"Thank you for the ship ride," Kiyoko said politely, giving a smile to the captain as she disembarked the ship.

The captain nodded at the girl and watched the group slowly walk away from the port. Gon ran in front and faced the captain, sticking out his hand for a shake.

"Thanks, Captain!" he exclaimed as the captain accepted the gesture. "I had a great time during that ride!"

The old man smiled at the boy's comment and brought the hand he shook with up to the pipe in his mouth.

"I did too, young lad. As a token of my appreciation, I'll provide you some guidance."

Gon stopped smiling and stared at the man curiously. "…. Guidance? Like advice?"

The captain looked over to his left and took the pipe from his mouth into his hand.

"Look over there. You see that giant cedar tree on the hilltop?" he asked, taking his left hand from out of his pocket to point at the tree his was referring to.

"…. Uhuh."

"You should head over to that area first. It's another route to the exam site, shorter than the one you're actually suppose take," he told the boy, a stranger walking by to coincidentally hear the information.

"Shortcut? Alright! So, all I need to do is head for that tree over there! I'll be sure to do so, Captain!" the young boy exclaimed, unaware of the eavesdropper.

"Thank you!"

The captain smiled at the young boy and gave a wink. "Best of luck to you kids!"

"Yeah! Same goes to you!" Gon exclaimed as he ran and jumped, giving a small full twirl, dashing off to Dolle Harbor's main area and jumping again. "TAKE CAREEE!"

The man grinned at the retreating boy and saluted him with his hat.

'Don't you need to worry, Ging. Your son has grown into a very respectable young man.'

The eavesdropping man smirked as he watched Gon run off to his destination and decided to follow him unsuspected.

"Huh….. That's strange…." Leorio muttered.

"Hm? Why?" Gon asked, everyone directing their attention to the man.

"Well, according to that noticed I received, the exam we are planning to take is supposed to be held around Zaban City or so. Right now, we're right over here," Leorio explained, pointing at the area in the large map before them. "The tree would be in the opposite direction we are trying to get to."

"That's quite true.. We would be heading off the route and getting farther from the exam site if we went that way, don't you think?" Kiyoko asked curiously, lowering her level to Gon's height.

"You might have misheard him perchance?" Kurapika asked, staring at the young boy curiously.

"No, not at all.. He told me to head over to that cedar tree for sure," Gon replied to everyone.

"I see….." Kurapika replied, bringing a hand up to his chin.

"Also, this little note isn't any help!" Leorio stated, staring at the notice disappointedly. "Precisely WHERE in Zaban City are we supposed to head to?"

"Our assigned duty is to find the exam site right now, using a minimal portion of info we can," the Kurta boy responded blandly. "This is just another test before we are allowed to take the real Hunter exam."

Leorio stomped his foot and tried to hold in his anger. "I-I knew that…! I totally already knew all that!"

"Anyways, I'll go over there and have a look," Gon popped in.

"If the captain told Gon this, I'll believe to trust the two," Kiyoko answered, giving a smile to Gon.

Gon smiled back and began heading off to the direction he was told to go. "The captain must've had a reason to suggest this to us."

The other two boys watched the two participants head off in the direction the captain told Gon to head towards.

"Hey, hey… You guys serious?" Leorio asked, pointing over to the bus behind him. "The bus to Zaban is going to leave soon! We all should just take it!"

Gon waved at the two without looking back, continuing towards the cedar tree with Kiyoko to accompany him as Leorio continued to call after the two.

"H-HEY! Oh man.. He's got to learn that you can't trust every single person in this world…" Leorio said disappointedly, Kurapika suddenly taking interest in Gon's actions.

The teenage boy began to walk after the two with an interested smile on his face, leaving Leorio behind by himself.

"Hm? K-Kurapika! Hey!"

The boy continued to walk off to the direction of the cedar tree and didn't bother to look back.

"Gon's attitude and actions actually interests me more than that captain's guide. I'm going to head over there with the two," Kurapika answered as Leorio stuffed the small sheet of paper into his pocket inside his suit.

"Oh? Well, isn't that so?" he asked in a mocked tone.

"See you then. It wasn't that long, but nice knowing you three," he said, waving the younger attendees off and heading towards the bus.

'Guess that kid wasn't as independent as I'd thought of him to be… I'm going to take that damn bus!' Leorio muttered to himself.

'So, it was a trap….' the man overheard, causing his ear to twitch.

