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If someone had asked Killua how he had come to be on a family trip with all of his siblings, he would genuinely have no coherent answer. He may have suggested mind-control, or temporary insanity.
For Milluki, the reason for his attendance was bribery. For Kalluto, a desire to please his family. Only Alluka was genuinely excited about the prospect of spending a day at a theme park with her brothers.
Illumi may have also been excited to be there, but that was not something that could possibly be discerned by looking at him. Still, Killua thought, he had dragged them all along on this ridiculous outing, so he had better be elated.
Within a minute of them arriving, in typical helicopter parent/sibling fashion, Illumi was already studying the advisory board outside of the theme park; double-checking that their shoes and clothing were suitable; and asking –for at least the third time– if they were all wearing sunscreen.
“Ah, Alluka, it looks like you’ll need to tie your hair up. It says here that it’s essential for your safety.”
Killua imagined that if Illumi had tried to come towards him with a hair-tie, he may well have bitten his hand off. In contrast, Alluka looked positively giddy to have her brother doing her hair. Killua felt a twinge of jealousy.
“Okay, all done,” he announced, apparently satisfied that they had now met every item on the health and safety checklist. Killua rolled his eyes at the obvious oversight. How can he be so oblivious?
“Illu-nii!” Alluka piped up, “don’t you need to tie up your hair too?”
He reached back and ran his fingers through it, as if he’d only just remembered that he had long hair. Before he had chance to forget again, Alluka enthusiastically closed the gap between them. “Let me do it!”
Out of the corner of his eye, Killua spotted Kalluto looking mildly put out. Apparently Alluka had beat him to the punch of volunteering.
In contrast, Milluki very clearly had no interest in playing with anyone’s hair. He had had his eyes glued to his phone for the entire journey there, and had barely glanced up since they arrived. In fact, his only contributions to the conversation so far had been to grunt out annoyed affirmations when asked whether or not he had applied adequate sun protection, and if his shoes were comfortable and suitable for walking.
Unlike the other recommendations listed outside the park, there was really no need to recheck anyone’s choice of attire. Their clothing had been decided long before they ever left, with their final ensembles being the result of Illumi’s overzealous pre-trip research. He had discovered that kimono were not particularly suitable for theme parks; so, he had suggested shorts to Kalluto instead.
Although Kalluto’s initial reaction had been one of discomfort, he was placated by Illumi immediately declaring: “we’ll all wear them!”
When explaining the clothing situation to Alluka, before even getting as far as telling her about the planned group coordination, she had excitedly interrupted to say, “I want to wear shorts too!” and that was that.
Milluki had only escaped the mandate by quickly searching, finding, printing, and handing over a recommendation of theme park wear that clearly included loose-fitting trousers.
And so, one request to a butler later, they had all been outfitted with shorts, shirts, and loose trousers.
******
With hair and safety checks finally complete, they were able to pay for their tickets and enter the park.
Alluka stared wide-eyed at all of the brightly coloured rides and flashing lights; Kalluto was much more subtle, but his eyes also seemed to be sparkling; Killua grinned, thinking that maybe this day out wouldn’t be the worst thing ever after all.
He quickly regretted that the thought had even crossed his mind, when his roving eyes spotted the one thing even more garish than the theme park.
“Well, hello there!” said Hisoka cheerily, walking towards them. Unlike the Zoldycks, he apparently had no concept of ‘dressing down’, and was instead clad in one of his usual, over the top outfits, complete with heels that certainly wouldn’t have passed Illumi’s safety check.
Killua seethed. “Are you kidding me?”
“About what, dear Killua?” he asked, the picture of innocence.
Spluttering indignantly, Killua yelled, “you! Here! Don’t you have anything better to do??”
“Better than spending time with my favourite family? Certainly not!”
It was pointless to try and argue with him.
So he rounded on Illumi instead.
“No fair! How come I wasn’t allowed to bring Gon, but you got to bring your friend?”
