Phantom Troupe's Web

Chapter 17.

"That's not how Nee-chan raised me..," the child muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. The mentioned female standing on the sidelines of the Final Phase, smiled at the boy's words however her twin breaks that heartfelt moment for her.

"What would you accomplish by becoming a Hunter?" the long black-haired man questioned, ignoring the mention of his older twin.

"It's true, I don't desire to become a hunter...But...I do have something I want..," Killua trails off, informing his brother who debunks his desires that were reinforced by the child. "There's something I really want!"

Illumi motions to him, waiting for a response. "Tell me what it is that you want. What's wrong? There's nothing you really want, is there?" he says.

The younger boy flinches, maintaining his gaze on the floor of the hotel as he exclaimed out loud. "That's not it! I want to become friends with Gon...I'm sick of killing people...I want to become friends with Gon, and to live a normal life..," he told his brother. From the sidelines, the siblings' older sister stared with soft eyes. When she still lived with her family at the estate, she tried her hardest to give her younger siblings a normal childhood without having to take them off the grounds of their property, however, those plans would always be ruined as she was given missions daily.

"That's impossible. You'll never be able to make friends," the assassin interrupted the boy's fantasies. With the Final Phase rules in place, the disguised woman was unable to attack her twin and defend Killua unless she wanted to be eliminated from the exam, which frankly, she wasn't keen on retaking. "Your only concern, when you meet someone, is whether you should kill them. That's how you were trained. You just don't know how to classify Gon because he's too dazzling for your eyes. You don't actually want to become friends with him."

"You're wrong..," the white-haired boy whispered, trembling.

Illumi turns back and looks at his brother. "If you stay with him, you'll end up wanting to kill him one day. You'll get the urge to see if you can kill him or not. Because you have the soul of a killer," the older Zoldyck brother finished, the entire room filling with tension.

From the sidelines, Leorio yells out to the shorter brother. "Killua! I don't give a damn if he's your brother. He's a worthless piece of crap! Don't listen to him! Just beat the crap out of him like usual and win! You want to become friends with Gon? Are you daft? You're already friends!" Killua visibly jerks in shock at the man's words. "I'm sure that's how Gon feels!"

"This can't be good..," Iris mumbled, moving closer to the exit.

"Really? That's no good. He considers Kil a friend. Okay, I'll kill Gon," Illumi concluded after some thought. "A killer doesn't need any friends. They'll only slow you down," he pivots on his heel. "Where is he?" he asked.

A guard rushes forward, waving his hands frantically at the assassin. "P-please wait! The match is still–" Before the man could finish their sentence when Illumi three of his pins into the guard's face, draining him and asking for Gon's whereabouts once more. He moves closer to the door, unable to go through them when Kurapike, Leorio and Hanzo blocked it from the older brother.

"This won't do. I need a hunter license to do my job...But if I kill them, I'll fail and Kil will pass automatically," Illumi thought out loud. "Oh darn. The same thing will happen if I kill Gon. I know! I'll pass the exam before killing Gon. If I wait until after passing the exam, I can kill everyone here and still keep my license, right?" the bug-eyes male turned to the chairman who confirmed his theory.

Facing his younger brother, the older Zoldyck releases his bloodlust and begins to exploit the child, a hand reaching out to the white-haired boy. Before his hand reaches him, a blur of metal flies past them, grazing the tip of Illumi's finger which he pulled back quickly at the sight of the passing weapon. Turning his head to the weapon, he finds it wedged in the opposite wall and adverts his gaze to the culprit that began giggling.

"Oops...My hand slipped," Illuki innocently smiled, gaining everyone's attention. She twirls the end of her faux magenta hair with her finger, offering her twin a playful grin. "What's so wrong with making some friends? I think it'd be a great investment," she hummed.

"You know how it is. He's the heir to the family business, sister," Illumi deadpans, his arms falling to his sides. The other applicants gasps at the lady standing with them, the news of her relation to the pair scaring them.

Iris sighed, shrugging her shoulders as she taps on her chin with a finger. "I suppose you are correct, and I am unable to interfere due to exam rules. However, if you are to harm Kil or any of his friends...Well, I hope you are prepared," she vaguely states, giving a closed-eye smile.

The black-haired assassin glimpses over at his twin sister, ignoring the feared stare they were receiving. "You scare me, sister," he tonelessly expresses, snickering softly before turning back at the pair's younger brother.

"You have to beat me if you want to save Gon. Will you fight me for your friend's sake? You can't do it. Because you're more worried about whether or not you can defeat me," the apathetic man says, advancing towards him and reaching a hand out when he stood in front of the boy. Illuki frowned at the sight of Killua trembling under the bloodlust of Illumi, crossing her arms as she thought to herself about the training her twin would've given the 12-year-old. "And you already have your answer: I'm not strong enough to beat my brother. Never fight an enemy you can't beat. I drilled that into you...Don't move! If you move an inch, I'll assume that the fight has begun and if our bodies make contact, that will also mean the fight has begun. There's only one way to stop me. You know what that is," Illumi blankly says, staring down at Killua. "But don't forget...If you don't fight me, your dear Gon will die."

The eldest Zoldyck hears Leorio yelling from the door however her altered eyes never leave the frame of her younger brother who surrenders under the intensity of Illumi's bloodlust. Illuki observes as her twin crouches to whisper into Killua's ear, a hand on his head. While she wanted to comfort her brother, the Hunter Exam had to continue with the next fight, which was Leorio and Bodoro, whose injuries had healed. She would've fought whoever won the delayed combat however stared in shock when Killua dug his sharpened hand into Bodoro's chest, instantly killing him before leaving the venue of the Final Phase.