Rukei listened to the announcement over the intercom calling applicants for an interview of some sort sending Hisoka in first as they were going by applicant number. Being #402, she'd be waiting there for a while.

The final phase was right at the doorstep along with her license. And then she could go back and show it to Shichi and-

But what happens then?

Rukei's eyes drifted over to the window revealing blue skies and puffy white clouds that had begun to collect. Of course, she would work with Shichi. They'd go out, investigate, and take down. They'd be a tag team again and Rukei wouldn't have to memorize files on top of files of numbers and names that she wouldn't be able to use. She asked herself the wrong question.

But what happens to them?

Well, Leorio would go to medical school; she had been told later that Leorio wanted to become a doctor. Kurapika would probably focus on getting information to exact revenge. Gon would look for his father. Killua would- what would Killua do?

He didn't want to go back to being an assassin, as confused as she was, she could figure that much out. What would he do?

These were the kind of questions along with the cube that Rukei distracted herself with to escape the terrible, tearing, suffocating feeling that had gotten so much stronger since Trick Tower.

-

"Who am I keeping an eye on? " Rukei's answer was almost immediate, "#405. He's unpredictable, but in a good way. As for someone I don't want to fight..."

Well, she didn't want to fight any of her friends but she was sure Netero could already tell. The other person she didn't want to battle would be...

"#301," she replied, "He's dangerous but unlike #44, I know much less about his abilities or intentions." Granted, a little part of her was excited at the idea of fighting an unknown opponent but it wasn't a practical thing to do so she pushed it away.

"Alright, good work," the chairman chimed, writing away with the brush lethargically but at the time she had no idea what kind of lopsided, ridiculous bracket he was creating for them.

-

"For the Final Phase, we will be holding a one on one tournament." Netero announced while throwing away a gray cloth hung over a board. The bracket was separated in the weird way, and she began to think that maybe something was done incorrectly, but this was the Final Phase of Hunter Exam. She doubted that. This again was just the work of the crazy chairman Netero. It seemed that only one person would be declared as winner, but to her relief, only one person would be failing.

But that guaranteed at least one fail.

The old man ripped away the sticker covering the identities of who would be going up against who.

Her picture was matched up with a familiar painted face accompanied with red hair.

Rukei's luck was seriously something else. She did not spare a glance for anything else lest her eyes give away her state of dreading fear. She could have been killed so easily during the first phase at two times, no, many times before and after that. She asked herself if Shichi could beat this man.

Rukei didn't know.

She quickly checked her friends, Gon being at the very end of the bracket against #294, she never got his name, and Leorio being on the other side of it. Kurapika would be facing whoever won between her and the psychotic clown. She definitely did not want to be faced with fighting the blonde again but winning was, first of all, highly unlikely, second, that meant Kurapika would be facing off against Hisoka. That wasn't the most pleasant matchup either.

"This bracket was assembled by your performances. Those who preformed better received more chances."

Rukei's picture quite a few photos down from the start; she supposed it wasn't the best place to be in but nothing to complain about until she heard a "That doesn't sound right," Killua broke in suddenly, evident displeasure in his tone, "Can you explain how you scored our performances?"

The brunette realized why the boy appeared to be upset by the bracket. He must have felt that he should have more chances, not that he really needed more.

Netero gave a 'hm' and seemed that he was actually about to respond for a minute until he yelled, "NO!" startling everyone a little.

"Why not?!"

Killua had to know 'why' to everything, Rukei concluded, having been on the recieving side of his pestering.

The old man laughed at the boy's reaction, "Your scores are classified information. So I can't tell you everything. But I can explain our methods. First, we consider three major criteria: physical strength, mental strength, and overall impression."

Rukei could definitely see how Gon hit full marks on all three categories as Netero continued explaining.

"For physical strength, we use an aggregate of agility, flexibility, endurance, and perception. For mental strength, we use an aggregate of resilience, adaptability, judgement, and creativity. However this information is only used as a reference point. After all, you were all strong enough to advance to the Final Phase. However, we are most concerned with your overall impression. This refers to any intangible factors not previously mentioned. You can say, it's an evaluation of your potential to be a Hunter. And we also incorporate the opinions of your peers. That's all."