“Firstly,” Illumi began, “he is not my friend. Secondly, I did not bring him”. Turning his attention to Hisoka, he asked in mild exasperation, “why are you here?”
Hisoka smiled pleasantly. “Would you believe that your parents asked me to accompany you?”
“I would not.”
“Ah, but you can’t know that for sure.”
“I very much can. Why are you here?”
“How sad, I’m almost starting to feel unwelcome,” he lamented with a theatrical sigh. Unfazed by Illumi’s increasingly pronounced scowl, he continued, “I thought with so many children in tow, you would appreciate an additional chaperone.”
Illumi folded his arms. “I’m perfectly capable of keeping an eye on my own siblings. I have years of practise.”
“Really? Because one of them is clearly already planning his escape.”
Killua glared at him.
“Nonsense. They’re all here of their own free will.”
Hisoka threw up his hands in mock defeat. “Of course, of course. But I’m sure you would agree that things would be much easier with an even number. A lot of these rides are set up in rows of two, you realise?”
Illumi narrowed his eyes.
Bingo.
His expression abruptly evened back out. “I suppose that would make things simpler. However, please refrain from making a spectacle of yourself.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said with a pleased smile.
Killua threw his hands in the air in frustration. Kalluto seethed quietly. Milluki quite possibly hadn’t even noticed what was going on, for all the attention he was paying to them.
******
It ended up being Alluka who picked the first ride, mainly by virtue of it being the first one she saw. “It’s so cool, it looks like a giant squid!”
“Octopus,” Killua immediately corrected, “way cooler”.
On their way over to the ride, they passed by another health and safety sign.
Illumi apparently felt compelled to glance over the list again. “Hisoka, your shoes aren’t suitable.”
He glanced down. “Not suitable?”
“Yes,” he pointed at the sign, “it says that your shoes should be comfortable and easy to walk in”.
“Well then, there shouldn’t be a problem. I am very comfortable.”
Illumi persisted, “it specifically recommends against heels”.
“Ah, but it isn’t a rule.”
Illumi didn’t look impressed.
“Are you worried that I’ll set a bad example? Truly, had I known there was a dress code, I’d have happily complied.” As he spoke, he made a point of looking over Illumi’s khaki shorts and loose shirt.
“You have to be invited to know the dress code,” Killua cut in, rolling his eyes.
Hisoka ignored him. “Shoes aside, I promise to be an absolute model of good behaviour,” he promised in an admirable performance of sincerity.
Killua rolled his eyes at the display, but apparently it was still convincing enough for Illumi to drop the issue.
Possibly in an attempt to keep him in check (and because Killua had immediately paired up with Alluka), Illumi opted to ride with Hisoka. Kalluto sat next to a very put-upon Milluki, who at least put his phone away long enough to engage with his younger brother.
******
One spinning, bouncing, noisy ride later, everyone disembarked. All of the kids, as well as Hisoka, seemed to have a happy glow about them. Of course, in the cases of Hisoka and Alluka, the pleased atmosphere around them was quite normal – though Alluka still managed to add a little more bounce to her step. On the other hand, Kalluto’s subtle shift towards what seemed to be an excitable mood was something of a rarity (at least, without there being any carnage involved).
Unlike the giddy Zoldyck children, Milluki only maintained sociability for as long as it took for the pairs (and therefore, Kalluto) to merge back into a whole, after which he immediately went back to his phone.
Alluka suggested that Killua should pick the next ride. Naturally, Killua had his eye on the biggest, most intense-looking rollercoaster they had. Having successfully shepherded the group over to it, he made a beeline for the entrance.
“Hold on, Killu.”
Killua stopped immediately, and slowly turned, fixing Illumi with a death-glare.
“What?”
Illumi pointed at a large size chart behind him. “There’s a minimum height rule. You need to check if you’re tall enough first.”
He immediately went a little red. “How old do you think I am?”
Apparently, his argument was insufficient. Illumi just continued to stare blankly at him, in a staring contest that Killua knew he would never win.
