Origami Heart

Inspired by Kiame Laufey's "Cherry Wine". "You look like you're twelve!" "I'm seventeen!" Hisoka was a total creep, but she figured that out after she decided to talk to him. Sadly. [Hisoka x OC]

Chapter 12

Published 2020.01.10

Fun Fact: "La reine" means "queen" in French.

As it turned out, the next and final piece of the Hunter exam would be taking place in the eastern region of the Yorbian continent - nearly a day's worth of travel. There were no beds nor locked rooms offered on the blimp, so I managed to find a small little corner ledge tucked away at the back of the flying structure on the second floor, hidden from the other contestants. But as the skies turned dark and the lights in the blimp lessened, I wasn't able to fall asleep. It was born out of the irrational fear that someone would sneak up on me while I laid undefended and helpless and slice my throat, but I couldn't quench the fear. Most everyone was resting in the first floor in their own separate spaces, carefully several meters apart. I smelled Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio resting in one of the larger rooms, some unused office, and number three-oh-one sat right by the landing doors, energy bridling up inside him.

And Hisoka kept pacing the hallways. Up, down, left, right. His footsteps weren't loud by any means, but he kept scratching his nails against the fabric of his magician pants pockets that I practically begged him to stop be so irritating when he passed by my little nook.

He tasted agitated.

"You're so loud," I hissed at him in the darkness of the unlit hallway. Hisoka stopped walking and turned his head predatorily at my exposed position by the walls.

He hummed and took a step closer, his face masked by shadows of the lack of lighting. "Oh~? Little bird has lost her feathers."

"Chirp chirp," I said. "Very funny. But will you please stop making that infernal noise with your fingernails? Some of us are trying to rest. That means peace. And quiet."

He only smiled, then sat down right below the high raise ledge. His slicked back hair popped out to the edge and I reflexively scooted back, as far into the wall as possible. But somehow, I trusted the man to not kill me in my sleep. He played with his cards in complete silence (was he blocking the slapping plasticky sound with nen?), ignoring my presence entirely, and I finally fell asleep, attuned to the steady rhythm of his breathing and heartbeat.

I woke to the exact same scene. Hisoka was still playing with his multiple decks, adjusting little turrets and doorways of a magnificent castle. I didn't want to speak because I had terrible morning breath and no matter how much of a weirdo the man was, I wasn't cruel enough to subject him to my gross mornings.

He seemed to sense my awakening, humming a crisp note of "good morning, little bird."

As a response, I lazily sent a bout of power into one of the cards still in his hands. It steadily floated up over his head and into my outstretched hand.

Queen of Hearts.

I hopped off the ledge, carefully skirted around the castle, and trailed off to the bathroom to freshen up, still holding onto the card. "I think it's fitting," I called out, over my shoulder. "I obviously exude queenly excellence."

"Winner: Gon Freecss!"

And then the little twelve year old boy collapsed into a heap of bloody bruises and broken bones. Ouch. His friends immediately raced to his side, Leorio pulling out a medi-kit out of nowhere (seriously, where did that come from?) and started tending to the boy's wounds. At least he won, I thought, gazing down at the wild scene. Hopefully Gon survived the multiple surgeries I suspected he needed in order to wake up to officially being a Hunter.

Wow. A Hunter.

The entire journey almost made me forget why I was competing in these trials in the first place - to become a Hunter, where'd I'd cook for prestigious guests and travel the world for rare ingredients.

I licked my lips to taste the air, drawing in Hisoka's all too familiar black licorice taste. Even from the brutal battle just before this moment, he was calm and in control. It made me wonder where all his bloodlust went.

"Next match: Kisa Reine versus Leorio Paladiknight!"

And then Hisoka's bloodlust soared. How ironic. He took a sharp breath in and I could feel his nen start to blaze. Not my problem, not really, so I just stepped into the fighting circle without a second glance and stood across from the teenage doctor.

Said doctor's sleeves were splattered with drops of Gon's blood, making him a bit gruesome. But the reluctant expression on his face immediately dissolved any fear factors. "I'm - I'm sorry, Kisa-san. I don't want you to get hurt. It would be better if you just quit before we actually have to battle."

