisoka said, grinning.

"What?" she yelled, garnering everyone's attention. She lowered her voice. "Why did you do that?"

"They were old and had more holes than your socks have," he said, shrugging. "Princess, I think you don't realize how much money Alphonse has in his bank that you have access to. You can buy a pair of shoes everyday."

"Yeah! Like I'd do that! We could at least have donated them!"

Hisoka grabbed Kurapika's shoes from under her arm and dexterously tossed them in the air. Four cards materialized in his hands and he flicked them upwards as well, cutting the shoes into six, evenly sized pieces. They fell to the floor.

"Oops."

Natsumi shrieked.

"We could have donated those!" she yelled, trying to freeze them back together.

Before she could really do anything, he grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. The wind was knocked out of her lungs as the blood rushed to her brain. It took her two minutes to get the right breathing rhythm. She then proceeded to pound on his back.

"Where are you taking me? Don't make me use my nen on you! You know I can do serious damage!"

"I was faking the pain, my princess," he said, laughing hysterically. "The blood drawn and skin scalded by your steam was indeed real, but I didn't feel too much pain. I was trying to lure you out so I could kidnap you back."

"You're such a liar!" she shouted, pounding against his back once more, though she didn't have the heart to actually hurt him again.

"Come now, you're attracting unwanted attention, princess" he said, grinning. "We're going to buy you a sexy pair of three-inch heels, and I'll even tell the retailer to put rubberized soles so you can practice walking in them."

Natsumi struggled, although she knew it was pretty much useless.

"I'll never talk to you again, Hisoka! Your head is in the clouds just because everything went your way today!"

He grinned maniacally and kissed her thigh, sending a cold shiver up her spine. She shrieked in embarrassment as he laughed all the way down the street, highly amused.

"Oh, please talk to me, my princess. Don't you love me more than you love school?"

End of the final chapter!

Wow. Wasn't that long? Phew! I hope it was well worth the wait. This is definitely a bittersweet parting between you and me. I still can't believe it's over, but all good things have to end sometime. Did it end with a sizzle or a bang? (Enough with the cliches). While I have some damn good ideas for writing a new HisokaxOC chapter, I still don't know if or when they will actually come to fruition, or if they're even good enough to be written down. As you've already experienced, I'm pretty bad at keeping promises. Life shall decide!

Thank you so much, everyone, for following my story faithfully even after two years! I would have not continued writing if I didn't get such awesome feedback from you guys. Honestly, the kind words and positive energy I've received have made all the hours I've poured into this worth it! I'm glad it was as fun for me as it was fun for you.