Chapter 5

Kiyomi quietly sits at the dinner table with her father as he eats. Kiyomi stares down at her food still thinking about what her mother said earlier.

"Kiyomi... why aren't you eating?" The father asks. Kiyomi still stares at the plate of untouched food.

"Daddy..." She softly says looking up at him. "Does mommy love me?" She asks. The father stares at her before answering.

"Of course, mommy loves you..." He calmly says.

"What is a exorcist?" She asks.

"An exorcist? Did you hear mommy say that earlier?" He calmly asks. Kiyomi slowly nods. The father sighs and places his fork down. "It's someone who can help you with the noises you keep hearing..." 

TING

Kiyomi stares at him with a blank expression on her face. 

"Why is mommy not here?" She asks. The father picks up his fork and continues to eat. 

"She went to the senior center." He quietly answers. Kiyomi furrows her eyebrows and stares down at the food. 

That night Kiyomi lays in her bed staring up at the ceiling. She feels weird... almost like she doesn't trust what her dad was saying. Kiyomi sits up and crawls out of bed. She slowly walks out her room and then outside. She looks around the back yard trying to look for her friend.

"Sir Sameul?" She says looking around. "Sir Sameul..." She stops looking around and slowly walks towards the fence of the back yard. She pushes herself between the gaps of the fence and continues out from there. "Sir Sameul" She calls out.

"How... may... I... help... you..." A old woman slowly says staring at the mother with a blank look in her eyes.

"Hi... I was told there was an exorcist here that can help me." The mother calmly asks.

"Yes... I... will... call... him..." The old lady strangely says reaching for a phone. "Someone... is here..." The mother furrows at the old lady because of her strange behavior. It was almost like she was robotic. After the old lady puts the phone down she moves her arms towards a door. "Go... to... the... door... on... your... left..." She slowly says. The mother slowly nods. She walks towards the door and knocks on it. 

"Come in." The voice from the other side says. The mother opens the door and slowly walks in. She sees a man with black hair that went down his forehead and grey eyes siting down at desk in the room.

"Hi... Uh... you look a little different then the guy I saw on the website." The mother slowly says with a confused look on her face.

"Oh- yes. Mr. Jeremiah is on his break as of now... but I am his assistant." The man softly says.

"May I ask you for your name." The mother says closing the door and sitting down. The man smiles and nods.

"Chrollo Lucilfer..." He softly says.

"Chrollo... okay. Nice to meet you..." The mother calmly says. 

"So, you wanted to hire an exorcist... Is that right?" Chrollo asks as he shuffles through some files.

"Yes."

"What was it that you wanted an exorcist for?" He calmly asks. The mother furrows her eyebrows and looks down a bit.

"My daughter..." She quietly says.

"Your daughter?" Chrollo tilts his head a bit and leans forward on the desk.

"Yes... my daughter... she has been acting very strange lately... She has also been seeing and hearing stuff too." She quietly says, staring down at the ground. Chrollo slowly nods and goes through a folder and pulls out a packet.

"How old is your daughter?" He asks.

"Four..." She softly says. Chrollo relaxes his eyes and furrows his eyebrows. 

"Four? You think your four year old daughter is possessed by an evil spirit?" Chrollo questions.

"... Yes..." 

"Isn't that kind of harsh..." He chuckles. The mother looks down and clenches onto her coat.

"I came here to hire an exorcist... not to be interrogated..." She quietly fumes. Chrollo's smile disappears and he slowly nods. 

"Understood... then fill this out." He says sliding a packet across the table towards the woman. The woman grabs the packet and a pen from the desk and signs it. Chrollo takes the paper back and puts it in the folder he pulled it out of. "Mr. Jeremiah will visit you later tonight." Chrollo says standing up. The mother stands up and nods.

"Thank you." She says and then turns and rushes out the office. 

"Have... a... nice... day..." The old woman blankly says as the mother walks out the building. Once the door closes the old woman falls limp and slams down onto the desk. A guy pushes open the closet door beside her and walks out.

"Oh... welp she's dead." He bubbles as he pulls a pin out of the old woman's neck.

