at last. [illumi x oc]

5. sanaku.

The alarm on my phone rang incessantly, rattling my brain around my skull. It was 9am, not too early, but considering how I fell asleep at 6am "last night", it was pretty damn early. I went to the bathroom to freshen up. Despite having years of endurance training, the one thing I could never fully master was sleep.

After properly shaking off my grogginess, I got dressed and headed out to a small inn where the kids were going to show up later. I bought a bacon croissant on the street, having breakfast as I walked. Today was an important day! I was going to meet the kids and earn their trust by fending off evil assassins... who were hired by Hanka and it's all part of an act, but shh, they don't need to know that.

A 10 minute walk later, I arrived at the inn. It was a cute place, I pushed the wooden doors open and walked inside. There was a small room that served both as a waiting area and the check-in check-out point of the inn, a small portable water fountain stood on top of the concierge's counter, making gurgling noises. A couple cushioned straw armchairs were lined up unevenly against the wall, with a low circular tea table in front of them. The floor was polished cement and the walls were some sort of black marble.

There was no one at the counter, so I sat down on one of the straw chairs. I checked the time. 5 minutes until the kids are expected to show up and 30 minutes until the rookies do. The wooden front doors creaked as it was pushed open from outside, catching my attention.

You will never guess who walked in.

Ebony, Mr. Long Hair, whatever you want to call him.

He entered and closed the door behind him. He looked around, his eyes meeting mine. This time, he was visibly startled to see me. I think he almost jumped. To be honest, I almost did too. He eyed me suspiciously as he sat down on the furthest armchair from mine. I couldn't take this anymore.

"How have you been tailing me for the past day and a half?" I asked.

"I should be the one asking you!" he retorted, "Misana, was that your name? You better keep out of my way."

"And you better keep out of mine, Ebony." I said his name mockingly. He almost looked amused for a second, but quickly returned to his signature apathetic expression. This guy was acting all high and mighty when he didn't even know my real name.

Both of us turned our heads to look when the front door had been opened up again. They really needed to oil their hinges, the squeaking was getting very annoying.

This time I was happy to see who came in. My targets.

The first kid was a short boy with spiky white hair and piercing blue eyes, the description matched the one given to me about Killua, so I'm guessing that this is him.

The other kid was a little girl with long brown hair and a headband on her forehead. She also had blue eyes, but they were softer than those of her brother's.

The moment they walked in, they both gasped and looked taken aback. They stared at... Ebony.

Killua's face suddenly hardened. "Illumi." he said, calmly.

Wait a minute.

My head whipped to Ebony's direction. He was no "Ebony Selvig".

He was another Zoldyck.

Hanka had told me about the family countless times before, Illumi... he must be the first born.

Now it all made sense. It wasn't a mere coincidence that we had the exact same travel plans, we had both planned to visit and stay close to these kids.

My breath quickened.

"What are you doing here?" said Killua. He sounded venomous as he held Alluka and tucked her behind his back, as if to use his own body as a shield.