Who did he think he was? Some fighting champ? I was horrible at hand to hand combat, but at least Biscuit beat down some basic lessons about nen and strengthening exercises into my rock brain. Leorio didn't have access to his nen yet, nor seemed to have any prior combat experience, judging by his noodly limbs and mildly underfed look. Did he seriously think that he'd win based on his taller stature alone?

"Are you calling me weak?" I asked, putting a hand to my hip.

He spluttered, setting down his stained medikit. "No! Just... you're a lot smaller and younger - wait, not that much younger, sorry - and I'm nineteen and at least a foot taller. And probably a good number of pounds heavier. If you look at the cold, hard facts, you'd see that we're a terrible match-up. I don't want to hurt you."

The airy summer dress, the horribly youthful face, the petite frame... Yeah, I could see where he was going with this. Still, I shot him a flat stare. "Leorio-san, no offense, but what the fuck. If I'm so delicate, then one good punch to the face will knock me right down, right?"

He nodded dumbly.

"Then do it! I'm not initiating this battle because that's against what I've been taught and I'm also not quitting, so you better woman up and take the shot."

He began rambling about his morals or ethics or whatever, and I quickly grew impatient of the young man's whining. I gave a quick mental apology to Biscuit, then darted forward, coating my fist in gyo. As a sensor, it was absolutely vital to never begin or create a fight. Most of my powers channeled into passive, non-combat abilities, and thus I was nearly useless in a fight. Sure, I could handle the basics against untrained or aura-less people, but I could never risk starting a fight with people like the Spider Troupe or something.

I'd die instantly, which didn't sound very nice.

In the end, the doctor went down from one good punch to the solar plexus, drooling and unconscious on the hard tiled floor. Killua, that little brat, started giggling. Leorio's other friends started guffawing and demanding if he was going to be okay. The other Hunter hopefuls looked like they could care less - or more, actually, due to the fact that their next opponent was likely at least mildly injured, thus in their favor for their own match ups.

The most interesting match, as it turned out, was between Killua and the bobble headed freak. And said bobble headed freak revealed himself to be Illumi Zoldyck, the boy's older brother. Something completely shattered in him and he ran away, out the hotel door and into the unknown.

I peered curiously up to the newly named Illumi's face, being a little intrigued and a lot weirded out by how blank and emotionless he looked. A completely empty slot, with nothing marring his sharp yet delicate features.

"That's some serious transmutation power," I whispered, leaning towards Hisoka.

He lifted one elegantly sculpted eyebrow. "That assassin's specialty is manipulation type aura, so yes. Very serious power indeed."

"Yeah, pretty cool. Ignoring the whole moment where I'm pretty sure he just sent his brother into a nervous breakdown, sure."

And thus, the terror awaited. The joker in shining white armor craned his neck down and looped an arm around my shoulders, abruptly forcing me to stand closer. The side of my face collided with his torso and I most likely let out a high pitched squeak. "Aw, Kisa-chaaan. I'm feeling a little jealous with your sudden infatuation with another man!"

At that, Illumi, still standing in the fighting circle, bored his dead eyes straight into my soul. With all his batshit crazy transformation effects let down to reveal the hidden aura and appearance underneath, I could smell the tangy iron scent of blood exuding from the man. He radiated carnage and bloodshed and battle, so much more than Hisoka ever could. If he wanted to, Illumi could slice my throat before I could even open my mouth to sense his presence.

Unfortunately for my treacherous thoughts, the elder Zoldyck assassin marched out the fighting circle straight towards us, the Hunter examiners having decided that Killua's complete abandonment as his own loss, and that the rest of the day would be a day of celebration. Tomorrow in the morning would be the official Hunter "crowning" or whatever it was called again.

Hisoka clenched a little tighter on my shoulder when Illumi stood right before us, nearly impolitely into the personal bubble.

"Hisoka," he said, his voice as blank as his face. "How nice to see you again."

Creeps, the whole bunch of them. Terrible.