Paku opens the closet door in the office Chrollo was in. Mr. Jeremiah is tied up on the ground in the closet. Paku pulls Mr. Jeremiah by the back of his shirt and throws him down in front of the desk Chrollo is sitting at.

"So, what now." Paku sooths.

"Mr. Jeremiah will do what she signed for." Chrollo replies smiling at Mr. Jeremiah who's looking at Chrollo with wide eyes out of fear.

Kiyomi continues down a path as she walks further and further away from her house. At first she was looking for her friend but now she's curious by her surroundings. The trees crackle around her as she continues to walk. 

"Isn't it late for a kid like you to be walking around alone?" A voice says from behind Kiyomi. Kiyomi looks towards the voice. A couple of raggedy looking guys walk towards Kiyomi.

"I'm looking for my friend Sir Sameul." Kiyomi softly says. The other guy looks at the guy and then at Kiyomi. The guy chuckles and walks closer to Kiyomi.

"Aw... is that so?" The guy murmurs. 

"How old do you think she is?" The other guy chuckles.

"Doesn't matter..." The guy says as he grabs Kiyomi. Kiyomi flinches as he grabs her. The guy pulls her by the hair and smiles at her. "You're a cute little one aren't ya." The guy laughs.

"She really is... haha." The other guy laughs.

"Let go of me!" Kiyomi yells trying to pull away.

"Relax little girl... It won't hurt that much..." The guy laughs.

"AUGH" The guy falls to the ground causing the other one to stop. He looks at his friend who's faced down on the ground. There's a pen sticking out of his head. His eyes widen and he slowly looks up to see Kiyomi's friend staring at him.

"I thought I was a fucked up person... but this is disgusting." Chrollo seethes. 

"Who the fuck are you..." The other guy quavers.

"Sir... Sameul..." Kiyomi rasps. Chrollo looks at Kiyomi and pulls his hand from out of his pocket and slowly approaches the guy. He whispers something into his ear which causes the guy's eyes to widen. Then his eyes roll back and he falls to the ground. Chrollo slowly looks down at Kiyomi who's staring at the two dead guys on the ground. He turns towards her and slowly approaches her causing her to flinch. He stops walking and stares at her.

"I'm sorry... I hope I didn't scare you." He calmly says.

"Are they okay?" Kiyomi asks.

"No. They aren't..." He softly answers. Kiyomi slowly looks up at him with a confused look on her face.

"What's happened..." She asks. He stares blankly at Kiyomi and pulls out a pen from his pocket.

"Kiyomi." He calmly says, causing her to stare at him. "If I told you I was a bad guy... would you no longer want to be my friend?" He asks.

"A bad guy?"

"Mhm."

"Do you kill?" She softly asks.

"Yes... many."

"Why?" 

"..." Chrollo stares at her and flips the pen in his hand as where the tip is pointing out. "I kill people for fun..." He replies with a blank expression on his face. Kiyomi's eyes widen as he approaches her.

"No- you don't-" She calmly responds. He stops walking and stares at her with wide eyes. "You are not like the mean dogs..." She softly says. 

"How do you know?"

"You lied..." Kiyomi softly says knowing he was telling the truth. Chrollo furrows his eyebrows and drops his hand to the side of him. "Why do you kill?" She calmly asks again. Chrollo has a blank expression on his face.

"I do it for fun..." He calmly says. 

"You're..." Kiyomi pauses and furrows her eyebrows. Chrollo stares at her not moving. "You're not a bad guy..."

"..." Chrollo sighs and walks closer to Kiyomi and leans down closer to her. "I kill many people... I hurt many people... I steal a lot of things... I'm a bad guy." He calmly says to Kiyomi. She stares at him. There was no emotion in his eyes or face.

"I do not think you are bad guy." Kiyomi says frowning a bit. 

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're my friend..." She softly says. His eyes bore into hers. "I do not think you are bad guy..." She says shaking her head. He stands up straight and puts the pen back into his pocket.

Kiyomi hangs upside down from a tree by a rope tied to her legs. Chrollo searches the guys pockets as Kiyomi hangs there watching him. Her hands dangle as she watches him go through the guys wallets.