Killua however didn't seem very satisfied with the explanation or the fact he wasn't high enough despite his skills but he held his tongue as the old man continued.

"Battle rules are simple. Weapons are okay. No cheating. If you're opponent admits defeat, you win," they were indeed simple, or so she thought as Netero went on, "However! If you kill your opponent you will be disqualified. All remaining applicants will pass, and the exam will end."

That guaranteed a much higher survival rate in her match but that didn't make it any easier. As if anyone would be that willing to admit defeat this far into the Hunter Exam... Netero was indeed as her co-workers had described him; a crazy old man.

"Begin!"

Gon had started off with his usual fast steps but within a moment #249, Hanzo, was in front of him, smashing him down onto the ground. "Well, this would already be over in a normal fight," Hanzo commented while sitting the boy up. She had a very good idea of what would come next, "You must feel terrible. I hit you with enough force to make your brain bounce around. Do you understand? You have no chance against me. Might as well give up now..."

"No way..." The boy replied firmly, an answer everyone was expecting.

Hanzo gave the boy another thwack against the head.

"Think carefully. If you surrender now, you'll still be in decent shape for the next fight. There's no reason to be stubborn. Just surrender."

"Never gonna happen!"

And it didn't. Blow.

After blow.

After blow.

Don't look away. Rukei's grip on her other hand tightened. If you must watch your friend's victory you can't look away from their pain. Gon didn't have blood to throw up anymore. Don't look away.

"Enough already!" Leorio snapped, "I'll kill you! I'll fight you in his place!"

Hanzo turned around coldly, "If you can't take it, leave. It's only going to get worse..."

Worse... Rukei grit her teeth behind her mask. It had been three hours.

"What was that?!"

Leorio could not take a step forward as two of the suited men intercepted him. "No one may interfere in a one on one match," the referee reminded, "And if you step in, Gon will be the one disqualified!"

"It's okay," Gon's weak voice rang out over the room as he struggled to stand, "Leorio. This is... Nothing," he lifted his head up slowly, unbroken, determined eyes shining out, "I can still fight."

Hanzo quickly knocked him back on the ground with the slight sweep of his foot, before grappling the boy. What was he going to now? Throw him? He had already done that.

"I'm going to break your arm."

What was this feeling that ate away at her mind, at her ability to think?

"I'm not joking around. So give up. Surrender."

"Never!"

It was odd. The sound of breaking bone and Gon's scream seemed to be drowned in this feeling that swamped her but at the same time amplified his cry. What was this?

"Well? You can't use your left arm anymore."

And as she narrowed her eyes into a glare, she realized.

Oh. She knew.

Rage.

"I'm sure you're in too much pain to listen, but hear me out," the man lifted himself onto one hand, "I am descended from the shinobi, a clan of covert agents. From the day I was born, I was forced to endure harsh training in order to master the art of ninpo. For eighteen years, I have trained my body and technique without rest. By the time I was your age, I had already killed a man," he quickly switched from his hand to his finger, "At this point in time, you have no chance against me. I'm trying to be nice. Admit defeat-"

WHAM!

Huh?

"Ow...," the boy forced himself up into a sitting position, "Dang it! My head's cleared a bit, after all the pain and that long explanation."

And for some reason, somehow, in an instant, Rage that began to take over the mind she was so proud of seemed to disappear. How could this boy call and dispel an emotion in someone else that easily?

But right now, it didn't matter. What mattered was that the one that didn't stand a chance in this type of match was Hanzo.

"Go, Gon! Kick him while he's down!"

"If you're eighteen, you're only six years older than I am," Gon shot back, "Besides, this isn't a battle of who's stronger. It's to see who's willing to surrender first."

With a bleeding now and dirtied face, the ninja jumped back onto his feet. "I let you kick me on purpose."

A loud exclamation of 'LIAR' rang out from the spectator's side.

