Chapter Text
Hisoka has spent years perfecting the art of pretending. Beneath the smiles, the arrogance, and the endless games is a man who keeps everyone at arm's length and leaves destruction in his wake. Most people only see what he wants them to see.
Chrollo isn't most people.
No matter how hard Hisoka performs, Chrollo sees through him—and it drives him insane.
Worse, Chrollo refuses to treat him like the monster everyone else does. No matter how many people Hisoka hurts, no matter how many lines he crosses, Chrollo keeps finding excuses for him. Keeps insisting he isn't as cruel as he pretends to be. Keeps choosing him.
Hisoka hates it.
He hates being understood. He hates being forgiven. He hates the way Chrollo looks at him like there's still something worth saving beneath all the damage.
And Chrollo hates himself for it.
Because every time Hisoka hurts someone Chrollo cares about, every time he proves exactly who he is, Chrollo should walk away. Instead, he stays. Torn between the man he knows Hisoka is and the man he desperately wants him to be.
Caught in a vicious cycle of obsession, resentment, attraction, and denial, neither of them can let go. Hisoka wants Chrollo to see the worst parts of him and stay anyway. Chrollo wants to believe there's more to Hisoka than the hurt he leaves behind.
They're both wrong.
And neither of them is willing to admit it.