𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱
Y/N POV
Killua moves back. "How do you know?"
I roll my eyes. "It's obvious. White hair? Blue eyes? Very strong? An assassin? Very smart? Very good at many things? Can rip out people's hearts with no thought?"
Killua looks away. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Ok, so I'm a Zoldyck. People probably already know though." Desperate to change the subject, he asks why I wanted him to keep my card on him at all times.
I put out my hand. He places the card I gave him, the King of Hearts, in my hand and I turn it over to the lightning bolt. "Look at this, Killua. The diamonds on here? They're infused with some sort of power that my mom had. She could heal anyone. I have that power. But not the point. The point is that she infused the diamonds with protection, basically healing. If you're holding the card in your palm, if you ever get hurt, it'll automatically heal."
"Are you gonna give it to the rest of them?"
"Yeah! Except for Tonpa. And I can't give out the numbered cards. Those have the diamonds, but no healing powers. That's why, when I tossed out a card at Hisoka, it was the ten of spades. Also, the healing powers only work if I give you the card. If you steal it, the card will never work."
"Cool!" Killua exclaims, hitting me back with a pillow.
"What is wrong with you?" I hit him right back with my pillow. The fight goes on for a little more, until I hear someone snoring. "Is that Gon?"
Killua looks at me, and I can tell we have the same idea. Killua tosses a pillow at him.
"You're supposed to hit him, stupid," I scoff.
"Well, I didn't." We watch the pillow dive straight for Gon. Immediately, his hand comes up and smacks it in my face.
"Oh, Gon! You're gonna pay for that." I smack him in the face with my pillow. We start hitting each other.
Gon falls. "Ahh!"
I fall on top of him. "Ouch."
Killua quickly takes the couch from under us and makes a makeshift arena. Then he puts a foot on our backs and raises a hand in triumph. "Ha! I win!" Suddenly, he jumps up. I watch him as he looks around in fear. "Who is that!" He looks again before smiling down at us. "It must've been my imagination."
"You good up there?" I ask him.
He smirks. "Yeah."
"Hey, pipe down!" Leorio shouts. We giggle. "Let me sleep some more!" He turns, just as Tonpa puts a stinky foot at his nose. "That stinks!" We laugh more.
I see Kurapika chuckle quietly. I get out from under Killua's foot and throw the pillow at Kurapika.
In the morning, Gon starts to teach us how to fish.
"Hmm . . . I thought you just had to stick bait on the hook and then you could fish," Killua thinks out loud.
"No," Gon says. "You have to think like a fish."
"Think like a fish?"
"How do you think like a fish?" I question, almost repeating what Killua said word for word.
"Yep! How would a fish feel if it saw bait dangling in front of it? Give me the hook." Killua gives him the hook, and Gon throws out the line. The hook lands in Tonpa's cup.
Tonpa looks up at us quizzically before growling and turning away.
"Wow! Let me try!" Gon hands the fishing rod to Killua.
"Like this?" He throws out the line and it lands right behind Leorio's pants.
"Haha, you missed," Gon laughs.
Killua looks over at me for my reaction. I see his face and stop rebraiding my hair long enough to give him a thumbs up. He smiles, then says, "Just wait."
He brings the hook back and it snags on Leorio's pants, pulling him off the couch. Leorio starts grunting. "Hey!" he screams. "What are you doing? Hey!"
"Just as I planned!"
"Nice!"
"Hey! You're going to rip my pants! Stop it!"
Killua glances at me as I watch the hook come back straight into his hands. "See? I caught him!"
"Yup."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leorio stands up. "I'm a fish now??"
Killua frowns and looks at him. "You don't have to get so mad. It's not like I'm going to grill and eat you!"
I snort before full out laughing. I'm splayed out on the couch, and I can't breathe. Killua cocks an eyebrow. "Again?"
"Don't mess with me fool! And Y/N! Stop laughing! Man, I can't even take a nap."
Later on, I show them how to rollerblade. "Wow! What a coincidence! We're all the same shoe size!" I clap my hands giddily.
"Not all the same. This shoe is small!" Gon whines.
"You're wearing your shoe, still," Killua points out.
"Oh!"