"You don't understand. This isn't a warning. It's an ultimatum. Was it too hard for you to understand?" He quickly pulled out a blade from underneath the bandages on his arms, "Then I'll make it easier for you. I'll cut off your legs, so that they can't be reattached. A permanent injury should wake you up. But first I'll ask you one more time. Surrender."

Gon stared back not the least bit shaken but rather taking the opposite side of the spectrum. "I won't accept that!"

... What?

"I don't want my legs cut off but I don't want to surrender," he stated firmly, almost as if this was a normal thing to do in his position, "So let's find another way to fight!"

The ninja finally lost his cool, practically steaming, "Hey, do you understand your situation?! You don't get to make demands! Are you trying to insult me?!" He demanded waving the blade around furiously, "I'm seriously gonna cut off your legs!"

"But I still will not surrender. Besides if you do that, I'll bleed to death. He'll be disqualified if that happens, right?" He questioned, looking past Hanzo towards the referee.

"Uh, yes."

Gon turned back to Hanzo, and as if he were talking to some small child he continued, "See? Neither of us wants that to happen. So let's think of a better way!"

Rukei let out a huff along with a small smile, at the boy. It seemed like no matter where the boy was or what predicament he was in, he always ended dragging people into his pace.

Hanzo barely stopped his blade before it pierced into Gon's head. "You really don't get it... If you die, you won't get another chance. If I kill you here, I need only to try again next year. We are not on equal footing!"

He didn't back down, rather he pressed forward just with the look in his eyes. Hanzo was wavering, no, maybe he had already broken.

"Why won't you concede? It's just one word. You can try again next year. You value your pride more than your life?! You're really willing to die for your pride?!"

"I'm going to find my dad," Gon replied firmly, "My dad is a hunter. So I'm going to become a Hunter and find him! I believe that I'll find him one day," and his eyes reflected that belief, "But if I give up now, I have a feeling that I'll never find him!"

The soft patter of a single drop of blood hitting the ground could be heard by everyone in the room over the silence.

"So I won't surrender."

Hanzo had broken out into a sweat and not from the beating he was doing, "If you don't yield, you'll die..."

And he didn't.

"I give up!" The ninja suddenly announced, pulling the blade back, "You win. I can't kill you. But I can't think of a way to make you surrender. I'll take this loss and take my chances in the next battle!"

Gon frowned. "I can't accept that. That's not fair!"

Hanzo looked really done.

"We both have to think of a way to settle this fight!"

"I knew you'd say that," the ninja turned around calmly before blowing up on him, "YOU IDIOT! There's no point because you'll never surrender!"

"But I don't want to win like this!"

"Then what am I supposed to do?!"

"We can work together to figure out!"

Hanzo took a step away from the intense exchange, trying to be a bit more composed, "In other words, I've already given up this match, but you want me to try to win again, while helping to determine a way to make you feel good about your victory. Is that right?"

Gon's face lit up with a 'you finally got it!' look across his face, "Uh-huh!"

That answer sent him sprawling several feet away out cold for him to wake up as a Hunter.

-

The next match between Hanzo and Pokkle was very similar to the last, except that Pokkle gave in after holding up for a while. Soon Rukei would be facing #44 after giving herself a minute or two to warm up and loosen herself after standing and watching the last three hour match.

As she stepped into the invisible ring keeping a steady eye on the clown in front of her; she had taken the couple of seconds from before to clear her mind, cleaning out all those intangible things like fear and excitement. Calm was not the state she needed to be in. Empty would make herself more efficient.

So when Hisoka smiled and announced that he surrendered, she did not know what action to take.

"I don't understand."

The clown chuckled with a look in his eyes that told her how far away from him she actually was. "It's too early for you to face against me." She remembered the statement echoed around in her mind.

She remembered walking back to the sidelines. She remembered being congratulated. She remembered being told that she was a Hunter. She remembered as many things as she could to fill up her emptied mind.

Kurapika held up well against Hisoka, but of course, the clown was just toying with him, but his 'toying' could be fatal with the wrong steps. The fight came to an end when Hisoka whispered something to the blonde, and for a second she could barely catch, scarlet reached across his iris. The clown surrendered and she could no longer tell what state Kurapika's eyes were in as he closed them sullenly.

