Cordis lay in bed for a long while. Only when the sun had risen, the people nearby had begun getting up, and the children were heading to school did he sit up abruptly, as though waking from a dream.
He opened the balcony window, took off his coat, and casually tossed it aside. Wearing a turtleneck sweater, he leaned back against the stone railing, narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head up slightly, savoring the last cool breeze of the morning.
Cordis's hotel room was on the second floor. Looking down from the balcony, he could see plenty of children arguing with their families because they didn't want to go to school.
Cordis turned around and propped his chin on his hand, silently watching everything below. At the sight of all those children around Gon and Killua's age, his eyes inexplicably grew damp again.
But he ultimately held back the tears threatening to fall.
As he stared blankly down at the street, a pair of hands slipped around his waist. A familiar face nestled against his neck, slowly nuzzling him like a cat craving its owner's affection.
Cordis knew who it was without turning his head, but this time, he didn't resist.
His eyes remained fixed on the street below. After a long silence, he finally said, "Hisoka, I'm sorry."
A hint of puzzlement entered Hisoka's eyes, but he still smiled as he looked at Cordis's furrowed brow and anguished expression. "Oh?~ What have you done to wrong me?~ I'll have to think carefully about how to punish you~"
Another long silence followed. Just as Hisoka was wondering why Cordis had suddenly become so quiet after they hadn't seen each other for so many days,
he heard a faint sob.
Hisoka looked at Cordis, whose head was lowered. Tears ran