'It seems that none of the buses have made it to Zaban City… Rookies usually fail this part of the test since they're too naïve and gullible,' the unknown men continued to say.

Leorio froze in his spot for a while and began to sweat nervously after hearing the important information.

"W-WAITTTTTTTT! WAIT, WAIT,WAIT,WAIT! WAIT FOR MEEEE!" he called, running and jumping after the three that were already gone.

"Wellll, I knew you guys would be sad and lonely without me and it's not that exciting to travel by yourself, so I decided to stick with you three for a while longer, HAHAHA!" Leorio said, unaware of Kuromi's presence around them all.

"You found out the stupid buses were a trap," Kuromi stated, looking at the man unamused.

Leorio flinched as a violent shiver was sent down his spine by the girl's hard cold stare.

"Stop it, Kuromi…. Just give him a break already…." Kiyoko sighed, forcing herself to look ahead.

The man following behind the small group smirked and ran out in front of them unnoticed as Kuromi continued to shoot death glares at the frightened Leorio, Gon trying to get her back to her normal state and Kurapika watching them with amusement.

"Ahh!" a sudden yelp exclaimed.

Everyone jumped and looked up ahead of them to see a man sitting on the ground, holding at his ankle in pain.

"Are you alright, mister?" Gon asked, running up to the 'injured' man.

"Y-yeah… I think I just sprained my ankle.." he faked, pointing at a small gap next to him.

Kuromi lowered her eyelid and stared at the man suspiciously as Kiyoko remained to stare at the man blankly, taking in the tone of his voice in her head.

"Are you heading over to the same direction we are, sir?" Gon asked, pointing at the cedar tree. "We can help you get there if you like. I'm Gon! What's your name?"

The man looked at the boy with a surprised look on his face, smiling at Gon's offer.

"Yes, I'm heading over to the cedar tree for the test. My name's Matthew," the man said as Gon began to carry him onto his back.

Kiyoko quietly clicked her tongue to herself, her half still having a poker face on to hide her side of distrust, while Kuromi's half remained frowning hard at Matthew. Kurapika noticed anger emitting from the actual girl herself for the first time and not just with her negative persona who was releasing even more dangerous vibes than ever. The boy looked over at Matthew with a bothered looking face expression, not trusting the man either. As the group continued to travel up the mountain for a little longer, Leorio suddenly disappearing, Kurapika looked over his shoulder to check on Gon once again to see the lying man have a gloomy looking face on.

'Hey, I noticed the atmosphere around the two of you changed earlier..' Kurapika mumbled, shooting a glare at the man on Gon's back.

'Oh? So you've noticed?' Kiyoko asked, suddenly groaning in little pain.

'Hey, are you alright?' Kurapika asked, stopping in his track.

'Just.. great….' Kuromi growled. 'Kiyoko, can I take over? We're starting to deal damage to your body now.'

'I know that! If you want to be the one in control, then treat the others nicely except for that Matthew freak. I don't trust him,' Kiyoko muttered.

'It's a deal,' Kuromi said, taking full control over the body and staggering a little.

'Damage?' Kurapika repeated, holding Kuromi's shoulders before she fell.

'Yeah, physical and mental damage,' Kuromi said as the two began to walk again, the girl having an urge to shake the boy off.

"Does your leg still hurt, Matthew-san?" Gon asked ignorantly.

"Y-yeah… I think I sprained it pretty bad… I'm sorry, Gon, I wasn't familiar with the mountain's path," Matthew said.

"No, it's alright!" Gon replied gullibly.

"Ah! That's right! We're in the mountains right now! Wait right here for a minute, Matthew-san!" Gon exclaimed as he lowered the man onto the ground, Kurapika and Kuromi looking behind again.

"Huh? What's wrong, Gon?" he asked curiously.

Gon pointed a thumb behind him.

"There should be some medicinal herbs in the mountain.. I'll go look for some for you!" the young boy exclaimed, running off into the plants.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Gon?!" the man exclaimed as the other two watched him run off.

"We can't afford to waste any time for that…" he trailed off disappointedly.

Kurapika faced the man and held onto Kuromi's arm to support her.

"If you're in such a hurry, why don't you just go ahead by yourself? No need to be accompanied right?" the boy asked.

"I'm quite sure that you're the one wasting OUR time here, you freak," Kuromi added looking away.

"Wait, what?" Matthew asked.

"So long," Kurapika said, pulling the weakened girl with him.