Killua had given up his match against Pokkle with the statement that he wasn't interested in fighting the archer. Rukei did not look away; this too helped sort things through her mind despite the familiar scene.

Bodoro took a very good beating by the jester but despite the old man's valiant fight, he eventually gave in after a couple words. Leorio requested that their match be put off until Bodoro recovered from the battle contrasting from the doctor's earlier wishes of an easy battle. This request put Killua against #301 next.

Unlike the other match, the boy seemed to be a bit more interested in this one, preparing to take down the jittering man by shifting his stance at the call of 'begin'!

"It's been too long, Kil."

That was the first time she had seen Gittarackur talk. A nickname?

Slowly, one by one, the man pulled the needles that he had pierced through him away, a gradual change taking over #301's face. Another man took the other's place, one that bore no resemblance to the one left behind in the needles. A man whose black eyes were void of emotion.

"B-brother..."

That was the first time she had seen Killua scared.

The boy had started sweating despite having barely taken a step since the beginning of the fight in the presence of his brother. Gittarackur must have been part of the family of assassins that held him to those high expectations. But he was family nonetheless. Was there reason to be that afraid?

"Hey," the man started casually, "I heard that you cut up Mom and Milluki."

Milluki must have also been one of the boy's brothers, she did remember him telling her and Gon about stabbing his mother in the face and his brother in the side. "Well, yeah..."

"Mom was crying," he tilted his head to the side, his long black hair swishing downwards with him, "Tears of joy. She was so happy to see that you'd grown up. But she was worried about you leaving home, so she asked me to go check up on you. What a coincidence. I didn't know that you wanted to become a Hunter. You see, I'm trying to get a license for my next job."

"I don't really want to become a Hunter," the boy admitted, moving his eyes from place to place, "I just felt like taking the exam."

The man seemed to be expecting the answer but his words were expressing surprise. "I see. That's a relief. Then I have some advice for you. You're not cut out to be a Hunter."

She had not realize that it was there until unease had completely wrapped itself around her heart. The brother's eyes showed no expression but she knew that there was something there. Not an emotion or feeling but something familiar and cold.

"You were born to be a killer."

Rukei should say something.

"You're a puppet of darkness, without passion," he continued on, "You don't want anything or wish for anything. As one who lives in the shadows, you can only feel pleasure when people die. That's how Dad and I raised you."

Rukei should do something.

"What would you accomplish by becoming a Hunter?"

Killua's voice was hardly above whispers. "True, I don't desire to be a Hunter. But... I do have something I want."

"You don't."

"I do!" Killua yelled, finally raising his voice since the first time reuniting with his brother, "There's something I really want!"

His brother hummed with a sort of half-interest. "Tell me what it is that you want."

The boy did not respond as his head hung low, face etched in hesitance and fear.

"What's wrong? There's nothing you really want, is there?"

"That's not it!"

His brother was put into waiting again, his eyes boring down into the younger, unreadable but it almost seemed to be shaming the white-haired boy. Finally, Killua spoke, his head hanging low.

"I want to be friends with Gon and Rukei..."

Say something.

"I'm sick of killing people... I want to be friends with Gon and Rukei and to live a normal life."

His brother immediately shot down the boy's wish. "That's impossible."

Killua flinched as his brother told him he would never be able to make friends. The boy quickly looked up, as if he believed the dark-haired man.

"You're only concern when you meet someone is wether or not you should kill them," he reminded the boy of his roots, "That's how you were trained. You just don't know how to classify Gon or Rukei because they're to dazzling for your eyes. You don't actually want to be friends with him."

While Killua denied him there was a look of desperation across his face. "You're wrong..."

"If you stay with them, you'll end up wanting to kill them one day. You'll get the urge to see if you can kill him or not. Because you have a soul of a killer."

Do something.

