So this is basically something I wrote in a few hours because the plot idea had been bugging me and not allowing me to work on anything else, but I hope you'll enjoy! This was based off a few tumblr posts that I've seen, as well as some concepts of my own imagination. Basically it's a slight AU where Kurapika attempts to seduce Tserriednich with his looks and intelligence to worm his way into his trust before taking the Scarlet Eyes form him and taking him out of the succession way quietly and peacefully. However, Kuroro gets in the way a little bit.

Pairing: Kuroro/Kurapika

If you enjoy my writing (on the off chance that you do), then be sure to check out my other stories by clicking on my Author profile! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter

See bottom of chapter for added notes

Chapter One: What are you doing here?

Kurapika felt uncomfortable.

He didn't show it, of course, keeping a dazzling smile on his lips at all times, but he knew the uneasiness was there in the darker parts of his mind. It was only normal anyways, something that set in every time that he had an important mission to carry out. His goal was simple enough; the orders were carefully worded but easy to follow. It was the execution part that was really getting to him. He sighed.

Scanning the crowd, he looked for any sign of his target. At the very edge, loitering at the outskirts of the crowd like a predator that had his sights on his prey, he saw him. Kurapika suppressed the trill of nausea when he found he was the recipient of such a perverted stare from the other man. Kurapika'd been watching him for a while now, gauging his target's interest, and now he was sure that it was time to make his move.

Flicking his gaze to the side, he gave a slight nod to Queen Oito, who gave him an almost imperceptible smile for luck. Sauntering towards him, the other man's smirk widened, and Kurapika mentally shuddered before running through his mess of a plan.

He was doing this for Queen Oito, for Prince Woble, and for his people. That vile man had the last pairs of the Scarlet Eyes, and he was loathe to let such an opportunity slip past his fingers. Fighting him was off the table as well, as his nen capabilities were still a mystery to him. There was only one route to take that could possibly work. Yes, he told himself, failure was not an option. And if he was to seduce Tserriednich, Fourth Prince of the Kakin Empire, to achieve his objective, then so be it.

He'd heard of the man's rather... interesting endeavors and tastes from the many rumors that circulated from some of his more insipid and gossipy bodyguards, and Kurapika knew that he was the best candidate to complete such an unappealing deception. It was going to be difficult, of course, to keep the sadistic man's attention on him for an extended period of time, but he would manage. He had to.

Weaving through the crowds with expert grace, he had almost reached his victim before another frame blocked his view.

"Excuse me sir," he murmured. Inwardly seething with annoyance, Kurapika kept a polite smile on his face before attempting to brush past the other person without looking away from the Fourth Prince. The person obstructing his path, however, was not having any of that. The man seized his wrist, pulling Kurapika back in front of him. Making sure that Tserriednich was occupied with something else, and therefore wouldn't notice the delay of his arrival, the blond met the stranger's eyes for the first time, accusations ready at his lips.

And then he froze, and Kurapika prayed that what he was seeing was just some sort of trick or illusion, and that surely, the leader of the Phantom Troupe wasn't standing right in front of him. Once he realized that he was not going mad, and the Spider Head was indeed just a couple inches away from him, Kurapika felt irritation of all things resurface.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed lowly, eyes darting around to make sure that his target hadn't moved from his position.

"I should ask you the same thing," the monster said back, voice as serene as usual. Kurapika shook his head impatiently, surprised that none of the anger and sadness that he had expected to feel had welled up. The dark-haired man gave him an assessing once-over, and the blond hoped that he had merely imagined the man's eyes lingering on a certain place. "And what are you wearing?"

Something akin to insane laughter bubbled up in his throat, and Kurapika slapped a hand over his mouth. Kuroro looked stunned, face going comically blank. What an impossible situation he found himself in! He was face to face with his worst enemy, and the only thing that had occurred to the other was the clothes he was wearing!

Glancing down at his attire, Kurapika understood the other's point of question. The suit he had donned on was just about crossing the line of scandalous. It was form fitting and specifically designed to display his slender yet muscular frame, and it drew every eye, male or female, to him. The cut was very expensive, of course, but the material of his undershirt was so thin that it clung to his body in ways that he deemed immodest. It was a bit over-the-top, if he was being completely honest, but he knew that he needed every ounce of sexual appeal he could get.

"It's none of your concern," Kurapika replied coldly, having contained himself from any other outbursts. "And if you are here to cause trouble, I suggest that you reevaluate your decisions. You are treading on a battlefield here."

"I know that," the dark-haired man said, but he looked like he wanted to say more.

"Then, if you will excuse me." The blond tried to shoulder past him.

"Wait!"

Kurapika turned back, exasperation clear on his features. "What is it? I don't have time for idle chatter."

