The last minute felt torturously long, but there was a great feeling of satisfaction of dashing out the doors the moment the light turned green. They had to go through a great lot in the duration of the next eight hours, running on a falling bridge, cramming into a mining cart down the rails (she wouldn't admit that she found that one fun), and getting chased by a giant boulder that someone managed to trigger. They came to another door, with a familiar question of asking wether they should open or not.

O - 5, X - 1.

Rukei rolled her eyes at the display and stepped forward to move on, only to step back as Leorio reached over to grab Tonpa angrily. "I've had enough of your crap."

"Wait, I pressed O." He insisted.

"You liar!" Leorio growled back, "You specialize in ruining other people's chances!"

But she was surprised as she saw Gon apologize, "Sorry, Leorio. I accidentally pressed the wrong button," he admitted.

Leorio sighed and let go of the man, picking up his briefcase and walking away. "I see."

"Wait. You owe me an apology."

"It's your fault for doing things to make me distrust you. I don't owe you anything."

"You make it sound like I'm to blame for everything that's gone wrong."

"What?"

"Have you forgotten whose fault it who cost us fifty hours?"

The fight was slowly escalating, and a tired Kurapika tried to step in only to be shoved aside as the bespectacled man put down his briefcase and pulled his hands up in a brawling position. Gon also tried to stop the two from duking it out. Rukei mentioned that they were wasting time and needed to move which Killua was already on the job, declaring it as stupid.

But he suddenly popped his head back into room announcing that they were close to the goal. The incoming fight was quickly disbanded and they moved on to her relief.

Underneath a statue of a woman hanging on a wall there were two doors, a X painted on the left and an O on the right. Killua read the plaque underneathe it out loud, "Let's see. This will be the last decision by majority rule. Are you ready? Choose O or X," he finished, "That's it."

"Am I ready?" Leorio repeated skeptically, "You bet."

O - 5, X - 1.

"Why you-"

Kurapika immediately broke in, "Stop! We don't have time to argue about this!"

A little light on the statue's forehead began to blink and the speakers cut in, "Please select a path. There are two choices. One path allows six to pass but it is long and difficult. The other path only allows four, but it is short and easy. Incidentally, the long and difficult path requires a minimum of forty-five hours. The short and easy path leads to the goal in approximately three minutes. Press O for the long and difficult path and X for the short and easy path. If X is selected, two people must b secured to the wall with handcuffs, before the door will open. The two chained will be unable to move until the time limit expires."

Rukei took another glance about the room, now understanding why so many weapons were hung about the walls so flamboyantly.

"The examiners were well prepared," Killua commented, "I think they have every weapon underneath the sun here."

Kurapika shut his eyes, evaluating the situation, "Two out of six. So we're supposed to fight to decide the four who pass?"

"Let me make this clear," Leorio started, "I'm going to press X. But I have no intention of staying behind. I'll do whatever it takes to be one of the four."

"You're shameless," Tonpa told him, "Had you not wasted those fifty hours, we could have taken the long path. Shouldn't you take responsibility and stay behind?"

"What?"

"I'm sure everyone else agrees! Have I said anything inaccurate?"

But Gon had a different idea, an idea that she admired but couldn't bring herself to follow. "Wait a moment. I'm going to press O. We made it all the way together. I want all of us to pass together."

"Gon..."

"Even if it's a big risk, I want to give it a shot!" He insisted, even though he had a very large chance of being one of the four to pass.

Killua however, brought her back down to earth, "You can't really call this a risk. We have less than an hour," he showed them his watch, "Gon, there's only one choice if you want to pass this exam."

Rukei couldn't counter his point, "Regretfully, I agree," she murmured.

"There you have it," Leorio chided shortly.

"Now we have to decide how to choose the four to pass. Well I'm planning on three of them being you, Rukei, and me."

The loud sound of an axe breaking into the ground broke her out of her thoughts while Tonpa tried to hack away at Leorio. The man quickly grabbed a spear like weapon off the wall to fend the other off and Kurapika called out for them to stop, grabbing for the bokken he had stowed away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Killua turn his hand into the deadly claws she saw before. She didn't want to fight them, she couldn't fight them.

"Come back as a Hunter."

"Then let's shake on it."

"Go and come back."