Gon takes off his shoes and puts my shoes back on. "This fits better," he agrees.
I sling Gon's arm over my shoulder. "Ok. All you need to do is jump up and click your heels together. The blades will come out."
"Ok!" He does so and my shiny wheels come out.
"Hey, Gon. Have you ever ice-skated before?"
"Yeah! When parts of the lake back home freeze over."
"What about you, Killua?"
"No. I usually do other things." He's sitting on the couch, watching intently. I smile at him.
"Ok! So, Gon. These roller blades are basically the ice skates. Try it with me the first time, and then try by yourself."
"Ok."
We go across the room. Gon already has the hang of it when he turns around. "Killua!" I cry out. "Watch out!"
Gon runs straight into Killua. "Oops." He blushes and scratches the back of his head. "Sorry."
"It's ok. Can I try now!"
"Yeah!"
Killua takes the blades from Gon and puts them on. I come over and throw his arm over my shoulder. "You steady?"
"Wait . . . yeah I'm good."
Killua balances all his weight on my shoulder and on his feet. We start to go forward. "Try walking on them first," I say. "After you can walk without me, we'll go on the next step."
He walks over to the other side of the room with no problems. I walk beside him. When he turns around, he looks so proud. "I did it, Y/N!"
"Now, trying riding across. Like, don't pick up your feet from the floor. Glide."
Killua nods and puts his arm on my shoulder. He 'glides' across the room, stopping every other second. I laugh. He looks so concentrated.
"Ok, I think I got it."
Killua skates across the room without my help. When he stops, he looks at me grinning. His eyes are shining with pride. I clap, the same pride for him shining in my eyes.
"Ooh!" I suddenly shout. "My backpack. Leorio, can you hand it to me? And be careful! There's fragile stuff in there."
Leorio bends down and grabs it, bringing it over to me. "Can I shake it?"
"No!" I take the backpack from him, taking out my deck of cards. "Gon, Kurapika! Come over here too. Tonpa, stay where you are."
Kurapika chuckles but comes over with Gon. I give Leorio the Jack of Clubs, Kurapika the Queen of Spades, and Gon the Ace of Diamonds. I explain what they're for. "Don't lose them!" I warn.
"Hey," Killua complains. "Why'd I get a heart?"
"Are you insinuating something? It was just at the top of the deck."
I reach into my pack again, not catching the face Killua was making. I take out an object.
"What is that?" Gon asks. "I'd say it's camera, but it looks weird."
"It is a camera, actually. A polaroid camera. I want to take some pictures, since we have about ten hours left. Tonpa, keep staying in that corner."
He sneers at me, and I sneer right back. I give Kurapika the camera then motion for Killua.
"With the rollerblades?"
"With the rollerblades," I confirm. "And bring your skateboard."
He does, and we go to the back of the room. I sit on his skateboard, and Killua gets the idea. He puts his hands on my shoulders and starts pushing me. The wheels of the skateboard mesh perfectly with the sound of the roller skates, making one long whoosh sound.
"Kurapika!" I call out in panic. "Take the picture! Quickly! Before I crash!"
He takes the picture an instant before I slam into the couch. "Killua!"
Killua laughs and shrugs. "Oops!"
We're both laughing, when Leorio yells, "Y/N! THERE'S SOMETHING COMING FROM THE CAMERA!"
I look over. The picture's being printed. I glance at Leorio. "Are you scared?"
He composes himself. "No. No! Of course not! No. It's just, what is that?"
I explain how there's film in the camera, so once the picture is taken, it's printed onto the film. "That's why the pictures are so small! But you have to wait a little."
"Let's take more pictures!" Gon exclaims. I take the camera from Kurapika and start flashing pictures of them.
An hour later, all the pictures are ready and developed. I lay them out on the table.
some of them:
"BAHAHAHAHA!" Leorio bursts out laughing when he sees the picture of Killua flicking Gon's head.
"That hurt, Killua!" Gon rubs his forehead.
Killua points to the one where he's pushing me on the rollerblades while I'm sitting on the skateboard. We're both laughing, and you can see Tonpa and Leorio arguing in the background, while Gon's sticking out his tongue, photobombing us. There's also a tv in the background, and the reflection shows Kurapika smiling at us and giving us a thumbs up. "I like this one the most," he comments.