For the second time that day (so far, anyway), Killua threw his hands up in the air, stomping over to the height chart.
“Happy?” he said pointedly, after proving he comfortably met the height requirement.
“Yes, very. Alluka, Kalluto, you too.”
Alluka bounced over towards Killua, giving a little cheer when she was also found to be sufficiently tall.
When it was Kalluto’s turn however, he was left awkwardly glancing at the protruding marker, indicating that he was just under.
“It’s only an inch,” shrugged Killua. “Just stand on your toes.” They began to move towards the entrance.
“Hold it.”
Is this going to be an ongoing thing? Killua wondered. “What now, Aniki?”
“Kalluto isn’t tall enough. He can’t go on the ride.”
“What? It’s just an inch, nobody cares.”
“The rules are there for a reason, Killu. I’m sorry, Kalluto.”
Kalluto nodded dutifully and walked back towards the older members of the group. Killua took the news somewhat less gracefully.
“Seriously? What do you think is going to happen?”
Whatever the answer was, Illumi didn’t feel the need to share it. He once again silently stared until Killua gave up.
Hisoka decided to chime in, “so severe, Illu~”
“Rules are important.”
“Oh, I agree,” he replied with mock seriousness. “We should probably go with them to make sure there are no other infractions while you’re not looking.”
Killua turned his death-glare on Hisoka.
“We can’t, someone has to watch Kallu.”
Milluki raised his hand, still not taking his eyes off his phone, “I’ll stay”.
“Perfect! Shall we, then?” Hisoka placed an arm around Illumi’s lower back and started to lead him away.
“I hate him,” Killua could be heard muttering.
******
After the ride, the group again reconvened. Once again, Alluka looked delighted. Killua, on the other hand, looked oddly wobbly. “That was great!” he said, a little breathlessly.
“Really?” said a wholly unruffled Hisoka, “would you like to ride again?”
Killua narrowed his eyes at him. “That wouldn’t be fair to Kalluto. He should pick the next ride.”
“How very generous of you,” he replied, looking altogether too smug.
Kalluto picked a much smaller rollercoaster. It seemed like it was predominately aimed at children, which likely factored into his choice, as it was clearly not something that would have a stringent height policy.
It again came time to pair up. And once again, Killua immediately grabbed Alluka’s hand and announced: “I’m with Alluka!”
Kalluto fidgeted, looking a little forlorn as he glanced around the remaining options.
Illumi apparently noticed. “No. Killua, you ride with Kalluto.”
“What??” he retorted. He was ready to lay into his brother for the ridiculous demand, until he noticed Kalluto’s flinch at his response. “Okay, fine, but then who’s going to ride with Alluka?”
Without a thought, Illumi announced, “I’ll ride with Alluka”.
“No–” Killua started, at the same time as Alluka enthusiastically exclaimed, “okay!”
“Wait, really?” he said in disbelief.
“Yeah!” she replied with a smile.
Well, no arguing with that I guess, Killua thought, resigned.
Illumi clapped his hands together. “Superb. Let’s go then.”
Hisoka, suffering from not being the centre of attention for too long, decided to make his presence known. “Um, Illumi dear, I think you’ve forgotten about me.”
Illumi turned to look at him. Glancing over his collection of siblings, he evenly said, “you can ride with Milluki”. He then immediately resumed his purposeful stride towards the ride’s entrance, his siblings following him, Killua looking back over his shoulder and snickering.
There was an awkward pause between the two remaining party members.
Hisoka decided to make the most of it. How dull could a Zoldyck child be, after all?
“Well then, shall we?”
Milluki looked up from his phone at him with disdain. He took a brief glance at the ride. “Too bad, looks like I can’t ride,” he said, smugly jabbing his thumb towards the large ‘weight limit’ sign.
“Well, that really is a shame, I was–” he stopped mid-sentence, looking at the sign.
“What?”
‘Maximum Weight: 200lbs’
“…it would seem I can’t ride either.”