"Have fun healing that 'injured' ankle of yours while we take that exam," Kuromi spat.

Matthew sat on the ground where Gon placed him for a little longer and then finally stood up.

'God damn it… So close too!' he thought to himself as he began to walk around. "Hey, don't leave me alone! Where are you, Gon?!"

"So about the damages you both suffer…" Kurapika picked up from the conversation they had.

"Ah, Kiyoko suffers that damage most. I suffer it too, but not as bad as her since this is her body. When we both are in control of the body at the same time, it takes a lot of energy and concentration to maintain in control of half her body. I don't need to do any of that, but I experience the same yet weaker pain she has, after all, I am her other self. If we kept up with that form any longer, Kiyoko would be the one to pass out and I would be the one with very little control over the body since SHE collapsed," Kuromi explained, knowing how Kiyoko's state is like right now. "That would also mean that I took on a lot of damage and won't be able to even lift up a finger, a chance of passing out as well."

"Oh? Then why do you always try to take control of her if you know about this?" Kurapika asked, sounding calm.

"Why don't you try to be like us? You wouldn't know how we feel just being in some dark and endless place with no one around only to know that the person you share a body with is experiencing everything you want to experience. Just think about that," the girl replied as she resisted pushing the boy away.

'Kiyoko, are you feeling alright?' Kuromi asked herself.

'I'm fine, just tired.. I might have a headache later though,' Kiyoko replied.

A sudden yell was heard from behind where the two left Matthew at, Kurapika deciding to walk over and check what was going on.

"I'm guessing you can't walk quickly, so take this as a helping hand," the boy said, picking up the girl bridal style and quickly walking off.

"A-AH! OI! WARNING NEXT TIME!" Kuromi exclaimed.

'You, beast! If you make a move, you'll be sorry you've ever attacked me!' Matthew's voice exclaimed, a rhino growling at him.

"Put those crappy things away!" Kurapika ordered once he reached the man, setting Kuromi back down.

Matthew took a glance over his shoulder; still have the weapons out in front of him.

"You can't even wield those properly, can you?" Kurapika asked boldly.

"You're just going to end up hurting yourself," Kuromi stated bluntly.

Gon suddenly appeared from the other side they stood at, walking towards the animal without any precaution.

"H-hey, hey, Gon!" Matthew exclaimed.

"It's way too unnerved. We don't have any other choice," Kurapika told the boy, pulling out his linked bokken swords and walking forward away from Kuromi.

"No, wait, Kurapika. It became this troubled because we all entered its area without knowing," Gon said.

"Just let him handle this," the girl groaned, allowing a hand to trail up to her forehead and the other clumsily grab at Kurapika's talbard.

The boy remained firm in his stance and grunted at the animal's furious nature.

"Calm down. It's okay, I won't do anything."

Grass began to faintly rustle behind Kurapika and Kuromi, Kuromi being the one to notice first.

"We don't intend to overstep your territory, so-"

"W-WAIT, DON'T DO IT, YOU IDIOT!" the girl yelled as she turned around quickly, putting her weight on the boy before her as she slipped a bit.

"Watch it! GON!" Leorio exclaimed, jumping over a surprised Kurapika and an annoyed Kuromi in the process.

"DAMN. YOU!" he exclaimed, swinging his briefcase at the poor thing.

Gon and Kurapika's face immediately switched to horror as Kuromi covered up her face and shook her head, disgruntled of his actions. Leorio stared at the now enraged animal with an idiotic face expression, immediately taking off as the rhino began to chase after him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! D-DON'T COME THIS WAYYYYY!" he exclaimed, his face going blue.

"….. Where did he come from..?" Kurapika asked curiously, still holding onto his weapons as dirt clouds started to form.

"I have no idea.." Gon answered.

"This is amusing. Let's let the poor thing chase after the moron a little longer he deserved it.." Kuromi requested.

"I HEARD THATTTTTTT!" he yelled, climbing up a tree.

"That was all your fault, sooo…" Kuromi said, falling to the floor after standing up straight and letting go of her support.

'Oh, ow…' she muttered.

Gon walked over to where the rhino was standing, still growling at Leorio angrily.

"So, where were you?" Kurapika asked putting away his weapons and helping Kuromi back up.

"Hmm…. Well, I got separated by you guys.. I looked away for a brief second and next thing you know you all disappeared," Leorio said, smirking a bit.

"Oh? You seem pretty proud of something," Kuromi said, her eye lids lowered.