Shichi's words. Rukei promised Shichi that she would come back as a Hunter. They shook on it.

It was essentially an order.

Her hand drifted for the her weapon and cracked her wrists to loosen them a bit. "Understood."

Rukei sighed as she exited the slide that she was not expecting, dusting off her overalls and jacket, coming in a little after Gon, Kurapika, and Killua. It was a steep drop and she had received some minor scratches along the way.

"Kurapika, applicant #404 is the twentieth to pass. Killua, applicant #99 is the twenty-first to pass. Gon, applicant #405 is the twenty-second to pass. Rukei, applicant #402 is the twenty-third to pass. Total time, seventy one hours and fifty-nine minutes."

Under her breath, Rukei muttered, "Why do I have to be last?" Receiving a tired roll of the eyes from Killua.

"You really are petty, aren't you?"

"I am not."

Gon smiled, looking up at Kurapika, "That was really close, wasn't it?"

"My hands are covered in blisters," he replied back, bringing them up to show the boy.

"Same here," Leorio growled as he and Tonpa were fighting for the twenty-fourth place; elbowing each other on the way out.

"Leorio, applicant #403 is the twenty-third to pass. Tonpa #16, is the twenty-fifth applicant to pass. Total time, seventy-one hours and fifty-nine minutes."

"My hands are all blistered but we all managed to pass thanks to Gon," Leorio grinned, patting the spiky-haired boy on the head.

They had all chopped away at the wall in the long path, using the weapons in the room they were just in for almost a full hour before cutting into the short path. She could only be, once again, thoroughly impressed and shocked with Gon.

Leorio placed a hand on his hip, his voice full of hidden pride, "Geez, I can't believe that you actually came up with that idea on the spot."

Gon laughed bashfully at the compliment, "I realized that we could break the walls using the weapons," he turned to the brunette startling her a little, "And Rukei said it at the beginning didn't she?"

"I... What about me?"

"You said that 'we can always bust down the walls'," he quoted.

She blinked a couple times before giving up with a smile. The surprises didn't stop. "Of course."

-

She sighed, lifting herself onto one of the short pillar of crates, made of two wooden boxes on the ship to Zevil Island. The wind was a passing relief from the heat and her mind and stole her away from her suffocating dilemma. But it quickly dropped her back down on earth a few seconds later.

She had to pass this phase to become a Hunter. Taking her designated target's tag would be the most efficient way to get there. The method didn't matter, the plan didn't matter, and her feelings didn't matter. She needed to pass this phase to become a Hunter.

Rukei brought her knees up to her chest and set her gaze on the cloudless blue skies. At least, that's what she tried to convince herself of.

"Rukei!"

She released herself from the curled up position to look down at Gon and Killua who stood at the bottom of her throne, that was the stack of wooden boxes, still wearing their tags proudly on their chests. "What is it?"

Killua held up a card, the back of it so she couldn't see the number, but she knew what he was going to ask her about, "Who's your target?"

The girl hopped off the crate and brushing the question aside impassively, "Tell me yours."

The white-haired boy was frustrated with her reaction but followed along with Gon as they both flipped the little pieces of plastic over. Her eyes landed on Killua's card first, #199, one of the brothers, Umori. With Killua skills, taking the tag would be fairly easy but it would take a bit more effort to take out all the brothers at one time. She glanced at the boy's bored face, silently wondering if he actually knew who his target was.

When she shifted her gaze to Gon's tag and worry gripped her heart. #44.

It was quiet for a couple moments and she forced out a half joke, "So you also have terrible drawing luck."

"Also?"

She swatted away the concern and suspicions, ignoring the white-haired boy, "Do you have a plan?"

While he gave her a nervous smile, she could still see the flaming excitement that bounced about in his eyes. "Not really... I guess I'm in a bad spot. But I think I have a chance if it's just taking his tag!"

"I'll look forward to seeing Hisoka's plate in your hand then," Rukei stated warmly despite how worried she should have been, some irrational part of her that had been very, very loud the past few days, told her that Gon would be fine.

"Rukei," Killua called out again, obviously annoyed at her ignoring his questions, "What number did you draw?"

The brunette shut her eyes with equal annoyance; she thought he could have picked up the fact that she clearly did not want to share it. "It doesn't matter now, does it? I'm passing this phase either way."