******
Soon after (the lines so far had been mercifully short), they re-emerged from the ride’s exit. Kalluto, in particular, looked the happiest he’d looked all day. In typical Zoldyck fashion though, it still bordered on imperceptible to a casual observer. Alluka, too, was practically skipping as she exited the ride, only slowing down to pull Illumi along with her.
After reconvening with Milluki and Hisoka, Illumi fixed them with a quizzical look. “Why didn’t you go on the ride?”
“Your boyfriend is too fat,” Milluki responded, amused.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Illumi calmly responded, ignoring the latter part of the statement.
Hisoka pouted. “I’m feeling rather ganged up on.”
“Good,” Killua chimed in.
New target sighted. “If only you were as charming as your friend Gon. I’d hoped that some of his good character would rub off on you, but alas~”
Killua immediately took the bait. Too easy.
“At least I have friends!”
“How rude. I have friends to rub off on me too.”
Milluki smirked subtly, shaking his head. Killua bristled, “yeah, right”.
Hisoka feigned offence at the accusation. “Illumi, please tell your brother that I do in fact have friends.”
“Do you?” he said distractedly, looking around.
Hisoka immediately returned to his pouty persona. “So cruel~”
Illumi ignored him, having apparently found what he’d been looking for. He walked the short distance to where Kalluto had wandered off. It was apparently some kind of souvenir stand that sold pictures taken during the nearby rides. Kalluto had located the photo of them from the rollercoaster that he’d been too short to ride, and he was looking at it with an expression that was verging on a smile.
In the picture, Alluka had her arms thrown above her head, laughing happily; Killua, uncharacteristically, had a look that implied the ride was far scarier than he expected; Hisoka had seemingly taken the opportunity to throw his arm around Illumi’s shoulders; Illumi, unsurprisingly, showed no expression at all.
“Onii-chan! You look so scared!” Alluka laughed, looking at the picture over Kalluto’s shoulder.
“Only because you wouldn’t hold on to the bar!” he shot back, flustered.
Hisoka, apparently over his prior upset, sidled over. “Ah, it would seem they’ve added one for the last ride too~”
In the second picture, Killua looked far less distressed. Instead, he was comfortably leaning into Kalluto, whose small smile made it clear how happy he was. Alluka, again, looked giddy with excitement, and Illumi, again, was staring blankly ahead as if he was taking an eye-test.
While the kids chatted amongst themselves about the photos, Illumi vanished into the shop. Hisoka leaned back to observe him from a distance; Illumi was stood in front of the till, and from the amount of button presses the salesperson was making, had apparently ordered just about everything they sold. After paying, the pleased salesperson handed him a pickup receipt and he returned to the group.
“Were you able to buy enough pictures to wallpaper your room?” Hisoka asked, teasingly.
Illumi ignored him. “We’ll have to come back to purchase our future pictures.”
Hisoka wondered if it was possible to go bankrupt from buying souvenir photos. Still, there was certainly no chance of Illumi stopping before he got a picture that included all of his siblings. He expected that as soon as such an image was captured, he would have to brace himself to endure Illumi wearing nothing but tacky t-shirts and baseball caps emblazoned with it.
Well, he thought, maybe if that was all he was wearing he could forgive the fashion faux pas.
Killua’s next suggestion was the haunted house ‘experience’. Illumi quickly vetoed that suggestion after seeing that it was only suitable for those aged 15 and up. Killua, again, exploded with annoyance at the lunacy of being allowed to hold a beating human heart in his hand, but not to be mock-attacked by people in costumes. Illumi, of course, didn’t budge.
It was Alluka who interrupted Killua’s tirade, by kindly suggesting that it was someone else’s turn to pick the ride anyway.
“You should pick, Millu-nii!”
Milluki, who once again was not remotely involved in the ongoing drama, looked up from his phone.
“Huh?”
“It’s your turn to pick where we go next. Where do you want to go?”
Milluki started to object; he didn’t really care what rides they went on, and he’d be quite happy just to sit on a bench until the trip was over. Still, when he saw Alluka and Kalluto looking at him with big, expectant eyes, he found himself suddenly incapable of brushing off their desire for him to participate.