"Same," I agree. I look at the clock. "One more hour, guys."
I pack the camera and the polaroids carefully inside my backpack.
"What else do you have in there, Y/N?" Kurapika asks.
I pool the stuff onto the coffee table. "My cards, the camera, my two cinquedeas, and water. That's basically it. Oh, and a picture of me and my mom together. I'll show you guys another time."
The hour passes, until there's only five minutes left.
"Ok! Ready to go," Gon says.
"One more minute," Kurapika tells us in anticipation.
"This is one long minute," Leorio complains.
Then the lock turns green. The door opens, and we rush out.
We make some weird choices with these majority bracelets me and Killua were given. We go down this mine shaft with broken rails in a shabby cart, and almost fall down into a great abyss, but really only Tonpa. I think we all wished he fell, though. Then, we were chased by a huge boulder. Now we only had one hour left.
We come up to a door. Five choose to open, one chooses to stay.
Leorio immediately assumes that it was Tonpa. Frankly, I do too. Leorio starts badmouthing Tonpa, when Gon says that it was him. He pressed it on accident.
Leorio and Tonpa keep arguing. I miss something, but suddenly their arms are up to fight.
"But it's all my fault!" Gon's trying to diffuse the tension.
"This is stupid," Killua says. "I'm going to keep on going."
"Same," I follow Killua.
"Wait, Killua!" Gon turns around but I interrupt, talking right before he can speak again.
"Hey, Gon!"
"We're getting close to the goal!" Killua's head pops out on top of mine.
"Really?" Gon rushes in, alongside everyone else.
"Let's see," Killua reads. "This is the last decision made by majority rule. Are you ready? Choose O or X. That's all."
Again, it's five to one.
Leorio whips around. "Bastard!"
Kurapika stops them. "We don't have time to argue about this!"
An electronic beeping sound is made, and then someone says, "Please select a path. There are two choices. One path allows all six to pass, but is long and difficult. The other path allows only four, but is short and easy. Incidentally, the longer 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 one. If X is selected, though, two people must be secured to the wall in handcuffs before the door will open. The two chained members will not be allowed to leave until the time limit has expired."
I thought the last decision was the last majority rule? And what happens if I'M the one left behind?
"The examiners were very prepared," Killua notes. "There must be every weapon under the sun here."
"Two out of the six," Kurapika says. "so we're supposed to fight, to decide the four that pass?"
"Let me make this clear," Leorio says calmly, if not a little dangerously. "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."
Tonpa starts arguing with Leorio again. I roll my eyes.
Suddenly, Gon speaks up. "I'm going to choose O. We made it here together, and we're leaving here together."
"Gon . . . "
Kurapika looks at Gon, but I can tell that he's already made up his mind. "Even if it's a big risk, I want to give it a shot!"
"Come on," Killua says. "You can't call that a risk. We have less than an hour left. Gon, there's only one choice if you want to pass this exam."
"There you have it." Leorio looks down at us. I have the urge to take back the card.
"Now we have to decide how to choose the four that pass. Well, I'm planning on three of them being me, Gon, and Y/N."
I grin at Killua.
Tonpa and Leorio start fighting. I walk over to a corner and lean on the wall, crossing my arms and putting a foot on the wall. Gon walks over, and so does Killua.
"Seems our only choice is to fight." Killua brings out his claws. I see Kurapika whip his head over to us as panic takes over his face.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Gon back up and grab an axe.
I sigh. Guess I'll have to take out my cinquedea.
Over the loudspeaker, I hear that Gon and Kurapika have already finished. I glance at the skateboard I'm sitting on, and the person behind me.
"Do you really want to do this with me?"
Killua sits down behind me and wraps his arms around me. "I'm the one who asked you, dumbass."
"Get out of the way!" I scream to Gon and Kurapika. They see him and dodge as quick as they can as I come barrelling out of the doorway on Killua's skateboard.
"Y/N?" Kurapika barks. "Is that why you took so long?"
"YEAH!"
"And you just thought it would be safe to skateboard down a slide?" Kurapika demands.
"Killua was with me! Plus, I was sitting, not standing!"
