𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗿 (Killua x oc)

➵ Chapter 38

"Yorknew city, Hotel Beitacle, third floor. Number 347." Feitan murmured with his sickly voice, slowly crushing the phone in his hand.

"Nobody touch her." His gaze trailed around the rest of the members, menace in his eyes. "She's mine to kill."

The underlying anger was even enough to make the others uncomfortable. He was determined to kill whatever had hurt his pride.

"Feitan. You will not kill her." Chrollo's voice dominated over Feitan's, like water over fire.

"Captain, this is the only order I will not take." Feitan murmured beneath his bandana.

Chrollo stared straight into his eyes. "She is a prize. One worth to keep." He said, his tone as cold as ice. "You can be the one to kill her. But not until I say so."

"Tsk." Annoyance lacing his features, knowing Chrollo has already reduced his demands.

"Fine. But I will be the one getting her."

—

Shitto awaited calmly in the room next door, patiently waiting. She wasn't proud, but didn't regret. And the constant thoughts of Itsuki and Kai kept her harboured from guilt.

Only a few days. She told herself for the countless times. She just needed Itsuki to be away from Kai for a few days when she, herself could have a chance to talk to Kai. And then she'll rescue Itsuki back, from whatever troupe or mafias that took her. That's what she planned. It was easy task. A piece of cake. That's at least what she had thought. She was confident in her abilities when in terms of combat skills, for she was a nen user herself. An advanced, trained nen user. A couple of troupes couldn't stop her.

And that evening, she woke up to the truth.

A suffocating wave of aura weighed down on her. The air thickened, time seemed to stop. It felt she was like an ant, holding the weight of an elephant, the pressure coursing through every joint. A charge into dread, a foreboding warning to menace. The inexplicable feeling worsened, like the air was about to compress her to mush.

Something was darting her way. Something about to arrive. Her instincts kicked in. And the fastest she had ever moved, sprinted to her right and shrank to the rat form.

And that, just barely dodged the attack from feitan. His hands, sharpened, was punctured through the wall that would have been Shitto.

All of this, from Shitto feeling the aura to now, happened in the course of a second.

"Ah. Missed." Feitan muttered to himself. The rat long gone.

His original plan was to kill the caller and then take the target. But now, as he makes eye contact with Itsuki through the fault of the wall. He couldn't care less about the rat scurrying away.

With a sweep of the hands, the whole wall crumbled. He stepped into the room slowly. A motion that allowed him to cherish the fear in their eyes, a moment that told the prey, that he was the predator, and their only fate was to be slaughtered.

And that was the exact the situation for Itsuki.

Feitan did not miss the droplet trickling down Itsuki's cheeks.

His smirk was painful. Watching him inching closer, and knowing the inevitable fate closing in right in front of you, was already torture itself.

"We meet again." Feitan's eyes curling.

"I can see." Itsuki said, barely masking the quiver in her voice.

"We haven't finished the game we played last time." Feitan said as he took a step closer. "Now, we have all the time in the world."

He was now right in front of her.

"I-I'm good." She cursed herself for the stutter, hating the satisfaction she must have given him.

"You know..." Feitan placed his hand on Itsuki's head. "Only one victim has ever survived my games." He patted her head gently.

She cringed at his touch. But tied up, Itsuki could only do so much.

"And it was you..." His hands trailed down, and wrapped his fingers around her neck. He leaned close to her ear. "What a pity you won't have a chance to tell your tale."

The trembling was now impossible to hide. It was like death itself was talking to her.

Feitan chuckled besides her ear, his laughter making it all the more unbearable.

"You make me sick." Itsuki found the courage to glare at him.

He only smiled, "tell me something I didn't know."

Itsuki raised a brow. "I know you can't kill me."

This angered Feitan, as the hand on her neck began squeezing down. And let free just as she was about to pass out.

And now it was Itsuki's turn to smile. "T-that just p-proved I was right." She said between coughs, reflecting the cockiness Feitan had before.

"Captain wants to play with you first." Feitan uttered. "But I'll be the one that will kill you." His eyes darkened. "And it'll be long and painful." He drawled.

"You'll scream until your throat bleeds. I'll make sure of it. Mark my words."

"I won't give you the satisfaction." Itsuki spat through gritted teeth.

"Oh you will." He said with certainty. "I'll teach you some real torture. Just wait. Wait til Captain is tired and bored with you. I'll show you what true pain is."

Itsuki couldn't do anything, she could only listen.

"Ah, Should I bring your little friend with you for company?"

"RUN SHITTO." Itsuki's scream travelled through the whole floor. That was probably the last thing she could do.

—

Shitto shook uncontrollably behind the door. The aura she felt has pushed her to a new understanding of the world. A power so far away, that she couldn't even see. She was too naive, stupid to even think that she stood a big mighty chance. Rescue Itsuki in a few days? Simply laughable.

Even now, the trembling couldn't stop. The eyes of the killer haunts her. A gaze aimed to kill, to slay. A pair of eyes that saw the depth of hell. It was a fear that she'll never forget, a fear that'll be engraved in her memory, haunting her forever.

Then, she heard the scream. The scream telling her to run. The scream that belonged to the girl she so heartlessly betrayed. And in that moment of time. She had never felt more hate. Hatred towards the self that made the decision of betrayal. Hatred against herself. The realisation that she wasn't any better than her mother, the monster she became.

She sprinted to the direction where Itsuki was. But when she opened the door, they were long gone.

Shitto decided. Even if she had to die. She was to redeem her mistakes.

—