Still, it didn’t help his ability to come to a decision on the matter.
He quickly scanned around the park, for the first time paying attention to what was on offer. Dodgems… carrousel… tunnel of love… ghost train… Ferris wheel… arcade…
Wait, arcade?
Tentatively, he asked, “can we go to the arcade?”
Illumi apparently took this as less of a question, and more of a marching order. “Okay, the arcade then,” he confirmed, immediately turning with the expectation that everyone would follow… which they did.
It wasn’t exactly a ride, but no-one seemed to have any objections.
For the most part, anyway.
Speeding up to walk beside Illumi, Hisoka asked, “does this mean that I get to choose the next ride?”
“Hmm? Why would you?”
Hisoka adopted his mock-scandalised look again. “I thought we were taking turns to pick what we do?”
Illumi looked mildly surprised. “My siblings are taking turns. Why would you get a turn? You weren’t even invited.”
“How mean, and after I’ve been so well-behaved too.”
As they all arrived at the arcade, Hisoka persisted. “Surely you could spare me some time while your siblings are all busy in the arcade?”
“I need to watch them,” he said immediately.
Before an annoyed-looking Killua could begin another rant about his ability to take care of himself, Hisoka replied, “I’m sure your oldest brother is more than capable of watching the little ones”.
Milluki, already distracted by the flashing lights of the arcade machines (indicating perhaps not the most attentive supervisory skills), looked over and distractedly said, “huh? Oh yeah, sure, no problem”.
Illumi didn’t look particularly convinced. Still, he was apparently placated enough to not break Hisoka’s arm when he draped it over his shoulders to lead him away.
The three youngest watched as their ‘chaperones’ left.
“Where are they going?” Alluka questioned.
Killua rolled his eyes, “hopefully far, far away”.
“Killua!” Alluka swatted his arm, “don’t be so mean!”
Kalluto narrowed his eyes. Finally moved to speak, he cautiously began, “are they..?”
The Zoldyck children stared as Hisoka steered Illumi towards the entrance of something bluntly labelled ‘The Tunnel of Love’.
Kalluto’s expression swiftly turned into a scowl; Alluka looked confused; Killua started making exaggerated gagging sounds.
“Wow, this might be the first time I’ve felt sorry for Aniki,” Killua said, sticking his tongue out and performatively pointing his finger towards his mouth.
Alluka still looked confused by the situation. “I don’t get it.”
“Oh, sorry Alluka, I forgot you don’t really know Hisoka. He’s just a creep, you should stay away from him.” After he’s finished being our chaperone, anyway. “He’s always messing with people, it’s his hobby or something.”
They wandered into the arcade to join Milluki. “Oh, so he’s messing with Illu-nii?”
“I guess,” Killua said with a shrug.
Kalluto still looked displeased, but placated himself by picking up one of the plastic guns and blowing the heads off some cartoon zombies.
******
Apparently, their designated ‘adult supervision’ for the day had chosen the only ride with a significant line. That was what Killua and Alluka assumed, anyway, considering how long they took. Still, everyone was perfectly happy to work their way through the many different games the arcade had to offer, even if a couple of their number –Milluki and Killua– got perhaps a little more competitive than was strictly necessary.
Milluki had just finished soundly beating Killua at some fighting game or other when Alluka pointed out their chaperones’ impending return.
They all turned to look as they approached; Illumi didn’t notice their gaze as he was apparently busy redoing his hair, whereas Hisoka, who looked annoyingly pleased with himself, waved cheerfully at them.
Milluki, looking bemused for some reason, welcomed them back. “How was the ride?”
“Fine,” Illumi replied shortly, cutting off whatever Hisoka had been about to say. “Is everyone okay?”
Killua rolled his eyes to the ceiling again. “Yes, Aniki. We managed to survive the arcade.”
“You can never be too careful,” Hisoka smiled, “there are all kinds of shady characters out there”.