"Why you- why are you always like this?!" Killua demanded angrily, "We told you our targets, it's only fair that you tell us yours!"

"Unfortunately," Rukei sniffed irritably, "I have no memory of promising you that I would tell you my target."

Killua groaned and ruffled his hair furiously at her vexing response, but before he could say anything, she turned on her heels with a dismissive statement of 'I'm going to walk around'. When she had confirmed that she had slipped away and they were not around, she let out another deep sigh, leaning back against one of the walls above deck.

"You seem troubled~"

Rukei immediately tensed at the clown's comment and his presence, who she had no idea when he had made his way in front of her. She was a bit lost in her thoughts, yes, but she definitely wasn't that unaware, "What do you want, Hisoka?"

The red-haired man's face was taken over by a wide smile, an unsettling one just as everything else about him was. "Is it wrong to aid a person in distress?"

"I am not distressed," Rukei countered stiffly, pulling her chin up a little despite her wary stance.

The magician's smile did not falter as he quickly flicked a card into existence in between his fingers and she reached for her weapon in response, "Oh, I wasn't talking about you," she blinked as he flipped the card over, revealing a number, "I was talking about me."

#384. She tossed the number around in her brain for a bit before recalling it's owner, Geretta the Huntsman. But she froze up upon a reevaluation of the scenario. Her eyes narrowed slightly but it was enough to ice her countenance, her fingers traced the holster, "Who told you about my memory?"

Hisoka's eyes cracked open at her statement and to have the gold eyes study her was extremely unnerving, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," she steeled herself despite the fear that gripped and grabbed at her legs, trying to pull her down, "The weapons and now my memory. Who gave you that information?"

The jester straightened his posture, still giving her that blasted smile with a hum, "What a perceptive little lady you are," Rukei did her best not to show shock at the use of nickname given to her by Shichi, "I approached you to propose a trade."

"A trade?" Rukei echoed cautiously, definitely not ready to jump into any kind of tricky deal that Hisoka presented her with.

His jester's grin widened, "I'll tell you what you want to know in return for #384. Fair, is it not?"

Rukei glanced between him and the card warily, quickly going over the situation again. She would lose nothing and in return and she would find out about how Hisoka knew of her and through who. It could possibly aid the Alliance. This was a good deal-

She paused. But if Hisoka knew his target's identity then that meant it was highly possibly that he would finish very early and disappear somewhere and that could significantly decrease Gon's chances. She was looking forward to seeing Hisoka's plate in Gon's hand.

"Your answer?"

Rukei pushed the card back towards him after a moment, staring up at him evenly, "I refuse," she replied and he seemed mildly surprised at her answer but he quickly flickered it out of existence at her response.

"I see. What a shame," Hisoka chimed, his curled-toe shoes clicking against the ground as he walked away, leaving her and the deal behind.

Rukei let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. His target didn't matter to him. It would be far easier and beneficial for him to select three random applicants to take tags from then hunting down one particular opponent. His real intention of approaching her did not have to do with the tag. Was it to test her? Was he still playing his stupid game of examiner?

She shook her head, refusing to ponder any longer on a slippery elusive subject like Hisoka. Right now, she must focus on creating plans to obtain six points, a plan similar to the one she had given the clown. She pulled the rectangular piece of plastic she had drawn from the box at the base of trick tower that had tossed her into such a ridiculous quandary. She regretted it almost immediately as she nearly crushed it into bits in her hand and shoved it back into her pocket.

Target, applicant #404, Kurapika.

。。。

Edit: this chapter was originally Hunt X for X Tags, and is now split into three different parts. The latter two are edited. Today's X Enemy is very heavily changed from the original.

The Hunter Exam is nearing a close, I'm actually pretty hyped up! Then we can get on to the amazing, beautiful, ingenious idea of Nen and the Heaven's Arena, and the York New Arc and Nen and then we can meet HXH's Genkai equivalent and Shichi and Nen, this is going to be great!

Did I mention Nen? I think I did. (Seriously, awesome. May or may not publish a Nen discussion book because Nen is so cool)

All of this aside, does anyone have any HxH fanfic recommendations? Doesn't have to be on Wattpad, I read a really nice one on fanfiction.net, I wish it was on Wattpad so I could vote and follow them but alas. Anyways, thanks for reading everyone!