"Right, right… NOW PLEASE, GON, SEND THAT VICIOUS RHINO AWAY!" Leorio yelled frighteningly.

Gon allowed a wide smile spread across his face and turned over to the Rhino saying a few things to it before it headed off.

"Bye!" Gon exclaimed, waving at the animal.

"How long are we going to waste time here…?" Matthew asked impatiently as everyone looked over to him. "Someone may have got ahead of us and beat us to the area already. If we weren't wasting so much time fooling around like I mentioned before, we would've left the area without these problems."

"But it turned out to be nice though," Gon answered, walking to Leorio. "We were also able to find Leorio-san again and it also seems like your ankle healed a little."

"Aw, I'm very please for you, Matthew-san," Kurapika said sarcastically, making the man frown.

"Heh, I never knew injuries like sprained ankles could heal within minutes. And this is why you don't allow that idiot to try and come save the day, kids," Kuromi said boringly.

"H-HEY! AT LEAST I DID SOMETHING, UNLIKE YOU!" the man exclaimed, pointing at the tired looking girl.

"It's better than doing something stupid like hitting an already angered rhino."

'Kuromi…. Your promise.. Treat everyone, including Leorio-san, nicely, please,' Kiyoko requested once more in a very exhausted tone.

'Hey, Kiyoko. Are you sure you're alright? You don't seem fine and it's starting to affect me a little,' Kuromi said, looking at her leg that began to slowly lose feeling.

'Just.. fine..'

"Kurapika, you can let go of me now. I'm fine," the girl said not looking away from the ground.

"Hm? You sure?" he asked, slowly letting go.

"What? Now you need that guy to hold you up? Are you really that lazy?" Leorio said, smirking at his statement.

Kuromi didn't bother looking up from the ground, a slightly sad look coming upon her face before she grunted and glared at the floor, looking up slowly.

"When did I become the lazy one?" she asked, shooting a look at Kurapika to make him let go.

The boy sighed and fully removed his grip from her arm, allowing her to use a tree for support.

'Kuromi, you shouldn't let him get to you like that…' Kiyoko said.

'You tell me that and yet you don't even listen to yourself,' Kuromi fought back. 'Isn't that how I suddenly existed in this world? Because you let everything get to you and mix up your feelings and attitude?'

Kiyoko remained quiet, knowing her counterpart was correct with her reason.

"Let's hurry up and get to that exam site already…" Kuromi growled, trying to walk on her own and staggering with every step she took.

'Hmph. That brat..' Leorio muttered angrily.

Gon watched the girl carefully from behind and ran up to her after a little while.

"Kuromi? Are you okay? You don't lo-"

'I'm fine….' she muttered under her breath.

"But-"

"Gon, if I said I'm alright, then I'm alright!" the girl rose her voice, causing the Kurta boy to worry about her a little.

"Leorio, you know you'll regret saying all that to her if I told you why she needed help walking," the boy said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms on his chest.

"Regret? You saw her horrendous attitude! Why would I regret it when she deserved it?" he said, the girl overhearing the conversation.

Kuromi closed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth together, clenching and relaxing her fists. Gon noticed the sudden change in the usual demeanor she had, concern crossing his face.

"I don't think you'll understand, but it'll be up to the two of them to decide whether to tell you guys or not. She already told me cause they kind of had to," Kurapika said, shrugging a little.

"Like I'll have a sudden change in that little witch-"

Gon suddenly turned around and stared at Leorio with a calm face.

"Leorio-san, you should just give it up," he said, surprising everyone.

Kuromi lifted up her head and looked over to the young boy, her deep scarlet, close to crimson, eyes widening at the sudden defense.

'…. Kiyoko, when would you like to switch with me…?' Kuromi asked, feeling her throat hitch a little.

Kiyoko smiled calmly and stood up from the pitch black area.

'I'm guessing now would be a good time, am I correct?' the girl asked, switching with her negative personal.

Kiyoko groaned and stopped in her track, feeling like she was going to fall over within a second. Gon saw the swap this time and immediately grabbed at the girl's arm.

"Are you okay, Kiyoko?" he asked curiously as she covered up a dropping tear.

"A-ah, yeah, I'm alright. Just tired," she said, covering up for Kuromi. "Sorry, if she was really rude to you guys."

Gon smiled at the girl unaware of the tears coming from her right eye.

"It's alright! She wasn't really a bad person at all to us!" Gon said, Leorio clicking his tongue.