"How is it that you are so composed? Last year, the very sight of me would have set you off," Kuroro stated, voice clearly baiting.

Shrugging, the blond removed the hand around his arm. "I made a promise. And I will not break it on a petty whim." Again, he made a move to walk towards his target.

"Who are you looking for?" Kuroro asked, as if they were having a casual conversation between friends.

Grinding his teeth, Kurapika turned back to look him square in the eye. "It's none of your business." Checking around for the prince, he panicked when he saw that he had gone.

"But what if I want to make it my business?" The dark-haired man stepped forward, and Kurapika forced himself not to retreat. He was about to respond with another scathing remark when he felt cold fingers close around his shoulder. He didn't even had to turn around to know who it was behind him, and his heart plummeted.

"Excuse me, but is this man bothering you?" a sickeningly sweet voice said into his ear, and Kurapika didn't have to fake the shiver of disgust that ran down his spine. Plastering a brilliant smile on his lips, Kurapika turned to come face-to-face with none of than the Fourth Prince Tserriednich. Lucilfer immediately stiffened, and his face flickered with minute confusion at the blond's sudden change of expression.

"Nothing I can't handle," he responded, voice kept low and flirtatious, pointedly not removing the hand placed heavily on his shoulder. "But thank you for your concern, your highness."

The man's face brightened at the honorific, and another hand found its way around his forearm. Kurapika couldn't suppress the flash of pure revulsion that the prince's touch caused him, and by the look of faint alarm in Lucilfer's face, the Spider had noticed as well.

"I was just about to pull you aside to speak with you myself," Tserriednich admitted, breath cold and distinctly wrong against the back of his neck. "Perhaps I could steal you away from your lovely chat to discuss some of those offers you were giving to my dear siblings." It obviously wasn't a question, but more of a demand. "Under any of your conditions, of course."

"It would be a pleasure," Kurapika agreed, and tried his best not to flinch as he felt a hand come to rest against the small of his back. The Phantom Troupe leader's expression stirred with something dark and strange that Kurapika couldn't identify before the Fourth Prince steered him away to a more deserted part of the banquet room.

Once they were completely alone, Tserriednich dropped his arms away from the blond —something that Kurapika was immensely grateful for— in favor of circling him, eyes assessing. Kurapika immediately brought up his guard, mentally preparing himself for whatever the man was going to do. That was the part that irked him the most; the Fourth Prince was just about as predictable as the vicious monsoons that used to ravage his home village. But, if Kurapika had played his cards correctly, the prince would simply be curious and not inclined to kill him, at least not yet.

"You know, you fascinate me," Tserriednich revealed, moving in closer to inspect the blond's face. "Somehow you've managed to string along my little brothers and sisters with your plans and empty promises; you've beaten this unbeatable succession war to standstill. You must be pleased with yourself, then." An odd little smile flitted across the prince's lips as he tilted his head.

"I do what I must," Kurapika responded carefully, tone still quiet and personable, something that derived what sounded like a satisfied purr to escape the prince's lips. "It all depends on how willing my competitors are to submit." Allowing the last word to curl suggestively in his mouth, Kurapika looked up at the other man.

"Having all those rotten princes eating out of your pretty little hand must be a an invigorating power play, hm?" He inched closer, grasping the blond's chin roughly. "But why work for that helpless Fourteenth Prince when you could serve me?"

Even as anger pooled in his stomach at the insult towards Queen Oito and Prince Woble, he felt a thrum of satisfaction as his plan came to fruition. Tserriednich had taken his bait. Now, it was time to reel him in.

"However tempting that sounds, I have already pledged myself to my employer. But, I will always be available if you wish to negotiate an agreement." He let the end of the sentence fall with an unspoken question, just subtle enough to prove intriguing.

Then he spun away, moving so quickly that Tserriednich barely had time to react before he was a good few meters away from him. "I'll be taking my leave... unless you require me for anything else." He counted down the seconds before the prince would call him back. 5...4...3...2...

A hand jerked him violently back, and Kurapika knew that he'd succeeded.

"Please, I insist that you keep me company for the rest of the evening, so that we may discuss the terms of that agreement you mentioned," Tserridnich said, voice dripping with false niceties. With a chill, Kurapika realized that he would much rather face down the Phantom Troupe leader once more than have to spend one more moment in the prince's presence.

But, it was his promise to his people, to Queen Oito, and to Prince Woble that made him go pliant under Tserridnich's orders. He let a shadow of a smile curve upwards on his face under the prince's arrogant gaze.

"As you wish." Tserridnich's appraising grin widened.

"I can tell that you're going to be an interesting one," he said slowly, as if savoring his next words. "I'm going to have fun with you."