"Killua!" Leorio yelled over the shoulder of the referee that stepped in front of him, "I don't care if he's your brother. He's a worthless piece of crap! Don't listen to him! Just beat the crap out of him like usual and win! You want to be friends with Gon and Rukei?!" The man scoffed loudly, "Are you dumb?! You already are friends!"

Killua tensed visibly as his brother turned his eyes back onto the younger, "Really?"

"Obviously, you idiot!" Leorio hollered back.

The dark haired man placed his chin in between his fingers as he was faced with this problem, "Really? That's no good. They already consider Kil a friend," he nodded to himself with satisfaction as he lifted his head up to explain his idea. "Alright. I'll kill Gon and Rukei."

What?

The needles in his hand clinked together as he lifted his hand up, "A killer doesn't need friends. They'll only slow you down," and when the man turned her way, she released her at ease stance and reached for the gun, "Rukei can go first."

Soon her view was obstructed by a familiar blue suit and tabard in front of her, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hanzo move towards the door. The referee stepped in his path, insisting that the man wait as the match was still ongoing, only to be cut off by a hail of needles.

"This won't do," the man seemed to sigh at those in front of her, "I need a Hunter license for my job. But if I kill them, I'll fail and Kil will pass automatically," the man shook his head upon another factor, "Oh, darn. The same thing will happen if I kill Gon and Rukei...," he pressed his finger against his head, playing on the act of thinking hard, "I know! I'll pass the exam before killing them." The man turned to Netero for confirmation asking if this would be alright to which the old man replied positively in a neutral tone.

Why couldn't she rebuke this man? Why couldn't she tell Killua to defy him? Why couldn't she say anything? Why couldn't she do anything? What was stopping her?!

"Did you hear that Kil? You have to beat me if you want to save Gon. Will you fight me for your friend's sake? You can't do it. You're more worried wether or not you can beat me. And you already have your answer: 'I'm not strong enough to beat my brother.' 'Never fight an enemy you can't beat.' I drilled that into you."

What was wrong with this scene? What part of this scene was harder to face than seeing Gon being beaten for three hours?

"Don't move!" The man warned as the boy tried to take a step back, "If you move an inch, I'll assume that the fight has begun. And if our bodies make contact, that will also mean that the fight has begun. There's only one way to stop me. You know what that is. But don't forget. If you don't fight me, your dear Gon and Rukei will die."

"Take him out, Killua!" Leorio yelled, "We won't let him kill you, Gon, or Rukei! We'll stop him, whatever it takes! Let him have it!"

She gripped the toy weapon in her hand tightly, forcing a murmur out, "Pass..."

But her word didn't do a thing as Killua surrendered.

"Oh, that's good!" He clapped his hands together with a small smile on his face, "Then the battle's over," a blank laugh rebounded through the room, "I lied, Kil. I was lying about killing Gon and Rukei. That was just a little test. But now I have my answer," losing the smile, he leaned down and continued darkly, "You don't have the right to make friends."

And as his older brother, #301, gave his younger brother, Killua, more orders, Rukei remembered where she had seen this before. #301 was the Zakuya and Killua was herself from two years past.

There were people to obey.

There were rules not to be broken.

There were orders to follow.

And that was when Rukei realized that nothing had really changed.

Rukei had passed; everyone had passed except Killua who failed and Bodoro who died. But even if she had the little plastic card as her license in front of her, even if she could go back to Shichi, even if she was a Hunter, Rukei could not shake off the feeling that Rukei had failed.

。。。

Hmmmm.... I actually don't like this chapter too much... It feels kinda rushed (probably because it was kinda rushed).

The exam has ended and we're moving on to the Zoldyck Arc (granted a very short arc but it shall forever be considered an arc in my heart *dramatic sniffles and throwing of handkerchiefs*). Anyhow, I do look forward to writing the upcoming segments because I can finally pull in some more plot and more characters and more conflict and more Nen and it shall be beautiful.

Edit: New art in the media! It looks a bit odd and could be hard to tell, but Rukei is being handed a gun by an authority. The theme of the picture is 'all you need to do is follow my orders'.

Anyhow, thanks for reading!