'Except for me,' he muttered.

'Thanks, Kiyoko. You're the best friend I could ever had even though I'm a violent and crappy person,' Kuromi said, smiling a decent smile for once as tears streamed down her face.

'Looks like Gon got to you. Use this exchange as time to calm down. Ask me whenever you want to switch with me, okay?' Kiyoko asked, chuckling a little.

"S-sorry, Gon, but I'm going to need you to support my body weight right now.." Kiyoko said, holding onto his shoulder and walking again.

"It's okay!" Gon said.

"Told you they both needed help," Kurapika said looking away.

'This is a very… eerie place…' Leorio said looking around the area as a crow cawed loudly upon their approach. 'It's very empty and I don't see a single soul here…'

"No, there are plenty here," Gon stated calmly as they all stopped in their tracks.

"Careful now.." Kurapika said.

"I hear quiet breathing and rustles of clothing around this spot… Do you?" Kiyoko asked.

"Unfortunately, no. BECAUSE I'M AN ORDINARY MAN!" Leorio exclaimed.

A gate suddenly began to open, causing the attendees to flinch and become cautious of their surroundings. The gate fully opened up as several people with many types of instruments on their persons pulled out a stage with an old woman sitting on it.

'Wh-what is with the freak show…?' Leorio muttered, Kiyoko shrugging at the question.

'Exciting….' the woman said.

"E-exciting?" Leorio repeated as a question.

"Exciting…." she repeated louder.

"Exciting," Leorio repeated again, staring intently at the old lady and gulping really hard.

"EXCITING TWO-CHOICE QUIZ!" she finally finished, opening her eyes wide.

The people next to her began to play their instruments after the sudden outburst, the crow cawing on cue. Everyone stared at the bunch blankly, a confused expression crossing their faces.

"You boys and girl are heading over for that tree on top of that hill, am I correct?" she asked after the commotion stopped. "To reach that tree, you all must pass through this town."

"Huh?" Gon said.

Kiyoko still had a blank expression on her face, blinking curiously as she listened to the woman.

"I shall direct a single-questioned quiz then."

Matthew had a smug look on his face as he thought out his plan.

'This is where I ditch these fools and set out booby traps…'

"W-wait. What's going on right now?" Leorio asked, looking around the empty town.

"You'll have five seconds to place an answer," the woman continued, ignoring Leorio's question. "Give me the wrong answer and you're barred from the exam, meaning you'll have to give up this year's Hunter Exam."

"I see…" Kurapika said calmly, smiling confidently. "Then this must be a part of the exam."

"I see how it is. I happen to be a quiz expert," Leorio bragged.

Kiyoko sighed at the man's answer and looked over her shoulder.

"Thing is you may never know what kind of questions she'll throw at us. Also it's a SINGLE-questioned quiz," the girl reminded him.

"Wait. ONLY ONE QUESTION?!" Leorio exclaimed, a frightened looking expression appearing on his face.

"Your answer will either be the number 1 or 2," she said, holding up the numbers with her fingers. "Any other answers will be considered incorrect."

"Hold up. ALL of us are sharing ONE QUESTION?"

"It'd be quicker, no?" the old lady answered.

"So, if this guy here answers wrong, then I'm disqualified also? Is that right?" Leorio asked to make sure, pointing at Kurapika and then to himself.

The boy lowered his eyelids at the man and turned around to face the other way.

"As if that would ever happen! For sure that's impossible!" he exclaimed as he crossed his arms, Gon smiling awkwardly and Kiyoko trying hard not to giggle. "What frightens me more is the high feasibility of the opposite happening. It brings me to the verge of tears," he continued, holding his arms up and shaking his head disappointedly.

Kiyoko broke into a little giggle fit and lost her balance, falling back onto her butt.

'A-AH! ARE YOU OKAY, KIYOKO?' Kuromi asked, knowing the girl hated pain.

'I'm fine, I'm fine!'

"What was that?!" Leorio exclaimed angrily as Kurapika crossed his arms again, still having the bored look on his face.

"But you know… This way's easier, since only one of us needs to know the answer! I'm not so good at thinking things out like this…" Gon stated, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly.

'That's true…' Kiyoko said, still sitting on the floor.

'I suppose so….' Leorio said, staring at the Kurta.

'Fair point..' Kurapika said, staring back at the doctor-to-be man.

"I'll be passing by myself. Let me try first. Is that clear, Granny?" Matthew said, everyone looking over at him.