And so, with his skin crawling at the other's contact, Kurapika let himself be led towards Tserriednich's table in the dining hall like a docile lamb to the slaughter.

Walking back quickly to Queen Oito's quarters, Kurapika tried to shake off the memory of Tserridnich's clammy fingers against the back of his neck, the feel of his wandering hands ghosting down his back. The man had never really tried anything; it was in his nature that he would wait until his victims were long dead before touching them, Kurapika supposed. Still, there was something revolting about being the subject to such an inhuman man's attentions.

At the end of the night, though, Kurapika comforted himself with the fact that he had accomplished his task. He'd spent the past few hours indulging the prince with his knowledge of fine arts and the classics, using it to charm the man and ensure further meetings with him. Tserriednich had not completely finalized his intentions of a peace towards Queen Oito and Prince Woble, he'd hinted that he would leave them alive for the next few days, on the condition that Kurapika meet with him the next day to help develop his nen further. He'd punctuated this statement with a kiss on the back of Kurapika's hand, something that had bile rising at the back of his throat.

It was an unfavorable thought, to have to endure the other's sickening nature for another day, but it was something that he was willing to go through if it meant that his employer would stay protected. Running a hand through his hair, Kurapika started to formulate a proper plan for the upcoming encounter. He hadn't expected that his operation really prove to be so effective, so any strategies he had thought up for anything after the initial confrontation were scarce and not fully-developed.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't register the the man in the corridor adjacent to him until said man had grasped his coat and tugged him into a darkened entryway.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kurapika whisper-shouted, yanking back his sleeve from the other's grip and glaring at him fiercely. Lucilfer stared right back, dark eyes empty of any emotion as usual.

"You're going to get yourself killed," Kuroro told him placidly.

"Do you really think that I don't know that?" the blond asked, voice back to its even cadence as he calmed himself down. He was about to turn away when two hands clamped down on his shoulders, holding him in place. Kurapika couldn't help but note that the man was oddly warm, and his touch wasn't unwelcome after Tserriednich's cold hands.

"Let me clarify; if you die, you'll mess up my plans," Kuroro said succinctly.

"If I don't carry out this plan, I'm going to die either way," Kurapika replied, tone devoid of any traces of fear or worry over the fact.

The Phantom Troupe huffed in irritation.

"You may not know fully how this works, but I'm doing what is in the best interests of my employer and myself, no matter how misguided my methods may be," Kurapika informed him levelly, "so I advise you to abandon whatever heist you're trying to carry out. You and your comrades should stay away from this battle while you still can."

"They're not with me."

Kurapika's eyes snapped back to the other man in shock. The Phantom Troupe leader was always accompanied with one or two of his members. Why was he not now, heading into an unknown and uncharted land, nonetheless? By the look in Lucilfer's eyes, however, he wasn't lying, at least as far as he could tell.

"What do you mean? You always have a few trailing after you," Kurapika accused.

"I've told them to go their separate ways until I contacted them further," Kuroro revealed, much to Kurapika's surprise.

"You're about to enter the Dark Continent, and you left your backup behind? That's quite illogical," the blond remarked.

"A few might have followed me, but that is against my explicit orders," Kuroro explained, something that the Kurta found very confusing. Why was Kuroro giving him all of this information? To the man that once swore to kill him, no less?

"Why are you telling me this?" Kurapika asked, still not moving away from Kuroro.

"Because I want you to trust me," the other responded honestly.

At his words, Kurapika immediately tensed. "What do you want?" he questioned, voice dangerously quiet.

A smile formed at Kuroro's lips. "Perceptive as ever. What I want is not much of consequence to you, but what I require from you is something you'll have to find out."

"Then have fun trying to gain my so-called 'trust'," Kurapika quipped, stepping out from under Lucilfer's hold. Slipping back into the hallway, he cast a hand behind him. "May our paths never cross again, Lucilfer."

The dark-haired man blinked. "Ah, but sometimes you don't get your way," he muttered to the empty hallway. And then he continued to stroll through the halls, mind still fixated on a certain blond's face.

Until tomorrow, then.

To be Continued...

Added Notes

1) I'm still debating whether or not to continue this, but it all depends if any of you enjoy the story or not, as well as how much work I get this semester.

2) About the little blip with Kurapika's promise that he mentioned to Kuroro: Gon had him promise that he wouldn't pursue any spiders anymore at the end of the Yorknew City arc

3) This story will be Kuroro/Kurapika endgame, by the way

4) No, Tserriednich is not in love/infatuated/anything with Kurapika, he is simply interested and curious about his powers and intelligence like the creepy person he is.

5) Sorry if this seems a bit less coherent than my usual writing; I didn't have much time to edit this as my workload is a little insane!

Thanks for reading and please review!