Killua gave him a pointed look.
Alluka, once again, was the one to defuse any potential Killua-bombs. “Onii-san, it’s your turn to pick!”
Illumi looked confused. “Me?”
“Yeah! Everyone else has had a turn.”
“Oh. I don’t need a turn; someone else can have my turn.”
Alluka pouted. “But it’s not fair if you don’t pick one.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Hisoka said, standing behind Illumi and resting his chin on his shoulder. “Perhaps you could use your turn for something practical?”
Illumi considered. “I suppose it is important to take regular breaks and stay hydrated. Okay, we will use my turn to go for drinks.”
Hisoka briefly used his position to wrap his arms around Illumi’s waist and lightly squeeze, before Illumi moved away in the direction of his next objective.
Once again, the kids followed behind like ducklings.
At some point, one particularly excitable duckling started running ahead, with a couple more following after her. Hisoka, apparently taking his chaperone role more seriously than expected, jogged after them.
Milluki hung back, adjusting his pace enough to walk next to Illumi. “You know,” he began, “if you keep letting him act like that, the kids are going to figure it out”.
“Figure what out?” he said, with enough innocence that Milluki thought there was a very good chance his confusion was sincere.
Milluki looked away, hiding one of his rare, fond smiles. “Never mind.”
******
They decided on a milkshake stand for their refreshments. The children all squashed together, poring over the menu before making their orders.
For Killua, a chocolate cookie milkshake with every extra sprinkle, flake, and shaving available; for Alluka, a fruity strawberry milkshake, piled high with whipped cream; for Kalluto, a mint milkshake doused in chocolate sauce; for Milluki, who leaned in after the kids were done, a simple salted caramel milkshake.
After everyone else had finished ordering, Illumi stepped forward, added five bottles of water to the order, and paid for the group.
“What?” he asked, noticing Hisoka’s expression.
Hisoka sighed dramatically. “Nothing, nothing at all.”
As soon as the drinks were ready, the younger Zoldycks snatched them up and ran off to the large table they’d spotted.
Once he’d gathered the 5 bottles of water, Illumi looked questioningly at Hisoka. “Are you not going to get anything?”
Hisoka looked at him blankly.
“You should drink something,” he added.
“I can’t share your water?”
Illumi raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would you need to share mine? Just buy your own,” and with that, he turned to join his siblings.
Ultimately, Hisoka did purchase his own beverage, after which he rejoined the Zoldycks, who were sitting and enjoying their drinks. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, though he did notice the glare that Kalluto seemed to be giving him when he thought he wasn’t looking. Hmm, how interesting.
There was some fussing from Killua when Illumi took a handful of napkins and attempted to wipe the milkshake and sprinkles off his face, though resistance was, of course, futile.
That futility was likely something Alluka and Kalluto were already aware of, because they didn’t flinch as Illumi repeated the process with them.
He then insisted that everyone drink some of their water (for ‘proper’ hydration) before he released them from his motherly smothering.
******
The next ride that they visited was the dodgems. Killua was perhaps a little too enthusiastic about the idea, and oddly, so was Kalluto. Milluki, however, was quick to opt out.
“I’m not squeezing myself into one of those stupid tiny seats,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You guys have fun.”
Since everyone was over the required height to ride alone, they each picked out their own dodgem car. Just as Hisoka had managed to bend his legs enough to fit into the small foot well of the hot pink car he’d commandeered, he noticed that Illumi was still stood outside the barrier with Milluki.
“Will you not be joining us?”
“No, I thought I’d keep Milluki company.”
Milluki looked mildly flustered by the explanation, but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, and Hisoka?”
Hisoka smiled sweetly, “yes darling?”
“No nen.”
The sounds of the ride starting up drowned out any response Hisoka might have had, but the stern look Illumi gave him made it clear that there was no room for negotiation.
Well, I did promise to behave, he thought, as he steered his car around.
As soon as he’d finished turning, he was immediately met with two pairs of catlike eyes, laser-focused on him.