"You have quite the confidence right there.. You may try it," she answered, smiling casually.

"Then it's decided!" he exclaimed, looking over to the group. "I can't take a risk failing this quiz by taking it with you guys."

Everyone, but Gon, stared at the man coldly.

"Matthew-san?" the young boy asked.

"Sorry, but I was using you gullible idiots to get here in the first place, not to become pals with anyone. I just needed to reach this town safely. I am quite skillful at using my brain, you know? I don't have any business with you morons anymore."

Kiyoko's poker face changed into a deadly glare; one that the group never thought she could pull off, an eyebrow twitching in irritation a little.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? DAMN YOU!" Leorio exclaimed in anger.

Kurapika calmed down a little and gave off a smile to the man.

"Leave him be. Hearing the question may give us a hint in advance as well." Kurapika said.

"True… But-"

"Let's finish this quickly, old woman!" Matthew exclaimed rudely.

"Alright, here's your question… Evil villains have captured your mother and lover. You have the choice to only save one or the other. Select 1 for your mother, or 2 for your lover," the woman said, holding up her fingers again. "Which will you save…?"

The group was taken by surprise from the question the old woman asked.

"H-how is this even a quiz?!" Leorio exclaimed angrily.

Matthew hit the red buzzer before him and looked straight at the lady on the stage, everyone looked at the man curiously.

"The answer is 1," he said, crossing his arms together.

"Oh? And why do you say that?" she asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"It's because you can't replace your mother, but you can always find another lover," he explained.

"What?" Leorio yelled.

The black crow at the stage cawed once after the answer was given. The old lady pointed her thumb to her right.

"You may pass…" she said.

"WHAT?!" Leorio yelled again.

'This quiz doesn't feel right,' Kuromi told Kiyoko.

'Agreed.. And that answer sounded really... messed up...'

"You just have to tell the granny what she wants to hear," Matthew told the group. "Adios."

Leorio was now angered by the old woman's response to Matthew's answer, swinging his arm out in front of him.

"HEY, THAT'S JUST BULL! HOW WAS THAT THE RIGHT ANSWER?! WE'RE ASKED TO GIVE AN ANSWER THE LADY WANTS AND IT'S TAKEN AS CORRECT?!" he exclaimed furiously.

Kurapika and Kiyoko looked at Leorio and listened to his rant as Gon crossed his arms together and began to think about the question himself.

"HEY, SAY SOMETHING!"

The crow gave another caw to the man as he furiously ranted some more.

"I WON'T REPLY TO ANY OF THESE FALSE QUESTIONS! I'LL GO FIND A DIFFERENT ROUTE!" he finished.

"It's too late," the lady finally replied, stopping Leorio from leaving. "Refuse to take this quiz and you'll also be disqualified."

"THAT'S JUST RIDICULOUS! DIFFERENT PEOPLE WOULD LOOK FOR DISCRETE ANSWERS!" he yelled even more enraged, pointing at the lady. "THERE. IS. NO. RIGHT. ANSWER!" he finished, bending and moving his fingers back and forth.

'Ah..! No.. right answer…' Kurapika muttered to himself. 'I see!'

'Hm? I think he's onto something,' Kiyoko thought.

The old woman noticed Kurapika's reaction and realized he found the answer.

"LEORIO!" the boy exclaimed.

"Wait!"

"Huh?" everyone, but Gon who was still thinking hard reacted.

'The cat-eyed boy has concluded the actual answer…' the old lady thought to herself.

"I don't want to hear another word from you. Say anything but the answer, and you're barred as well."

Leorio began to growl and looked around his surroundings.

'Open your eyes, Leorio. It's a simple answer… Gon…'

The boy looked at the two and then over to Kiyoko to see her writing a message on the dirt ground. The boy relaxed a little when he saw what she wrote. Silence.

"Here is your question…. Your son and daughter have been kidnapped. Just like before you may only save one or the other. Select 1 for your son, or 2 for your daughter," the woman said, lifting up her fingers. "Which will you rescue?"

Leorio growled and frowned hard at the lady, turning away to walk off somewhere.

'She's toying with us…'

"Five…"

Kurapika went over to Kiyoko and brushed away the answer with his feet quickly, helping her up from the floor right after.

"Four…"

'Go ahead and keep counting down, you old hag,' Leorio thought as he picked up a wooden stick from the side.