"Sir Sameul... Why do you kill?" She asks. Chrollo ignores her and continues searching their pockets. Kiyomi furrows her eyebrows and closes her eyes. "Do you not love me Sir Sameul...?" She softly asks, staring at him. He pauses and looks up at Kiyomi and then shakes his head.

Kiyomi sniffles. Chrollo blankly stares at Kiyomi as tears drip down her forehead and on to the ground. "I love you Sir Sameul..." She quietly says.

"Do you?" He sooths. He stands up and walks over to Kiyomi. His face at the same level of hers. "Would you still love me if I killed you?" He harshly asks. Kiyomi's eyes widen and get glossier. Then they relax and the light in them disappear as they go blank. Chrollo notices the sudden change in her eyes.

"Yes..." She quietly says.

"Why?" He listlessly asks.

"You are my friend..." She responds.

"Yeah? So, if I told you to kill someone for me would you do it?" He asks. 

"... Yes..." 

"Why?"

"You are my friend..." She answers. He stares at her and picks up the pen Kiyomi has dropped from off the ground.

"Would you do anything for me?" He asks her.

"Yes..." She answers. He sighs and cuts her down from the tree. 

"Go home." He says handing her back the pen.

"Do you hate me?" She asks. He stares at her and moves her hair out the way to see her face better.

"No... I don't hate you." He calmly answers as he presses the side of her head causing her to collapse and fall asleep.

"Aren't we supposed to be making her a member...? I have no idea what we are doing with the little shit anymore..." A big man says as he walks out from the trees. Two other guys walk out behind him.

"Paku... take her home." Chrollo listlessly says. Paku comes out from the trees and picks Kiyomi up and walks back towards the house.

KNOCK KNOCK

The father opens the door to see Paku holding Kiyomi in her arms. 

"Hello... is this your child?" She asks. 

"Yes..." He says in a confused and panicked tone. "How did-"

"I found her laying down on the ground not far from here... I assumed she was your child." The woman calmly says. The father takes Kiyomi and carries her into the house. 

"Thank you." He says closing the door. He carried Kiyomi to bed and lays her down. She was out cold. He notices the small bruises on her body and ankles. She also looked like she has been crying.

"We are really taking that kid in?" A man says to Chrollo.

"Yes." Chrollo replies to Phinks.

"Is that even a good idea... she's a baby..." Machi says with her arms crossed as she leans against a tree. "I'm not up to raising a child..." She listlessly says.

"HEH... I'm down for it... I can teach the little shit to fight..." Uvo laughs.

"She's too soft... I agree with Machi... this all seems unnecessary..." Phinks sighs. Chrollo looks through the packet Kiyomi's mother filled out earlier.

"It won't take long to break that..." Feitan calmly says. 

"I really believe this is all so pointless... why don't you take the kids ability and then just kill her." Phinks rasps. Paku walks towards them causing them to look up at her. 

"Her father is a part of the Mafia..." She says. Chrollo stops reading and looks up in front of him.

"I can't steal her ability..." Chrollo calmly says. "It's unreadable... I can't see it..."

"Okay... but why are we doing this anyway? We kill not adopt..." Phinks huffs.

"The little girl has a deadly ability..." Paku implies. "It's smart to raise her to be one of us."

"I want to raise her to be my replacement... If I ever were to die..." Chrollo implies.

"HUH?" Phinks huffs loudly.

"She's a lot like me when I was younger... She thinks like how I used to. Just like Feitan said... she just needs a little changing..." He calmly answers.

"Tsk... Whatever... I trust your judgement..." Phinks sighs.

"So... we going to go in and kill the parents?" Uvo grins as he looks in the direction of the house.

"No... she will do it..." Chrollo responds.

"She? You really think the kid will really kill her own parents...?" Phinks asks.

"Yes." Chrollo answers.

"HEH... You one crazy guy Boss... that's what I always liked about you." Uvo chuckles. "Ight... I guess I will be sitting this one out then... let me know when you get ahold of the little shit..." Uvo says waving as he walks away. The rest of the members leave too. Paku stays beside Chrollo as he stares at the packet in his hands.

"Her father works for the Mafia you said?" He asks. Paku nods and stares at the house.

"And he's working on a project that's directed to meteor city..." She adds. Chrollo sits quietly as he stares at the packet.