Killua’s face was twisted into a smug smile as he pressed down on the accelerator. Kalluto, similarly, wore a sneer that would have been quite intimidating, were his weapon of choice not a bright purple dodgem car.
Although Hisoka had fantasised about coming to blows with multiple Zoldycks at the same time, this wasn’t quite the mode of combat he’d had in mind. Though tempted to immediately deploy his bungee gum, he was cognizant that several needles to the back of the head might impede his escape. So, instead, he stepped on the accelerator and started aggressively steering away.
Milluki and Illumi watched, highly bemused, as their younger brothers chased Hisoka around the track. Alluka, although apparently amused by the proceedings too, seemed happier just driving in circles around the perimeter.
“Are you not going to help your boyfriend?” Milluki asked, just as Kalluto and Killua successfully caught Hisoka in a pincer attack.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Illumi reiterated, as Milluki, still smiling, rolled his eyes and made a shooing gesture with his hand.
They watched as Hisoka tried to escape from the two brothers repeatedly reversing and ramming back into him. “He’ll be fine,” he added.
When the ride finally stopped, Killua and Kalluto exited their cars with self-satisfied smiles plastered over their faces. Hisoka, on the other hand, looked a little dishevelled.
“Your brothers are mean,” he informed Illumi as he approached.
“Really? I don’t think so.”
“Of course you don’t. It’s quite the family trait.”
Illumi made a vague sound of acknowledgment.
“I could see you smiling, you know.”
“Should I not smile?”
Hisoka gave another exaggerated sigh. “If only you were so easily pleased in all things.”
******
The day continued in much the same way; the three youngest among their group took turns picking rides, and the adults took turns in accompanying them.
Although the two younger brothers had mostly gotten their aggression out with the dodgems, that didn’t stop them from shooting Hisoka the occasional glare, or in Killua’s case, throwing out the odd verbal barb.
Hisoka, being the mature adult he was, responded by draping himself over Illumi at every possible opportunity. It was only the small scraps of common decency that he possessed that prevented him from making obscene gestures behind his back for the children to see. Though he knew he was risking severe bodily harm should Illumi tire of his behaviour, it was worth it to see Killua’s disgusted eye-rolling and Kalluto’s tightly restrained fury.
Hisoka’s antics notwithstanding, everyone was in good spirits, and no one had made any serious attempts on anyone else’s lives, which was the best any of them could have hoped for. However, even though the day hadn’t been brought to an end by an impromptu murder attempt, they instead found themselves up against the park’s impending closing time.
“It needs to be a ride we can all go on!” Alluka insisted, after she’d finally been convinced that Illumi was serious when he said ‘only one more’.
Killua studied the park map. “Are there even any group rides left…?”
“There,” said Kalluto, pointing at a location on the map like he was trying to stab his finger through it.
Illumi peered over his shoulder at the ride’s location, before once again immediately setting off towards his goal. Milluki trailed behind him, exhausted. He had no idea where his siblings got all of their energy, but he promised himself that he was going to fall into bed the second he got home.
Typically, the ride was tucked in at the opposite end of the park, mandating far too much power walking for Milluki’s taste. Regardless, they finally made it to their goal: a large river rapids ride.
The ride utilised big circular rafts, conveniently designed for six people. Rather than belts or bars to hold them into the rides, instead, they were expected to either sit back or hold onto a metal ring in the centre of the raft. Their group being who they were, nobody seemed to feel the need to hold onto the centre ring; Killua had given up on getting Alluka to hold on to the safety bars some ten rides ago, and Milluki was determined to do nothing but amalgamate with his seat and not move.
Killua had, unsurprisingly, again sat next to Alluka, who had happily thrown her arms up in the air within seconds of the ride starting to move. Kalluto had situated himself between Illumi and Killua, with an obvious smile on his face that had been progressively growing throughout the day, counter to his earlier attempts to hide his expression. Hisoka, whose choice also came as no surprise, sat next to Illumi. Although he’d previously taken advantage of such seating arrangements to antagonise their young charges, he decided he didn’t want to end his day by being thrown overboard. Milluki provided a nice buffer between Hisoka and Alluka, as frankly, he was unfazed by his antics, and even if he wasn’t, he was now too tired to care.