"Three… Two…"

Kurapika eyed Leorio carefully as he led Kiyoko over to the side of the building quickly, seeing the man swinging the stick repetitively and Gon still thinking.

"One… Buzz, Time's up."

Leorio immediately took action and jumped over to the stage to hit the old woman with the stick he picked up only to be stopped by the Kurta and his nunchaku. The stick broke once it made contact with Kurapika's weapon, scaring off the crow in the process.

"DON'T STOP ME, KURAPIKA! I WON'T BE SATISFIED UNTIL I'VE TAUGHT THIS HAG A LESSON!" he exclaimed angrily pushing the boy back.

"CALM DOWN, LEORIO!" Kurapika exclaimed as he pushed Leorio away, Kiyoko flinching at the entire scene before her.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN?!"

'This guy is an idiot…' Kuromi sighed.

"YOU'RE GOING TO LAVISH OUR CORRECT RESPONSE!" the boy yelled back, getting up to Leorio's face.

Leorio's expression immediately changed to confusion.

"Huh? Correct?" he repeated, Kiyoko shaking her head slowly.

"We gave her the right answer just now. Silence was the best answer to give," Kurapika told the man, putting away his bokken swords.

"Silence? What do you mean…?"

Kurapika crossed his arms together across his chest.

"You blurted out the answer when you were ranting earlier, not even aware that you said it out loud. Precisely, this quiz had no right answer. However, we could only say 1 or 2 as our answer and nothing else, but there was a third option, not responding to the question at all. Silence was the only answer we could give," Kurapika explained, putting a finger up to his lips.

"But what about that other freak, Matthew?" Leorio asked.

"They never said anything about him giving off the correct response. She only said, 'You may pass.' To put it simple, the path here is the wrong route to take."

Kiyoko smiled at the two that finally calmed down, not a single violent thought lingering in the air anymore.

"The answer Matthew gave earlier may have been the correct answer if this quiz was mainly about looking into your thoughts and opinions. Choices 1 and 2 were just probabilities of correct answers if the woman here was looking for logical reasoning like how Matthew said there can only be one mother and many lovers in the world, which is true, and if someone in the group said they'd save their son because they don't have a daughter or say daughter because their son can defend himself, that would be quite logical as well. These questions usually like to mess up people's brains really and didn't you hear a scream earlier during the quiz? That was probably Matthew falling into a trap," Kiyoko said.

"Well, am I correct with my explanation?" Kurapika asked the woman.

"Precisely.. The correct path to take is right over here," the lady said, walking over to the door beside her. "This path will lead you directly to the tree. Walk through here for 2 hours and you'll reach to the peak."

"Oh. So that's what this whole thing was about…" Leorio said cluelessly.

"A couple live in the cabin that rests beneath that tree. They serve as Navigators. If you meet their expectations, I believe they'll guide you over to the exam site," the lady said smiling.

Leorio dropped the broken stick beside him onto the ground as Kurapika went over and gave a piggyback ride to Kiyoko.

"Granny, I'm sorry for my rude behavior," Leorio apologized, bowing down a little.

"Don't be, I don't mind. I do this job because I enjoy meeting people like you guys."

"Huh?"

The old lady turned around to face Leorio with a smile on her face.

"Do your best to become an excellent hunter."

Leorio slowly gave a toothy grin and rubbed the side of his head embarrassedly, his smile changing to curiosity.

"Ahh…! It's no use! I can't think of an answer!" Gon complained.

Kiyoko giggled at the boy's sudden statement and calmed down right after.

"Gon, you don't need to think too hard about it anymore," the girl called, Leorio chuckling at him.

"You were still thinking of an answer? Well, like Kiyoko said, you can stop now!" Leorio said.

"Huh? Why?" the boy asked.

"The quiz is over now," Kurapika told the boy, propping the girl up higher onto his back.

"I know that. But… you know.. What if I, no, we ran into a situation like that and we can ONLY save one person? What WOULD you do then?"

The group looked at the boy surprisedly at this.

"It wouldn't be right to choose who to save, but one day we might have to make a choice like that…" Gon said in a serious tone.

'That is right.. That is the real purpose of this little quiz… you must be prepared to face the possibly worse case scenarios because harsh reality strikes without any warning.. You all must be prepared for the day your path divides…' the lady thought as the others waved and left.

"Hey, Kiyoko?" Leorio called.

"Hm?" the girl hummed tiredly, resting her head beside Kurapika's.

"Is there something you would like to tell Gon and I about right now?"