"That supposedly makes it better?"
"Yeah!"
"Speaking of which, where's Killua?" Gon asks as my first name and my applicant number is being blared on the loudspeaker.
Killua comes tumbling out of the doorway next. "Y/N!" he shouts. "What is wrong with you? You left me on the slide! Look at my hands!"
He shows them to me. I peer at how red they are, then look back up at him. "Shouldn't have fallen off then!"
Gon gapes. "Killua? You fell off?"
"Yeah, cause SHE started screaming and then I got scared and then we started going faster cause her foot was pushing off the slide, and it hit me in the chest!"
"I thought you were an assassin," I say, punching him lightly. "You're supposed to be tough."
"I AM tough!"
"Says the boy who was just complaining about his hands getting blistered." I look back at my watch. "Thirty seconds left."
That's when Leorio and Tonpa come out from the doorway, arguing and pushing each other. I smile.
"There he is. And the scum."
"I'm not scum!" Leorio shouts.
"I wasn't talking about you?" I say quizzically. Leaning over, I whisper to Killua, "Man! He hears the worst in everything."
"The old man?"
"And you hear nothing in everything." I flick his forehead just like he did to Gon.
Gon notices and high-fives me.
Leorio walks over to us, hands outstretched. "My hands are blistered and red, but all six of us cleared the tower together."
"I still think we should've left Tonpa," I sniff.
Leorio ignores me. "All thanks to Gon!" He messes up Gon's hair and Gon giggles. But after that, when Kurapika is talking, he leans over and whispers, "Yeah, we should've. I agree with you on that."
"Aww, thanks, doctor." I ruffle his hair back and he shrieks.
"It was perfectly styled, but now look at it!"
I laugh. "Yes! It was perfect."
An alarm blares for a second, then the man on the pa says, "The Third Phase of the exam is over. One died. Twenty-six applicants passed."
On the other side of the base, a door opened in the wall.
Everyone goes through it. There's a man with purple hair and big round glasses. "Ladies and gentlemen," he says. "Congratulations on clearing Trick Tower. Only the Fourth Phase and Final Phase remain." So two more phases. "The Fourth Phase will take place over there, on Zevil Island." He points behind him. "Let us proceed."
The man, who I think is the examiner for the Third Phase, snaps his fingers, and a man with a cart with a box on it rolls over. "I will be needing you to draw lots."
Whispers and doubts float across the crowd.
"Lots?"
"For what?"
"To determine who will be hunted, and who will be the hunter."
Kurapika is the closest one to me, so l bend over and whisper, "So original."
He stuffs his face in his cloth cloak to smother some quiet laughter.
"In here are numbered cards. In other words, your ID numbers are on the cards." He continues to explain how the Fourth Phase will proceed. Everyone goes up and gets a card.
Walking back, I wait until everyone has gotten their card. Then I look at it. I got 118. Who was that? I glance around and find him. He looked ordinary. Hmm. Perhaps he was skilled with some incredible power? I could work around that. Or he could also just be incredibly lucky and barely managed to get through the last three phases.
"There's a boat that will lead you to the island. Please board it." After that, the purple-haired mand bids us adieu.
On the boat, a really chippy worker introduces herself and says that it will take two hours to reach Zevil Island, so we have plenty of time to do whatever we wish.
I sit next to Kurapika and Leorio. Kurapika slings his arm around me and I lay my head in his lap. Quickly, I fall asleep.
So soon, I feel someone shaking me awake. "One more minute until we're there," Kurapika says gently.
"Already?" I yawn, stretching my arms. "Who'd you get?"
"Tonpa. What about you?"
"That guy right there," I point. "Number 118. I don't know what he can do though. But I'll figure it out."
"There's that attitude," Kurapika smiles, ruffling my hair. I pat it back in place, remembering to braid it again during my free time.
"We're here!" the chippy woman announces. "You will get off the boat in the order you reached the base at Trick Tower. There will be two minutes in between each person."
Hisoka stands up and walks away. Next is Gittarackur, and so on, until it's just us six left.
"Next, Kurapika!"
He walks off and I wave by.
"Gon! Y/N! Killua! Leorio! Tonpa!"
And with that, everyone is on Zevil Island.
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