The ride buffeted from side to side, punctuation by excited squeals from Alluka. Occasionally, small streams of water would be fired into the raft; not enough for anyone to get seriously wet, but certainly enough to make Killua point and laugh whenever someone got hit.
Towards the end of the ride’s faux river, they spotted a small waterfall off to one side of their path. Rather than covering the full width of their projected route, it instead seemed to have been placed specifically to catch one (or two) unlucky riders off guard. The younger members of their rafting crew were comfortably situated on the opposite side of the upcoming water feature, and so were looking at it with excited anticipation.
Milluki, seeing that he was primed to sail directly under the waterfall, found himself at a crossroads: he could either lunge away from his seat and seek shelter away from the stream, or staunchly continue with his refusal to move.
He made his choice. He gritted his teeth, squared his jaw, and stayed firm.
The ride again hit one of the barriers and slightly turned. Milluki immediately felt some water splash onto his side, followed by Killua’s raucous laughter. But when he looked over, annoyed, he quickly realised that Killua’s mocking finger was not pointed at him. Following Killua’s line of sight, he saw Hisoka, with his hair plastered down the front of his face and brightly coloured makeup streaming down his cheeks.
With a bark of laughter, Milluki joined his younger siblings in laughing at the wet clown’s expense.
Hisoka, whose curled lip betrayed his annoyance, pushed his sodden hair back to reveal his running eye makeup. “How unlucky,” he said lightly, as he wiped his face with a handkerchief that he had apparently summoned out of nowhere.
Ignoring the laughing children, he turned to a smiling Illumi, “well, you seem to be enjoying yourself”.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He hummed in acknowledgment as he used his nen to redo his makeup. Though doing so largely rectified his appearance, there was nothing to be done about his wet clothes or the wet hair dripping down the back of his neck. Unfortunate.
The laughter still hadn’t subsided when the raft returned to the docking station, and it was with great difficulty that Hisoka resisted the urge to knock the entire family into the water. Still, he persevered with his promise to behave; let it not be said that I am a bad sport.
After disembarking, they began their walk towards the exit. Before they could leave the current area, Illumi stopped them to duck into another of the souvenir photo shops. “Watch them,” he said to Milluki before he left, ignoring Hisoka as a potential supervisor.
He quickly returned with yet another purchase ticket to add to his collection. He also looked quietly smug, which Hisoka suspected did not bode well for his own dignity following the previous ride.
One final trip to the photo pickup point later, the six of them and Illumi’s two large gift bags reached the exit.
Alluka pouted at Illumi as they walked, “do we really not have time for another ride?”
“The park is closing, we have to leave.”
“Aww,” she moaned in defeat. “Can we at least come again?”
Illumi paused for a fraction of a second. “I don’t see why not.”
Alluka cheered with renewed excitement. “Yay! When can we come again? Oh! Or can we go to a different park next time?”
Killua crossed his arms behind his head as they walked through the exit barrier. “We should go somewhere different. Maybe to a park with bigger rollercoasters.” He shot Hisoka a snide expression, “or maybe a water park instead”.
As Alluka immediately started badgering Illumi with “can we? Can we?”, Hisoka responded to the suggestion with a weary, “must we?”
“You are not invited,” Kalluto immediately added, ice hanging from his words.
“How cruel,” Hisoka smiled. As if the lack of an invitation has ever stopped me.
Ignoring the interaction between the two, Illumi instead just responded to Alluka. “That’s fine, if that’s where you want to go.”
She beamed at him in response.
Milluki, still exhausted and ready to be off his feet, internally groaned at the prospect of a water park. Or another day out in general.
Still, that wasn’t to say that he’d had a bad time on their family trip.
Not a bad time at all.